a.f.

“Okay I’m taking bets.  This can’t be a coincidence that this tornado is happening right after everyone is thinking of storming Area 51.  I’m just going to say it, it’s possibly the government doing this to get people to not come to Nevada.”

“Be real here. Who’d wanna come to fuckin’ Nevada in the first place?” Aiden crossed his arms as he leaned forward and inspected the hood of his truck. Although he prided himself on his own mechanical skills, this was one scenario that he refused to take his chances with. “How’s it look? Those damned sharks bust up my ride too much?”

“What do you mean you don’t think clothes are fun?” Every time Charlie heard people say that it wasn’t any less perplexing as shown by their forehead creasing. Some people thought clothes only had one purpose? That was quite frankly sad and boring. “So, wait lemme get this right, you just wear stuff for the sake of wearing stuff? You don’t put on something good and feel yourself? Because I’m feelin’ myself in these jeans. They literally elevate my entire mood — they tight, colourful, and got painted rainbows pockets on the ass what’s not fun about that?”

They try to stifle a laugh but a rather loud snort proceeded. “Serious? Isn’t Dorothy too old for driving? I didn’t know that’s how people took their shot in Pleasant  —  think someones cute? Foot down in my old Chevrolet. I’m joking, I’m joking, in that a case we better get you one of those florescent jackets. Scratch that. Thoughts on a bright ass yellow tracksuit?” 

“I mean, like— dude...”Aiden’s shoulders were raised up to the same height as his ears, his palms turned upward and his mouth agape. “I...”

His gaze dropped to the floor and his features curled into confusion as he struggled to wrap his head around Charlie’s thoughts. Were clothes supposed to be fun? He had grown up accustomed to hand-me-downs from his cousins — always so big that they could fit two of him — and otherwise had shared clothes with a now-estranged brother and his father. What was fun about that?

“I like asses,” he blurted out, immediately wishing he could smack himself across the face. He hummed quietly as he shook his head and quickly added, “—they ain’t gotta have rainbows to look good.” 

Simple. Aiden was a simple guy.

He could feel the warmth running all across his chest and across his cheeks. He couldn’t have latched onto the topic of Dorothy quick enough.

OPEN STARTER 001.

               The sun is out and the beer is cold. Perfection Valley has been entering the hotter months and Audrey is gearing up for the summer – the saloon is always far more busy when people are nearly dead from heat stroke. However, this is one of those days where the heat makes everything seem slower. The trees seem to bend as if the temperature is weighing them down, and nobody wants to leave their homes. It’s easy to say, the saloon is empty. Audrey is almost about to give up and close shop early when the door swings open and in walks her first patron of the evening.

                ❛   Evenin’! Hot day out, huh? You oughta get an award for being my first customer of the day. How ‘bout it? Anything you want, on the house.   ❜

              “You sayin’ I don’t get an award for being your favorite customer ever?” Aiden steps through the doorway carefully; he may be worn from another long day of construction, but the last thing he wants to do is track dirt inside.

“Jesus Christ,” Blair let out a huff as she muttered. “Listen, my feet have been killing me and I’m not gonna try run that person down, I like to save my running for running from creatures. So unless you really have an eye for what’s wrong or not,” She said pulling out her wallet from her back pocket, “You’ll tell me which exact pair of socks they were and I’ll pay for them myself. Just I’m assuming you saw him, because I didn’t, so if you ever see that fuck around town again tell him he only got one free pass.” As she waited for a reply, she decided it might be best for her to introduce herself, “I’m Blair, by the way.”

“Aiden. Think I seen you around.” Truth be told, he had definitely seen her before. Perfection Valley’s population was so small that it was nearly impossible that its inhabitants didn’t know each other... Nearly, because Aiden had a habit of avoiding those who had nil to do with his work.

His lower lip jut out as he listened to her words. He would have replied with some grating comment, but something in her expression told him that it wasn’t the time or the place. Instead, he immediately shifted toward one of the closest shelving units and grabbed a pair of plain, white socks. 

“These ones,” he answered, holding them in the air and stepping back toward the cash register. “Ain’t it kinda unfair? Some guy runs outta the shop and you gotta pay for it?”

