[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ABcja6m.png[/img][h2][color=7B9D7B]the brood[/color][color=937CAB]ing bros[/color][/h2][/center] [color=5c5c5c][right][h3] c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h [@Kautalya][/h3][sub]i n t e r a c t i o n s. none at the moment l o c a t i o n. Dorm ► Kitchen ► Festival Grounds[/sub][/right][/color][hr] [color=5c5c5c][right][b][sup]—————————————— 6:05 AM - Dorm [Room 223] ——————————————[/sup][/b][/right][/color] [color=aaaaaa]It wasn’t strange for Ezekiel to be under his covers, usually wrapped from head to toe in a protective layer. It wasn’t strange for him to be scrolling through his Instagram timeline—especially this early in the morning—and it wasn’t strange that he barely had gotten any sleep last night (as if he ever gets [i]any[/i] sleep), mostly spending his time on his phone reading an e-book, or watching YouTube with the volume low. Eyes hanging low and his lips pressed in a tight, thin, line; Ezekiel huffed out a sigh loud enough to shake the bed, as his eyes traveled to the bold outline of the numbers: 6:05 AM. It was so so so early and his sleep was interrupted by the loud tremors of his nightmares. Ever since he was young, Ezekiel had trouble sleeping because of some nightmares, but it usually occurred after his modeling gigs. The most you could say was that [i]maybe[/i]–just maybe, Ezekiel was just tired and drained from everything and anything at once (but he’ll argue by saying he hasn’t done anything worthy enough to be so tired of this empty life he holds.) Ezekiel groaned. He hated when he got like this. [color=7B9D7B]“[i]Okay.[/i]”[/color] He huffed out, and in a flash, the boy hopped out of his covers, his feet touched the floorboards of his room. His disheveled brown locks, his baggy white t-shirt that hugged his lean build, his tired droopy eyes that were of a dark brown (his eldest brother used to tease Ezekiel by saying its of a ‘poop’ color and wasn’t anything special–Ezekiel opted out of his modeling gigs for a week because of how insecure he got about his non-special eyes), and his 5 o’ clock shadow, all characterized the young boy known as Ezekiel. Stepping out of his room, the first thing he did was check the littered plants that surrounded the room. Touching the leaves of the plants, and speaking softly to them (whispering praises), Ezekiel’s mind was completely somewhere else. Usually, he wouldn't be [i]this[/i] tired but not sleeping for two nights in a row killed him. He was always sleeping and always lounging around to the point that his roommate, Tobias Macaya, would do everything a mother would. And although Ezekiel hated it at first—he would be woken up on time, tucked in, and at one point Tobias read him a bedtime story? It was a strange warm feeling but Ezekiel rubbed it off as Tobias being too into his caretaking role and taking this more as a joke than anything else— He was [i]so tired[/i]. [color=937CAB]“Oh.”[/color] Ezekiel turned towards the voice, [color=937CAB]“You’re up.”[/color] Ezekiel hummed in response, returning back to his plants. [color=937CAB]“I was just about to wake you.”[/color] [color=7B9D7B]“Yeah.”[/color] [color=937CAB]“It’s early.”[/color] [color=7B9D7B]“Yeah.”[/color] [color=937CAB]“And you’re up.”[/color] [color=7B9D7B]“Yea–”[/color] [color=937CAB]“If you say [i]yeah[/i] again, I swear to the lords above, Lysander.”[/color] Ezekiel turns around, narrows his eyes and snorts. [color=7B9D7B]“And what are [i]you[/i] going to do?”[/color] Tobias stepped backwards—just a little bit—and stared down at the smaller boy before him. It wasn’t strange for them to bicker at times being as how they knew each other already for two years, but there were cases where Tobias didn’t exactly know whether Ezekiel was joking or not ([i]Was he mad? Did I insult him? Did I offend him? What can I say? What can I do?[/i]) He must’ve looked so stunned and confused that Ezekiel shook his head and chuckled, [color=7B9D7B]“That was a pretty bold statement.”[/color] The boy turned towards his plants again, [color=7B9D7B]“[i]Cassandro.[/i]”[/color] Tobias looked up the ceiling and back down—a method he perfected as an alternative to rolling his eyes—then turned his attention back towards Ezequiel. [color=937CAB]“Not smooth dude—”[/color] Crossing his arms, [color=937CAB]“—using my thing against me? I said your middle name [i]first[/i], you can’t use that again–yeah, nah, nope.”[/color] Ezekiel’s spits out a yawn. [color=7B9D7B]“A kid.”[/color] He turns around and shuffles closer to Tobias. [color=7B9D7B]“You’re a kid.”[/color] Tobias had no comeback to that, aside from the fleeting thought of saying “I know you are but what am I?” But he knew that would’ve most likely proven Ezequiel’s point even further. So, he kept his mouth shut. [color=7B9D7B]“Plus,”[/color] Ezequiel drawled, nonchalance dripping from each syllable. [color=7B9D7B]“Who said you owned middles names, anyways?”[/color] Tobias squints his eyes, [color=937CAB]“I [i]don’t own[/i] middle names. I just—uhm—uh—clai—claim the comeback.”[/color] [color=7B9D7B]“Nice clapback there, Cassandro.”[/color] Ezekiel snorts. Again. Tobias opts for a clipped sigh as a response and walks towards his bathroom, taking Ezequiel’s snort as a sign to leave. He had spent all night binge watching a new anime series—he really doesn’t remember if he actually ever closed his eyes—so his patience wasn’t the bottomless pit it usually was. He looked into the mirror to stare back at lifeless eyes and dark shadows hanging right under, proceeds to wash his face and then brush his teeth. Tobias showers and gets ready all in the span of 30 minutes, walking back towards their shared space to find Ezequiel exactly where he left him. [color=937CAB]“Dude.”