I ain't afraid of no ghost

LOCATION: wack-an-alien, forth of july event FOR: javier muñoz

"Scared?" Javier repeats with a snort as Connie taunts him, head shaking to counter her words. "At some stupid carnival game? Nah." His hands tuck into his pockets as he follows in her footsteps, kicking the toe of his boot against the pavement. As she goes on he just blinks. "You know what you pay me. I barely got a dime to my name." He was only here because he'd been put on shift working maintenance for the holiday - and at least he was making some holiday pay in that regard. Otherwise he wouldn't be caught dead playing these stupid ass games. Wack-an-alien? What even was that? Other than wholly ridiculous, anyway. At least it was something he could take his frustrations out on without being looked at sideways.

But hey, maybe he can make a few extra bucks off her today, too. "What terms are you thinkin'?"

❝ you going to see the fireworks tonight? ❞ it's an honest question, even if jay half-suspects he already knows how his younger brother will answer. working at astroland might have been an osorio family tradition for decades, but all of that seemed to fall apart after―well, jay's sure he can't be blamed if he doesn't actually want to think about it right now. if he doesn't want to think about him. he's still got one brother right here to worry about, right in front of him. once their dad retired, jay was the only one left working at astroland. and the only reason he went back was because they needed the money ; if he could've found a better job somewhere else, he would've taken it. he couldn't. ❝ you could get in for free if you wanted to. i've got to be at wolfe's den later or i'd go with you, but i know who's working the turnstiles tonight, i could make a call. ❞

jay glances toward the window to the kitchen behind the diner counter and then to the clock on the wall above it. he's got to be at the bar in less than an hour, actually, but he tries to check in with gabe as often as he can. it's still not as often as he'd like, but he is trying. weeks like these where he's scheduled to work double after double, he tries to meet him for coffee or, in this case, dinner. the food at the diner's cheap enough, anyway, and if his regulars tonight are feeling generous, he'll make more than their meals' worth back in tips before long.

( And what was better than unsupervised kids? Unsupervised kids on a sugar rush. It reminded him of his own childhood — careless, fearless, bound to get into accidents. )

"What can I get you today? We have fresh, extra-terrestrial popcorn, galactic cotton candy clouds, M&Ms from Mars, spaceship worthy Skittles- You know what? Can I interest you in our limited edition Icee? It is guaranteed to stain your tongue for the rest of the day, so you can convince the aliens you're one of them! I tested it."

He stuck out his tongue as proof, showing off the bright blue color. "I drank it two hours ago. Can you believe it?"

So no, he wasn't a frequenter of Astroland. He preferred his quiet corner at the comic store, or maybe perusing the tapes at Blockbuster, or spending time at Wolfe's Den with Jay. He wasn't really much of a drinker, but Jay spent more time there than most anywhere else. Well, there...or Astroland...

Still, he wasn't sure how he'd ended up at the park. Maybe it was just some draw because everyone was there and everyone was talking about it. He wasn't even sure what he was supposed to do here, anymore. He supposed the games could be fun. Maybe a snack --

"Oh, uh," Gabe's eyes rove over the menu board like it might have some answers to explain everything the guy is telling him. "Are they just - uh - what makes the popcorn...extra-terrestrial...?" He asks, though his voice falters off a little towards the end as Mingyu continues. His eyes widen a little at the flash of blue tongue. "Is that...safe?"

astroland had long stopped trying to stop santiago from bringing in outside food and beverage ( he could also bribe security with a plate anyways ), so he had prepared a full on feast in two oversized picnic baskets complete with sides and dessert ( along with adult and everyone beverages in a rather large cooler ). he arrived at the park with everything early so he could push some of the picnic tables together and save a spot for all of his people. a good spot to see the fireworks and still be as secluded as you could be at an amusement park at least half full of people.

He held up a hand as if to say something along the lines of yeah, yeah, calm the fuck down to Santiago's excitement, huffing a breath of annoyance as he was pulled into an embrace against his will (not that he entirely resisted, either). "I was...in the area," he mumbles when he's finally released, his fingers combing through his hair. He looks over the spread Santiago had been setting up, his head shaking the slightest bit as a subtle smile upturns the corner of his lips. "How is it you manage something like this in an amusement park? Usually they charge you up the ass making you purchase their shit food with five times markup and don't exactly support outside vendors." Granted, if anyone would be able to pull it off, it was Santiago.

"Mierda, stop it," he scowls, giving Santiago a (gentle) shove on the shoulder as he worried over him. "It's all fine. Don't worry about it."

❝ i swear t'christ, trying to get yer entire family all in one spot is like trying t'herd feckin' cats. ❞ by now, it is in fact lindsay's family, too, but he suspects that of the entire muñoz clan, javier might be the least inclined to say so. he's won over the rest of santiago's siblings well enough ( and by that, he means he suspects they tolerate him ) but javier has always seemed an almost perfect opposite of his older brother―prickly in places where santiago is soft. perhaps that's why he and lindsay seem to grate on each other so often : they're too much alike. at very least, that's what santi would say. it's what he says about why lindsay argues with maisie so much. he doesn't see it. he doubts javier would either. ❝ actually, i take it back. cats would be easier. ❞

lindsay crosses his arms over his chest, leaning against a lamp post as he regards the younger muñoz curiously.

