Hey there!
I`m not gonna play with your patience any longer; I know you`ve been waiting for the first kiss for ages, so just go ahead and read the new chapter! Enjoy:)
Chapter 19: Changes
Randall ignored the faces.
He was walking towards one of the laugh-floors at Monsters Inc. alongside with Sullivan and Wazowski, and, not surprisingly, every single monster present in the factory was staring at him.
Sullivan had told everyone about his return, but the other workers were obviously not used to the idea yet; the looks they were sending Randall weren`t exactly of the friendly kind, and those very few who didn`t send him a hostile glare simply turned around and looked somewhere else – except for Fungus, who fainted.
Randall had dropped Rex off at dayscare before meeting up with Sullivan and Wazowski, and had to admit that spending some hours away from his young nephew was quite a relief; things weren`t going all too well.
Rex had woken up in the middle of the night, crying, and had started calling for Sophie – and Sulley. A rather desperate Randall had tried his very best to comfort the little one, but hadn`t succeeded; it had been a complete chaos, until Rex, who didn`t want his uncle around and treated him like a perfect stranger, eventually managed to cry himself to sleep after a couple of hours. Randall did the same in his own bedroom.
They had both been a mess the next morning, and Rex had been crying through the entire taxi-ride from the apartment to the factory. Randall had a headache - even though he was actually wearing his glasses to work.
Sullivan had divided Randall`s first day back at work into two parts; before lunch he was going to observe Mike in action, and after lunch the little green monster was going to help Randall practice his comedy-skills in the simulator; try different things out, get some tips and so on. Randall would rather cut his own fronds off before spending an entire day alone with Wazowski, but had accepted Sullivan`s suggestion in order to not let his only friend down.
Observing Wazowski was okay.
Randall camouflaged and entered the rooms with the green eyeball, and stayed near the door as he watched how the other one did his job; the purple monster found the acts when Wazowksi accidentally hurt himself to be the most entertaining ones. When the job was done they exited together, and Mike always told Randall that the kid they had just made laugh was a particularly difficult one – Randall always growled in reply and wished he could just stay invisible and get the hell away from there.
After a long lunch with Sullivan, Wazowski and some more of their friends from the factory, it was time for Randall to practice his own comedy-skills with Mike. Sullivan promised to check in on them at some point, but had some business to take care of in his office to begin with; so he left the two other monsters to themselves, and prayed they would both be alright.
"Okay, Randy-boy -"
The purple monster grimaced as he turned his head and faced Wazowski; he could hardly believe the guy had actually managed to piss him off during the first minute of their lesson...
"Let me see your best try!" The eyeball gestured that Randall should try out the simulator straight away;
"C`mon Randall, I can never help you improve if you don`t show me what you`ve got to work with..!"
Randall walked, very slowly, over to the simulator; it felt like he was about to perform an exam, and he felt nervous – nervous and afraid of failing. This was all new to him; he used to be the second top-scarer, but he had never done this before. What if he turned out to be just mediocre, one in the crowd? What if he wasn`t good enough to work here any longer? What if…what if he didn`t get to work here and…didn`t get to see Sullivan anymore..?
"I`m starting it, Randall..!"
The lights went out and the room fell silent as Mike turned on the machine.
Randall opened the door to the simulator and poked his head through; the "child" was asleep, and it all felt just like before – if he could only slither over to the goddamn brat and scare the crap outta him; that would have been an easy task. But this… This was complicated.
Mike watched the purple monster on a little screen; he looked insecure. The green one didn`t understand exactly what Sulley had done to Randall, but no matter what it was, it had helped; the lizard had definately changed, and he was nothing like he`d been before.
Nothing like before.
Mike suddenly felt a veil of compassion come over him, and started talking to the other monster again;
"Hey Randall, are you okay?"
The words caused the lizard to turn his head and look at Mike – his emerald eyes reflected the insecurity he was feeling;
"I don`t know…what I`m gonna do..!"
"But you spent hours watching me this morning!"
"I know, but you -" Randall lowered his gaze;
"…you`re good at this..!"
Mike`s expression changed. He looked at Randall, and for the first time in years, he saw the shy student he had first met in college; the monster who looked up to him. Man, Sulley had performed magic here.
"I…" Mike didn`t really know how to respond to Randall`s last utterance, so he simply chose the first thing entering his mind;
"Thanks..! But I`m sure you`re not that bad either, just gimme your best go!"
