s t e l l y

"Oh..." JJ nodded, understanding what the other had implied. He let out a soft chuckle in response, shaking his head. "Yeah, I don't think I could have ever lived up to the expectations that society has always placed on me, whether it be the fact that I did not get married before I became a father or the fact that I start my Saturdays by watching cartoons." He shrugged. "I'm not a big fan of conformity." He chuckled softly and returned his gaze towards Mia, watching as she examined the template. "Well, I'm sure Mia's looking for some ideas... PG, of course," he remarked, turning back to Stelly and raising his brow. "You're kidding." He let out a laugh and shook his head at the thought. "I do admire the dedication to the cause." When they brought up the fluffy cows, however, JJ could not help but sigh. "God, I'm not going to be able to keep Mia away from them either, am I?"

"You're good," they said with a laugh, shaking their head, "lounge about on Saturdays watching every cartoon -- clear through nighttime! I won't judge, I've done it, especially on a rare day off." Sometimes starfishing in bed with Whit and Bowie, and Mandy when she could make it over, with nothing more than old cartoons on was the best way to spend the day, and recapture that youthful feeling. "Me neither, obviously," they let out a snorting laugh, figuring that they were a poster child, in some ways, for being different. And had always loved being that way. Life was more fun when you weren't worried about following rules, doing what society and everyone else expected you to do... but actually, genuinely enjoying your own life. That was where it was at. "I have some pre-mades over here," they reached across the table to pick up one of the displays with some buttons on it that they had made the week before with Mandy, settling it in front of JJ and Mia, "or you can just do whatever feels fun, too. I've had people just make buttons with flowers on them, or someone drew their cat. Or, you know, you can do a fluffy cow," they laughed, "just don't let Mandy see."

Sabrina was wandering kind of aimlessly. She'd watched a few performances and stopped off to grab some food, but now she was unsure what to do with the rest of her time there —- she did plan to leave sometime soon, but not quite yet. She didn't expect to hear the sudden shout of her name, yet glanced up to spot Stelly and immediately flashed a grin. "I was passing, but I will definitely make a button!" she responded, heading over.

"You're a godsend," they said with a wide grin, standing up from where they had been sitting and beginning to gather the supplies. It had been busy for hours, and then hit a slight slow patch -- lots of people already had buttons attached to their jackets or bags, and now they needed to pick up everyone else. "Keeps me from catnapping over there," they let out a laugh, holding out a piece of paper. "This is the button template! Basically... you know, the rules of coloring. Just stay within the lines, and you're golden. Oh," they heaved a small, dramatic sigh, "I'm supposed to remind everyone that profanity is not allowed."

"Who said it was lazy to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings?" JJ asked with a raised eyebrow and a tone of mild offence in his voice. Being the father of an almost two-year-old meant his Saturday mornings always began with an episode or two of Bluey, and he considered it a very productive use of his time. "My Saturday mornings always start with Bluey, and I wouldn't call it lazy. I call it... Spending quality time with my daughter, watching something that she enjoys." He shrugged. "Why? Have people actually expressed a desire to use certain words on their buttons? I wouldn't be surprised. The anger towards the Benefactor has been strong these days." And he could not blame anyone for how they felt. "Oh, yes... I've been thinking of taking Mia to pet some goats tomorrow. I actually went by the Animal Sanctuary last week and asked if they'd be okay with me bringing Mia by to show her the animals. Maybe Mia might enjoy a pony ride."

Stelly couldn't help but to let out a laugh as JJ started to defend himself, finding it surreal that anyone would think that they had to in a joking situation. "Relax, relax -- there's nothing wrong with wanting to watch some Saturday morning cartoons, I do it all the time. I'm just saying that as a kid, it's kind of expected of you to do that, but as an adult, there are people out there who would frown and grump and say they should be out… watering the lawn or something. Y'know? Societal expectations and all that garbage?" Didn't mean they agreed with it, but they had been talking about adult life vs. kid life, and there was a big difference in what was expected of each, they knew that to be true. "Please," they let out a scoffing laugh, "you know people in this town. It's bound to happen. I saw a guy walking around in a 'FTB' shirt, didn't take much to figure out what that one meant." Although they had also laughed about it, 'cuz some things were just funny. "I'm sure that will be a fun experience for you guys! Mandy and I volunteer there a lot, although it's hard to keep h er away from the fluffy cows."

