Pepper stopped short of the driveway when he saw the parked vehicles that were practically flowing into the street. How many friends exactly does Marcus have? He mentally questioned while his feet slightly scuffed across the pavement. When he began his run he had not thought about tracking how far they had gone. All he knew was that he was soaked in sweat and his muscles were sore to the bone.

  By the time he reached the end of the driveway Pepper could hear the music reverberating out of the house. He walked in to then see the holoscreen was on and showing old Golem League matches. It didn’t seem like anyone was paying attention to them though, at first glance he only saw people laughing and conversing with one another.

  He turned to his right and looked towards the kitchen. A handful of strangers were gathered in there as well. His eyes focused in on the mound of pizza boxes and drink containers scattered all about. Why in the world did I buy so many groceries if he was just going to order pizza? I thought he wanted to buy food to hose some friends… what a waste.

  Pepper rescanned the room and looked for Marcus, but couldn’t find him within the group of guests. He turned down the hallway and proceeded towards his room. Pepper walked in and noticed the bathroom door was closed. That’s weird, I don’t remember closing… He didn’t even finish his thought when the door opened up and a young woman was startled by his presence.

  She reached up and placed her hand on her chest while she gasped. “Holy crap. I was not expecting you there.” She lowered her hand and blushed. “Well, it’s all yours now.” She grinned and quickly departed the room.

  Pepper threw his hands up. “She couldn’t just wait for the other bathroom?” He looked down at Amprage who had a confused expression on his metal face.

  “You should just be happy to do take a dump on the carpet.”

  “Ha-ha.” Pepper said with rolled eyes. He walked towards his bedroom door and was about to close it. But that was when he saw a new stranger approaching.

  The guy had a curious expression and pointed towards his room. “Oh, is the bathroom already in use?”

  “Yeah, it is.” Pepper closed the door and locked it. He turned around and shook his head while started to get ready to get cleaned up. “I don’t care if Marcus has friends over, but they still need to let me have my own space.”

  “Can I have friends over?” Amprage asked.

  Pepper turned towards his familiar and threw his sweaty shirt towards him. The wet garment slapped over Amprages face and stayed there. “You don’t have any friends.”

  “Sure I do! I have Rattler.”

  “You would consider Rattler a friend?”

  “I have to start somewhere, and let’s be honest Pepper… you can be quiet boring at times.”

  Pepper turned the hot water on in the shower and then yelled back. “Look who is talking, you practically just lie around all day. What is so exciting about you?”

  “I could be far more exciting and spontaneous if you’d like me to destroy the furniture, chase mailmen, and try to make…”

  “No! You’re not doing any of those things. Especially the humping part.”

  “I didn’t know chastity was a part of our arrangement.”

  “You can’t mate… you’re, you’re metal for crying out loud.”

  “I believe I would be a great father Pepper… if only… if only you’d give me a chance.”

  Pepper shook his head and could not believe he was having such a conversation with his familiar. Thankfully the warm shower helped to drown out the topic. By the time he had gotten out of the shower

  He looked down at his holodex to see that he had missed a call from Brent. The missed call notification caused his heart to sink for a second, but at the same time, his spirit lifted. Pepper did a small leap onto his master bed and began a video call to his best friend.

  The screen loaded up and Brent answered just after the first ring. Pepper noticed that the angle and area Brent was in was very distinct. That and Brent was still wearing his Rocket Burger shirt.

  “Are… are you in the bathroom at work?”

  “Uh, yeah.”

  Pepper cringed and let out a loud sigh. “Dude, that’s gross. Why did you even pick up the call?”

  “You’re my best friend P-Dub! I mean, you’ve seen me naked in the locker room.”

  “That’s beside the point Brent.”

  “How? I mean, you’re not even able to see my junk. Besides, there aren’t secrets between besties.”

  “Secrets and modesty are two totally different things Brent!”

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “Pshh. Modesty is for cowards.”

  “The phrase you’re thinking of is, moderation is for cowards.”

  “Same thing.”

  “No, no its not… its completely different actually.”

  Brent leaned his head to one side. “I probably should have paid better attention in school.”

  “You think?” Pepper slightly nodded.

  “Not really, I should also do more of that. I probably wouldn’t have wound up in this situation if I had.”

  “What situation exactly is that?”

  “Well… we just got this new Astral Teriyaki Sauce in… it’s like… honey mustard and teriyaki sauce put together.” Brent paused and Pepper thought about how that flavor didn’t actually sound like that bad of a combination. The half second ended and Brent made a distorted expression. “It doesn’t really go well with the Blueberry Blaster Milkshake.”

  Pepper’s stomach almost upheaved on him. He fought the urge to vomit all over his sheets and then finally composed himself long enough to hold it all down. “Dude that is disgusting, why would you even…”

  “Gary dared me!”

  Pepper sighed and covered his face with his hand. “You don’t have to…”

  “I’ll never back down… that guy is like my nemesis! I don’t know how he does it, but he just knows how to get under my skin. Oh… yeah… don’t think I’ll drink it, eat it, smell it, lick it? … I will!”

  “How exactly did that work out for you when you stuck that metal wire into the wall outlet?” Pepper countered.

