//------------------------------// // 17. ... Should Take Place in Bed // Story: It's The End Of The World As We Know It // by Samey90 //------------------------------// Days slowly passed by, filled with lessons, trainings, and other activities. The weather grew colder; Indigo had to put her motorbike in a garage in favour of the car, which delighted Sunny Flare, tired of “freezing her ass off while holding on for dear life”. Sugarcoat had no such problems. She was currently lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. Or at least in the general direction of it, since she wasn’t exactly sure where her glasses were. As the details of the last night got back to her, she realised she probably didn’t want to know. “Is it Sunday already?” Sandalwood muttered, stretching his arms and turning to Sugarcoat. Just as she’d expected, he was wearing her glasses. “You wish it lasted that long,” Sugarcoat replied. “It’s Saturday, at best.” She sat on the bed, covering herself with the blanket. “Damn. Do you know what day it is?” “National Chocolate Day?” Sandalwood asked, furrowing his eyebrows. “How can you even see something in those?” “Give them back to me, bastard!” Sugarcoat exclaimed, tackling Sandalwood and throwing him out of the bed. Several rats ran away from under the furniture, jumping on the shelves and observing the whole scene. “It’s Saturday, which means we’re playing a match with New Salem.” “It’s 6 AM…” Sandalwood muttered, sitting on the floor and staring at the pile of clothes in front of him. “I thought the game is at 3 PM?” “Remember that those cunts poisoned us last time we played with them.” Sugarcoat put her glasses on. “They’re gonna be surprised by what they’ll find in their dinner…” “Ah. So you have to leave on a mission.” Sandalwood nodded, grabbing a pair of boxers adorned with the picture of a cross-eyed pug from the floor. “Those aren’t mine.” “More or less,” Sugarcoat muttered. “Guess it’s better to start early.” “Indeed.” Sandalwood sat back on the bed. “Guess you have a place in your schedule for another mission?” “Is that some lewd allusion?” Sugarcoat asked. “Not really,” Sandalwood replied. “The thing is, I’m getting sick of Bulk staring at his phone all the time, hoping that Indigo would call him. He doesn’t watch where he goes and I’m afraid he’s gonna squish some kid one day.” “Same with Indigo,” Sugarcoat said. “She said she’s waiting for him to call first and yells at everyone who suggests her to call him and chill.” “Well, crap.” Sandalwood nodded. “That’s not even a problem with communication. That’s a total refusal of communication just because Indigo is too proud to apologise to Sunny.” “Or rather because Bulk overreacted to it.” Sugarcoat sighed. “Sunny doesn’t mind. She has her own problems. She thought her community service would involve collecting trash in the park, but the store’s lawyer pointed out that it didn’t work the last time and now she’s gonna be helping in, as she put it, one of those places where old and sick people go to die.” “Doesn’t sound cool,” Sandalwood said. “But maybe it’ll teach that idiot something.” Sugarcoat shook her head. “So, what do you plan to get Indigo and Bulk back together?” Sandalwood smirked. “Have you heard about this Halloween concert?” When Sugarcoat reached the changing room, the rest of the team was already there. She greeted them and changed her clothes to the soccer outfit, observing Indigo closely. “We have a problem,” Diwata Aino said. “They brought their own cook from New Salem and didn’t want to eat food we prepared for them.” “Big surprise,” Sugarcoat muttered. “They knew we’d like to get revenge for the last year semi-final. Especially for the food poisoning part.” “Well, it may not be that bad,” Suri Polomare muttered, scratching her butt, which caused Sugarcoat to wince. “I live at the campus and I saw that some of them drank water from that water cooler in the corridor next to their rooms…” Sugarcoat froze. “What did you add to the water?” Suri looked at her fingernails and smirked. “Something.” “Okay, nevermind.” Sugarcoat sat next to Sunny Flare. “What’s up?” “I had to take care