"Go! Go! Go! Get this cut to Terry so he can throw it on the screen!"
Before Rico was able to gather his thoughts he was in the spotlight of the whole event. From being in his element, just an introvert enjoying his hobbies, speeding through the streets with tenacious pursuers on his heels and doing the occasional daredevil jump, to standing in the middle of a moderately-filled stadium with a clearly extroverted, overenthusiastic woman next to him who evidently enjoyed every second of presenting her magnum opus to the, as she had anticipated, antsy audience, some of which he recognized as people who had previously worked on the movie with him, like Henry Hong and several of Garland's other crewmembers.
Rico just wanted to disappear. He'd had a vague idea of what he was getting himself into but he hadn't really thought it through and frankly, there hadn't been much time to think anyway. Whenever the Black Hand weren't gaining on them dangerously close, Garland was just… talking. A lot. Entirely unsolicited. Not a second of silence to consider the fact that he was heading to the movie premiere of a famous American director. Not that what Garland had been telling him wasn't interesting – on the contrary actually – especially the part where she did genuinely seem appreciative of him and his rebellion, but he would have preferred that conversation at a different time, and the what he considered outright flirting had been distracting, to say the least.
But there was no use dwelling in the past. The crowd seemed very excited and Garland entirely confident about meeting their expectations. Rico had never seen a movie by her, so he had no idea what to expect, exactly.
Fortunately, Garland didn't coerce him into saying anything. She just gestured at him and spoke some grandiose things into a mike, gave him a flirty wink and touched him way too much to be appropriate for a public event like this. Not that he had expected anything else; she was certainly not going to change her usual behavior just because she was on a stage. If a muddy monster truck track near a goal could even be considered a stage. At least it was decorated with the battered GKS van on their right.
As she started talking more about the movie than him she resorted to a passionate speech about freedom and fighting spirit and humanity, accompanying it with wide, overdramatic gestures while her voice adopted a fervent tone and her face displayed one extreme emotion after the next.
At some point she said, "And showtime!" in a tone that sounded ominous and agitated at the same time, and rudely shoved Rico to the side. Or at least she tried to. He would have moved if she had simply asked him to but apparently there was no time for necessary information in-between all her… whatever that was. Truth be told, Rico had spent more time observing her than paying attention to what was happening around him, blinking at her in mild confusion and admittedly being somewhat captivated by her stage persona.
By the looks of it, the movie was about to start and Garland scowled up at him with a titled head, her hands on his biceps, attempting to tug him in the direction of the western quarter of the stadium where the majority of the audience was seated. He sighed and let her guide him to a nice spot (he was surprised when he saw a nametag with his name on the seat) where he had a good view at the screen – that was at the other end of the stadium (surely there were better-suited places for a movie premiere?) – and was a bit disappointed when Garland left a moment later to join a group of rather important-looking people farther up.
Rico found his gaze shifting towards her a couple of times and he thought she didn't look like she particularly enjoyed the company of those people. One time she glanced at him and smiled a little when she noticed he was looking at her as well. A split second later her smile turned into an indignant frown and she pointed at the screen in a forceful manner. Rico flashed her an amused grin and turned to watch himself on the screen, feeling a little uncomfortable whenever the people next to him turned their heads to look at him. Yes, alright, he was the protagonist. So what?
Once the credits started rolling the stadium erupted into thunderous applause, much to Rico's astonishment. It felt like they were applauding his life. Which was absurd. And judging by the whistles and choked-up noises apparently Garland King really knew how to incite emotions.
Speaking of which, where was she? The crowd was split between starting to stream towards the nearest exits in unison and gathering on the track to discuss the movie and take photos. Before Rico could look around any further one of Garland's PAs, at least he thought that's what she was, gently directed him towards the south western exit. She was preoccupied with talking to someone over her headset and Rico doubted she would even be able to hear his objections, so he had no choice but to follow her instructions.
Once outside on a well-lit parking lot, Rico noticed that the evening had turned into a pleasantly warm early night during the screening. The PA guided him to a dark red limousine that a young Solino was leaning against, and quickly vanished again. The man greeted him and opened one of the hind car doors.
