A/N: I'm BAAAACK! And I apologize for the over-one-year absence: I have been fandom-jumping all this time, searching for a muse - and found myself into the ClueFinders again. As there aren't much ClueFinders fics on the site, I thought I could put up some of my headcanon-inspired work! Vague-ish Joni\Santiago; although it isn't implied that the pairing is prominent, if it makes you uncomfortable, by all means, don't read. Characters may be OOC. I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you have fun reading it! :)
Santiago propped his head up - despite common manners - absentmindedly chewing on the tines of his fork, observing these dorks he'd diligently call 'best friends' make complete and utter fools of themselves at 9 at the morning. He paused. Okay, not completely - Leslie still demonstrated that she had her head screwed on her shoulders, but the other two? They were pretty much out of their minds, yet he knew he still loved them anyways.
It was pretty much the second week of summer; one of those cool, crisp Midsummer mornings - with the Savages on their mission cruise, plus his own parents touring Latin and South America for revolutionary recruits, the 19-year old brunet found himself pretty much bound to Joni's house - and Owen decided to call in with a movie request, opting to bring the new DVD over to break it in. What Santiago was expecting was a late afternoon movie party, which would have given him and Joni enough time to prepare the house accordingly.
Of course, neither of the two of them was expecting a fully awake Owen Lam, with a barely awake Leslie Clark at their front door at 7:30am, and now breakfast was being shared among two loudmouths, a small quiet girl, and him. At least Leslie was considerate. Even then, with the two younger teens sitting at their coffee table with Joni, sharing toast and omelettes and butter and salt over stories of educational conquests and team sports and the occasional "Dude, they wiped out so hard!", Santiago found normal summer pretty goddamned endearing.
He wasn't entirely aware that his musings got carried away until the sharp sound of Joni clearing her throat jolted him back to the surface. The redhead was mock-glaring at him behind her round-rimmed glasses, and he attempted to counter it, still chewing on his fork. "What?"
"Come on, Santiago - at least try and finish your breakfast," Joni's tone was bright, pointing to the half-finished omelette on his plate. She was seated on his left, arms akimbo, spatula in one hand, grinning in her sleepshirt and short-shorts. "I know you don't like vegetables and all, but come on, we have company!"
Santiago shrugged. "So?" He managed to shoot back. "It's not really my fault you can't cook." Across from him, Owen sputtered into his coffee.
"At least I try, Mr. Rivera."
"Well, try harder, Ms. Savage." He took a bite of his omelette and made a face of mock disgust. "A lot harder."
"Hey!"
On his right, Leslie grinned at them, sipping her tea. "No worries. I'm ecstatic you've decided to have us this morning, Joni. And pay no attention to Santiago; we're positive he's fibbing."
"How are you so sure, Leslie? You've never had to suffer like I have."
"Ugh, whatever." Joni held her hands up in resignation. "So, Owen, what movie are we watching today? Since you guys are here pretty early and all, we could just go out and get some groceries..."
Dropping his fork and knife onto his empty plate, Owen beamed, mouth still full. "Correction: movies!'The Aliens from Outer Space' Trilogy! I found these in my brother's movie stash. 9 glorious hours of science fiction! We gotta get started; it's gonna be so awesome!" He turned to Leslie, put on his best menacing face and roared at her, prompting her to push him away.
"You know, Owen," Joni giggled, leaving to clear the table while they sat back in the chairs. "Even after we grew up, you're still the grossest of us all."
"Nah, Joni, you're pretty gross." Santiago quipped, shifting to look at her over his shoulder. "Remember when you went a whole week wearing those stinky socks on the Mathra mission? I still can't breathe right."
Leslie snickered into the back of her hand. Joni stuck a tongue out at him, placing the cutlery in the plateholders. "Yea, I remember. That was kinda... ew. But you're gross-er! I don't have to tell everyone about that sandwich you left in your gym bag. We all know about it."
Santiago noticed the faces his two friends at the table were pulling, and clicked his tongue. "...Eh, you're still gross."
"I know you love me, Santiago."
"Yeah. Love." He rolled his eyes. "Right. I guess that was love then, every time I had to save you and fix most of your silly mistakes on our missions, huh?"
The 19-year-old redhead toyed with her hair, tied in a single braid. "Pretty much, yea."
"And all those times we nearly died together and I wouldn't leave your side. That's love by your definition?"
