Watching From The Sidelines

- Outside the Happy Avocado -

"Oh boy, this is gonna get ugly." You groaned.

"What did you say this guy could do? Gira, was it?" Ramona asked.

"Yeah. Gira's a Wood Conduit. He can absorb wood into his body, then manipulate it as he pleases. So basically, he can make wooden weapons, objects, or projectiles." You answered. "Basically my concrete powers, but with wood."

"Alright, enough talk! I'll Rox You Like A Hurricane, you little shit!" Roxie exclaimed, swinging her sword towards Gira, who blocked it with a shield.

- Gira! VS! Roxanne Richter! Fight! -

Gira retaliated by creating a pair of wooden boxing gloves around his hands and repeatedly punching Roxie, which she blocked with her blade, and even threw a few kicks to try and kick him in the head, but he blocked them, too.

Roxie then tried to strike him down by slamming her sword against his shield, but Gira performed a ground smash, causing her to jump back, then she quickly rushed towards him again.

Roxie began slashing wildly, to which Gira responded by using wood barrage, an attack that fires five disk-like wood projectiles. Roxie managed to dodge most of them, but was struck down by the final one, knocking her off-balance.

Gira charged towards Roxie and attempted to hit her, but she dodged and sliced at his face. He managed to dodge, but got a small scratch on his cheek. Luckily, the Conduit healing factor kicked in, and the wound was gone in an instant.

Roxie jumped back, and attempted to charge at Gira with a horizontal slash. He responded with a wood buckshot, a basic attack that rapidly fired small wood projectiles, which Roxie managed to cut every single one in half.

However, Gira wasted no time as he lumber dashed and kicked Roxie down, covered in wood armor and charged towards her. He really had a knack for the dash attacks, huh?

Gira then used wood thrusters to lift himself high, gathering wood on his arm, preparing for a comet drop. But when he slammed his fist down, Roxie was nowhere to be seen.

"Up here, jackass!" Roxie's voice called, and Gira looked up, just in time to see Roxie coming down from the sky, about to slice him.

But, you decided to intervene, feeling things were getting way too heated for your liking, so you absorbed some concrete from the holes Gira left on the street, and made a wall between the two, allowing you to step in.

- You stepped in! -

"Enough, both of you." You declared, turning your body to face Roxie.

"Out of the way! Actually, I'll slice you both!" Roxie declared, rushing toward you, her blade ready to slice.

"Not gonna happen." You said, managing to trap her in a concrete cocoon that covered everything except her head, leaving her completely immobile.

"Thanks for the assist, Y/N." Gira sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He took a can of root beer out from his hoodie, cracked it open, and simply left like nothing happened.

"That was a waste of time!" Roxie whined, trying to wiggle her way out of her restraints. "Well, this is just great!"

"Quit whining, Roxie. It's not gonna help your case." Ramona huffed, Scott being inside her bag, somehow.

"You're taking his side? He's cheating on you, Ramona, it's so obvious! Why am I suddenly the bad guy?!" Roxie exclaimed. "So I want to cut off his stupid head! What's the problem?"

"Y/N, let her go. You've helped out enough." Ramona sighed before smiling. "Thanks, though. Really."

"It's what friends do." You obliged, snapping your fingers and making the concrete restraints disintegrate, letting Roxie fall.

"Why are you being this way?! I'll seriously cut your arms off!" Roxie yelled, raising her sword.

"Just leave him alone!" Ramona countered, skating away. "He doesn't even have a sword yet!"

"'Yet'?" Scott questioned as his head popped out of the bag.

And from there, Ramona and Scott were the ones dealing with Roxie now. Both went into the Subspace via a door, and you were left alone. You obliged to not chase after them, and waited out the situation.

- Eventually... -

"Supposedly she's an accomplished fine artist these days." Ramona explained, walking along the street with you and Scott on either side of her.

"I imagine a lot of fine artists are half-ninjas." Scott nodded.