“Come on, you have to have seen something. I swear, the entire town could go up in flames and half of the people here would insist everything’s fine.” Loris failed to suppress a roll of the eyes, as they wondered how people could pretend not to notice tornadoes.

As soon as her hand blocked out the sun, a smile spread across her face. “Aiden,” she softened immediately and approached with a warm smile. “Thought you were a stranger. Gave me a scare.” 

She looked back at the greenhouse and let out a little sigh. “I can use all the help I can get, to tell you the truth. Nothin’s been right since all that weird shits been happenin’. I’m still cleaning up the mess. But why don’t you come on in and tell me how you’ve been holdin’ up lately?” 

“Better a stranger than a worm, though, right?” Although the words made up a joke, they were underlined with the subtlest hint of sharpness, a loathing toward the town’s recent string of visitors.

Aiden lifted his other hand, showing off his signature toolbox. Although it had definitely seen better days — those before unsightly dents and patches of rust covered by faded stickers — it was, without a doubt, his most-prized possession. For one, it was his source of income.

“Good news is, I’m gettin’ a lotta jobs lately. Stuff breaking left and right— lotta folks need help. Bad news is... Well, y’know, the stuff breaking...” His shoulders were raised then. Was it okay to use the word, ‘monsters’? He walked closer toward the greenhouse’s doors. “Where do you need me?”

It was hot, but when wasn’t it? Inside of her greenhouse, Charlie was absolutely sweating. Not even digging her hands in cool soil was enough to shake the heat or the sour mood that came along with it. 

“Aw, hell,” she said with a sigh as she stood up and wiped her hands on her dusty apron. She picked up a bottle of water and headed for the exit, ready to call it a day.  When she opened the door, she caught sight of someone standing outside. She started a little, but stood her ground.  “Can I help you?” she asked in her best garden shop voice, as if she wasn’t just cursing the heat like a sailor. “You got a headache? I’ve got just the thing for that.” 

In Perfection Valley, natural sources of water were as rare as inhabitants that Aiden actually liked. 

Maybe the aversion was in large part due to the weather, an impatience of intensity synonymous to excessive heat, but he supposed that at the end of the day the reasoning didn’t really matter. What did was the fact that on this particular afternoon he had made the time to visit someone. 

He squinted as he neared the reflective walls of the greenhouse, only stopping in his tracks when he noticed that the door was swinging open.

“Afternoon, Ms. West,” Aiden greeted, waving a hand in the air awkwardly before reaching it to scratch at the back of his neck. “Nah, no— no headache. Just droppin’ by to ask if you needed any help today.”

Aiden had a few hours of roadwork left to complete, but his shirts— both under- and over- — were soiled and tattered to a point wherein they offered barely any real protection. The state of his clothing called for a quick visit to the Old Town Shoppe. After grabbing the items he needed, he walked over to the cash register. “I dunno if it’s the right time to tell you, but that dude just stuffed some socks in his pocket and walked right out...”

“Rory! Ding, ding!” Aiden called out as he stepped through the door into the auto shop’s office. Anyone who heard him would’ve probably questioned his choice in greeting, but he thought little of it; he believed he was saving time in walking over and ringing the little bell that signaled a customer’s presence. Eyeing the entrance to the garage, he neared that direction and shouted again. “Rory! You in here?”

“I should have left years ago,” they say softly, a slim hand running through dyed hair. They liked to keep up appearances, making themselves look and feel younger as if to appeal to the younger crowd. Was it working?

They honestly didn’t know and at this point didn’t care, seeing as they were running late for work. Who else was going to give the weather and play soothing classics for the working man? No one, that was for sure. 

Unless their luck had run out. They pushed past the other, not paying much attention and they shoved the groceries into the basket of their bicycle.

Shit day, Aiden told himself for the third time this morning, it’s a shit day.

He had grumbled through his first job of the day — some busted pipes in a trailer home that looked worse than a junkyard — and he expected to do the same for the other repairs he had scheduled. The only thing that could stop his stomping was a thud against his shoulder.

“Awesome. Sounds good. It would give me time to find a replacement, as long as nothing else decides to destroy my place of work.” He chuckled at the comment about being the first person Aiden would go to if something happened. “Well, I’m also kinda decent at throwing an axe, but I am amazing with the bow.” 