of a bunch of kids with cancer for the whole morning,” Sunny whispered. “I was reading stories to them, then I went home and threw up like a cat on drugs.” “I have several questions,” Sugarcoat muttered. “Mostly about the cat.” Sunny groaned. “Oh, please… I don’t even have time to go anywhere on Halloween.” “Too bad.” Sugarcoat shrugged. “I was just looking for someone to go to a concert with me. Maybe you, Indigo?” Indigo raised her eyebrows, looking at Sugarcoat. “I thought we’d all go,” she said. “Why asking me, specifically?” Sugarcoat let out a nervous chuckle. “I thought I heard you weren’t coming…” “You can’t lie, Sugarcoat,” Lemon said. “Admit that you’ve just embraced your gayness! And since Indigo is now a fair game…” “I’m not gay,” Sugarcoat muttered. “Bulk and I didn’t break up.” Indigo sighed. “Also, I’m not gay either.” Lemon lowered her head. “Aww…” “I’m still here, you know,” Sour Sweet said. “You know, right!?” “No one cares.” Indigo stood up. “Let’s go and kick some ass…” Sandalwood put the dumbbells on the rack and stretched his arms, looking at himself in the mirror. Next to him, Bulk kept lifting his weights, sweating and grunting. Sandalwood looked at him and shook his head. “What?” Bulk asked, putting the dumbbells down. “Keep exercising, dude. You don’t go here to stare at people.” “Unless they’re girls with nice butts,” Sandalwood muttered, staring at the rack with weights. Bulk raised his eyebrows. “You need glasses, man. You just mistook me for one.” “What?” Sandalwood smirked. “Nah, I was just thinking. You know, there’s Halloween soon.” “Nice.” Bulk nodded. “You finally learned how to use the calendar.” Sandalwood’s smirk grew wider. “Sarcasm: the last refuge of modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy of their soul is coarsely and intrusively invaded. Well, sorry for invading the privacy of your soul, but I was just wondering whether you’re going to that concert Vinyl is preparing.” “I don’t have any disguise,” Bulk replied. Sandalwood nodded. “Well, then it’s pretty fortunate that I just happen to own a Swamp Thing costume. It’s a bit too big for me, but it should suit you, man.” Bulk looked down on Sandalwood, his jaw dropping. “Where did you even get a Swamp Thing costume?” “Long story,” Sandalwood replied. “And since I’m going as The Toxic Avenger anyway, I can leave the Swamp Thing to you.” Bulk covered his face with his hand. “Don’t you think we’re gonna look weird?” “Everyone will look weird, it’s Halloween.” Sandalwood shrugged. “Sugarcoat wanted to go as Vampirella, but apparently this costume wouldn’t be, umm… well received by the bouncers.” “How about Indigo?” Sandalwood froze. “I don’t know. Forgot to ask.” Bulk smirked. “I know that while you make sure I’ll go, Sugarcoat does the same with Indigo. You two are pretty predictable.” Sandalwood nodded solemnly and finally chose the dumbbells suiting him. “Is it wrong that we want to help the others?” “No, it’s not,” Bulk replied. “But I have a feeling that you’re treating us like some science experiment, that’s all.” “We?” Sandalwood chuckled. “Where did you even get that idea? We’re just trying to help, that’s all.” “You and Sugarcoat. Help.” Bulk lifted the dumbbells. “And you’re both absolutely selfless.” Sandalwood’s smile was of the most innocent kind. “Of course,” he said. “We’re friends, after all.” The small, cramped basement that was the headquarters of Canterlot High Radio was unusually lively. Old, half-dismantled electronics had been adorned with pumpkins and rubber spiders. Upbeat music coming from the speakers was suddenly silenced; the lanky, blue-haired girl dressed like a vampire raised her hand, pointing at another girl, who was sitting in front of the microphone, and giving her thumbs up. “Greetings, boys and girls,” the other girl said in a loud and clear voice, playing with one of her red earrings. “We’d like to inform that the Canterlot High’s Drama Club is still looking for new actors and actresses. If you would like to join, contact either me… Umm... That is, Sophisticata, or Drama Letter.” She took a deep breath. “In other news, we’d like to remind you