Strangetown, Here We Come: Friends and Enemies

[strangetomato]

Warnings: language and some sexual innuendo






"Great show! You guys really rock."




"Yeah, you think? The drummer's not the greatest. Kinda sloppy. We're still looking for someone more permanent."

"Well I still thought it was awesome. Yeah, really really great."

"Ah, well thanks, man."

"Beau. And you're Jaxy, right? Jasmine Rai."

"You know my name?"




"Yeah, you're like a rock star, right? Of course I know your name! And well I'm just good with names. It's kinda my thing."

"You're a first year? I haven't seen you around before."

"Yeah. Maybe you know my boyfriend. Frances Worthington?"

"Oh, I see. Ha! Now I know who you are."

"My reputation precedes me. Hey, I really like your hair. What sort of product do you put in it? Or is it just naturally like that?"




"Thanks. Yeah, I style it a little. Just mess it around with some gel. Yours is pretty cool too. I like it all disheveled like that."

"Yeah, you want to touch it? Go ahead and mess it all around if you want. Yeah, there you go."

"Hahaha. Fluffy. It's really cute."

"It's a bit of a bird's nest... Wow! That's quite the rock you have there. Yowza!"

"Oh, right. Yeah, I'm engaged. To Zoe, over there."




"That's cool. I love weddings! You planning a big ceremony?"

"Nah, fuck that. Just a little party at our place. Something small and cool. We don't have the money to waste on a big thing."

"Well I have plenty of business connections if you need any help getting things for cheap. I might know a guy who knows a guy."

"Really? That's awesome. I might have to take you up on that offer."

"Yeah, you should. Why not?"

"You should totally drop by the party, either way."




"Yeah? That'd be great. I'd love that. Weddings are so much fun. Are you going to wear a dress?"

"Me? Nah, probably not. I don't do dresses. Zoe probably will, but not me. I'll figure something else out."

"Well I bet you'll look awesome either way."

"You think?

"Yeah, for sure. You're adorable."

Beside them, Ripp cleared his throat in a rather obvious manner.




"Oh hey Ripp!"




"Hello Beau."

"Nice jeans! Are they new?" He reached out to touch Ripp's upper thigh. "Kinda form fitting, don't you think?"

Jaxy snerked. "They're not supposed to be. They weren't two months ago, right Ripp?"

"Shut up, you."

"It's not my fault you're packing on the pounds. Blame that on the steady diet of chips and hotdogs."

Beau giggled uncontrollably at that. "Yeah, wieners." His hand was still fondling Ripp's jeans.




"Hey hey hey! Hands off the merchandise!" Ripp said, smacking Beau's hand away. "You're getting a little close to my precious cargo there."

"Eww," said Jaxy.

"But I thought you were into that sort of thing," Beau said.

"Dream on, Bozo."

"I hear you're pretty much always open for business."

"Yeah well check your sources."




"Oh but my sources have firsthand experience, so to speak. Wink wink nudge nudge."

"Why don't you tell your 'sources' it's fucking rude to kiss and tell."

"Oh, he didn't. But you see I asked questions and then he nodded when I guessed correctly. Yeah, that's fair, right? And I gotta say, you're a naughty, naughty boy, Rippley. Did you really touch his—"

"OKAY, I get your point. Time to move along."




"Well it's been nice chattin' with you!" Beau chirped over his shoulder as he walked away.

"God, what a dick!" Ripp declared.

"Takes one to know one!" Beau added, from halfway across the room. Jaxy was laughing her ass off.

"I LIKE that kid," she said. "I guess that's Karma for you, eh Ripp? It can be a real bitch, I hear. After the shit you used to give Frances all the time, I think you had it coming."

"Whatever."




After Beau left, he pulled her aside. "Okay, so what the hell was that all about?"

"What was what all about?"

"That! You and Beau."

"What about it?"

"You were flirting with him! What the hell!"




"Oh, get a grip. No I wasn't."

"You were giggling and touching him and being all flirty and shit. I saw it. You touched his hair. He called you adorable and you giggled. It was fucking weird."

"Yeah, so? He's gay. I'm gay. It doesn't matter. We cancel each other out."




"I thought you were supposed to be natural enemies."

"Who?"

"You know... gay guys and lesbians."




"Shows how much you fucking know."

"I'm pretty sure it was you who told me that."

"Did I?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you said that."

"If you say so."




"So he gets to flirt with you and touch you and stuff? If I did that, you'd knee me in the nuts."

"Hahaha! Yeah..."

"That's so unfair!"




"Look, who would you trust with your petite rib eye? A vegetarian or a rabid carnivore?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Or well maybe omnivore in your case, for this analogy. Scavenger. Parasite. And so on..."




