@FlowerGreat, we'll proceed with our plan then! Is there going to be a cap on character count? I have a couple of ideas and I want to know how many I should put time into.
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STATUS: just rewatched hart vs austin at mania 13 last night, it will always be a classic 17 days ago
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just rewatched hart vs austin at mania 13 last night, it will always be a classic
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17 days ago
AUSTIN 3:16 SAYS I JUST WHOOPED YOUR ASS
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The trip to the island went a lot better than he’d been expecting, especially considering Dax wasn’t much one for planes, nor for boats. In fact, if he could have, he would have just… driven, but unfortunately, there was no massive bridge connecting the continental United States to the island where Rachel was hosting a large party. He was here now though, and until he had to leave, he couldn’t stop thinking about Nightmare at 20,000 Feet and Open Water, and instead focus on the party itself. The fun part!
With his guitar case slung over his back, suitcase in one hand, and a packet in his hand that had his name on it, Dax carefully pulled out his phone. Did this place have wifi? He figured it did, after all they were in the 21st century. Once he found the network, he had to pause and flip through the packet, scanning it as he hunted for the wifi password…
“Oh, man, how many x’s? Let’s see… one, two…” Dax mumbled to himself, slowly punching in the password of ‘RachelRoxxxxxx420.’ Unable to see the pass, he hit enter and hoped for the best. Holding his breath, he let out a sigh of relief when it went through. With his face buried in his phone, Dax was completing the shockingly difficult task of navigating the island without running into anyone. He wasn’t planning to have his face buried in his phone the entire time he was there, but this was important!
Dax hit a few buttons on his phone, and before long it was dialing, a FaceTime call to someone special back home. It took a few seconds, but before long there was an answer, and Dax was all smiles. He quickly shoved his earbuds in, and took one quick glance to make sure there was a mostly straight line between himself and the cabana, and was on his way.
Ring, ring, ring.
Ring, ring, ring.
Geeze, were they ever going to pick up? He didn’t even know why he bothered sometimes — oh! There they were. He pushed the door open to the cabana with a grin on his face as he spoke to the phone. It was rude to have conversations out in the open like this, but the truth was… Dax didn’t think about that kind of thing, not usually. It was malicious by any means, things like that just didn’t cross his mind.
“Hi! I made it here just fine. Is everything okay there?” He asked the phone, with a sort of dumb smile on his face as he maneuvered through the cabana, toward the rooms. Dax was doing a good job at ignoring everything that was going on in the building, from the loud music that was playing, to the girls that were talking in the room next to the one that was pretty clearly his — after all, it was marked with a D.
When he finally looked up from his phone, he realized that someone else had put their stuff in here… He frowned, and looked back at the phone. “Hey, daddy’s gotta go, okay? I’ll talk to you later.” He said, before he hung up and stepped back into the hallway, peering at the two girls, before he cleared his throat to get their attention.
“Hey, I’m also in this cabin, and I’m pretty sure this room is mine, right? Since, you know…” Dax paused and thought about it for a moment, “well, both our names both start with a D, huh? How do we know if it’s my D, or your D? Am I interrupting you guys? What are we talking about? Who else is here? Someone is, I can hear their music. How many people are gonna be here?”
Armed with a thousand and one questions for people who probably didn’t care to answer, Dax, for better or worse, was in the building.
With his guitar case slung over his back, suitcase in one hand, and a packet in his hand that had his name on it, Dax carefully pulled out his phone. Did this place have wifi? He figured it did, after all they were in the 21st century. Once he found the network, he had to pause and flip through the packet, scanning it as he hunted for the wifi password…
“Oh, man, how many x’s? Let’s see… one, two…” Dax mumbled to himself, slowly punching in the password of ‘RachelRoxxxxxx420.’ Unable to see the pass, he hit enter and hoped for the best. Holding his breath, he let out a sigh of relief when it went through. With his face buried in his phone, Dax was completing the shockingly difficult task of navigating the island without running into anyone. He wasn’t planning to have his face buried in his phone the entire time he was there, but this was important!
Dax hit a few buttons on his phone, and before long it was dialing, a FaceTime call to someone special back home. It took a few seconds, but before long there was an answer, and Dax was all smiles. He quickly shoved his earbuds in, and took one quick glance to make sure there was a mostly straight line between himself and the cabana, and was on his way.
Ring, ring, ring.
Ring, ring, ring.
Geeze, were they ever going to pick up? He didn’t even know why he bothered sometimes — oh! There they were. He pushed the door open to the cabana with a grin on his face as he spoke to the phone. It was rude to have conversations out in the open like this, but the truth was… Dax didn’t think about that kind of thing, not usually. It was malicious by any means, things like that just didn’t cross his mind.
“Hi! I made it here just fine. Is everything okay there?” He asked the phone, with a sort of dumb smile on his face as he maneuvered through the cabana, toward the rooms. Dax was doing a good job at ignoring everything that was going on in the building, from the loud music that was playing, to the girls that were talking in the room next to the one that was pretty clearly his — after all, it was marked with a D.
When he finally looked up from his phone, he realized that someone else had put their stuff in here… He frowned, and looked back at the phone. “Hey, daddy’s gotta go, okay? I’ll talk to you later.” He said, before he hung up and stepped back into the hallway, peering at the two girls, before he cleared his throat to get their attention.
“Hey, I’m also in this cabin, and I’m pretty sure this room is mine, right? Since, you know…” Dax paused and thought about it for a moment, “well, both our names both start with a D, huh? How do we know if it’s my D, or your D? Am I interrupting you guys? What are we talking about? Who else is here? Someone is, I can hear their music. How many people are gonna be here?”
Armed with a thousand and one questions for people who probably didn’t care to answer, Dax, for better or worse, was in the building.
@Flower Hey, @Fabricant451 and I were wondering if it's okay if we do siblings? We were looking at doing Captain Marvel and Thor children.
I also might do an Iron Lad, we will see.
I would like to make a Thor child please
i'm pretty sure i'm 100% interested in this
Sunday afternoon
Collab with @TootsiePop
Collab with @TootsiePop
xxx
xxx
Henry was lit off of his fucking ass, which was perhaps a bad choice, given the nature of the situation he was in.
He was taking his mother to lunch, in this case to Captain Cuddles. It seemed like, at the time, the best option of the several he’d thought of. He needed to talk to her, and to do that, he needed to eat. And to eat, he needed to go to a restaurant. He wasn’t like Hailey, though, and he wasn’t about to be caught dead at one of those five star joints the Greens owned; besides, he needed to keep his moms away from the sauce. If he didn’t do that, then there was almost no point to this plan.
After all, the bitch would get as turnt as he did at parties. Only, she did it off of red wine and other assorted mom drinks. He did it off of… well, whatever he could get his hands on. The options were varied. Henry was chewing now, staring intently at his moms while he munched on his third breadstick since they’d sat down four minutes, and twenty seven seconds ago.
“Moms. We need to talk.”
Captain Cuddles wouldn’t be her preferred choice to eat, and neither would the fancy Green restaurants. Evelyn was a beach woman at heart. Even with her gothic roots, she was drawn to the ocean so either a simple picnic on the sands of Malibu beach or eating at a pier cafe with outdoor seating, where she could watch the waves and feel the breeze, was ideal for her. However, this wasn’t about her. This was about Henry and he took priority to anything she wanted, since he meant the world to her.