"Buenas noches, sir. You look familiar, do I know you from somewhere? Haha, no, really, it's an honor to drive you, señor Rodriguez."
Rico looked at him, then at the limousine and back at the man. "Thanks for the lift, I guess," he said a little unsure. Usually it was him giving other people lifts and it wasn't like he couldn't go wherever they were going on his own.
"Everything for our revolutionary," his chauffeur said as Rico entered the car. "I'm Juan, by the way."
"Mucho gusto, Juan," Rico said and took a seat on the soft cushions in the back while Juan went to sit behind the wheel and started the engine.
"That was a banger premiere, wasn't it?" he asked, beaming at Rico in the rear view mirror as he steered the limousine onto the streets, a bunch of other vehicles around them doing likewise.
"I suppose so."
Juan's smile fell and his brows shot up. "Oh, don't worry, sir. I'm sure your next one will be even bigger. And I gotta say, I can't wait to brag about knowing you since the start of your career."
Rico pondered telling him that this was the only movie he'd ever be in but he decided against it as that would have probably required some sort of explanation on his end.
"Por favor, señor, tell me, did you really do all those stunts without special effects?"
"The jumps, races, explosions and aerial acrobatics are all real. Someone just edited the acting parts a little." Yeah, a little. He really hadn't given her much to work with in that department though.
Juan let out a laugh. "Now there's something I've never heard before! Usually it's the other way around. But, didn't you start out as a stuntman?"
Rico took a look out the window. On his left side he could see a ropeway and on his right there was the dark sea with a beach and behind it a dark skyscraper that was bathed in purple light.
"Sí. I thought that's what Garland needed me for."
"And then she just made the whole movie about you? Huh." Juan made a pensive face.
"You're listening to Vinilo, baby," the lady on the radio said and for some reason Rico felt addressed. He let out a groan when he realized why. He was definitely spending too much time with a certain someone.
"Oh, is this not your type of music? I can switch the-"
"No, it's fine. Leave it on."
"Well then, señor Rodriguez, we're almost there anyway," Juan said and took a right turn in front of the illuminated skyscraper.
Rico blinked rapidly and was about to ask if he was kidding because that ride was what? Half a kilometer? He could've just flown there from the stadium in like ten seconds! But then again, Juan was only doing his job and would've probably been disappointed if he hadn't gotten the chance to drive Rico tonight, so instead he just hummed in acknowledgement.
The limousine came to a halt on a paved square in front of a big stairway. Juan stepped outside and opened Rico's door before he had a chance to do so.
"Here we are, sir."
Rico climbed out of the car and glanced at Juan once more, wondering if he was supposed to give him a tip or something. But even if that was the case, he had no money on him right now. Juan didn't seem to mind though.
"Rock it up, my dude!" he said with a huge smile, got back into the car and drove off.
Rico stared after the limousine a little helplessly, feeling somewhat lost when his gaze wandered up the building where faint music was coming from. Normally he would have simply grappled or flown up there but this time he decided to just be civil and not turn any heads – because there were a lot of heads to turn – so he took the same route everyone else was taking, up the stairs, into the building – and towards a bouncer who checked names off of a list as the guests verified their identities. Blast. Rico hadn't even asked to be there and it would have been kind if someone had told him he needed some kind of ID to-
"Señor Rodriguez," the bouncer acknowledged him with a curt nod, ticked his name off the list and motioned for him to pass. Rico raised his eyebrows and followed the people in front of him towards a lift that brought them to their (apparently) desired floor. So, easier done than said.
Like on autopilot he stepped outside on the roof where the music he had heard from below was playing. There was an empty dance floor with a DJ next to it, two bars, a few small tables in various corners, surrounded by plenty of armchairs that were anything but space-saving – and a lot of people. Most of them looked quite glamorous and business-like and if Rico hadn't felt out of place at the premiere already, he definitely did so at this party.
