Set Me Free - Chapter 19
Rated: T
Skeptical
Chapter Summary: After Buster's announcement, the group questions if the stage can be completed in time for the concert.
Wow, I'm actually updating again in less than a month. XD Can't promise it'll stay that way but I'll try my best. :-p
Again, I'm sorry for the long hiatus that took place previous to last chapter but I think I'm more comfortable with the direction this story is heading and I think I got over a creative hump/slump that kept me from working on this story much. Now that it's seemingly conquered, I think I'll be working harder on getting this story closer to completion.
Hope y'all enjoy. xoxo :-3
"Does Moon really expect us to finish this before the weekend? Has he totally lost his fucking mind!?" Ash grumbled angrily after swallowing a long gulp of her iced coffee and inwardly cringing at how the cold drink cradled in her paws made her raw, sore palms burn.
The impromptu two minute (at most) meeting with Buster was still bothering her an hour later. The koala proudly explaining his plan to have the show up and running and them performing by 5pm on Saturday.
He must have been certifiably insane.
Meena flinched at Ash's sudden outburst but covered it with, "I-I'm not sure…Maybe?" she replied meekly. The elephant nursing a diet soda and fumbling nervously with the bottle before taking a slow drink.
Ash could have laughed at how quickly Meena answered her or frankly even considered Moon's mental state but she didn't say anything to refute it. If sweet, soft-spoken Meena thought the energetic koala was the least bit nuts, Moon was probably a raving lunatic - one pep-talk away from a straitjacket and heavily-padded room.
"I don't think so," Johnny weighed in his optimistic (as usual) opinion a moment later, "Mr. Moon's keeping us a good pace so I'm certain we'll be done by then if we keep working hard at it." Typical Johnny was all smiles and optimism; mostly empty bottle of water dangling loosely from between large fingers.
Instead of rolling her eyes at his optimism, (like she really, really wanted to) she took another drink.
It was late afternoon and the three of them sat on some crates and boxes in the back. All deciding a break was much needed after hours in the boiling sun and finishing up the boards that would make up the stage. Working tirelessly for the past three days; showing up as the sun scarcely showed its face over the horizon til it was well fallen out of the sky and the moon took its place.
Seemingly unending work of moving rubble, creating structures for lights, curtains, and a backstage area - not to mention practicing sporadically for when (if) the concert did happen. For what good was a stage if they went out there unprepared?
Along the way, Ash realized she must have gone insane as well.
Waking up at such an ungodly hour to come down and work for free on a concert that would more than likely cause them all to miserably fail and perhaps even die in the process if the scaffolding they were building fell on them (none of them were professional carpenters or architects by any stretch of the imagination). Her back ached something fierce, hands throbbed, and the lack of sleep was making her crankier than usual, but even Ash had to admit that as crazy as this decision was, she was still semi-happy she made it.
A week filled with manual hard labor she hadn't ever done before and while dealing with a sore as hell body wasn't much fun, it was admittedly nice to see the progress that was being made…
…even if Moon was bat-shit crazy to think it would be done in three more days.
In Ash's opinion, to even make a semi-decent stage with props, lights and everything should take two weeks with professional contractors - not some performers who had never done hard labor in their damn lives (herself included)!
So lost in her thoughts, she nearly jumped when Johnny suddenly continued to speak.
"B'sides, I'm thinking Mr. Moon really is in a time crunch. If given what Miss Crawly's been telling me is true anyway…" Johnny weighed in quietly a few moments later and Ash's eyes flicked over to the gorilla at her side.
Meena's eyes lifting from her soda to peer over to him as well; brows crinkled in confusion and Ash couldn't help but agree with the sentiment.
Ash took another sip before asking, "What do you mean?"
Johnny chuckled a bit; his canine's catching a bit of the afternoon's sun when he smiled at the two girls he was seated with. Ash ignored the fluttering in her chest at just how white his teeth were and the way his eyes crinkled at the edges when he smiled like that…
Dammit.
"Don't know if it's gossipin', but she told me the theater has been in rough financial straights as of late an - "
"Hell, I could've told ya that." Ash interrupted, darkly chuckling as she surveyed the littered remains of said theater around them. Even with the work they'd done, it scarcely hid the fact it was a mere pile of rubble only days prior.
Johnny laughed but shook his head, "No, not like that," he clarified in the next breath.
Ash's quills prickled at his laughter at her dark sense of humor; she was still trying to get over the fact at how easily Johnny was to get along with. Most people found her more than a little prickly (no pun intended) and rough around the edges - sense of humor getting more strange looks and nervous chuckles than the genuine laugh Johnny gave and had been giving since they met.
Just what was up with this guy and why was it getting so damn hard to ignore?
"What has Miss Crawly been saying, Johnny?" Meena asked meekly, voice nearly muffled behind floppy ears.
Ash couldn't help but notice the soft pink flush that cascaded over the elephant's cheeks when she looked at the gorilla. Ash glanced too and it was easy to notice her eyes straying to the wide breadth of his shoulders and muscular bared forearms from where he rolled his sleeves up in response to the heat. An unexpected stab of jealously went through Ash (where the hell did that come from?!) before she quickly shook it off and spoke up.
