Late Nights (Devereverwood)

Ollie watched Echo’s expression shift from happy to disgusted in a matter of seconds. “No way it’s that bad,” he said aloud, grabbing a cheese covered fry and leaning across the table to dip it in her shake once she set her glass down. He pulled a similar face only moments after popping the strawberry shake – cheesy fry combo in his mouth. “Merlin’s hairy balls, it is that bad.” He swallowed and continued his dramatic reaction by sticking his tongue out and fake gagging. He looked ridiculous; Echo was a lucky lady.

“You ‘oming over ‘is weeken’?” he asked through a mouthful of artery-clogging goodness. He had practice scheduled, but no actual matches until the following weekend. Echo probably had her own plans like work or hanging out with his sisters and definitely not talking about him because that would be weird and Ollie liked to pretend it didn’t happen even though he was sure it did. He swallowed and spoke more clearly now. “We could see a film or something.”

A new broom kit? Really? Ollie felt a little deflated over the snub, but didn’t take offense to it. Perhaps it was a really exciting kit or maybe she just needed a break from him. After the face he’d just pulled, he really couldn’t blame her. “Alright, maybe I’ll check with Rom or Sera then. If you change your mind…” He shoved a large bite into his mouth without finishing his sentence, knowing the intent had been expressed and hoping she’d finish with her broom early and want to hang out.

“Oh, yeah. Right. I totally knew that,” he played with enough egotistical sincerity to be completely unbelievable. He grinned as Echo moved out from her side of the booth and snuggled into his side. He scooted over to give her more room. She asked if he really thought she’d ditch him for a broom and the honest answer was yes. She was really good at flying, just like he was, and flying was really fun. If given the option between hanging with himself and flying, Ollie would probably choose the broom as well, though not for lack of self-esteem but honestly, have you been on a broom?! “No, not just any old broom, but maybe, like, a really good one.” He nodded earnestly at her, a goofy grin spreading over his face. His face usually hurt after spending time with Echo; between all the snogging and the ear-to-ear grinning, his mouth got quite a workout.

At first Ollie just thought she was agreeing with him but then her words became more exaggerated and the milkshake that was halfway down his throat suddenly became lodged. His eyes were wide like that of a deer caught in the beam of a car’s headlamps. He coughed instinctively and set his glass on the table much harder than he had meant to in his rush to cover his mouth so that he wasn’t coughing up milkshake all over his girlfriend. The glass cracked but his sputtering potentially covered the sound of it as Ollie struggled hard to swallow and breath. “Check,” he said in a raised voice to get the waiter’s attention but it came out high pitched and pre-pubescent. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Check please,” he said in a falsely deeper voice.