Be awed at my amazing Canadian spelling of the word 'Favourite'. Anyway, this kind of came out of the blue and isn't around for more than a bit of fun.

Ten points to anyone who gets the OBC Rent/other musical referance within the story. Enjoy!


Maureen blew a strand of hair out of her face. Mark flipped a page of his worn paperback. Roger played the same refrain over and over until it faded into white noise in the ears of the others.

It was hot and no one moved much. Mimi sat on the opposite side of the sofa from Roger, keen to avoid any additional, unnecessary body heat. Joanne glanced at Maureen, desperate for her girlfriend to come up with something, anything to keep the group from slowly melting of heat and boredom.

Maureen, never one to pass up an opportunity to open her mouth, broke the silence.

"What makes you guys happy?"

"No talking," Roger muttered, "too much hot air…especially from you."

Maureen ignored him. "Come on guys, what makes you happy."

Nobody looked up as they answered.

"Film."

"Dancing."

"Buckets of ice water."

"Sex."

"Angel."

Everyone glanced at Collins, sprawled on his back on the same table Mimi had laid on months before. His voice was calm and he didn't seem to notice the others' attention. Deep in thought with a small smile on his face, they knew he was with Angel at the moment.

Maureen, frustrated, pushed the strand of hair out of her eyes again and sat up straighter. "That's boring. We all know Roger likes sex. What made you happy as kids? When you were little?"

The answers came slowly, thickly through the heat.

"Wearing my mother's makeup," said Mimi, pursing her stained red lips.

"Playing baseball," said Roger, still not looking up from his guitar.

"Really?" asked Maureen. "I would have had you pegged for the kind of guy who skipped gym class to smoke behind the school."

"I was – how young are we talking here? I played baseball until I turned thirteen and realized it ruined my badass rockstar image."

"What about you Mark?"

"Charlie Brown comics," he mumbled, flushing.

"Aww, cute!" cooed Mimi, pinching Mark's red cheek before being swatted away.

"Joanne?"

"Reading."

"You can't come up with anything more interesting than that?" asked Maureen, disappointed.

Joanne shrugged. "I had lawyers for parents. There wasn't a lot to do besides read and listen to them obsess about their cases."

"Collins?"

"Hmm?"

"What made you happy as a kid?"

"Fruit on a stick."

"What?"

"My mom put fruit on a stick to make me eat it. I liked it better that way."

Maureen snorted. "No wonder you grew up weird."

Collins sat up. "And what about you, Mo? What did you like?"

She grinned. "When I was growing up, I liked Marky. I had a crush on him since second grade."

Mark's ears flamed as everyone laughed.

"I guess a lot has changed," said Joanne with a smile, and pulled Maureen into her lap.

Maureen went willingly. "Thank God."


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