Disclaimer: The OC and its characters belong to someone with much more
money than me.
Author's note: This is an episode tag to The Gamble. I wonder what went on the rest of the day. We will probably never see it, so I wrote it. If someone has already written a tag to this episode, go read it; it's probably better. I have a love of punctuation marks, especially commas. Still looking for a beta. I was reading my reviews for Simple Gestures, wow, thanks guys. It took me forever to get up the courage to post. Glad I did now. Had this story hidden away too.
One last thing. (Cringing) I tried to write early Seth, which means a lot of rambling and little more boyish. I almost didn't post because if you write Seth bad, well, that's just not good. I posted, you only live once, right? I hope I didn't copy anything from the shows. 'Sethism' tend to cling to your unconscious inner monologue.
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Not Really A Gamble; So Much As A Guess
Chapter One
"Ok, alright, so, this one. Look at this one and tell me, what do you think. See, the hair has a certain wave to it, yes? Ok, that's early 80's, nice, nice. Very about layers, never really truly appreciated past 85, but hey, I saw some woman in the Haagen-Das still working almost the exact same 'do' yesterday, and I must say, she had it GO-ING ON. But I digress, look, look at this one. Alright, now we are on early 90's. See, see the difference in the hair, subtle, yet with a hint of grunge. It says, yes, I can kick some serious arch enemy ass and still go home to my flannel wearing, garage-band playing boyfriend. I may be a wonder, but I am still a woman."
Seth punctuates the word woman with a knowing nod of his head and a quick click of his tongue.
Ryan stone stares back, still processing an image of some woman in the Haagen-Das wearing an 80's haircut.
Seth is so excited about Ryan staying in Newport that the youngest Cohen is in danger of orbiting out of his already frenzied trajectory. He grabs another Wonder Woman comic and flings it at Ryan.
"You know what? You are in for a treat my new friend. We are going to call this moment..", Seth scratches behind his ear, pondering, distracts himself with a piece of lint he manages to pull from his shirt, and then continues. "Ok so, I can't think of a good title for this moment, I will later. That's not important. What is important my man Atwood is that you are about to enter the Seth Cohen comic book inner sanctum."
Ryan looks around at what must be a thousand comic books strew over Seth's bed. He fans an arm back and forth over the mess and deadpans, "This isn't the inner sanctum?"
Seth looks appalled at the mere thought. "Noooo, no don't be silly Ryan. Really, don't blame yourself. You are ignorant to this world, I understand. I'm patient. This, all this, is child's play. I mean that stack alone, over there, can be bought at...",
Seth stops and takes a deep breath. He looks tragic. "VONS for god's sake. No Ryan the inner sanctum is all about the...." Seth raises his fingers in air quotes, "Hard to find imports." He lowers his fingers and picks the Wonder Woman comic book in question back up. "Hard core stuff man. Hard to score."
Seth smiles, he seems pleased with himself. He's on to something. "Harder the core, harder to score." He smugly reclines. "That's what we say in the comic book biz."
Ryan finally recognizes a concept he can work with. "Hard core, so this import stuff is like a kind of porno? Well that is a wonder."
Seth shrinks back, mistaking Ryan honest question for sarcasm.
"Ok, you know what, if you're not going to take this seriously Ryan, there will be no inner sanctum for you. Ok? You want to play hardball tough guy, bring it on. I let you in, I can bounce you out just as fast." Seth snaps his fingers to accentuate his point.
Ryan's confusion is gaining momentum. He was actually being serious about the porno. Now he's disappointed. If there is no porno in the inner sanctum, he really doesn't want to bother entering it.
But Ryan enjoys watching Seth being Seth, so he extends a peace offering. "I was watching Cartoon Network the other day, and they were playing a really old cartoon. With all these guys in the comics in it and..."
"Ah yes", Seth interjects, "That would be Super Friends, early 70's. Strictly amateurish, but a valiant attempt nonetheless."
Ryan shakes his head, "Whatever. So Wonder Woman is going after the bad guy in her plane and..."
Seth can't control himself. "Her invisible jet Ryan, the plane has its own designation. Invisible. Jet."
Ryan drops his head. "Whatever, so here she is. Sneaking up in her jet that no one can see, but you can still see her flying it, so it looks like she is sitting and flying through the air, like a magic carpet BarcaLounger."
Seth is losing his aforementioned patience. "Point. What would your point be? Hhumm? Hurry up, you've almost used up your inner sanctum filibuster allotment."
"Well", Ryan scoots closer to Seth and leans forward, cocks his head "If you can see her flying then what the hell is the purpose of her plane being invisible. I mean can't the bad guys still see her coming?"
Seth springs off the bed and snatches the comic book out of Ryan's grip. "You know what Mr. Sarcastic, Mr. Witty Wit? No more inner sanctum for you. Hope it was worth it. Oh, what's this?" Seth grabs an imaginary piece of paper from the air, "What's this? Oh I know, it's your eviction notice Ryan Atwood. You are hereby being evicted from the inner sanctum. Remove yourself, go."
Ryan shrugs. "Ok, whatever." He lifts his body off the bed and lumbers towards the exit. He pauses at the bedroom door. "Your mom wants us downstairs by 11:00." Grinning like the Cheshire cat, Ryan glances over his shoulder at Seth, "You comin'?"
Seth sighs and throws the comic book on his bed. "Yeah, sure, ok, why not? I'm all about forgiveness today. I'm pardoning. I'm like the Pope, or a former President. Seriously, dude, you are like Mark Rich and I'm Bill Clinton. I am that willing to pardon."
Ryan has no idea what in the hell Seth is talking about. He throws up his hands, "Yup."