Exactly, the forbidden and tempting juicy fruit. Do you ever see the videos of the wax melts that look like actual food? Criminal. Yes, I'll be selling my wares so please come find me immediately.

Yes! They're ridiculous -- in a good, wholesome kind of 'holy shit how did you make this real' kind of way, but I do always worry that I wouldn't actually want a fried chicken scented candle in my house, no matter how realistic it looks, you know? I'm coming to find you today!

That's very true. Imagine if I had another kid to practice on? Things might have turned out absolutely dog shit if my friend had an awful little kid and not the most perfect angel. A decent amount, people still mostly prefer the aquarium side of things to the "let's save ocean life" but we do what we can.

That's true! That's incredibly true, I guess I can take all of the credit for you having a great mother-daughter relationship with your daughter... thank you very much! Proud of myself for that one. Yeah, that's fair. I like both sides, for what it's worth, and I'm glad we have a place like the conservatory, 'cuz it does make it easier to see why... you know, conservation is more important right now.

Darcy was so glad she had put herself forward for this, originally she was just going to choreograph a dance for the students but she had never been more proud of herself. She smiled as she looked up at Stelly and smiled at them, "Thank you, I really appreciate it. It was lovely to perform in front a lot of people who were invested in the performance." She smiled as she looking over at them and nodded, "It looks great here and nice to see it fully packed out. I haven't actually tried any of the baked goods yet, wasn't hungry before my performance. However, I would love something now. What would you recommend?"

"Yeah, of course!" Stelly said with a bright smile, knowing that Darcy deserved all of the praise, both because she really had done an amazing job, and also because it took a lot of courage to get out there and do something. Which she displayed beautifully. "Oh, absolutely. I think everyone loves a good live performance to begin with, but add in that they get to support their fellow townspeople... everyone wants to be involved in that." And a lot of the money went to a good cause, too. "There's some fun looking cake pops, donuts... a bunch of stuff at Naomi's stand, too, what's your favorite kind of sweet treat?"

Hey, some people's opinions of me do matter. It's just that yours has never, ever, not once mattered. So your perspective is terrible skewed. No, I'm okay with being with the regular nerds, because I'm a man of the people. Gotta be productive in some way, Stelly.

I bet that you cry yourself to sleep at night thinking about all of the things that I do or do not think about you, actually. And that's the way that it should be. Right... that's going to be your slogan when you run for office one day. "Man of the Nerds." You know, combine it into one saying to keep it short. Doing anything fun for Spring Fling?

That describes my job perfectly actually. Ha! Yes, if drama doesn't come to us, we figure out a way to bring drama out there. Then yep, it goes around again and we have to figure it all out... again. I think that's her love language, being in the kitchen, keeping me out of the kitchen, letting me stay in the kitchen with her.

I would imagine it does, in the hospital! There probably aren't very many days that aren't... you know, a little bit on the chaotic side, right? It's a good thing that we both know how to be dramatic, then. In a good way, of course! I'm sure that whether or not you're allowed to be in the kitchen fully depends on how helpful -- or not helpful -- you're being at the moment, too.

with: darcy & open (capped at 0/5)

One of Stelly's favorite parts of big events in town was getting to see people perform, watching them have a good time -- and seeing how passionate they were about what they were doing, too. Darcy's performance had been no exception, and they grinned when they approached, giving her a playful little clap, "you were great up there!" Not that they had been expecting anything else, of course. "So far? Everything. I kind of wish every day could be Spring Fling, but some of the baked goods that I've tried have been... really, really out of this world, you know? Beyond good."

