* * *
(Jade is curled up on the couch, reading an old book. In the background, Chaos and Decimal are sparring. Decimal gets a good right hook in, before Chaos blasts him into the far wall.)
Chaos: Oops.
Jade: (looking up from his book) You know that Rebecca person is going to kill us when she finds out you broke another wall, right?
(Decimal grumbles and picks himself up out of the rubble.)
Chaos: Triple oops.
Jade: (sighs) Look, she might have mercy on us if we handle these ficlets she's got on her desk.
Decimal: Whaddaya mean, handle?
Jade: Read them and mock them. Like usual.
Chaos: Ooh! (bounces up and down) Can we? Pleases?
Decimal: (looks doubtful)
Chaos: (grabs Decimal's arm and drags him onto the couch) Come on, Deci!
Jade: First up is "Access Denied: A ReBoot Romance" by Joshua Falken. (mutters) I've heard that name before....
* * *
Access Denied
A ReBoot Romance
Decimal: (hopefully) BobnDot?
Jade: Still have those "Uncle Megabyte" flashbacks,
Decimal?
by Joshua Falken
Jade: (mutters) Where have I heard that name before....?
Based in an argument by BenRG
Thanks to BenRG for beta-read this fic :-)
Chaos: (blinks) It's smiling at me. Why is it smiling at me? Does it want to worship the ground I walk upon?
=======
Chaos: Ooh, thingies!
Author's warning: The events of this fanfic happen after the War against Daemon, following an alternate timeline,
Decimal: You two never did tell
me how the War turned out. Besides that we won.
Chaos: Sa'cause Jade-
Jade: We won, okay?! What more does anyone need to know?
where some events of the Fourth Season had not happened or happened in a different way. The characterisations are based on those in the Third Season.
Jade: So what's different? Which
events did or did not happen?
Chaos: (consults a printout) It looks like a lot of popular
movies. My Two Bobs. Null-bot of the Bride. Crouching Binome,
Hidden Virus. Crossnodes-
Decimal: That had some great music.
Chaos: (continuing) Maybe he means Daemon Rising. That's not a
movie.
=======
Chaos: Those things again.... (gazes intently at them)
The silicon-haired sprite
Jade: Chaos, random guess now!
Chaos: (blinks) Mouse!
Decimal: (disbelieving) Mouse?
Chaos: Her hair's all shiny and distinctive.
breathed deeply before entering the in Core Control Room of System Mainframe.
(Jade and Decimal both lean
forward.)
Chaos: Lookit all the buttons!
'Come on!' Bob thought. 'All that you will do is to invite Dot for a date. The worst than can happen is she says 'no' due to her work obligations! And you are as nervous as a teenager!'
Jade: Bob's been infected by
Data.
Decimal: Whaddaya mean?
Jade: He's forgotten how contractions work.
The problem was that he was as nervous as a teenager. This would be their first "official" date;
Chaos: What about the time they went to see the Mainframe players after they got rid of Megabyte?
the first time really just for them only,
Chaos: Oh.
something a little difficult to arrange during the War against Daemon,
Chaos: What about-?
Jade: Let him at least finish the sentence.
Chaos: (pouts)
since all the time that they were alone, some kind of emergency happened that broke the atmosphere.
Chaos: That's why you need emergency pants!
Bob entered and saw that Dot was alone in the Control Room.
Decimal: (frowns and rereads the
line) Oh.
Jade: You got 'Bob entered Dot' out of it, too?
She sat at her desk, her back to him, surrounded by vidwindows, concentrating on her work. She was singing in a low voice for herself. "...Retrieve me, come on and take my silicon heart. Take your love and re-code every part..."
Jade: She's singing, yet
concentrating on her work.
Chaos: Dot's secret of being the splendiferous businesswoman she
is: Her vidwindows respond to certain song lines as well as voice
commands.
He approached quietly and hugged her from behind. "As you wanted!"
Chaos: I thought she wanted her love re-coded. Maybe into something more compatible with fic-writers who want to get their mitts on Bob.
"Huh?" she asked surprised.