about the Halloween Concert that will take place at the Concert Shell downtown, on October 31st. Everyone’s invited to join and listen to bands such as Plaid Stripes and The Great Scary Spoon, The Planeteers, Trixie and the Illusions, Flash Drive, The Rainbooms, and, of course, DJ Pon3. And now time for sport news…” The girl in the vampire suit switched something on the console in front of her. “Zat vas fine, Sophie,” she said. “You need to come to me one day, ve’ll record some nev jingles.” “Isn’t it a bit too early for a vampire accent, Vinyl?” Sophisticata asked. Vinyl raised her eyebrows. “Zat’s my actual accent. Hov do you sink, vhy I never speak in public?” Sophisticata raised her eyebrows and closed her mouth, listening to the sport news. “And now, Snips and Snails with the fresh information from Sunnydale. Our team won 2:1 with the local high school team, Scootaloo and Octavia Melody scoring the goals. More information on this game as well as the photos on our MyStable profile will be posted after we manage to connect to them. Apparently wi-fi in Sunnydale is rather wonky.” “My girl,” Vinyl muttered. As Sophisticata noted, without a trace of a foreign accent. Snips’ voice in the speaker became considerably less enthusiastic. “As for the other team from our town, Crystal Prep played on their own pitch with New Salem Malformations.” “Monstrosities,” Snails muttered. “Whatever,” Snips said. “Apparently one of the villains of their match with our team, Suri Polomare, got sent off in the first half for a tackle that has been described by the eyewitnesses as ‘attempted murder’. Nevertheless, the visibly fatigued away team didn’t take that chance, losing to Crystal Prep 8:3, both sides presenting rather silly soccer.” “Or frivolous football, if you’re British,” Snails added. “Stop interrupting me!” Snips exclaimed. “Anyway, my buddy who saw that game and has no wi-fi issues says that Indigo Zap scored a hat-trick, thus becoming the top-scorer of the league. Sour Sweet and Sunny Flare scored two goals each, but the first goal of the day belonged to Frosty Orange.” “Who played in this game only because they shamelessly copy our tactics,” Snails said. “For photos of those ladies, ask in Crystal Prep, assuming they’ll let you in.” Snips finished with a sound suggesting that he ended up smacking his fellow reporter with a newspaper. Vinyl shook her head and pushed some button, filling the studio with the loud electronic music. “Lófasz a seggedbe,” she muttered under her breath. “Excuse me?” Sophisticata looked at Vinyl, who shrugged. “I guess that’s some phrase in your native language that is impossible to translate?” Vinyl shook her head. “Nah, zat’s vhat one dude taught me.” She looked at the phone. “Okay, Octavia’s back in town.” She stood up and dropped the keys on the desk in front of Sophisticata. “Vould you close it for me?” Sophisticata was still sitting in her place when Vinyl left. “Loh-fas a shegedbe,” she muttered to herself. “What an interesting phrase…” The concert shell was already full of people, even though the event didn’t start yet. Some of them were eating candies they’d gathered on the way, while the others were busy looking for their friends, almost unrecognisable due to their disguises. Sunset Shimmer, dressed as some kind of a red-skinned demon was just telling someone that she hoped no actual demons would show up. Indigo stood by them and opened her mouth to ask a question, but then she decided that she didn’t want to know that much. “Indigo!” Sour Sweet exclaimed. “Here!” “Oh…” Indigo raised her eyebrows, seeing that Sour Sweet was wearing a blood-splattered apron and a chef’s toque, complete with rubber gloves and a large cleaver. “Pretty, umm… convincing. Is that real blood?” “Nah, I made it from corn syrup, flour, and food colouring,” Sour Sweet replied and licked her fingers. “It’s great with mint… Almost as good as real blood.” “Awesome,” Indigo muttered. “Where’s Sugarcoat? She was dressed as a pretty metal vulture.” “That’s a plague doctor, you idiot!” Sugarcoat exclaimed, appearing behind Indigo. She was completely unrecognisable in black robes and a