Disclaimer: If I owned them, do you honestly think I would piddle away my time on FanFiction? Nope.
Another Day in Paradise
It was another bright, sunny day in the wonderful city of Seattle. Robins chirping their ever so uplifting song and the smell of honeysuckle wafted through the air.
Puh-leeze.
Ever since the Pulse, the sun seemed to be a mistake. Nothing should have the ability to shine with golden vigor on such a gray part of the globe. Head to Europe, the Mediterranean must be nice this stifling time of year. Shining on America was a waste of precious gas; the sun only had so many billion years to "blaze brilliantly".
Robins' cultivation rate was almost zilch and honeysuckle had to be an endangered species by now anyway.
Early morning. Overcast skies, 83% chance of rain; humidity up to 92. The lower-class Seattle inhabitants struggled to their feet, both figuratively and literally. Men and women drudged to dead-end jobs while book-laden rug rats began their walk up hill to school. Both ways.
A whimper escapes as the last moment of sweet dreams slips through fingers. One arm raises itself with Frankenstein-like grace, quickly flopping back on its bed and tucking itself safely under its sheets.
Everything kind of went both ways these days it seemed. Everything was kind of routine. You work your butt off for a "decent" day's pay, go home to the refuge for a bunch of freaks born in genetically-enhanced test tubes, fight off an ancient inbreeding cult, and mentally snarl at an "It's not like That...." well, technically you can't say boyfriend, can ya? And technically, you don't have a job anymore either, so there goes the little cash flow you had.
Now all these routine things may seem a bit painless, but when a body deals with them all at once, he'll need a nice dose of Tylenol 3. Too bad that seemed to have "magically" disappeared off the black-market deliveries lately.
One hand raised to feebly heave a feather-pillow over a man's head. Yeah right, like two and a half inches of nylon, polyester, and plastic feathers could block even the most dismal rays of light from transgenic pupils. A loud groan reverberated off of four plaster-chipped walls.
Needless to say, Alec woke up in one of his fatalistic moods. Everything seemed to have some deep colossal meaning. For example, the shower's temperature would only be acceptable to a penguin. This was a sign he still needed to cool off. He tripped with the utmost transgenic grace because there still sat some undeclared chip on his shoulder that would plant him in the dirt eventually. And because a raindrop fell into the ocean some ten thousand years ago and a butterfly farted in India, he enjoyed a cold cup of coffee more adequately described as goat piss. Strange.
*****
Even ill equipped to face the day, Alec strode into fire. Sighing and popping his neck he quickly scanned for a place to hide for at least another five minutes.
Mole wants the shipment of cigars he was supposed to grab last night, before he was ::ahem:: distracted. No hiding behind his skirts. Now that was a picture.
He looked further left.
His gaze accidentally fell upon that stunning X5...what was her name? Kayla? Kristine? Oh well, something with a "K". She seemed to have some sort of radar out for him. He couldn't even walk two feet into the joint without her eyeballing him expectantly. Thanks, but no thanks; Alec wasn't in the mood to play the Don Juan just yet.
Quick duck behind a crate and she'll think she never actually saw you. It's just straight-out unfair being some sort of Knight on Shining Ninja with all these adoring damsels around. That time there was almost a characteristic smirk, until he remembered the fiery brunette he really wanted to adore him. He conjured up a thought of Rachel's smile to balance out the previous thought.
Slipping his face from behind a crate of pseudo-oranges, Alec spotted his savior. Roughly seven feet, hairy like Cousin It, and lots of little growls, he was probably the most beautiful creature at that moment. Almost more beautiful than...Rachel.
Thank whatever deity for Joshua. Somewhere over the past couple of years Joshua had transformed in to Alec's sounding board and therapist. Kind of like Max and O.C. That thought was enough to light up a gloomy face. A smirk quickly placed itself. For some reason Alec couldn't quite conjure up the image of his dawg with a 'fro, spouting the religion which had finely manicured nails next to godliness and men proof that the devil was...dare he think it? A male.
He did seem to grasp the line "getting busy" pretty well. Unfortunately the phrase seemed to refer to the hopeless "unromantic" couple Max and Logan. Ah well, you walk before to run, right?
"Joshua, my ugly friend, what's happening?"
The studious half-human, half-Webster Dictionary that was Dix frowned over his dusty book. "That was exactly what I would refer to as an endearing term," he shot dryly. Taking a more motherly note, he turned to Joshua, "Why do you put up with the abuse? There are so many other fish in the sea. You should dump him." He casually flicked his thumb over his shoulder towards the offender.
Joshua did his usual chuckle while Alec dramatically raised his hand to his heart to check for a bullet wound. "That hurts," he responded seriously. Well, it would have been serious if not for the dancing eyes. " Joshua and I are soul mates." He clapped his hand on Joshua's shoulder. " And you will probably burn in hell for trying to split us up. You just want him to yourself." He threw a straight-laced sniff in Dix's general direction. "Furthermore," he continued, "I will have you know that I am not insulting Josh in anyway. The term 'ugly' I use in reference to 'cool' or 'awesome'. It's kinda like saying someone's shoes were 'sick' at the turn of the millennium. But you would probably know that if you set down your prose once in a while."
