i'm in love with my car Who: Nish and Percy What: Lottery post! (Prompt: Some interesting facts I learned at the children's museum, lightning bugs are actually beetles and I hate children.) Where: Initially at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art museum, and then the parking lot of Pax Letale. When: September 23rd, near dusk (YES, IT'S SUPER BACKDATED! 8D)
He'd taken advantage of Museum Day Live!, never having been one to pass up a free opportunity. And so Percy had spent his afternoon visiting the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, bothered only by the constant chattering and whooping of three very loud, and very rambunctious triplets. They'd plagued him throughout the exhibits, seemingly intent on trying to ruin his viewing experience. Not intentionally, he supposed, for they couldn't be more than ten years old at most, but even Percy--who liked to think he had the patience of a well-mannered saint--was getting to the end of his tolerance levels towards the latter half of his museum tour.
When he'd seen all the fanciful artworks that he'd wanted, Percy had strolled out of the museum and into the more or less decently lit parking garage. He had listened to the triplets hoot about Power Rangers and Madden for a good half hour at this point, and thus he couldn't be happier to hear little more than the sound of other museum patrons heading home for the day.
His happiness quickly dissipated when he made it to his car, his mouth dropping open in a comical expression of shock. Rather, the look on his face would have been comical had he not been viewing an utter tragedy. His precious, pristine, clean white car was marked in several colors along the driver's side door. It was the work of a scoundrel, a true hoodlum of the hour.
Or, he thought to himself with a disgruntled frown, the work of three mischievous boys with too much time on their hands. This was the thought that accompanied him when he paraded himself back to the museum, only to be told that the sparingly placed security cameras hadn't picked up the criminal(s). Perhaps he would like to be compensated for his loss, perhaps the museum would give him another free ticket for a later visiting date.
Perhaps they could flip themselves off a mountain for all he cared.
And that was how Percy found himself scrubbing the door of his car at just past dinner time, crouched in the parking lot of Pax Letale. He had a small bucket of soapy water and the gentlest sponge he could find, and was painstakingly attempting to remove the ill-placed magic marker art. The light had recently begun to fade from the sky, and though he worked carefully, he knew he had to hurry. If not, his car would be left to bear the scars of ten year old crooks overnight.
It wasn't that he didn't have a sense of admiration for the prank, but he only wished they'd chosen another target than his precious vehicle.
Nish had just parked her car in the lot after a long day at work. She was looking forward to the leftover roast chicken and salad in the fridge from last night’s dinner with Jen, not really paying attention to where she was going until she rounded the end of the row and her eyes fell on Percy and his fervent task. From somewhere deep inside, laughter bubbled out of her; pure enjoyment at the sight of the obvious prank plastered all over the side of his car. “Ohh, I’m sorry,” she said, wiping under one eye, “it’s just...who did you piss off to warrant that? She asked once she’d managed to calm her laughter enough to recover some sense of decorum.
He looked up abruptly at the sound of laughter, curious about the source of the joke. With an almost sheepish smile, he realized that the source was his car. Rinsing the sponge in the pail of what was now off-colored water, Percy offered a quick wave to his neighbor; it took a moment before he recollected her name, though he'd quickly recognized her as the woman he'd walked the local trail with, after she'd had a medical emergency of sorts.
“Triplets, actually. Three times the trouble, and three times the mess.” Percy nodded towards the kids’ attempt at artwork, the look on his face saying more than enough about what he thought of it. “You'd almost think it's a crime to ask someone to keep a better eye on their kids when visiting a public establishment, but I don't make the rules.” He frowned, and scrubbed at what seemed to be a smiley face, etched in bright blue. “You ever had a run-in with ten year old vagrant artists like this?”
Nish nodded her head, biting down on her thumb to keep from laughing again. “Nuhh-uhh,” she giggled, “usually they were older, and in the context of a frat party in college,” she said, leaving out that she only had vague recollections at best of those parties. That time of her life had been a blur of drugs and alcohol to her.
“So three little monsters did what it usually takes several drunken college age men to do...impressive. You must have really done a number on them,” she mused, now making a show of inspecting the ‘artistry’. Then shrugged, “or they were just bored. You said ‘public establishment’? Museum, right?” she deduced, grinning at him. “Definitely boredom then.”
He had to smirk at her deduction, glancing over at her in appreciation. “You’re right on the money tonight; and here I thought that going to a free museum event would fill me with culture. Instead, well. You’ve seen for yourself where it got me.” Percy peeked under his sponge, seeing amidst the soapy trail on his car that a portion of the blue smiley face had actually--praise whatever gods there might be--faded due to his vigorous efforts. This, naturally, cheered him. “I guess that’s what I should expect from little hooligans. Unrefined, the whole lot of them.” He paused, grinning at Nish and shifting his weight on the cool concrete. “Not that this wasn’t cleverly done in the privacy of a parking garage; I’ve got to at least admit it.”
“Ohh, I don’t know...their daring strokes of cerulean and crimson just scream culture to me,” she chuckled. “Maybe you should get it framed. ‘Anger and Boredom.’ Found object art.” She smirked and then shook her head. “Seriously though, there ought to be security cameras in that garage...you could maybe press the issue if it caught their smug little faces,” she suggested.
Percy laughed, amused by Nish’s attempt to shine a more positive light on what had previously been a dour situation--and for him, it certainly felt unusual if nothing else. Bad luck had never made a habit of following him around, of this he was certain. “I’d frame it if you did the honors of photographing the art for me,” he said with a shake of his head in response to her second, more realistic suggestion. Nish immediately pulled her phone from her pocket and opened the camera app. “I chose to park in a corner spot today, unfortunately. They reviewed the footage and the cameras don’t exactly look into every nook and cranny in the garage.” Nish grimaced in sympathy of his plight, and then aimed the camera at him and the car, snapping a few good shots of him and his found object art.