[/color] Tobias says. He flings a clean towel towards Ezequiel. [color=937CAB]“Go get ready”[/color] He waits for a response. Silence. [color=937CAB]“Ezequiel,”[/color] Tobias takes a deep breath. [color=937CAB]“[i]Lysander Brown.[/i]”[/color] A twitch of a shoulder. Tobias grins. [color=937CAB]“Pickles and Carrots are able to wait until you’re done for their morning pep talk.”[/color] Tobias starts, voice muffled—but still teasing—as he slips on his t-shirt. [color=937CAB]“I’m sure they don’t like morning breath on them this early either.”[/color] Ezequiel’s head whips around to face Tobias, his eyes narrowing in disgust. His hand defensively going towards the pink tipped succulent he had just been whispering to. [color=7B9D7B]“[i]This[/i] is Corn, you uncultured dumbass.”[/color] He then points to the plant next to Corn (which, Tobias noted, looked exactly the same as Corn) and deadpanned, [color=7B9D7B]“And this is Onion.”[/color] [color=937CAB]“Right, right.”[/color] Tobias raised his hands placatingly, dropping the socks he had just picked up in the motion. [color=937CAB]“You never really introduced me, so like, can you really blame me?”[/color] He barrels on ahead with the clear intent of not letting Ezequiel get a word in and continues, [color=937CAB]“But really, you should start getting ready. I wanna go make some breakfast before we head down.”[/color] Breakfast this. Breakfast that. Get ready. Get dressed—[i]does he ever shut up?[/i] Ezekiel lightly placed down his succulent(Corn) and kept his eyes steady on Tobias. Without uttering another word, he pushed past the taller boy (with the intent of aggression but then it turned to a slight nudge) and shut the bathroom door behind him. Taking off his t-shirt and boxers, Ezekiel stuffed himself in the shower. He tapped his head against the wall and sighed, his locks sticking to his forehead while the warm water hit his face. He had hoped that his face wasn’t so—[i]awful[/i]. Dragging his hands over his face, Ezekiel took in a small breath and wrinkled his eyebrows together (he was so tired.) (Apparently Ezekiel’s shower time was taking like [i]5 hours[/i] because he heard the rapid knocks at the door and Tobias asking if he was dead in there or something stupid like that.) [color=5c5c5c][right][b][sup]—————————————— 9:20 AM - Kitchen [Common Area] ——————————————[/sup][/b][/right][/color] Their time at the kitchen was spent with Ezekiel teasing Tobias over his burnt egg, stating that if it were him, the meal wouldn’t have been so burnt. It was funny to see Tobias flustered (seeing as how Ezekiel often took notice that Tobias doesn’t go out of his way to show when something is bothering him.) His eyes wandered off to the entrance of the common living area and heard the boisterous sounds of the students. Tobias rambling in the background about how his cooking isn’t so awful so there was no reason for Ezekiel to make fun of him like that; while Ezekiel chewed on the piece of bread and listened to the murmurs and [i]pitter patters[/i] of the students outside of the common area. [color=7B9D7B]“Festival.”[/color] He interrupts. [color=937CAB]“Huh?”[/color] [color=7B9D7B]“Festival.”[/color] His eyebrows furrowed when he sees the confused face on Tobias never changing. [color=7B9D7B]“[i]For real?[/i] The festival, dumbass. There’s a festival going on.”[/color] [color=937CAB]“Alright, yeah? Uh? I knew that?”[/color] He watches as Tobias places the dishes in the sink. [color=937CAB]“Why? You going?”[/color] [color=7B9D7B]“Thought you would.”[/color] He says, dryly. [color=937CAB]“Yeah man, it's a festival.”[/color] [color=7B9D7B]“Yeah. A [i]welcoming[/i] festival.”[/color] Ezekiel makes sure to say, as if to say it’s going to be boring so there’s no point and lets just stay in our dorms for the whole day before we have to go through the torture that's called school—Tobias finishes washing his dishes, turns around and grins at Ezekiel. [color=937CAB]“More of a reason to go.”[/color] He continues, [color=937CAB]“[i]dumbass.[/i]”[/color] [color=5c5c5c][right][b][sup]—————————————— 9:45 AM - Bulletin Board [Festival Entrance] ——————————————[/sup][/b][/right][/color] [color=937CAB]“Huuuuuh.”[/color] Tobias says, [color=937CAB]“Zombie?”[/color] They both find themselves staring up at the bulletin board, their hands by their sides and their bodies relaxed. Ezekiel’s hands are stuffed in his black hoodie's pocket, hair in braids while the freckles that are scattered on his face wrinkle upwards in his expression of annoyance. [color=7B9D7B]“Ugh, at least you didn’t get [i]old news.[/i]”[/color] He continues, [color=7B9D7B]“What am I? An old man? The fuck.”[/color] [color=937CAB]“Bueeeeeeenooooo,”[/color] Tobias laughs and turns to face Ezekiel, [color=937CAB]“You talk to [i]plants[/i], man.”[/color] [color=7B9D7B]“Pause.”[/color] Ezekiel turns to Tobias, [color=7B9D7B]“Someone who watches anime should not be coming at me about my damn children. [i]Dique bueno[/i], shut the fuck up loser.”[/color] [color=937CAB]“Welp.”[/color] [color=7B9D7B]“See what I mean?”[/color] Ezequiel rolls his eyes and stares back at the bulletin board. [color=7B9D7B]“Whatever, It’s dumb shit anyways.”[/color] [color=937CAB]“Language, sir.”[/color] [color=7B9D7B]“Fuck. You.”[/color] Then, as if on queue, they both turn to walk deeper towards the festival grounds, the crowd already swallowing them in.[hr][/color]