bird-like mask. “I see you’re a pirate again.” “I’m always a pirate.” Indigo shrugged. “Why change something that works?” Sugarcoat sighed. “So, Sunny isn’t coming? Too bad.” “She’s having fun,” Sour Sweet muttered. “She said the hospice is already full of zombies…” “She didn’t mean it as fun,” Indigo said. “At least I hope so.” “What’s up, guys?” Lemon Zest exclaimed, stopping by them. “I got some great candies from Sandalwood’s friends!” “You’d better throw them away.” Sugarcoat looked at Lemon’s costume. For a while, she was trying to find words to describe it – or at least any words that weren’t “slutty” and “pumpkin”. “What?” Lemon asked. “I never throw away free candies. Also, are you using that mask to hide that you’re checking me out?” “You wish,” Sugarcoat muttered. “I’d like to remind you that I’m straight and I have a boyfriend–” she turned to face someone wearing a deformed rubber mask, “–who is currently dressed as The Toxic Avenger. What the hell, Sandalwood?” “How did you know it was me?” Sandalwood asked. “Your shit-eating grin that is almost palpable, even with the mask,” Sugarcoat replied. “Also, the height fits and you barely managed to hide your hair.” Indigo chuckled. “Well, Sugarcoat’s costume is better. You can’t see it’s her, unless she speaks.” “Also, my offer still stands.” Lemon Zest embraced Sugarcoat. “I can even stand him, if you want to, umm… spice things up.” Sugarcoat groaned. “Sour Sweet, would you be so kind and do something about your pumpkin?” “Like slaughtering her?” Sour Sweet raised the cleaver. “What? I’m staying in character!” “You’re too convincing,” Indigo said. “Ask Sunny if her mother plans some horror movie. You could become an actress.” “No, thanks. They’re all freaks.” Sour Sweet looked at the crowd gathered by the stage. “When does this concert start?” Indigo pointed at a small group of people walking around the stage, checking sound. “Guess that’d be about now…” Suddenly, they heard an evil laughter. The technical crew disappeared from the stage, leaving it almost empty, except of the instrument and a large coffin in the middle. The lid of the coffin opened and a creature clad in black robes raised from it in an odd, stiff manner. A single spotlight was cast on it, revealing a pale, blue-haired girl with long fangs, who walked to the microphone. “Hi, Vinyl!” Lemon Zest exclaimed, waving towards the stage. “Greetings, mortal people!” Vinyl exclaimed, waving her cloak. “It’s alvays nice to see so much food– I mean, so many guests…” The crowd laughed. Sugarcoat leaned to Indigo. “Does she know that Dracula in the original book learned English with a proper accent because he didn’t want to sound foreign? Also, he had a moustache.” “Who cares?” Indigo shrugged. “Hope zat you like to be afraid, because ze first guest tonight vill make you cower in fear!” Vinyl exclaimed, laughing. “From ze deepest pits of hell…” “Seriously, people should read that book,” Sugarcoat muttered. “That’s her actual accent," said a green-skinned girl dressed as a bloodied ghost, who was standing next to Sugarcoat. “No, it’s not.” Lemon Zest poked the girl. “I know her and while she doesn’t speak much, she doesn’t usually speak like that. Also, who are you dressed as?” “Banquo.” The girl turned in another direction. “Octavia? Can we have a word?” “Vinyl fooled you with her accent? Guess I owe her a tenner…” “A bank?” Lemon asked. “I know! That dude from the Christmas Carol!” “Not a bank, Banquo. And most certainly not that, as you say, dude...” “Shut up, you two!” Indigo hissed. “I can’t hear anything.” On the stage, Vinyl didn’t seem to care about the audience’s banter. “So, let me introduce… Plaid Stripes and the Great Scary Spoon!” Amidst the cheers of the audience, the band entered the stage. They looked like a proper psychobilly band, with the vocalist sporting jewellery made of spoons and armed with a hollow-body electric guitar. She was accompanied by a girl with glasses, holding a coffin-shaped double bass, and a drummer whose face was completely obscured by her hair. Soon, however, it turned out that the most dreadful thing about the band were their