Wowza, more reviews! It felt like I was just gushing over ninety and one hundred, and now I have one hundred and twenty-five. You review beasts! Thanks to the most recent troupe: imagine believe, MikariStar, The Rune Reverend, ScipioPB, CheetosPotato, and teamBLAZE. Holy compliments, thanks so much, everybody! I'll keep updating strong for you! :D
I am so crazy motivated right now. I feel like I could just Hulk smash this deadline and be like: "Christmas?! MAKE THAT THANKSGIVING" but yeah, no, I'm going to be realistic. My goal is still December. xD
Looking over my outline, we've got some serious skit coming up. How exciting! Hopefully, things will get pretty interesting rather soon…
Thanks for reading!
Spark
"What's the damage?"
"What isn't the damage?" The burly mechanic laughed. He thumbed through the paperwork on his clipboard, eying the list of issues with the old rust bucket this silver-haired man before him called a car. "Brake belts are all but shot, the transmission needs to be overhauled, air pressure's low in the tires, the lines need replacing, your oil is low, and the radio doesn't work."
Vaughn grimaced. "Yeah. Knew the last one."
"That's just the start of it," the man rubbed the back of his head wearily. "You sure you want to fix her up? It'd probably be cheaper for you to sell her and start with something fresh."
The mom and pop mechanic shop was the closest place for the tow truck, and Vaughn was grateful for that. They would give him a fair estimate, and they weren't going to try to shove a lease down his throat. Their little, dingy garage was rather homey in a way. As homey as anything could be at five in the morning.
Vaughn looked over his sad excuse for transport. Even though his ugly mustard colored car was a mess, it had gotten him this far. Vaughn suddenly felt silly for thinking Molly was overreacting to the death of her cat – he was getting sentimental over a car!
"Yeah," Vaughn finally said. "I want to keep her. What's it going to be?"
"Mako!" A woman's voice called from underneath the blue pickup truck beside them.
"Yes, darling?" The owner stooped to look underneath for her. He was a giant, already towering over Vaughn, and his slouch comically made him look like he was inside a doll's house. Vaughn absent-mindedly wondered if the eye patch he wore served a real purpose or was meant to intimidate. Like his muscles, height, and booming voice weren't enough.
The girl flew out from underneath, pulling herself up off the tailgate and kicking away her runner. She wiped her greasy hands off on her baggy pants before removing her red-rimmed glasses to clear them. "She's ready to run."
"Great job!" He slapped her back with such jolly ferocity that Vaughn cringed for her.
"What's the tale on this one?" She splayed her hands out over the hood of Vaughn's car, looking over the body like she could size up the damage that way.
"Came in late last night," Mako passed the clipboard to her which she skimmed through with an annoyed expression. He turned to the forgotten customer. "If anyone can make her whole again, it's Phoebe here. She's our leading expert. Don't let those aqua curls fool ya!"
Vaughn wasn't going to allow himself to be fooled anyways. Phoebe intimidated him at the get-go with her shrewd eyes and efficient professionalism. She was darting around the shop with an air of impatience and going through tools as an artist would with their various paintbrushes. He wasn't about to question the expertise of a woman who was waving around an eight pound wrench like it was pencil. Not many people made Vaughn feel uneasy. He respected that.
They watched as Phoebe lifted the hood and stoically looked over the broken lines and oozing fluids. After a few seconds, she determined her boss' overview accurate and slammed it down.
"It's going to be eight hundred," she decided, looping her wrench to her pants and resting her hands on her hips. Her eyes locked on Vaughn's. "But with all of the hours of maintenance I'm going to have to chip into this, I'm going to have to bump it up to fifteen. That seem fair?"
Vaughn whistled low as he pondered how much ramen he'd have to live off of in the coming weeks. Mako stroked his beard, and Phoebe impatiently crossed her arms. Vaughn sighed. "And that's the best you can do? You'll get her to run again?"