"Yeah. What's the old lizard been sayin' now?"
"Um. Well, I-I guess Mr. Moon's been slacking in the payments he owed the bank and took out more loans to try and cover renovations a few years back as well as his mortgage. Loans he's never fully payed back cause, last I heard, the theater wasn't doing too well financially speaking." Johnny muttered lowly as if someone could overhear; the crinkles from the bottle being squeezed in his hands nearly drowning out his accented voice. "So, from what I gather, the Moon Theater could be in foreclosure and basically - belongs to the bank."
"...Are you serious?" Meena asked breathlessly, face emerging from behind floppy ears to show off widened green eyes.
Ash's brows were furrowed heavily as she took in the possible news. Ever since Buster had gotten them back to help, he'd been adamant to remain an open book and explain all of the things he'd hidden from them before - but apparently not this. He nearly got them killed over a chest of junk so it shouldn't have been news to her, but she really thought he'd learned his lesson.
So, why hide this information?
Blue eyes fell to the coffee in her hands; the condensation from the ice absorbing into her paws but it was nothing compared to the chill that currently filled her spine.
"So, even as we're busting our asses trying to help this guy, Moon is still hiding more information from us?" Ash wasn't aware she muttered the question out-loud but Johnny answered anyway.
"Hard to tell." he said, nervously scratching the back of his neck, "I-I don't know if it's completely true to be honest. It was just one of the many conversations Miss Crawly and I had. Times that she tended to dawdle on during piano lessons and somewhere during, I overheard about some lady from the bank that kept callin' and Mr. Moon never called her back. There was times even when she called, ya know, back before the theater fell, and Mr. Moon was panicking a bit when Miss Crawly tried handing him the phone." Johnny told his story with a slight flush coming over his cheek bones.
"I guess I was inadvertently eavesdropping sometimes," Johnny continued, "B-But I just wasn't sure how much of it was Miss Crawly just talkin' to fill the silence or if there was even any truth or simply an over-exaggeration, but…if it is true - that may well be the reason for him rushing us to finish this so soon. Perhaps he's still fearful over what that lady is intending to do even if the Moon Theater isn't even standing anymore…"
With Johnny's story finished, he tipped the water bottle back to finish its contents as Meena and Ash's eyes quickly averted to their laps.
The space had grown almost uncomfortably quiet but no one really wanted to break it.
Ash absorbed that information; inadvertently recalling a single moment that felt forever ago. One of her approaching Moon after her "performance" (or rather, her making a fool of herself with tears and snot running as she sang the worst song known to animal-kind). At some point in her and Moon's conversation, Miss Crawly did mention some Jasmine? Julie? Maybe Judy or something from the bank was on one of the lines and the panic that flared in the koala's eyes had his whole body frozen in place. It wasn't something that stood out at that moment because of her inner grief and focusing too much on her own petty problems to notice but now it was startlingly clear that Johnny could indeed be right.
"Ooh! Is dis zee break-room?" Gunter's voice echoed in from the make-shift doorway of planks of wood and an upright pallet.
The sudden noise gratefully breaking all the teens from their internal reverie. And just like that, three sets of eyes landed on the portly pig who wore a big smile and carried a small work-out bag in one hoof with a blended coffee with lots of drizzled chocolate in his other.
"I wouldn't call it that." Ash muttered, lips pursing as took a languid sip of coffee while giving their small claustrophobic space a once-over. Meena giggled a bit at her comment and that had Ash giving her a curious glance when Johnny spoke up.
"Yeah, it's not really much, but we made due with what we had." Johnny answered, patting the crate next to him to invite the pig over. "Come on, plenty of room for more."
Seeing Gunter begin walking over to accept his offer, Johnny scooted over. In his haste to make enough room for Gunter, he bumped his hip against Ash's and she felt herself flinch instinctively at the unexpected contact.
"Oi, oops. Sorry, Ash." Johnny breathed out an apology to her as Ash wiped away a stray droplet of coffee from her chin. "You alright?"
There it was again.
That fucking jolt every damn time the gorilla so much as breathed too close to her - let alone gave any physical contact. It was like her fur was on fire and the only thing to douse herself in was cooking oil. Ash had absolutely no idea when their reluctant friendship began or when it transformed into her having trouble breathing normally around him, but she was frankly getting fucking sick of it.
"Yea. Just peachy." she uttered. Thankfully, no one noticed her inner torment and Gunter kept speaking as if nothing was amiss.
"Ooh! Dank you, Johnny!" Gunter sighed dramatically before plopping down on the wooden crate next to the gorilla. "Ah! It's jus' so nice ta sit down fer a bit. Buster eez workin' us pretty hard. I thought with all mah dancin', I'd be in bettah shape!" the pig was laughing as he wiped his brow with the back of one arm and chortling a bit before taking a long sip of his chocolaty drink with a pleased moan.
Johnny chuckled, "I think you're doing very well, Gunter - to work all day and you and Mrs. Rosita still 'aving time to practice at the end of the day sure is commendable."
