Moon Man: Hey guys, sorry to be the bearer of bad news but no rehearsals today :(
Rose-ita: Oh no! Why not? Are you okay?
Moon Man: Heh, yeah, I'm alright, Rosita. Just a cold.
Johnny: I'm sorry, Mr. Moon. Get better soon :)
Gun-ter: Like I hope you totally get better fast!
Meena: I'll make you a cake if you want one!
Noosh: Sorry, Moon-Man. Don't die.
Moon Man: 'don't die'. That's encouraging XD thanks guys, I appreciate it.
Porsche-a: I'll come over if ya need me!
Moon Man: That's alright, but thanks anyway, Porsha.
Moon Man: Um...
Rose-ita: What is it, Buster?
Moon Man: Do any of you by chance know how to un-explode my toaster?
Rose-ita: !!!
Moon Man: I think it broke some things. Including my left shoe...
Rose-ita: Why was your left shoe on the counter? You know what, don't even answer that.
Moon Man: Darn it. It ruined my toast. How was I supposed to know you can't hit the toaster!?
Noosh: *everyone: *facepalms**
Moon Man: I have to go. I need to fix this mess. And possibly my rug. Bye guys!
*Moon Man has left the chat*
Rose-ita: You think we should go help him out? It is Valentines Day. I feel bad for him. How about we bring him some Valentine's gifts and help him clean up the remnants of his toaster and left shoe? *top ten things I never thought I'd say*
Your face is Ash: I'm in. Poor guy. He thinks he has to do everything himself.
Johnny: I can't come today. Me dad needs my help. But yeah, he puts too much on himself.
Clay: It's just the way he is. Some people are the same way. I think he has a worse past then he tells us.
Rose-ita: I agree. I've seen the way he looks when he say certain things. Anyways, anyone who wants to come can, I'm heading down to the theater. I'll bring him some treats.
*Rose-ita has left the chat*
.........
Buster sighed as he scrubbed ashes off of the floor and counter. His shoe was ruined and the marks did not want to come off of the counter no matter how much he scrubbed at them. "Stupid toaster. You're fired."
As if on cue, the remnants of the toaster caught on fire. Buster hit his head against the wall. "What. the. heck." he said, punctuating each word with a head bash. He regretted it when it made his head hurt way worse. After putting out the flames with minimal burns, he gave up with cleaning for now, feeling rotten.
With a sigh, he trudged over to the small couch and simply flopped onto it, staring at the ceiling. He wasn't that hungry anyway. But he was dissapointed about the toaster. Those things were exspensive! He felt very upset. Part of this was due to the fact he did not feel well, but the rest was simply pent up frusteration.
He heard a knock at his office door. With a sigh, he assumed it was the stagehands looking for their paychecks early, and he simply said "Go awayy" with a groan.
"Buster, it's me, Rosita."
"Rosita?" he shot upwards, which he regretted when the world went fuzzy and his vision went black for a second. He stood up and joged half-heartedly up to the door, jumping up to open it. He fumbled at the knob a bit more than he should have, but eventually got past that and opened the door for Rosita.
He smiled at her, still hangimg off of the doorknob. "Um, what's this about?" he chuckled awkwardly as he saw she had a basket in her hands. He let go off the knob, tripping and falling with a thump to the floor. He shook his head once, increasingly dizzy, trying to get rid of the feeling the fall gave. Standing up, he brushed off his blue pants and (ash covered) white shirt.
"Just some stuff I brought." as she came in, she paused. "Woah, you weren't kidding when you said your toaster exploded."
"Nope. I dislike its Valentines gift." he said with a smirk. "It won't come off the counter. Or the rug. Not to mention my shoes are done for."
"I thought it only ruined one shoe?" she said with an amused smirk.
"The other one caught on fire a minute later. I had them on the counter to get some rocks out of the toes of them. Probably should have done that somewhere else." he scratched the back of his head with a sigh. "Too late now."
"I'll clean that up for you."
"Really? Thanks, Rosita. You really don't have to."