Phoebe blew at her sea foam colored bangs. "Depends… I'll get her to run, but it'll take some time. If I can salvage that fuel line, I might be able to bump it down to twelve. Sound good?"
"You've got a deal," Vaughn took her outstretched hand and shook it. Her grip was tight, but her smile and nod of reassurance dictated she could be friendly.
Mako ushered him out to sign the paperwork and hand over the keys, and Phoebe saluted them as they left. "She'll be all yours by Tuesday!"
"Tuesday?" Vaughn asked. He was genuinely surprised at the short time frame, but Mako took it as a complaint.
"You'll just have to find another way to get around until then," he smiled, giving Vaughn a slap to the back that could've righted a dislocated shoulder.
Vaughn finally left the shop, looking up and down the wintry street. He thought about hailing a taxi, but he needed to be tighter with his wallet. Twelve hundred dollars wasn't anything to sneeze at. At least not for his budget. As he walked, he remembered the subway station entrance that was less than a block from the office. Checking his watch, he would have just enough time to board it and get to work on time.
Guess that's the plan. Vaughn shoved his hands in his pockets and sped up his pace, winding his way past pedestrians. The sidewalk became more and more crowded as the next subway entrance got closer. Once he descended the stairs, he stopped in front of the map of the underground, trying to find which colored line he should take and when to get off and when the next one would come in and if he needed to switch trains—
"Vaughn?"
He flinched in surprise, looking down at the person who had crept up beside him without him noticing. "Molly?"
Vaughn was almost surprised to see her hair dry and styled, as he had the image of her shivering in the freezing rain looking like a drenched rat stuck in his mind from the previous day. But here she was, all bright and chipper like none of it had happened. Or rather… not so bright. Molly wasn't smiling.
"Taking the subway?" He asked when she didn't immediately answer.
"I was going to ask you the same," she said. The people moved around past them like ants around a rock. "Had to with your car, huh?"
"Yeah," Vaughn frowned. "Got the estimate this morning. Won't have it back until Tuesday."
"Well, come with me," Molly volunteered, already walking ahead. "You can use my pass."
"You take the subway?" Vaughn trailed after her, keeping his eyes trained on her neck so as not to lose her.
"Every morning!" Her voice lightened considerably as she swiped her card and swept through the turnstile. She swept it again, and Vaughn walked through.
"You don't have to pay for me," he said, only thinking of it now that they were in the station line.
Molly briskly walked ahead. "Nah, I pay for this pass every week, and it gives me unlimited runs. It's pricey but convenient. No worries."
"Thanks…"
Luckily, the train route they needed was direct. They'd take the blue line for three stops and be at their office. Even more fortunate, the blue train was practically empty since it was going away from the center of town where the higher end office buildings and stores were.
The number nine came in and Molly hopped aboard. When she saw Vaughn lingering, she rolled her eyes and grabbed his jacket's cuff. She pulled him into the train and shoved him into a seat, plopping down at the same time beside him.
"Uh… thanks…" he repeated, feeling like a stranger.
"Have you ever ridden the metro before?" She stared ahead at the empty seat across from them.
"Never," he shook his head.
"Huh. Well, that explains why you look like a confused, little kid without his mommy," Molly snidely nudged his elbow off of the arm rest and took it for herself.
Vaughn looked down at his boots as the train's doors closed and they started to move. "I was an asshole. Sorry."
"Yesterday?" She asked, slightly startled. Molly fidgeted. "I can't really blame you. It was a bad day, and you went out of your way for me. Only made things worse."
"You shouldn't feel guilty because I promised you a favor," he said, now fidgeting, too. He yawned, and Molly changed the dial on her watch. "Your watch slow?"
"No, it's daylight savings," she said, yawning contagiously as well.
"Even better," Vaughn rested his head back against the wall.
"Even with everything that happened, that was the best night of sleep I've had in weeks," Molly admitted, a satisfied expression on her face. "Thanks again. Really."
Vaughn pushed her arm off of the rest, putting his arm in her place. "What's it going to take to make you stop thanking me? It's making me uncomfortable."