Decimal: I know the feeling all too well.
"How are you processing, Dot?"
She smiled, taking off her glasses. "I'm fine. And you?"
Chaos: (as Bob) Peachy-keen!
Neat-o-riffic!
Jade: (as Dot) You've been trying some of Phong's
"special" cocoa, haven't you?
'It depends of how you answer my question,' he thought. "I'm on-line. Too much work?"
"I was just verifying some of the energy transmission subroutines. For some reason, the transmission of energy of the Core to Sector Riemann is oscillating."
(Jade and Decimal look extremely
interested.)
Jade: I wonder...
Decimal: Aunty Hex, maybe....
Jade: Or dear Uncle Megabyte....
Chaos: Sector Riemann?
Chaos: Hm. What's wrong with
Ghetty Prime?
Jade: Definitely Uncle Megabyte....
Chaos: It could be a null.
Jade: There are no nulls large enough to cause energy
transmission to an entire sector to oscillate.
Chaos: It could be a lot of nulls.
Jade: It's Megabyte. Deal.
Considering its past as Megabyte's headquarters, the change of name made sense...
Chaos: Considering my past, can
I change my name?
Jade: No. The people of the Net deserve fair warning.
Decimal: We're virii. Who cares about fair warning?
Jade: You want to not know when she's coming?
Chaos: Hey!
"I understand."
She turned off the vidwindow and sighed, tired. Bob began to massage her shoulders. "You are tired, aren't you?"
Jade: What gave it away? The hordes of coffee mugs advancing across her desk?
There was no sense in lying. "Yes, I am. I need a rest." She looked at for him. "Don't tell Matrix and Mouse that I said this, okay?"
Jade: If you tell Matrix....
He'll do what, exactly?
Decimal: Shoot something. Dot's getting tired of paying for what
he breaks.
He laughed. "All right." The perfect chance: it was now or never.
Chaos: Never! Go with the never!
Decimal: He's in the now.
Jade: What, when?
Decimal: Now.
Jade: Now?
Decimal: No, it happened then. You missed it.
"Dot, would you like to go out with me this downtime?"
Chaos: .... He wants to go out
with her while they sleep?
Jade: When it gets dark. Not when they're sleeping, when it's dark
outside.
Her core.sys failed a pulse. "Go out with you? As… in a date?"
"Yes." His core.sys failed a pulse when Dot paused before replying.
Decimal: That can't be healthy. Why are all these vital pieces of code pulsing?
"I would love it." She answered with a gentle smile.
Bob got to hide his relief.
Chaos: (as Bob) W00t! I love trying to hide my relief! Where to put it this time.... (looks around)
"Then, do I get you in your apartment at 7UT?"
Chaos: Seven-up?
Jade: User time, I think. Maybe.
"Only a nano." She consulted her PDA. "Could you make it 7:30?"
Chaos: (as Dot) I've got a
quickie with Megabyte scheduled at 7UT.
Decimal: Gyah! Not good! (scootches away from Chaos)
"Sure, no problem! I'll see you at 7:30, then."
They said good-bye, and Bob kissed her cheek kindly.
Jade: As opposed to his usual bruising cheek kisses.
After Bob left the room and to close the door, she heard a yell of happiness.
Jade: Dork.
Decimal: He's better fer her than being alone would be. Ya be
nice.
Dot Matrix just shook her head and laughed in her quiet way.
Chaos: Dot likes Bob the way he is, Jade. (pokes Jade)
== ==
Chaos: (peers at the symbols)
Hm....
Jade: (eyes Chaos) They're not that interesting. Really.
With the invitation dealt with, they had to worry about the preparations.
Decimal: Enough clothes to keep
ya decent, a few spraypaint tools, and ya could go tagging.
Jade: (looks at Decimal contemptuously) One does not take the
command.com of a system 'tagging'. They should go to an opera or
something else cultural.
Chaos: Lasertag!
Jade: (sighs, looking very put upon)
== ==
Chaos: I think its missing
something.
Jade: (muttering) I think you're missing something.
