Who knew so much work was required (Mayzie and José)
"Joséeeee," Mayzie LaBird calls from her lounge chair, for something the seventh time that afternoon, "bring me a cocktail and then please, please, please, let's find something to doooo?"
José, who has until then been on the other side of the pool attempting relatively successfully to look busy while in fact doing nothing whatsoever, slinks off to the poolside bar to bring the sunglasses-sporting bird her favorite cocktail. The bartender already knows the order, barely even grunting "The usual?" before beginning to mix. They're not even in a routine here, the poolboy reflects. They're in a very, very deep rut.
"Ah, Mayzie?" José says tentatively, returning and handing her the cocktail. "I know you like it here, yes?"
"Ahh..." Mayzie takes a sip of her cocktail. "Hell yeah. I mean, it sure beats sittin' on an egg somewhere out in the jungle."
"Oh, yes. Of course." José sighs."I am just beginning to wonder, señora, if maybe now you would like to not sit on an egg somewhere else? I mean, if you would like to go somewhere else and not sit on an egg, not... that I was wondering if you wanted to sit on an–"
"José, I get it, okay? You can stop now." Mayzie waves an arm around languidly at her surroundings. This is a beachside pool, prime real estate. You really can't get better than this on the seaside-getaway front. "Here still looks pretty good to me. You got a problem with it?"
"No, señora. Of course not. This is my job." Be a poolboy for a while, they said. It'll be fun, they said. You can keep an eye on Mayzie, they said. Good lord, she's not hearing me here and I've got no idea why. "It's just that... you have been here for a very long time. Maybe you would like a change of scenery?"
The red bird's lids lower behind her sunglasses, and she trails a hand in the pool aimlessly. "José?"
"Yes, Mayzie?"
"I'm a horribly lazy and irresponsible woman, aren't I?"
José is not at all sure how to answer that, and extremely relieved when Mayzie picks up the rather awkwardly dropped silence. "Hah! I'm just kidding, Josie."
"Ah. Ha."
"Ha."
The silence descends again. José stands by the poolside, arms crossed. At this point, Mayzie's uncomfortable self-revalations are just annoying. They sounded promising at first, maybe the start of something new and better in her, but they never amount to anything. She's gotten too good at sublimating conscience into fancy. "I'm going to take a nap," she announces. "It's... nice and sunny out."
She closes her eyes. José is beginning to creep away when she snaps them open again and sits up. "José!"
"Yes?" Oh, dear. That was rather a bit too snappish. Hopefully she wouldn't notice.
"I think you're right." Mayzie's voice is softer than usual. "I'm going to get away from it all for a couple of weeks, maybe go down to New Orleans. But I'll be back, okay? For my favorite poolboy." She winks at the suddenly-smiling José, and crooks her finger. "C'mere. One for the road."
They melt into one kiss and another and more than that by the poolside – it's too easy in a bathing suit, all that skin just begs to be touched – and though the bit of José which is the Cat and which never stops just observing everything from outside says, PDA right here on the beachfront? Noooot great, we're going to scare all the tourists away, the rest of José which is mostly just José thinks, yes, it could be worse. It could definitely be worse.
...
A/N: I was going to do Horton and/or the Sour Kangaroo tonight too, but when I found myself for some reason writing Mayzie as some kind of pseudo-Mae West, I decided that for everyone's sanity it would probably be better if I just went to bed. I'm going to be on a trip for the next few days, so I may not update for a bit, but I am definitely planning on doing more characters. In fact, I would welcome suggestions on who to do next. Please let me know in a review who you want to see!