Paige waits outside for OJ and Sam to show up, Eevee bag in tow. He sits on the sidewalk, kicking his feet.
"I wonder if um... oh, I can't remember his name..." Paige mumbles to himself. "Well, I wonder if OJ's other parent will be with them..."
A cool, three tiered honk trills from down the street. Paige blinks, turning towards the noise. In only a few seconds, the grooviest RV Paige has yet to see comes into view.
"Paige!" OJ waves out of the window. "We're here!"
Paige smiles wide as he hops up. The door is opened for him and he quickly climbs in.
"Hello, Snowy!" Sam greets.
"Hey, kid!" the person driving says.
"Hi, Sam!" Paige waves. "Hi... um..."
"This is Dani!" Sam says at the same time Dani says, "I'm Dani!" They both blink and look at each other for only a moment before laughing.
"They always do this," OJ says, fond smile on his face. "Ma, Mami, this is my friend Paige!"
"Oh, don't act like we don't know Paige!" Dani laughs as he begins pulling off. "You only talk about him all the time."
"Oh, please don't say it like that," OJ begs, glancing at Paige.
Paige tilts his head, confused. "Why not?" he asks. "It's okay that you talk about me! It makes me feel good, actually!"
"It does?" OJ asks.
"Yes! It's like..." Paige thinks. What was it like?
Like a hug after a crummy day.
Like sharing a knowing look with a friend.
Like knowing you exist to others just as others exist to you.
Like... like...
"I don't know," Paige eventually says, shaking his head. "But it makes me happy to know I've been on your mind enough to talk about me!"
Sam giggles. OJ, sitting behind her, kicks her chair a bit.
"Oh, Orville!" she continues laughing. "Don't be so overdramatic! You of all people should know it'll be fine."
"¿Podemos no hablar de el ahora? ¿Por favor?" OJ says, switching to Spanish for some reason.
"Okay, okay," Sam sighs. "Sorry, honey."
"As long as you do not continue, it is quite alright, Mom." OJ sighs. He then turns to Paige. "Sorry, there was... something I couldn't think of how to say in English."
Paige tilts his head again, interested. "Is English not your first language?" He asks, then gasps. "Um! Not that there's anything wrong with it if it isn't!"
OJ shakes his head. "No, no. It is. I just... didn't know how to phrase it right."
"Oh, okay!" Paige smiles. "It's cool that you have more than one language you can speak fluently." He scrunches his eyebrows and purses his lips, pushing his pointer fingers together. "You probably already know I'm not the best at Spanish after Friday..."
OJ laughs. "You did well for what you did!" he smiles. "Honestly. You just mixed up 'have' and 'want'."
"Ah, darn it," Paige says, snapping his fingers. "I always do that..."
"Es OK, pequeña tórtola," Sam singsongs. "We can teach you if you so wish!"
"Oh!" Paige gasps. "That's so nice of you!"
"Mandy here just loves to flex every bit of Spanish she knows." Dani chuckles.
"I do~!" Sam sings, laughing. Dani laughs with her.
"Mandy...?" Paige whispers to himself.
"A nickname my Ma has for my Mami," OJ explains, then scrunches his face. "Erm... that is to say, Dani's nickname for Sam."
"Oooh," Paige nods. "That's cute!"
"Aw!" Dani coos. "You're cute!"
Paige blushes. "Heehee!"
The four of them fall into a comfortable back and forth, the radio having come on at some point. Eventually though, they reach their destination.
"It's an early 1 PM, kids!" Sam says once they get out of the car, stretching. "What will you two do in the beautiful sun today?"
"Hide from her," OJ jokes with a smirk. "We'll be in my room." He grabs Paige's hand and turns towards him. "There's something I wanted to show you!"
"Oh!" Paige smiles as OJ begins pulling him into their house. It's a tall, blue home. It looks complicated on the outside, but inside it's layout is actually rather open. Something something, the home reflecting the tenants, something something... "There's something I wanted to show you too!"
"Yes?" OJ questions as they ascend the stairs.
"It's my bag actually!"
"Ooh! Well, we're almost to my room. Show me once we're there, yes?"
"Of course!"
OJ brings Paige into a fairly large room, almost rivaling his own. The decorations clash every which way he looks, one corner being filled with trains upon trains and another filled with Sonic merchandise and a third filled to the brim with Pokemon plushies. That last corner was actually his bed. Paige could barely tell it was with it being buried under all the plushies!
There's one last corner, filled with a cornered desk which houses two monitors. There's a bunch of stuff on the desk, all little bits and pieces Paige couldn't really tell what they were.
"Welcome to my room, Paige!" OJ grins, striking a pose. "It's rather crowded, but I made sure there was enough room for you to sleep here tonight!"
"I get to sleep in here?" Paige gasps, pulling off his backpack.
"Yes! You even—oh my gosh." OJ cuts himself off in his own gasp, rushing over next to Paige and bending down. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh."
Confused, Paige blinks. Then, he looks down to where OJ is hovering.
Oh! His bag!
"Paige," OJ breathes, "Is this an honest to god shiny Eevee backpack? The one they only made 102 of?"
"Yes!" Paige smiles. "It's actually what I wanted to show you!" He sits down on the floor and pats next to him, urging OJ to do the same. He does, plopping down with an exhale.
"How did you get your hands on this?" OJ asks, turning it around and around. "This is incredible! Though you've most certainly had this since 2009, it's practically immaculate!"
"I like it a lot!" Paige laughs. "I like to keep my things clean!"
"Yet you use it often, yes?"
"Eh," Paige wobbles his hand. "Every so often. Like I said, I like it! I wanna keep it looking as good as it can for as long as I can."
"Incredible willpower you show," OJ commends. "For I would've run this poor thing into the ground! Haha!"
Paige watches as OJ laughs, something warm filling him. OJ had the prettiest laugh Paige had ever heard. He loved hearing it. He didn't even realize how much he had missed it until just now.
He hopes he can hear more of it soon.
"Oh, apologies, Paige. I do tend to get a bit carried away." OJ says, a little shy.
"Don't apologize!" Paige grins. "I love to hear you talk!"
OJ rubs the back of his head. Was he blushing? "Ah... thank you." He shakes his head a bit. "But! This is amazing. I'm so happy I got to see one of these backpacks up close." He hands it back to Paige. "Here you are."
"Thank you!" Paige smiles, placing it in his lap. "Now what did you wanna show me?"
"Oh yes!" OJ grins, clapping his hands together. "Well, you know how you mentioned my love of Sonic the other day?"
"Yes?"
"Yes! So! You kind of sparked a revitalized love for it in me!" OJ stands and goes to his computer, beckoning Paige to follow along. "I made something and I was hoping to show you!"
"Ooh!" Paige smiles, putting his bag aside and going after OJ. "What is it?"
Paige comes up behind OJ and looks over his shoulder. The mouse moves in precise motions. Soon, the screen shows a document entitled "Sonic '06 is Savable, and Here's Why".
"I have a power point prepared!" OJ smiles wide. "I can prepare some popcorn if you so wish!"
-- A/N --
*the spanish OJ speaks means "Let's not talk about him right now? Please?"