Disclaimer: They no mine. You no sue.
Author's Note: Hiiiiii! Me bouncy! Me gotz strawberry soda! *Ignores the 6.4 looks* Well, after about the three millionth time listening to Third Eye Blind's first album, the inevitable happened: I was inspired to write a sappy fic based on one of the songs. Here it is. By the way, I've just discovered that I can't write violence for shit. So don't expect much. You read now. And review. Oh, and flames will be...well, in the story. So see, I don't need any more! :^D
Second Author's Note: Heh, what happened here is, I started this story, got one line into it, and stopped. Then I started ANOTHER story, that kinda...turned into this one, see? So I don't feel like combining the author's notes, so you get 'em both. Yay! Tired of writing these, so...fun, hopefully not too sappy Nny/Devi fic coming right up. This is my first Jhonen fic. Good 4 me. Oh! And there might be a TINY bit of an SI in here...you decide :^D Loosely based on Third Eye Blind's "Motorcycle Drive By," but it's also influenced by a couple of Sheryl Crow songs. Specifically "Riverwide" and "It Don't Hurt," I believe. Oh yeah! I should probably point out that I've only read the actual JtHM books, so I may be a bit clueless on anything from Squee or IFS. Eviiil brokenessness.
Warning: If the paragraph spacing is weird, blame ff.net. If you see any eviiil boxes like this: … blame Dalva, who told me that uploading this as a .txt file would fix the weird spacing.
~*~*~*~
Motorcycle Drive By
~*~*~*~
Nny stared out the window at the grayish sky. He sighed. Somewhere around four AM, hen had begun wondering what would happen if the sun simply never came up. Actually, he had been wondering that a lot lately. It had been one of those nights when he would have been seriously considering killing himself, if he hadn't already known that would be pointless. (A/N: This is something I got to thinking about. Wouldn't it seriously suck to know that you couldn't die? Well, oke, normal people may be giving me 6.4 looks right about now, but I think anyone who would be reading this fic knows what I mean.) But anyway, the sun was rising again. Disappointing him again.
Nny glanced at the wall in front of him. It was spattered with bloodstains. During the parts of the night that he hadn't been wishing for death, he had considered moving out of this place. After all, the Wall Thing wasn't here to hold him anymore. But in the partial light of day (A/N: Can we say "cliché," kids? I knew we could.) he saw that that would never happen. (A/N: Sort of like Emmie's road trip to Concord. Hey, I'm bitter, deal with it.) The sky grew lighter. Exactly how long HAD he been standing there? He barely remembered anything he had done last night. He knew he had put some Skettios on the stove to cook, and then he had come to stand by the window while he waited...and...what was that smell?
Crap...
Nny turned, very slowly, to see the flames making their way across the living room floor. Muttering obscenities under his breath, he assessed the situation. The majority of the house seemed to be in flames (A/N: Who woulda thought on little can of Skettios could do so much damage? Me. It was the only way I could think of to destroy Nny's house, which was kinda necessary to the plot. I'd also like to point out that I thought of the burning house long before I thought to connect the story and song. If you've HEARD the song, you'll get why I had to say that.) It wasn't as if he kept fire extinguishers laying around-well, okay, there was that one, but that was in the basement. He forgot exactly which room he had been torturing that chick in anyway. Johnny chose the only apparent option: he hurried out the door, jumped into his car, and left the house to burn.
After a few minutes of driving, Nny'§ strange (but fun!) sense of freedom was interrupted by an unpleasant sense of realism. Specifically, the realization that he had no home, no friends, nowhere to go, and not a whole lot of money. After briefly considering a "mystery trip" (aka, flipping a coin every time you come to a corner, and going right if it's heads, left if it's tails) he decided it would be much wiser, not to mention more gas efficient, to go to the 24-7, get a Brainfreezy, and then figure out what he was going to do.
