"Just hope when they bust her for boob theft they don't try to give them back," Kaz choked out before bursting into laughter again, and Atticus had to put his cup down before he doubled over and spilled it everywhere. They stood there for a long minute, laughing and wheezing while leaning against the countertop. But just as they were about to catch their breath, Atticus cracked a wide, blinding grin.
"Cancer tits," he wheezed out before Kaz fell to the floor laughing, barely managing to set his cup down before curling up on the pockmarked tiles. Atticus fell against the counter, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes as he laughed loud enough for the entire salvage yard to hear them. Kaz was laughing so hard he wasn't even making noise any more, a hand hitting the tiles weakly while Atticus wheezed above him. They continued to laugh loudly for a few minutes, Atticus sinking to the floor as well while they struggled for breath. Kaz took his glasses off to wipe a few stray tears from his eyes, giggling as he put them back on. Atticus wiped at his face with the sleeves of his oversized turtleneck, his smile so wide it was blinding.
"Okay, we need to get up," Kaz chuckled, unable to help the small giggles still escaping him as he began to pull himself up from the floor. He grabbed onto the counter, lifting himself up before offering a hand to Atticus. The other boy grabbed his hand, still laughing as Kaz helped pull him up. Atticus took a deep breath, trying to calm himself enough to speak.
"Okay, we gotta be a little quieter than that since my abuelos are out cold right now. They both got each other sick and I think they drugged themselves up on NyQuil earlier," he said, still grinning as he grabbed his cup. Kaz nodded, laughing a little as he took a sip of his coffee. They grabbed their cups and began to walk towards Atticus' room, stepping over the odd object or dog as they made their way through the hall. Mocha slid out of her spot in one of the recliners, tongue lolling out dorkily as she trotted after them. They finally reached one of the closed doors near the end of the hall, its surface plastered with comic book posters and magazine clippings.
Atticus handed his mug to Kaz before shoving the door open with his shoulder, the hinges creaking in protest as he pulled it open. "You know, you really should get that fixed sometime," Kaz suggested, handing the other boy his mug before walking inside and sitting down in his usual place on the floor in front of the bed. Atticus shrugged, pulling the desk chair out to sit next to Kaz.
"Abuelo says there's no point in fixing something if it still works, so we don't really bother. Besides, it's not like it's glued shut or in danger of catching fire." Kaz nodded, taking a sip of his coffee as he glanced over at the cracked TV. It was playing some cheesy old horror movie, all flashing lights and jumpscares and fake screams.
"You know, there's such a thing as actual television," he joked, taking a sip of his coffee as he looked back up at Atticus.
"And there's such a thing as good television. Gaze upon its glory!" he said, gesturing theatrically towards the TV with a laugh. Kaz rolled his eyes, shifting to lay on his stomach as he took another sip of his coffee. He knew he probably shouldn't be drinking the stuff the way it skyrocketed his anxiety, but he couldn't find it in him to care. Maybe he would get lucky for once and his anxiety would leave him alone for the night. In the back of his mind he knew that was highly unlikely, but he ignored it in favor of focusing on the TV. They both sat there for a while, watching the movie until it eventually ended half an hour later.
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