Taking a look around, he wondered why he was even here in the first place. He didn't know anyone. He didn't need to know anyone because these weren't members of the Army of Chaos. He also didn't even want to know anyone because judging by the mundane conversations he picked up there was nothing he could or wanted to contribute. He toyed with the idea of just leaving again. After all, he didn't owe Garland any favors. On the contrary, actually. Although, that wasn't entirely accurate. There was this thing that had happened a while back which had involved permits and stunt suits, apparently.
Something else that flashed through Rico's mind was that at least this party didn't take place on the rooftop where the Uma used to be or Javi would have been disappointed in him. Come to think of it, Javi and Garland were just completely different worlds. And for some reason he found himself hoping to see those worlds clash one day.
With a sigh he made the decision to at least say goodbye to Garland before he left, even though she didn't seem to value common courtesy in the least. But that didn't mean he had to mingle around in plain sight. He headed for the far right corner of the rooftop and went to stand behind the low wall, one of the purple floodlights right next to him. His gaze wandered over the moonlit mountains in the distance, the many buildings of Quya, the ropeway, the stadium, all of which were illuminated from the inside, and down to the little bay where a few capybaras were enjoying the fact that no humans were crowding the beach at this time of night.
Rico stared at them longingly. He'd much rather be down there talking to the animals than up here talking to people he didn't care about. Maybe just a few more minutes-
Oh for Christ's sake, screw this party.
Rico had just made up his mind that he was going to leave when Garland finally seemed to remember he existed. Unfortunately, he was already in the middle of carrying out his plan and therefore on the verge of jumping off the building, one foot on the low wall and ready to spread his wingsuit.
"Hey, where are you going, honey?" Great, now he had to stay.
Rico sighed, set his foot back down on the floor and turned to face her. She was standing there in her usual get-up – a stark contrast to the formal attire of everyone else and thus sticking out as much as he did – with a bottle of champagne and two glasses in her hands and a slightly confused but mostly cheery look on her face. She scanned his surroundings briefly and tilted her head, smile faltering a little.
"Are you hiding or something?"
"Just enjoying the view," Rico retorted. It wasn't a lie. But she didn't need to know that he was also hiding.
Garland shrugged and beckoned him over. Then she placed the items she was holding on the broad backrest of an unoccupied armchair and sat down next to them, stretching out her legs in front of her. Rico joined her. From their spot they had almost the entirety of the rooftop as well as the glowing city behind it in their field of vision. It was quite a pretty view.
After a moment of silence Garland looked up at him expectantly. "So, what do you think, star?"
Rico let his gaze wander over the area and shrugged. "I'm not really one for... fancy."
Garland looked a little confused. "What? No! I'm talking about my picture. Gimme your thoughts."
Right. Of course this was about her. Granted, it was her movie and her premiere. Rico took a moment to think about it. "It was, uhm, interesting. Lots of… editing."
"Well, let's be real, you're a great stuntman but you don't have the acting part down. At least not yet. Maybe if you, you know, read the scripts we're not writing for me and recited your lines when you're supposed to...," she said in a passive-aggressive tone of voice and gave him an accusing look before raising her eyebrows inquiringly. "Aaanything else?"
"Sí. I didn't expect you to be serious about the honesty at all. There was still plenty of... embellishment involved but it's a start."
"Well, never change a winning horse. People have come to expect my personal touch. I'll make a note of that though. Less McGuffins - more truth, got it. Like I told you, Rico, you helped me teach myself something. This is a big step for me. For both of us. History is being written as we speak."
"Aren't you worried that the Black Hand might target you now?"
She waved him off. "Nah, they got bigger fish to fry. You, for example. And besides, if I didn't take risks to create a reflection of what I stand for I wouldn't be doing my job right, now would I? Come on, let's have a drink." She opened the bottle and poured two glasses of champagne. On the backrest.
"I don't think-"
"Nonsense. Here you go. To my new movie star. Cheers!" She clinked his glass and took a sip while eyeing him from below her cap.
"To... the people of Solís," Rico said with a frown and drank. The champagne was surprisingly good. Or not so surprisingly, considering the quality of everything – and everyone – else on the rooftop.
"Ooh, that's a good one, honey," she said and softly jabbed his arm with her elbow.