“I’ve thought about it. But with the strange things that has happened so far, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not. It might explode.” 

"Ain’t no promises about that,” Aiden replied, one corner of his lips curving downward. The worms had been bad enough, but then there had been the encounter with the screeching thing at the science labs. He had only heard rumors since then — thank god he hadn’t run into anything else so far — but but such quietness in his own life made him wonder...“Yeah? You get to use those skills lately?”

“First you need to stop being so tense because I can’t tell the difference between you and the damn mannequins. Clothes are meant to be fun so loosen up those shoulders because there ain’t no judgement here. Whats up, though? You ain’t feeling it?” They lean forward with a reassuring smile, patting his shoulders and tugging at the lapels. “You look good.” Emphasis on the word good as they stretch out the word. “I hope you know that you might have to start fighting everyone off at Pleasant —— even the abuelas.” 

“Clothes are meant to be worn— ain’t nobody say a thing about being ‘fun,’” he shot back, raising his shoulders in protestation. His lower lip jut out slightly as he tilted his head to get a look at part of his reflection in the mirror nearby. “I mean... I kinda like it...”

‘Kinda’ was an understatement. The fabric was far more expensive than most things he owned— certainly more than the clothes he typically wore. Charlie’s affirmation only made him more confused by how much he enjoyed having it on. He let his posture sink back into comfort, suppressing the mild tinge of embarrassment on his cheeks and the laugh hanging at the edge of his lips. 

“Do you think you can fix it up to make it last longer? I like the gas top better than an electrical stove.” Addison said and flashed him a bit of a smile. “Well, I’ve had some training. And trust me, I will be cooking for a long time coming. And if I have to, I will cook over an open flame, like a camp fire.” 

“That’s good. Well, while you’re here, could you just check the fridge and freezers too. If they give up, well, then there’s going to be a lot of rotting meat.” He said as he mentioned to the freeze locker and the walk-in fridge.

“Yeah, probably. It’ll take another half-hour but I can get the job done.” Although Aiden had little faith in what Perfection Valley and its establishments had to offer, he made up for it in self-confidence. He let out a short laugh. “I trust you, man. Trust me, you’re one of the first few folks I’m running to if anything else weird happens in town.”

Bobby let out a loud snort and started laughing so hard, she doubled over, baseball cap nearly falling off. How ridiculous to think that she was apparently living in luxury here when she actually had luxury. She missed her Los Angeles penthouse, payed with a politician’s dirty money. “I live in the Desert Inn, so yeah. Definitely Beverly Hills.”

She brought herself back up, brushing a small tear from the corner of her eye, a lopsided smile still on her face. “Nah, just wanted a joy ride. I haven’t actually driven a car in…” There wasn’t a need in Los Angeles and Bob had gotten to Perfection by hitchhiking. “Shit, two years? But hey, if you’re offering a ride I’ll take one. I’m running out of those mini-donuts.”

“You planning on staying here long-term? Or you just out to visit the most bougie places in the States?” Aiden asked, hoping to disguise his curiosity in a tease. His brow knit deeper at the laughter, but a thin smile spread on his lips. He nipped at the inside of his cheek. For as long as he lived in town, he had become accustomed to this kind of energy being a rarity. 

After a long morning of hauling and packing produce, Aiden was enthused to see that the delivery truck was nearly full. One more crate, he had estimated, then it would be time for the next stage of work. As soon as the missing piece was in his hands, he quickly added it to the other stock and pat his glove-covered hands together. “This oughtta be the last of the stuff needing loading. I’ll get the straps and then we’ll be on o— wait.” His body froze, but his head whipped to one side, brows furrowed deeply and eyes scanning their surroundings. “You hear that?”

"Listen. I’ma need you to be straight with me, okay? Be real ‘cause I don’t do this often.” Aiden tugged at the ends of the leather jacket he wore, straightening it out before twirling around to give Charlie a better look at it from all sides. Truth be told, he felt ridiculous. He dared not utter that confession, however; he wouldn’t, when they had driven so far out of town to find this consignment shop to begin with. “What do you think?”

hey all! please drop a “like” if you’d be interested in a closed starter from aiden.