Wallace Etherson

~

“Oh shit, there’s cats? When did cats come into the picture? What are their names? Can I come back with you to feed them?” Hallie asked, feeling like she’d missed so much. She took Wallace’s hand, swinging their arms between them. “Has anything else exciting happened while I was gone?”

~

“A few of them have been here for about a year, though they don’t always come out. I found a new one a few months ago, though. Well, there’s Miss Adelaide, Mister Mistoffelees, Barnaby Tucker, Audrey III, Cosmo Brown, and Sir Avocado Pumpernickel. Sure, of course, I was thinking of giving them a special treat today so we should stop by the store on our way back.” Anything else exciting, “Oh did you hear about the festival? I wasn’t there, but someone drugged people”

~

“Duh, of course!” Hallie said with a grin, grabbing his hand to tug him toward the entrance of the junk yard. “Did you come here for anything specific? We can come back after if you want.”

~

“No” he shook his head, “I was just doing some scavenging. I should probably come back later though to get my cart” he added, mentioning the one he’d bought that he kept at Axiom’s, seeing as how there was no other space big enough for him to do so “Oh and I need to feed the cats too”

~

“That’s so fucking cool, Wallace,” Hallie said with a grin, giving his arm a gentle punch. “So, come on. You gotta show me now. Don’t leave me in suspense!”

~

“Okay, okay” he shook his head, reaching his hand up to rub his arm a little. “Do you want to go straight there?” he asked, not sure if she had had any plans to go somewhere else before.

“Oh wow, that’s a lot,” Hallie said, impressed with his progress. “You should show me! I can also ask around to see if anyone knows how to detail a car, so we can make it all nice and shiny. Are you thinking you’re gonna sell it or use it?”

“Mr. Axiom’s gonna sell it and give me half of whatever we make off of it.” he smiled, not thinking he would have any use for it once it was all fixed up. “I went to Ramirez Mechanics and they’re gonna help with all the engine stuff to make sure it will work.”

“What? No fucking way! That’s awesome!” Hallie gave his arm a punch. “Who cares if it’s not from scratch? That’s super impressive! Where is it? Can I see it? How much have you gotten done?”

“It’s outside at Axiom’s in the back. I’ve got it all cleaned up and I had to take the seats out, so I could patch up some of the holes in the fabric on them. Oh I fixed one of the doors too that had a bunch of scratches on it and I put in a new windshield and got new wipers for it. I”m still trying to figure out a color for it”

“WALLACE!” Hallie shouted, hopping up from the junk heap she’d been hiding behind, waiting for him to walk by so she could jump out and surprise him. “Guess who just got the full and complete bill of health from the doctor? This girl!” She jabbed both her thumbs at her chest, before hopping around the pile of junk toward him to give him a hug. “I’ve missed you so much! What’s new with you?”

(( @wallaceetherson​ ))

It had felt like forever since Wallace had seen Hallie, so when she surprised him he broke out into a large excited grin, and returning the hug with levels of enthusiasm he only had when he found something of particular interest at the junkyard. He wasn’t sure there’d been a time since meeting Hallie that they had spent so much time apart, “I’m building a car” he said the enthusiasm never leaving as he spoke “well, not from scratch or anything, but I found a car and I’m fixing it”

Barbie walked along with Wallace trying to understand what he was trying to do with this car but then when it was explained to her then she understood; “So basically this is a car that was brought into you and you are customising it to sell and basically the colour research is for increasing your chances of selling this vehicle right?” turning to him briefly before getting her camera out to snap a picture of the Giraffes in the enclosure.

“Almost. I found the car, but everything else is right” he nodded. He turned his focus to the enclosure “I wonder what it would be like to have a neck that long” he mused a little “no wonder they eat off trees, it’s probably the easiest for them to reach”

“Ah then yeah I can understand your predicament” Barbie had never seen the car that Wallace was explaining to her so she couldn’t really make judgements on what was okay and what wasn’t okay but she was there to provide advice where she should and could; “Those are popular colours but remind me again why you have to pick a colour that sells? Isn’t this your car? Why not pick a colour that you like and you feel confident in?”

