AN: Another one-shot fluff piece! Again, not much happening here. It's more world building and character development. I feel like people only ever show Nosedive hanging with Thrash and Mookie at Captain Comics. If they really are his friends, then they should do friend things. That's a bit of what I'm trying to show here.
Nosedive sighed with relief as he entered Thrash's house. Lethanoid armor only magnified Anaheim's sweltering heat. It was a blessing to finally get back into a building with air conditioning.
"Yo!" Thrash half waved as his friend entered, gaze never leaving the Space Zombie's game he was currently playing against Mookie.
"Sup, compadres?" Nosedive kicked aside an empty Solo cup as he worked his way past stacks of pizza boxes and old mail to the papasan chair on the other side of the couch. "Shoo, Lucy." The black cat that had already claimed the seat narrowed his emerald eyes and refused to move. Rolling his eyes, he picked up the cat and took the seat for himself. Lucy paced around the duck's legs, brushing up against him at each pass.
"HAH!" Mookie threw up a fist in victory as her zombie defeated Thrash's astronaut. "What's up with the armor?" She gave him a question look, one pierced eyebrow raised.
"Yeah! Did you save the world again? What was it this time?" The question would have been condescending coming from anyone else; but, Captain Comic's best cashiers always shared an enthusiasm for hearing about the Duck's latest adventures.
"Ch'yeah," he shrugged. "I kept Micky Mouse from adding more relatable characters to the show." He scratched at his shoulder. "Hey, you guys mind if I take this off? It's way too hot to be carrying this portable oven around. I'm practically roasting!"
"Ooh," Mookie knowingly nodded. "That cartoon again?"
"Nah, dude, go ahead. Mi casa, su casa."
"Thanks, man." He reached under his pauldrons and released the latches holding them in place and dropped them to the floor. "They wanted me in my armor for the cartoonists to sketch. I don't know why they didn't just get a bunch of photos from newspapers and magazines and stuff. It's not like those tabloids would dare miss an issue without at least one of us in them." He set the chest plate next to the pauldrons. Fluffing his feathers and letting them settle back into place, he scratched at a spot on his shoulder blade he hadn't been able to reach earlier. "That is so much better." The cat started sniffing at the alien armor before deciding to curl up inside it.
Thrash laughed. "So, who you dating this week? Tanya? Hey!" He slapped away Mookie's hand as she hit the ready button on his controller and started another game.
"HAH!" Mookie took one life in two moves before Thrash could react.
"Uh… I think it was Duke. Or maybe Phil. Ah, who cares? Their reporters are too scared to actually interview any of us. I get winner."
"You know," Mookie mashed buttons, outmaneuvering her opponent with ease. "I'm kind of curious about this show Disney's making. I mean, like, how much of what you guys do is really going to be on it?"
Nosedive snorted in derision. "More than I'd like."
Tired of the armor, Lucy decided Nosedive's lap looked much more comfortable and invited himself up.
"Yeah?" Thrash belched. "'Scuse me. Like what?" He took another drink from the to-go cup on the side table before unpausing the game.
"Phil's been talking to them about how we got here. They were giving me the third degree about Canard. Totally lame." Absentmindedly, he stroked the cat's back, smiling at the way Lucy would lift his rear every time he got near the tail and lower it again when his hand went back to the neck.
"What? I thought you, like, were friends with the guy and all." Mookie smiled smugly. "I totally whooped your sorry ass!"
"Cheater." Thrash handed his controller over and let Nosedive take over.
"Yeah, I was. Am. I dunno." Did he want to be the red astronaut or the green slime zombie? "I guess it's a good thing they were asking me about him and not Wing." Yellow slug zombie, all the way. Mookie had a tough tine with that one. "Phil's got a big mouth. We weren't going to mention Canard to Disney at all." He hit the ready button, eager for virtual battle.
"Why not? Dude was an A-one hero from what you've told us." Thrash placed his hands on his lower back and stretched as he stood. "Sounds like the kind of example Eisner would love to trot out for the rug rats. Want anything to drink?"