❝ wasn't sure if ye'd be working today or not. neither was santi. i take it ye are. ❞ at least, lindsay doesn't think javier would walk around wearing an astroland maintenance shirt on his day off. ❝ think ye could sneak off a few minutes t'watch the fireworks with yer family? santiago has a table with a good view, i picked up connie and nora. might make 'em all happy if ye made an appearance. ❞

"What gave you that idea?" Javier remarks with a roll of his eyes before glancing down at the maintenance outfit he was forced into to be employed at this fucking place. "I love to wear this shit." It sounds just like Santi to be getting the whole gang together for fireworks, though Javier's not so sure about the statement that it would make anyone happy if he made an appearance. He can't think up any excuse quickly enough, though - the park would mostly be closed by the time the firework show was getting set up, and if there was any maintenance that was needed - well, perhaps it would be right there at the firework show, anyway. He was no pyrotechnic or whatever, but he wouldn't be surprised if he or Judah were wrangled in should something go awry...

❝ oh shit, what are you doing here? ❞ to be fair, judah shouldn't be surprised when he finds javier hanging out near the park's maintenance shed. he was supposed to be the one on shift today ( he'd even volunteered for it, he wanted that holiday pay ) but park management fumbled and put him on that busted ass dunk tank that tore up his palm and forced him to not only visit first aid but also file an official incident report. the only good news? the office where he had to fill out all that goddamn paperwork was air-conditioned. a high price to pay for a short reprieve from the heat, but judah would take what he could get.

❝ did they call you in or something? i told 'em i could still work, not like i need two hands to hold a wrench so long as they don't try to put me back in the dunk tank. ❞ the other ride tech lifts his left hand by way of wordless explanation ; the appendage is wrapped in ( what judah thinks is frankly an excessive amount of ) gauze from knuckles to wrist. judah wiggles his fingers and shrugs. ❝ but i guess it's some sort of policy or some shit, 'cause they gave me the rest of the day off. ❞

His brow quirks upwards as Judah displays a hand wrapped in what seemed like had to be an absurd about of gauze. "How do you fuck up your hand on a dunk tank?" he questioned with a snort. "Actually, I take it back. I've seen the look of some shit around here, it's entirely feasible. Hope you're up on your tetanus shots."

His expression shows his distaste at the blue watered down whatever the fuck in the cup Judah extends. He'd much prefer the contents of the flask. "Alright, now I gotta hear it. They've got you on the dunk tank and drinking whatever the fuck that shit is? You lose your brain somewhere along the way? Have they officially converted you?"

since his twin had run off somewhere after the dunk tank and he hadn't tracked down any of his other peeps yet, jonah was occupying his time in the games section of astroland ( skee ball to be exact ). he was probably just going to go home and skip the fireworks after too long. to be honest, he's not sure he can get down with the noise of astroland, the extra screaming children, and loud explosions played to shitty overture music tonight. it was an overstimulation nightmare bound to happen. maybe the wolfe's den would be quiet, at least for a little while, until the show was over.

in particular jonah fashion, he was fucking around. juggling three skee balls while talking, not paying attention to who might be listening. "you know when i read children free on the flyer, i thought it meant there would be no five and unders, y'know? but here they all our," he shook his head ever so slightly, trying to keep stormy blue eyes on the balls in motion. "i swear the noise today is goin' to be the soundtrack to my fuckin' hell, that and anything by fucking puff daddy, am i right?" he snickered.

A snort escapes them as he continues. "So yeah, you're not much of kid man. Which is wild, since don't you airbrush shit for a bunch of kids? I mean, I guess adults, too. But the adult is going to be more likely to shell out if there is a kid they're pleasing, don't ya think?" She pauses, tipping her head at him. "So, you gunna throw those balls, or just continue playin' with 'em? Your time is almost up, big guy."

Now normally they would keep their headphones firmly on their head and a walkman in their pocket, but the cacophony of sounds inside an amusement park were too loud for their poor cassettes to stand a chance. So the only available option at this moment in time was to be too present in their surroundings, which ironically prompted Nova to extend out a shaky arm in the direction of an oncoming person. "There's puke." She simply blurted out, blinking a few times to let their brain catch up with their actions. "Sorry, I think it's puke." The nurse moved her arm to instead awkwardly gesture at the unknown substance on the ground.

Help, what if it was just melted ice cream?

"Do you think it's puke?" Good job, Nova. Stellar first impression. Gold medal. "Not- Not that I think you're an expert on puke. You don't look like an expert. Unless you are. I'm mainly an expert in cat puke." Shit. "I mean, even if it's someone's cotton candy from three hours ago, it would still suck to step in it, I think." Move on from the puke. "So how about this weather, huh? Sometimes I do miss rainy Seattle. I mean, I don't hate the sun, but I get sunburns so easily-" Yep, definitely time to shut the fuck up.

There's puke. Kodi didn't fully process the words until they were nearly trampling over said potentially puke shaped substance, halting abruptly as the words and situation caught up with them. They studied the splatter in question for a brief moment before looking up to assess their 'savior' of sorts. A savior who seemed to be questioning their assessment of whether or not the substance required saving from.

"Well, I don't expect it would be unheard of that there might be puke..." Kodi's eyes shift to take in their surroundings, the exit of one of the more twisty rollercoasters not all that far away from their current location, "here, of all places. Like, I might not expect it outside bumper cars or those antique cars - sorry, spaceships - that you ride around on that little track at like two miles an hour on. But outside that," they pause to jerk a thumb over their shoulder at the nearby rollercoaster, "is pretty reasonable. The weak tummy-ed, inexperienced might not be able to handle the magic of that beauty."

They take another sip of their icee despite the unidentified goop that could very well be puke right in front of them. They certainly weren't weak stomached. "It definitely could be puke. Or some sort of melted ice cream mess. Or yeah, cotton candy that has seen far better days. Either way I don't think I'd like to have stepped in this galactic gunk no matter what it is, so thanks for that." Kodi glances back towards her, "maybe we can find a 'caution' sign or something so that you don't have to be the gross splotch spoke person for the rest of the day."

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