< HSoS 33 | High School Of Scenes | HSoS 35 >
< HSoS 31 | H So S Timeline | HSoS 37 >
Furud A hand drops on Antares' shoulder as she walks down the hall, and a voice, dark with anger, speaks her name. "Antares.
Antares Not exactly a stranger to greetings like that, Antares turns and steps away at the same time, one hand gripping the strap of her bag in case she needs to swing it off her shoulder.
Antares "Furud."
Antares She looks not completely surprised to see him.
Furud He cuts to the chase: "What exactly possessed you to break Polaris' fingers in the girl's bathroom?" His voice is quiet enough not to be overheard by the passersby. "I just got back from the nurse's office."
Antares Something that might be regret flits through Antares' eyes, but at the same time her jaw sets. "She hurt my friend," she answers simply.
Furud "Really? Pol's never been the type to punch people. So what'd she do?"
Antares "She was running her mouth off, riding Maia so hard I'm fuckin' amazed she didn't get her clock cleaned sooner. You want to know more, ask them."
Antares Depending on how well Furud knows Antares, he may or may not realize that she DIDN'T ask--that she still doesn't know, even now, what the fight was really about.
Furud "They're not here. You are. ...Jesus, Antares, I thought you were going to try to keep your head down."
Antares inhales sharply at Furud's disappointment, giving him an unreadable look. She struggles for the right words for a second, then says in a soft voice, "There are things I wouldn't do for Maia, but it's a short fuckin' list."
Furud cracks his knuckles, not even seeming to realize what he's doing. He returns her look with a conflicted one of his own. "Pol was muttering something about Mr. Henley."
Antares shifts her weight forward, fists curling in a response to his body language that's just as unconscious. "Pol was trying to fuck with Maia's head, and she got what she wanted. She's lucky it was just her fingers." Antares is breathing hard, looking like part of her wants to step back and be reasonable, but she just can't do it.
Furud "Pol doesn't know HOW to fuck with people's heads. On purpose, at least." He shifts, mirroring her stance. "She only tells the truth, as she knows it." He grits his teeth. "I don't want to fight you, Antares, but you can't fuck with my family. Especially if you don't even know why."
Antares "Oh, bullshit, Furud," Antares snaps. "I'm not that smart, but I can tell when someone's picking a fight, and Polaris was."
Furud "Maia is my friend too, but damnit, Antares, she's not always sparkling clean either. You better ask HER what happened with Mr. Henley."
Antares lifts a hand in a wordless request for a pause and spins away, taking a couple of steps and leaning against the wall with her head down. She seems to be struggling with her temper out of proportion to even the tension of the moment.
Furud makes to follow her, but then... doesn't. He just breathes, trying to calm down, himself.
Antares Finally she tosses her head as if shaking off a heavy weight or a blow, and looks back up to meet Furud's eyes. "If I do that, will you ask Polaris--I mean, really ask her--why she was trying to get Maia to hit her?"
Antares "Please. Because I don't want to fight you either, Furud. You and Maia are--" she breaks off, her eyes wild.
Furud hesitates, surprised, then nods. "Yeah. I will."
Antares Antares' shoulders sag at his assent. "Okay," she says as the tension drains out of her.
Furud steps forward slowly, then jams his hands into his pocket, looks down, and nods again. "Okay."
Antares "Jesus." Antares lets out an explosive breath, running a hand through her hair. "See, I warned you nobody changes," she says with a grim attempt at a smile.
Furud smiles a little in return. "Yeah, and here I was expecting you to have turned into a sweet creampuff after so long away from us."
Antares "So let's talk to the crazy bitches in our lives, and explain that you and I have plenty of crazy without them rubbing off more on us, huh?" Antares' eyes are dark above her smile. "Johnstone would be laughing his ass off if he could see us now."
Furud runs his fingers through his hair ruefully, then looks up at her. "Heh, yeah." He glances over his shoulder and shudders. "Probably is."
Antares twitches her shoulders in revulsion. "Fuck, don't remind me." She steps away from the wall and drops her terrible half-smile, looking at him with tired eyes and a headful of things she's never been able to express. "See you later?"
Furud "yeah, later." He smiles wanly, "Detention's coming up after all." and stalks back towards the nurse's office.
< HSoS 33 | High School Of Scenes | HSoS 35 >
< HSoS 31 | H So S Timeline | HSoS 37 >
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