There's No Time Here in Space

[Espi]

((Henry Spencer continued from Having Fun Isn't Hard))

Aliens probably existed.

Maybe not like, ET Phone Home aliens, or War of the World aliens, or any other pop culture aliens. They'd probably be crazy-weird, since even if they evolved in earthlike conditions they'd likely have totally different structures than Earthlings. After all, if you give two people a problem, they'd likely solve it in different ways. Thus, two different planets, two different ways of surviving. And that wasn't even factoring in different extinction events and other uncontrolled changes!

That's how one of his conspiracy theorist friends explained it, anyway. Henry could get behind that. Though, to be honest he wasn't as behind the whole, "government covering up alien arrivals for XYZ reasons" thing that said friend usually segued into. Like, those were fun to hear about? But Henry figured the government would tell them, hopefully.

That was sort of the point, though, was that they didn't. Hmm, Henry figured the politicians were better than that. And if not, they probably would've slipped up at some point. So if aliens somehow got to Earth, Henry liked to think they'd have found out already. Plus, aliens probably existed, but they probably weren't capable of faster than light travel yet. So they'd be too far away to get here anytime soon.

So long story short, government=good, aliens=real, theories=fun but kind of cynical. Now, where was he? Oh, right, ordering ice cream. Which reminded him, didn't people once claim an alien captured by the government enjoy strawberry ice cream according to that one broadcast in the 1980s? That was kind of neat. Maybe strawberries came from outer space! Then again-

"Hey kid, are you going to order?" Oh, right. Ice cream line, impatient service person. Poor guy, selling ice cream but not being allowed to eat any. Henry should probably be nice to him. "Sorry, I'll have a...let's make it a strawberry cone, medium." After paying, Henry sat down at a nearby table out of the bright sun. It was still a touch brisk out, but it was warming up fast, and Henry was a little warm under his jacket. So ice cream was a welcome treat.

[K-Robe]

(Audrey Reyes Pregame START)

"So, we're here at the Diamondback Ice Cream Parlor with, uh... the guy who sells ice cream at the counter. How's your day so far?"

"...no? Okay, uh, what's a regular day like working here at this fine establishment?"

"Come on, man! I need footage! It's for a school project! Well, more like an extracurricular thing, but still. It's kind of a 'Life around Kingman!' sorta deal. You get what I'm saying?"

"Wow, you know, I've never noticed how many flavors of ice cream there are here. Do you get, like, an employee discount on these or something like that?"

"...I'll have the cookies and cream."

Audrey Reyes shut off her camcorder. Looks like "Life Around Kingman" was going to be a bust after all. Stupid, stupid, stupid! What was she thinking, going around filming strangers anyway? Sooner or later, someone was going to call the police or something and Audrey couldn't see how that could possibly end well. Looks like it was back to the drawing board after yet another failed expedition into the realm of "genres she knew nothing about." She'd have to cross out "documentary" from her list, placing it next to the likes of "comedy" and "drama." She sighed.

At least she still had her ice cream.

As she began to munch on her delicious, delicious cookies and cream, she pondered what her next move would be. Clearly, there had to be something worthwhile to film around Kingman... right? She looked around. It was such a dilapidated and small town, and she began to wonder whether any reasonable filming material could be had in a place like this. She missed New York. There were tons of places and stuff to film there.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted one Henry... Spencer? Spencer, right? Whatever. She'd never talked to him much (or at all, actually), but from what she'd heard of the goth-looking boy, he wasn't particularly well-liked; there were constant rumblings of "weirdo" or "so-and-so is a retard" whenever people were around him. She felt for the kid, really. She knew what it was like to be in his position, an awkward loner in a sea of trite, immature children. And if there was something that Audrey knew that awkward loners needed, it was certainly company! Friendly company, that is! And if Audrey really wanted to be a director when she graduated from college, she knew that she'd have to improve her people skills. Might as well start now!

She sat down across from him. "Hi!" she chirped up. "I've seen you around school before but I don't think I've had the chance to say hi until now! I'm Audrey. Audrey Reyes! You're Henry, right?"

[Espi]

"Yes, I am!"

Henry was pleasantly surprised to find a companion to eat ice cream with. Audrey was someone he sort of recognized too! She was in one of his classes, or had been at some point. Yeah, he definitely knew her from something. She seemed nice, he'd never had a problem with her, so a conversation seemed like a fun time. After all, it was fun to make friends with new people!

"Nice to meet'cha Audrey!" Henry said, grinning. He extended his left hand, the one not holding an ice cream cone because it'd be awkward to shake hands while holding an ice cream.

Still smiling, Henry asked, "What kind of ice cream do you have there? Oh, and what's your opinion on aliens?"