"I see you have returned to your characteristic mood," an unimpressed Dix replied. "If you two lovers don't mind my parting, I bid you adieu."
When Alec turned around, Joshua eyed him seriously. After an uncomfortable pregnant silence, Alec cleared his throat. "What?" He asked.
"Medium-Fella okay?"
"Always."
"Little-Fella said there was another 'smack down' last night. Looked confused, unhappy this morning."
Alec agitatedly ran a hand threw his hair and smacked himself into a leaning position against the counter. "Another uneventful evening at the 'Loveboat' left her in a mood, what can I say?"
Joshua eyed him with some real concern. "Alec." Trying to break his current train of thought, he switched the topic to something more physical. "Limping. Need something?"
Alec's shoulders seemed to lift a little. "No, Big-Fella, I'm good. Max just took a nice kick to the bad knee."
"The one twisted in the food raid?"
Alec miraculously felt his old self shaping up. He was almost ready to face Max. Almost, one could never feel completely prepared to face that hell's angel. What did Logan see in her anyway?
"The one and only. You know Joshua, I was just trying to figure out which of these lovely ladies is going to have the joy of kissing it and making it feel better. Who would you pick?" He pretended to make a weight scale with his hands. "Legs for days? Or hair like spun gold?" Off of Joshua's frown, "But your probably more into who can smell the better of two prime ribs, huh?" He jokingly bounced a punch off of his confidant's massive arm. "Gotta go. Can't have the 'melodious' bellow of Max so early in the morning. A stomach can only take so much. And would ya smile once in a while Josh? You're gonna end up with frown lines on your frown lines."
Joshua somberly watched Alec's retreating back. He watched Alec's path to Max be cut off by a pair of "the most enchanting green eyes" if his ears didn't mistake him. Another cheap ruse to keep his mind off of things he really cared about. Speaking of which, Joshua's eyes shot up to Max who dazedly worked with Mole on the gun supply of TC. Talk about denial. His frown deepened even further.
No matter how many distractions he could use to block his view, or how many glitches she could search for in him, they were just both ice-skating on denial. Sooner or later, the spring thaw would blow over them.
"Legs for days, spun gold hair, or enchanting green eyes don't matter Alec," he responded quietly. He returned swiftly to his briefly forgotten painting of Gem's baby. He sighed as if defeated, dabbing with his paintbrush. "It just won't be Max."
Another Day in Paradise
It was another bright, sunny day in the wonderful city of Seattle. Robins chirping their ever so uplifting song and the smell of honeysuckle wafted through the air.
Puh-leeze.
Ever since the Pulse, the sun seemed to be a mistake. Nothing should have the ability to shine with golden vigor on such a gray part of the globe. Head to Europe, the Mediterranean must be nice this stifling time of year. Shining on America was a waste of precious gas; the sun only had so many billion years to "blaze brilliantly".
Robins' cultivation rate was almost zilch and honeysuckle had to be an endangered species by now anyway.
Early morning. Overcast skies, 83% chance of rain; humidity up to 92. The lower-class Seattle inhabitants struggled to their feet, both figuratively and literally. Men and women drudged to dead-end jobs while book-laden rug rats began their walk up hill to school. Both ways.
A whimper escapes as the last moment of sweet dreams slips through fingers. One arm raises itself with Frankenstein-like grace, quickly flopping back on its bed and tucking itself safely under its sheets.
Everything kind of went both ways these days it seemed. Everything was kind of routine. You work your butt off for a "decent" day's pay, go home to the refuge for a bunch of freaks born in genetically-enhanced test tubes, fight off an ancient inbreeding cult, and mentally snarl at an "It's not like That...." well, technically you can't say boyfriend, can ya? And technically, you don't have a job anymore either, so there goes the little cash flow you had.
Now all these routine things may seem a bit painless, but when a body deals with them all at once, he'll need a nice dose of Tylenol 3. Too bad that seemed to have "magically" disappeared off the black-market deliveries lately.
One hand raised to feebly heave a feather-pillow over a man's head. Yeah right, like two and a half inches of nylon, polyester, and plastic feathers could block even the most dismal rays of light from transgenic pupils. A loud groan reverberated off of four plaster-chipped walls.
Needless to say, Alec woke up in one of his fatalistic moods. Everything seemed to have some deep colossal meaning. For example, the shower's temperature would only be acceptable to a penguin. This was a sign he still needed to cool off. He tripped with the utmost transgenic grace because there still sat some undeclared chip on his shoulder that would plant him in the dirt eventually. And because a raindrop fell into the ocean some ten thousand years ago and a butterfly farted in India, he enjoyed a cold cup of coffee more adequately described as goat piss. Strange.
*****
Even ill equipped to face the day, Alec strode into fire. Sighing and popping his neck he quickly scanned for a place to hide for at least another five minutes.
