#it really wasn't my intention to get more people 😰😰

[plulp]

guys i'm so sorry i write so much i promise i'm trying to get better at it 😣 i just have so much to say all the time but i promise i'll try to tone it down since i don't want to clutter your dashes

[nothingtoseehere-7788]

One Man's Trash - Bitter Taste Test

Luke was sitting in a booth waiting for his order when Trisha slid into the other side with her backpack and placed her order number next to his. “I was starting to think you weren't coming T, first time I've seen you be late.”

“I'm really sorry, midterms have me stressed.” She hastily worked on unpacking as a waitress dropped off his sandwich and fries. “By the way, do you think I could…” She lowered her voice and couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

“Can you show me how to tie those knots I sent you in real time?” He looked up at her without moving his head. She shook her head looking away. “Then I can do it for you if you'd like but your rope stays with me. Sorry, T but it's a safety thing especially after you confirmed having shooting pains. Part of me wondered if that was the only reason you asked to study with me.”

“Well I don’t actually know a lot of people in class and I've been really struggling with the study guide and I know you're pretty good with the material, so I really appreciate the help.” 

Her food arrived and they started to go over the practice problems for about an hour before Trisha started to space out. After Luke had to work to get her attention the fifth time he snapped.

“I'm sorry T, is trying to pass this test boring you?” He asked sarcastically. “I mean it's only worth 25% of our grade. You're the one who wanted help.”

“I know, I'm sorry, I'm just… I thought I could do this and be normal, but I just keep…dwelling. I'm not sure what to do…” She fiddled with her straw for a minute hoping he would cut into the conversation but he just looked at her with an annoyed expression. “Do you think…” she trailed off again.

“I’m always thinking T. If you want something from me you're going to have to use your words.” She made a small distressed noise. 

“Can… can we play some kind of study game?” He let a small smile play on his lips.

“Some kind of game huh? Sure, I think I could whip up an innocent little game, make it interesting…” She gave another soft whine. “Not what you had in mind?”

“You know what I meant.” She muttered moving the straw in her cup sadly.

“Perhaps, but it would be a shame to incorrectly assume your intentions. I don't want to push your boundaries until you ask me to. Explicitly so.” He drained the last of his drink. “So what's it going to be? A nice game, giving up for the day, or something else? I can't entertain you all day - I have other midterms to study for.” 

She took a deep breath and looked up bravely. “Please, I would like-” A group of people walked by and her courage faltered. Luke rolled his eyes and sent a text. 

‘Does asking this way help?’ Her shoulders relaxed a little reading it. 

‘Yes. I want to play a mean game plz.’ Her eyes flicker nervously from her phone to across the table.

‘Like at the gym? I can easily arrange something similar, but you won't like it.’ She looked up at him considering her options and he lifted an eyebrow. ‘I mean it. you really won't like it.’

‘...why does that make me want it more? 😰’ He actually chuckled across the table from her. It sounded nice on the surface but it made her uneasy. ‘yes plz, let's play.🥺’ 

‘remember you asked for this Trash ☠’

“Alright, continuing it is, let me refill your drink.” Before she could protest he had scooped up her half full drink and left with a wink. If she wasn't so nervous she probably would have noticed he didn't ask an important question. 

When he returned she fidgeted in her seat partly from excitement and partly from nervousness. “Alright, so the rule of the game is when you miss a question, you have to take a drink, and I mean a decent sized gulp. Nope!” He put a hand on her cup as she tried to pull the lid off to see what it was. “No peeking! Just pray for a perfect game which might be hard with your track record.” 

“Okay. Thank you for doing a game.” She started reorienting her notes to focus.

“You know these things are purely my pleasure, but I would also like a thank you after your first punishment swallow. Now, would you like to start with the study guide questions or the flash cards?” They started going through flash cards and she was the first to miss three questions in. “You were so close T, but now you have to suffer the consequences.”

She picked up the cup and pulled the straw to her mouth. It had an unpleasant smell yet was vaguely familiar as well. As she started to take the sip she looked up to see the sideways smirk. The moment the liquid hit her tongue she fought back a small retch and lowered the cup.

“Remember, biiiiig swallow T.” She grimaced and tried again, this time pulling enough of the bitter, salty liquid into her mouth as quickly as she could and working hard to force it all the way down. By the time she succeeded her entire mouth tasted like whatever was in the cup and Luke's smile became a full blown grin. “Very incentivizing, yes?”

“Very!” She agreed frantically reaching for the only other cup available to wash out the taste. He pulled his cup out of her reach. “Oh come on, please! What even was that?”

“I can't have you contaminate my soda with your pottymouth.” She rolled her eyes at the juvenile insult, stuffing the last crumbs from her food into her mouth in desperation before something clicked. 