In front of her was mostly fruit to pick at and a side of salad, since she did not like the grease of pizza. Honestly, Evelyn was incredibly picky and if her food wasn’t up to par, either homemade by Ty or specifically made for her, she would not eat. At all. Her body was probably more filled with alcohol than actual food, which… wasn’t healthy at all, but kept her engine rolling. With her fork, she pierced into a cut strawberry without the leaf, and took in her son’s handsome features. Once again, the daunting realization that he was growing up, no longer wanting anything to do with her, set in. With a distant gaze, she gave a half smile, “About?” before placing the red fruit into her mouth.
“YOU, duh. You got pops stressed so hard the dude stole my goddamn weed. If it’s that bad with that dude, who the fuck knows, how bad it is with Mother. She’s probably gonna kill that Justin kid — by the way, when were you gonna tell me she could speak Korean, huh? That seems like, you know, AN IMPORTANT DETAIL. Fuck.” Henry waved his hand, the waiter came by with the pitcher of vanilla Dr. Pepper. Henry held his glass out and watched as it was filled up. He needed more pizza. Once the waiter walked off, Henry looked toward the lunch buffet, but just made a slightly distressed noise and just took another bite of a fresh breadstick. He’d deal with his moms first. “You need to chill the eff out, ya feel? I ain’t tryna bury my moms at sixteen because she couldn’t handle not droppin’ back whiskey, because she thinks her kids don’t love her no more. Fuck outta here.”
Henry grabbed his glass of Dr. Pepper and slammed it back. Fuck, his mouth was dry. Fuck cotton mouth. Couldn’t they make a breed of this shit that didn’t have this problem? Henry made a mental note to look into this. Crunching on a piece of ice, he again held the empty cup out and it was again filled up. Once more, Henry dropped it back without much delay or hesitation. “Shit.” He took his palm and massaged his forehead. Where to even begin? He wasn’t sure. How could he be sure? The woman sitting across from him had more problems than the fucking Middle East.
“You gotta step back and take a reality check. We growin’ up. We’re becomin’ ad-ults. Me? I don’t want you to throw a fuckin’ party for me. All I do is party, Moms! I gots a girlfriend now, I just wanna spend my birthday with her, damn.” Henry poured another piece of ice into his mouth, and spoke with his mouth full as he loudly crunched on it. “We can have a birthday dinner or whatever, just me, you and her. Maybe Pops or Mother can come, I don’t care. Maybe both. But I ain’t six! I ain’t twelve! It ain’t cute no more that you throw me and Cyndi duo birthdays because you let Pops dick you down on his birthday. That ain’t cool. If anything, shit’s embarrassing. We don’t even like the same shit! Separate the parties.”
“And, another thing, I don’t hate you. I’m just busy. Christ. How could I hate you? Your my MOTHER. I CAME FROM YOUR UTERUS. But I’m growing up! I’m becoming a man! I’m getting ready to advance my life. I’m finding my way. I’m trying to figure things out, and I don’t wanna be smothered. Takes a hand off approach, and watch me, uh… shit, what do those cringey moms on Instagram and Facebook say? Watch me blossom into something you can be proud of. You think about that for a sec.” Henry stood up, and when he did, he looked down at the booth for a second, and let out a long breath. “Fuck, I’m way too high…” He headed over to the lunch buffet, and stared at it for a second, then looked at the kitchen… fuck it, Remy could make another pizza.
Without a care in the world, Henry dumped the half a pie left on one of the trays onto a plate, and headed back to the booth. Sitting down across from his mother, Henry spoke again — this time with a mouthful of cheesy greasy goodness. “You want my advice? You best call up Auntie Jules and you and her better start suckin’ Pops’s soul through his dick in tandem, because Hails graduates this year, and he is NOT gonna handle that well.”
“I appreciate the advice.” Evelyn calmly responded, all her emotions hidden behind her cold mask. Silently, she took a sip of water, before shaking her head, “You aren’t being entirely fair, Henry.” Until he had children of his own, he would never understand and god forbid he had a child before he turned twenty. She had three vastly different spirited children and the main reason she combined his birthday with Cyndi’s was because… Cyndi didn’t necessarily have friends that weren’t her internet fans. Sure, it was a selfish thing to do but it was necessary.
“When do you allow me a chance to talk about your mother? The moment I say her name, you either curse me out or walk away, so me telling you about the things you could find out from talking to her yourself is near impossible. Up until you met Min-seo… you didn’t really care about knowing ‘important details’. And you know exactly why I combine your parties. Don’t act like you don’t. Your sister adores you even on the days you make her cry. Yes, it’s incredibly co-dependent of her but what else am I supposed to do? She isn’t like you or Hailey. I can’t just hope she’ll magically make friends on her own.”
Talking about all this was causing her to lose her appetite. Placing her fork down, she pushed her plate of fruit away from her. “And I know better than anyone that you ALL are growing up. But, like you said, you DID come out of my VAGINA so yeah, it is hard to deal. And it’s unfair of you to think I should just be okay with that. Everyone takes out their frustration on me. I can barely keep the peace with my children and my lovers. Some days our family barely feels like a family. And ever since Silvan died it’s incredibly hard to pretend to know what I’m doing. Because I don’t and it seems like none of you are grateful for anything we try to do for you.” The mask was fading and the sorrow that filled Henry’s mother’s heart was taking surface. She didn’t have an instrument or alcohol to turn to. She was forced to just sit there and talk about her feelings. This made her uncomfortable. Honestly, if she didn’t want to hurt his feelings she would leave.
When the plate of fruit was pushed across the table, Henry pulled it closer to his side. If she wasn’t gonna eat that shit, then dammit, he would. No food left uneaten; they weren’t savages. Wastefulness was a sin. Henry stared at his mother in the eyes, and it seemed like he might say something… meaningful, and soulful… before Henry simply threw a piece of strawberry onto a piece of pizza and ate it. Two bites in, he shook his head. “That was fucked up. Why would you just let me do that? Ah, shit, this was a mistake.” Gagging slightly, he swallowed it down. Slowly, he placed the piece of pizza down, and then decided it was time to look up and address everything his mom had said. Her sadness briefly turned into disgust when she watched the tragic, grotesque scene that was her son eating strawberries with his nasty ass pizza and then his words caused her to crack a smile.
If Henry had his way, they’d be passing a doobie around, but damn. She was really whining wasn’t she? He wasn’t a paid professional, he couldn’t handle this kind of issue, all he could do was his best. He wasn’t his father, he wasn’t his mother. He didn’t have the keys or the buttons to press, he could just explain things from his perspective, as best he could anyway. “Normally in a situation like this, you start at the top and you work your way down, but I’mma start at a certain point.” Henry leaned in real close to his mom, and spoke quietly, “moms you can’t just say ‘vagina,’ you’re a grown ass woman. You’re supposed to have some maturity. Respect for the pizza parlor.” Henry leaned back and yawned, “what if I tried the watermelon on the ‘za, bro? Nah… nah that’d probably be worse. Watermelon’s kinda grainy…”
“I ain’t boostin’ Cyndi to friends, you gotta see that. You think just because we have a birthday party together, she’s gonna come up to my room, and pass the joint around and play NBA 2k with me and the boys? That ain’t how it’s workin’, come on. You want Cyndi to make friends? You need to get mother to stop smothering her, and maybe she’ll find some of that innate charisma that comes with the bloodline…. what about honey dew? Take this away. Eat this before I make another mistake.” Henry pushed the fruit plate back to his mother, playing 4D chess. She had to eat something, he knew how she got. “We’re plenty grateful. Geeze. If I wasn’t grateful for Benedict and Arnold, I woulda got read their exotic, water dog, giant guinea pig lookin’ asses eons ago. You gotta relax. What do you want me to do, introduce Cyndi to people? She wouldn’t like my people! She’s sucking that Justin dude’s dick now, seems like she’s just fine.”