"Matrix, could you take care of the Game Cubes this downtime?" Bob asked as soon as he left the Principal Office.
The other guardian, who was talking to Bob through a vidwindow, looked surprised when he answered. "I can, but why?"
Decimal: (as Bob) I want to take
the night off, all right? Why is that such a big deal around
here?
Jade: (as Matrix) Okay, okay, Bob! Don't go into a tizzy.
Decimal: (as Bob, grumbling) If he were young, he wouldn't talk
to me like that.
Jade: (as Matrix, growling) I wouldn't have this partially borged
up head, either.
Decimal: (as Bob) Oops!
Bob decided to be evasive.
Chaos: Bob made a split-second decision not to tell Matrix that he was taking Matrix's sister someplace. Thus ensuring tragedy later on that night.
If he told Matrix that he was going out with Dot, there were three possibilities:
Jade: Matrix would clap him on
the back and say, "It's about time!"
Chaos: Matrix would ask if Bob knew about Dot's quickies with
Megabyte in the sauna.
Decimal: Matrix would shoot something.
Matrix would burst into laughter, he would give him a mocking sermon to be sure that he took care of his sister, or he would hunt him down and shoot him like a Virus.
Decimal: Ya gotta admit, if Matrix didn't like one of Dot's suitors, they would skedaddle.
Since he didn't want to deal with any of those situations, for more improbable that some of them could be,
Chaos: (rereads the line) I'm not getting this...
Bob replied: "I have a commitment that I can't miss."
Jade: (as Matrix) Okay. I'll just tell Dot that we'll have to skip the movie tonight. Enzo'll be kinda upset, but he can deal.
"But it is some kind of problem?" Why Bob did seem so anxious?
Decimal: He's going out with yer sister. Megabyte'd be anxious, the way ya are!
"Problem... no. It is just a personal matter."
Bob closed the connection before Matrix had the chance to ask for more information.
Jade: Bob did want this to be a
secret, right?
Chaos: Looked like it.
Jade: He is such a dork.
In his quarters, the renegade Guardian sat back in his chair, a questioning look on his face.
Jade: Look at that. He's piqued
Matrix's curiosity with his evasion. Tonight is not going to be
peaceful.
Decimal: (looks down) This is awful long for a ficlet. Can we cut
it short now?
Jade: (wheedling) But there are still some good scenes ahead.
Chaos: (holds up glowing hands) Fast-forward!
(The screen scrolls rapidly down.)
== ==
Chaos: Ooh, more of those things.
Matrix walked up to the west wall of the Game Cube, where Mouse was waiting.
Jade: (blinks) Okay... Bob and
Dot are in a game right now.
Decimal: Sshh!
"Did you lose the game, dear?" Mouse asked.
Jade: (as Matrix, looks at the
game cube) I'm not even in the game, Mouse.
Decimal: (also as Matrix) And I don't lose games.
Chaos: (as Mouse) What about when-? (gestures at her face)
Decimal: (as Matrix) Grr.
She was cleaning her katana sword, still sitting on her motorbike.
"Yeah, I didn't get it. I was stuck in the Kits Sector, repairing some tears. Are they inside of the game?"
Decimal: (slowly) Matrix can do
Guardian things besides win games?
Jade: Wow.
"Yes."
"At least we didn't need to worry about winning the Game, with Bob and Dot inside there." Matrix commented.
Decimal: And we're back to his
Games-fixation.
Jade: The man did live in them for a good chunk of his life. He's
got issues.
Chaos: Who wants a subscription?
The hacker was silent for some nanos. "Great beginning for a date." she commented.
Chaos: That it is! They get to run around and get all sweaty and pumped up!
The renegade gave Mouse a cold glare.
Jade: ... His bionic eye
rotating in his socket, the targeting scope glowing red.
Decimal: (as Mouse) Calm down, sugah!
Chaos: Fast-forward again! (raises her glowing hands)
(The screen scrolls down rapidly.)
She looked in his eyes, seriously. "Perhaps. But I'm glad that you trust me enough to tell me that." Dot was silent for a moment before she seemed to come to a decision.