“No…” she whispered quietly, causing him to chuckle softly. 

“Oh yes, and I've been hitting the caffeine and junk food hard so it must be especially unpleasant today. I did cut it with green tea though. If you want another drink you can get yourself one of those clear plain water cups.” She groaned loudly but slid out of her seat to get a water cup. “By the way, you still owe me a thank you.” He added upon her return.

She looked at him wide eyed as she took her seat again. “Thank you for doing a game…” The breathless embarrassed tone she had previously was gone. In its place was a dejected sulking. 

“It is,” he said slowly with long pauses between his words, “purely my pleasure.” She pulled her arms closer to her body as if they would shield her from his icy tone. “Next question.” 

She focused hard answering more questions but still had to take two more punishment sips while he still hadn't missed any answers. She had tried to hold her nose on her second sip and it hadn't made a difference. She was able to swallow pretty quickly on her third sip. 

“Luke?” One of the guys who was glued to his side during class stopped by the table. “And…let me guess, sweatshirt girl.” She frowned at the title especially since she opted for a jean jacket today. 

“Her name is Trisha. Trisha, this is Bo, he's one of my roommates. You here to study? You can join in if you want.” Trisha gave an uncomfortable shimmy across the table partnered with a kick underneath it, both of which he ignored.

“Well I brought all my Spanish stuff to study, but if you don't mind I gotta study for this test too.”

“No problem. We're even playing a study game you can join in.” Sheer panic crossed her face and she dealt a harder kick.

“Haha, no wonder she's got that look.” He laughed with a side glance. “What sick twisted game did you get this poor girl into?”

“Shots fired.” Bo gave a low whistle. “She's three shots in.”

“And you willingly let him fill your cup? Three in? Respect sweatshirt girl.” Bo gave her an approving head nod. “Alright, I'm down, just no backwash in the punishment cup.” 

“Naw, she's got bitter. I'll make you your own.” He gave a wink to Trisha who was in a state of terrified resignation.

“Only if I get to make yours. Revenge is a bitch.” Bo set his bag down in the booth.

“I'll take your cup, but you should know I got a perfect game so far. Keep an eye on our stuff T.” Luke slid out of the booth and headed with Bo to the counter. They returned with two more table numbers and sat on the same side of the booth opposite her. 

“B-T-dubs good to officially meet you Trisha. Or do you prefer T?” Bo asked pulling out his limited supplies.

“Trisha is fine. Nice to meet you too Bo. We were just about to start the study guide.” She calmed down a little knowing her secret drink would remain just that.

“Nice, I finished it last night. Well mostly. At least I got a bit of a head start on the game.”

“Head start?” Trisha looked confused at Luke. Who put on a fake look of surprise.

“Oh my gosh, I didn't tell you about how the game ends?” Trisha paled and shook her head.

“First to take a leak loses. The more shots you take the closer you get to the ultimate loss. House rules state that loser chugs the rest of their drink.” Bo explained. Trisha stared at her cup shaking slightly. 

“I'd like to remind you that you were warned you wouldn't like the game.” A few tears started to well up in her eyes.

“Yo, you gotta be careful with this guy. Rumor has it he got his place in our room because of how good he was at making…what are we calling them now? Pledge bonding activities. Shit, did you break her?” 

“Do you wanna stop while you're ahead T?” She looked at Luke's face and marveled at how neutral he could make it. “You don't have to go through with it.”

“Three shots is pretty savage for a first try with the game master. No shame in it.” Bo agreed trying to open his drink only to have Luke put his hand on the lid like he'd done with her. “Damn, okay man. Anyway let's get started you can think about it. I got a blank copy, we can all do questions then compare, everyone gets a chance to lose.”

Everyone had good run of answers for awhile, the basket of fries Luke got for them to share helped raise her spirits as well. Bo was the first to miss an answer.

“Shit…here goes…” He took his large mouthful in quickly and swallowed with some difficulty slamming his hand on the table. “Fucking sour? Why sour?”

“Second easiest to make. Plus you hate it.” Trisha couldn't help but smile a little at not being the only victim today. “Next question.” Two questions later only Luke got the answer correct.

“You in?” Bo asked. She nodded and picked up the drink nervously. “Together. 3. 2. 1.” They both took their punishment swallows and made a face after. Trisha ate a fry and took a sip of water but it wasn't any help. 

“How do fries make it worse?” She asked with a firm grip on the table.

“Just rank. Foul and rank.” Bo added before drinking from his water cup. 

“All the better to help motivate you two slackers.” Luke offered. “We're almost done. And I'm pretty sure the game is almost over.” Trisha looked up from her problem to see him staring at her. 

“Me?” Bo looked up at her too, making her blush. 

“I don't know T, do you always have such a pronounced leg bounce?”