skills. The bassist couldn’t exactly get the right notes on the fretless bass, but Octavia was the only person around Indigo who could point that out. However, everyone could hear that the vocalist had trouble with singing and playing the guitar at the same time. She didn’t seem to mind, though, and the lyrics were absurd enough to work. “Is she singing about The Wolf Man making out with the Invisible Man?!” Indigo yelled to Lemon Zest, who was bobbing her head up and down, her eyes closed. “I don’t know, but they’re, like, my favourite band ever!” Lemon jumped and slammed into Indigo, sending her into the mosh pit forming near the stage. Indigo bounced off of several people; her self-defense instincts kicked in and she jammed her elbow into someone’s stomach. She heard a grunt, but then someone else lifted her and suddenly, she found herself surfing on the top of the crowd, along with several other people. “What the–” She thrashed, accidentally kicking someone in the ear. A sudden movement caused the people to let go of her and she fell back into the crowd, hitting something large and dropped on the ground. “You okay there?” A pair of strong arms raised her upwards. “Yeah,” Indigo muttered. “Thanks, mysterious man, dressed as…” She tilted her head, staring at her saviour. “A green wookie, I guess.” “It’s Swamp Thing,” the guy replied. The song just devolved into arrhythmic noise and stopped suddenly. “Also, don’t you recognise me?” Even though she was in the middle of the crowd, Indigo suddenly felt that the temperature dropped by a few degrees. “You.” “Yes, me.” Bulk lifted his mask. “Having fun?” Indigo furrowed her eyebrows. “I’m having considerably less fun since you haven’t given a sign of life for the last two weeks, you know?” At the stage, the vocalist tried to tune her guitar, which sounded like someone strangling a cat. “I was waiting for you to call,” Bulk replied. “That is, after you stop being such a bully.” “Oh really?” Indigo rolled her eyes. “You’ve never been bothered by this before.” “Sandalwood said something similar.” Bulk smirked. “Really?” Indigo raised her eyebrows. “You talk about me and he’s acting as your gay friend?” Bulk chuckled. “He suggested a shorter chain. And a gag.” “Tell Sandalwood that he’s a wanker,” Indigo said. “Or wait, I’ll tell him myself.” She looked around, only to find out that the crowd carried her pretty far away from her friends. Bulk said something, but at the same moment, the band managed to agree which song to play now, and his words drowned in cacophony. The crowd around started to dance; Indigo did her best to stay around Bulk this time which wasn’t as hard since the song only lasted for about two minutes this time. “Okay, but seriously…” Indigo looked at Bulk and took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to think I beat people, like, for entertainment. Well, some of them. Maybe.” She shrugged. “When I was younger. But now I’m a responsible adult, right?” “Not exactly.” Bulk chuckled. “But neither am I.” “Yeah.” Indigo looked around. “But who is, really? That dude over there looks like one. He already took off that hockey mask, even though this girl next to him is wearing that strange costume of, umm… something.” “Gaea Everfree,” Bulk replied. “It’s a legendary creature from the place where I was on vacation…” Indigo nodded. “Wait, didn’t you tell that the camp owner turned into a demon or something?” She looked at the girl again and saw another person standing next to them. “No shit…” “Indigo!” Twilight waved at her. Since the band apparently kept gathering strength to play another song, she went through the crowd with her companions to join Bulk and Indigo, who tried to hide somewhere. “Hi, Indigo,” Twilight said. “Nice to meet you. This is my boyfriend, Timber, and his sister Gloriosa.” “Nice… to meet you too,” Indigo muttered, looking at Twilight’s costume. “You dressed as your demon form? Seriously?” “She said we’d get on with what we did,” Gloriosa said. “I still think it’s a bit weird… So far we only scared a few kids.” “How about him?” Indigo pointed at Timber. “Is he embracing his serial killer persona?” “No, I