Jade: (as Dot) You are way too
weird for me to date. (as himself) Okay, here-
Decimal: Ssshhh!
"I think should return that trust." Bob seemed confused.
Chaos: (as Dot) ... That I cruelly wrested from Little Timmy
using my vast legal and business skillz.
Jade: I've got to go with Bob on
this one.
"Bob, I think since you came back from the Web, you never saw me without this glove." She explained, lifting her left hand.
"I thought was just fashion," Bob said.
Decimal: (frowns) I don't like this....
Dot smiled kindly. "To be honest, no," Dot replied. She pulled off the glove and revealed the silvery metal of a replacement hand.
Decimal: Whoa!
Chaos: She's a cyborg like her brother?
Jade: That's... odd.
It was attached to her wrist just at the level of the pulse point. "When Megabyte took the Baudway Sector, we tried to free it. Unhappily, our plan didn't work." Dot narrowed her eyes with rage.
Chaos: Yes, the new rage energy actually allows a sprite to narrow their eyes! Use the old 'blue' energy of yesterday and you're stuck in the past!
"Megabyte's spies discovered our plans and Megabyte himself, with his army, came to attack us. To cut a long history,
Chaos: How is she cutting the
history? Cross-wise? Length-wise?
Decimal: Megabyte is such a pansy. Can't even take down a group
of saboteurs by himself.
he got me to corner and attacked me with his extendable claws. He tried to infect me."
Jade: .... But you just said he
attacked you. There's no two ways about it. Either he tried to
force his code onto yours or he tried to gut you. Pick a story
and stick with it!
Chaos: Jade's just got issues with people thinking that you can
be infected after having your belly torn open.
Decimal: What, still?
She trembled. It was impossible for any healthy sprite not to be horrified with that. "In the last nano, Mouse appeared and cut off his claw.
Chaos: He only tried to slice
and dice with one claw?
Decimal: The middle claw, ya know.
We escaped from him, but the infection continued to spread though my hand. I have to admit that he was smart. The infection was slow, but irreversible."
Jade: I see where this is
going....
Chaos: Triage!
Jade: .... No. Amputation, Chaos.
Decimal: (grumbling) Guardians always called it an MDK when I did
triage.
Bob had already heard about that kind of infection: it literally transformed the sprite into a virus.
Jade: (drops his book) Wha-?
Decimal: We want to turn wimpshit sprites into virii, why?
Chaos: Bob as a virus! Ooh-er!
"Being the Command.Com, if he infected me, he would win the war. Then, Mouse and I agreed that we would have to take... drastic measures." She didn't complete the story. She didn't need to.
Jade: (as Mouse) Now, just hold reeaall still....
"I... understand." he murmured, unable to think of anything else to say.
Decimal: (as Bob) So... Did you
put any cool gadgets into your robo-hand?
Jade: (also as Bob) Or maybe it transforms into a gun?
"I still have nightmares about that cycle." She admitted. "The simple idea that Megabyte could infect me... control me..." Dot shook her head.
Chaos: (as Dot) It gives me an unholy thrill on my bad days and makes me cower in the corner on my good days.
"Beside Mouse and the doctor that installed the prosthesis, you are the only one to know about it. I didn't have the courage to tell the rest of them about this."
Jade: (as Dot) And watching
Matrix break things in his rage gets old fast.
Chaos: (as Bob) AndrAIa sure seems to like it.
"Thank you for trusting me," Bob said seriously.
"Thank you, Bob, for hearing me out."
The two of them were silent for a few nanos. They noticed that their relationship had reached another level.
Chaos: Ding! Level fifteen! Time to head back into town and use your skill points!
Their emotional connection already existed and they recognised that. The connection of trust had been intensified and consolidated: they had admitted their weaknesses to each other.
Jade: They had yet to admit their deepest fantasies to each other, but they'd give it time.
The two sprites went back to the car, hand-in-hand.
Chaos: Awww....
Decimal: Yes! BobnDot!
Jade: Cute, I admit. Fast-forward, Chaos.
Chaos: (raises her glowing hands again)
(The screen scrolls rapidly downwards.)
