The Crow and The Butterfly

[Augustus is a SWOObat]

August crawled off the couch. Her plaid pajama pants had slipped down a little and she pulled them up and tightened that string thing. She dragged herself over to the bathroom and washed up. She brushed her teeth until the the toothpaste foamed over her mouth. August looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching. She returned back to the mirror and pretended to have rabies. When she had her fill of fun, she spit the foam out. August looked at her reflection, and laughed at her stupid looking hair, but she didn't bother to fix it. She'd do that later. Her stomach growled. After breakfast.

August practically skipped to the kitchen and pulled out two bowls, completely awake now. She felt like being good and making Ant breakfast, but cereal and spaghetti was all she could manage, and you can't have spaghetti for breakfast. She learned that yesterday. It took her forever to find the milk behind all of Anthony's bear bottles, but she did.. eventually. August poured in a bunch of that chocolate stuff in, because that's the only way she could eat cereal. She ran into a problem faster than she expected. It was cereal. Why was it so hard? Her eyebrow started to twitch. She had no idea what kind of cereal Ant wanted. August shrugged and picked up both boxes. She figured she'd just ask him. August skipped over to his room, as she read the boxes. The door was closed, but not for long. She opened it while she asked. "Hey, Anty. Do you want Lucky Charms or.. Fruit Loo-" She cut off mid-sentence. Her jaw dropped, and the cereal fell to the floor. Her eyes went wide, and she mumbled some kind of apology. August back out of the doorway, and slammed the door. Oh God, she just walked in on Ant.. She leaned against his door, thoroughly traumatized. It didn't even occur to her that Ant was with a man. No, she'd realize that later.

August didn't want to be there when Ant came out. She ran to the bathroom and closed the door. She really wanted to unsee that. August sat on the sink's counter-top, and hoped Ant would just stay in his room. Her arms wrapped around her knees. She promised herself she'd never eat cereal again. In her head, it was the stupid cereal's fault. She knew that Ant was player, and he always had women over, but August would just leave. She'd never really seen anything, until now. Her cheeks turned pink, and she closed her eyes. August crawled into the cupboard under the sink. Small places made her feel safe and secure. There was actually a lot of space in here, but it was dark. That was fine by her, though. She didn't really feel like seeing anything at the moment.

[Anty]

Anthony wasn't drunk (okay, maybe just a little), and he wasn't at a bar. Instead he was in his room. With a guy. Who he had met at the bar, which was arguably better (for his kidneys, right?). The guy was actually the bartender, and no, Anthony didn't really know how he had gotten in his house, or his bedroom, but here he was. And Anthony wasn't one to complain. No, the stranger (is that what you would call him?) didn't know about Adrienne. Or Evan. Or Mandy. Or Jessica. Or any of those other faceless friends. To be honest, he was lucky. Too much drama. Anthony stopped what he was doing, which was making out with this stranger. Oh no.

August. She was somewhat like a daughter to him, but not really. He loved her like a daughter, but he could never really care for her like one, in a way. But this... this was bad. No. This was more than bad. It was... really bad. Anthony half fell off the bed and half jumped, but he eventually got to his feet. "I'm... sorry. I have to... take care of this," he said, throwing the stranger's shirt to him. He wasn't really thinking now. He pulled his shirt on and left the room. He wasn't really sure what to do with the stranger... he couldn't just leave him here. In his apartment. Could he? But he did anyways.

I knew I should've left the sock on the door... he thought, his mind numb with guilt. "August?" He looked around the apartment, but he didn't see her anywhere. Instead he saw two boxes of cereal. What should he do? Come on Anthony, think of a plan. Anthony stood there, and realized he had to pee. He really had to go. He stepped into the bathroom, noting that the door was closed. Maybe he should have knocked... "Auggie?" he asked, but maybe now wasn't the time to be trying out new nicknames. "Aha!" he exclaimed as he pulled the shower curtain back to reveal... nothing. And then he looked to the cupboard. "Ah... " he said, crouching down beside it. "Auggie? I have cookies... !" he managed in a mother-like voice, sitting down Indian-style in front of one of the cupboard doors. "C'mon. I really have to pee!" he whispered.

[Augustus is a SWOObat]

There wasn't anything on the planet that could get August out of that cupboard, not even cookies. Anthony could pee in the kitchen sink. He'd done it before. "I don't want to get out, Ant.." She liked it here. It was small, and she didn't have to worry about seeing things. Something crawled on her arm. She shuddered. August had never liked spiders. She wasn't afraid of them, but she didn't like them. August crawled out of the cupboard and onto Ant's lap. Okay, maybe spiders could get her out. She wasn't mad at Ant, but she was embarrassed to see his face. She just wanted things to go back to before this morning.

