Two out of three ain't bad

Tigger drabble!? Oh my...

It used to be the three of them. Sure, they were from different places and had initially grown up seperatly from one another; but now it was different. They were always together somehow. Be it class, band practice, or just generally hanging out. It didn't matter that Pip got that job at the 24-7 store just outside of town which took up all his time - they were still there for him. They'd come and hang out there (much to the manager's displeasure) whenever they could, or they'd find a way to keep in touch with him. They were inseperable, and - or so Tiger had thought - nothing would come between the three of them.

But somehow, when he wasn't looking, other people snuck in a broke up the trio.

Being unable to sleep for immensly long periods of time - and hyperactivity to go with it - Tiger often found himself venture off and finding new and interesting people or things to keep himself amused. It was better than laying on a bed and staring at the ceiling until other people woke up. Sometimes though, staring at the ceiling didn't matter, because Pip was breathing heavily into his ear way he lay next to him, and Tiger was comfortable to just stay there while the sleepover progressed into the main portion of the concept of a sleepover: Sleeping.

Whether or not Cleo was uncomfortable about the whole thing he never said. It wasn't like they had planned it behind his back, and neither did they flaunt it in his face. There was only ever one incident when Cleo was in the same room, and they'd both checked to make certain he hadn't awoken once during the entire thing. Tigger had made all the effort to be extra quiet, which made it seem even sexier. But, worrying over their friend made it so they wouldn't be doing that again while he slept blissfully unaware of what the other two occupants of the room were doing. Pip was always quiet. Some part of Tigger was hoping that sex would bring out his vocal side. Thankfully for sleeping Cleo, it didn't.

The sleepovers were getting very, very infrequent now. Pip's job was making it difficult for him to make it to practices in Tiger's Mom's garage. Oh yeah, and Cleo had someone to keep him occupied too. Lend was nice, and they'd made it clear to him that if he ever dared to hurt Cleo, Pip and Tiger would harvest his organs and do various other nefarious deeds to him. Pip's eyebrows said much worse things that Tiger wouldn't even translate into English.

It was a Saturday, and what used to happen would usually be Tigger would wake Cleo (several times because eight am was too early to get up on a Saturday, as was nine, ten and even eleven am), and they'd either go off and keep themselves entertained, head up to visit Pip at his job, or whatever else teenage boys got up to. However, Cleo was with Lend, leaving Tigger to go off and entertain himself.

Now, at night Tigger was well accustomed to doing such a thing. During daylight hours, however, he was a little more new to the whole concept of sociable hours and suchlike. After a quick stroll through a park and feeding some ducks, he decided that even if it was jsut him, he'd keep one tradition and go and see (read: annoy) Pip.

Being unable to drive due to the fact he could randomly fall asleep at any time without warning, Tigger was forced to take the bus. By forced means going alone, since Cleo usually tagged along and kept him from scaring the other passengers by doing anything remotely Tiger-ish.

Why someone would build an important building such as the Twenty Four Seven Store outside the town was beyond Tiger's comprehension. It was out of the way, and hungry students at four in the morning couldn't exactly walk to it to gather an early morning snack.

Tiger had tried.

The journey, while eventful, didn't last as long on the bus as Tiger had initially thought. He hopped off at the familiar stop, and sauntered over to the store, only to pause just before reaching the automatic doors that would slid open at his presence.

What if Pip didn't want him around?

Sure, there was the usual "Go away" look he gave his dear friend, but Tiger knew that Pip wouldn't survive one week without him. Things now though, were somewhat different. There was a girl - or so he'd managed to work out. They weren't exactly exclusive, but then again, neither were they. There'd never been any form of declaration between the two of them that announced what they were beyond the confines of friends and bandmates. Cleo didn't question it, and Pip certainly wouldn't go about shouting about how he was in a relationship. They didn't even hold hands in public. Beyond what they had done together those few times, there was nothing for Tiger to pin down and call it something more than just sex.

Was that how Pip saw it? Maybe as nothing more than two friends fooling around?

It was a shock to come to such a conclusion, especially with the amount of time Tiger had available to contemplate it. Obviously his nature to never stay focused for more than a few minutes left him unable to really deal with the process of relationships beyond friendships. It sent an eeriee chill up Tiger's spine, and he stood just out of reach of the doors sensor, hands slipping together infront of himself before sliding up his bare arms to hug around himself as he stood there in an old band t-shirt and pair of baggy jeans.

"Those doors open if you walk up to them, not pray to them from a distance."

The voice was familiar. Deep, and inherently grumpy. Pip could be pleased as punch and still sound like he was fed up with it all. spinning on his heel, Tiger's eyes spotted the familiarly tall figure leaning against the wall of the store, smoking drifting up from the cigarette in his hand and from between his lips as he breathed out in one long, slow breath.

There was no stopping the grin that spread across Tiger's face at the sight of his friend, despite how he had been feeling barely moments ago. Bouncing happily over to him, he stood before the other male's taller frame and looked up at him with bright eyes and an even brighter smile.

Pip loomed over him even as he leaned against the wall, eyes glaring gloomily down at him. Eyebrows twitched in a manner that only Pip could do. It was his form of non-verbal communication that few people fully understood. Tiger found it endearing about him. Pip and his eyebrows could probably solve world hunger and bring about world peace - if he could be bothered.

"I was just thinking, that's all," he replied

"Bet that hurt."

"I think all the time, about loads of different things."

"I wouldn't have guessed."

Tiger pouted back up at him, and the eyebrows replied with smugness, even though Pip's main expression was practically unreadable by any other human being. By Delacroix's standards, Pip was a normal human male. People didn't seem to buy Tiger's theory that his eyebrows were his 'gift'.

"I was thinking about you, actually." At this, Pip arched an eyebrow. "And Cleo, and how we don't hang out like we used to. Cleo has LendyWendy, and you've got the store, but I'm still me. I'm not doing much and I don't like feeling like I'm standing still." To emphasize this point, he began hopping from one foot to the other, much to the displeasure of Pip evidently by the way his eyebrows moved in displeasure of the annoying movement. "And while I don't want us to go back to being the way we were, which is totally unfair on both of you, I just kind of miss...well...us."

He'd been staring at Pip's chest while he spoke rapidly, and now took the time to look up to judge whatever - if anything at all - Pip was thinking.

After a few moments of long spanning silence that wasn't broken by the taller male, Tiger opened his mouth again. "Not us us, like with the sex and stuff, which I do kind of miss because its been a while since we've been that close, but us as in you, Cleo and I. Now I don't want you to go dropping everything on that, because its totally not right, and Cleo is really happy with Lend - least I think he is - so you guys shouldn't come rushing to me just because I'm feeling a little bit lonely and left out, but maybe we should sort something out. You know, like re-organise what we're doing to fit some 'us' time back into things." Another pause to take a breath and assess his silent friend. "I miss you."