"Mhm. Admit it, Mr. Rivera." She placed still wet hands on his shoulders. "You love me. Don't deny it. I know you do."
"Yea, Joni. I love you so much." Sarcasm laced his voice.
Owen chuckled. "Hey, Santiago. If you love Joni so much," he elbowed Leslie, "why don't you marry her?"
"Haha. Are you insane? I would never..." He stopped, thinking. A smirk crept onto his face. "You know what? That's exactly what I'm going to do." He turned to the girl above him. "I'm gonna marry her."
Everyone went quiet.
"Dude, are you serious? You know I was joking, right? I mean, I didn't expect you to agree..."
"I know you were joking. But, she knows I love her. Don't I, Joni?" The 19-year-old laughed.
"Yea I'm sure you do, Santiago. But, come on...you don't have to, y'know? It was a joke-"
"Nonsense. I really want to. In fact," He pushed himself up, grabbing his sweater and the car keys from the doorway. "I'll be back in a couple of hours. I need to pick up a few stuff." He left, leaving three dumbfounded teens still seated at the table.
Leslie cleared her throat. "Pardon me for wondering, Joni... but do you honestly believe Santiago will be requesting your hand in marriage?"
Joni shrugged. "I doubt it. I can tell he's teasing."
"Well, that's settled with." Owen held the DVDs up. "Let's get started on these!"
Three hours later, the trio had completed the first movie, and had just popped in the second instalment when they heard the front door open to signify that Santiago had returned. From downstairs in the basement, Joni could hear the clink of keys and groceries on the marble counter.
A few minutes later, they watched as he descended the stairs, a grin plastered on his face, chewing popcorn from a bag.
"Hey what's with the Cheshire grin, dude? Come on; you almost missed the opening, and you've already missed the whole first movie! Sit down!"
"Hey, okay, hold on Owen, I got something to say," he remarked, throwing Owen the bag. "Pause the movie, Leslie." Joni regarded him quizzically, wondering why he was gazing and smiling at her so intently. He held her hands in his and asked her to stand up in front of him.
"So I'm going to ask you a pretty simple, straightforward, yes-or-no question, Jo. I kinda want you to think long and hard about it, but I want you to answer me today. Fair enough?" Joni nodded, expecting another sarcastic retort, until Santiago pretty much went down on one knee. Leslie gasped; Owen almost choked on his food; Joni internally screamed.
The 19-year-old looked up at Joni, all bundle of nerves behind her glasses. "Joni Savage, the years have been pretty amazing, huh? We've experienced so much; so many flavours of life; gotten our tastes of danger; had some really sweet moments, and a whole lot of sour moments too... and even though Owen suggested it, it's been on my mind for a long time and I decided to just do it today, so..." He pulled a velvet box from his hoodie. Hearing soft gasps all around him, he noticed he could feel Joni's pulse increase.
"So Jo, Joni Savage. Will you..." He opened the box to reveal a purple ring pop with an orange band.
"Eat this ring pop for me?"
Joni's horrified look melted into a grin, and she removed her hands."Santiago, you dolt!" He got on his feet. "I thought you were being serious! We all thought you were being serious! Jesus Christ."
"What, are you crazy? I don't have $3,000 to just fork out, you know. I only have about $5 change."
"You were absent for an abnormally long period, Santiago."
"I went to the supermarket in town. Jo here mentioned that we needed groceries, so..." He glanced at her, laughing at the scowl on her face. "Hey, you know I never bought that 'ring' just for show. I actually want you to wear it." He retook her hand, slipping the ring onto her ring finger. "There. You're candy-married to me now, Mrs. Rivera."
"No thanks, I'll hyphenate. Thanks for the ring though. Where's yours?"
"Oh, you thought I would propose and not have my own ring?" He pulled out a still-wrapped ring pop. "You have to slip it on, though."
"HEY." Owen's voice cut the air. Annoyed, he gestured at the television screen. "Hello dudes? Movie! You guys can be fake married and fake kiss all you want; I came here for movies, so sit down. Gimme that remote." The pair flopped down on the couch, moving to take a handful of popcorn as Owen un-paused the movie. "Dude, you missed a hella lot. Wanna recap?"
"Err... no thanks, amigo." He watched as Joni slipped the ring pop onto his finger and promptly stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm good."
(Across town, a diamond engagement ring was put in layaway, set for payments to end in 5 years.)