just had a hockey mask at home.” Timber chuckled. “So, you’re Indigo, right? Twilight told me about you and your friends.” “Probably all the bad things…” Indigo chuckled nervously and gave Bulk a stare before turning back to Timber. “But, well, Twilight… Your boyfriend wears a hockey mask and mine is a green wookie. Funny how things are, huh?” “It’s Swamp Thing,” Bulk muttered. “Something’s wrong, Indy?” “No, of course not.” Indigo smiled. “I’m just having that Scrooge moment, you know, the ghost of Halloween past.” She turned to Twilight. “Girl, I’m deeply sorry for whatever I ever did to you. Like, really.” “Is she always like this?” Timber asked. Bulk sighed. “I need to talk to Captain Planet about those candies I’ve seen him giving to Lemon…” “What candies?” Indigo asked. “No candies. I just realised what a jerk I was to Twilight. And I’m not used to apologising, you know.” “That was a very bad apology,” Twilight said. “You should consider never apologising again.” Indigo raised her eyebrows. “Did you just made a Sugarcoat impression?” Twilight blushed. “I think? Rainbow Dash is much better at this, you know.” Indigo smirked. “You gotta do this when Sugarcoat’s around… I’d like to see her losing it. Can you do Sunny Flare too?” “You mean, staring at my wrist and randomly yelling at people?” Bulk shrugged. “I’ll never understand girls…” “Just keep rolling, dude…” Timber nodded. After playing three songs and a bit of music that never went anywhere, Plaid Stripes and the Great Scary Spoon finally left the stage. This was both good and bad news as the next band in the schedule were The Planeteers. Sandalwood got rid of his costume for their gig, but that was only the beginning of their problems. “Can I get on your back?” Indigo asked. “I need to see them better…” Bulk nodded and lifted Indigo effortlessly. As soon as she was above the crowd, she was able to spot Sandalwood on the stage, readying his drums. “Hey, Sandalwood!” Indigo shouted. “Chains and gags? Seriously?” Sandalwood looked at her and his eyes widened for a split second, before he smirked. “Indigo…” Bulk muttered, trying not to laugh. “The guys here are getting a wrong idea…” Indigo didn’t mind. “You’re a wanker, Sandalwood!” she exclaimed, greeting Sandalwood with her middle finger. “And you should totally–” Sandalwood never learned what he should’ve done, as Bulk decided to shake Indigo off of her back, catching her before she fell on the ground. “I told you I had to tell him that,” Indigo muttered, blushing slightly. “It’s Sandalwood. He heard it so often that he doesn’t mind,” Bulk replied. “I sometimes think he comes from some alien race that feeds on being hated.” “Thanks…” Indigo muttered. “I’m gonna have nightmares now…” Bulk chuckled and hugged her. They barely noticed when The Planeteers started to play. Not only because they were focused on each other, but also due to the acoustic and eco-friendly setlist of the band hardly fitting the Halloween party. Unfortunately, the horrors of a dying planet didn’t exactly hit the mark, although when at the end of the gig Sandalwood sang a song about whale hunters on shrooms, he managed to scare off several people with the most sensitive hearing. “Is it over?” Twilight asked when the band left the stage. “I liked it.” “Just don’t go backstage to meet the drummer,” Indigo muttered, looking at the members of the next band who appeared on the stage. “Hey, they don’t look that bad…” “Have you ever met Trixie before?” Bulk asked. “She’d fit Crystal Prep.” “How so?” Indigo looked at the girl with a guitar dressed as a magician. “Does she have a great team spirit and awesome character?” “Close.” Bulk smirked. “If she and Sugarcoat were in one room, their combined egos would suffocate everyone else.” “Sounds fun.” Indigo stood on her toes to see the band closer. “Hmm, is one of those girls Cloudy Kicks?” “Nah, that’d be Lavender Lace,” Bulk replied. “They’re twins, but neither of them admits it.” “If I were Cloudy Kicks’ sister, I wouldn’t admit that either,” Indigo said. “And this is coming from someone whose sister steals cars.” “Yeah, about that…” Bulk smirked. “Recently, Trixie