Anthony was reckless, and he flirted with everything. She smiled. He was drunk once and flirted with their lamp. There was nothing she could to change him, and she really didn't want to. August wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it. It would have been so easy if she could just pick and choose which memories she wanted to keep. "You forgot the sock.." She wasn't mad, just sort of horrified. The scene came back in her head, and she wanted it to go away. Then it hit her. "Wait.. Anthony.. Wasn't that.. a man?"

[Mothtoto.]

Mikey sat up in the bed, propped up on his elbows with his bare back on the headboard. Anthony threw him his shirt as he left the room with some rushed excuse. But the shirt merely hit him in the face, he was terrible at catching. He scrambled out of the large bed and pulled on the plain black t-shirt he was wearing last night. Last night. How had he gotten here again? He sat on the bed as he tried to recall the events of last night. He squinted his eyes in thought. Oh yes! He worked the last shift at the bar last night. And... and there had been a strange man, that was Anthony, while he was closing up shop: Cleaning the counter, stacking the chairs, etc. He asked the man to leave- and well, things turned out differently. Very differently. And, that, he decided was exactly how he wound up here. Here, in a stranger's bedroom.

All that said and done, he decided to make some breakfast for himself, since he was a grown man and didn't really expect anyone else to do it for him. Although that would be nice... He got distracted for a moment, daydreaming of breakfast in bed, when his growling stomach reminded that wasn't going to happen any time soon. He walked into the hall, and soon found the kitchen, it wasn't very hard at all, actually. He had a strange craving for oatmeal, so that's what he set out to make. He searched for a pot, which was quite a bit harder to find than the kitchen. After finding one (in the freezer. What kind of place was that?), he put in the right amounts and ingredients the package instructed and was soon done. Mikey grabbed his bowl of mush and a fork and a straw, he couldn't find a spoon and headed for the couch. He flipped through the channels on the TV, but didn't find anything much to his taste. So instead he laid out on the couch and listened to his iPod while singing along loudly through mouthfuls of oatmeal.

[Anty]

Anthony held in a sigh. He knew he should be patient, but the more he thought about it, the more he had to go. Of course they always tell you not to think about, that you'll be okay, but how can you not? "August, you have to come out eventually. I have to pee," he whined. He figured August felt sorry for him, because just then she crawled into his lap, which didn't really help matters. "Finally! You were in there for... forever!" he exaggerated, because it hadn't really been that long.

August's hair tickled his cheek and he tried unsuccessfully to blow it out of the way. It was uncomfortable at first, because Anthony didn't know what to do with his hands now that August was sitting on his lap, but eventually each hand was resting comfortably on his knees. "I know... I feel... Awful. I forgot to put on socks yesterday," he confessed. It was an idea he and August had come up with so they wouldn't have to deal with... this. Complete silence. Anthony bit his lip, not really sure what to do. Until August spoke up again.

August didn't know? August didn't know. "I.. Uhh.. I-I.." he stammered stupidly. Well this is embarrassing. Anthony had never told August about Evan. About (part of) the reason why they were no longer friends. And now he was too embarrassed to tell her.. He didn't know why, but he was. Maybe it was the look of shock on August's face. Just go out and tell her everything, he thought. Don't change the subject. "I.. Um.. I really have to pee, can't we talk about it later?" he asked, shifting his weight uncomfortably. Well, so much for that...

[Augustus is a SWOObat]

August's eyes went wide for the second time. Oh right. Anthony had to go. She crawled off his lap. She so didn't want him to pee his pants while she was in his lap. Anthony was like a big kid. He couldn't hold it for the life of him. He started to bounce and whine, and he always waited to the last second just before he exploded. She knew this was important, but it could wait. "Okay, I'll just.." She got up and walked out the door, closing it on her way out. Despite all her confusion, she was sort of happy. Ant was still a goof, and their apartment was still a mess. Everything was the same. Except for the man on her couch. That was new. August's heart sunk. She had hoped he would have just left, like all of Ant's flings. Today just wasn't her day. He was sitting on her couch, eating the food she bought, using her favorite fork.

