Bill pursed his lips, looking at the wide selection held before him. Refrigerators of all shapes and sizes stared back at him, but none seemed to be to his likings. He was looking for a moderately sized fridge with equal amounts of fridge and freezer space, but the duplex type seemed too small and narrow; nothing at all to the style of the house or Bill's ideal kind of fridge. "Having trouble, miss?" Bill jumped and turned towards the voice of a young female worker. "Is there any way to get a fridge without the duplex style?" he asked. "I love that it splits the space between fridge and freezer evenly, but it doesn't exactly fit what I have in mind." The employee smiled. "We don't carry many these days, but we do have some models that follow the older fashioned style," she said. "Many people want sleek and stylish to show it off, but there are still a select number of people wondering about something different." She turned and gestured that Bill follow her, still prattling on about the pros and cons of each style of fridge. Bill watched her go for a couple seconds before following her, sparing a brief thought about where Gustav, Tom, and Georg went. He smiled and shook his head, figuring they were too busy making mischief in another part of the giant store while Bill shopped for a fridge. He continued following the employee past many kinds of refrigerators, each with their own look and style as she was still going on about refrigerators. Bill sighed softly and thought back to the first couple of days when he first met everyone. He had made assumptions about each male and found he was right on many things. While Tom was hardheaded and annoying, given the right situation, he appeared almost the opposite when Georg was around with him wrapped tightly in the stronger male's arms; calm and practically silent. The frequent glances Tom gave Georg had Bill assuming that Tom was scared that Georg would suddenly vanish into thin air, leaving him alone and isolated. Georg teased Tom about it constantly, wrapping his arms around the smaller male when he looked ready to either throw a fit or throw the nearest solidly breakable object, whispering soft words into his ear to calm him. Georg was a different story than Tom. He seemed laid back and rather uncaring about the things around him; save for Tom. If Tom was involved in anything, Georg was there. Bill had noticed a change in Georg when Tom was around and causing trouble or being in trouble, a fire lighting in his eyes when he watched every move the other made. Though he seemed aloof and slightly spacey, Bill assumed that it was his upbringing that made him that way; rich kids acted the same way all the time. He could be wrong, though. Then there was Gustav. Gustav confused Bill on account of how upbeat he was one minute and becoming indifferent the next. He had a hunch that Gustav had a growing attraction for Bill, but Bill felt the same. He knew that he shouldn't feel anything akin to attraction for a client while on the job; it could cause some serious complications for Bill and the client, so Bill shoved down the feelings. Things weren't out of hand yet, but they could very easily get out of hand should one or the other make a move. "Miss?" Bill was startled from his thoughts, forgetting he was in the store. "Sorry," he mumbled, flushing. The employee smiled, shaking her head. "It's not a problem," he said, gesturing to a fridge behind her. "Is this similar to what you're looking for?" Bill looked at the fridge, scrunching up his nose before smiling. "It's exactly what I'm looking for," he replied, pressing a hand on the fridge door. It was a faded beige colour with mahogany coloured handles; the perfect coordination for an old home like Gustav's. "How much?" The employee smiled and started chattering on again as Bill's mind wandered elsewhere... *-*-*-*-*-*-* "Are you sure we should be doing this?" Gustav glanced from Georg to the washer currently shuddering with life. "Openly using the washer machines for fun?" "I've done this before," Georg replied, grinning and turning away from the washer machine. "Although we should get going before someone finds out it was us who did this." He gestured to the shuddering washer, which now had a small fountain of suds seeping out from the closed lid. Gustav made a face and made no attempt to stop the washer, figuring it would only get him into trouble if he tried. He sighed and followed Georg, jumping slightly when the sudsy machine gave a great shudder and bounced against the other washers around it. Georg looked briefly sheepish. "Too much soap, methinks?" He glanced behind Gustav and nodded. "Too much soap; time to go." He then grabbed Gustav's wrist and dragged him away from the washer machines, looking around for Tom. "Have you seen Tom?" Gustav blinked. "I thought he was with you," he said, tugging his wrist away from Georg's tight grip. "You couldn't have let him out of your site, could you?" Georg flushed and bowed his head. "I might have," he replied, scuffing his foot on the ground, looking very much like a scolded child. Gustav sighed and looked around, not seeing the dread-locked teen anywhere. He turned to Georg, scowling lightly. "You had better find him," he said, poking Georg in the chest. "You know how mischievous he gets in these kind of stores." "Only because he's learned from the best," Georg retorted with a grin. "Whatever." Gustav turned away from Georg, shaking his head. "I'm going to find Bill. Call me once you find Tom, would you?" He then took off towards what looked like the refrigerators without waiting for Georg's reply. Georg watched him go, glancing at the chaos he made with the washing machine before biting his lip. His tricks, though simple and sometimes mundane, caused lots of panic. Tom's tricks, though, were