Molly giggled. The tunnels whizzed by in the dark windows around them, and equally sleepy passengers covered their mouths as they yawned and played with their phones. She slouched and let her head rest on his shoulder. "It must be weird for you to feel so nice."
He was going to let her sit there. It wasn't as awkward as it probably looked, and they were friends again. It seemed they were getting better at communicating, too, since their disagreements weren't being bottled up for days. Still, she made it too easy. Vaughn wound his arm around her shoulders and then roughly tousled her hair all over the place with his fist.
"Ah! Stop it! Vaughn! I have to look nice for work!" Molly scolded, trying to shield her head, but it was too late. She broke away and whacked his arm. They were getting looks from the other passengers. "You are an asshole."
"Just say it's a bedhead. Daylight savings," he said, feeling proud of himself.
Molly gave him a dead expression, taking the poorly made red scarf around his neck and sticking its end into his mouth. Vaughn spit it out and cleared the fuzz off of his tongue while Molly straightened her posture, meticulously fluffing her hair back into place.
Very immature friends once again.
Halfway through the work day, Vaughn hung up his phone. At the same moment, Gill took the opportunity to toss something onto his desk. He looked up at him.
"I forgot. This came in the mail for you," Gill shortly announced, turning and heading off towards the file cabinets. Basil was slumped across an open drawer snoozing away. Gill dropped his stack of filing folders on his head, rudely awakening the intern who started screaming about having a nightmare where he had to wear a shock collar.
Vaughn studied the envelope left on his desk. He turned it over and all around, noting the thick and expensive parchment paper. There was a gold seal on the back like it was from the government. Looking around him first and finding no one was spying on him for once, Vaughn tore open the envelope and sat back in his chair to examine the contents.
His eyebrows rose in surprise.
Vaughn,
Doesn't this look so official? Hope it didn't scare ya. Then again, if it did – ha! I've my got secretary typing this up for me. Crazy, ain't it? I have a secretary! I have him write in the vernacular because all of his hoity-toity speech just don't sound right and nice to me.
Real kind what you did for us, son. You and that friend of yours made a solid pamphlet brochure ad, and because of ya, we got a new farmer in no time! I was gonna write and thank ya myself, but I've been up and busy ever since the new folks been comin' in. Your old hometown's grown double, no, triple the size! All thanks to your fancy office job you've got. We all thank ya.
The islands' not the only thing growin' round here, lemme tell ya. With all the new folks and farming and produce, my shipping business is a boom! I've got my own empire now, bouncing around and deliverin' fresh Sunshine Island goods all across the world. I've even got ships running in my name to ports I haven't even seen myself! It's been a hoot!
Since you done that job for me for so cheap, and we've got all this surplus happenin,' we don't know what to do about it. We feel right down about you missing out, but if you need something, you just give us a call as always. Mirabelle sends her motherly love mush, and I'd kick ya in the shorts myself if you're still in a cubicle. Start runnin' something yourself! Get your own fancy office and secretary and all that. Be the one telling people what to do for a change.
My back's telling me you've got lots of snow up there. Stay warm!
Taro
"What's with that smile?" Molly tilted her head, staring down at him with her hands on her hips.
Said nostalgic smile vanished as Vaughn sat up and folded the letter back into the envelope. "Letter from an old friend. He somehow got it sent here to the office."
"Aw! I love snail mail," she sighed wistfully. "There's no love in a text message."
"You've never sexted then," Allen's voice came through the cubicle wall.
Molly puffed out her cheeks in embarrassment. Before Vaughn could throw something over the wall in response, Louis appeared holding a thermos and a stack of Styrofoam cups. "Uh… hello!"
"Hey, Louis!" Molly greeted him enthusiastically. "What's that?"
"Well, it's… actually…" he awkwardly fumbled with the hot container, refusing to look them in the eyes. "Whenever we had daylight savings or something, we'd take a break, and just have tea…"
"You had scheduled tea parties?" This made Allen appear over the top, folding his arms under his chin with a curious smirk on his face.
