For Kate

[a_capella_boy]

Ever since Jesse had spent the small amount of money he had earned coming up with a commercial jingle on DJ equipment for Beca, he browsed pawn shops regularly looking at guitars. That's what he had been intending to buy when he got Beca's equipment (something he had no intention of letting Beca know) and while he didn't regret his decision, he really missed having a guitar.

He really needed some sort of job, because otherwise it was going to take forever to save up for something like a guitar, even one from a pawn shop.

"I'm going to go a little Wayne's World right now," Jesse announced, glancing around the mostly empty pawn shop. "Is that okay? I mean... okay, yeah, I think it's okay."

Turning back to the guitar, Jesse uttered those immortal words.

"It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine. Wow, okay, that felt a little bit dramatic there. Did that feel a bit dramatic to you?" he asked, turning to face the random person walking by.

Comments

[everyonetakes]

"Totally dramatic," Kate answered. "But dramatic can be good. I'm a big fan of dramatic."

That was probably obvious enough given the fact that she was carrying a giant metal flamingo that she thought would look amazing in her apartment. And the apartment was great, really, except for the fact that it sort of looked like a prison cell, it was so boring. That was why Kate was in the pawn shop, trying to find things that wouldn't cost her everything in her bank account, but would still give her apartment that vibe she was looking for.

[a_capella_boy]

"That's not dramatic, that is totally awesome and I'm jealous I didn't see it first," Jesse said. Not that he planned on spending any money on room decoration or anything, but a huge metal flamingo would have been hard to pass up. Maybe he could look for a few posters or something to at least stick up.

"I have a giant wombat that would go perfectly with."

[everyonetakes]

"You don't think a giant flamingo and a giant wombat would be too much?" Kate asked, looking at the metal bird in her arms for a second. "This is apartment decor we're talking about here, not a zoo." She actually wasn't even completely sure what a wombat was.

"Besides, the wombat might eat your guitar," she pointed out. "I hear they do that."

[a_capella_boy]

"Fortunately it's still the pawn shop's guitar," Jesse lamented, looking back up at it. It wasn't even that nice of a guitar, really, it was just a guitar and he really wanted one. Soon though, soon.

"But I've heard the feng shui of the flamingo can really throw off the balance of a place if you don't have a wombat. Actually, since feng shui means 'wind-water' and flamingos are birds that hang out in water, you're probably pretty feng shui'd. Or, if we're still going with a Wayne's World theme, feng shwinged?"

[everyonetakes]

"Yeah, I don't think I was born when that movie came out," Kate admitted, her nose wrinkling slightly. "I mean, I've heard of it and I might've watched it once while stoned with T, but I don't know if I've ever actually seen it beyond that."

She was actually pretty sure the sequel had come out before she was born, too. If T liked it, it was usually something in her mom's inner movie repertoire or something.

[a_capella_boy]

"You cannot let something like not being born when a movie was first out prevent you from watching it," Jesse said, sounding slightly hurt. As far as he was concerned, that was a massive tragedy.

"I mean, imagine if people did that with music or food. Happy meal? Before my time. Pizza? Centuries to old. Flamingos? Evolved way before you were born, and we both know how sad it would be if you didn't buy that giant flamingo. I think I would weep for you."

[everyonetakes]

"Well, when you grow up with a total film snob of a brother, you don't have anyone to show you those movies," she pointed out. "So clearly you'll have to be the new friend who shows me all those movies I missed when my brother was trying to make me watch German expressionism."

She shifted the flamingo and offered her hand. "I'm Kate. New movie friend."

[a_capella_boy]

"Ah, German expressionism. The gateway to hating everything," Jesse said with a grin, reaching out to shake her hand. Something about Kate sort of looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. Maybe he had seen her at a party?

"I'm Jesse. And I will absolutely introduce you to those movies. I will be your movie dealer. We'll start out with stuff like Wayne's World and Groundhog Day, then move you to the harder stuff like the Breakfast Club and Caddyshack."

[everyonetakes]

"Come on, what do you take me for?" Kate asked, grinning. "Everyone's seen The Breakfast Club." That was another one she'd definitely watched while stoned, but she had a much clearer memory of that one. Probably because she'd thought Judd Nelson was kind of hot at the time. "Even people who have film snob brothers."

[a_capella_boy]

"Aha. Because it's amazing. And yet it was made before you were born," Jesse pointed out. He was glad that she had at least seen that though, it meant she wasn't as completely lost as she could be though.

"What about... Rocky? Or Jaws?"

[everyonetakes]

"Yes and yes," she answered, although she'd seen them both because Buck had insisted and she'd just been glad he'd stopped trying to show her porn. "My mom's uh... friend showed them to me."

