Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
"Piper! Music Man! Hey, Hart! You there?" James called. He stood in the doorway of Piper´s apartment, taking off his scarf and coat. Both were a bright canary yellow. As he pulled off his blue gloves, he repeated his greeting. Of course, it might seem pretty strange: entering someone´s home and then asking if the someone in question was actually there. It's a good question why James would choose to visit Piper if he wasn´t sure Piper was home, but an equally good question would be: how the hell did he get into the apartment?
Most of James´ friends knew that it was just a complete waste to give him a spare key to their apartments or to try to keep him out - it wasn´t as though he couldn´t get inside by other ways.
James went into the kitchen first and started to make himself a sandwich.
"Piper, your keys are on the key hanger and your coat is here - I know you´re home! Come on, pay attention to me!"
A faint groan could be heard from the bedroom. James swiftly pulled the door open.
"Wake up, sleepyhead!"
The blinds were closed, the room dark except for a small rectangle of light that shone in from the hallway. James could see a tiny patch of copper hair peeking out from a nest of blankets.
"Piper," James announced cheerily, "good to see you!"
He easily dodged the pillow that was aimed at his face. The alarm clock, however, found its target and smacked him on the forehead. "Ouch!"
Piper responded with another groan.
"That isn´t the proper way to greet old friends," James complained, pouting.
"Gr-hpfl-hrmmmm"
"What?"
"Old friends don´t break into the homes of their friends."
"Bah, whatever. Get up, I´m bored. There´s a toy convention in town and-"
"Go bother someone else, JJ."
"But I want to bother you."
"I´m sick, leave me alone."
"That bad, Piper?"
"I´d throw another pillow at you if I had any left. Or actually, anything in arm´s reach."
"Gee, someone is really grumpy here," James stated in his extra-annoyingly sing-songy voice.
Piper´s head rolled to the side and one blue eye glared daggers at him. James shut up; Piper really was miserable.
"Don´t you worry, Music Man, you go get your beauty sleep and I´ll go into the kitchen to make Mama Giuseppe´s famous chicken soup."
Piper was about to protest when James intervened.
"Ah-ah-aaaah, You: nap; me: soup. Me: Tarzan, you: ....Tarzan´s monkey friend."
As James left the room, he was almost sure he could see a small smile on that patch representing Piper´s face.
James had searched the kitchen three times as silently as he possibly could when he gave up. How could this man have four different brands of cereal and juice in seven flavors, and no chicken? It couldn´t be helped, James decided; for Mama Giuseppe´s famous chicken soup, you needed chicken - he´d have to get out to buy some.
He peeked into the bedroom again. "I´ll shop for groceries, I won´t be long - k, Piper?"
Piper was sound asleep.
Qui tacet, consentire videtur, James thought. He who is silent seems to agree.
Quietly he slipped out of the apartment and went to the next store to purchase the ingredients. After a quick detour to a drugstore, he returned to the apartment and started to commandeer the kitchen.
Without realizing, he hummed a small tune his mother used to sing when she was cooking.
The door opened and Piper trotted into the kitchen. He was wrapped in a white, fluffy blanket and resembled a caterpillar.
"I see, the magic aroma of chicken soup has the power to bring lost souls back into the land of the living," James said smugly, and fetched a bowl from Piper´s cupboard.
"James, I can´t smell a thing with this cold. My ears however-"
"Oh, was I singing again? Didn´t even notice that. How are you feeling?"
"Still half-dead, thanks for asking."
"That´s why I brought you some medicine; look in the brown bag on the chair."
A few minutes later, Piper was equipped with medicine, a water bottle, various juice bottles, another blanket, a bowl of steaming chicken soup on his lap and a very chatty Trickster on the couch beside him.
James had turned on the TV and was vividly commenting on the Bugs Bunny episode.
"Don´t you just love the Looney Tunes? I adore Bugs - see what he did there? I never thought anvils and pianos could be that funny."
---
"Oh, oh! ACME - I love that brand. They should sell me some stuff, or no, I´ll open up my own shop."
"And you expect people to buy a giant rubber band from you just to catch the Roadrunner?"
"Why not? I´d love to have a pair of Jet Powered Roller Skates. In fact...that would have been a real asset when we were still villains - just imagine what we could have done at superspeed!"
"Apart from slamming into a wall?"
"Don´t be so pessimistic, I´m sure the Rogues-" he paused for a moment and went through his mental checklist of his old buddies, "no, you´re right. That would have been disastrous. Imagine Mick on skates - no good."
"Well...Mark would have had use for instant tornado pills."
"Heh....and I have used anvils before. They really do work ---when you have shoes that liberate you from Earth´s gravitational field."
"James?"
"Huh?"
"Don´t get me wrong, but wasn´t there a convention you wanted to go to? Why did you choose to stay here?"
"Toy conventions come and go, the chance to discuss ACME business plans with you is quite rare."
Silence stretched.
"Thanks for being a friend, James."
"Anytime, Piper."
Epilogue:
A month later, a very surprised James Jesse found an invitation to America´s biggest toy convention in his mail. Attached was a note that read:
"It may not be as dangerous as ACME and less likely to explode, but I´m sure that you will enjoy the day nevertheless. Sincerely, Piper.
PS: I´ll get you for the permanent marker twirly moustache."