“Oh no” he shook his head when she made the honest mistake of thinking it was his car or going to be “I already have one of those. I don’t think it’s as old as this one is. I’m not really that sure. It’s bigger though. More room in the back”  Though, he did still have to sleep with his legs either curled up or stretched just a little more out into the floorboard. There had even been a few instances where he’d propped them up and hung them out the window. “We’re gonna try and sell it at the pawn shop. Once it’s done I’m gonna take pictures and put up posters and flyers about it”

“Noted,” Tina nodded. “Do you want me to bring them to, like… your car?” She grimaced slightly at the thought of carrying all the puddings out to the junk yard, and it occurred to her that a car may not be the best place to keep pudding in the height of summer. “Or Axiom maybe? I can drop them off there on my way home.”

Wallace took a moment to think about it. They might keep better at Axiom’s and he could take some to his car if he wanted to. He gave an enthusiastic nod as he moved to stand “Yeah, Axiom’s is good.” Speaking of which he probably should have headed that way a while ago. He wasn’t working in the front area today, instead he was going to spend most of it in the back fixing up some of the items. He couldn’t remember what, but he knew he needed to stop by Handy Felix’s for something. Maybe he’d remember on the way. “I’ll probably be there super late tonight if you can bring them today”

“They’re all one flavour,” Tina replied with a shrug. “But there’s, like… three flavours? I could mix and match! There’s chocolate, toffee and vanilla, but the vanilla ones are… not great.”

“Okay so not as many of the vanilla ones” If he stocked the employee fridge with them there was the chance that someone might like them, even if they were ‘not that great’ according to Tina. 

“Wallace. You need two whole trays, okay?” Tina replied, placing a hand on Wallace’s shoulder and nodding firmly. To be fair, she could easily just ask her boss for two trays, and he’d likely give her them, but there wasn’t any fun in that. “Don’t underestimate my abilities.”

“Are they different flavors of trays or all one flavor?” he asked, thinking if they were different then maybe he really would need two whole trays. It was better if there would be options. 

Barbie pulled her wallet out to pay for two tickets for the both of them so that they were able to walk within the free reign of the Zoo has she thought about his question; “I do, it’s very faint but I remember the box being like a weird sort of satin material and there was a ballerina bowing or reaching for her toes on the front. I doubt it’s showed up because this was years if not decades ago that I had one, but it’s definitely inspired me to get another one because I love sentimental things like that” a smile on her features as she spoke about this music box that she once owned; “Like a Beetle? Like a Volkswagen Beetle? Because those are my favourite”

Wallace wasn’t the smartest person, but he was pretty good at remembering details for items, so he stored away key words that stood out to him as she described the box. Satin, ballerina and front were the three that jumped out. “Oh yeah” he nodded “I think it used to be a blue color. Maybe a powder blue. A lot of the paint’s come off. I’m not sure I want to paint it that color though. I’ve been trying to look up which colors sell the best”

🌟- For a secret wish or desire of theirs

 - “to have something that was my parents”

❤️- For a secret crush

- “I really like Eve, but Tina ( @xaspiringbeamoflightx ) is nice too. I don’t know if I have a crush on her though. No, I think I just like her as a friend.”

📲- Talk about someone/something you dislike, but only pretend to like

(already answered)

🌜- For a ‘weird’ habit or tic that no one knows about

-  Wallace has a facial tic where the corner of the left side of his mouth will twitch 

👻- For something that scares or disturbs them, but they refuse to tell anyone

- the thought of someone having his home towed away 

🐇- For a secret item they keep (stuffed animal, comfort object, etc)

- the zippo lighter that was the first thing he ever found when scavenging through the junkyard

Sometimes I pretend to like food that I dislike if someone gives it to me, because they went out of the way to make it for me or give it to me, so it would be mean to tell them you didn’t like it.

Is that a thing people do? That seems kind of weird. Why would you pretend to dislike something? Why not just like something and say you like it?