“She isn’t like you or Hailey, the fuck is that supposed to mean? You tryna say Hailey and I are alike? Alike how?”
“Strong personalities. Opinionated. Passionate over the things you love. Probably secretly enjoys yelling at each other, like Alyssa and Ty do with one another, though honestly share a mutual understanding that neither is willing to admit. You both care or Hailey wouldn’t have tried to have a family dinner and you wouldn’t have cheered up your baby sister. Oh, and you both seem to have a similar type.” Somehow, Eve’s gloom was no longer there and perhaps it’s because her son had a way of making her smile even if he was being foolish. She grabbed her fork once more and started actually eating. “And you’re right. I should try to give Cyndi some space. I think we could start with Min and Parker, though? I feel like she would get along lovely with them. Hasn’t she already had a few phone calls with Parker while she was in Seoul because you never had time for your phone?” In went the cantaloupe. Observing him carefully, she respectfully chewed with her mouth closed.
“I told you already, I’m busy as fuck. Similar type? You mean Korean? Bitch, that’s racist.” Henry scoffed, rolling his eyes as he ate another bite of pizza. She really was running her mouth, wasn’t she? Going on and on and on. “Fine, fine. I’ll tell Min and Park to hang out with her. Yes, she’s talked to Parker. Yes, I didn’t have time for my phone. But similarly, Parker was always on my phone, so it wasn’t even like, my fault. Yes, I did send her to voicemail like, six times. I don’t wanna bullshit on the phone, dude. Look, if you want me to baby Cyndi and raise her myself, you’re trippin’. I’m already dealing with Parker.”
“I’m not saying RAISE her, but you could GUIDE her. Do you know how weird it would be if I came to your school trying to push her to go to social events? That’s just uncalled for. She’d absolutely hate that. Like, maybe convince her to join the dance club too? I’m sure her people would be there. That reminds me… what do you know about Justin? Do you think he’s a good fit for her? I can’t help but think she’s only dating him because she’s never had a boyfriend before and both you and Hailey are committed now.” Yes, she was yammering on, but this was her chance to get on the same page as her son, while finding out intel about everything else. “And, you choose to ‘deal’ with Parker because you enjoy taking care of her. Why can’t you help your sister out a little more too?”
“It’s different, dude! It’s different! Why do I have to guide her? Get Hailey to guide her, Hailey’s a better guide than I am! She, like, runs the school or whatever. Parker’s different, she’s like, my daughter… kinda. I’m attached to Parker! She has problems, she needs help. Cyndi’s a Green, she can go wherever she wants and command the situation and run the shit.” He paused to think about Justin for a second, before he shook his head. “Hell nah, dude. Justin ain’t it for Cyndi, but whatever. Maybe once she gets laid she’ll stop being such a child. It could be good for her, to date him and dump him or whatever. Who cares? She’s a child, live and let learn.”
Taking in his words, Evelyn chewed the piece of grape slowly. After she swallowed, she tapped her free fingers on the table, trying to map a plan to make this the most successful year for Cyndi, in terms of her being a teen and not some destined super idol. “Hailey wants nothing to do with the school, and your sister for that matter.” That dinner was honestly disastrous. Everything that could’ve went wrong, did, and Eve saw the gasoline poured all over her eldest after Cyndi confidently spoke some fighting words over a matter she knew nothing about because she was countries away. Stressful. This was all so stressful. If only she had wine. Leaning her head back to tiredly scan the ceiling and the textures of it, she sighed, “Can I clean your room? It would make me feel better.” Her OCD had a desire and if she couldn’t figure out how to solve her children’s issues, she could at least keep her house in order.
“You could…”
Henry paused, and took a sip from his drink. Staring at Eve, he cracked the slightest of smiles. Henry didn’t know how his mother was going to take this, nor did he quite frankly care. Normally, Henry would have exploded in a symphony of no’s and excuses, reasons he didn’t want his mother in his room, but this time was different…
“...but Min already cleaned it, since she’s moved into it.”
Oh.
Her fork slipped out of her hand, falling to the ground, and for an instant, Eve was stunned. His room was cleaned and not by her. And he didn’t throw insults and no’s at her, causing her to force her way into his room anyway. “It’s cleaned already?” She whispered to herself. More of a rhetorical question, while she digested this newfound information. There was a part of her that was downhearted, but it was only a small portion of her heart that enjoyed to do that for him as his mother. There was a soft smile that appeared on her face. Min was a good girl. The Green Mama was starting to appreciate everything the young girl’s done for her son, so far. “That’s wonderful, Henry.” is all she said in response.
Henry nodded, stuffing more pizza into his mouth. “Yeah, she is kinda wonderful. I told her last night, you know… the big L word… She said it back, so it’s okay…. look, you should talk to her. Take her to lunch or some shit. I like her a lot, so I’m hoping she sticks around for a while… you can help with that. And you better make sure Mother is on top of making sure that the girl I’m sleeping with doesn’t get sent across the ocean because her little princess got pissy and threw a tantrum.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Before Eve realized it, her fruit was gone. Did she actually eat all her food for once? “And sure, just let me know what works best for her. I’d love to take her to my vineyard. Or is that too excessive?”
“I don’t know. I just know Mother is gonna try to talk to her, and that makes me excessively uncomfortable, and I’d love for you to do it first. Want some pizza?” Henry asked, shoving his plate over toward her. His work was done, for now.
Grimacing at the sight of the incredibly cheesy and greasy food, Eve knew her son wouldn’t take no for an answer. Not when it came to her eating. “Okay.” Hesitantly, she picked up the pizza and stared at it, really not wanting it. Forcing herself, she took a tiny, very tiny bite, and then put it back down, giving him a forced ‘yum’ look, before saying reassuringly, “Your mother likes Min. Out of everyone, you impressed her the most.”
“Oh thank god. I’m stressed about her… you don’t understand. Mother is wild, and I don’t want her to try and like… make Min hate me. Talk to her. Please? I’ll make Cyndi do something forward if you want…. So she stops bein’ such a little baby. Good job eating the pizza, I’m proud of you,” he said, taking another bite of the pizza himself. He shook his head. Min and his mother was a… mortifyingly uncomfortable proposition…
“I hate pizza.” Evelyn grabbed the napkin and urgently wiped the shine off her fingers. She’ll take some time to prepare Min for Alyssa and make sure Alyssa wasn’t up to no good. Her job never stopped in the Green household. She hoped she made Silvan proud. “Very well. And I won’t throw you a birthday party. Even if it’s your big eighteen.” Salty. This made her tremendously salty, but this was what he wanted and she couldn’t change that.
“And I hate interactin’ with Cyndi, so it looks like we’re both makin’ sacrifices. You wanna throw me a party? You really, truly, wanna do a party for me? Then you’ll take the parents far, far away for a weekend, and give me the keys to the Estate. If you do that, you come back, and we’ll talk about a little shindig for me and Cyndi together. Either way, I already told you. Dinner. Me, you, Min, and whoever.”
When he proposed a new option, her pointer finger tapped on the table showing her intrigue, as it made a light tempo. If she took Alyssa, Ty, and Jules away for a weekend, he would be okay having a party. This could get her in… a lot of trouble… like punishment after punishment, but was it worth it? Her son would be enjoying himself and be happy.
Yes, it was completely worth it.
Sure, this was spoiling him — she did that often. Even so, this was a risk she was willing to take. “Deal.” Short but enough.
“Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Let’s get the fuck outta here, my high’s wearing off.”
