————- | | | ☢

                             ❝ This tastes like  straight up klunk. ❞                                     But even as he finishes, he takes                                   another drink  of the amber liquid                                   sloshing around in the mason jar.                                   Something  warm  buzzes  in  his                                   head,    and  he looks over at the                                   other with  a faint smirk.    ❝ Bet                                   you can’t chug it. ❞

                      ❝ Watch me. ❞

[ + subjectal ]

          ❛ think you need to take it             easy for a bit, shuck-face.             you look like you’re about             to pass out. ❜

              // ♔

Eyes watch the other boy as he spoke, seeming to be having an internal war with himself and Newt’s expression was all pinched trying to figure  out what exactly the kid was on about. It was like Thomas was apologizing - not with his words but with his eyes and his actions. Everything the other male had done the past week had apologies etched all over - each touch, each glance, each favor - and Newt could feel the guilt practically radiating off of him. He had an idea what this was all about.                     ❝ I think I know what this is about                                        Listen Tommy, look at my face. ❞  Pausing a beat he waited for the other to look, his expression hard and square, no signs of the softness that previously took on his features. ❝ Now do I look like a bloody shank who’s gonna go broodin’ away on a grudge for a kid that wants me around so  badly he was dumb enough to drag my poor sorry arse out of it  all alive? ❞ The question was mostly rhetorical, but his eyebrows were raised like he expected an answer. Although his words came out sounding harsh, they were intricately laced throughout with unmistakable care for the boy sitting beside him.  ❝ Look I know the world isn’t posies and peaches, but I’ve come this far, there’s no sense in moping about it. ❞ He finishes, leaning back so he was lying propped  up on his shoulders - a move that made the previous  conversation feel so casual despite it being the  complete opposite.                                        ❝ 'Sides, if you hadn’t done it then                                         you’d never hear the end of it from                                         Minho. Shank would lecture your ear                                          off - trust me the kid can lecture. ❞

      ❝ I didn’t do it to save myself a lecture. But it’s definitely an added             bonus. He would’ve done the same thing, you know. If it were him.               Probably thought that I’d listen better than that stubborn shank. ❞

              // ♔

(   A laugh slips from the boy’s tongue and he shakes his head, throwing an arm around Thomas and pulling him marginally closer. It was a move that was so fluid - so natural, as if he’d been doing it his entire life. He couldn’t tell if that was a Newt thing or a Thomas thing, but he also couldn’t remember being real touchy feely with any of the other gladers, so he considered it the ladder and brushed it off.   )              ❝ I’m only pulling your leg - listen, you know Gally yeah?                 Gally’s a real proper Slinthead sometimes, but he’s got a                 funny way of showin’ he cares and that’s how he does it.                 He’s just watching out for his brothers. You just gotta earn                 his trust - make him think he’s in control of the situation. ❞     (   Newt shrugged, reaching over to take the last bite of the            sandwich from Thomas’ hands, eyebrows lifting as if to             challenge him to take it back before slipping it past his lips.   )                                    ❝ What you dreamin’ about anyway?                                                                                  Me, dare I ask? ❞

        ❝ Why does he get to be in control? I thought that was Alby’s job?                      And yours. I’d follow you over him any day. ❞

————- | | | ☢

                              Oh. Oh shuck. He feels Thomas relax under his legs,                               but his   words   are what get him.  He makes a face,                                grateful that  Thomas can’t  see  just how affected he                               is by the comment,   and after a moment of gathering                               his wits once more,     he grips  the  back  of Thomas’                               neck, fingers just shy of rough. 

                         ❝ It’s like  you  were made to  beg,   Tommy, ❞                               he says, voice teasing, but regardless with                               one last squeeze he  rolls off the other boy.                               He sits next to him,     leaning  back  on his                               hands,  and is grateful that his pants aren’t                               too tight. Life is rough sometimes.   

       ❝ I’m waitin’ on the sappy love declarations,            dude.    Better  make me swoon or you’re            gonna be eating dirt again. ❞

(   xcurrere.   )

               ❝ Hey, Minho--?        Where’s the cafeteria? ❞

              // ♔

His words are harsh & cold but just underneath the surface is a warmth and fondness for Thomas that he can’t quite explain to even himself. He’s not one to ask to be taken care of - prefers to be self reliant and is unrelentingly independent - and he’s positive if it was any other person in the entire would that had asked he wouldn’t have even given them the time of day. Thomas was different - he understood where the concern rooted from and he didn’t blame him. What he had asked Thomas to do was impossible, and he knew seeing Newt in that state of mind must have been traumatizing.                                     He only wishes he could blame                                                          the sting for his words. Stretching out his leg he gives Thomas an impressed look, rolling his pant leg down to cover a leg marred with scars that he was ashamed of and often kept hidden.                            ❝ Not bad Tommy boy. ❞ And although                              it’s spoken with a bite it’s said with sincerity,                              his lips twitching up into a smile and he is                              grateful underneath that hardened shell.                                                          And yes, it felt a lot better. He watched Thomas a moment before he speaks up, examining the boy who always seemed so nervous around Newt lately. He knows it’s because of the incident, but he neither of them have really talked about it since it happened. ❝ I’m not gonna croak the second you turn your   back.  You   know   that   don’t   you? ❞