"Don't know what led to that connection, but... okay." You shrugged.

"She has a gallery opening tonight, actually, down on Queen Street..." Ramona continued.

"You're going to the show?! She's trying to kill me!" Scott exclaimed.

"Well, I... I wasn't really planning to! Besides, why go when Wyenn is right here?" Ramona smiled. "Way more interesting stuff."

"Oh, uh... thanks." You smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of your neck.

"I mean, you can go if you want! I'm not gonna stop you or anything. It's just... wow." Scott shrugged.

"No, I want to hang out with you both!" Ramona assured.

You then made Scott a gesture of "hey, aren't you gonna tell Ramona something? Something important?" Surprisingly, he picked up on what you were telling him.

"I... uh... My lease is up pretty soon..." Scott muttered, not sure how to proceed with the topic.

"Is it?" Ramona blinked.

"I guess I've been thinking about my... uh... options, and... I mean, I can't really afford my own place..." Scott continued. "Yeah..."

"You... could... technically... I suppose... uh... move in with me. For a little while, anyway." Ramona suggested, hesitatingly. "I mean, I'd have to think about it a lot, but... I guess there's pros and cons... You're kind of inconvenient, but you have a job now, right?"

Scott's grin was so comedically large, he could probably make the Cheshire cat proud. He looked like a puppy that just got promised a treat. He also nodded so hard, you were worried his head would fall off.

"And you didn't even brag about it." Ramona rubbed the back of her neck, chuckling.

"Let me guess, you forgot to?" You assumed, very much acquainted with Scott's tendency to forget certain things.

"Keeps happening." Scott confirmed, but much too excited to interpret it as a complaint. Good.

- You know the drill, Sneaky Dee's -

"So what's up, young Neil?" Scott asked as he, you, Neil, Ramona, Knives, Stephen, Kim, and Lisa sat around the same table.

"What do you think is up! Nothing is up! You all assholes besides Y/N don't even hang out with me anymore!" Neil exclaimed.

"Go easy on them, dude. You've just been in Summer School, that's why they haven't seen you around much." You spoke up, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We miss you being there with us, it's why I'm helping you. Get out of this faster, then we can have more time to hang out."

"Oh, um, thanks Y/N." Neil smiled softly.

"And it's not intentional, Neil. It's just been a little hectic. Things are going well, though. We've been shifting between practice and recording, and we're sounding better than ever." Knives explained.

"Speak of, Stephen has been turning down shows. The lady who books shows here keeps asking, and he keeps turning her down." Neil brought up.

"They have shows at Sneaky Dee's?" Scott blinked.

"Upstairs." Stephen clarified.

"I had no idea." Scott nodded.

"Why are you turning them down, though? I thought we wanted to play shows." Kim questioned.

"No no, this is good, this is a good thing." You vouched for Stephen. "It means we're starting to get some traction. If they keep persistently asking, then that means word is getting out. People here are noticing our name."

"Huh, I never saw it that way." Knives smiled. "By that logic, thanks to our progressively bigger fan base, I'm probably gonna have a pretty decent crowd watching us when we do accept a show."

"Exactly." You nodded. "Soon, other people will also want us to play a show, out of their own accord. We'll go from having to beg and ask to have shows, to people begging us for a show."

"And once word is out, we'll start getting invited to other things. That's how the industry works. Small venues, bigger venues, then maybe one day, stadiums!" Knives finished for you. "Yeah!"

"It all works out, in the end." Stephen added, leaning back. You had a feeling he actually didn't mean for this to happen, and was just taking advantage of how you twisted things, but as long as everyone's happy, then you're good.

Except, not everyone was happy. You did notice Ramona giving Lisa a very intense, unbroken glare, and the latter was... uncomfortable, and that was putting it lightly.

"I gotta go to the bathroom." Lisa said, excusing herself and walking away.