He was taking his mother to lunch, in this case to Captain Cuddles. It seemed like, at the time, the best option of the several he’d thought of. He needed to talk to her, and to do that, he needed to eat. And to eat, he needed to go to a restaurant. He wasn’t like Hailey, though, and he wasn’t about to be caught dead at one of those five star joints the Greens owned; besides, he needed to keep his moms away from the sauce. If he didn’t do that, then there was almost no point to this plan.
After all, the bitch would get as turnt as he did at parties. Only, she did it off of red wine and other assorted mom drinks. He did it off of… well, whatever he could get his hands on. The options were varied. Henry was chewing now, staring intently at his moms while he munched on his third breadstick since they’d sat down four minutes, and twenty seven seconds ago.
“Moms. We need to talk.”
Captain Cuddles wouldn’t be her preferred choice to eat, and neither would the fancy Green restaurants. Evelyn was a beach woman at heart. Even with her gothic roots, she was drawn to the ocean so either a simple picnic on the sands of Malibu beach or eating at a pier cafe with outdoor seating, where she could watch the waves and feel the breeze, was ideal for her. However, this wasn’t about her. This was about Henry and he took priority to anything she wanted, since he meant the world to her.
In front of her was mostly fruit to pick at and a side of salad, since she did not like the grease of pizza. Honestly, Evelyn was incredibly picky and if her food wasn’t up to par, either homemade by Ty or specifically made for her, she would not eat. At all. Her body was probably more filled with alcohol than actual food, which… wasn’t healthy at all, but kept her engine rolling. With her fork, she pierced into a cut strawberry without the leaf, and took in her son’s handsome features. Once again, the daunting realization that he was growing up, no longer wanting anything to do with her, set in. With a distant gaze, she gave a half smile, “About?” before placing the red fruit into her mouth.
“YOU, duh. You got pops stressed so hard the dude stole my goddamn weed. If it’s that bad with that dude, who the fuck knows, how bad it is with Mother. She’s probably gonna kill that Justin kid — by the way, when were you gonna tell me she could speak Korean, huh? That seems like, you know, AN IMPORTANT DETAIL. Fuck.” Henry waved his hand, the waiter came by with the pitcher of vanilla Dr. Pepper. Henry held his glass out and watched as it was filled up. He needed more pizza. Once the waiter walked off, Henry looked toward the lunch buffet, but just made a slightly distressed noise and just took another bite of a fresh breadstick. He’d deal with his moms first. “You need to chill the eff out, ya feel? I ain’t tryna bury my moms at sixteen because she couldn’t handle not droppin’ back whiskey, because she thinks her kids don’t love her no more. Fuck outta here.”
Henry grabbed his glass of Dr. Pepper and slammed it back. Fuck, his mouth was dry. Fuck cotton mouth. Couldn’t they make a breed of this shit that didn’t have this problem? Henry made a mental note to look into this. Crunching on a piece of ice, he again held the empty cup out and it was again filled up. Once more, Henry dropped it back without much delay or hesitation. “Shit.” He took his palm and massaged his forehead. Where to even begin? He wasn’t sure. How could he be sure? The woman sitting across from him had more problems than the fucking Middle East.
“You gotta step back and take a reality check. We growin’ up. We’re becomin’ ad-ults. Me? I don’t want you to throw a fuckin’ party for me. All I do is party, Moms! I gots a girlfriend now, I just wanna spend my birthday with her, damn.” Henry poured another piece of ice into his mouth, and spoke with his mouth full as he loudly crunched on it. “We can have a birthday dinner or whatever, just me, you and her. Maybe Pops or Mother can come, I don’t care. Maybe both. But I ain’t six! I ain’t twelve! It ain’t cute no more that you throw me and Cyndi duo birthdays because you let Pops dick you down on his birthday. That ain’t cool. If anything, shit’s embarrassing. We don’t even like the same shit! Separate the parties.”
“And, another thing, I don’t hate you. I’m just busy. Christ. How could I hate you? Your my MOTHER. I CAME FROM YOUR UTERUS. But I’m growing up! I’m becoming a man! I’m getting ready to advance my life. I’m finding my way. I’m trying to figure things out, and I don’t wanna be smothered. Takes a hand off approach, and watch me, uh… shit, what do those cringey moms on Instagram and Facebook say? Watch me blossom into something you can be proud of. You think about that for a sec.” Henry stood up, and when he did, he looked down at the booth for a second, and let out a long breath. “Fuck, I’m way too high…” He headed over to the lunch buffet, and stared at it for a second, then looked at the kitchen… fuck it, Remy could make another pizza.
Without a care in the world, Henry dumped the half a pie left on one of the trays onto a plate, and headed back to the booth. Sitting down across from his mother, Henry spoke again — this time with a mouthful of cheesy greasy goodness. “You want my advice? You best call up Auntie Jules and you and her better start suckin’ Pops’s soul through his dick in tandem, because Hails graduates this year, and he is NOT gonna handle that well.”
“I appreciate the advice.” Evelyn calmly responded, all her emotions hidden behind her cold mask. Silently, she took a sip of water, before shaking her head, “You aren’t being entirely fair, Henry.” Until he had children of his own, he would never understand and god forbid he had a child before he turned twenty. She had three vastly different spirited children and the main reason she combined his birthday with Cyndi’s was because… Cyndi didn’t necessarily have friends that weren’t her internet fans. Sure, it was a selfish thing to do but it was necessary.
“When do you allow me a chance to talk about your mother? The moment I say her name, you either curse me out or walk away, so me telling you about the things you could find out from talking to her yourself is near impossible. Up until you met Min-seo… you didn’t really care about knowing ‘important details’. And you know exactly why I combine your parties. Don’t act like you don’t. Your sister adores you even on the days you make her cry. Yes, it’s incredibly co-dependent of her but what else am I supposed to do? She isn’t like you or Hailey. I can’t just hope she’ll magically make friends on her own.”
Talking about all this was causing her to lose her appetite. Placing her fork down, she pushed her plate of fruit away from her. “And I know better than anyone that you ALL are growing up. But, like you said, you DID come out of my VAGINA so yeah, it is hard to deal. And it’s unfair of you to think I should just be okay with that. Everyone takes out their frustration on me. I can barely keep the peace with my children and my lovers. Some days our family barely feels like a family. And ever since Silvan died it’s incredibly hard to pretend to know what I’m doing. Because I don’t and it seems like none of you are grateful for anything we try to do for you.” The mask was fading and the sorrow that filled Henry’s mother’s heart was taking surface. She didn’t have an instrument or alcohol to turn to. She was forced to just sit there and talk about her feelings. This made her uncomfortable. Honestly, if she didn’t want to hurt his feelings she would leave.
When the plate of fruit was pushed across the table, Henry pulled it closer to his side. If she wasn’t gonna eat that shit, then dammit, he would. No food left uneaten; they weren’t savages. Wastefulness was a sin. Henry stared at his mother in the eyes, and it seemed like he might say something… meaningful, and soulful… before Henry simply threw a piece of strawberry onto a piece of pizza and ate it. Two bites in, he shook his head. “That was fucked up. Why would you just let me do that? Ah, shit, this was a mistake.” Gagging slightly, he swallowed it down. Slowly, he placed the piece of pizza down, and then decided it was time to look up and address everything his mom had said. Her sadness briefly turned into disgust when she watched the tragic, grotesque scene that was her son eating strawberries with his nasty ass pizza and then his words caused her to crack a smile.