  Brent blinked rapidly and looked as if he was flashing through the files of his memory bank. A smile finally appeared and he huffed. “That was electrifying, to say the least.”

  “It gave you a migraine for a week and you haven’t been able to spell or say Aluminum since.”

  “Hey!” Brent pointed his finger directly at the screen. “Nobody really needs to know how to spell or say Ahma-looma-hem.”

  Pepper pressed his lips together and slowly shook his head. “You know, you could always just learn from other peoples examples. You don’t need to electrocute yourself in order to realize its not a pleasant experience.”

  “Wow dad… look at you moving away and being all super smart now.”

  It was just then that Pepper heard his door handle rattle. A firm knock arrived on the door a moment later. “Yo man… you gonna be done with the bathroom yet? I seriously got to make a deposit at the bank. If you know what I mean.”

  Pepper gritted his teeth and huffed. “It’s broken and all backed up. Repair man can’t get out here until tomorrow.”

  He could just hear a muffled sigh come from the other side of the door. “That sucks man… fine… guess I’ll just…” The voice tminied off before he could hear the end, but in the end, it didn’t matter.

  “So, how is the big city treating you?” Brent asked.

  “It’s different.”

  “Great detail P-Dub.”

  Pepper sighed and rubbed his face. “It’s nice being on my own, nice seeing and experiencing something different. But, I’m still finding my way. I got some roommates, and that has been interesting. But, I’m still feeling it all out. I’m just going to try and tough it out for now. If I make it into the Regional’s then I’ll re-assess.”

  Pepper ended just in time to hear Brent let out an explosive sound of a volcanic eruption. “Oh nelly there it is…. Oh…. Ohhh that’s better.” Brent let out an exhausted exhale and then leaned backwards on the porcelain throne. “Alright P-Dub… I gotta, finished up here and then get back to work. Thanks for calling man.”

  Pepper’s hand was covering his eyes and he dare not look at the screen. “Alright man. Please don’t answer the call next time if your on the crapper.”

  “No promises.”

  Pepper ended the call and then looked over his call list. He smiled when he saw Andrea’s name on the list. There wasn’t even a second of delay as his finger tapped to call her. The phone rang a few times but then the screen loaded up.

  “Thanks for not being on the toilet.” Pepper started with.

  Andrea coughed and formed a baffled expression while she lifted her hand up. “Umm what?”

  “I just called Brent and he answered the phone while taking a dump. So, it’s nice to see someone who answers the phone not in the same circumstances.”

  Andrea arched her eyebrow and her tongue pushed on the inside of her cheek. “Uhh, Pep… there are some things I don’t need to know about. There are also things I certainly don’t need the mental image of. That’s one of them. Mk?”

  “Hey, if I had to suffer you have to suffer.”

  She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I’ve suffered enough this week… right now, all I want is a break from this… messed up life that I live in.”

  Pepper could see the stress in her eyes and she glanced off to the side of the holodex camera. The tone in her voice spoke more than her words. “I’m sorry hun.”

  She huffed. “There is no need for you to be sorry. You didn’t cause the rift war. You didn’t force my dad to serve in the military. You didn’t cause my mom to die. You didn’t cause my dad to… suffer from this awful poison that pulls him farther away from me everyday.”

  There was a long pause between them. “I know, but… I am still sorry that you’re there having to deal with all of this. I wish there was something, anything I could do.”

  He saw a fresh tear fall from her face and she quickly brushed it away and worked to regain her composure. “I just wish you were here. I just want to lay with you in the hammock in your workshop. Forget about all this shit going on around me.”

  “I wish we could too.”

  She paused and started to readjust the pillows on her bed. She shifted her holodex around and placed it on the nightstand. Her lips pressed together after she shifted on her bed and laid down. Her eyes still struggled to look at the camera but she then softly spoke. “Dad said he missed you too.”

  Pepper grinned. “He did?”

  Andrea’s gaze off to the side told Pepper that she was replaying the memory in her mind. She softly smiled and finally looked to the camera. Her eyes made his heart melt and she slowly nodded her head. “Yeah. You’re the first boyfriend he has ever said that about.”

  “Well, I’m happy he likes me.”

  She chuckled. “That makes the two of us.” She reached her hand up and shifted her hair, tucking it behind her ear. “I had to take him into urgent care today. A little bit of a scare for a little while, but… the doctors were able to patch him up. Again… He was resting in his room and said how he wished you were here to watch some football with.”

  “I’m guessing he insisted you go home to get some rest of your own.”

  “Surprise, surprise.” Andrea paused and then looked as if the grief was beginning to pull hard on her. “I don’t think he has much longer Pep. There are days where I feel like he is just holding on for me. There are days where I just wish he did pass away… that it would end his suffering and he could finally be… anywhere but here. Pretty shitty to think about huh?”

  Pepper’s heart sank and at that moment he wished he was a super hero that could just teleport to her side. “I don’t think anyone could judge you for wanting to see your dad no longer suffer. It seems like a natural feeling to have. I don’t think you should feel guilty at all. You love your dad to the point that you just wish his suffering would end. I can’t even imagine the storm your battling inside right now.”

  A new tear arrived on her face, this time though, she let it fall and land upon her bed. “I hate this.”

  “I know Andrea. I… I get it.”

  “I miss you.”

  “I miss you too.”