He was singing, and might have actually been good except for the mush in his mouth. She was still hungry, but all her cereal was on the floor. She'd pick that up later. August took a few steps, but stepped on her brush. She opened her mouth in a silent scream. August picked it up and walked over to Ant's friend. She dropped the brush on his stomach and sat down on the floor, drawing her knees closer to her chest. Her hair needed brushing, and she hated doing it herself. Sometimes Ant did it for her, but she mostly ended up doing it herself. Her stomach was still growling, but she decided to ignore it. Honestly, she didn't like the new guy. She didn't want to share Ant with anybody.

[Mothtoto.]

Mikey didn't notice the young girl enter the room. Hence, he had no idea she was going to come up from behind him and drop a heavy object on his abdomen. He had just been casually eating his breakfast while listening to Thriller by Michael Jackson, when it happened. He didn't mean to but... well, when the hairbrush fell from the sky a chain of events happened. First, he screamed. Screamed like a little girl. Then he sat up, straight as a pole. And this, caused the last thing to happen. Also, it was the worst. When he had been lying down, the bowl of oatmeal was resting on his stomach, but, naturally, when he sat up, the bowl went into the air, causing the contents to fly into the air as well. And it just so happened... that it splattered all oover the teenage girl's face.

"Oopsy... My bad. You have a little... something... right, um, here," Mikey pointed at his own face and slowly moved it around his whole face. He put the brush down beside him on the couch, and brought the bowl to the kitchen sink. The actual reason he went to the kitchen was so he could let out some silent laughter without her noticing. He also turned on the sink, so he could actually laugh, and not be heard. As much. He looked back at the girl, and figured he should help her. But how? A towel was a good start. Better than any other he could think of, anyways. He picked up some piece of cloth off the floor that he thought was a towel, "That's not a towel..." he set down the object in disgust and went to the bathroom, not thinking of the closed door. "Oh, sorry Anthony..." and quickly walked back out. He walked back to the couch and sat down. "No luck finding a towel. I guess you could use... this," he looked down at his shirt sadly. He would miss it, but since it was his fault the girl was covered in food... He took off the shirt, and turned his head away as he handed it to her. "Look on the bright side, I hear oatmeal is very good for your skin."

[Augustus is a SWOObat]

She stood up and rubbed the food out of her eyes. Underneath all the oatmeal, Auggie's face was bright red. She puffed her cheeks out in indignation. He had thrown his mush all over her face, for no reason. August started pulling some chunks out of her hair as Anthony's friend headed to the kitchen. He didn't even apologize. August was starting to like him less and less. She could hear him laugh and she could feel her face getting hotter out of embarrassment. Why couldn't he just go away?

August didn't want his shirt. She didn't want anything from him. Auggie rolled her eyes. He didn't know the first thing about her or Anthony. He probably made a habit out of sleeping with strangers. August frowned. Anthony did the same thing, but she always ignored that flaw. Actually, August ignored all of Anthony's flaws. He had a lot, but she really wanted to believe Ant was a good person. August dropped to her knees in front of the stranger, glaring momentarily. She couldn't care less how good oatmeal was for her skin, it felt gross. She put one hand on his knee to balance, and leaned down to look under the couch. August stuck her hand under and pulled out a towel. She turned her back to the stranger and wiped her face. August noticed her skin was softer, but scowled at the fact. It only made her more upset. When would Anthony be done? The sooner he finished, the sooner he could tell the stranger to get out, then Ant and August could get back to normal.

[Anty]

Anthony bit his lip, trying to hold it in. "Yeah, you can just.. " That was as far as he got, because August closed the door. He jumped to his feet, stumbled a little, pulled down his pants and let loose. When he was done with that, he moved to the sink. Looking in the mirror, he decided he looked fine for now. His hand moved to the tube of toothpaste sitting by the sink and his toothbrush. He looked at the toothpaste, realizing he had grabbed August's instead (he had bought her the kid's toothpaste, you know, the kind that tastes like bubble gum). "It's got to be the same stuff," he muttered.

He had to admit, it wasn't bad. Though it probably wasn't the wisest choice to swallow it. It got stuck in his throat, plus his mother always used to tell him that if he kept eating toothpaste he was going to get a stomachache. But he never listened to her anyways.

"What's all this?" Anthony asked as he stepped out of the bathroom. Mikey was shirtless, and August was knelt before him, looking under the couch. Had they done something bad or did Mikey just take off his shirt because he was.. hot? And why was August covered in oatmeal? "Oatmeal can't be good for your skin.. can it?" he said, voicing the opposite of what Mikey had said.