The two boys wander off in search of Kirsten.
Author's note: This is an episode tag to The Gamble. I wonder what went on the rest of the day. We will probably never see it, so I wrote it. If someone has already written a tag to this episode, go read it; it's probably better. I have a love of punctuation marks, especially commas. Still looking for a beta. I was reading my reviews for Simple Gestures, wow, thanks guys. It took me forever to get up the courage to post. Glad I did now. Had this story hidden away too.
One last thing. (Cringing) I tried to write early Seth, which means a lot of rambling and little more boyish. I almost didn't post because if you write Seth bad, well, that's just not good. I posted, you only live once, right? I hope I didn't copy anything from the shows. 'Sethism' tend to cling to your unconscious inner monologue.
--------------------------------------
Not Really A Gamble; So Much As A Guess
Chapter One
"Ok, alright, so, this one. Look at this one and tell me, what do you think. See, the hair has a certain wave to it, yes? Ok, that's early 80's, nice, nice. Very about layers, never really truly appreciated past 85, but hey, I saw some woman in the Haagen-Das still working almost the exact same 'do' yesterday, and I must say, she had it GO-ING ON. But I digress, look, look at this one. Alright, now we are on early 90's. See, see the difference in the hair, subtle, yet with a hint of grunge. It says, yes, I can kick some serious arch enemy ass and still go home to my flannel wearing, garage-band playing boyfriend. I may be a wonder, but I am still a woman."
Seth punctuates the word woman with a knowing nod of his head and a quick click of his tongue.
Ryan stone stares back, still processing an image of some woman in the Haagen-Das wearing an 80's haircut.
Seth is so excited about Ryan staying in Newport that the youngest Cohen is in danger of orbiting out of his already frenzied trajectory. He grabs another Wonder Woman comic and flings it at Ryan.
"You know what? You are in for a treat my new friend. We are going to call this moment..", Seth scratches behind his ear, pondering, distracts himself with a piece of lint he manages to pull from his shirt, and then continues. "Ok so, I can't think of a good title for this moment, I will later. That's not important. What is important my man Atwood is that you are about to enter the Seth Cohen comic book inner sanctum."
Ryan looks around at what must be a thousand comic books strew over Seth's bed. He fans an arm back and forth over the mess and deadpans, "This isn't the inner sanctum?"
Seth looks appalled at the mere thought. "Noooo, no don't be silly Ryan. Really, don't blame yourself. You are ignorant to this world, I understand. I'm patient. This, all this, is child's play. I mean that stack alone, over there, can be bought at...",
Seth stops and takes a deep breath. He looks tragic. "VONS for god's sake. No Ryan the inner sanctum is all about the...." Seth raises his fingers in air quotes, "Hard to find imports." He lowers his fingers and picks the Wonder Woman comic book in question back up. "Hard core stuff man. Hard to score."
Seth smiles, he seems pleased with himself. He's on to something. "Harder the core, harder to score." He smugly reclines. "That's what we say in the comic book biz."
Ryan finally recognizes a concept he can work with. "Hard core, so this import stuff is like a kind of porno? Well that is a wonder."
Seth shrinks back, mistaking Ryan honest question for sarcasm.
"Ok, you know what, if you're not going to take this seriously Ryan, there will be no inner sanctum for you. Ok? You want to play hardball tough guy, bring it on. I let you in, I can bounce you out just as fast." Seth snaps his fingers to accentuate his point.
Ryan's confusion is gaining momentum. He was actually being serious about the porno. Now he's disappointed. If there is no porno in the inner sanctum, he really doesn't want to bother entering it.
But Ryan enjoys watching Seth being Seth, so he extends a peace offering. "I was watching Cartoon Network the other day, and they were playing a really old cartoon. With all these guys in the comics in it and..."
"Ah yes", Seth interjects, "That would be Super Friends, early 70's. Strictly amateurish, but a valiant attempt nonetheless."
Ryan shakes his head, "Whatever. So Wonder Woman is going after the bad guy in her plane and..."
Seth can't control himself. "Her invisible jet Ryan, the plane has its own designation. Invisible. Jet."
Ryan drops his head. "Whatever, so here she is. Sneaking up in her jet that no one can see, but you can still see her flying it, so it looks like she is sitting and flying through the air, like a magic carpet BarcaLounger."
Seth is losing his aforementioned patience. "Point. What would your point be? Hhumm? Hurry up, you've almost used up your inner sanctum filibuster allotment."
"Well", Ryan scoots closer to Seth and leans forward, cocks his head "If you can see her flying then what the hell is the purpose of her plane being invisible. I mean can't the bad guys still see her coming?"
Seth springs off the bed and snatches the comic book out of Ryan's grip. "You know what Mr. Sarcastic, Mr. Witty Wit? No more inner sanctum for you. Hope it was worth it. Oh, what's this?" Seth grabs an imaginary piece of paper from the air, "What's this? Oh I know, it's your eviction notice Ryan Atwood. You are hereby being evicted from the inner sanctum. Remove yourself, go."
Ryan shrugs. "Ok, whatever." He lifts his body off the bed and lumbers towards the exit. He pauses at the bedroom door. "Your mom wants us downstairs by 11:00." Grinning like the Cheshire cat, Ryan glances over his shoulder at Seth, "You comin'?"
Seth sighs and throws the comic book on his bed. "Yeah, sure, ok, why not? I'm all about forgiveness today. I'm pardoning. I'm like the Pope, or a former President. Seriously, dude, you are like Mark Rich and I'm Bill Clinton. I am that willing to pardon."
Ryan has no idea what in the hell Seth is talking about. He throws up his hands, "Yup."
The two boys wander off in search of Kirsten.