label chapter_1xN: #Naomi Arc One "{cps=*0.2}-- April, 201M2021 BC --{/cps}" scene livingroomdayalt with fade play music "audio/OST/west_coast_kicking.ogg" fadein 1.0 image fang pendant unimpressed = Composite( # (1412, 1500), (1412, 1500), (0, 0), "fang unimpressed", (0, 0), "amberpendant" ) show fang pendant unimpressed at scenter with dissolve # yalign 0.4 # xalign 0.1 show fangphonevideocall anonneutral at scenter with easeinbottom: yalign -0.4 hide fang with dissolve F "-I’m just saying is that he shouldn’t have tried-" A "Sweet tooth, you shouldn’t just kick your teacher in the nuts." "I growl at the phone in my hand." "He’s lucky he’s in college right now." F "I don’t want to hear it." A "Yeah, but still.{w=0.3} So what’s the punishment?" "With a huff I turn my phone around the living room, slowly being rearranged to fit more useless people." F "Setting up for baby bro’s going away party." A "D’aaawww, such a caring sister." show fangphonevideocall anongrin with dissolve "I don’t even have to turn the screen back to see Anon’s shit eating grin." F "Dad says I gotta clean up after, too." A "If you’d move out Fang-" hide fangphonevideocall with easeoutbottom show fang angry at scenter with dissolve F "{cps=*2.0}Trying to!{/cps}" show fang sad with dissolve pause 0.5 hide fang with dissolve show fangphonevideocall anonneutral at scenter with easeinbottom: yalign -0.4 "I finally look back at my screen and I see him giving me his soothing, calming face." "Even seeing that look from him stings." F "I didn’t mean to shout." A "It’s fine Fang. I’m lucky to have a dorm room, I doubt dad would’ve sprung for an apartment again." A "He’s still pissed about that security deposit." "Ah, right.{w=0.3} That was my fault." F "Wasn’t my fault. Reed was the one to bring the carfe." A "{cps=*0.5}Riiiight.{/cps} Still{w=0.3}, I thought you and Trish would be moving in together." # show fang angry with dissolve F "Fffffffffuck her. She wanted to move in with Reed instead." A "Really?" F "Really!" pause 1.0 A "It was the late night jam outs, wasn’t it." F "No!" A "Ha!{w=0.3} You owe me ten bucks!" show fangphonevideocall anongrin with dissolve "Stupid Anon and his stupid bets and his stupid always being right!" "Damn it, I know I’m fucking blushing right now. I just fucking know it." A "I-" F "Don’t you say it!" A "Told-" F "Anon!" A "You-" F "I’ll hang up!" show fangphonevideocall anonconcerned with dissolve A "Okay okay. Sorry I asked." show fangphonevideocall anonneutral with dissolve A "But what’re you gonna do now?" # show fang considering with dissolve "I exhale deeply and feel all the weight of my current predicament land on my shoulders." F "I don’t know. Maybe Stella-{w=0.3} what?" show fangphonevideocall anonneutralalt1 with dissolve show fangphonevideocall anonneutral with dissolve show fangphonevideocall anonneutralalt1 with dissolve show fangphonevideocall anonneutral with dissolve show fangphonevideocall anonneutralalt1 with dissolve show fangphonevideocall anonneutral with dissolve "Anon’s head is shaking rapidly and his hands are waving like crazy." F "I don’t see what the problem would be with Stella as a roommate." hide fangphonevideocall with easeoutbottom show fang unimpressed at sleft with dissolve show fangdad neutral flip at sright with easeinright FD "Oi!{w=0.3} Stop slackin’ Lucy. The living room ain’t gonna clean itself!" "Not now! I still want to talk with him!" show fangdad neutral at sright with dissolve hide fangdad with easeoutright A "Ah man.{w=0.3} I guess I should go?" hide fang with dissolve show fangphonevideocall anonneutral with easeinbottom: yalign -0.4 "No no no! Damn it!" F "Urgh.