Maybe in Darrow she didn't have to be the girl with the crazy mom. Maybe the alter's could all just be Tara's weird friends.

"He's obsessed with fighting and things blowing up, so check and check."

[a_capella_boy]

"So, it's just Wayne's World that everyone you know hates," Jesse said with a laugh. It was definitely a movie that had a more narrow audience than the others he mentioned. She wasn't as nearly as bad off as she thought.

"Is it all the SNL comedies that became movies that they hate or is it Mike Myers they have a problem with?"

[everyonetakes]

T had loved Shrek, mostly because of all the fart jokes and she was pretty sure Buck would like anything even remotely vulgar, which put Austin Powers firmly in his area of interests. "You know, if I ever get home, I'll make sure to ask. Until then, it'll have to remain a mystery."

[a_capella_boy]

"Well, now I have a new mission," Jesse said with a nod. "Now I just have to find Wayne's World in a place where it likely never existed. Which, I just realized may be kind of tricky."

He really had no idea what sort of availability this place had in terms of movies. He didn't have enough money for many just yet so we was saving up until he could get a few of his favorites. The fact that they might not be here scared him a bit.

[everyonetakes]

"They have to be here somewhere," Kate said, because if the island was allowed to have movies, then there had to be movies in a city like this. "My first day here, I walked past like, eight book stores, so there has to be a movie store somewhere around this place. We should probably quest for it. It'll be super dramatic and it'll take my mind off the fact that I probably have to get a job."

[a_capella_boy]

"Yes, but only if we carry around the giant flamingo with us everywhere we go," Jesse said. He actually knew where a few video stores were, but finding the cheapest one would probably be a fun challenge, along with finding the best selection.

"And if anyone asks about it, we deny we have a giant flamingo."

[everyonetakes]

"What giant flamingo?" Kate asked, shifting the giant flamingo in her arms. It wasn't the same as the island, she knew that. There was a much better chance of meeting a weirdo serial killer here than there had been there, but she sort of didn't care. She was lonely, she needed some friends.

"Come on, I need to pay for this not giant flamingo and then we can totally quest for movies."

[a_capella_boy]

"Yes, grab the flamingo... Adventure!" Jesse said, thrusting his fist up in triumph. Absolutely not what he was planning on doing for the day but infinitely better for sure. Who wouldn't want to make a new friend and have an adventure?

[everyonetakes]

"You better not be a stalker," she said, pointing her finger at Jesse for a second as she headed to the register to buy the flamingo. "Or like, the next Jack the Ripper. I have mace in my purse." She paused, then added, "Not that I think you are, but a girl's gotta be careful, you know."

[a_capella_boy]

"Oh, I'm a stalker," Jesse said with a nod as he followed her to the register, taking one last wistful look at the guitar.

"I'm just already stalking someone else. And you seem like a lovely person but I've sort of already invested a lot of man hours into stalking someone else, and I wouldn't want to waste it all."

[everyonetakes]

"Good enough for me," Kate answered cheerfully as she paid for the flamingo. It was probably going to be a pain in the ass to carry it around all day, but she figured she could either get Jesse to carry it when she got tired or she'd convince him to swing by her apartment. "I, on the other hand, am not stalking anyone these days."

She had a lot of conflicting emotions about this. On one hand, she missed Harry a lot and she knew he'd be missing her. But on the other hand, she'd been sort of convinced lately that she really wasn't any good for him anyway.

[a_capella_boy]

"That's okay. I think the flamingo you don't have might get jealous," Jesse said. The flamingo totally looked like the jealous type. Not that she had a flamingo.

"Speaking of days, how many days have you been here?" he asked. It was sort of getting to be a standard issue question these days.

[everyonetakes]

"Like two weeks," Kate answered, hefting the flamingo under her arm so they could leave. "Long enough to know I need to decorate the shit out of that apartment, but not long enough to have found a job that means I can decorate it with stuff out of the fancy stores."

She hated the idea of having to get a job again. Especially since she still had absolutely no idea what she wanted to do.

[a_capella_boy]

"I'm still pretty much telling myself that I'm in the freak out stage and that I don't need a job yet. One month of living off of ramen bought with the allowance the city gives is my grace period for myself," Jesse said. It was kind of a lame excuse, but he knew that pretty soon he'd find some direction and hit the ground running with it. It was just finding the right direction.

[everyonetakes]

"Yeah?" she asked. "And then what? I mean, do you have any ideas? Because I'm pretty much stumped." She didn't have any interest in college, she knew that much, but she also didn't want to get stuck working at some fast food joint for the rest of her life. She'd already done the waitress thing and pretty much sucked at it, but part of that was Gene's fault, she figured.