If Henry had his way, they’d be passing a doobie around, but damn. She was really whining wasn’t she? He wasn’t a paid professional, he couldn’t handle this kind of issue, all he could do was his best. He wasn’t his father, he wasn’t his mother. He didn’t have the keys or the buttons to press, he could just explain things from his perspective, as best he could anyway. “Normally in a situation like this, you start at the top and you work your way down, but I’mma start at a certain point.” Henry leaned in real close to his mom, and spoke quietly, “moms you can’t just say ‘vagina,’ you’re a grown ass woman. You’re supposed to have some maturity. Respect for the pizza parlor.” Henry leaned back and yawned, “what if I tried the watermelon on the ‘za, bro? Nah… nah that’d probably be worse. Watermelon’s kinda grainy…”
“I ain’t boostin’ Cyndi to friends, you gotta see that. You think just because we have a birthday party together, she’s gonna come up to my room, and pass the joint around and play NBA 2k with me and the boys? That ain’t how it’s workin’, come on. You want Cyndi to make friends? You need to get mother to stop smothering her, and maybe she’ll find some of that innate charisma that comes with the bloodline…. what about honey dew? Take this away. Eat this before I make another mistake.” Henry pushed the fruit plate back to his mother, playing 4D chess. She had to eat something, he knew how she got. “We’re plenty grateful. Geeze. If I wasn’t grateful for Benedict and Arnold, I woulda got read their exotic, water dog, giant guinea pig lookin’ asses eons ago. You gotta relax. What do you want me to do, introduce Cyndi to people? She wouldn’t like my people! She’s sucking that Justin dude’s dick now, seems like she’s just fine.”
“She isn’t like you or Hailey, the fuck is that supposed to mean? You tryna say Hailey and I are alike? Alike how?”
“Strong personalities. Opinionated. Passionate over the things you love. Probably secretly enjoys yelling at each other, like Alyssa and Ty do with one another, though honestly share a mutual understanding that neither is willing to admit. You both care or Hailey wouldn’t have tried to have a family dinner and you wouldn’t have cheered up your baby sister. Oh, and you both seem to have a similar type.” Somehow, Eve’s gloom was no longer there and perhaps it’s because her son had a way of making her smile even if he was being foolish. She grabbed her fork once more and started actually eating. “And you’re right. I should try to give Cyndi some space. I think we could start with Min and Parker, though? I feel like she would get along lovely with them. Hasn’t she already had a few phone calls with Parker while she was in Seoul because you never had time for your phone?” In went the cantaloupe. Observing him carefully, she respectfully chewed with her mouth closed.
“I told you already, I’m busy as fuck. Similar type? You mean Korean? Bitch, that’s racist.” Henry scoffed, rolling his eyes as he ate another bite of pizza. She really was running her mouth, wasn’t she? Going on and on and on. “Fine, fine. I’ll tell Min and Park to hang out with her. Yes, she’s talked to Parker. Yes, I didn’t have time for my phone. But similarly, Parker was always on my phone, so it wasn’t even like, my fault. Yes, I did send her to voicemail like, six times. I don’t wanna bullshit on the phone, dude. Look, if you want me to baby Cyndi and raise her myself, you’re trippin’. I’m already dealing with Parker.”
“I’m not saying RAISE her, but you could GUIDE her. Do you know how weird it would be if I came to your school trying to push her to go to social events? That’s just uncalled for. She’d absolutely hate that. Like, maybe convince her to join the dance club too? I’m sure her people would be there. That reminds me… what do you know about Justin? Do you think he’s a good fit for her? I can’t help but think she’s only dating him because she’s never had a boyfriend before and both you and Hailey are committed now.” Yes, she was yammering on, but this was her chance to get on the same page as her son, while finding out intel about everything else. “And, you choose to ‘deal’ with Parker because you enjoy taking care of her. Why can’t you help your sister out a little more too?”
“It’s different, dude! It’s different! Why do I have to guide her? Get Hailey to guide her, Hailey’s a better guide than I am! She, like, runs the school or whatever. Parker’s different, she’s like, my daughter… kinda. I’m attached to Parker! She has problems, she needs help. Cyndi’s a Green, she can go wherever she wants and command the situation and run the shit.” He paused to think about Justin for a second, before he shook his head. “Hell nah, dude. Justin ain’t it for Cyndi, but whatever. Maybe once she gets laid she’ll stop being such a child. It could be good for her, to date him and dump him or whatever. Who cares? She’s a child, live and let learn.”
Taking in his words, Evelyn chewed the piece of grape slowly. After she swallowed, she tapped her free fingers on the table, trying to map a plan to make this the most successful year for Cyndi, in terms of her being a teen and not some destined super idol. “Hailey wants nothing to do with the school, and your sister for that matter.” That dinner was honestly disastrous. Everything that could’ve went wrong, did, and Eve saw the gasoline poured all over her eldest after Cyndi confidently spoke some fighting words over a matter she knew nothing about because she was countries away. Stressful. This was all so stressful. If only she had wine. Leaning her head back to tiredly scan the ceiling and the textures of it, she sighed, “Can I clean your room? It would make me feel better.” Her OCD had a desire and if she couldn’t figure out how to solve her children’s issues, she could at least keep her house in order.
“You could…”
Henry paused, and took a sip from his drink. Staring at Eve, he cracked the slightest of smiles. Henry didn’t know how his mother was going to take this, nor did he quite frankly care. Normally, Henry would have exploded in a symphony of no’s and excuses, reasons he didn’t want his mother in his room, but this time was different…
“...but Min already cleaned it, since she’s moved into it.”
Oh.
Her fork slipped out of her hand, falling to the ground, and for an instant, Eve was stunned. His room was cleaned and not by her. And he didn’t throw insults and no’s at her, causing her to force her way into his room anyway. “It’s cleaned already?” She whispered to herself. More of a rhetorical question, while she digested this newfound information. There was a part of her that was downhearted, but it was only a small portion of her heart that enjoyed to do that for him as his mother. There was a soft smile that appeared on her face. Min was a good girl. The Green Mama was starting to appreciate everything the young girl’s done for her son, so far. “That’s wonderful, Henry.” is all she said in response.
Henry nodded, stuffing more pizza into his mouth. “Yeah, she is kinda wonderful. I told her last night, you know… the big L word… She said it back, so it’s okay…. look, you should talk to her. Take her to lunch or some shit. I like her a lot, so I’m hoping she sticks around for a while… you can help with that. And you better make sure Mother is on top of making sure that the girl I’m sleeping with doesn’t get sent across the ocean because her little princess got pissy and threw a tantrum.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Before Eve realized it, her fruit was gone. Did she actually eat all her food for once? “And sure, just let me know what works best for her. I’d love to take her to my vineyard. Or is that too excessive?”
“I don’t know. I just know Mother is gonna try to talk to her, and that makes me excessively uncomfortable, and I’d love for you to do it first. Want some pizza?” Henry asked, shoving his plate over toward her. His work was done, for now.
Grimacing at the sight of the incredibly cheesy and greasy food, Eve knew her son wouldn’t take no for an answer. Not when it came to her eating. “Okay.” Hesitantly, she picked up the pizza and stared at it, really not wanting it. Forcing herself, she took a tiny, very tiny bite, and then put it back down, giving him a forced ‘yum’ look, before saying reassuringly, “Your mother likes Min. Out of everyone, you impressed her the most.”
