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strawburrymeadows · 5 months

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i am driving a car. she is sitting next to me. we are on the interstate, i’m going 74, a little too fast, and i am driving her home.

these are the facts. the statements that are true from every angle, from every trial in this experiment.

control group: i am driving the car.

experimental group: she is sitting next to me.

this is where it changes, i wonder. what will she do? what will she say? will it change how i feel? how she feels?

a car in the next lane veers a little too close into mine.

confounding variable: the world outside.

i honk, the car swerves back in.

“nick blinker, asshole!” she yells, over the music blaring from the speakers. i laugh. does she notice? does she look back at me? does she watch me the way i watch her? she laughs back, but i don’t watch because i’m focused on the road.

we stay singing the lyrics to the songs she picked out in the car, me always driving a little too fast, and her always sitting there. we pass under a street light. it’s blinking. at first, i think it’s my astigmatism acting up. i realize it’s actually blinking. i think it’s funny, only this street light is blinking. i take it as a reminder, as a way to remember this moment. the blinking street light equals her laughing and singing next to me.

first trial, unsuccessful.

i keep driving. she keeps sitting next to me. she’s queued up more songs, and we keep singing. we’re belting out in my car, not mine, though, my dad’s. i couldn’t take my car today. we’re belting and her voice cracks. i pretend i don’t notice, and i keep singing.

she tells me, “i’m glad there’s an unspoken rule, that when you’re singing in the car, no one can say anything about how you sound.”

i agree. she begins singing again, and i realize that she does pay attention to me, to the things i do for her. she’s grateful for it all, too. it surprises me, that she thinks this highly of me. perhaps it’ll surprise her, too, that i think even higher of her.

i pull up to her house. she waits until her parents open the door, and then she grabs her things in my car. my body pulls toward her as she pulls away. i want her to stay, i want to kiss her before she leaves again, before we don’t see each other for a month.

she gets out of my car. she says goodbye, waves me off, and ends it with, “love you!”

i stare after her. to make sure she gets inside okay, is what i tell myself. i don’t let myself think about the real reason.

second trial, unsuccessful.

i pick on a song on my own playlist, one that’s sappy and longing and sad. i queue it up to play a second time. i pull away from her house, and start driving back to the interstate.

i pass under a different street light, on a different road. it’s blinking. at first, i think it’s my astigmatism acting up. i realize it’s actually blinking. the second time, it’s hard not to take it as a sign. a yield or a stop, i can’t figure out. certainly not a go.

the third trial has disproved my hypothesis. i am still driving a car, but she is not sitting next to me. nothing has changed.

#YEP I SAW HER AND I WROTE ABT IT #BC WHY WOULDNT I #if ur wondering we belted the percy jackson soundtrack #and then after she left i put on (redacted) by leanna firestone #i wanted to add something abt the car crash we saw too but i didnt know where to put it in #anyway #berryspeaks #berry shut up #writing #creative writing #poetry

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ginger-canary · 11 months

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This Booth IS Big Enough for the Seven of Us

Chapters: 1/1

Words: 1938

Fandom: Dimension 20 (Web Series)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug/Sofia Lee, Sofia Lee & Esther Sinclair, Kingston Brown & Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug, Sofia Lee & The Dream Team, Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug & The Dream Team

Characters: Pete Conlan | Pete the Plug, Sofia Lee, Ricky Matsui, Esther Sinclair (Dimension 20), Kingston Brown, Misty Moore | Rowan Berry, Cody Walsh

Additional Tags: This started out as a joke now here we are, We didn't let Pete yeehaw enough okay

Series: Part 4 of I just think that Sofiapete

Summary:

In which i spend 1.5k+ words to make a single joke.

Pete wants to try out a new hangout spot. The hangout spot comes with a dress code. Fashion shenanigans ensue.

Because @hi-intrepid-heroes and I were joking once and I had to make it real

read it under the cut or follow this link to AO3

Culturally, Pete understood that all of New York was nothing like the south. Here, cowboy hats belonged to costumes and tourists. But New York was also one of the biggest melting pots in the world, so he figured that inviting the rest of the crew to this cool new western bar would be fun.

“A western bar?” Sofia repeated, looking up from her phone. They were sitting on the couch in her apartment, Sof’s legs on Pete’s lap, relaxing after a long day. “Is this because you want to wear more cowboy outfits? You can do that anywhere, babe.”

“...Noooo.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Okay a little bit. But it’d also just be fun! We always go to the same places and get the same drinks and snacks, it’s time to change things up.”

Sof smiled. “Are you sick of the usual chips and dip?”

“No. Maybe- a little bit. Diversity is good for the brain! Please?” He batted his eyelashes at Sofia.

Sofia laughed. “It’s not me you have to win over, you already did that. Text the group chat, try and convince them.” She reached over and grabbed Pete’s phone from the coffee table.

