System Failure (A Hayden Tree x Brandon Hoover Story)

III

"Tree. Where is your head?" Escamilla asked as Caity passed by the two of us, blowing me a small kiss with her pass. I brushed off the affection and rolled my eyes at the sight. Of course I cared about the girl, but not nearly as much as she wanted; even my dreams knew it.

"Man, you haven't touched your food. What's wrong?" He asked, itching behind the thick brown plugs in his ears. I shrugged and pushed the tray away from me.

"Initiate training must be fucking with my head. I don't know. I have to feed them once everyone leaves and by God does that sound fun?" I asked sarcastically, picking at the slice of bread on my plate. His eyes widened as he laughed at me.

"Man, what'd you do to make Bones mad enough to give you that one?" He asked through fits of laughter. I rolled my eyes and threw a handful of eggs at his face and hair, licking my fingers once the egg had left my hand.

"Guess I wasn't pulling my load but Leo was?" I asked, rolling my eyes at the statement. He laughed loudly and ate the egg from his face and hair with a shrug.

"Andrew Leo pulling more work than you. Never thought I'd see the day." He began to laugh, pushing his toast into his mouth. I rolled my eyes and popped a small red grape in my mouth, huffing loudly.

"Yeah. He probably swallowed Bones's seed and suddenly has been pulling a bigger load than all of us combined." I scoffed, throwing three more in my gob. Dave choked on his bread but nodded in agreement as he laughed.

"Probably." He huffed through the bite, dusting off his hands as he picked at the ham on his tray.

"You gonna eat yours?" He asked, sliding the pink meat in his mouth. I shook my head no and pushed the tray towards him, munching on the fruits and vegetables on the plate; stomach too weak to eat anything else. I finished the carrot I had been munching on and watched as Dave shoved the food from my plate and his in his mouth, practically inhaling it.

"Tell me something, Tree." He smirked, speaking around food. I bobbed my head upwards as I popped a piece of sweet orange mellon in my mouth.

"Shoot." I spoke, licking the juice off my dirty fingers, nose scrunching at the metallic background taste of dirt and whatever things I may have touched before the meal.

"Babcock," He began, grin growing wide as my eyes narrowed.

"What's going on there?" He taunted, biting his bottom lip as I raised my tattooed middle finger.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing is going on with us. Why do you ask?" I asked sarcastically, smiling sweetly and widely.

"Spill it." He began to laugh, taking big bites of ham. I rolled my eyes and crunched on a carrot before speaking.

"It's not secret that the girl is a babe. Alright? I took advantage and invited her to spend the night if you know what I mean." I began with a wink, nudging him while laughing, crunching into the orange vegetable.

"Well, it's not the mating season so we keep quiet, and when I'm done, she tells me her first name, and I'm like 'Fuck, dude. How do I respond?' I just wanted a girl who would look pretty while we fucked. Right? And so when I don't respond, she pushes on and tells me 'Tree, I love you.'" Dave's eyes go wide and he laughs loudly at my story, earning a raised finger from me yet again.

"Needless to say, that's the last time I fuck a girl in this damn camp. They all want to settle down and fall in love. Fuck that." I scoffed.

"Just trying to get myself off without doing it myself." I spat, rolling my eyes. He laughed loudly once more before taking his last bite of food.