{w=0.3} I need to finish this. I’m sorry Anon." A "It’s fine, and I wish I could be there now, but the scholarship and all…" A "Plus the whole dorm fumigation thing and having to change rooms." A "Fuckin’ roommate got lucky during it in a spare theater room." A "The bastard." A "We’ll talk later, Fang. Have fun with the party okay?" show fangphonevideocall call_ended_bg call_ended with dissolve: yalign -0.045 # yalign 0 "Before I can say I love him the screen fades to my wallpaper." "The wallpaper of me and him together on christmas." "I sigh one last time and pocket my phone." "The cool and smooth texture of polished stone makes me realize I’m holding the necklace again." "Anon…" "..." hide fangphonevideocall with dissolve stop music fadeout 2.0 scene livingroomdayalt with fade play music "audio/OST/to_swagger.ogg" fadein 1.0 show fang neutral flip at scenter with dissolve "Thirty minutes till Naser gets back now." "Everyone that came is just casually chatting, already snacking on all of mom’s better dishes." "Shame about dad’s guacamole though." "For them, that is. It may be fucking delicious but the aftermath isn’t pretty." "I shudder involuntarily at the thought of my last birthday party." "No wonder he married mom." "The banners hung up with thumbtacks from under the couch (and abc gum) flying gallantly above the staircase, people start to trickle in to celebrate Naser officially pissing off." "He got accepted into a prestigious medical school back last august." "Still remember him prancing around like there was ever a chance he’d get rejected." "I started going to community college around the same time, he has no idea the grueling experience ahead of him." "Then again, he does this kind of shit perfectly." FM "Lucy, would you be a dear and dim the lights?" "I snap back to reality." "Naser’s close school friends are all ready and perched out of sight of the entryway." show chadshark at scenter show stella happy at sleft with easeinleft "I notice one of his old team mates even brought Stella along when I turn the light knob." hide stella hide chadshark with dissolve scene home fang dim with fade # home_fang_dim with fade "Maybe Anon was right in his rant a few weeks ago about girls having it easier?" "Nah, that’s bullshit." show fang neutral flip at scenter with dissolve "Trish comes barreling in through the door like there’s a blizzard outside." show trish happy at tleft with easeinleft T "Fang! It took a while but Reed’s distracted!" show fang happy with dissolve F "Oh thank fuck." F "Definitely don’t need him being arrested today of all days." show fangdad neutral flip at sright with easeinright FD "Arrested for what?" show trish surprised with dissolve show fang surprised with dissolve pause 0.5 show trish very happy with dissolve show fang happy with dissolve FangAndTrish "For being the most wanted guy in Volcano high." "That line doesn’t work anymore but he hasn’t given me a new one yet." F "Do you need anything else, Dad?" FD "Don’t think so. Your mother’s got an entire bakery going at once in the kitchen, but she hasn’t needed help before." FM "Dear!" show fangdad neutral with dissolve pause 0.5 show fangdad neutral: ease_cubic 3.0 xalign 2.0 "The old man limps back towards the kitchen, shoulders slightly hung about being fucking told by mom in seconds." show fang neutral flip with dissolve show trish neutral with dissolve F "Okay, spill.{w=0.3} How?" T "I asked Rosa to clear some time for him. She took it to mean a classic date night." F "Could’ve just told him Stella’s boyfriend would be here, he’d stay miles away." T "Figured he’d forgotten by now, you know him." F "Right, and what about you? Last time you threw a glass of juice on the old man." F "We seriously don’t need any arrests tonight." "Trish blows a raspberry and looks away." T "Maybe if he wasn’t such a pig." F "*Ahem*" T "You know what I mean. I’m telling you, him and Moe are-" Moe "‘Lucy! Yer ma sayz Nasah is on ‘is ways!" F "Shit, hide!" "Everyone in the room scatters, hiding as best they can in our living room." "I even see Stella and the old varsity Football captain dive into the closet." "The door creaks open and Naomi leads Naser in slowly." show Naomi neutral flip at sleft with easeinleft show Naser neutral flip at sleft with easeinleft Nas "-are Mom and Dad dancing again? I can’t see-" #remove dimming effect here "I twist the dimmer knob to full brightness, making Naser shade his eyes." Nas "Wha-" Everyone "SURPRISE!" F "Naomi’s pregnant!" NaserAndNaomi "WHAT!?" FM "GRANDBABIES?!?!" "Dad swats my crest with one hand." FD "No, since you’re leaving us for college next week your Mother thought we should throw you a going away party." FM "Oh, yes, I invited all your school friends, too." "I see the little gerbil on a treadmill in his head spinning aimlessly until comprehension dawns on him that his privacy has been violated." Nas "Oh.