It was a strange ocurance for the young Mr. Diaz to be home, alone and with no particular plans or course of action... or rather, it was strange given his usual company. Star was a great girl to be around but he had to admit that she could be a tad overbearing at times. Hmm... maybe overbearing wasn't the right word... overexcited maybe?

Regardless, a day off was a day off and he wasn't about to turn it down. He just had to plan exactly how he'd spend it... Yes... Every minute detail. Perhaps he'd lie down for a moment and think...

That was, until he heard a terrible crash from downstairs that made him jump to his feet. He was alone not too long ago, wasn't he? Was Star in the kitchen? If not, then who? A home invader?

Marco slowly creeped down the stairs, poised and ready to strike, his mind listing off all the different moves he could employ to defeat whoever was attempting to raid his kitchen.

Monsters seeking revenge? Maybe it was a false alarm and it was just an errant ball from the street? But... it sounded like bowls and... scraping now? Who the hell could... oh...

As Marco rounded the corner, all sense of mystery vanished. Knelt down on the floor, carefully salvaging corn chips, was the one and only Janna. For the briefest of moments there was total silence as the two made eye contact. Both remained frozen for a few seconds before Janna's half shocked, half embarrassed expression morphed into a smirk.

"H-heh... Sup?" she asked before raising a corn chip off the floor.

"Don't tell me you'r-" Marco replied before being cut off by a loud crunch, "Oh come on..."

Janna shrugged before continuing to gather up chips, "Five minute rule. Not like you are gonna eat them now."

Marco relaxed, dropping his stance. He gave Janna another incredulous look before picking up a spare brush and pan that were laying nearby. "That's beside the point, it's wildly unsanitar- Hey stop that. What are you even doing here?"

"I was hungry, duh."

"Do you not have food at your own place?"

"Well, yeah but like, you make good nachos and- Hey! Don't use the brush!"

"Are you seriously going to have floor nachos?"

"Yeah...?"

"Look, just let me clean that up and I'll make us some clean ones," said Marco, exasperated.

Janna glanced up, catching the annoyed expression of her company and decided it would be best not to make any remarks. Instead, she swallowed her mouthful and sat back against a nearby cupboard, careful not to make any further racket. With a sigh, Marco busied himself with the cleaning implements as Janna watched on, slowly reducing her remaining supply of chips. After another few moments of near silence, only being broken by sweeping and munching, Janna spoke again.

"Hey... uhh... Sorry..."

Marco's face softened as he sighed again, "It's okay... I just wished you'd have asked or like, knocked on the door or something."

"Uhh... yeah *crunch* mabee fthat fwould haff been a bedder plan."

"What? You're speaking with your mouth full."

"I shed *gulp*, I should have come up with a better plan."

"Like texting me before coming over?"

Janna shrugged, somewhat returning to her usual demeanour, "Hah... Where's the fun in that?"

Marco decided not to dignify the question with a response. Instead, disposing of the remaining scraps before collecting ingredients. "So if you came over for my nachos, why did you bother even getting some out yourself?"

"Because I was hungry?" Janna replied as she stood up and sat on a bench.

"You could have come upstairs at any time and asked me to make some right?"

"Yeeeeeah?"

"So why didn't you?"

"Uhh.. because I wanted to bring you the ingredients first."

"So you could carry them upstairs, then down the stairs for me to use them? Wait, do you even know my recipe?"

"Uhh... yes...?"

"So why bother getting me to make them?"

"Well... You see... ugh..." Janna began to gesture as if she was explaining an incredibly complex concept, "Fine... I sorta wanted to, like, surprise you with some nachos or something... seeing that I knew you'd probably be like, lonely today what with everyone gone... That's not a bad thing right?"

Marco paused his preparations and considered Janna's words for a moment. "That's... probably the most considerate thing you've do- tried to do for me for...months? Years?" He resumed nacho-crafting, missing Janna's visible wince as he spoke.

Silence reigned again. Marco, busy cooking, became increasingly engrossed in his work. The traces of annoyance now gone, he treated his next culinary masterpiece with the grace of a gourmet chef in his own little world. Janna, on the other hand, watched on for a moment before staring at a spot on the ground. The slight mark and nacho dust on the floor from where she'd dropped her bowl caused her more shame than her outward expression could reveal.

"I'm gonna go wash my hands real quick."


Janna locked the door behind her before staring at herself in the mirror. She took a breath in, out, leaned against the sink and buried her face in her hand.

STUPID STUPID STUPID

How could that have failed so... spectacularly? It was... UUUUGGH...

What a fucking idiot she'd been to just... ASSUME she wouldn't stuff today up somehow. She didn't even get any good quips in! She'd just... been a fucking feral burglar.

Come on! Eating chips off the ground, Janna? REALLY? He already sees you as a creepy stalker but now? Now you're a god damn... toddler! Who eats off the floor!

Janna exhaled sharply, failing to stop her train of thoughts. What a fucking embarrassment...

Not to mention, she too stupid to be able to make her own damn food and has to ask someone else to do it... like a charity case. Yeah, make Marco fix you food out of pity, why not stretch his "friendship" just that much further?

