For the prompt: "I came here to kick ass and chew gum... and I'm all out of gum."
"I am going to kick ass. I am going to... I am going to demolish Japan's—"
"With the power of your words?" Daisy interrupted dryly. She was unimpressed; they were all unimpressed. They'd all been camped out in the conference room for the past six hours, trying to put together an inducement package that would get Japan to buy back into the trade agreement. Jay and Nadine were working out the policy while Daisy and Matt were trying to get a head start on the messaging. The only problem was, Matt was having very loud writer's block. And it was starting to drive the rest of them crazy.
"Don't minimize the power of words!"
"They're only powerful when you have them."
"Words have started wars."
"Militaries start wars. Countries start wars."
"Yeah—with words!"
"You're unbearable when you're like this," Daisy said.
Matt ignored her. "I need more gum!" he announced. "I need gum and my playlist and some inspiration and this speech will write itself in no time—" He wandered out of the conference room, still talking to himself.
"Lock the doors before he comes back," Jay deadpanned.
They didn't lock, but Daisy did get up and slide the pocket doors shut.
However, they were thrown open again in the next moment. "Okay, we are going to kick their ass and I know exactly how we're going to do it! Look alive, my friends!" Matt announced as he strode in. He'd somehow found a second wind when his first wind hadn't even abated yet.
They all groaned in collective displeasure.
"I hate it when he's like this," Jay muttered.
Matt ignored him. "I came here to kick ass and chew gum... and I'm all out of gum—"
Suddenly, a small packet was being chucked through the air in his direction. It bounced off of his chest and landed on his floor. Matt looked down. A fresh pack of gum.
He looked up in confusion. On the other side of the room, Nadine was leaned back against the wall, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised. "Kicking ass is my job," she reminded him crisply. "Just chew your gum and stick to speech writing. Quietly."
Matt picked up the gum and tore off the cellophane wrapper. "Yes, boss."