“Wha- oh fuck…” she put a hand on her leg to try and keep it steady. “Let's just try and get through this fast.” 

Bo missed the next two in a row which made his face pucker extra on his last drink. He was relying heavily on his food as a palette cleanser. The next question Bo and Trisha both groaned as they got the same thing different from Luke.

“Wait…” Bo stopped her just in time with a huge smile. “Revenge, served chilled. Make sure you give it a good shake buddy.” Luke rolled his eyes and picked up his drink. He gave it a few stirs and swivels before taking a large mouthful before forcing it down.

“It seems…that you're getting better at these. This is truly disgusting. The Italian dressing was a nice touch.” He took a sip of his water and made a face.

“Fuck yeah! And fuck you!” Bo held up a hand across the table. “Don't leave me hanging here Trisha…” She looked away from Luke's face and gave Bo his high five with a smile. 

“Alright, alright, last question.” Luke said de-escalating the situation. Miraculously they all got it correct but Trisha was biting her lip and holding her stomach. Her phone buzzed and she saw a text message from Luke

‘You gonna drink mine and sit in yours  all in the same day or will you excuse yourself like a lady and accept the consequences Trash?’

“I don't think I can hold it…” She said with a loud groan. “I'll be right back…” She quickly made her way to the restroom, fidgeting on the spot waiting for a stall to open. She barely had the patience to wipe the seat dry before sitting and relieving her aching bladder.

She washed her hands slowly and did a walk of shame back to the table. The boys had divvied up the study materials into neat piles so she could pack her stuff more easily.

“Thank you…” She said putting things in her binder and folders while they finished packing up their bags.

“Sure thing.” Bo said with a grin. “This was pretty helpful. You really don't have to chug it, you still get mad props for making it to the end.” She blinked and looked from Bo to Luke.

“I had my fun, do what you want.” he shrugged without much interest.

She picked up the cup to see how much was left, still about half her cup. She pulled the top off and tipped it back, swallowing it as fast as she could before slamming the cup down and coughing. She quickly followed it by draining her water cup.

“Daaaaamn girl.” Bo said. Her phone buzzed again.

‘Only truly disgusting Trash chugs cold fucking piss like that. This is a new low.’ 

“That was really intense…” she finally managed.

“Bet. I see why he likes you. You should bring her around to a party sometime Luke. I gotta jump but it was nice to meet ya Trisha.”

“You too!” They waved after Bo as he left the restaurant leaving them in a loaded silence.

“By the way Luke, you were wrong.” Trisha spoke up first while staring at her empty cup.

“About?” He asked vaguely with his head buried in his backpack

“I had fun. Really, thank you for doing this game.” She gave him a sincere smile that he returned with a proud smirk.

“It is purely my pleasure T. Thanks for playing along the full time. I had my doubts a few times.” He spoke casually as he tidied the trash on the table. 

“Me too,” she admitted. “But…I even though I hated doing it… I still loved it. And I think…” She took a long pause. “I think a part of me wanted to impress you. I tried to walk away, but I really want to give this a try if you're still up for it.” 

“I'd like that. If we're going to do this long term then I think we'll need to get some labels. Boyfriend/girlfriend to the outside world at the very least. We’ll have another chat after midterms to talk out everything else. Are you good with that?” He broke out that smile that made her knees go weak.

“I think I’m going to really enjoy being your girlfriend…”

[jojotichakorn]

Wasn't my intention to use you as a messenger Archer, but here I am (I know you don't mind though, our anon hero, you are the best 💛)

Archer, unrealiable anon, I'm 🥺🥺🥺

Didn't realise I was first??

Yes, you all have my sideblog to connect me to, but what do you really know about me? /j

I am revealing more of myself in my tags recently though, and I'm comfortable being more open about who I am.

So on that note and about me thinking I don't belong at the roundtable, it just... didn't occur to me at all?? Which might be a cultural thing? I heard some years ago (I think it was from a German's perspective) that with us Norwegians, it's easy to break the ice with people because everyone is nice and friendly towards each other, but it's harder to know when or if you are actually friends with someone or if you're just on friendly terms. So I might read kindness only as politeness, if that makes sense? That being friendly is something you do out of obligation, and not genuinely? (Here I just want to point out that I don't know the other anons here obvs, but I consider you all my friends - our little anon community 💛)

Oooor maybe it's just my shyness/emotional baggage/insecurities showing 👉👈

Love, song rec anon 💛

you were, in fact, the first, dear!! if not for you, i might not have had so many amazing anons!

for myself, i can definitely say that my politeness only goes so far. i am a very genuine person and basically don't have a filter (which often gets me in trouble 😰), and i'm also very literal, so when i say that you are definitely a part of the roundtable and that i really like you (/p), i mean it. very much so. everyone who is a part of the roundtable loves you and thinks you are really cool 😌