“Can you imagine Kingston’s initial gut reaction, though?” Pete said as he took his phone.

“A western bar?” Sofia said in a deep voice, imitating Kingston. “That’s not New York. We’re on the east coast!”

“I wonder how many of them I can convince to dress appropriately.” He started typing a message, hyping up the new bar. “Cody’s definitely not going to do it.”

Sof leaned in, reading over his shoulder. “That depends. Is there a fully leather version of a a cowboy outfit?”

Pete pressed his head against Sofie’s. “Oh, probably but can you imagine the sweating he’ll be doing in that?”

She grinned. “I’m much more excited to go there now.”

As soon as Pete’s message was sent, several of their friends started typing. “Is this because you’re obsessed with boiled peanuts?” Cody asked.

Sofia lifted her head. “He’s got a point there, is that it?”

“No, but it is a big bonus.”

“Do we have to dress all yeehaw-like?” was Kingston’s reply.

“I’m down,” was all Esther replied with.

“That’s my girl,” Sof grinned. Several more messages came in, the general consensus being a yes to the bar, if they were given time to go shopping for an outfit first. Pete wholeheartedly agreed and promised Kingston he'd help him out.

Smiling, Pete turned to look at Sof. “So do you want to plunder my closet?”

“Oh, naturally. She swung her legs off his lap and stood up. “Just tell me what you want to wear and I’ll plunder the rest of your closet.”

“It’s not all western style clothes in there.”

Sofia leaned down and kissed him. “Babe, your love for cowboy culture is showing. New Yorkers ain’t wearing fringe. It’s inconvenient.”

“How?” Pete asked, mostly staring at Sofie’s lips.

“Get it trapped between the subway doors then ask again.” Sofia stood up, walking into the bedroom where a significant enough amount of Pete’s clothes lived. They didn’t exactly live together as much as both live in two places, which meant that clothes were everywhere. That’s what you get when both partners like fashion- but have very different styles.