“Oh thank god. I’m stressed about her… you don’t understand. Mother is wild, and I don’t want her to try and like… make Min hate me. Talk to her. Please? I’ll make Cyndi do something forward if you want…. So she stops bein’ such a little baby. Good job eating the pizza, I’m proud of you,” he said, taking another bite of the pizza himself. He shook his head. Min and his mother was a… mortifyingly uncomfortable proposition…
“I hate pizza.” Evelyn grabbed the napkin and urgently wiped the shine off her fingers. She’ll take some time to prepare Min for Alyssa and make sure Alyssa wasn’t up to no good. Her job never stopped in the Green household. She hoped she made Silvan proud. “Very well. And I won’t throw you a birthday party. Even if it’s your big eighteen.” Salty. This made her tremendously salty, but this was what he wanted and she couldn’t change that.
“And I hate interactin’ with Cyndi, so it looks like we’re both makin’ sacrifices. You wanna throw me a party? You really, truly, wanna do a party for me? Then you’ll take the parents far, far away for a weekend, and give me the keys to the Estate. If you do that, you come back, and we’ll talk about a little shindig for me and Cyndi together. Either way, I already told you. Dinner. Me, you, Min, and whoever.”
When he proposed a new option, her pointer finger tapped on the table showing her intrigue, as it made a light tempo. If she took Alyssa, Ty, and Jules away for a weekend, he would be okay having a party. This could get her in… a lot of trouble… like punishment after punishment, but was it worth it? Her son would be enjoying himself and be happy.
Yes, it was completely worth it.
Sure, this was spoiling him — she did that often. Even so, this was a risk she was willing to take. “Deal.” Short but enough.
“Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Let’s get the fuck outta here, my high’s wearing off.”
It was a Sunday afternoon, in January, and it was still warm enough for Henry to be floating in the pool. Now, Henry knew that he shouldn’t be floating in the pool, because his mother had told him a thousand times that Benedict and Arnold didn’t belong in the pool, and she hadn’t paid for a fucking river to be dug through her property just so Henry could fuck off in her pool with the capybaras.
And yet, here Henry was, fucking off in her pool with the capybaras.
Henry had to rebel in the little ways that he could, it was hard when he was essentially hands off. His parents set guidelines, but did they really care what he did? Not really… it was both sad and funny. Sure, Henry could get turnt every weekend, or burn money hand over fist… but then there was the other hand. Pretty much nobody cared that he had a 3.9 GPA, or that he was lauded by his teachers for being inclusive and supportive of his fellow students…
In fact, prior to the incident with Damian’s house party — which Henry felt pretty confidently was his sister’s doing — Henry had pretty much been a model student, and a popular one at that. But did anyone care about that? Not really. All they really cared about was how he was ‘disobedient.’ Fuckers, all four of ‘em. Yeah, fuck Julie too.
The important thing was, Henry was directly disobeying his mother — again. He was sitting in the center of an innertube in the massive pool at the Stentorian Estate. Benedict and Arnold, his beloved pets, were paddling around him. Henry had his sunglasses on, toes in the water, and a joint tucked behind his ear (soon to be his fourth of the day), and… he was damn near asleep.
“Hey, Henry. There you are. Why are you always hard to find when we want you?”
Henry lifted the sunglasses, and opened his eyes, staring at his father, blinking a few times. “What the fuck you want, motherfucker?” He demanded, and his father just gestured him over. Henry rolled his eyes, but ultimately paddled over to Ty. Once he arrived, Ty reached down… and plucked the joint from behind Henry’s ear. “Hey! What are you doin’, asshole!? That’s mine!” Ty seemed to just ignore his son, and instead put it between his lips and lit it.
“You need to talk to your mother.”
This guy was for real? He just ran in, stole his joint, and now he was telling him to talk to his mother? Hell nah, dude. Henry slammed the sunglasses back down and shook his head. There was no way he was gonna talk to Alyssa unless he absolutely couldn’t avoid it. He didn’t want to hear about how he was a disappointment. He wasn’t doing that. Casually, Henry lifted a hand and extended his middle finger.
“I mean, Eve, bro.”
The sunglasses were raised up. Henry was concerned now. It wasn’t often that he was requested to talk to Eve. She was self-sufficient (or, at least co-dependent on Pops and Mother), and she never needed his help. She was, admittedly, the only one of his parents that Henry would bother helping. Now having Henry’s attention, Ty blew out the smoke in his lungs.
“She’s gonna drink herself straight to death.”
“Ain’t that supposed to be your jurisdiction?” Henry asked with a scoff at the end, half considering putting the sunglasses back down. This wasn’t supposed to be his problem, how was he gonna calm Moms down? This was supposed to be his dad’s thing! That’s why he was a part of their lives, and not just fucked off with Julie. This was none of his business — or at least it wasn’t supposed to be.
Henry was concerned when Eve got excessive. Usually it just took a casual poking of his dad to get it taken care of, and Moms would be back on the wagon and everything would be good. Henry could, reasonably, see how this would be different, though. After all, she was really pounding those wines back at the dinner — and they only had the big glass. Couple that with a tendency to begin the day with a mimosa and a bloody mary (one for each hand) for the last couple of weeks… Henry could see it.
“Usually, but trust me. This time, she needs you. She thinks you hate her.”
Henry put his hand on his chin, and thought about it, while Benedict paddled up and onto his owner’s stomach. Henry looked the capybara in the eyes and considered his options. He didn’t really have much of a choice, to be fair — he owed Moms a lot. If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t have Benedict and Arnold, he probably would have never been able to convince the parents to let Min-seo live in the same room as him…
Henry sank a little deeper into the innertube.
“Fuck.”
“You’re telling me.”
Henry splashed some water on his face, and almost immediately spat it out. How much chlorine did one pool need? Could they not afford salt water, or freshwater? Groaning, he leaned over to the poolside and flopped onto the warm concrete, “okay. Whatever. I’ll text her.” He said, rolling across the concrete poolside to his phone sitting by a lounge chair.
“Good deal.”
“Prick.”
To: Moms
me u captain cuddles
fifteen
When Henry looked up, Ty was already gone. “Motherfucker does a better disappearing act than his daughter, I tell you what. Jesus, I’m high. I need a sip of water. WHERE CAN I GET A SIP OF WATER? Fucking Christ, who built this shithole?” Henry snapped, looking the pool, until his eyes landed on the cabana. He moved over to it and hopped the bar, scrounging around in the ice chest until he found a bottle of cool, delicious water. He pounded it, and threw it to the side.
Then he picked up another one, and did the same thing. “Gotta go talk to moms, got cotton mouth like I just smoked a goddamn pound to myself… Motherfucker.” He grabbed on last bottle, and opted to sip it slowly. Maybe Min had a point. Maybe he hit the drugs too hard, too fast, and too often. Shit. Maybe he should tug on the reins. Just, like… lightly. With that new thought in his mind, Henry headed along the poolside and toward the showers. Time to make the donuts.
And yet, here Henry was, fucking off in her pool with the capybaras.
Henry had to rebel in the little ways that he could, it was hard when he was essentially hands off. His parents set guidelines, but did they really care what he did? Not really… it was both sad and funny. Sure, Henry could get turnt every weekend, or burn money hand over fist… but then there was the other hand. Pretty much nobody cared that he had a 3.9 GPA, or that he was lauded by his teachers for being inclusive and supportive of his fellow students…
In fact, prior to the incident with Damian’s house party — which Henry felt pretty confidently was his sister’s doing — Henry had pretty much been a model student, and a popular one at that. But did anyone care about that? Not really. All they really cared about was how he was ‘disobedient.’ Fuckers, all four of ‘em. Yeah, fuck Julie too.