Rico's gaze turned back to the rest of the party. Then he sighed. "Garland, I'm not sure I want to be your star."
"What? We just drank to that!"
"You did."
"That's not how it- Look. You and I are a great team and this" she made a wide gesture with her occupied arm, "is only the beginning of our long and rewarding partnership, financially and creatively as well as morally. Like I told you, we're gonna do amazing things together, doll."
"I have a job."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Fighting bad guys, removing dictators, blowing shit up. I get that. But don't you see the possibilities here, Rico? I am going to film all of that and put it on the big screen! And we're gonna weave your entire backstory in there over the course of this trilogy. Maybe quintology, I haven't decided yet," she trailed off with a contemplative look on her face and tapped her lip with a finger.
Rico's eyes widened and he almost choked on his champagne. "Quintology?! This is real life, Garland."
"Some of the best pictures are based on real events. And let me tell you, the influence movies can have on the mindsets of people is astounding. We're doing something good here! And we're making you a star. Just as collateral though."
"I don't want to be a star…"
She sighed. "You're a headscratcher, Rico Rodriguez. But fine. Fine. Have it your way. How about I make your army the star instead?"
"... Maybe."
"So, you gonna keep leading them or will you go back to doing your own shtick?"
"I don't know yet. But I think I will stick with them for now."
"Perfect! That's settled then. You're still gonna be the protagonist of course, seeing as you're their leader." She chuckled briefly, then turned dead serious and pointed at him with her signature gesture. "We're not gonna call anything 'The Army of Chaos' though. Oh yeah, and then we also have the Rico Rodriguez spin-off of course. You can't escape your calling, Mr. Movie Star." She grinned at him and patted his upper arm. "By the way, it's a real shame you never put on that tux. I'm a visionary but even I can't picture what light a tux would cast on that handsome frame o' yours."
"Garland..." What would she say if Rico asked her to wear a dress? Well, what would she say?
She gently shoved him with the hand that was still on his arm. "Oh, baby, loosen up! You're not in a life or death situation all around the clock. Relax! Have fun. Here," she said, refilling their glasses, "have another one. Hey!" She placed the bottle on the backrest to be able to gesture around with her free hand for no reason after lightly brushing his arm with it. "Remember when I told you about the action figure? Now picture this: 'The Scorpion's Just Cause: The Video Game'. Playable Rico Rodriguez? Lots of explosions? Imagine the fun people are going to have."
Rico rolled his eyes. This woman was unstoppable. "That's a long title."
"Yeah, that's true. Wait!" She placed her hand on his chest. "How about 'Just Cause'? Plain and simple. You know, a cause for justice as well as destroying stuff just cause you can? It's brilliant! I'll pitch that idea to my associates ASAP."
"You made that up. Of course you'd think it's brilliant."
"Ah, babe, you're gonna thank me when you're retired, hehe."
Rico just grunted in response.
Garland took another sip from her champagne and leaned back on the chair, crossing her legs and casually letting her gaze wander over the rooftop before it flicked back to Rico and turned into a scrutinizing frown that made him feel a little uncomfortable. He shifted his weight and averted his eyes. Then he heard Garland sigh and looked back at her to find an almost downcast expression on her face.
"Hm... I get it. You have the hots for Mira, don't you?" She clicked her tongue, gave a sideways nod and pointed at him with the hand she was holding her glass in. "Gotta say I can't blame you, dear. She's a gorgeous powerhouse."
Rico was a little taken aback. "I- what? No I don't!"
"You can't fool me. I know acting when I see it." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Or is it your childhood buddy? Mario Frigo? You two do have a lot of history and he seems to-"
"No! No, he's like a brother to me."
"But Mira isn't." Rico wondered what she was aiming at and why his private life suddenly sparked such an interest in her. Then again, she was planning to make more movies about him, apparently, but weren't they supposed to be more about the action part of his life?
"Mira and I are just close friends."
"Yeah and I'm just a B-lister in Highland Park…"
"I guess you are."