well thought out and could possibly get him into trouble. Grabbing his phone from his pocket, Georg dialed Tom's number. *-*-*-*-*-*-* Bill smiled, happy he had finally replaced the monstrosity that Gustav had back home. He had it to be delivered to the house tomorrow, so he would have to wait another day to get the privilege to fill it up. This wasn't as bad as it sounded, however. They had food enough to last them until tomorrow for lunch, but then they needed food. With the way Tom and Georg inhaled food, Bill was lucky to have enough for dinner tonight. He rubbed the bridge of his nose lightly, a soft sigh escaping his lips. He looked around where he was, spotting Gustav just a couple feet away. His smile returned as he made his way towards the other, wondering what he was looking at. Once standing behind Gustav, Bill bent forward and wrapped his arms around the other, nipping his ear gently. "What are you looking at?" Gustav jumped and turned in Bill's hold. "Don't scare me," he said, scowling lightly at Bill. Bill pouted. "I didn't mean to scare you too bad," he said, keeping his arms around Gustav's waist. "I'm sorry." Gustav shook his head and wriggled out of Bill's hold. "Did you find a fridge?" he asked. Bill beamed, nodding. "It'll be delivered to the house tomorrow, so I'll have to wait to get food to fill it up with," he replied. "I've never met someone that loves shopping for food and home appliances," Gustav said, smiling lightly. "At least it fits my job," Bill retorted lightly. "I enjoy shopping of any form, not just for appliances and food." Gustav shrugged, glancing at his phone just as it rang. He answered it with a smile. "Did you find him?" he asked. "I did," Georg's voice filtered in, a smile evident. "What did he do?" Gustav asked, keeping a hand on Bill's waist as he led them out of the store. "Neither of us did anything," Georg replied. "Tom was, surprisingly, at the store next door and was busy oggling the video games for sale." Gustav chuckled softly. "So that's where you two are?" he asked. "Because if you are, we'll meet you two outside." "You have Bill with you?" Georg sounded confused. "Yeah." Georg laughed lightly. "We'll meet you two at home." With that, he hung up. Gustav stared at his phone briefly before shaking his head. "Completely nutters," he mumbled. Bill smiled. "Meeting us back at the house?" he asked, glancing at his wristwatch. "Aish! It took that long?" "What's wrong?" Gustav looked at Bill, mildly bewildered. Bill shook in place, whining softly. "Dinner's going to be ruined," he muttered, mostly to himself. He then took off in the direction of Gustav's home, leaving a very confused Gustav to follow. *-*-*-*-*-*-* "We could have taken a cab, you realize." Bill ignored Gustav and swiftly made his way towards the kitchen, mumbling softly. Gustav stared at his retreating back, confusion washing over him in waves. He followed Bill, intending on asking a few questions. When he reached the kitchen, he went to ask Bill a question before he was forcibly shoved out and told loudly to wait in either the dining room or the living room. He sat himself on the living room couch, hearing noises coming from the kitchen and smiled lightly. Whatever Bill was panicking over, it couldn't have been too bad, otherwise the noises would be much louder. He didn't realize it when Tom and Georg came into the house until Tom, seeing the opportunity, lunged forward and tackled Gustav. Gustav squawked loudly, toppling over with Tom on top of him, laughing wildly. "What was that for?" Gustav asked angrily, shoving Tom off him. "You looked so out there," Tom said, controlling his laughter long enough to explain. "I couldn't resist scaring you." He sat up and looked around. "Where's Bill?" "He's in the kitchen." Gustav shot Tom a look. "Don't think of bothering him; he kicked me out earlier." Tom grinned and stood. "I'm going to see what he's up to." Without further warning, he walked off to the kitchen. Minutes passed in silence before a loud crash sounded from the kitchen. Bill came out, holding Tom by the ear and a spoon covered in what looked like barbeque sauce in the other hand. He glared at Tom, letting go of the others ear and shoving him onto the unoccupied end of the couch. He brandished the spoon at Tom. "Stay out of the kitchen if you know what's good for you." Bill shook the spoon slightly to give emphasis. "Your ear may not be the only thing I tug off next time." Tom grinned lightly. "I'd let you tug whatever you like," he said. Bill huffed and wiped the spoon on a towel resting at his hip. "You're a pervert," he hissed and turned, stalking back into the kitchen. "It'll be on your head if dinner's ruined!" The slam of a door indicated that Bill was back inside the kitchen. Gustav turned to Tom and whacked him on the head. "Bill's right, you know," he said. Tom scowled and rubbed his head. "It's in my nature," he muttered, scooting away from Gustav. "I wanted to know what he was making and why he was panicking so much, so I went to ask." "And obviously you pissed him off," Georg said. "What did you do?" "I only asked him what was for dinner," Tom said honestly. "Apparently, he hates it when people interrupt him while he's cooking a meal." "That can't have been it," Gustav said, staring at Tom. Tom squirmed under the gaze. "I may have mentioned that dinner smelled delicious, but rather have it all over him," he mumbled. "Why would you say that?" Gustav asked, glancing briefly at Georg. Tom flushed, shrugging. Gustav shook his head and sat back, closing his eyes. He kept telling himself over and over how long a month this would be, he just hoped it wouldn't be too long. Having Tom and Bill nearly at each others throats so early on couldn't possibly bode well for the coming month...could it? ~TBC~ |