The important thing was, Henry was directly disobeying his mother — again. He was sitting in the center of an innertube in the massive pool at the Stentorian Estate. Benedict and Arnold, his beloved pets, were paddling around him. Henry had his sunglasses on, toes in the water, and a joint tucked behind his ear (soon to be his fourth of the day), and… he was damn near asleep.
“Hey, Henry. There you are. Why are you always hard to find when we want you?”
Henry lifted the sunglasses, and opened his eyes, staring at his father, blinking a few times. “What the fuck you want, motherfucker?” He demanded, and his father just gestured him over. Henry rolled his eyes, but ultimately paddled over to Ty. Once he arrived, Ty reached down… and plucked the joint from behind Henry’s ear. “Hey! What are you doin’, asshole!? That’s mine!” Ty seemed to just ignore his son, and instead put it between his lips and lit it.
“You need to talk to your mother.”
This guy was for real? He just ran in, stole his joint, and now he was telling him to talk to his mother? Hell nah, dude. Henry slammed the sunglasses back down and shook his head. There was no way he was gonna talk to Alyssa unless he absolutely couldn’t avoid it. He didn’t want to hear about how he was a disappointment. He wasn’t doing that. Casually, Henry lifted a hand and extended his middle finger.
“I mean, Eve, bro.”
The sunglasses were raised up. Henry was concerned now. It wasn’t often that he was requested to talk to Eve. She was self-sufficient (or, at least co-dependent on Pops and Mother), and she never needed his help. She was, admittedly, the only one of his parents that Henry would bother helping. Now having Henry’s attention, Ty blew out the smoke in his lungs.
“She’s gonna drink herself straight to death.”
“Ain’t that supposed to be your jurisdiction?” Henry asked with a scoff at the end, half considering putting the sunglasses back down. This wasn’t supposed to be his problem, how was he gonna calm Moms down? This was supposed to be his dad’s thing! That’s why he was a part of their lives, and not just fucked off with Julie. This was none of his business — or at least it wasn’t supposed to be.
Henry was concerned when Eve got excessive. Usually it just took a casual poking of his dad to get it taken care of, and Moms would be back on the wagon and everything would be good. Henry could, reasonably, see how this would be different, though. After all, she was really pounding those wines back at the dinner — and they only had the big glass. Couple that with a tendency to begin the day with a mimosa and a bloody mary (one for each hand) for the last couple of weeks… Henry could see it.
“Usually, but trust me. This time, she needs you. She thinks you hate her.”
Henry put his hand on his chin, and thought about it, while Benedict paddled up and onto his owner’s stomach. Henry looked the capybara in the eyes and considered his options. He didn’t really have much of a choice, to be fair — he owed Moms a lot. If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t have Benedict and Arnold, he probably would have never been able to convince the parents to let Min-seo live in the same room as him…
Henry sank a little deeper into the innertube.
“Fuck.”
“You’re telling me.”
Henry splashed some water on his face, and almost immediately spat it out. How much chlorine did one pool need? Could they not afford salt water, or freshwater? Groaning, he leaned over to the poolside and flopped onto the warm concrete, “okay. Whatever. I’ll text her.” He said, rolling across the concrete poolside to his phone sitting by a lounge chair.
“Good deal.”
“Prick.”
To: Moms
me u captain cuddles
fifteen
When Henry looked up, Ty was already gone. “Motherfucker does a better disappearing act than his daughter, I tell you what. Jesus, I’m high. I need a sip of water. WHERE CAN I GET A SIP OF WATER? Fucking Christ, who built this shithole?” Henry snapped, looking the pool, until his eyes landed on the cabana. He moved over to it and hopped the bar, scrounging around in the ice chest until he found a bottle of cool, delicious water. He pounded it, and threw it to the side.
Then he picked up another one, and did the same thing. “Gotta go talk to moms, got cotton mouth like I just smoked a goddamn pound to myself… Motherfucker.” He grabbed on last bottle, and opted to sip it slowly. Maybe Min had a point. Maybe he hit the drugs too hard, too fast, and too often. Shit. Maybe he should tug on the reins. Just, like… lightly. With that new thought in his mind, Henry headed along the poolside and toward the showers. Time to make the donuts.
In
Which setting would you like to see more of in Roleplays?
→
5 yrs ago
Forum: Roleplaying Discussion
A buddy-cop RP would be pretty fun
I agree. It'd have to be like, small or 1x1 though.
Time: Monday before school
Starring: Zachary Webb
The truth was, Zach wasn’t sure about this from the moment it started. First, Owen was calling him even earlier than he was expected to be at the gym! Now, this? Zach wasn’t even sure Owen was in a condition to be doing things like this! After all, he had a huge band-aid over his left eye, and Zach was pretty sure that his lip was still swollen.
Even so, together with Owen, Zach was standing on one end of Venice Beach. Both of them were wearing their gym clothes, and stretching side to side. Zach thought Owen was insane, but he wasn’t going to say that aloud. That… that seemed like certain death. Not unlike what Owen was planning to put him through. “You’re sure about this, really? Isn’t Venice Beach like… fourteen miles?” Zach asked earnestly, and Owen shrugged his shoulders in response.
“You better figure it out.” Owen said, stretching his arms out and shaking his head. This kid could be such a drag. “It’s not even that big of a deal. We’re going for a run down the strip. At the end of it, my dad will pick us up. I don’t understand what’s hard about that for you. You can’t do a fourteen mile run? Ain’t nobody else out here, it’s just me and you. We’ll switch gears at the five and ten mile marks, and you’ll be fine. Trust me. Just keep up, motherfucker. Alright?” Owen asked, and Zach nodded slowly. Owen seemed satisfied, and began to run.
Zach watched as Owen took off and found himself wondering how Owen thought he was supposed to keep up. Were they going to be running at full speed for this? That seemed like what Owen was intent on doing — but when did Owen do anything other than giving it 110%?
Zach was calculating the odds of survival. He was thinking and letting his brain run, there was a lot to process here. Was this even physically possible? Was he going to die? Probably… was it worth it? He wasn’t su— “Hey, asshole, are you coming or what?” Owen yelled back at him, stopped maybe ten yards out. Zach knew that he had to make a choice then. He could probably get out of this forever, but he had a sort of feeling of obligation to try, no matter how impossible it seemed for him to make the whole run with Owen. Fourteen miles was ... a lot of miles, but he’d been training for a while now, and it wasn’t a sprint.
Zach was off to the races, staying side-by-side with Owen.
It wasn’t until the ten mile mark that Zach was really starting to feel it. He’d kept up, staying next to, or only a few paces behind his much more physically developed mentor. He was proud of himself or doing so; he and Owen had been going for runs together for a while now, but this was the longest so far. Five miles was easy, even seven or eight hadn’t been that hard. But now? Now, Zach could feel himself giving up. There was no way he could make it any further.
He didn’t have it in him! Owen would understand, he had to. Zach had given it everything he had, and now he could barely breathe. “Owen,” when Owen heard Zach’s voice, he paused to turn and look at Zach, who had fallen behind and was trying to speak while not having any air in his lungs. “Owen, dude… I can’t… I can’t do it. This is it, dude, if I keep going my body is going to give out and I’ll die.”
Owen used his hand to push his damp bangs off of his forehead and looked at Zach. He flicked the sweat from his brow and shook his head. “Nah, you’re gonna finish. You wanna die? You die on your time, bitch. If you can’t keep up for this, I don’t know how you plan to fight Sam. She’ll knock you on the floor and step on you, and you don’t seem much like you’re into being stepped on.” Owen looked at Zach, then turned his head to look down the rest of Venice Beach. “Four miles left. You gonna finish, or you gonna sit here, cry, and prove everyone who’s ever said you’re a little nerdy bitch right? What are you gonna do?”
