2Wybie loves mechas.
It was one of the first things Coraline learned about him, once their relationship moved past a girl and her stalker. It's relatively normal, especially compared to his other interests, but how ordinary it was only made it stand out more. He had a modest collection of mecha figurines, proudly displayed alongside his mini-museum of dead bugs. An odd contrast, to be sure, as she'd voiced when he first invited her to his room. Not her thing, but he's enthusiastic about it, so she's happy for him. And it made gifts for him easy, if she's not in the mood for bug-hunting or scrap-looting.
Like right now.
Wybie won third place at the science fair, but would've won second or even first if those assholes Ezra and Crowley didn't buy off the judges with their parents' money. Wybie swore he wasn't bummed about it, but he's a terrible liar. If the corrupt shitpile they call school wouldn't recognize how great her friend was, then Coraline would just have to take matters into her own hands.
The Ashland flea market probably wasn't the best place to look for mecha figurines, but she'd stumbled on weirder things here once she wandered deep enough. Almost two hours of searching later, a familiar figurine caught her eye. Dark blue and purple all over, holding an oversized anime sword, with tattered cape flowing behind. Exbein Ashe was its name, she recalled. Wybie had been looking for that one for a while, and just wouldn't shut up about it. That would make the perfect gift.
Unfortunately, her excitement must've shown on her face, because the greasy neckbeard running the stand suddenly had a very funny glint in his eyes.
"How much?" she asked.
"Two hundred," he claimed.
Bullshit, she thought.
In the end, the neckbeard wouldn't budge, and Coraline couldn't risk letting the figurine slip away. That costed her half her savings, but it was worth it. Wybie was worth it.
Didn't mean she can't have fun with it, though.
Wybie's grandma barely batted an eye when Coraline barged through the front door of the Lovat household with a black plastic bag slung over one shoulder. Same when she rushed up the stairs without a single word. Too used to their weird antics, was Coraline's guess. Or maybe with life in general.
Alone in Wybie's room, Coraline set to work springing her trap.
First, she placed the figurine in his closet on a small stool. Second, she loaded Wybie's old potato gun with a tennis ball, hid it in his closet among his clothes, and made sure to position its height at around crotch level. Third, she tied a piece of string to the figurine's leg and the other end to the potato gun's trigger.
Coraline stepped back to admire her handiwork with a grin. Poor sucker's going to regret giving her all those DIY lectures.
That night, as she's brushing her teeth, she got a text from Wybie.
i was in my undies, my balls hurt like hell
Coraline laughed so hard she almost choked on her toothbrush.
i WAS voted most likely to be a ballbuster
can't you just wrap it in a box, like a normal friend?
cant you just say hi to a girl without stalking her, like a normal boy
it's been five years, coraline
do u like it
i love it, but, fuck you
ur welcome
A little shorter today, because I didn't have a lot of time to write today. Also, the Exbein Ashe is an actual mecha, from the Super Robot Wars: Original Generation series. Y'all should check it out, it's pretty cool.
Based on Inktober Day 3 prompt: Bait.