"But I`m not funny, Wazowski..! I don`t know any jokes, what am I gonna do?"
"You don`t have to tell jokes..! Just fall over, crash into things, put on a silly pattern -"
"NO!"
Randall snapped and caused the other one to jump in his chair. However, when the purple one spoke again, Mike noticed a sore sadness to his voice he had never heard before;
"I don`t…I don`t want to…make a fool of myself..!"
In that second, Mike understood; Randall wasn`t just being difficult, he was afraid to be laughed at. The green monster remembered some of the things Sulley had told him about Randall`s past, and he could fully understand why the scaly one didn`t want to spend his days acting like a clown.
"I see".
He went over to the simulator and placed himself next to the lizard monster;
"I totally see. I`m sorry, I shouldn`t have suggested that…"
Randall let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through his fronds;
"It`s okay… It`s just that… I don`t mean to be difficult, but…I`m just so nervous about this whole thing...you don`t know what it`s like to – to try your best, but never…never succeed, and -"
Mike lifted his hand;
"Excuse me; I don`t know..? I don`t know what that`s like..? Randall, have you been smoking something?"
"What do you mean..?" The lizard looked confused.
"C`mon, don`t tell me you`ve forgotten about college..! Remember how hard I worked? How hard I tried? And I still didn`t succeed – Sulley had to cheat in order for us to win the scare games! I got kicked out of school! And you`re saying I don`t know what it`s like to fail?"
Randall`s eyes widened a bit as the green one went on;
"I know very well what it`s like to be the second-best! Or even third or fourth..! Sure, I`m among the best ones now; but c`mon, it`s like the first time ever in my entire life I`m doing something I`m being admired for! A couple of months ago I was a scaring-assistant!"
Randall sat down on the edge of the simulator and didn`t say anything for a while as Mike`s words sank in. The other monster sat down right next to him, and for a moment the scaly one wanted to tell Wazowski to leave him alone. However, what the eyeball had just told him made him think;
"I`ve never thought about that…" His lips curved upwards;
"Thanks for telling me…"
"No problem."
They sat like that for yet another while without speaking. The silence was a bit awkward, but Randall didn`t care – it was okay. It was perfectly okay.
After their little break, Mike and Randall decided to get something to drink from the cafeteria; it was quiet through the hallways of Monsters Inc. now that everyone else were working, and they didn`t run into a single soul on their way there.
As they walked by a big door, Mike suddenly stopped, clearly thinking about something. He took hold of Randall`s arm and lowered his voice to a whisper;
"Can you keep a secret..?"
"Sure…" The lizard was a bit surprised from Wazowski`s sudden change of manner, but didn`t really care; he was probably just gonna tell him about a stupid surprise for his stupid girlfriend or something…
"It`s in here – hurry!" Mike picked out a key and hurried to unlock the door. Once he was finished he pulled Randall inside it and locked it again;
"Once again; promise you won`t tell Sulley?"
"Yeah… What`s the big deal?"
Mike lowered his voice even more, and Randall had to concentrate to hear what he was saying;
"I`m fixing the door!"
"What door?"
"Boo`s door!" Mike pulled Randall closer;
"They shredded it, but I`m putting it back together! It`s a surprise for Sulley, what do you think..?"
"Is that even possible? I mean, will it still work?"
"I don`t know, but… I wanted to give it a go! What`s there to lose?"
Randall looked over at Mike`s project; at this point, it was just a pile of wood.
"It`ll probably take you a while…"
"Sure…it`ll probably take me months…It`s nice, though – it`s like having the world`s biggest puzzle… I`ve actually been here working on it sometimes while Sulley`s been hanging out with you, Randall…"
Mike smiled. Randall felt a little uncomfortable, and felt he had to say something;
"Ummm… I think he will really appreciate it when it`s finished..!"
"I hope so...but remember, you can`t tell him..!"
"I won`t. Thanks for showing me".
"You`re welcome -" Mike`s smile grew even wider as he eagerly went on;
"You know Randall, I was actually wondering if you wanted to help me rebuild it..! You`re a close friend of Sul now too, and I thought – well, I thought it would mean a lot to him if you -"
"No".
Randall`s interruption came as a surprise on Mike, who looked a little startled. However, the smile slowly returned to his face as the lizard explained;
"I`m his friend, sure; but you`re still his best friend – so I think you should do this for him. I`ve gotten to know him lately, and I must say; I know you still mean a lot to him, too…I`m not here to...to steal him from you..!"