~*~*~*~
An hour and three Brainfreezies later, Nny still had no idea what to do, the 24-7 clerk was shooting him dirty looks that clearly said "leave," and he was beginning to get quite annoyed with a group of three people-one guy, two girls-who were standing in the corner and kept glancing at him, then giggling and whispering to each other. Unfortunately, Johnny's knives were back in the large pile of ashes that was, by this point, probably his house. This had obviously made him a bit upset at first, but he was beginning to think maybe it was some higher being telling him that he should lay off the whole killing people thing. Or something. The only good thing was that one of the girls, the redhead, kept slapping the guy, who responded by yanking on the cord of the headphones she had on, thus annoying the heck out of her and also pulling on her hoop earrings, which she was too dense to take off. (A/N: Pogo-Eventually I WILL seriously hurt you for this.) Luckily, he didn't have a pen. The blonde chick was apparently trying to keep the other two from killing each other. This all created some entertainment, which kept Nny from having TOO many homicidal thoughts.
At least, until the redhead glanced at him again, then leaned back in to say something to her friends, causing all three of them to completely crack up. Johnny caught the word "boots." He began examining his Brainfreezy straw, wondering if it was strong and/or sharp enough to puncture human flesh. However, at that moment the clerk began walking toward him, probably to tell him to buy something else or get the heck out of the store and stop scaring off the customers. Nny chose the second option and exited before the clerk could reach him. So. He was back exactly where he started. With a sigh, he got back into his car and started it. So much for gas efficient. Maybe he could find a really cheap motel somewhere. After all, he couldn't get much worse than his former house. He pulled out of the parking space and heard an odd clunking noise as the car shut down completely. A sound that could have been a groan or a scream that was cut off before it was allowed to develop to its full screamy potential (hehe, the author is good at those. Except they're usually half giggle and the result of WAY too much caffeine.) emitted from Nny'§ throat as he allowed his head to drop, quite hard, onto the steering wheel.
"Ow," he muttered, not entirely sure that this was an unpleasant feeling right now. After a moment, he got back out of the car and popped the hood. As expected, he had no clue what was wrong with it. There was probably water in the carburetor or something. Slamming the hood shut, he walked over to the pay phone, picked it up, and put it back down. Who was he going to call? Tow trucks, and car repairs for that matter, cost money. Which he lacked. Normal people, he mused (A/N: Moosed? Lol.) might call someone to pick them up in this situation. Like those three inside. But friends were something else he was seriously lack...
Oh no. No way. *Just* what he didn't need right now. The redhead from inside the 24-7 was walking toward him. Shooting her a Death Glare (hee, the author's good at those too!), he picked up the phone and dialed a few buttons at random, trying to appear busy so that she would leave him alone. He really didn't want to deal with this crap, especially without a knife.
"It, uh, helps if you put money in first," the chick noted. Nny stared at the phone in his hand for a moment.
"Um." She was standing right next to him now. He noticed that she was wearing a Mary Anne Hanson (A/N: Remy keeps calling him/them that, and I had to Nny-ize the name, so...) t-shirt, black jeans, black ankle boots, and the headphones still. And she was smiling at him.
"Hey," she said, extending a hand. "I'm Mandy." (A/N: See see see? Not an SI! Because only Paulie calls me that, and I threaten his life every time he does. Don't ask me why. Mostly 'cause it'§ fun to threaten Paulie's life.) Nny gave her a brief handshake and a suspicious look.
"Johnny. Do you want something?"
Mandy laughed. "Wow, if you didn't remind me of me, I might have to say you were rude. Anyway, I just noticed you were having some trouble with your car. Do you want a ride home or something?"
After checking to make sure his jaw hadn't visibly dropped, Johnny managed to respond, "Um, no, I, um...thank you, though," he reminded himself to add. Those weren't words that he used very often.
The chick-Mandy-stared intently at him for a moment. "I see. Look, dude, I don't want to be rude or anything..." Why was she not going away? "...um, do you...*have* anywhere to go?" Nny, a bit shocked by the question, began to answer in the affirmative, but lying wasn't something that came easily to him, and he ended up simply staring at a patch of sidewalk. Mandy nodded.
