Has anyone ever noticed how close Nosedive and Grin are?
They usually get into scrapes together, and each jump to help the other when in
a sticky situation (" Grin! I gotcha buddy! …What am I doing? *falls down
chute*"). They hang out a lot, watch TV together, and get along really well. I
say they have the second-closest relationship in the show (Closest is Wing and
Dive. They're brothers, even if Disney seeks to prove otherwise…:P)
So I got the idea to go somewhere with this thought. I
decided to have Grin sit down and think about his relationship with his teenage
amigo. I hope this comes out ok! (I realize I didn't do much with Grin's actual
thoughts, but it's hard to put them as Grin would say them!)
Disclaimer: If I owned the Ducks, would I be writing
fanfiction?
My Little Friend
Grin
stepped out of his bathroom and into his bedroom. He liked to shower after
games because it made him feel "empowered for enlightenment." (Also because it
gets rid of stinky sweat, but you figured that already.) He combed through his
hair and pulled into his usual high pony-tail. He didn't like to leave it down,
where it could get into his eyes like Nosedive's always did.
At the
thought of his teammate, he started to smile. The young Duck didn't care how
the others were constantly nagging about his hair's length. He didn't care that
it wasn't the style. He just liked it that way. So it was left that way.
Grin
realized that Nosedive's hair was not the only thing that he received nagging
for. Mallory was always on his tail feathers about his care-free attitude.
Being the military-trained strategic fighter she was, it drove her bananas the
way Dive didn't give a hoot about anything that wasn't comic or taco. She
always yelled at him for this and that, which is exactly why Dive targets her
so often. Why, just last week her shampoo was replaced with Squeesy Cheese.
(Dive hid in Grin's room under his protection for three days. And turned his
side into a trash-heap, but he did clean it up. I mean, who would want to
disturb the energy-flow in Grin's bunk? Only a moron, and for once it wasn't
Nosedive.)
Grin sat
down on his meditation mat, but didn't drift off. His thoughts were on his
teenage friend. He realized that out of all the Ducks, he was the closest with
Nosedive. But why? He remembered back when he had first met the kid…
---Flashback---
("Grin! This is no time for a flashback!" Grin chuckles at
this memory.)
Grin sat
down in the back of the Aerowing. Apparently the rest of the strike team were
to arrive any minute. He started to meditate.
Finally
three Ducks walked onto the ship. One was Canard, the leader of the group.
Following him was a rather tall Duck, whom he guessed was Wildwing Flashblade.
Canard had said how Wing was such a good goalie and would be perfect for the
mission.
Behind Wildwing was a young boy,
roughly sixteen. Grin concluded he was the "annoying kid brother" that Canard
mentioned. He was tall, but very thin. His long blonde hair was very messy and
his uniform was already torn. His appearance suggested that he was not fighter
material, but Grin refused to judge the boy before meeting him.
Besides,
there was something he sensed about the youngster. He couldn't put his finger
on it, so he decided to wait. He also noted about his and his brother's
relationship. Wildwing refused to come along unless his brother could come,
too. 'How noble,' thought Grin.
Wing and
Canard started to chat about the aircraft, and the boy was staring at the giant
Duck in the corner. Grin looked over at him, and the boy froze.
"Umm…hey
man! Ah…nice weather we're having, huh?" he said, with a weird smile on his
face. Grin noted the irony of the comment, thinking back to Puckworld's
extremely bad weather. 'So this youngster sees to break uncomfortable
confrontations with humor,' Grin thought to himself. He could sense that the
kid feared him, being as big as he was, but the kid still tried to make
conversation.
"Well,
anyways, I guess we're gonna be stuck together for awhile, so yea…um…" The kid
was searching for words. "Yea, well I'm Nosedive, and that bald dude over there
is my extremely over-protective brother…*awkward pause*….he hates cheese, can you
believe that? I mean, who could possibly hate cheese?" Grin quirked an eyebrow.
"I swear he's totally messed up…yea…" Dive crossed his arms. Grin decided that he
liked this kid, but for reasons he did not yet know.
---End Flashback---
Grin sat in
his dark room staring at the wall. Why exactly did he like Dive so much? Why
have they bonded so well? They were very different, after all. Wait, Dive's
different than everyone. He's the Oddball. Why was it Grin who had connected
with this boy?
Grin
grabbed a meditation crystal and closed his eyes. Memories of their kooky
adventures came rushing back. There was the time they both were both captured
by mutant mall-rats of the future. And the time Phil had dragged them to the
mall to find new suits. And the time they both somehow escaped arrest and
proceeded to enter a mob to bail their pals out. What about the time Dive put a
new engine in the Mega-Migrator X2 and ended blowing them both up? Grin
chuckled at that one. "Are we there yet?" Dive had said.
Of course
there were non-battle moments, like their constant arguing about their favorite
show, Bernie the Whatever-he-was, and their love for tacos (Dive's love,
actually, Grin just went along for the ride).
Grin
stopped. He realized that he followed Dive around a lot. The youth seemed to
find adventure in everything he did, even it was something stupid like staring
at a wall. Which exactly was what Grin was doing now. He stood up and walked
out of his room.
"I dunno,
bro, Grin has a point. What kind of bear drives a car?" asked Wildwing,
pointing at the screen.
"Hey, there
are some very talented animals out there. Take that squirrel who water skis…"
Nosedive protested. Wing raised an eyebrow. "Ok, bad example! Hmm…what other
weird animals out there behave strangely like humans…" Dive asked.
Wing just
looked at him. "What? Why are you looking at me like that? Oh yea! I guess we
are! Heh heh, didn't even think of that…" Wing smacked Dive's forehead.
They were
seated on the couch watching Bernie the Bear reruns. Actually, in the
heat of the argument, Dive was on his hands and knees, face to face with his
brother. Dive sought to prove Grin wrong, but so far he was failing. Grin
chuckled as he realized this.
"The point
is, Dive, that if he were a bear, he wouldn't be living in a house. He wouldn't
have a car, nor dog, nor whatever else he has. Face it, bro, you're out
numbered," Wing said, crossing his arms.
"NOO!!! YOU
TRAITOR!!!" Dive shouted. He slid over to the other end and crossed his arms
and legs, pouting.
"Sorry to bum
you out, but at least now you're outta my face…" Wing said.
"I was
moving anyway. Your breath stinks, dude," said Dive. Wing lunged over to tackle
his brother. Grin just shook his head. Would those two ever stop? Probably not,
and no one would have it any other way.
Grin
entered the empty kitchen and looked for something to eat. He still hadn't
figured out exactly why he and Dive got along so well. He poured himself a bowl
of cereal and sat down to eat. This really bothered him. It always bothered him
when he couldn't figure out an answer to a question. This one bothered him even
more.
Grin
glanced down at his empty bowl. He didn't even remember eating the cereal. He
must have spaced out or something. He put his bowl in the sink and looked back
to the empty table. 'I suppose there is not an answer to every question,' he
thought to himself. 'It is just our fate. We'll see how it goes from here.'
Grin
flicked the light switch and walked back to his bunk. He knew that life would
throw him for a spin more often than not, but one thing would never change. Dive
would always be his Little Friend.