Later that cycle, Bob contacted Dot through a vidwindow. "Yes, Bob?"
Decimal: Bob was too lazy to
walk across the hall and open the door after last night.
Jade: No, they didn't actually-
Chaos: Ssshhh! I'm trying to watch this!
"So, did you liked our date?" Bob asked. "I know that it could had been better, but..."
Jade: (as Bob) There are only so
many natural disasters I can schedule at once.
Chaos: (as Dot) I've arranged for Megabyte to crash our second
date.
Jade: (as Bob) W00t!
Dot interrupted him. "Well, I not specialist on the subject, but I think that we did very well this time."
Decimal: (as Dot) It's not like there was a horde of nulls attacking us while you had a freak asthma attack.
She paused for thought before continuing. "But next time I plan it, okay?"
Jade: (as Dot) I can at least make sure that we don't have games landing on us. Zipboards equal agility, Bob.
He laughed. "Okay." A mischievous light appears in his eyes. "Any plans… right now?"
She smiled. "No… but maybe in the third cycle," Dot winked.
Chaos: (confused) They're not
having another date for three User-weeks?
Jade: Maybe it's a religious thing. Like the Third Day.
Decimal: An' maybe the author doesn't know computer time any
better than the rest of Users do.
Chaos: (pouts) Spoilsport.
They closed the vidwindow. And they both began to wait anxiously for the third cycle.
Jade: When Godot would rise from the dead and dig his way forth from his tomb.
The end (?) ^_~
Chaos: (panicky) It's winking at me!
* * *
(The glow slowly fades from around Chaos's hands as Jade pops another DVD into the player.)
Jade: Next up, "First Impressions" by Brenren.
* * *
First Impressions
Chaos: Colors!
(claps)
Decimal: (hopefully) More BobnDot?
by Brenren
Author's Note: I’m still not exactly sure how I came up with the idea for this ficlet. I just know that it sorta kicked into my head while I was cleaning up a dish of creamed corn that I had so gracefully spilled all over my kitchen floor.
Chaos: At least it
didn't come up when she gracefully leapt into a cactus bed.
Jade: Grr.
Disclaimer: I don’t own ReBoot, MFE owns it. You know the rest.
Jade: That's pretty
debatable, actually.
Decimal: MFE?
Jade: Mainframe Entertainment.
Decimal: Dot has a movie-making company now?!
In her lifetime, Mouse had faced viruses, wars, almost unbreakable codes, web creatures, the entire Guardian Collective,
Jade: And then she
met Dot.
Chaos: I still think it was unreasonable for that flame-hair to
ask for an energy shake, Jade....
Jade: (sighs)
and had always managed to come out seemingly unscathed, if not a bit wiser for the experience. Why then did she feel such a panic now?
Decimal: The web creatures had allied with the viruses against the entire Guardian Collective in a war of annihilation, according to this nigh on unbreakable code she had deciphered the eve of the first planned attack.
It was just dinner, right?
Chaos: With Matrix
and AndrAIa.
Jade: Most of her dishes would be broken before the night was
out.
Decimal: Her stud-muffin would be lucky to avoid a gunshot wound.
“Just dinner.” She repeated the words out loud as if to convince herself of it. It wasn’t the first time she had ever cooked.
Jade: She had cooked
during the war. Once.
Decimal: Dot had been a particularly lovely shade of green that
day.
She could do this. She cooked all the time for Ray and herself when they decided to stay in.
Chaos: (shocked)
People don't always eat at Dot's?
Jade: The key-words and tricky phrase, Chaos, are 'when they
decided to stay in'.
Chaos: So, once an hour whether they need it or not?
This would be no different, just a couple of extra people.
Jade: One of whom was a vegetarian and the other of whom was allergic to dairy products.
The roast was in the oven and almost done. She had finished chopping the carrots and tomatoes and put them into the salad. Desert was already in the fridge, being chilled.
Chaos: What if the
Bedouins don't wanna be chilled?
Decimal: Cold sand's almost as bad as hot sand when ya get it in
yer pants.