"Oh... uh... okay." Neil said as he got out the way, and Lisa was soon out of sight. However, Ramona stared back at her, and that was bad news.

- Well, anyway... -

"So, what's the deal?" Ramona asked after the hangout had concluded, and it was just her, you, and Scott.

"I know, right? I thought playing shows was the whole point of a band." Scott shrugged.

"First of all, to build a crowd which will also allow us to branch out toward bigger things." You pointed out. "Second, I'm pretty sure that's not what she was talking about."

"Yeah... I meant with your friend the actress. What is the deal between you and Lisa Miller?" Ramona demanded, looking straight at Scott.

"Wait, what? There... there is no deal! There's nothing. Seriously." Scott denied.

"Even in high school?" Ramona asked, unconvinced.

"We were just friends. I swear to God. I... come on! Come on." Scott nervously explained.

"Nothing ever happened with you two?" Ramona inquired, sounding a bit more frustrated.

"Nothing." Scott worriedly reassured.

"No matter how bad you wanted it to?" Ramona questioned, glaring at him.

"Come on, that's not fair. Even if I admit I had a thing for her, which I never will, it's all in the past. It's over!" Scott denied, becoming a bit defensive. "It's over."

"I-if I may give my 5 cents... I believe him, Ramona." You chimed in, hoping that your opinion would help. "Scott's an idiot, but he's not a liar. For one or two different reasons, but still."

"Thanks, Y/N." Scott agreed as he rubbed the side of his head. "If you're gonna be like this, I-"

"Goodnight, Scott. Goodnight, Y/N." Ramona huffed, walking off.

"G-goodnight, Ramona." You waved as you watched her leave.

"If you're gonna be like this I'm glad she's only in town for a couple days!" Scott shouted, trying to clarify. "That's all I was gonna say! Give me a break! Ramona, come on! Come on!"

"No point, dude. Let's just go home." You sighed, dragging him away.

- At Wallace's House -

Scott opened the door, flicked on the switch, and.... much to the collective dismay of both you and him...

"Oh, God!" You screamed, instantly covering your eyes. Scott just closed the door and backed away.

Shortly after the little freakout, Wallace came out the door, covered in just a blanket.

"Sorry, sorry..." Wallace apologized.

"I'll buy you a sign that warns others that you're... 'busy'!" You offered, shaking your head to get rid of the image.

"Who's the guy in the bed? Just a guy?" Scott asked, his face buried in his hands.

"Just a guy. Presumably you both saw his junk, and I apologize for that." Wallace said, sounding completely calm, but also apologetic.

"Look, we're really tired, we just... I guess we can't unsee that... Oh God..." Scott shuddered.

"Can you swing down to Ramona's, the VW, or something? I'll give you cab fare for the former." Wallace requested.

"I'm on neon right now, and the only source of video is inside..." You groaned, rubbing your face.

"Well, uh... about that..." Scott nervously muttered.

"So how about that cab fare?" Wallace offered.

"Sure, whatever." Scott groaned, and Wallace went to retrieve the money. Then, he gave it to Scott. "Thanks, buddy. Hey, can you grab my toothbrush and like a clean shirt or something?"

"No, I can't. Sorry. Go away now." Wallace denied, closing the door.

"Shucks." You sighed.

- Oh God, Why -

You and Scott walked on the curb, the latter stopping to lightly thonk his head against the telephone pole. He checked his pockets, and with just 20 bucks, the aforementioned random items, and a ball of paper, he sighed. Then, perked up.

"Y/N, do you still have..." Scott took a moment to take a deep breath, and steel himself. "...Lisa's number?"

"Yeah, I think so." You replied, checking your phone. "Yep, still do. Why?"

Scott showed you the paper with Lisa's number on it. "Could you... call her, please? For me?"

"Ah, I see what's going on." You nodded, realizing what he had in mind.