She was supposed to have been... sorta nice to him today. Instead, the inverse had happened, making Marco think that their home was being robbed or something then wasting a whole bag of perfectly good food. The audacity she then had to not even offer to help clean up her mess, feeling it appropriate to give a half hearted apology.

Janna looked back up at her reflection and cringed. She really did disgust herself sometimes. Janna recognised that her tactical retreat was possibly going to devolve into a rout and was about to make the call to simply leave when a quick knock was made on the door.

"Hey Janna, the nachos are done, are you okay?"

Quietly, she cleared her throat and, with no small effort, gave a reply, "Y-yeah I'm fine, Marco... Just dealing with my uhh... womanly needs. Came to peek?"

She could hear Marco recoil and take a few steps back. She looked back towards the door and could imagine him all red and flustered as he fumbled his response, "*Ahem* N-no! I ahh... Sorry I didn't realise it *ahem* was that uhh...time of the mont- I mean, I'll uhh... I'll be on th- IN the kitchen... *ahem* yeah..."

Adorable.

For fucks sake, enough feeling sorry for yourself Janna! You're a big girl now and you can suck it up! Marco made you a big bowl of nachos so you better honour his work by enjoying them at least!

With that, Janna washed her hands and headed back towards the kitchen.


"Hey hey! There's the beautiful mountain of melted cheese I've been waiting for!" Janna exclaimed as she sauntered into the room, "So what doooo you put into it, Marco? Your hopes and dreams? Your very soul?"

"You probably would want to eat my soul or something wouldn't you?" Replied Marco as he grabbed a handful of nachos.

"You're right on there. Can you imagine all the power I could wield if I ate your soul bit by bit via nachos?"

"I dunno, you'd probably get like, migraines or something."

"Or maybe you'd be like a voice in me head. You could keep me company at night or maybe fight off the voice that tells me to burn things!"

"I don't really think I want to know what goes through your head, Janna."

"You can't knock it till you try it and hey, you won't even have to pay a cent!"

"I'd pay NOT to share your thoughts, actually."

"Can't help that, sorry, you already live in my head rent free."

Marco facepalmed though Janna swore she could see the faintest smile forming. Whether it was a response to her comment because he'd found it funny or out of secondhand embarassment, Janna couldn't tell.

The two talked about the merits of nacho-soul entrapment for a while longer before agreeing to move infront of the TV. The screen came to life and the channel was tuned to the tastes of both participants after a quick flick through the selection... And so came on The Discovery Channel.

Mythbusters was an old favourite of both Janna and Marco but for wildly different reasons. Janna loved the experiments and explosions, Marco found the engineering and precautions particularly interesting. It was an older episode being broadcast again as part of a channel wide throwback to the Mythbusters team, Janna felt the nostalgia hit like a truck.

She couldn't focus on the episode anymore, her eyes drifting downwards again as she retreated back into thought.

She thought back to the summer days years ago when she and Marco first binged watched Mythbusters on a DVD they'd bought together. It had been somewhat like this, a bowl of nachos between them after she'd shown up unannounced. Oh how she wish she could... not return to those days but... honour their memory.

Times had been simpler then. No magic, no monsters, no teenage drama or accursed high school. Back when they did little experiments in the back yard, it was just them sharing the moment... and of course getting shouted at by both their parents when things got a little out of control. Ah... the bug spray incident... good times.

But the good times didn't last. She couldn't remember if a particular incident acted as a catalyst, but they slowly started to drift apart. They went from near daily visits to barely hanging out once a month. One day, she realised that her collection of DVDs hadn't been touched in a year. She remembers crying.

Indeed, neither could she pinpoint, off the top of her head, when their relationship became near antagonistic. One thing was for sure though, she felt replaced.

Especially in the light of recent events... Janna felt like a background character, a sidekick to a sidekick. But really, what could she offer Marco that others didn't? She wasn't magical, she couldn't take him on mystical adventures, she didn't have the cool charm nor maturity of some of her other friends. She was just... Janna. The same Janna whose fixation on a spark from long ago had caused her to become a... parasitic annoyance.

Ye gods, what was she even doing here?


Janna's trance was interrupted when Marco, taking of her dejected state, grew concerned. It had been the first time in a while that it'd been just them hanging out and she was... unusually quiet.

"Hey Janna, really, are you okay?"

Janna blinked a couple times and turned towards Marco, wearing an expression he'd never seen on her before. It was a strange mix of melancholy, loathing and contentment that Marco couldn't even begin to decipher.

"Yeah... you don't need to worry about me, Marco... I just... miss this..."

Marco waited for Janna to finish talking or setting up her joke or whatever it was she wanted to say. For a few seconds, it seemed like something was on the very tip of her tongue. Behind her eyes, Marco could imagine her mind racing at a hundred miles an hour, probably finding some terrible innuendo. Instead, she took the final handful of nachos and shoved them in her mouth.

"Fhanksh fur dem." She said before standing and taking the now empty bowl to the kitchen.

As Marco watched her walk away, he wondered what exactly had gotten into her today. Ah well, it was nice to have some company... but really, what an odd girl.