The only things left to do were to mash the potatoes and make the gravy. Easy enough, she thought. I can do this. I’ve done this a hundred times before. There’s no need to worry, she reminded herself.
Jade: Methinks the
lady thinks she can't cook.
Decimal: Aren't ya a bright boy?
Bob and Dot, along with several others, seemed to like her cooking. AndrAIa had even once asked for the recipe to her mother’s peach cobbler.
Chaos: Fish-chick likes fruit?
Why should this be any different?
Jade: (twitches) It shouldn't be! Get on with it!
Because this time, it’s Ray’s parents, she told herself. She had never had the greatest of luck in the past when meeting parents.
Chaos: Seeing as how she was a wanted criminal in several systems and all.
Of course none of those relationships had been very serious either and Mouse was having a hard time deciding whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. Before, she had never tried too terribly hard at making a good impression.
Jade: She had flung
her feces with gay abandon.
Decimal: (eyes Jade warily, mutters) Ya think ya know a guy....
Chaos: (blinks) Jade?
In fact, she had never thought about it at all. But this was different. She really and truly wanted these people to like her.
Ray had assured her that they were wonderful sprites and would love her for who she was,
Chaos: Unlike her last boyfriend's parents who had been all over her about "getting a respectable job". Well, she'd showed them!
just as he did. She hoped that he was right. She had recently begun to think about being with Ray for a long time to come, and it would make things a lot easier for everyone if they approved.
She attempted to calm her nerves with that thought as she busied herself by mashing the potatoes. When she had finished that, she looked at the clock and noticed there was still roughly fifteen nanos before they were scheduled to arrive.
Decimal: (consults a
table) .... That's User-seconds, right?
Jade: Just give up trying to make sense out of time.
Chaos: Hee!
She decided to start cleaning some of the dishes that she had used in preparing the meal while she waited and ran some water in the sink.
Jade: She then stuck
her hands in the sink and shorted out, screeching horribly.
Decimal: Ray did not immediately come to the rescue because he
thought she'd turned on some Alanis Morisette mp3s.
After washing a few large utensils and mixing bowls, she began to wipe the counter, coming across the large dish of mashed potatoes, which was now directly in her way. She set the cloth down, picked up the dish, and was completely unable to stop it from slipping out of her wet hands.
Chaos: Tragically, only restaurants in Mainframe may buy napkins. Everyone else has to go there to access them.
It hit the edge of the counter, and before Mouse could do a thing to halt its progress, it tipped sideways and hit the floor, causing the potatoes to fly in all directions.
Decimal: Well, that oughta add some protein to the potatoes.
The kitchen was covered in them. There were splatters all over the floor, the walls, the table, the refrigerator and even the counter that she had just cleaned. She looked down at herself to realize that she was also covered in potatoes. “Spammit!” she yelled as the full realization hit her. “Son of a User spammed null!” She kicked the now mostly empty dish just for emphasis.
Jade:
There's very little to say here.
Decimal: It should be 'User-spammed son of a null', technically.
Right now she's mostly insulting the mother.
Jade: ....
Ray was in the other room, straightening up for his parents’ visit, when he heard the long chain of cursors coming from Mouse.
Chaos: Ooh...! She uses Comet Cursors, too?
Upon entering the kitchen to investigate, he was surprised to see her on the floor, still sputtering cursors to herself and cleaning up what looked like an explosion of mashed potatoes. He tried to keep a straight face, but seeing her like this made it very difficult.
“You know,” Ray started with a smirk, “I may not be a gourmet or anything, but it seems to me that potatoes are best served in a bowl.”
Chaos: (as Cecil) I am insulted by your allegations, monseuir! This is the only way to serve potatoes.
Mouse turned an icy glare on him.
Decimal: - brutally freezing his pants.
His parents were due to arrive at any nano, the potatoes were ruined, the kitchen was a disaster and she really did not appreciate his smart ascii comments at the moment.
Ray desperately tried to hold in the laugh that was welling up inside of him, but couldn’t when he saw her reaction. He kept his mouth shut as tight as he could, but the laugh was already in his throat and very audible from her position on the floor. He started to back out of the kitchen, but it was too late.