made me look for her stolen car. Muffins somehow seemed to know where it was, and I know she’s not a psychic.” Indigo smiled sheepishly. “I have no knowledge of such an occurrence.” Bulk frowned. “My liar’s face will put me in jail one day, huh?” Indigo asked, still smiling. “If that’s your liar’s face, you’d better avoid police stations.” Bulk chuckled. “They could randomly accuse you of genocide and you’d still look guilty.” Twilight turned to them. “Well, to get genocide right, there shouldn’t be anyone left to accuse you…” “I’ll keep that in mind. Or tell that to Sugarcoat or Sour Sweet,” Indigo deadpanned. Before Twilight could reply, they heard a long, distorted guitar chord. “And now, the Great and Powerful Trixie will show you some real magic,” the girl with the guitar said. “For she is the best guitarist of our time and don’t you dare think otherwise!” “Humble,” Indigo muttered just before the first song started. She had to admit that it was catchy. Soon, the crowd around her started to dance and she had no other choice but to join them, jumping up and down and bouncing off of other people. Some people were crowdsurfing again; somewhere in the middle of the second song, Lemon Zest literally fell on Indigo’s head. “Woohoo!” Lemon’s voice was quite audible, despite the noise around. Indigo helped her up, but she staggered and nearly fell. “I love this band! And I love you, Indy!” “Thanks, but I’m kinda taken,” Indigo replied, backpedalling towards Bulk. Being close to him had one big advantage: the crowd around him would immediately part. “Not a problem at all…” Lemon embraced Indigo and walked with her to Bulk. “What’s up with her?” Bulk shouted, deafening those around, who weren’t already deaf because of the music. “She’s having fun!” Indigo looked around. It seemed that Sour Sweet was trying to get to them, but she got stuck in the crowd of some excited teenagers. “She’d find a way to get hammered even on a Mother Superior’s birthday in one of those monasteries where you can say two words a year!” “Impressive…” Bulk nodded. Lemon was still around Indigo when the song ended and the crowd cheered. “Tricks up my sleeve…” she muttered. “Dicks up my–” “Enough, Lemon…” Indigo turned to Bulk. “Don’t you dare imagine us two together!” Bulk raised his hand. “I wouldn’t even think of it!” “Yeah, sure…” Indigo chuckled. “Where’s Twilight when you need her? Lemon would probably find her cute or something.” “Twilight was tired of the noise.” A chill ran down Indigo’s spine when she heard the voice behind her. However, when she turned back, she saw Timber standing there. “They’re in the park with Gloriosa.” “Ah, good.” Indigo handed Lemon to Timber. “Would you be so kind and help her get some fresh air? We’d be very grateful.” “That’s probably the first time someone trusts a guy dressed as a movie serial killer with their friend…” Bulk chuckled. “Said the green wookie,” Indigo muttered. “So, will you help us?” “Umm…” Timber looked at Lemon, who opened her eyes. “You’re not Twilight.” Suddenly, she leaned forward and threw up on his shoes. “What the hell?!” Timber exclaimed. “Yeah, we’d better get out,” Indigo muttered just as the next song started. Flash ran the pick down the strings of his guitar and turned one of the tuning keys. Trixie and The Illusions  were about to finish and they were going to be next. Normally, he’d already be prepared and focused. Unfortunately, this time Sandalwood decided to stay at the backstage, probably just to mess with him. “And remember, you’re kinda like in Back to the Future, man,” Sandalwood said. “You play your best tunes, while I go into the crowd and try to bring Bulk and Indigo back together.” “If we’re talking about this movie, I hope he’ll end up punching you,” Flash muttered. “Because if he doesn’t, I’ll have to do that.” “No problem,” Sandalwood said. “As long as they end up talking to each other.” Ringo walked to Sandalwood. “You mean that girl who just called you a wanker? If I recall correctly, she was sitting on his back. And trust me, if a girl sits on your back, she usually talks to you. Unless it’s one of those weird