He shrugged, mulling over the situation for a moment. “But--and you’ll like this--they gave me free tickets to the new exhibit opening up next year.” Percy pasted on a tv announcer’s smile, and did his best impression of the age-old Shamwow infomercial man. “Ancient Artifacts: Lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Join your museum tour guide for the real story behind missing planes, missing civilizations, and too much tectonic plate activity for one person to stand.” His Shamwow Guy impression ended with another peal of laughter, broken only by a resolute sigh of determination. “Until then, I’ll be scrubbing my car clean by myself.”
Nish giggled, “yeah right, big help. ‘Your car is a total mess, here have some bonus culture. Sorry for the inconvenience,” she mocked, smirking at him.
And that’s when he noticed them, flickering in and out of the grass behind Nish’s shoes. Bright, small lights of yellow, darting here and there as the sun said its goodbyes to their half of the world’s hemisphere. “Don’t look now, but we’ve got a few eavesdroppers,” Percy spoke quietly, and gestured with his cleaning sponge towards the lawn.
Nish turned and, sure enough, tiny lights were dancing in and above the grass behind her. She smiled fondly at them, a sudden flash of bigger brighter lights streaking across the night sky coming to her with a jolt of deja vu and that strange sense of unreality she felt whenever she half-remembered something important. Then she grinned when a real memory from childhood cropped up.
“They’re beautiful...but they’re actually pretty ugly up close. When I was a kid, my brother caught one once to show me,” she said. After a beat, she chuckled to herself. “Huhh. That can describe some humans too,” she added with a grin.
“You mean there's two-faced beetles and humans?” Percy smiled wryly, wringing out his sponge into the water bucket. Nish laughed. “You don't say,” he said with a mock tone of surprise. With the sun's light fading to be replaced by a canopy of stars and lightning bugs, Percy began to begrudgingly collect his cleaning supplies.
“Looks like my car will have to preserve the kids’ masterpiece overnight after all,” came his lament as he hoisted up the bucket and cleaning spray, standing after far too long. “Thanks for the pictures, by the way,” Percy added with a grin. “I'll be waiting eagerly for them, because once they're in my possession, I'm blowing them up, poster-size.” He walked over to where Nish stood, to better assess the small lightning bugs blinking and diving through the lawn.
“Ever wanted to catch one yourself?” Percy asked his neighbor casually. Then he clarified his line of thought, amending his small talk. “A lightning bug, not a bratty child.”
Nish watched them with him and shrugged, “not really; ever since my brother caught one for me the magic is gone.” She watched him pack up his cleaning supplies, intending to walk with him towards the building. She turned to look at the blinking lights again. “I guess a part of me misses not knowing what they really look like, you know? Ignorance is bliss, I guess,” she shrugged. “One minute they’re enchanting little lights dancing in the night sky, and the next they’re running off with the first ladybug they find, breaking your heart and shattering your faith in the idea of true love - ohh wait, are we still talking about bugs?” she asked, grinning playfully. The words had come to her out of nowhere, and now she couldn’t stop thinking about him. James...the one man she’d thought she could truly settle down with, who had destroyed any interest she’d ever had in monogamy. She hadn’t thought about him in months but every once in a while those memories came back to her like a thorn in her side.
Percy quickly discovered that flickering lights weren't all that lightning bugs brought to the conversation table. He was politely quiet while his neighbor spilled the beans about her shattered heart, by way of one too many six-legged creatures.
“I didn't know ladybugs were interested in anything but menbugs,” he joked, at ease despite the sudden dive into personal territory--and Nish seemed oddly at ease, too. Surface level ease counted just enough, Percy decided. He swung his bucket lightly, fixing Nish with a mischievous smile.
“If you want to, we can douse these heartbreakers with soapy water. They'll dry out fast in this weather. No harm done whatsoever to the circle of life.”
Nish chuckled at the idea, watching the happy little lights dancing in the grass in front of them. “That would be unnecessarily cruel,” she said with mock seriousness, a hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. She reached down and took the bucket from him, tossing the water into the grass in front of them and extinguishing some of those pretty dancing lights. She sighed happily and handed it back to him, wiping her hands off on her jeans. “Cathartic,” she declared, “thank you.” She nodded her head to the building behind him and fell into step next to him.
“So what about you?” she asked curiously, “any ladybugs flitting around these days?” She didn’t know him well, but she’d seen him around enough to be considered an acquaintance. Acquaintances ask personal questions, right?
With a splash, Nish’s brief mood returned, and Percy was glad for it. He hadn’t intended on slightly upsetting his neighbor, nor trying to clean up the potential emotional distress that followed; he typically left that kind of funny business to Lucas. Besides, he had a damaged car to deal with, and that--with everything else happening--was more than enough.
“A few,” he lied as they walked towards the entrance of Pax. He wrapped his lie around a cheery smile, enjoying the casual air of friendly smalltalk between the two of them. “Everyone’s looking for someone these days--or something,” he added, thinking of his light dalliances with Max. It was amusement, in part, tied in with attraction. And he was plenty fine with the simple act of ‘flitting around.’
“But as it turns out, I’m after butterflies,” Percy continued wistfully, shifting the bucket from his right hand to his left, to better open the door for the two of them. “If you happen to see any that don’t look like fireflies underneath, you’ll let me know, right? It’ll be for the best if they don’t have small children with markers.”
Nish chuckled and stepped inside as he held the door open for her. “Of course I will; I would never curse you like that,” she laughed, walking with him to the elevators and hitting the call button. “If I see any butterflies, I’ll let you know.” She stepped into the elevator and hit the button for her floor, her mind already turning to her fridge and the leftovers waiting for her for dinner.