"Water's good, thanks. He was." No way was that laser going to take out his slug; he easily dodged, sending a slime ball Mookie's way and immobilizing her. "It's just, Wing's a private guy. He doesn't like people prying into his life." Direct hit! She was down to half power. "You can't really talk about Canard without mentioning Wing. They were tight, man. Tighter than Wing and me." One more blow and he'd have the game.
Lucy grew tired of all the jumping around and vacated the warm lap he'd been enjoying. The sable feline left the room, nose and tail held high to show how little the other occupants mattered.
"Pfft!" Mookie shifted forward, intent on saving her character. "Im. Possible." Fingers flying, her astronaut broke free of the slime prison and landed a critical blow, knocking Nosedive down to thirty percent life.
"No way, girly girl." Every bit of his focus shifted to the game as he struggled to fend of her attacks and bring her down. They were down to ten percent each when the slug flew over the astronaut, dropping mucosal rain and killing her.
"Damn, that was good." Mookie set the controller on the couch and stood. "I'm gonna hit the bathroom before we leave."
"No wonder you guys win so many games." Thrash handed him a plastic cup with faded pictures of Batman on it. "You're freaky-scary when you focus like that."
"Huh? No way." He took a drink. "Just couldn't let her win after creaming your pathetic self so many times. Hey, you know what time the movie starts?"
"Uh… Yeah?" The redheaded human dug around the papers on the coffee table before finding the entertainment section of the newspaper. "Looks like, 3:15 if we go to the one by the mall or 3:45 if we hit up Yorba Linda."
"Let's do the 3:15." The mall was closer anyway.
"Yeah, but there's that killer Mexican place by Yorba. Fried tortillas, man."
Very tempting. But, they did have an optional evening practice scheduled, even if it was the off season. "I've got practice at six."
"So? Skip! It's July; you can afford to spend the afternoon with your friends. How often do all three of us have the same day off?"
Nosedive snorted in laughter. "You're as bad as Phil."
Mookie came back and flopped back onto the couch. Lucy decided she would be better company and jumped onto her stomach, purring and kneading her jacket. "What's the plan?"
"Mall or Yorba?" Thrash asked.
"Yorba! Bunuelos, guys. I seriously need some bunuelos." She petted the cat a moment before looking over at Nosedive. It was unusual to see him in just the green bodysuit he wore under the armor. It showed off his muscles pretty well; or, maybe it was partially sculpted body armor. She couldn't really tell.
"So, like, what's up with the patch?" Mookie pointed to the brown rectangle covering a large portion of the duck's bill. She'd always been curious about why he wore it with the armor and not any other times.
"That? Gotta use something to cover my feris spot. Too much glare off it in battle."
"Feruh-what?"
"Feris spot. You know, that huge shiny patch on my beak."
"What spot?"
"Oh, come on." Nosedive peeled up a corner of the adhesive cloth and slowly pulled it off. He leaned forward and tilted his head down. "There. See?"
"Uh… No." Mookie quirked her mouth to one side and crossed her arms.
Crossing his eyes, the duck looked downward. An irregularly shaped, nacreous sheen covered a good portion of the orange surface. "You need your eyes checked, girly girl." He balled up the patch and dropped it on the side table, next to his cup. He'd throw it away before they left.
Thrash leaned over and took a better look. "Sorry, my feathered friend, but I don't see it either."
"Really? That's weird." How could they not see it? There was a gigantic, shimmery rainbow plastered on his face! "You know," he frowned, "I don't think anyone else has ever asked me about it." His eyes unfocused as he mentally went over the myriad interviews he'd given over the past year. He'd been asked all sorts of rather personal, and quite rude, questions, but nobody had ever wondered why he was the only one on the team with an extra shiny bill. "You guys seriously can't see it?"
"I think you're pulling our proverbial chain." Thrash checked his watch. "We should get going soon if we're going to make it to Yorba Linda."
"No way! I wonder if it's something only ducks can see?"