"I'll take that as a 'no.' Well, there'§ probably a good chance I'll end up regretting this, but if you want, you can come stay with me awhile."
This time Nny's jaw *did* drop a bit, and he did nothing to stop it. "You're...actually inviting me to be in the same place as you for an extended period of time?"
She laughed again. "That is the long way of putting it."
Nny stared blankly at her. "Why?"
"Well, aside from the fact that you seem pretty cool, and, like I said, you remind me a lot of me, I just like helping people out. I've been told I'm too nice for my own good." (A/N: Pogo, if you're reading this, it's TRUE! Just not to you.)
"But...inside..." Nny gestured toward the 24-7, "weren't you making fun of me?"
"Nah," Mandy replied, "me and my friends were mostly making fun of each other. Once me and Pogo have had a couple of mocha cappuccino Brainfreezies and get together...watch out. (A/N: They actually have those at the 7-11 here! And yes, I typed it correctly this time, so :^P Anyway, they're overpriced.) We have this agreement that whichever one of us kills the other first gets to dance on their grave. But anyway."
"Uh...huh..." Nny replied, deciding not to respond to that comment. "I just thought...well, I noticed the three of you kept looking at me."
He wasn't entirely sure, but he thought Mandy'§ face reddened slightly. "Um. Well, that's a longish story. But, um, let'§ just say it has more to do with me than it does you."
"Ooke," Johnny responded, having no clue what that was supposed to mean but deciding to let it slide. "So. Um...are you sure about this...offer of yours?" He could hardly believe the words were coming out of his mouth, but hell, he DID need a place to stay, and hadn't he been complaining that he was tired of being alone all the time? And then there was the fact that Mandy was smiling at him again. (A/N: Before you even THINK it, uh-uh! I DEFINITELY draw the line at Mary Sues!) That didn't happen very often.
"Absolutely," she replied. "Let me just go tell Pogo and Whitney that I'm taking off." She hurried back into the convenience store, leaving Nny standing there, dealing with some suspiciously mushy, happiness-like feelings that he hadn't experienced in quite
Author's Note: Hiiiiii! Me bouncy! Me gotz strawberry soda! *Ignores the 6.4 looks* Well, after about the three millionth time listening to Third Eye Blind's first album, the inevitable happened: I was inspired to write a sappy fic based on one of the songs. Here it is. By the way, I've just discovered that I can't write violence for shit. So don't expect much. You read now. And review. Oh, and flames will be...well, in the story. So see, I don't need any more! :^D
Second Author's Note: Heh, what happened here is, I started this story, got one line into it, and stopped. Then I started ANOTHER story, that kinda...turned into this one, see? So I don't feel like combining the author's notes, so you get 'em both. Yay! Tired of writing these, so...fun, hopefully not too sappy Nny/Devi fic coming right up. This is my first Jhonen fic. Good 4 me. Oh! And there might be a TINY bit of an SI in here...you decide :^D Loosely based on Third Eye Blind's "Motorcycle Drive By," but it's also influenced by a couple of Sheryl Crow songs. Specifically "Riverwide" and "It Don't Hurt," I believe. Oh yeah! I should probably point out that I've only read the actual JtHM books, so I may be a bit clueless on anything from Squee or IFS. Eviiil brokenessness.
Warning: If the paragraph spacing is weird, blame ff.net. If you see any eviiil boxes like this: … blame Dalva, who told me that uploading this as a .txt file would fix the weird spacing.
~*~*~*~
Motorcycle Drive By
~*~*~*~
Nny stared out the window at the grayish sky. He sighed. Somewhere around four AM, hen had begun wondering what would happen if the sun simply never came up. Actually, he had been wondering that a lot lately. It had been one of those nights when he would have been seriously considering killing himself, if he hadn't already known that would be pointless. (A/N: This is something I got to thinking about. Wouldn't it seriously suck to know that you couldn't die? Well, oke, normal people may be giving me 6.4 looks right about now, but I think anyone who would be reading this fic knows what I mean.) But anyway, the sun was rising again. Disappointing him again.