Chaos: The enraged flame-hair leapt forwards, drawing her katana.
Before he could make a break for it, he was hit squarely in the face with a handful of mashed potatoes.
“Still think it’s funny?” She asked with a smirk as he carefully wiped the potatoes from his goggles. The situation was still just as bad, but she had to admit that hurling a fist full of spuds at him made her feel just a teeny bit better.
“No,” he said rather seriously, “it wasn’t funny. It was juvenile and spiteful.” He held the handful of potatoes out as he knelt in front of her. “Now this,” he said, referring to his hand, “this is funny.” He smeared the gooey mess on Mouse’s face and proceeded to laugh loudly as she slowly began to scrape it off with her fingers.
“Ok, smart ascii,” she said with a smirk as she scooped up another handful of potatoes from the floor while he was occupied, “let’s see how funny you think this is.” She grabbed the collar of his shirt, taking him by surprise, and gracelessly plopped it in. She began to laugh as he protested with mock disgust while she pushed on his chest, smearing the potatoes all through his shirt.
“Oh, that’s it,” he paused dramatically and grinned, “you’re toast!” Mouse squealed as he lunged for her. She tried to avoid his advance, but she slipped in the mess and he landed on top of her, pinning her on her side to the floor. Both of them scooped up handfuls of potatoes off the floor and for several nanos, continued to smear the other while laughing loudly enough to not hear the front door open.
Chaos:
Plot point!
Jade: This isn't supposed to be long enough to have 'plot
points'.
Chaos: Fft!
“Are we interrupting something?” A voice came from nearby. They both turned their heads toward the kitchen’s entryway and froze in place. Mouse instantly recognized the pair from the .jpegs
Jade:
What, not .pngs? Is Ray cheap or something?
Decimal: Pansy.
Jade: (glares)
Decimal: The Web Surfr, of course.
Jade: (continues to glare)
that Ray had shown her. It was his parents. In just a brief nano of silliness, they had forgotten about their arrival.
“Dad! Mum!” Ray exclaimed as he cautiously got up from the floor and helped Mouse to her feet. Both of them were sorry sights at the nano, covered in potatoes, as was most of the kitchen. Mouse thought for sure that they were going to think the worst of her now. Some first impression she was making.
Chaos:
Sa'unique one. The kids'll be very creative. That's always good,
what with the number of Guardians these days.
Jade: I don't think she's thinking about that....
Ray pulled Mouse closer to him as his parents looked on curiously. He let out a deep breath and smiled as he stated confidently, “This is Mouse.”
“Pleasure to meet you.” Ray’s father said as he extended his hand to her. Mouse started to meet his hand with her own when a glop of mashed potatoes fell from her hair. Quickly realizing that her hand was just as messy as the rest of her, she started to withdraw it. He saw the hesitation, smiled, and grabbed her hand despite the mashed potatoes clinging to it.
Mouse couldn’t help but almost laugh
Jade:
So she could help but laugh, story.
Chaos: I thought we weren't doing grammar riffs?
Jade: (surprised) Since when did I say that?
as he shook her hand, mostly because of the potatoes that slid their way from between their palms. “It’s good to finally meet you too.” She said, trying to retain as much dignity as possible. “Ray’s told me a lot about you folks.” She gave a warm, if not slightly embarrassed smile to Ray’s mother, who was now shaking with restrained laughter. She took Mouse’s hand in both of hers, also disregarding the mashed potatoes.
“Ray’s told us a lot about you too.” She said as she smiled back at her. She glanced around the room for a moment and added, “I see you let Ray do the cooking.” She gave her son a wink as she continued. “He always was a bit of a mess in the kitchen.”
Jade:
(glances at the other two) And people wonder why I don't let
either of you two do anything useful.
Chaos: 'Cause you get to clean up the mess! Hee!
Decimal: Ya shouldn't be so lenient, Jade. She can clean up after
herself just fine.
Jade: And you can't?