[K-Robe]

He seemed cheery! That was a good thing, probably. Unless this was like that one horror movie where the really nice, cheerful guy who was always smiling turned out to be a psychotic serial killer. And, you know, there was a lot to be said for psychological horror, but that movie turned even Aurdrey off of movies for weeks. She shuddered just thinking about it.

She was a little taken aback when he offered his left hand. Right, duh. It was his only free hand. She swapped her ice cream bowl to her right hand, clumsily holding both it and the spoon in one hand. She reached forward with her left hand and shook it, smiling brightly at the dark-haired boy. "It's nice meeting you, too, Henry!"

"Oh, uh, this is cookies and cream. It's been my favorite since, like, forever. And, uh, Aliens? I really like that movie! I think it's better than the original. James Cameron turning it from straight horror to action-horror was one of the best... and I think you were talking about actual aliens, weren't you?" Audrey did a little mental facepalm. "I think they're pretty cool. Well, they probably are - we don't really know. We haven't met any yet. They're all probably really far away, though. We're probably not going to meet any in our lifetime. Or maybe ever. Probably."

Audrey paused, her motor-mouth getting a bit ahead of her.

"So, uh, you like aliens? And space stuff?"

[Yugikun]

((Ben Fields, continued from Night Shift))

He had done the shopping for today. The bank balances were in order, he had a bag full of mild things in his right hand, such as textbooks for himself and his sister, a book for his mother, and some flowers for his father's vase. Today happened to be discount day at some of the stores that he normally went to, and he had a considerable amount of money left over from the trip. At first, he figured that he'd just keep it wherever he put it and save up for something useful. He wasn't sure what he'd buy with it, though. He didn't really have a lot of things that he bought for leisure. Maybe he'd save up until he had $20 and he'd buy a movie for the family to watch; it had been a while since they had last done that.

But then he walked past the Diamondback Ice Cream Parlor and saw two of his underclassmen inside and he figured that fuck it, he was going to reward himself.

The Diamondback had been a place that he had visited regularly before his dad died; every Friday after school they'd both come here (sometimes with Lana) and they'd have a big bowl between each the two of them. That was one of the nice things back then. Sure, it wouldn't have lasted that long if things were different, but it was a thing to think about, something nostalgic that placed itself on his mind as he went up to the counter, ordering cookies and cream ice cream. That was a new flavour, that hadn't been there last time he was here. The place hadn't changed much, it looked a little bit cleaner, the tables were in different places, but it was still the place that he remembered. He wasn't sure how grateful he was for that, though. Sure, it brought back good memories, but it brought back bad ones, as well. Memories that he'd rather not think about at the moment.

So when he got his cone of cookies and cream ice cream (ooh, he could call that cookies and ice cream, would be much easier on him) he went to the table in which the two other students were sitting. He could recognise them, kinda. The boy was Henry; apparently he was a bit of an oddball. He hadn't had to be with him before so he had only heard the stories secondhand, but according to some of his friends who had classes with him he acted really weirdly and could have Aspergers, not something that Ben really liked but could deal with. The girl was Audrey Reyes. She was from the Philippines, didn't look half bad. She was also in the drama club, and was like an amateur filmmaker or something. They hadn't talked much but they were probably on good terms, so he decided to place his shopping bag besides a chair between the two.

"You mind if I sit here?"

[Espi]

Henry liked this girl; she seemed nice, and she was willing to talk to him with enthusiasm about things, which Henry loved. If you weren't enthusiastic about stuff, what were you doing with your time? That seemed like an awfully boring way to go about your life, not having enthusiasm. Enthusiasm! It was a fun word to think enthusiastically.

"No big deal, easy mistake. I liked that movie, but the first one was scarier, which was cool. I like scary things, you know? They get the blood pumping!" Henry laughed. "Oh, but if you don't that's totally cool, I get it. It was still a good movie." He smiled. "But yeah, when we find the real aliens that'll be really cool. That wasn't a pun, by the way."

Suddenly, a new person arrived! "Oh, sure! More the merrier!" Henry said to the new person. He'd seen this person before, at school probably. A senior? Mayhaps. Curious, yet lest thou art...where was he going with that again? Whatever, old-timey speech was cool buuut now was a bad time for it.

"Nice to meet ya! I take it you two are ice cream buddies?" Henry said in jest, since they were both eating cookies 'n cream. Also because he wanted to jest. Jest was a good word, like jester. Jesters were cool, unless they were crazy ax-killer jesters.

Then they were awesome.

[K-Robe]

"Oh no, yeah, Alien is still a classic. Ridley Scott got that one down. You know just thematically and everything, I think Aliens is..."

Audrey looked up and saw someone new approaching. He had spiky hair and black eyes, oh yeah. She knew who this was. This was, uh. Oh, that was um, what was his name?

