ad astra; HIATUS

Some old photos.

— “I hear the boneless wings are just as good?” Ira wondered, looking back at Maia. “Or you’re not biased? Buffalo wings?” He hasn’t eaten chicken since he was… eleven? Maybe. Yeah, it’s been a long time.

— Ira nodded, taking another bite and chewing slowly. He gave Indy a thumb-up since he’s unable to verbally express his agreement. “Portland,” he said to Indy a moment later, “Absolutely worth the drive.” Did he underestimate potato donuts? Probably. “Did we guess it, right? Is that the pomegranate one?” Looking inside the box, Ira was having a difficulty which to try next. “They should open the same store here. Or maybe one of the bakeries should try making these donuts.” He decided on the maple one, grabbing some paper napkins and handing some to Indy.

— “I can point your constellation up there,” said Ira, pointing at the sky. “As for your horoscope, there are tons of apps for that, yeah?” He was joking, watching as Solomon arranged the chairs. “Like cakewalk, huh?” Clapping a hand on Solomon’s shoulder, Ira nodded. “Thanks, Sol. And now we wait for kids to—oh, there’s our first group.” About six kids are bee-lining for the booth, and Ira smiled. “You’re good with kids, right?” Clearing his throat, he greeted the children and motioned for them to sit down. After introducing himself and Solomon and some small chat, he asked, “Do we know what causes heavy rain?”

— “Sure, I don’t mind a spare copy,” Ira responded, laughing softly as he produces his wallet. “How much?” But then, he might as well make use of Jace’s presence. “You wanna sign my CD, too? I’ll tip you two bucks for it.” He grinned, giving Jace a playful wink. “I am your biggest fan!”

— Ira immediately recognized the voice, smiling to himself and turning around. “Man of peace himself,” he chirped playfully, mirroring this brand-new handshake-bro-hug from Solomon; “Your liege.” Turning slightly, he looked at the stack of small chairs. “Want me to read your forecast for you?” He offered, wiggling his fingers. “Anyhow, this is a fun booth—it’s about astronomy and meteorology. We’ve got lots of kids here at the Cape that’s into space, okay? I just need to finish setting up this whole thing.”  

— “Hey, Eva,” said Ira, spotting her and walking over. “That’s the tricky thing about having your own booth or table, yeah? You’re unsure if your spot’s good or not.” But a crowd’s starting to form. “How about walking around and see if people are interested?” He offered, “Need some help?”

— “I’ve only had the vanilla glaze,” Ira admitted, “not very adventurous.” He was leaning on the safe side, at the time. “Got two of each,” he added, taking out a folded piece of paper and showing it to Indy. “Those are the dark chocolate potato donuts,” he points to the group on the right side of the box; “I’m gonna try the sea salt one—that one looks like sea-salt, right?” It was difficult to tell, but he took one. “Feel free to try each!” They probably need coffee or tea for this, too. “The purple ones are probably triple berry, and the pink ones are pomegranate…?” He finally took a bite, nodding while chewing slowly. “Oh, this is good,” Ira decided, then turned to Indy. “What do you think?”

— “Giant Mickey and Minnie Mouse on the lawn? It could be that they were promoting Disney Plus, although, not subtle, huh.” Ira clarified, chuckling. “I’d prefer the giant chicken, actually. It has more appeal. But that might as well be KFC or Chick-fil-A.”

— “Trying to decide which one I should go for,” said Ira, glancing at Indy. In front of him is a big-open box, colorful treats inside. He might have gone overboard with this one. “Go big or go home, right?” Motioning for Indy to come closer, he idly folded his arms on his chest. “Potato donuts—you allergic?”

— “Maybe someone’s thawing it outside for dinner?” Ira suggested, chuckling. “If it were a giant mouse, that would have been Mickey or Minnie, right?”  

— “I saw Gomez! By the bar, yeah?” Ira recalled, grinning. He should have known, they talked about how Eddy would make an excellent Gomez not so long ago. Taking the broom and pan, Ira set the latter down and starts sweeping using the former. “You keep tabs of the troublemakers that walks in?” Ira’s sweeping some of the glass in the dustpan when he noticed something else on the floor. Taking a knee, he carefully picks it up. “You’ve got an Alaska state coin, man.” Standing up, he holds it up near the light, showing it to Eddy. “It’s your lucky day.”

— “Pittsburgh’s giant chicken?” Ira asked, both brows raised. “First I’ve seen, actually.”  

— “I’ve only seen two pictures,” Ira admitted, “so far they’ve looked fine.” They were sober—the first two pictures, at least. “Pretty sure Karen put something in the drinks, a little hocus pocus.” He joked, opening the gallery folder on his mobile phone. “Hang on, how did it end up in Karen’s backyard?” Was that during the let’s pretend we’re taking down stormtroopers incident and they’ve consumed quite an amount of liquor? “Okay, this is while we’re at the bar,” said Ira, showing the picture to Jace.  They’re both smiling, holding their space guns in front. “Aaand we’ve got a photobomber on this one.” On the next candid picture, there’s a Minion behind them. “We can call this one as a crossover, yeah?”

— “Call me if this happens again, I’ll happily sucker punch the guy,” Ira jested, “or you know, have him step on a Lego.” On the topic of Judge Dredd, he couldn’t help but add, “Did you go as Dredd for Karen’s Halloween event?” Recalling every costume he’s seen during said event, he couldn’t remember setting his eyes on the familiar helmet. “I wouldn’t mind a free beer, I’m your man.” Ira declared, grinning and looking around once more.  “You’ve got any dustpan and broom I could use?”

— “Prisoner of Azkaban? That’s the best Harry Potter film,” said Ira, taking one last look at the book in his hand before putting it back on the shelf. “Hang on, so after HP films… horror films?” Taking a few steps forward, he scanned some of the titles. “You read any of these kinds of books?” Ira wondered, plucking a paperback and showing it to Mari. “101 Horror Movies to Watch Before You Die. Pretty sure The Exorcist’s on the list. Have you seen it?”

— “Just kicked the guy out? Eddy, that’s kind of you,” Ira joked, adding, “You are a good guy, and I fucking mean it.” Walking towards the bar, he situated himself near the countertop, elbow on the surface. “Innit, yeah?” Nodding, he sets the blu-ray down and points at it. “It has your name on it—well, you can’t see it. But it has Eddy de León stamped all over it.” Ira got it from a garage sale, a lucky buy. “Do you need help cleaning up, by the way?” He offered, looking over the counter.