"Hey!" Garland retorted in utter indignation and glared at him. After a moment her glare dissolved and she simply sounded a little grumpy when she said, "Alright, fine, maybe. But my opus will catapult me right into the A-league, you'll see."
She flashed him a playful smile that quickly vanished when Rico just hummed in response.
Sighing again, she stared at her glass and spun its contents in a circle. "It... would explain why you prefer talking to her though..."
Rico frowned and tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
Garland chugged the rest of her champagne, set the glass down on the backrest and cleared her throat. "Well, your rebel friends told me what you're like around them. How come I've never heard one of those famed Rodriguez jokes first-hand? Or gotten any kind of affirmation from you?"
Rico just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. He had no idea that bothered her so much.
Garland took a deep breath and raised a defensive hand. "So, I don't do this often – talk about my feelings – one-time thing, probably, and maybe it's the champagne's fault but... why are you so taciturn with me? And why do you always sound so... defensive? Is it... priorities? Rebellion versus rebellion movie? Wanna keep your distance? I thought we were, you know, starting to make a connection. Find some common ground. I mean, I get being a bit cautious in the beginning but I think I've proven that, well, I'm trustworthy. Is it- is it me? Am I... I don't know, lacking the Rodriguez stamp of approval for some reason?" She trailed off and bit her lip when she looked up at him.
Rico almost gaped at her. That was the most insecure he had ever seen her and once again he genuinely didn't know how to react. Just as he was starting to get used to her usual attitude...
"I... I just... haven't figured you out yet," he said, his eyes darting back and forth between her and the floor.
"Okay. But... What exactly does that mean?"
He was bad at those as well. Feelings. He didn't do feelings a lot, especially not with other people, especially not with overenthusiastic directors who were making movies about him. Maybe he should stop forcing himself to see her as just a movie director though... After all, Luis wasn't just a sergeant and Izzy wasn't just a hacker. Hell, Sheldon knew so much more about him and he was anything but trustworthy. Maybe that was the reason. Or one of them at least. Having people you care about betray you... in the belief they cared about you too. But deep down he knew that Sheldon did care. He just also had other agendas.
"It means that I... don't really know how to handle you. I don't want to say the wrong thing." And that was the truth, he realized. Now that he thought about it, he might have to add her to his short list of weaknesses. The other two being lamp poles and containers. Trees were an honorable mention. For what it was worth, at least boats weren't on there anymore.
Garland huffed derisively. "What, like 'you're never gonna be a successful director' or 'stop chasing clouds and get a steady job already'? Or, oh! My favorite:" She stood upright, put her hands on her hips, drew her eyebrows together and stared at the floor before she said in a deep and mocking tone of voice, "'Action movies? Ha ha, leave that to us men, Miss'." She sighed, leaned back against the armchair and crossed her arms in front of her chest, her left hand on her side and the right one on her upper left arm. Then she continued in her normal voice which suddenly sounded much softer and more melodic than Rico remembered, "Let's be real, darling, there aren't a lot of wrong things you can say to me. You're not that type of man, you know, the old masculinity." She made a face.
Rico just stared at her, flabbergasted.
Despite his lack of response, a small smile formed on Garland's lips when she looked at him again. "Anyway... that doesn't sound half bad. I was worried for a sec that you just didn't- Nevermind." She averted her gaze.
Something needed to be said and Rico had to get a grip already, dammit. So he said the first thing that came to his mind to cheer her up.
"To be honest, when Mira said she liked you I realized there are more than one acceptable way to tackle things."
She turned her focus back to him. "Well, being a creative-" She interrupted herself to stare at him with raised eyebrows. "Wait, Mira said she likes me?"
"Sí."
"Huh, guess the impossible really is possible."
"Hmhm." And there it was again. She kind of had a point; he really wasn't very talkative when in conversation with her. But if she thought he wouldn't be able to say the wrong thing so easily then maybe he should give it a try. Thinking about taking chances reminded him of something. Something he had forgotten amidst all this tumult. Well, time to do something daring while he lacked the words.
"Actually, uh, I have something for you."