Nny glanced at the wall in front of him. It was spattered with bloodstains. During the parts of the night that he hadn't been wishing for death, he had considered moving out of this place. After all, the Wall Thing wasn't here to hold him anymore. But in the partial light of day (A/N: Can we say "cliché," kids? I knew we could.) he saw that that would never happen. (A/N: Sort of like Emmie's road trip to Concord. Hey, I'm bitter, deal with it.) The sky grew lighter. Exactly how long HAD he been standing there? He barely remembered anything he had done last night. He knew he had put some Skettios on the stove to cook, and then he had come to stand by the window while he waited...and...what was that smell?
Crap...
Nny turned, very slowly, to see the flames making their way across the living room floor. Muttering obscenities under his breath, he assessed the situation. The majority of the house seemed to be in flames (A/N: Who woulda thought on little can of Skettios could do so much damage? Me. It was the only way I could think of to destroy Nny's house, which was kinda necessary to the plot. I'd also like to point out that I thought of the burning house long before I thought to connect the story and song. If you've HEARD the song, you'll get why I had to say that.) It wasn't as if he kept fire extinguishers laying around-well, okay, there was that one, but that was in the basement. He forgot exactly which room he had been torturing that chick in anyway. Johnny chose the only apparent option: he hurried out the door, jumped into his car, and left the house to burn.
After a few minutes of driving, Nny'§ strange (but fun!) sense of freedom was interrupted by an unpleasant sense of realism. Specifically, the realization that he had no home, no friends, nowhere to go, and not a whole lot of money. After briefly considering a "mystery trip" (aka, flipping a coin every time you come to a corner, and going right if it's heads, left if it's tails) he decided it would be much wiser, not to mention more gas efficient, to go to the 24-7, get a Brainfreezy, and then figure out what he was going to do.
~*~*~*~
An hour and three Brainfreezies later, Nny still had no idea what to do, the 24-7 clerk was shooting him dirty looks that clearly said "leave," and he was beginning to get quite annoyed with a group of three people-one guy, two girls-who were standing in the corner and kept glancing at him, then giggling and whispering to each other. Unfortunately, Johnny's knives were back in the large pile of ashes that was, by this point, probably his house. This had obviously made him a bit upset at first, but he was beginning to think maybe it was some higher being telling him that he should lay off the whole killing people thing. Or something. The only good thing was that one of the girls, the redhead, kept slapping the guy, who responded by yanking on the cord of the headphones she had on, thus annoying the heck out of her and also pulling on her hoop earrings, which she was too dense to take off. (A/N: Pogo-Eventually I WILL seriously hurt you for this.) Luckily, he didn't have a pen. The blonde chick was apparently trying to keep the other two from killing each other. This all created some entertainment, which kept Nny from having TOO many homicidal thoughts.
At least, until the redhead glanced at him again, then leaned back in to say something to her friends, causing all three of them to completely crack up. Johnny caught the word "boots." He began examining his Brainfreezy straw, wondering if it was strong and/or sharp enough to puncture human flesh. However, at that moment the clerk began walking toward him, probably to tell him to buy something else or get the heck out of the store and stop scaring off the customers. Nny chose the second option and exited before the clerk could reach him. So. He was back exactly where he started. With a sigh, he got back into his car and started it. So much for gas efficient. Maybe he could find a really cheap motel somewhere. After all, he couldn't get much worse than his former house. He pulled out of the parking space and heard an odd clunking noise as the car shut down completely. A sound that could have been a groan or a scream that was cut off before it was allowed to develop to its full screamy potential (hehe, the author is good at those. Except they're usually half giggle and the result of WAY too much caffeine.) emitted from Nny'§ throat as he allowed his head to drop, quite hard, onto the steering wheel.
"Ow," he muttered, not entirely sure that this was an unpleasant feeling right now. After a moment, he got back out of the car and popped the hood. As expected, he had no clue what was wrong with it. There was probably water in the carburetor or something. Slamming the hood shut, he walked over to the pay phone, picked it up, and put it back down. Who was he going to call? Tow trucks, and car repairs for that matter, cost money. Which he lacked. Normal people, he mused (A/N: Moosed? Lol.) might call someone to pick them up in this situation. Like those three inside. But friends were something else he was seriously lack...
