Out Of Focus (Wattys 2023)

30. Six Peas In A Muffin.

"Would now be a bad time to bake the muffins or should we wait until you give us a better explanation of how exactly we got to this point Oli?"

Oliver can't help but groan at how annoying Carmen's question is; his head firmly pressed into a pillow on his friends' very soft couch (that he may or may not have been screaming into since they got here).

"I'll take some muffins," he says, turning his head just slightly to see the unconventional group spread out across the apartment. Carmen's thrown on an apron and pulled out all of the ingredients for chocolate chip muffins on the kitchen island counter. Shayne looks very uncomfortable sitting on a barstool. Clide's looking just as uncomfortable, but has settled for giving Benji belly rubs on the floor. As for Ethan, he's tucked away in Carmen and Clide's locked coat closet with a gag in his mouth, listening to 'Baby Shark' on a loop from a speaker he had Clide hide where Ethan can't get to it (it's more mercy than he deserves honestly).

Oliver can't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the situation as he continues. "I think muffins would be a great idea. It might help distract us from... everything I don't want to talk about.."

Carmen nods, her apron slightly dusty with flour. "Exactly. Baking always helps me relax, and we could all use a little relaxation right now."

As Carmen continues mixing the ingredients and preheating the oven, Oliver turns his attention to Shayne. "Alright, mate, you want to recap or should I?"

Shayne shrugs his mind elsewhere. He's getting a, well they're your friends, vibe from him which is fair; but it's also equally as embarrassing to have to confess to his friends that he's been sneaking around and borderline lying to them about it after popping back up into their lives.

"Well," Oliver says, clearing his throat. "Gather around children and golden retriever, because our story starts with a very obnoxious kangaroo running headfirst into a koala in the middle of an outback."

Shayne rolls his eyes, seeming to settle into the chair more as he puts down the phone he's been death-gripping, likely finished updating his sister and roommate about how screwed they are.

"The kangaroo thought he was the shit, to be honest," Oliver says. "Like honest to God the best thing that had walked the earth. No one had seen anything like him."

"Can you get to the good part already where the kangaroo gets punched in the face by the koala for being a prick?" Clive asks.

Shayne smiles in Clive's direction. "OK, I like these people."

Oliver chuckles, but continues, the faint sound of 'Baby Shark' in the closet and Ethan seeming to yell for help adding in a little extra glee. "OK, no the kangaroo doesn't get punched, but he does get humbled, like seriously humbled. He starts questioning why the koala can get under his skin, and why he's even in the outback in the first place."

Carmen throws the muffin mixture into the oven and slams it. "Sounds like the kangaroo owed the koala an apology."

Oliver nods. "He did owe him an apology, a big apology actually. He met him in secret from all of the other kangaroos and koalas. He was determined to make it right, and then make it worse, and then make it right and then fuck it all up again. He asked the koala to not eat lives, which would've killed it. He should've understood it, but didn't until it was too late."

Shayne's looking back at him, an expression he saw on his face earlier today, at the park. There's a sadness and longing there that he feels; that he knows Shayne feels too.

"Will you two just fuck already?" Carmen asks, throwing a bit of flour in Oliver's direction.

Oliver and Shayne exchange a knowing glance, but go silent; fiddling with their fingers.