Decimal: 'Xactly. (eyes forward)
Mouse suddenly looked very apologetic. “Oh User, I’m so sorry about this mess…”
“You know,” Ray’s father interrupted, “I don’t know about this system, but where we come from, love, we usually put the potatoes in a dish before we serve them.”
Jade: (as Ray) Careful, Dad! That's how this got started in the first place!
Mouse gave a half grin as Ray laughed at his father’s remark. Despite the gentle jab at her expense, she got a welcoming feeling from Ray’s parents that she hadn’t felt in a long time,
Chaos: What with her unreasonable requests for energy shakes and her criminal background prejudicing people against her.
and although she was still covered in potatoes, she began to relax a bit. “Now I know where he gets his charming personality.” She said with a wink to the older gentleman.
“Better be careful Dad,” Ray said in between breaths, “That’s what got me covered in potatoes to begin with.”
“Well,” Ray’s mother began as her laughter died down a bit, “how about you two go get cleaned up before dinner. Your father and I will clean this up for you.”
“We will?” the older sprite replied.
Decimal: Who's this 'we', Kemosabe?
“Of course we will.” She insisted, then looked in Ray’s direction. “Just point me to the direction of your mop and I’ll take…”
“Oh, no no,” Mouse interrupted, “I couldn’t possibly make you clean this mess on…”
“Nobody’s making me do anything.” The older woman replied, interrupting Mouse. “I’m offering you a hand,” she paused for a moment and giggled as she continued, “since you seem to have yours full of potatoes.”
Decimal:
Will everyone stop with tha potatoes?!
Chaos: Speaking of potatoes, the Lord of the Rings won 11 Oscars!
Decimal and Jade: (look at each other) ....
Mouse couldn’t help but laugh now along with everyone else. “I wouldn’t try to argue with her, Mouse.” Ray chimed in. “You won’t win. Believe me.”
“Alright, alright.” Mouse threw her hands up in surrender, sending small chunks of potato through the room. “I’ll go take a shower. These potatoes are starting to itch anyways.”
Chaos: (as Mouse) They'll turn all staticy and melt into my skin soon if I don't wash them off.
“By the way, Mouse,” Ray’s mother said from the sink as she washed the potato off her hands, “that roast smells pixelacious. It’s making my mouth water already.”
“Thanks, my mother taught me how to make it hours ago.” She smiled fondly as she thought about her mother and how much she would have liked these people. They had a great sense of humor and a warmth that couldn’t be hidden.
Jade: It's the flame that never dies.
“You’ll have to show me some time.” The older woman replied. “It smells delicious.”
“I’d like that.” Mouse smiled at the woman and then turned to head for the shower as Ray followed.
“That wasn’t so bad now, was it?” He asked as they entered the bathroom and picked at a chunk of potato in her hair.
Chaos: He promptly ate it, making a comment about how it had turned all staticy on contact with her hair.
“I really like them.” She said as she loosened the belt from her waist.
Ray smiled and put his arms around her waist. “I’m glad you do, love. They were afraid that you wouldn’t.”
“They were?” Mouse was genuinely surprised to hear this news.
“Yeah.” I had to reassure them just as much as I did you. They almost didn’t come out here, they were so nervous.”
Mouse smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. She had been so worried about making a good impression, she never thought that they might be just as worried as her. “I guess them seeing me like this wasn’t so bad after all, huh sugah?”
All: Southern charm!
Ray laughed slightly. “I have to admit, you look a bit less intimidating when you’re covered in mashed potatoes.”
Mouse laughed softly as she pulled him into an embrace. “And you look like you could either use a shower,” she said as she picked some potato out of the corner of his goggles, “or some gravy.”
Ray grinned as he glanced in the direction of the shower. “Lead the way, love.”
Chaos:
His goggles must get all foggy in a hot shower.
Decimal: He showers with his goggles on?
Chaos: He seems to do everything else with them on.
End.
Decimal: (stands up
and stretches) I'm gonna get some popcorn.
Chaos: Ooh, ooh, ooh!
Jade: But what about the next-?
Chaos: (growling) Popcorn first! Then more ficlets.