Oh no. No way. *Just* what he didn't need right now. The redhead from inside the 24-7 was walking toward him. Shooting her a Death Glare (hee, the author's good at those too!), he picked up the phone and dialed a few buttons at random, trying to appear busy so that she would leave him alone. He really didn't want to deal with this crap, especially without a knife.
"It, uh, helps if you put money in first," the chick noted. Nny stared at the phone in his hand for a moment.
"Um." She was standing right next to him now. He noticed that she was wearing a Mary Anne Hanson (A/N: Remy keeps calling him/them that, and I had to Nny-ize the name, so...) t-shirt, black jeans, black ankle boots, and the headphones still. And she was smiling at him.
"Hey," she said, extending a hand. "I'm Mandy." (A/N: See see see? Not an SI! Because only Paulie calls me that, and I threaten his life every time he does. Don't ask me why. Mostly 'cause it'§ fun to threaten Paulie's life.) Nny gave her a brief handshake and a suspicious look.
"Johnny. Do you want something?"
Mandy laughed. "Wow, if you didn't remind me of me, I might have to say you were rude. Anyway, I just noticed you were having some trouble with your car. Do you want a ride home or something?"
After checking to make sure his jaw hadn't visibly dropped, Johnny managed to respond, "Um, no, I, um...thank you, though," he reminded himself to add. Those weren't words that he used very often.
The chick-Mandy-stared intently at him for a moment. "I see. Look, dude, I don't want to be rude or anything..." Why was she not going away? "...um, do you...*have* anywhere to go?" Nny, a bit shocked by the question, began to answer in the affirmative, but lying wasn't something that came easily to him, and he ended up simply staring at a patch of sidewalk. Mandy nodded.
"I'll take that as a 'no.' Well, there'§ probably a good chance I'll end up regretting this, but if you want, you can come stay with me awhile."
This time Nny's jaw *did* drop a bit, and he did nothing to stop it. "You're...actually inviting me to be in the same place as you for an extended period of time?"
She laughed again. "That is the long way of putting it."
Nny stared blankly at her. "Why?"
"Well, aside from the fact that you seem pretty cool, and, like I said, you remind me a lot of me, I just like helping people out. I've been told I'm too nice for my own good." (A/N: Pogo, if you're reading this, it's TRUE! Just not to you.)
"But...inside..." Nny gestured toward the 24-7, "weren't you making fun of me?"
"Nah," Mandy replied, "me and my friends were mostly making fun of each other. Once me and Pogo have had a couple of mocha cappuccino Brainfreezies and get together...watch out. (A/N: They actually have those at the 7-11 here! And yes, I typed it correctly this time, so :^P Anyway, they're overpriced.) We have this agreement that whichever one of us kills the other first gets to dance on their grave. But anyway."
"Uh...huh..." Nny replied, deciding not to respond to that comment. "I just thought...well, I noticed the three of you kept looking at me."
He wasn't entirely sure, but he thought Mandy'§ face reddened slightly. "Um. Well, that's a longish story. But, um, let'§ just say it has more to do with me than it does you."
"Ooke," Johnny responded, having no clue what that was supposed to mean but deciding to let it slide. "So. Um...are you sure about this...offer of yours?" He could hardly believe the words were coming out of his mouth, but hell, he DID need a place to stay, and hadn't he been complaining that he was tired of being alone all the time? And then there was the fact that Mandy was smiling at him again. (A/N: Before you even THINK it, uh-uh! I DEFINITELY draw the line at Mary Sues!) That didn't happen very often.
"Absolutely," she replied. "Let me just go tell Pogo and Whitney that I'm taking off." She hurried back into the convenience store, leaving Nny standing there, dealing with some suspiciously mushy, happiness-like feelings that he hadn't experienced in quite
