Brighter
by Bedroom Dancing
A/N: Ahh, the first SSX fic I've attempted in forever. It's set in SSX Tricky time, with a vital OC in the mix, but it's not entirely focused around the OC. It's more of an Elise/Eddie friendship fic at this point.
So let me know what you think.
The blonde bombshell shifted and stretched her legs out on across the love seat, resting her eyes. "Eddie, what time is it?" she asked.
"Um, around one," replied her redheaded companion, whose lap currently made the perfect pillow. Eddie's fingers danced across the keyboard of his laptop, pausing occasionally to scratch his chin. "Hey Ellie, check out this cold front moving it. We're gonna get about 4 inches of fresh powder for the freestyle comp!"
Elise's eyes fluttered open and she stretched her neck to take a peek at the screen. "Good. The course was totally crappy during the race."
"You only say that because you lost," said Zoe smugly from her perched position on a high stool in the adjacent kitchen area of the lodge. Next to her, Moby chuckled into his coffee.
Elise wrinkled her nose and settled back down into the couch. Kaori wandered over to peer at the screen, studying the weather map.
"Maccie, why is the rain green?" the Japanese girl asked curiously, leaning on the arm of the couch.
"Dunno, that's just the way they do they weather," Mac replied, ruffling up his mop of hair. Loud music poured out of the headphones resting around his neck, his foot tapping along to the beat.
Slipping in through the front door, a petite brunette girl shuffled around the edge of the room and entered the kitchen.
"Sneaking around, eh noob?" Zoe sipped her coffee, seated at the small kitchen table with Moby. Hailey shook her head.
"Nah, just took a little trip to the chemist's," she replied, gesturing to the plastic bag hanging around her wrist. "Any coffee left?"
Moby nodded at the half-drained pot on the counter top.
"And you may not wanna wander too far, Rahzel's called a meeting in 10," Zoe added.
Hailey nodded, stirring a packet of sugar into her coffee. She flicked a few lose strands of hair out of her pale eyes, attempting to tuck the angled pieces into a large, sloppy bun at the nape of her neck.
"Oh dear, I was hoping for some peace and quiet after a rough day of shopping, but she's here," Marisol trilled in her heavy Latin accent, having just traipsed through the front door with her arms laden with shopping bags. She was flanked by a completely bald African American woman, who seemed to be carrying twice as many shopping bags.
"Boo, you whore," came Elise's snappy reply. "Nobody likes you."
Marisol laughed shrilly, strutting across he lodge. "That's where your wrong, I think it's you who should watch your back."
"Maybe you should spend less time on yours," declared Elise, who was now sitting straight up on the couch, fingers clenching the floral printed cushioning.
"Alright, let's all just settle the fuck down," Rahzel came striding out of his office, naturally bursting in on just the moment to stop the fight. "And, Kaori, don't repeat that word. If we're gonna teach your little Asian ass how to speak English, you're not gonna become some gutter mouth."
"Which word?" she asked sheepishly, sitting indian style on the love seat. Mac leaned over and whispered into her ear, causing Kaori's eyes to widen.
"So who are we missing?" Rahzel scanned the room. "Looks like Brodi, Jp, Psymon, and-"
"The fat one," Kaori offered.
"He's not fat, he's big boned," Seeiah mocked Luther's Southern twang.
"Is Luther the one with he mullet?" Hailey asked Moby, taking a sip of her coffee. He nodded.
"Sorry guys, hope I'm not late," Brodi descended the into the lodge, ducking his head under a low beam at the foot of the stairs. "I was in the middle of some meditation."
"Yeah yeah yeah, sit down," Rahzel replied. "Zoe, get off your ass and go get Psymon from his trailer."
"Yessir," Zoe said dully, reluctantly sliding off her stool and heading for the exit.
"I'll call Jean Paul and see where he is," Marisol dropped her shopping bags onto the floor, and began rummaging around in a furry pink purse.