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise but then she narrowed them and tilted her head, saying, "If it's a compensation claim I suggest you-"
Rico chuckled briefly, despite himself, and shook his head. "No, it's not. I... was in the rainforest when I got your call to drive you to the premiere."
"Gas bill?"
"You don't congratulate someone on finishing their, uhm, magnum opus,with a gas bill."
Her brows shot up. "Congratulate?"
Rico reached behind his back to reveal a large (and slightly roughed up) flower with half-oval-shaped, overlapping orange petals that weren't as hastate and serrated as their red conspecifics Rico had seen grow next to this individual, he recalled as he handed it to her a little jerkily.
Garland looked caught off-guard for a moment before a huge smile spread over her face. "Oh baby, it's beautiful! How did you know orange was my favorite color?" she asked, taking the flower from him.
Rico shrugged. "Just a hunch."
Garland sniffed the flower and basically hugged it before her smile fell within a millisecond and she directed a scrutinizing look at Rico. "Wait, it's not poisonous, is it?"
Rico tensed up a little when he realized he hadn't even thought of that. "I… hope not."
"Ah, who am I to say something against a little danger to spice things up." She scrunched up her nose at the word 'danger'. "I can already see my life flash before my eyes."
Rico just shook his head in mild amusement when she grinned at him.
"You know, you could have given that to me earlier. We wouldn't've had to have that awkward touchy-feely conversation." She briefly stuck out her tongue in disgust.
"I wanted to. But then the van was gone and you said the movie wasn't ready. And I couldn't get back to you during the premiere and this party..." He trailed off.
Garland looked visibly satisfied with his explanation before she averted her gaze reflectively. "Hm, come to think of it, we did have a fairly textbook meet cute…"
"A what?" Rico asked with a frown but Garland ignored him, her mind already occupied with something else when her gaze snapped back at him.
"Oh! That reminds me..." She turned to the DJ, pointed at her with her index and middle finger and shouted, "Hey! Hit me with some of that Spanish synth. El Eterno Femenino. We got a party to start." Turning back to Rico she continued, "I heard someone likes the stuff on Reflexiones. I also happen to know that it's great dance music," she added with a smirk. Then she waved at one of her PAs and yelled in a tone entirely on the opposite spectrum of her previous flirty one, "Hey you! Fetch me a vase, stat!"
Rico noticed that the guy she had addressed looked a little frightened and made an overhasty move inside to get her a vase as quickly as possible. He felt a pang of sympathy for him.
"Garland, you should probably treat your people nicer..."
She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, a tilted head and genuine confusion in her voice at his outlandish suggestion. "You think?"
Rico nodded insistently to which Garland frowned and hummed thoughtfully in response. The song she had requested started playing and the PA thrust the vase into her hands before disappearing again in a flash.
"Thank-," Garland began but he was already gone. She turned to Rico and shrugged.
Rico shook his head but smiled a little. Then Garland put the flower into the vase on the backrest, took the glass from Rico's grasp and set it down next to it before grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the dance floor.
"Come on. Dance with me."
She chuckled lightly when she saw the sheer panic on Rico's face. "Really? You lead rebellions and fight armies of men all on your own and you're scared of a little dancing?"
"I'm not scared. And this is different."
"Damn right it is."
"I don't do dancing."
"Just flow with the music, or whatever they say. I know you can move, doll, I saw you in action. Here, watch me. There's nothing to it."
At first Garland simply moved a little to the rhythm, then she suddenly went off way too hard and broke into a frisky, very 80s-looking dance around him which included making peace signs with her hands and moving them over her eyes, and there was a little too much movement for the speed of the song. She also seemed completely uncaring of any judgement. As uncomfortable and momentarily taken aback as he felt, stiffly standing there with raised eyebrows, Rico had to admit that at least she looked like she had a lot of fun. To show that he was no buzzkill either he began to rhythmically bob his head to the beat of the song while his gaze followed her orbit around him.