{w=0.3} My yearbook." FM "Don’t worry dear, I put it back in your dirty laundry pile where it was left!" "Aside from the peanut gallery this is fairly standard dinner banter." Nas "Moooooooooomm, not in front of my friends." Chet "Chill man, we know how it is, your Mom is just gonna miss you." "The other track members nod in agreement." N "It’s great everyone came! Let’s all enjoy the party!" "A holler of agreement and the whole thing kicks off as though it had been going on for hours already." "I make a beeline for the food table with Trish, stealing enough grub to keep me sated through the whole ordeal." "Ordinarily I’d just hole up in my room and annoy everyone by playing ‘Frankly I Did Do a Little Winning’, but…" "Damn skinnie costing me two hours of my life by resolving blood feuds." "Whatever, it’s not like these jocks want to talk with me." "But Stella, jeez she’s got the attention of all the boys." T "It’s weird, right?" F "I know. Like, how?" T "I mean, I’ve seen her talking a lot with that hot dog chick that’s near your place." F "What are you implying?" T "C’mon, you gotta admit her set up is a little seedy." F "She’s chill, Trish. Not some kinda… multitasking prostitute." T "Pffft. Not even." "Ah, I know that pout well." F "No vegan options?" T "Herbies matter!" "Dad’s head whips around at Trish’s shout." "The room’s temperature drops as the two glare at each other." F "Trish!" "I give her a quick reality check with my elbow." "Everyone awkwardly returns to their own tiny dinner talk, Dad getting the patented look from Mom as she pulls him aside." T "He’s SO a dirty cop." F "And you would’ve been in cuffs again." "Trish’s small chuckle is enough to know she won’t actually start another argument tonight." "I scan the room again as I nibble on some of the tiny sandwiches Mom made." "Aside from Stella being swarmed by boys three times her size, Chet and Naser are bro-ing it up with some crazy looking handshake and Naomi is talking with mom." T "You’re doing it again." "Hm?" "Oh." "My thumb circles softly over the surface of polished stone." T "Anon texted me earlier, y’know." F "Really?" T "He said you owe him ten bucks." "FFFFFFFFFFFF-" F "{cps=*0.6}FFFFFFFFFFFFFFuuuuuuuuuuuuck.{/cps}" T "You gonna tell me why?" F "No!" "Oh no, not the sad eyes." pause 0.5 "Damn it." F "May have made a bet on the roommate thing." "Trish tries to headbutt me, but I already have her at arm’s length with my palm on her face." F "For your info, I bet in your favor." "Trish finally relents, leaning back against the wall." T "I just got out of a loud house, Fang. I’d like to experience having a good night’s sleep for the first time in my life." F "Yeah and leave a sister out in the cold." F "What am I gonna do now?" F "It’s not like I can move in with Anon." F "Unlike Naomi and Naser." "I want to be jealous." "Thinking about how they get what I want so badly." "But even with Naser’s scholarship, Dad’s spending so much for him." "But…" "Naser deserves it." "He deserves the fucking world after putting up with me." "I glance over to him nervously trying to bridge some conversation with Mom and his teammates." "Naomi of course close behind him to direct the whole thing." unknown "Hey!" "Someone calls to me from across the room." "Oh, it’s just the ex-captain of the football team." "Still wonder how Stella managed to catch this guy." Team member "Hey, you’re the chick that played during prom last year, right?" Team member "Come on, play somethin’ and liven up the place a bit!" "The other track team members holler in agreement." "Trish isn’t facing me but she has an odd look going on there." F "Well, hey, it happened." T "Oh boy." F "Was it just like you always imagined?" "She smirks and looks at me from the corner of her eye." T "There was a bit more groveling involved." T "I kind of forgot about it, honestly." T "You gonna play?" F "Eh, sure, why the fuck not." F "I was getting bored anyway." "I high five Trish as I pass her by." "In my room I take the time to consider which weapon I want to slay it with." F "What would he pick? Probably at random." F "Aha! I got it." "I set down my three favorites at the foot of my bed and sprinkle