"Thanks…" Mike still looked a little puzzled. However, as Randall`s words sank in, his smile became a little warmer;
"Thanks…Randy..!"
After they`d gotten their drinks, Mike and Randall headed back for the simulator. Mike really wanted Randall to give it a go this time;
"You don`t have to make a fool of yourself – try to speak, try to -"
"…you have to show me…"
"You watched me for hours this morning -"
"Wazowski, please..! I`m so uncomfortable about this..!"
"Fine, I`ll enter the room with you…but you`ll have to come up with something funny yourself, you need practice..!"
The simulator was still on, and both monsters entered the fake room - it was dark, and they had to spend some time to get used to it. Eventually Mike tried to push Randall forwards;
"C`mon now, say something! Wake the kid up!"
"Don`t push me!" Randall hissed;
"You wake it up; this is your field..!"
"But you`re supposed to try it – you can`t just watch me forever, give it a go, nobody`s looking..!"
"But what do you want me to do? You`re not helping here, I need tips!"
Randall gave Mike a push in return, and the green one almost fell over;
"Hey, careful!"
"Show me now – tell me what to say!"
"Okay..! Go over there, wake the kid up and tell it a joke! Something you find funny..!"
"But I`ve already told you, I`m not funny!"
"C`mon, you must have a sense of humour..!"
Mike poked the other, and without even knowing it he hit a tickly spot on the other`s body. Randall jumped, and Mike poked him again;
"Ticklish, huh..?"
"Stop it, Wazowski! Seriously..!"
Mike didn`t stop; he loved Randall`s reactions to his poking, and the more he continued, the more Randall laughed;
"Stop it, goddamnit!"
"At least you know how to laugh..!"
The little green monster continued his friendly torture, and the lizard tried to push him away on several occasions, with limbs that were weak from laughing. Eventually, he managed to pull himself together and push Wazowski away once and for all; the round monster lost his balance, rolled across the floor and crashed into the wall on the other side of the room, causing a collection of footballs to roll down from a shelf – they all bounced through the entire room, except for one which landed in Mike`s mouth.
It took a few seconds from when the balls stopped rolling until Randall noticed there were still sounds in the little room - but to begin with he wasn`t sure about what he was hearing; but as he realized something was happening he turned his head, and saw how the robot in the bed sat up. It was laughing.
From across the floor, Mike tried to say something with his mouth full of football, but before he managed to express himself clearly, one of the walls in the simulator was lifted from the floor and revealed a third monster`s presence in the large auditorium;
"That was great!"
"I think it will be very good, Randall".
Sulley put his napkin down. It was later in the afternoon, and he and Randall were back in the lizard`s apartment with Rex. They all sat around the kitchen table eating pizza, and Randall was wiping Rex`s face free from ketchup;
"I`m not so sure…"
"Trust me; what I saw today was brilliant! We`ve never had anyone working in teams like that before!"
Sulley was still talking about Randall and Mike`s go in the simulator, which had convinced him that the two of them should work together in a team;
"…when you`re working together like that, you don`t have to worry about being laughed at, Randall! You`re with Mike, there`s two of you – and trust me, he doesn`t mind being laughed at by a child!"
Randall thought about it for a moment – even though he had done nothing but thinking about it for the past hours… He still wasn`t so sure about working in a team with Wazowski, but Sullivan was right; it would make him feel better if he could by funny on behalf of someone else. And besides, Wazowski hadn`t been all that bad to be around today; he had actually been understanding and helpful, and Randall had been – god forbid - happy to have him there.
Another sob from Rex interrupted Randall`s thoughts; the little monster had been crying more or less non-stop since they had picked him up at dayscare, probably dead tired from last night.
"Do you wanna go to bed, Rex..?"
Randall spoke in his calmest voice, but there was no hiding the desperation beneath it; he was frustrated beyond explanation, and felt terrible about the fact that Sullivan was here to see how much his own nephew hated him.
"NO!"
Rex didn`t make it any easier for his uncle; he stared crying even worse, and threw his plate on the floor.
"Rex, you`re tired…" Randall gave it another try;
"Are you sure you don`t wanna get some sleep?"
"I want ma mum!"
"Your mum is coming back very soon, but right now you have to -"
"Ulley!"