She opened the closet, poking around through shirts of various sheerness then sighed. She was going shopping with Esther anyway, why not leave it up to her to help make the decisions? That’s what best friends are for, after all.

~~~

“Are we there yet?”

Pete whipped his head around, snorting. “Really, Cody? We’ve been walking for half a block.”

“I miss my regular boots,” he whined.

Sof slowed down slightly, taking in what could only be described as “what if cowboys only had leather?” and tried to avoid laughing. “You squeak like a New York rat, why did you decide on this?”

“He refused to pick anything reasonable,” Kingston shouted from the back.

Cody rolled his eyes and flushed. “I wanted to look like myself, even in the cowboy bar.”

“Congrats you look like… you.” Esther waved her hand at the outfit. “But louder.”

The group slowed to a stop outside The Apple Jack and Pete took this moment to inspect everyone’s outfits. From Ricky’s genuine boots and spurs, to Kingston's colourful cowboy hat he had to say everyone had succeeded in following the dress code. He’d gone with his favourite green boots and his fringe suede jacket, having left his brighter clothes to Sofie. Clad in red and black, Sof was the prettiest New Yorker lost in the south he’d ever seen. “Y’all ready?”

Cody shoved him aside. “Let me through, I’m tired of standing.”

Laughing, the rest of the group followed him inside. The Apple Jack had a simple setup to keep the New York out of the Wild West; double doors. Behind the first was a large coat rack to leave your puffer jackets and scarves behind, a tall umbrella stand and a good doormat to clean your shoes on. Then when you were ready, you could enter through the swinging doors where a light layer of sand (and peanut shells) covered the floor. Mostly fake cacti covered large parts of the room, tables and stools looking just as breakable as in every bar fight in the movies.

Against the far wall was a collection of booths, the patterning on the couches plaid and worn, the tables shiny and clean.

Pete grinned, coming to a stop in the middle of the sandy bar. There was no way he could contain his excitement.

“Actually I kind of like this.” Esther came to stand next to him, nudging a peanut shell with the tip of her boot.

Sof joined them, bumping her hip against his. “So, is it everything you wanted, Petey?”

“Well, it’s-” he was interrupted by Ricky tripping through the swinging doors. “Sorry ma’am,” he called over his shoulder. “But I’m taken. Please don’t slap my ass again.”

Esther groaned and pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes. “Babe, that was the door.”

Ricky straightened and put his hands on his hips. “Well it should still know I’m taken.”

Laughing, Sofia moved towards the bar.

“Ricky Matsui, everybody,” Pete whispered under his breath.

After a quick chat and some funny squeaking, they were all squeezed into the largest booth in the bar. Some quiet country rock was playing over the speakers as a curly-haired waitress moved towards their spot. She wore comfortable ripped jeans, a plaid shirt and the standard apron. “Howdy y’all, my name’s Lily and I’ll be your server today. What can I help you with?” She spoke with a southern drawl, tapping her pen against her notepad.

Kingston leaned over the table. “Nice to meet you Lily. Do they make you talk like that?”

Sof slapped Kingston’s arm. “She’s not a prisoner!”

“It’s okay honey, people ask me that question a lot.” She turned her attention to Kingston. “No they don’t make me talk like this, I’m from Carolina. I actually enjoy working here. It doesn’t remind me of home in the way most New Yorkers would expect but there’s something comforting about floorboards covered in sand and peanut shells.”

Rowan eyed the Southern girl for a second. “Have you considered that it might be the temperature here?”

Lily shrugged. “Probably. Whatever it is, I’m comfortable here. So what can I get y’all, before your friend slips and slides out of his outfit?” She leaned in, whispering, “is he okay?” into Rowan’s ear.

Grinning, Rowan said “no” then proceeded to order a round of drinks for everyone.

Biting on her lower lip, Sofia nudged Esther. “I think Rowan’s found a new toy.”

“As long as she doesn’t get us banned from the bar, I think this’ll be fun to watch.”

“I’ll bet you 10 bucks Rowan stops the moment her shoes get dirty,” Pete whispered.

Sof watched the way Rowan got up and moved to the bar, leaning flirtatiously against the edge. “I’ll take that bet. The way that’s going, I think I already won.”

Pete turned his head to see Rowan carrying their order of snacks to the table, Lily following in her stead. “Well that was a short bet. I’ve never seen her do manual labour before.”

Kingston grinned, wrapping his hands around his drink. “Well I’ll be damned, it was worth coming here after all.”

“Hey! It’s not my fault you’re the vox populi of New York city.” Pete tossed a peanut shell at him. “Other cultures are fun to explore.”

“Yeah, like chinatown.” Ricky smiled and sipped his drink. “Hey Rowan, what is this?”

“Hm?” Rowan slipped back into the booth, her hand lingering on Lily’s arm. “I asked for a round of the best mocktails they had. And Pete’s peanuts, both boiled and regular.” She tapped her ironically neatly manicured fingers on Lily’s arm.

Pete exchanged a look with Sof, watching Lily move her gaze from Rowan’s hand to her notepad.

“It’s the cactus juice. Not literally cactus juice, of course, but bitter lemon with lime juice and mint. It’s our bestseller!”

“That explains why it’s green,” Kingston said.

“And sour.” Ricky pulled the face of a kid first tasting a lemon.

Lily laughed. “I can always get you something else.”

The dream team spent a few hours in Southern Roots, enjoying the music and snacks, watching Rowan flirt with Lily, and dancing around in the sand. As rain started falling outside the windows again, Sof wrapped her arm around Pete. “You know, I’m glad you convinced everyone to come here. It has potential, even if we have to dress up to fit in here.”

Pete raised an eyebrow. “Have you seen us?” He vaguely waved his hands at the people around the table. “We don’t fit in anywhere at all.”

“Yeah, our main test for every bar is whether or not we fit in a booth,” Esther added.

Kingston nodded and grinned.“And if they serve good enough coffee.”

“Hold on, Liz told me you were supposed to stop drinking so much caffeine.” Pete scrunched his eyebrows. “Yeah, I’m very sure she told me that.”

Kingston tried to hide a smile. “I’m fine, she worries too much.”

“Uhuh nice try, decaf for you.” Sof prodded at Kingston’s arm. “We can’t have you dealin’ with health issues just because you love bean juice so much.”

“Well if we keep coming here that should be fine,” He said, inspecting the menu. “There’s about 20 different drinks I haven’t tried yet and none of them contain caffeine, right?”

Lily nodded and pointed out some of her favourites as Rowan slid her arm around Lily’s waist.

Sof kept in a laugh and exchanged a look with Pete, who wiggled his eyebrows. There were many things Rowan was- but subtle had never been one of them. As long as whatever was blooming over there wouldn’t end in heartbreak, it seemed that they’d be coming to the Apple Jack more often. “So,” Sof said, “what do you think? Was it a success?”

Pete looked around the table at their group. “Oh absolutely.” He lowered his voice and added, “if we can get Cody out of those pants.”

As time went on, the Apple Jack was added to their roulette of hangout places, as Lily was to Rowan’s list of… whatever she wanted to call it, which meant Pete owed Sofie ten bucks. Later on that night, they all had an unfortunate time trying to get Cody out of his leather outfit- but hey, that’s what friends are for, right?

#d20 #dimension 20 #the unsleeping city #sofia lee #pete conlan #sofiapete #rowan berry #kingston brown #esther sinclair #ricky matsui #cody walsh #freckles writes things #no this didnt take forever shut up u dont know

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