- One call and a walk to Lisa's sister's apartment, 2am -

The room was silent. Scott, you, and Lisa were sitting in the same couch. Such a late hour, yet no one could muster to go to sleep. Clearly, what happened earlier was still weighing on everyone's minds.

"Um..." You awkwardly spoke up.

"So..." Scott followed.

"Yeah..." Lisa nodded.

"I, uh..." Scott rubbed the back of his neck.

"So, Y/N... Are you really required to be here?" Lisa questioned, looking at you.

"He doesn't want to go anywhere without me now that a girl is hunting him down." You bluntly explained.

"Right, right..." Lisa nodded, glancing away. "Scott, I want to explain something. That day at the mall... I was doing my laundry, okay?"

"So what...?" Scott tilted his head.

"So all my regular clothes were in the wash! I was wearing that stupid little dress and all tarted up kind of as a joke, but you couldn't take your eyes off me..." Lisa continued. "And I liked it, okay?"

"Y-you mean you've been dressing in an unusually sexy fashion because of me?" Scott inquired.

"Yeah, I guess that's what I mean." Lisa replied, blushing and glancing away.

"That's amazing!" Scott exclaimed.

"Really, Scott?" You mentally groaned and physically facepalmed.

"Keep it down!" Lisa shushed. "My sister has to get up at like 5am, and she's a total bitch about it."

"Look at you! Even now! I'm so lucky!" Scott's mouth was then covered by your hand.

"She said keep it down!" You yell-whispered before removing your hand from his mouth.

"Oh, shut up, it's just an ordinary night gown." Lisa corrected, only to admit... "Okay, no, I put it on specifically after you called, actually. God, I'm such a tramp!"

"Lisa? What's the deal with us? With you and me, excluding Y/N." Scott asked.

"You mean why didn't we...?" Lisa replied.

"Well, I mean, what was going on, like, in general?" Scott clarified.

"We didn't know what was going on. We had zero comprehension. We were probably too busy trying to seem cool." Lisa explained.

"Man, you're right. I don't know anything." Scott said, almost amused.

"You know, you could have asked me if I liked you." Lisa suggested.

"Did you like me?" Scott inquired.

"I think the question's a bit overdue, Scott." You pointed out.

"And I don't want to talk about it." Lisa replied. "Anyway... you have Ramona now and you guys obviously have something special."

"I guess. I mean, we haven't even said the l-word..." Scott trailed off.

"Oh?" Lisa raised an eyebrow.

"She's cool, but she has her own issues and stuff. Some of them are actually pretty much-" Scott cut himself off. "I mean, they'd be dealbreakers if I was just a tiny bit less infatuated, y'know?"

"Some folks have a lot of baggage..." Lisa replied.

"We just had a fight, too. A huge fight." Scott explained.

"Did you win?" Lisa asked.

"Uhh... not really." Scott chuckled. "It was about you."

"The fight?" Lisa blinked.

"I can confirm, I was there. It was quite the fight." You nodded.

"She thinks we have a thing, or had a thing, or something, but we never did!" Scott replied. "Right?"

"Maybe we should have." Lisa replied.

"Wait, what?" You blinked, and Scott was just as shocked.

"Maybe we should." Lisa repeated, her voice a little softer.

You did not expect the conversation to go there, and you were praying, begging that Scott not do anything stupid. But the look in his eyes was saying otherwise. Shit, what to do?

- Have Faith

Scott may be an idiot, but he's a good guy. He's a nice guy. The fact he hasn't told Ramona he loves her is just proof he is serious about it. Maybe it was time to have a little faith. You trust him to not make things worse.

- Stop It

Scott can't do anything right. He always relies on you for everything, and this situation will be no different. And to no-one's surprise, it's gonna go wrong, and he ends up making things worse. You're gonna have to forcefully drag him out.

Trust, faith, and the belief that your friend can do the right thing, that is what you decided to have. Hopefully, it's the right call. Sleep was calling, and you answered, leaving the two alone, and going elsewhere to spend the night.