ones.” “She is weird, you know.” Brawly Beats stood up, stretching his arms with a drumstick in each hand. “Sandalwood, get lost before I shove one of those where they don’t belong.” “I’m just trying to tell you my plan.” Sandalwood groaned. “Flash, your girlfriend got it and you can’t? Dude, that’s just–” He was interrupted when Muffins walked in, wrapped in toilet paper like a mummy. “What? Are they still there?” “Well, that’s a problem,” Muffins replied. “They just left.” “Damn,” Sandalwood muttered. “How are we going to get them together now?” Muffins smirked. “They left together. Guess the quest is done, now.” Sandalwood only groaned. The silence in the park was interrupted by only a few, mostly natural noises, such as crickets chirping, leaves rustling, and Lemon Zest throwing up by the shrubbery. Indigo sighed and shook her head, holding her hair, while Bulk, Gloriosa, Twilight, and Timber watched the sight from a safe distance. “Are you done?” Indigo asked. “Mhm.” Lemon nodded. “No more candies and muffins at the same time for me.” “Damn, Lemon…” Indigo groaned. “When you said you may die early, it wasn’t a self-fulfilling prophecy. What’s next, bath salts?” “No, just a bath,” Lemon replied. “Will you take me home?” “Your home.” Indigo muttered. “We leave you by the door, ring the bell and run. You will explain that to your father.” She turned to her audience. “I have a car and I don’t drink since I think my body is a temple. Someone wants to go home too?” “My body’s a temple too.” Lemon Zest hiccuped. “That one in Lopburi, where they let monkeys shit all over the place.” “Well, we may go back to the concert,” Timber said. “I mean, my shoes are a bit dirty, but–” “Hey, I thought we were going to my house…” Twilight smiled at Timber. “My parents are visiting my brother…” “What.” Indigo raised her eyebrows. “What!?” Gloriosa turned to Timber who smiled sheepishly. “Wow.” Bulk nodded. “Umm… So…” Indigo grinned. “I’m gonna take my car and take everybody home so they, umm… can talk about their…” She looked at Twilight. “Problems? Issues? Whatever. Or, in case of Lemon, sleep them off, okay?” “Okay,” Gloriosa replied, glaring daggers at Timber. “We’ll definitely have to talk.” Half of an hour later, Indigo managed to get rid of most of her passengers. She dropped Lemon Zest at the door of her flat—literally—and drove by Twilight’s house to leave her there with Gloriosa and Timber. After that, she drove back to the concert shell, parking near the cluster of trees. “Seems that we missed Flash’s band,” Bulk muttered, listening to the echo of electronic beats coming from the stage. “He’s gonna be angry tomorrow.” “Flash? Angry?” Indigo shrugged and grabbed her phone. “I got a message from Sour Sweet. Indigo, honey, where are you? Of course you ditched us, cunt. Lovely.” She tapped the bottom of the screen.  “Had to take Lemon home. She’s an idiot. Be right back.” She sent the message. “Done.” “So, are we going back there?” Bulk asked. “Vinyl is playing, it seems.” Indigo turned to him and smiled. “Later. I mean, we’re in the park, in a car, no one’s there… Remember what we were talking about on my birthday?” Bulk shrugged. “That was a while ago… Hell, and we spent most of it not talking to each other.” “Don’t mention it,” Indigo muttered. “If I recall correctly, I said we need to do something spontaneous…” “So you mean…” Bulk’s jaw dropped. “Oh.” “Yeah.” Indigo checked the pockets of her pirate uniform. “That’s why I went to the store after we escorted Lemon to her house.” She chuckled, producing a few packs of condoms. “Learning from Sugarcoat. The guy gave me a weird look when I said I needed a few sizes…” Bulk smacked his forehead with his hand. “You could’ve asked.” “That’d ruin the surprise.” Indigo smirked and tackled Bulk, accidentally turning off the lamp inside of the car. A while later, the car horn went off for a moment, followed by the windscreen wipers being turned on. “Indigo?” Bulk asked. “Yes?” “How did you get a scar there?” “Climbing accident.” The answer was punctuated by the car rocking slightly and the right turn indicator turning on. “Don’t ask. I’ll tell you later…”