"That sounds wonderful," Molly said, taking a cup from him. She changed her mind and took all of the cups but one and the thermos. "Here, let me pour you some."
"O-okay!" Louis agreed, holding out his cup.
Molly unscrewed the cap and filled cups for herself and Louis. She held out a cup to Vaughn. "You want any?"
"Don't like tea," Vaughn answered shortly.
"What a shame," Allen reached over his head and took the cup. He was precariously balanced in order to do so, almost falling back over the side. "I love tea! Thank you, Molly."
"I haven't had tea in so long," Molly mumbled, humming over her cup and savoring its warmth. "Not since Candace was around…"
"Ooo, can I have some?" Rod's head popped up next.
"Sure! There's plenty," Louis offered his thermos.
"That smells so good! Can I have some, too, Louis?" Alice asked, hands folded together to beg if need be.
"Would be good to wake me up a little…" Dan agreed. He yawned as he brought his pillow over.
"Good boy, Luke!" Tina patted her co-worker's head, as he had sniffed out the delicious smell and led them to Louis' thermos of herb tea.
"Don't exclude me!" Basil whined.
Soon, everyone was sitting on or around Vaughn's desk sipping small amounts of hot tea together. Louis was crowded and more or less shoved in to share the cubicle. He stood awkwardly holding his cup. He glanced down at Vaughn, who was the only one without tea other than Gill who was successfully ignoring them with his nose in his work.
Louis sighed. "Nothing's really the same without Candace around. I miss her… you know?"
"Yeah, of course," Vaughn answered automatically. Though he was surprised. He hadn't thought of Candace in… he couldn't remember how long. She wasn't completely forgotten, but somewhere along the way, he stopped thinking about her. She wasn't a priority anymore. Which was very strange. Vaughn could recall days when his crush on her consumed him. Now that just felt foreign. Like it was someone else back then, pining after blue pigtails.
In fact, it seemed that Molly had been consistently taking Candace's place. They had been casual friends and occasional partners in crime before, but they started using each other to fill the void that the shy accountant left behind. Now, Vaughn wasn't quite sure what the hell they were. And… thinking they were something more than casual friends at work was another entirely too daunting aspect for him.
"Still…" Molly piped up, usually one to prefer to keep quiet in a big group. She smiled around at them all cluttered close together. "This is kind of nice."
"I was so tired before, but now I feel totally new!" Rod agreed. He stretched out his arms and nearly walloped Basil on 'accident.'
"We should have tea parties more often!" Tina giggled, throwing an arm around Dan.
"This can be our hub," Allen said, spreading his arms out. "Vaughn's desk is the new break room."
"Great," Vaughn huffed, but he didn't feel like arguing.
The steady tap of a shoe soon got their attention, and all heads turned to see who was standing by Hamilton's office door. Wearing a frown, arms crossed, and heel thumping a mile a minute, Vivi glared over them all. "Is this what your sector wastes their time with? Tea parties? And not a blackberry scone in sight… pathetic."
"Mrs. President Ma'am~!" Hamilton's door opened with a bang. This time, the shock wave threw cups of tea everywhere. In one fell swoop, the tea party was over. Everyone groaned and crawled back to their seats.
"You shall address me as 'Superintendent,'" Vivi reminded, smartly dusting off her dark sleeves.
"It's so good to see you, baby cakes~!" Hamilton made a running dive for her. Unbeknownst to him, there was someone waiting for just that to happen. Hamilton screamed as his arm was wrenched, and he was thrown to his back on the floor.
The defender posed for a moment to see if he would get up. When the manager stayed floored, he silently stood up straight at Vivi's side. All eyes were on him, in either awe or instant obsession.
"Excellent work, my secretary!" Vivi proudly congratulated him, patting his chest and then fixing any strands of his hair that had gone awry with loving care.