Mole wants the shipment of cigars he was supposed to grab last night, before he was ::ahem:: distracted. No hiding behind his skirts. Now that was a picture.
He looked further left.
His gaze accidentally fell upon that stunning X5...what was her name? Kayla? Kristine? Oh well, something with a "K". She seemed to have some sort of radar out for him. He couldn't even walk two feet into the joint without her eyeballing him expectantly. Thanks, but no thanks; Alec wasn't in the mood to play the Don Juan just yet.
Quick duck behind a crate and she'll think she never actually saw you. It's just straight-out unfair being some sort of Knight on Shining Ninja with all these adoring damsels around. That time there was almost a characteristic smirk, until he remembered the fiery brunette he really wanted to adore him. He conjured up a thought of Rachel's smile to balance out the previous thought.
Slipping his face from behind a crate of pseudo-oranges, Alec spotted his savior. Roughly seven feet, hairy like Cousin It, and lots of little growls, he was probably the most beautiful creature at that moment. Almost more beautiful than...Rachel.
Thank whatever deity for Joshua. Somewhere over the past couple of years Joshua had transformed in to Alec's sounding board and therapist. Kind of like Max and O.C. That thought was enough to light up a gloomy face. A smirk quickly placed itself. For some reason Alec couldn't quite conjure up the image of his dawg with a 'fro, spouting the religion which had finely manicured nails next to godliness and men proof that the devil was...dare he think it? A male.
He did seem to grasp the line "getting busy" pretty well. Unfortunately the phrase seemed to refer to the hopeless "unromantic" couple Max and Logan. Ah well, you walk before to run, right?
"Joshua, my ugly friend, what's happening?"
The studious half-human, half-Webster Dictionary that was Dix frowned over his dusty book. "That was exactly what I would refer to as an endearing term," he shot dryly. Taking a more motherly note, he turned to Joshua, "Why do you put up with the abuse? There are so many other fish in the sea. You should dump him." He casually flicked his thumb over his shoulder towards the offender.
Joshua did his usual chuckle while Alec dramatically raised his hand to his heart to check for a bullet wound. "That hurts," he responded seriously. Well, it would have been serious if not for the dancing eyes. " Joshua and I are soul mates." He clapped his hand on Joshua's shoulder. " And you will probably burn in hell for trying to split us up. You just want him to yourself." He threw a straight-laced sniff in Dix's general direction. "Furthermore," he continued, "I will have you know that I am not insulting Josh in anyway. The term 'ugly' I use in reference to 'cool' or 'awesome'. It's kinda like saying someone's shoes were 'sick' at the turn of the millennium. But you would probably know that if you set down your prose once in a while."
"I see you have returned to your characteristic mood," an unimpressed Dix replied. "If you two lovers don't mind my parting, I bid you adieu."
When Alec turned around, Joshua eyed him seriously. After an uncomfortable pregnant silence, Alec cleared his throat. "What?" He asked.
"Medium-Fella okay?"
"Always."
"Little-Fella said there was another 'smack down' last night. Looked confused, unhappy this morning."
Alec agitatedly ran a hand threw his hair and smacked himself into a leaning position against the counter. "Another uneventful evening at the 'Loveboat' left her in a mood, what can I say?"
Joshua eyed him with some real concern. "Alec." Trying to break his current train of thought, he switched the topic to something more physical. "Limping. Need something?"
Alec's shoulders seemed to lift a little. "No, Big-Fella, I'm good. Max just took a nice kick to the bad knee."
"The one twisted in the food raid?"
Alec miraculously felt his old self shaping up. He was almost ready to face Max. Almost, one could never feel completely prepared to face that hell's angel. What did Logan see in her anyway?
"The one and only. You know Joshua, I was just trying to figure out which of these lovely ladies is going to have the joy of kissing it and making it feel better. Who would you pick?" He pretended to make a weight scale with his hands. "Legs for days? Or hair like spun gold?" Off of Joshua's frown, "But your probably more into who can smell the better of two prime ribs, huh?" He jokingly bounced a punch off of his confidant's massive arm. "Gotta go. Can't have the 'melodious' bellow of Max so early in the morning. A stomach can only take so much. And would ya smile once in a while Josh? You're gonna end up with frown lines on your frown lines."
Joshua somberly watched Alec's retreating back. He watched Alec's path to Max be cut off by a pair of "the most enchanting green eyes" if his ears didn't mistake him. Another cheap ruse to keep his mind off of things he really cared about. Speaking of which, Joshua's eyes shot up to Max who dazedly worked with Mole on the gun supply of TC. Talk about denial. His frown deepened even further.
No matter how many distractions he could use to block his view, or how many glitches she could search for in him, they were just both ice-skating on denial. Sooner or later, the spring thaw would blow over them.
"Legs for days, spun gold hair, or enchanting green eyes don't matter Alec," he responded quietly. He returned swiftly to his briefly forgotten painting of Gem's baby. He sighed as if defeated, dabbing with his paintbrush. "It just won't be Max."