"Hey, I know you!" she decided to say. "Sure, sure! You can sit here if Henry thinks it's fine." She paused a bit, looking at the new person for a moment. "You're... Bill? No, wait. Ben! You're Ben Fields, right? The senior? I've seen you around. You do some sorta sport. Basketball? Or was it baseball? Baseball, right?"

Audrey decided that she was acting a little too awkward. This was Mr. Ben Fields from the baseball team, who she knew absolutely nothing about. She'd maybe run into him once or twice over her time at Cochise? It seemed a bit strange to Audrey that he'd decide to hang out with two of his underclassmen who he barely knows, but she supposed that even baseball sporty people got lonely at times, too. Honestly, though, the whole spiky hair thing looked kinda cute so she didn't have much of a problem with this guy hanging out with them.

"So, Ben, what brings you to Diamondback today? Just couldn't get away from this delicious, delicious cookies and cream?" She laughed a bit, placing a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth and making a sound of delight.

[Yugikun]

The two allowed him to sit down, so he did. Audrey had a bit of trouble remembering his name, but she got it right in the end, so that was okay. He was surprised at how many times it took for to remember his name, though. Sure, he wasn't one of the popular kids, but considering that they were both in the Drama club, he figured that she'd at least get his name right on the first try. "Yeah, baseball." She seemed a little bit awkward with his presence, but that didn't bother him too much. Henry did seem to be as eccentric as people were saying, so far. He didn't seem to be too bad though. This company seemed okay, so he relaxed his muscles a little bit. He bent down a little, and pulled the bag a little closer to him.

Henry's comment made him notice that he and Audrey both had cookies and ice cream. Huh, that was a coincidence.

Audrey asked him a further question, about why he was here. He didn't want to unload everything from the start, but he decided to tell the truth, even if it wasn't the whole of it. He grabbed the bag and held it up. "I was shopping for a couple extra things, textbooks, flowers. When I was walking back home I saw this place and you guys and I figured that I'd come in as well. I used to come here with my dad and my sister so I figured that a trip down memory lane wouldn't hurt that much."

He shrugged. "How about you?"

[Espi]

This was good, nice people, good ice cream, a relatively sunny day, a distinct lack of horrible monster attacks...Well, maybe that last one wasn't so bad? If they didn't eat him, he might get to be in the news and stuff for surviving a horrible monster attack. Then again, a lot of people might die, and that'd be less good. So maybe horrible monster attacks, but like, people fight them off and become an elite squad of monster hunters with Henry as the comic relief mission command? That sounded like a plan!

Oh. Should probably pay more attention.

"...I just wanted ice cream." Henry said before taking a big bite of delicious strawberry ice cream. The rush of sweet, fruity frozen dairy products and ice was too much for him, and suddenly Henry was enveloped in a bout of...what was it called? Spereopalate Ganglionervia? Whatever, a long word also known as brain freeze!

"Ow, crud." Henry winced, blinking and wincing as his treat took vengeance on him and his mouth. Furiously licking the roof of his mouth (discretely, of course), Henry looked back up at the other two. "Oh, sorry, brain freeze." He gave a grin. All better!

[K-Robe]

"Well, that's nice," Audrey said sincerely to Ben. She thought she recognized him from somewhere else, but she couldn't quite place it. Did he... Oh God, he was in the drama club, wasn't he? He was one of the actors! Audrey almost slapped herself in the face in disgust. How could she have forgotten? Right, right. Let's just forget about it, alright? Audrey never paid much attention to the actors and actresses under her stead... at least the ones that didn't approach her and try to be friends. Thankfully, most of them were a friendly bunch but it was a tough time trying to get to know some of the other ones when she was usually too busy to talk - being high up on a scaffold fixing some lights or speakers can do that.

Either way, Audrey was sure to remind herself to not sweat the little things. Don't sweat it, Audrey, don't sweat it. She cleared her throat. "I was doing a sorta film club exercise thing, and so I was kinda filming around here with-" She pointed at her camera bag, which held her camcorder, "-that thing. Didn't really pan out, sadly. Turns out people don't like being filmed without consent. Who knew, right?" She sighed a bit.

Audrey guiltily laughed a bit when Henry suffered from a bit of a brain freeze. "You alright there, Henry? You should be careful when you're eating this stuff!"

She took another spoonful of her cookies and cream, another sound of delight coming from her throat. She elbowed Ben a little bit, gently. "Cookies and cream, am I right?"

[Yugikun]

The reactions of the other two were more of the same, for the most part. Henry was acting a little bit airy and quirky, and got brain freeze from eating his ice cream too fast. Ouch, that was annoying; when he came here with his dad he rarely got brain freeze, probably because he was trying to savour the taste of it and ate it slowly. "...You okay there?" It had been a while since he had last had ice cream and he didn't know what the feeling of brain freeze was like, so he may as well ask him about it.