Zach hated this. Owen’s form of motivation was weird, and strange, almost demotivational at its core, but it worked. It almost always convinced him that he was better than he thought, that he wasn’t a coward and that he could do anything he set his mind to. Either that, or it just pissed him off enough to want to prove Owen wrong.
The important thing was, Zach’s resolve was found once more, and he let out a long breath before looking over at Owen. Running a hand through his hair, Zach spoke in a surprisingly steady — albeit slow — voice. “I’m gonna finish.”
“Damn right.”
The unlikely duo was back on the road.
When they got to the finish line, the other side of Venice Beach, both master and pupil were out of breath. It was worse for Zach, who laid down on the ground, staring up at the early morning sun. Zach’s heart was pounding so hard that it seemed it might only be seconds before it exploded out his chest, Zach desperately gulped at the air, hoping that it would quickly catch on and the oxygen would flow through his body. He was certain that it was over, that this was where it was going to end… He closed his eyes and decided to accept it.
Until water was splashed on his face, and Zach’s eyes flew open to see Owen standing above him with an open bottle of water. Owen had a proud smirk on his face as he spoke, “good job. You did it. Do you feel that? That burning feeling in your chest?”
Zach seemed confused as he sat up, pushing himself up with his elbows. Owen extended a hand and Zach graciously accepted it, pulling himself up to his feet and taking the bottle of water that Owen offered, and gulping it down desperately. Once he was done, Zach frowned. “What? The feeling of my heart trying to leave my chest?” He asked, and in perhaps the most shocking turn of events, Owen laughed.
“No, idiot. That?” He jabbed his finger into Zach’s chest, and nodded his head. “That’s pride. That’s what’s going to help you beat Sam. It’s not something I can teach, it’s not something I can give to you. I can teach you a thousand and one holds, a thousand kicks, two thousand punches… I can’t… I can’t teach you how to take pride in yourself. That’s something you’re gonna have to teach yourself.”
“You start something. You finish it. Take some pride in yourself. You’re earning it.”
Zach felt good. Better than anything Owen had told him before, and he felt a smile coming on his lips.
“And you better beat Sam’s ass soon — lotta people lookin’ to take the challenge. Lotta people who are a helluva lot more clever than you.”
“Wait… what?!”
Even so, together with Owen, Zach was standing on one end of Venice Beach. Both of them were wearing their gym clothes, and stretching side to side. Zach thought Owen was insane, but he wasn’t going to say that aloud. That… that seemed like certain death. Not unlike what Owen was planning to put him through. “You’re sure about this, really? Isn’t Venice Beach like… fourteen miles?” Zach asked earnestly, and Owen shrugged his shoulders in response.
“You better figure it out.” Owen said, stretching his arms out and shaking his head. This kid could be such a drag. “It’s not even that big of a deal. We’re going for a run down the strip. At the end of it, my dad will pick us up. I don’t understand what’s hard about that for you. You can’t do a fourteen mile run? Ain’t nobody else out here, it’s just me and you. We’ll switch gears at the five and ten mile marks, and you’ll be fine. Trust me. Just keep up, motherfucker. Alright?” Owen asked, and Zach nodded slowly. Owen seemed satisfied, and began to run.
Zach watched as Owen took off and found himself wondering how Owen thought he was supposed to keep up. Were they going to be running at full speed for this? That seemed like what Owen was intent on doing — but when did Owen do anything other than giving it 110%?
Zach was calculating the odds of survival. He was thinking and letting his brain run, there was a lot to process here. Was this even physically possible? Was he going to die? Probably… was it worth it? He wasn’t su— “Hey, asshole, are you coming or what?” Owen yelled back at him, stopped maybe ten yards out. Zach knew that he had to make a choice then. He could probably get out of this forever, but he had a sort of feeling of obligation to try, no matter how impossible it seemed for him to make the whole run with Owen. Fourteen miles was ... a lot of miles, but he’d been training for a while now, and it wasn’t a sprint.
Zach was off to the races, staying side-by-side with Owen.
It wasn’t until the ten mile mark that Zach was really starting to feel it. He’d kept up, staying next to, or only a few paces behind his much more physically developed mentor. He was proud of himself or doing so; he and Owen had been going for runs together for a while now, but this was the longest so far. Five miles was easy, even seven or eight hadn’t been that hard. But now? Now, Zach could feel himself giving up. There was no way he could make it any further.
He didn’t have it in him! Owen would understand, he had to. Zach had given it everything he had, and now he could barely breathe. “Owen,” when Owen heard Zach’s voice, he paused to turn and look at Zach, who had fallen behind and was trying to speak while not having any air in his lungs. “Owen, dude… I can’t… I can’t do it. This is it, dude, if I keep going my body is going to give out and I’ll die.”
Owen used his hand to push his damp bangs off of his forehead and looked at Zach. He flicked the sweat from his brow and shook his head. “Nah, you’re gonna finish. You wanna die? You die on your time, bitch. If you can’t keep up for this, I don’t know how you plan to fight Sam. She’ll knock you on the floor and step on you, and you don’t seem much like you’re into being stepped on.” Owen looked at Zach, then turned his head to look down the rest of Venice Beach. “Four miles left. You gonna finish, or you gonna sit here, cry, and prove everyone who’s ever said you’re a little nerdy bitch right? What are you gonna do?”
Zach hated this. Owen’s form of motivation was weird, and strange, almost demotivational at its core, but it worked. It almost always convinced him that he was better than he thought, that he wasn’t a coward and that he could do anything he set his mind to. Either that, or it just pissed him off enough to want to prove Owen wrong.
The important thing was, Zach’s resolve was found once more, and he let out a long breath before looking over at Owen. Running a hand through his hair, Zach spoke in a surprisingly steady — albeit slow — voice. “I’m gonna finish.”
“Damn right.”
The unlikely duo was back on the road.
When they got to the finish line, the other side of Venice Beach, both master and pupil were out of breath. It was worse for Zach, who laid down on the ground, staring up at the early morning sun. Zach’s heart was pounding so hard that it seemed it might only be seconds before it exploded out his chest, Zach desperately gulped at the air, hoping that it would quickly catch on and the oxygen would flow through his body. He was certain that it was over, that this was where it was going to end… He closed his eyes and decided to accept it.
Until water was splashed on his face, and Zach’s eyes flew open to see Owen standing above him with an open bottle of water. Owen had a proud smirk on his face as he spoke, “good job. You did it. Do you feel that? That burning feeling in your chest?”
Zach seemed confused as he sat up, pushing himself up with his elbows. Owen extended a hand and Zach graciously accepted it, pulling himself up to his feet and taking the bottle of water that Owen offered, and gulping it down desperately. Once he was done, Zach frowned. “What? The feeling of my heart trying to leave my chest?” He asked, and in perhaps the most shocking turn of events, Owen laughed.
“No, idiot. That?” He jabbed his finger into Zach’s chest, and nodded his head. “That’s pride. That’s what’s going to help you beat Sam. It’s not something I can teach, it’s not something I can give to you. I can teach you a thousand and one holds, a thousand kicks, two thousand punches… I can’t… I can’t teach you how to take pride in yourself. That’s something you’re gonna have to teach yourself.”
“You start something. You finish it. Take some pride in yourself. You’re earning it.”
Zach felt good. Better than anything Owen had told him before, and he felt a smile coming on his lips.
“And you better beat Sam’s ass soon — lotta people lookin’ to take the challenge. Lotta people who are a helluva lot more clever than you.”
“Wait… what?!”
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