Rex`s crying went up yet another pitch, and he reached all four of his arms out towards Sulley. The blue one felt uncomfortable; this was Randall`s nephew, and yet he was reaching out to him…
"I think your uncle is right, Rex..!" Sulley looked from Rex to Randall and then over at Rex again;
"I think you`re getting a little tired. Come on, let`s get you to bed – uncle Randall can read you a story".
"No..!" Rex was still sobbing, but eventually nodded his head and let out an unmistakeable yawn;
"…you wead stowy…"
The little monster was still sobbing every now and then as Sulley brushed his teeth, but calmed down once he was comfortably tucked in beneath his bed-sheets with his old blanket; he fell asleep straight away, and Sulley didn`t even reach to finish the first page of their book.
The blue monster watched him sleep for a little while, before he headed back to the living room where Randall was waiting;
"He`s sleeping". Sulley sat down on the couch;
"He was really tired, Randall; don`t take it personal. It`s just -"
"I`ll work in a team with Wazowski…" Randall sat down next to Sulley with an all blank expression, and the sudden change of subject came as a surprise on the blue one;
"Oh – okay! That`s…that`s great!"
"Want me to start for real tomorrow?"
"Sure, if you`re up for it, I mean -"
"I`m up for it…" He took a glance at the clock on the wall;
"It`s getting a little late, perhaps you should -"
"Randall -" Sulley placed his hand on the other monster`s shoulder;
"It`s okay if you don`t wanna talk about Rex. I understand".
"No, you don`t".
"Yes I do..!"
"No, and you NEVER WILL!" Randall`s sudden snap caused Sulley to jump with surprise, and he was sitting on the edge of his seat as the purple one poured out his feelings;
"You will never understand! You will never know what it`s like to unpopular, what it`s like to be everyone`s last pick! You`re popular, everyone loves you – just look at Rex; I`m his goddamn uncle, and he still prefers you; everyone can see that..! I`m not even allowed to read him a goddamn story!"
Just as the last, hostile words left his lips, Randall felt the familiar, burning feeling from behind his eyes. He tried his best to blink the tears away, but gave it up straight away; there was no use in trying, the tears were simply too many to hold back.
"I-I should`ve seen this coming all along, Sullivan..!" He sobbed loudly, and the blue one pulled him into his chest by instinct. The purple one hid his face in the soft fur and allowed the crying to take him over;
"N-no one will ever like me, no one w-will ever care about me, I`ll never be the best at anything - I just end up being runner-up in everything I do, I`m Rex`s o-only family member except from Sophie, and he still hates me, I-I…"
"Shhh…" Sulley stroked his back gently;
"ShhShhShhh… He will warm up to you, trust me – you just wait and see…"
"He won`t, the kid hates me..!" Randall looked up and tried to dry his face, but there was little use in it - it was soaked in tears again right away;
"Let`s just face it; nobody`s ever going to see me as anything else than a failure, a second-place, a jerk, a criminal, a loser, a…a…"
"I don`t consider you any of those things…"
"Yes, you do…"
"Randall -" Sulley took hold of Randall`s head and held it in a position which allowed them to look each other directly in the eyes;
"…I don`t."
"…then what do you consider me..?"
A couple of seconds passed.
A couple of seconds of complete silence.
Then, without any further warning, the blue monster pulled Randall`s head a little closer to his own, and for half a second they gazed deeply into each other`s eyes. Three pairs of hands were shaking. Sulley closed his eyes. Two hearts were running wild.
Randall couldn`t swallow.
Sulley had troubles breathing.
And when their lips met for the very first time, it wasn`t without insecurity; both monsters were shaking, both felt a little nauseous, and both were more terrified than ever before in their lives.
And still, it all felt so right.
So fulfilling.
So natural.
So good.
Well..?
What do you think, was it worth the wait? Please tell me, I`ve been SO nervous about this chapter - you have no idea of how many times I`ve edited the kissing-scene. I`m pleased with the way it looks now, and I hope I didn`t let you down!
And how about Mike? I just fell completely in love with him while I was writing, he`s being so nice to Randall – I think they have a fair chance of becoming friends again at some point, don`t you agree?
The next chapter has been started, and it will continue on the exact spot where this one ended; be prepared for more romantic stuff! I`m pretty sure you won`t mind..! ;) I`ll have it ready by the middle of next week!
That`s it from me for now, please take the time to leave me a review or a PM:)
Have a wonderful weekend everybody!