JJ could not help but agree with Stelly's statement about colouring within the lines, and he let out a soft chuckle in response. "Yeah, I mean... Life was a whole lot simpler when we didn't have to worry about coloring inside the lines. The moment we started following the rules in coloring, we learned all about rules, and that just took the fun out of everything." And as inevitable as that was, he hoped to preserve the magic in Mia's life for a little longer. "Stelly, I'm here with a toddler. I promise you, I have no intention of using any profanities in our buttons," he assured them. "Although I do have to admit that I'm not all that fond of the Benefactor. But I think it's better for everyone involved that I keep those thoughts to myself." He laughed, shaking his head. "Well, we just got here. We haven't done much. We did some coloring. We're making buttons. I was thinking that I'd take Mia to paint rocks next. I'm open to hearing any other recommendations you might have. My parents will be here in a couple of hours to pick her up, and I want to make sure she has as much fun as she can."

"Sucks, doesn't it?" they scrunched up their face in thought when JJ agreed about coloring being the downfall of everything else. "Next thing you know, naps are gone, no more chocolate milk cartons, and it's lazy to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings." Not that it stopped Stelly, of course. Sometimes, you just needed a good dose of Rugrats or Hey Arnold! to help jump start a morning, regardless of how old you were. "Hey, you never know!" they widened their eyes when he said that he wasn't going to be using any profanities, before breaking into a laugh, "but I'm just teasing you. The organizers asked that we remind everyone, in case someone gets any ideas." And so far, no one had, everyone was keeping it pretty much on t he level, and that was good. "How about the animals?" they asked, gesturing over towards the Animal Sanctuary tent that they knew Katelyn had worked hard on, "does she like animals? I think you can pet and feed them, plus pony rides."

"I was just telling Mandy how she hasn't learned to color inside the lines yet. I think we've got a few more years of coloring left before she expands her artistic pursuits, so we stocked up on some crayons and coloring books that should last us until she starts first grade," he explained, gesturing to her backpack that hung over his shoulder. Needless to say, that wasn't an exaggeration. JJ followed Stelly over to the table, helping Mia into a chair before he sat down next to her. He picked up the template and glanced at it, furrowing his brow. "That seems easy," he agreed with a nod and set it down in front of Mia. "Let's do this." He chuckled, helping Mia make her first button.

"She's got some time," Stelly assured him with a smile, "I think some of the funnest times as a kid are when you're not worried about coloring in the lines. Kind of feels like once you start worrying about that, you start worrying about so much more, too." It wasn't just about crayons and coloring books at that point, it was about realizing that there were rules that you had to follow, and that made some of the magic of being a kid disappear. Sadly. "Oh, I'm supposed to give you the standard warning that if you use profanity and make something lewd, I have to scold you, but… I have my doubts that's on your agenda," they laughed, shaking their head. But Stelly had been asked by the organizers to keep it PG as much as possible, and so far, everyone had gone along with those rules. "You two have been having fun outside of being artistic so far?"

Letting out a laugh when Suki said that they morally could place the blame where it rightfully belonged, Stelly nodded their head, "you're not wrong." After all, they had sent them home with the pizza box full of ingredients to try to make something delicious -- or at this point, edible -- which meant that they had to bear some responsibility. Silently. And without any actual repercussions. That was normally how life worked.

"That's true," JJ agreed with a laugh before he eyed the button that they wore, knowing how important it was for them to get the message across. Merrock needed all of the support that it could get, and if it killed the Benefactor's plans to build that resort, then he was all for it. "Stelly, you know how it is with the little ones. Everyone's chopped liver compared to coloring books and crayons. Although... Since you're offering, I'd say let's make some buttons!" He grinned, turning over to Mia. "Come on, Mia. Let's make some buttons." Mia did not seem as interested in the idea of making buttons, but she smiled nevertheless.

"That's true," they let out a laugh as JJ compared a child's interest in coloring to being above anything else, remembering many long nights stretched out on the rug after school, coloring book and crayons sprawled out in front of them, trying their best to stay in the lines. Sometimes it even worked! "Come on in," they gestured to the table to make space for both of them, pointing out the stack of papers used as a template. "It's pretty straight forward and easy, anything you want on the button should be within this circle, and when you're done, I'll cut it, press it, presto! Button for you to wear for the rest of the day. And beyond, of course."