"Mm-hmm." Meena was quick to agree with a small smile sent in the flamboyant pig's direction.
Ash shrugged, doing something akin to a nod before taking another drink.
"Dank you. Youse all ez too kind!" he flushed at the compliment before digging in his tote to pull out his bedazzled phone. The pig immediately moving his hooven fingers across the glass in a furious motion as if answering many texts he'd received throughout the day.
The others looked away after long moments of silence. Conversation apparently over almost as soon as it began, each lost themselves to their inner musings once again.
Ash played with the green straw of her drink, pushing the end of it around the bottom of the cup. Anything to keep her mind off of her sudden questioning of even being here (and her changing feelings toward Johnny but she refused to tackle that beast just yet), the other hellbent on finding Moon and grabbing him by his huge fluffy ears and throttling him until he confessed everything. She wanted answers as to why the rush to finish so soon - especially now? The structural integrity of the stage they were building now was shady at best so rushing was only going to put them in dire straights and not solve a single fucking thing.
Yet the longer Ash sat here, she found her anger waning.
Perhaps it was mere exhaustion or she just didn't seem to care anymore - just wanting the concert over and done with. If it succeeded - great. If not, then she could move on with her life with absolutely nothing holding her back. But if she died because of Moon's incompetence when the stage crumbling to sawdust under her feet… well, she decided she'd damn sure haunt to his ass and hopefully, her parents would take him for every fucking cent he got.
The porcupine shook her head, fighting the smirk that wanted to rise on her face at the thought - there was that dark humor again. Not caring to dwell on it anymore, she was kinda glad when Johnny spoke up and broke the silence and took her out of her thoughts.
"Mrs. Rosita! Come join us!" Johnny suddenly called out with a wave, pairs of eyes that were glued to their laps or phones now focused on the mother pig that passed by the door.
Rosita seemed a bit jarred by the sudden invitation but she took it in stride; flashing the young gorilla a calm smile before walking into the room.
"Oh. Uh, sure. I'd love to. Thanks." Rosita said, sitting down next to Ash and flashing the porcupine a gentle smile Ash found herself unable to return in any sort of genuine fashion. Ash was still too lost in her own head to really pay anyone else much mind; just hoping none of her inner turmoil was visible on her face.
Rosita was sure to smile at the rest of the group before she plopped her bag on her lap; a tired sigh leaving the mother's mouth as she stretched out her legs in front of her. Morosely rubbing her sore muscles and stretching out her back until it made a satisfying pop. Rosita flinched at the sudden loud sound but you could see the relief flooding her face.
"Are you alright, Mrs. Rosita?" Johnny asked, flashing the female pig a sympathetic look.
"Oh, yeah! Of course, Johnny sweetie. I'm just really tired is all - that I'm sure all of us are." she chuckled warmly, reaching over Ash's lap to give Johnny's knee a gentle squeeze before taking a healthy gulp of her water. "Whew, and I thought my kids wore me out, but this is ridiculous."
"I-I told Mr. Moon to give ya less labor-intensive things to do - considering ya have 25 kids and all ta look after. Can't 'ave ya throwing out your back 'cause of this." Johnny mentioned, thick brow ridges furrowing.
"Oh, no! That's not bad. Mr. Moon isn't asking me to do anything too hard; I actually think Gunter's choreography he planned for our performance is harder than the work to be honest." Rosita said, giving said pig a pointed look that Gunter smiled at. Letting out a tired chuckle as she took a small Tupperware from her purse; opening the blue lid to reveal her sandwich, chip, and carrot stick lunch.
Ash couldn't help but allow her lips to curl into a smile at the interaction between Rosita and Johnny. How protective the gorilla seemed to be from the middle-aged mother and in turn how she treated him (and basically, all of them honestly) like her own kids. Eyes settling on her coffee, she missed the forlorn look that flashed over Johnny's face for the briefest of moments before he wiped it clean.
"Oh, you'll get it zoon 'nough!" Gunter jumped in the conversation. "We're almost zere - ta feel und fire un desire in your dancing! Ya will zoon understand da passion!" he took the moment to jostle his hips and Ash smirked when Johnny scooted a bit more away as not to be bumped by Gunter's gyrating hips.
Rosita chuckled after taking a bite. "Yeah. We'll get there soon. Don't have any choice really."
A silence permeated the air after those words left her mouth.
No doubt that Rosita and Gunter were still battling with Moon's words and demands as well (even if they hid it well). The previous conversation before the two pigs showed up still filled the air around the group with unanswered questions and a thick wave of tension that was easily discernible on Johnny and even Meena's face. A conversation the pigs weren't aware of but they were there - they heard Moon's plan yet seemed content to just keep acting as if nothing was amiss.
Ash didn't feel like she should be the one to take that away - so, reluctantly, she stayed silent.
No one really cared to expose the elephant in the room - the figurative one anyway. So, while all were thinking about it, no one said anything. None of them exactly sure how to take the news of Buster rushing them to complete or what was going to transpire these next few days, but all Ash knew for certain was that it was way too damn late for any of them to back out now.