"Oh my God, he's so dreamy…" Molly whispered. Alice's eyes were glued to the stranger, but she held out her hand. The girls blindly executed a perfect high five, unable to stop staring at him.
"Who're you?" Vaughn asked, the only one currently brave enough to do so.
"Ahem! I'm so glad you asked, Vaughn," the Superintendent wove her fingers together, settling into bragging mode. "This is my secretary and body guard Gale. What two of you refused to do for me…"
"No regrets," Vaughn shrugged.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Gill agreed from his desk across from them.
Vivi hissed. The man at her side remained complacent, looking blankly around the office. To Vaughn's surprise, he was studying the walls with different colored eyes. He was the definition of tall, dark, and handsome but for his sandy colored hair. He had an edgy braid woven on the left side of his head. He wore a dark suit that matched Vivi's. Vaughn held his hand out to him. "Gale, yeah? Nice to meet you, man."
Gale nodded, taking Vaughn's hand and firmly shaking it. That was the cue, and everybody rushed at once. The guys wanted to be him, and the girls… well, the girls.
"Oh my God, hi," Molly introduced herself, unable to say anything else as she held a hand over her heart attack.
"Are your eyes different colors?" Alice immediately wedged her way between them, making Molly snarl. She twirled her hair, trying to look charming.
"Isn't that called heterochromia? That's, like, super rare!" Tina squealed. She didn't hide her fangirl at all.
"Yes…" he vaguely answered, his eyes widening at the attention he was getting.
"HE SPEAKS!" Rod swooned.
"Like a chorus of angels!" Basil agreed.
"My eye candy!" Superintendent Vivi threw herself before him, guarding him like a feral animal.
Hamilton finally picked himself up off of the ground before he could be stomped on. He held his woozy head, and Vivi spotted him. She grabbed him by the collar, forcing him to his stubby feet. "Hamilton! We need to talk. Harvest Hobbies – now!"
Gill and Vaughn instantly looked to each other. Vaughn was all but screaming 'I told you so,' and Gill's expression told him to stuff it.
"Right!" Hamilton nodded. This time, he was careful not to touch her as he beckoned for them to retreat into his quiet office. "I have plenty of juice, tampons, and posters of Brad Pitt awaiting you."
Vivi seemed reluctant to leave her hunk behind, but she followed Hamilton into his office. The door closed behind them, but not before she shouted: "There's no time for that! They're going to be the end of—!"
Vaughn and Gill simultaneously stood. It wasn't too difficult to get to the door with everyone fawning over the super smexy Gale, but when they pressed their ears in to listen, they couldn't hear a word.
"Dammit! We were right. There's definitely something going on," Gill snapped his fingers in vexation. He bit his thumb. "Do you think it's a threat to our sector specifically or to the entire company?"
Slow to answer, Vaughn mulled over reasons for Vivi visiting Hamilton. "It could be our sector, but… why? It doesn't make sense that way. It's got to be bigger than that."
Gill glared, but he was obviously masking his apprehension. "But what does that mean? Why would she go to Hamilton about it? To… warn him?"
"Get him on the defensive… be prepared," Vaughn nodded.
"Okay, I am so doing this with my hair," Allen said, picking up Gale's braid and taking it in from all angles. Gale didn't seem to be outwardly bothered with all of the employees poking and prodding him, but any introvert could see him internally screaming.
"Dude, do you want a spinach and mayonnaise sandwich?"
"What's your shoe size?"
"Is Gale a spy name?"
"Can I carry you?"
"Why aren't you a model?"
"Or an actor?"
"Or a porn star?"
Gill tried in vain to hear any of the conversation going on in the inner office, but he rested his forehead against the door in defeat. "I wish we could do something…"
As Gale was carted off so their co-workers could practice crowd surfing with him, Vaughn was disturbed how often he was agreeing with Gill the past year, but it was undeniable yet again. They needed to do something. They couldn't take Harvest Hobbies sitting down. Whatever it was they wanted or were going to do. But… what could they do?