"That may be the most helpful thing you've ever done," Elise said sarcastically. "Thanks so much for being such a kind person."
Marisol rolled her eyes, already punching numbers into her sleek, silver phone. "Hello? Jean, where are you? Yeah, Rahzel has a stick up his ass today and wants you in the meeting right now. I don't care if the Queen of England invited you to lunch, you need to be here. Uh-huh. Oh. Well then, adios!"
"Whats the story?' Rahzel asked, raising his eyebrows.
"They're busy. I tried so hard to get them to come back, but no can do," Marisol sounded unconvincingly upset.
"Whatever, you can clue them in later. Now how long does it take to walk to his fucking trailer, parked right outside?" Rahzel glanced at his watch, scowling.
"You should've sent Mac or Brodi," Elise replied, preening at one of her nails. "Or anyone Psymon wouldn't have any reason to spend... Quality time with."
It was Moby's turn to scowl. Hailey just tried to surpress a chuckle, it was almost adorable how protective of Zoe he was.
Massaging his temples, Rahzel strained his voice over the assorted chatter that had broken out throughout the room. "FUCK IT, meeting time. That's right Mac, music off. Nobody else here wants to hear your little Simple Plan garbage."
"It's not Simple Plan," protested Mac. "It's actually this one new hardcore band called-"
"Oh damn, who cares? Kaori, it's your new responsibility to keep this kid quiet. I don't care how," Rahzel said. "So as you know, tomorrow's the big race. Then we have one night to stay here, and we leave early tomorrow morning for Japan."
Kaori squealed excitedly, holding the disconnected plug to Mac's headphones in one hand, and his little blue Mp3 player in the other.
Rahzel continued, "So, tonight's curfew is midnight-"
"Love to see him enforce that one, chica," Marisol whispered to Seeiah. She nodded, grinning.
"- And meeting time for the event tomorrow is 10 am SHARP. Then we warm up at a quarter to 11, race time is noon. Any questions?"
Elise yawned, raising her hand straight up in the air from her lounged position on the love seat. "What about press conferences? And, will the winner have time to come back here and freshen up before the awards ceremony?"
"How the hell should I know?" Rahzel asked. "Just be on time or I get in trouble, and if I get grilled, you get grilled twice as hard. Now, SCRAM, 5 hours until curfew."
Attention spans finally free to wander, Marisol and Seeiah ascended the staircase to the rooms with their assortment of shopping bags. Mac wrestled his Mp3 player back from Kaori, and plugged his headphones in.
"I'm going to be making some tofu for dinner, would anybody else like some?" Brodi offered, heading towards the kitchen.
Kaori hopped off the couch and followed him, "I'll take some!" she replied. Mac rose to his feet, trailing in her wake.
"Wanna go out and eat? There's a good burger place down the road," Elise sat up, looking over at Eddie.
"Sure. Just lemme finish this up," Eddie replied, having resumed his work on the laptop. Elise yawned loudly, stretching out her arms, and flocked to the kitchen with everybody else.
"I saw a decent single's bar in town this afternoon," Hailey offered to Moby, who sat darkly stirring his tea. He shook his head.
"I'm not searching," he replied dully. "Zoe and I are, er... Just on break."
Hailey raised her eyebrows, and held her tongue.
"Noob, come get a burger with us," Elise stood in the entrance of the kitchen, jingling her cars keys, with Eddie by her side. "Dunno about you, but I can't live off of eating leaves."
"Tofu is actually soybean curd, and I can flavor it like chicken if you'd like," Brodi offered, pulling out a couple pans from the cabinet.
"Pass," Eddie replied. Hailey dumped her coffee cup in the sink, and grabbed her pea coat off the back of the chair.
"Alright, I'm in," she said, grinning.
A/N: Mmkay, that's just a little prologue to kinda introduce you to the characters and such. I've got lots of little twists planned, as well as a basic idea of the plot, so updates should come quickly.
Review pleaseee.