"Well, that's a start," Garland said with a laugh when she noticed. Then she did a twirl and, with a forcefulness akin to the blast of an exploding gas station, she threw herself against his chest, placed one hand on his shoulder and the other in his hand, lifting it almost shoulder high. Due to the impact Rico had to take a step back to steady himself and also reflexively pulled his head back when he realized how close she was, staring up at him with a smirk.
"Alright, because it's you and you did such tremendous work out there, you don't have to put your hand anywhere you don't want to. Just pretend your arm's broken or something. No one will notice."
Rico hesitated for a moment but then he tentatively put his hand on her hip, out of some sort of instinct he couldn't quite place. Garland's eyes widened briefly before a huge smile spread over her face.
"Oh, my my, handsome. I certainly ain't complaining." He gave her a small smile back and they started dancing together, attempting a bit of a jive, fast enough that there was no time for lingering touches. Despite that Rico couldn't help but feel somewhat uneasy which might have to do with the fact that Garland didn't say anything. Time for him to break the silence again or this was going to get too surreal. For once conversation actually seemed to be the less draining option.
He cleared his throat. "Hey, uhm… One more thing concerning your movie... What does the rebellion have to do with frogs?"
Garland rolled her eyes and laughed. "Watch my other movies and you'll understand."
Right, so much for starting a conversation. He made a mental note to actually watch her movies though.
"And why Quya? I'm sure there are better places for a movie premiere than the stadium."
She gave him a sly smirk. "Easy, doll. Quya means 'Queen'."
Rico shook his head in amusement. She was right about that. But he also knew the actual reason, which had nothing whatsoever to do with Garland's megalomania.
Either way, getting to know her better by asking questions he actually wanted to know the answer to was kind of a nice thing, he realized. And not nearly as difficult as he had thought.
He spun her around and instead of coming back to him she stayed a short distance away and continued her 80s dance while giving him a nod and an urging look. He may not have been dancing as exuberantly as her but what he had started he wasn't about to drop either, so they just kept dancing and twirling around each other to the rest of the upbeat tune, smiling at each other and simply having fun. Rico found it quite easy to ignore the audience now which may have been partly boosted by Garland constantly finding ways to involve him in her dancing, even if it was just stroking his arm in passing.
While he simply let his moves fade out towards the end of the song, she pulled all the way through and finished with a dramatic ending pose on the last note, one arm stretched high in the air, leg slightly to the side, eyes closed and head titled diagonally towards the floor.
An entirely different genre of song started playing. Garland raised her head to shoot Rico a grin and dropped her arm before she took two light-footed steps towards him.
"Well, thanks for the dance, darling," she said, slightly out of breath.
"De nada. It was nice," Rico replied with a smile. Then his eyes fell back on the crowd, many of whom were watching them and a few setting foot on the dance floor as well. He quickly came to the conclusion that he needed to recharge his social batteries. And besides, this had already been a moment worth treasuring. After a brief silence he said, "I really have to get going though."
Garland sighed but she didn't seem very disappointed. "Fine. I had a lot more plans for tonight but I guess I can save them for another time, haha." She smirked at him and raised a suggestive eyebrow.
Rico was reminded of her telling him she was going to give him some ideas at the after party in response to him saying he didn't even know what to do with her. And that she certainly had. Time to think about those ideas now.
"Sure...," he said with slightly narrowed eyes and turned to leave in the direction of the mellow sea and the beautiful illuminated city.
"Hey, Rico," he heard her voice from behind and turned back around.
"Yeah?"
After a moment of hesitation, Garland took a breath and swiftly approached him. She came so close that she was almost touching him. Then she stood up on tiptoes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, the screen of her cap bumping against the side of his head and the impact displacing her cap a little. She took a small step back and readjusted it with both hands and a contemplative hum, her eyes on the ground. Rico remained silent, his attention caught by the tiniest hint of a blush on her face. He hoped there wasn't one on his face too.
Then Garland looked back up, put her hands on her hips, cleared her throat and flashed him a cheeky smile. "Babe, I'm really not that mysterious."
Rico smiled back, gave her a nod and jumped off the building.
Fin
I never planned on giving Garland's movie a title because that's her opus, not mine, but I wanted to be meta and this is kinda the most obvious choice I think.