"So… What's it look like?" Mookie stretched upright, tilting her head from side to side in hopes that she could see it at the right angle.
He shrugged. "It's shiny. You know how you can sometimes see rainbows on oil if someone's car was leaking? You can see that, right?"
"Duh."
"Picture that right across here," he made a circular motion over the bridge of his beak.
"Does anyone else, like, have that too? You're totally the only one who wears that weird patch thingy."
"Nah. Well, Wing's barely got a little bit, but it pretty much vamoosed a couple years ago." Canard had it; but they'd never met him, so there was no point in mentioning it.
"Why don't you wear it during games?" Mookie backed up, still not fully believing him. "Like, wouldn't it totally be blinding there too?"
"Eh," he shrugged. "A little. These patches get pretty itchy after a while. I sweat so much during games they're usually peeling off by the end of the first period. Moleskin sucks big time compared to the stuff the Resistance gave me." So far, the best substitute he'd been able to come up with was buying rolls of moleskin bandaging and cutting it down. Using regular bandaids looked ridiculous and really hurt when he pulled them off.
"Bet Mallory's jealous," Mookie teased.
Nosedive raised a skeptical eyebrow at that. "Doubt it. Only drakes get feris spots. Ducks like drakes with them."
"Guess that makes you the sexy one!" Mookie teased. On a whim, she picked up the cat and threw it towards Nosedive.
Lucy landed on his feet next to Nosedive and took off running for the bedroom to hide.
"Nah, that's Wing. Lucky duck got the white feathers."
"White's the best where you're from?" Thrash scratched the back of his neck. "Isn't that, like, racist?"
"Dude, how can it be racist? He's my brother; we'd be the same race if we classified it the same way humans do. White plumage is the most attractive for whatever reason; kinda like blonds here. Most of the celebrities back home were white. Although, Loxan Luiskimet was gray, now that I think about it. Trina Lightblade, too. Dude, she was hot."
"I'll take your word for it," Thrash said. "It's already 2:30. We've gotta leave now if we're going to get buenelos before the flick."
Mookie pushed a pile of papers off the table and cleared a spot. Snagging the over sized shoulder bag she sometimes used as a purse from the floor, she dumped it on the clear spot. The wallet, keys, and lip balm were returned to the bag while everything else was left behind. "I totally have enough space to sneak in some good snacks."
"Dudette, I'll get us all popcorn if cash is the problem." Captain Comics didn't pay that great and he had cash to spare.
"I, like, totally appreciate the offer, Dive. But, seriously, I want cinnamon and chocolate buenelos and Sprite. Movie soda is flat and nasty."
"Ai'ight. You guys mind if I toss my armor in the back seat and take the bike? Theater's closer to home than here."
"Why not make it do that disappearing thing?"
"The quick change? Nah, Tanya gets pissed if we use it when we don't need it." He rolled his eyes. "Something about having to make new beacons every time we use it. I dunno know how it works."
"Dude, leave it here and come back for it," Thrash insisted. "Gives you an excuse to come back and chill after."
"I dunno…" Actually, it was really tempting. Then again, if the saurians attacked and his armor was here, he'd have to face them without it. That was not a comforting thought. "I'll just leave it in your trunk." There was another way to work this. "You know what? Screw it. I'll ride with you two and come back for the bike."
"Then grab your gear, dude. Let's ride!"
"Shotgun!" Mookie bolted for the door, relegating the famous athlete to the back seat.
"Damn, she's fast," Nosedive muttered, following.
"Only cause she knows what the back seat's like." Thrash tossed the keys in the air and caught them. This was going to be a great afternoon.
End AN: Hope you liked it! I was researching bird vision and discovered that ducks can see into the UV spectrum. Certain species have feathers that show up much brighter under UV light than regular. I figured, hey, it totally makes sense that alien ducks would be the same way. Besides, it's a unique explanation for the patch Nosedive sometimes wears. I intend to explore differences in vision in a couple of stories that are still in the development stages.