some cracker crumbs in front of them." "Then with a quick tap of my foot I let my most loyal minion decide." "RAYmba’s mechanical mouth makes quick work of the crumbs, choosing first my good ole’ artcore hollowbody." F "Good boy!" "I quickly tune my proffered weapon, watching as RAYmba finishes it’s dinner before returning to it’s dock." "I pat my robotic pet for doing an amazing job and head back to my waiting audience." "Only to nearly get kneecapped by Naomi’s stupidly fat tail." "Who would even like a girl with such a disgusting, lardy tail." "Unlike mine." F "What the fuck!" "She scowls." F "Were you trying to bust my knee? You stupid beige bitch." N "I didn’t mean too. I was simply heading for the bathroom up here. It seems that Chet and-or Stella are currently using the other bathroom." "She turns her nose and continues down the hallway." "I’m half-tempted to brain her with my beloved guitar." "Feh." "I turn and make my way down the steps." "Trish scooches to give me enough space on the stairs to set the guitar on my knee to play." F "What should I start with, do you think?" T "Shit, it’s been forever since we heard ‘My Fucking Maw, Man’." F "Wasn’t it called ‘I’m Way Too Hungover’?" T "No, Reed just fell backwards when he told us and didn’t bother correcting himself." "Sounds like something he’d do, yeah." "Most of the party-goers are already looking my way in anticipation." "I run the first few stanzas in my head a couple of times and begin strumming." "My fingers glide along the fretboard easily enough and my pick wildly plucks the cords." "The party is cheering and stamping out a drum beat for me to play to." "Even Trish beside me is joining in on the makeshift metronome." "I let loose a hard and fast rift, taking the chance to actually feel out the crowd." "All of the jocks and even Stella are loving this." "I can see Dad’s snear slowly vanish as Mom repeatedly steps on his foot." "Naomi’s the last one I look at, and I’m expecting one of her vicious sneers." "Instead she’s looking like someone took all her hopes and dreams and flushed them down the drain." "I nearly miss my next note, so I focus back on my guitar." "With an extra flourish I end the punk song with a fist pump." "The room hollers, demanding more amazing music from me." "But…" F "Oi! I’m just the ambiance, pricks." F "It’s baby bro’s party, after all." "With the spotlight on Naser now I decide to just sit back on the stairs." T "Still gonna play?" F "Eh… Thinking something slower now." F "Dad’ll pitch a fit if they start a mosh pit." "We chuckle together, my fingers now lazily strumming a mellow tune for the party." "It’s a simple song, one I’ve learned perfectly from granny." "So perfectly I can look out as everyone else chats and enjoys the calmer atmosphere." "Naser and Chet have started arm wrestling." "Stella and some of Naser’s old teammates are talking like crazy about something." St "-and it’s like wrestling!" unknown "No way, that sounds retarded!" unknown "Yeah, spaceships awrasslin’?!" St "Yeah way! It’s really cool!" Chet "It really is, bros! We’ve been marathonin’ it er’ry weekend!" "The jocks start jeering and tossing their solo cups at him." "Giving Naser the chance to finally win." "Both Chet and Naser sheepishly hold a hand behind their heads while Naser gets showered in praise from his parents." "Naomi ducks under his other arm and embraces him, rubbing muzzles together." "Wait, no. That didn’t happen." "Only Naomi did the nuzzling." "Nah, those two are a whole room away, probably didn’t see it right." "When they separate Naser follows Chet back to the enthralling conversation on wrestling spaceships or whatever with Stella." "A purple hand breaches my line of sight." T "Hey, Fang! Hellooo!" F "Yeah?" T "You bridged that last song into Mussolini Macho Mystery perfectly, you didn’t even notice?" "I just now realize I am, in fact, playing a completely different song than when I started." "Trish and I continue making small talk through the rest of the party while I keep the ambience upbeat." "One of the track members spills some popcorn on the floor below him." "I should start thinking of ways to get out of cleanup." stop music fadeout 3.0 pause 3 scene black with fade pause 1 return