Audrey mentioned that she was filming stuff, which wasn't a surprise. She was interested in being a director, right? Well, even if he didn't have much of an idea about that that seemed right to him. She also nudged him with her elbow, in a friendly way, asking about the ice cream. He didn't quite understand what she was doing. Was she flirting with him? Still, it was rude not to reapond so...

"Yeah, cookies and cream, I guess."

[Espi]

And then Henry's head exploded.

Not really, but that'd be an interesting cold open, right? Normal chatting, ice cream, then BOOM! Suddenly gorn. In reality, Henry was fine a moment later. "Yeah, just brain freeze. Sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia, actually, which is the scientific name. It basically means the cold is messing up the nerves in your palate."

Henry paused, and took another mouthful of ice cream. "The most interesting part," He mumbled through the cherry yumminess, "Is the referral of pain from the constriction of blood vessels in your mouth to the cranium." Henry swallowed. "Oh, but enough crazy science-babble."

Henry smiled. Unfortunately, not everyone was as fascinated with unusual medical trivia as he was. "Cookies and cream is okay. I don't like the really sweet ice creams, personally. Like, I like dark chocolate better than milk chocolate. Oh, did you know white chocolate's not real chocolate? Strictly speaking, it has no cocoa solids, which are the things that make chocolate chocolate."

[K-Robe]

Huh, well that was pretty awesome! Audrey didn't know whether to be shocked or surprised (though, really, aren't they the same thing? The English language is still weird, she decided) at Henry's sudden outburst of scientific know-how. She grinned, leaning forward. "Wow, Henry!" she exclaimed. "Didn't know that you knew so much about brain freeze with all that science-babble!"

Audrey glanced at Ben, who she was guessing was probably thinking of bolting out of here with all the weird shit that they were both spewing out of their mouths. Suddenly, that tiny little ache of self-consciousness began seeping back into Audrey's insides. She hated it when that happened. She cleared her throat a little and adjusted her seating position so she looked as casual as possible.

She turned her attention fully to Ben, who she really knew nothing about. "So, uh, Ben! I've told you about my film aspirations." For a brief moment, Audrey consulted her mental list of "things to ask people when the conversation gets awkward." Consulting that list took a little longer than Audrey was comfortable with. "Uh, what do you do for fun, you know? Maybe we've got some things in common; we could hang out sometime or something. You seem like a pretty cool guy."

Awkward first sentence with meaningless question? Check. Invitation to go hang out later? Check. Similarly meaningless compliment? Check! Bingo! Whatever! Audrey could practically feel her mind slapping itself silly. Audrey swore her cheeks were probably beet red at that moment then.

[Yugikun]

Okay, so yeah, it was official. Ben Fields was eating ice cream with two crazy people. Henry recovered from his brain freeze, but it seemed clear that he got brain damage or something from it since he was suddenly babbling random scientific shit at them. The rumors seemed to be correct, he was super weird and could have something potentially wrong with his head. Whatever, he had dealt with worse and at least he could elicit a legitimate chuckle from Henry's antics.

Audrey was saner, but she kept putting her attention on him and it seemed a little weird. She was probably flirting with him. It had happened before but he still didn't really know how to go about it. He'd say that he was fairly good looking, he kept himself clean and he made sure that his clothes matched and all, but he wouldn't call himself beautiful, at least in comparison to the people in the baseball court.

So yeah, it wasn't really something he knew how to deal with, that was a problem. His cheeks were probably starting to turn pink right now. Maybe next time he could see him he'd ask Cris what to do when that happened. He had Irene falling over his feet during practice, maybe he'd know a thing or two.

Still, she asked him a question. What did he do for fun?

"I don't do a lot of things for fun anymore, being the man of the house. There's baseball, but that's it."

The man of the house, that was a good way to put it. He'd been that since he was nine years old. Hopefully they wouldn't ask about it though. Not a lot of people really knew about his home life, and he wanted to keep it that way. He didn't really want people to feel sorry for him.

[Espi]

Audrey liked Henry's trivia, which made him grin with pride. Ben was a little quiet, but he seemed nice and also looked like he thought positively of Henry's factoid. That was nice, it was nice to have people like it when you shared. Sharing is caring and such, especially given that etymologically speaking both were Germanic in origin and as such were quite close. Language!

"Ooh, you two should make a baseball movie! Like Sandlot or something." Henry exclaimed as Audrey and Ben started sharing hobbies. "I could help out...but it might end with a bat murder spree or like, possession. Just saying." Henry held his hands up in...something. Why did he do that again? He lowered them.

"Sorry, I like horror movies. Creepy stuff is fun!" He grinned sheepishly. "A horror/sports film would be pretty neat though. Definitely unique. Oh, hey, you guys seen Unfriended? That's a killer movie. Literally and metaphorically!" Unfriended had just come out not too long ago, and Henry had loved it. 2014/15 had been good for horror movies, actually.