"But I swear I won't try to eat it. You. Whatever."




"Forget it, Ripp. You're not coming anywhere near my meat." Jaxy reached out and patted him on the shoulder.

"Oh come on."

"Don't test me. I will fucking end you."

"Yeah, yeah."




"But Beau is so cute! I just want to ball him up and stuff him into my mouth and eat him."

"Like a baby?"

"Huh?"

"You know, like babies. People are always saying they want to eat them because they're so cute."

"Oh, he's way cuter than a baby. Give me a fucking break!"

---

Notes:

You may have noticed that Jaxy isn't actually wearing her engagement ring. I forgot to re-engage them before shooting the scene and like hell I was redoing it just for that. Jaxy's eyes are also the wrong shade of brown. I haven't bothered to got back and check to see if her nose ring is on the right side, but that's probably wrong too. You'll just have to deal with it. Heheh. Maybe I should have asked you to "find the mistakes" like at the end of each episode of Astro Boy.

I wrote most of this years ago, and I see that there's no way to include it naturally in a story chapter now, so you get this little scene instead. It's taking place in that last year of uni, after Frances and Beau have started dating and Jaxy is out of the hospital. It's also after that scene where Beau and Ripp make rude gestures at each other in the arts building. They are well on their way towards developing their more or less good-natured nemesis dynamic here. It is before the scene where Frances and Beau buy the dick plant and Ripp finally gets one up on Beau.

Comments

[alinabre.livejournal.com]

I saw someone reblogged this on tumblr and I was so excited! So happy to see you posting more. Hope you're finding your mojo again :)
I loved Frances' face across the room when Beau is talking about his 'sources'. Haha.
And I have an idea to help Ripp get back in shape...wink wink, nudge nudge....Alright, I'm done.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm working on getting my mojo back, so here's hoping it'll happen. :)

I don't think Frances can hear them (being inside a bar and all), but he assumes the worst. Which is probably the sensible assumption with those two.

Heheh. Oh I'm sure he's already onboard with that workout regime. It's about the only exercise he gets.

[w-sims.livejournal.com]

Beau can be such a tease... why won't Ripp learn it's just easier to give in, and go with it?

Well, that's what I'd like to see anyway :P Maybe that's just me.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Ripp actually figures that out eventually. The only way to turn it around on Beau is to do that. Which is why he eventually just gives him a big ol' sloppy kiss in the flower shop, which finally shuts him up (for a little while).

[sophie10.livejournal.com]

Beau and Jaxy have a really interesting dynamic, I would love to see more of them together. Their interactions read as being really fun to write, if that makes sense. Awesome scene and I'm glad you've kicked your writer's block in the arse!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I think someone like Jaxy could just as easily dislike someone like Beau, but for some reason I just thought she'd go the other way with him and completely love him. The way he gets to Ripp no doubt only adds to that. She likes that he has guts, and I think his overwhelming positivity would be good for her.

Thanks. I did have to fight with this one a little (I had really just a third of it written previously), so maybe that bodes well for tackling the last bits of scene for the next chapter. There's really not that much left to do. I just need to buckle down and do it.

[krolowa-francji.livejournal.com]

This is what I expected to happen when RIpp appeared. :p

Lovely little bit! I'm glad to see Beau and Jaxy get along, but I'm even more glad to see some of Ripp's rivalry with Beau. They should just start a cabaret together. A very angry cabaret.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

LOL! That's a pretty accurate depiction of Ripp's personality. If his head could do that, it probably would. And I'm sure he prefers to have their negative attention than none at all. Most definitely.

I have a lot of fun playing those guys off each other. Also fun is the fact that the only person Beau is even remotely intimidated by is Johnny. He finds him terrifying.

[holleyb76.livejournal.com]

I love the way you write Beau. I think Ripp doesn't like him because he takes attention away from himself. That comic below is a perfect representation of that.
I am also glad you are getting your mojo back. Your story is just great and I hope to see updates again.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think that's part of it. He doesn't like him horning in on his good friend Jaxy, who does shower him with a lot of attention (some of it aggressive, but hey). I also think they're too much alike in ways that are loud and obnoxious and so they tend to butt heads with each other. They could probably be good friends if they weren't good enemies.

Writing Beau is fun. I'm always surprised at some of the words and phrases his character seems to produce with hardly any input from me. I go on autopilot a lot with Beau, because he's developed a very strong voice.

Thank you. I'm going to keep picking away at it and hopefully the momentum will build again. I'm really quite well into completing the next chapter, at least where the writing is concerned.