"Oh, nonsense, Buster, you do lots of stuff for us! Now, why don't you go lie down before you fall over because you look like you're about to. You can help yourself to the chocolates." she smiled at him with motherly affection.
He flashed a grin at her and slowly, hesitantly took the box of chocolates from her hands and walked over to the couch to sit down there, leaning against the back as he savored a caramel chocolate. "Thanks, Rosita."
"No problem, Buster. We though we might come and help out. Just because you have a cold doesn't mean your Valentines day has to be completely miserable! Ash, Meena, Nooshy, and Porsha are going to come over. Norman even managed to get a babysitter for the piglets so that we can still be together too. What do you say to a night of watching movies, eating treats, and spoiling each other?"
"Sounds fun! Thanks, Rosita. Just curious though, who'd you talk into watching all 25 kids?"
"Gunter. He said he wanted to and didn't really want to go to the theater tonight for personal reasons. He did say Happy Valentines and get better soon to you, though."
Buster couldn't help but grin. "What's your favorite movie, Rosita?"
It took the pig a moment to reply. "It's been a while since I've set aside a day to watch a movie. But I'd probably have to say the Harry Potter series, including the Fantastic Beasts movies. What about you, Buster?"
"I really like those movies but I'd probably have to say The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings. I really liked the plotting and the characters were interesting. The books cwere slightly confusing at times, but I like them too."
"Understandable." Rosita said, cleaning up the mess as she also brewed a pot of mint tea. Right then, Ash and Nooshy came in the door.
"Hi, Moon Man!" they greeted in unison.
"Hey, Ash, hey, Nooshy!" he stood up on his tippy toes to peer over the back of the couch,
Nooshy walked up to him to give him a high five. Ash gave him a big hug, both of which he returned with equal - though tired - merit. "Buster, I brough my Roku stick so we can watch movies!" Ash waved the stick at him.
"Yeah, and I brought candy and snack and soda and some other stuff too. I even found pajamas in all of our sizes, weirdly enough. I also got ginger ale 'cuz I swear that stuff is like a healing potion for colds."
"I'm not going to ask where you learned all of our sizes, but thanks, Noosh!" he said, jumping onto the top of the couch before flopping back down onto the bottom. Rosita shook her head with a laugh as he did so, Nooshy and Ash swordfighting with rolled up posters.
Buster yawned twice as he was dodging their poster swords, making that end with him getting smacked on the head. "Oop! Sorry, Buster!"
"It's alright." he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the spot. With a headache like his that sucked, but he didn't mind. After snagging one more chocolate, he decided he HAD to do something. Just then, as he was balancing on the top of the couch, trying to stay there as he got increasingly dizzy, Porsha charged in the room, laughing as Meena and Norman came in behind her.
He yelped in surprise and toppled off of the couch onto the ground. With a muffled 'ouch' he looked up with a weak wave. "Hi, guys."
Porsha picked him up to hug him. Had this not been Porsha, Buster would have panicked, remembering Crystal. But he knew it was her and relaxed into the hug. He flashed a smile at Meena. "Hi, Meena, hi, Norman." he said.
The other pig regarded him with a nod. "Hey, Mr. Moon. Heard you weren't at your best today, thought we could cheer you up. Catch." he tossed Buster a granola bar and a new pair of shoes. "You can thank Porsha for the shoes, she heard about the incident with the toaster."
Buster couldn't help but burst out in laughter, despite it making him more sore. "I hope the toaster thing NEVER happens again."
"I'll bet."
"Thanks for the shoes Porsha, and for the granola bar, Norman. I haven't had one of these in long time, anyway." he said, jumping up to pull himself onto the couch. The struggle to do so was evident. Being a small animal could be difficult sometimes, especially when not feeling your best.
"You want anything, Mr. Moon?" Meena asked, putting a few bags of groceries on the counter. They had even faken the liberty of stocking his fridge and pantry.
"Honestly? I don't even know." he chuckled. "But I can't sit here and do nothing. I'll die." he said exaggeratedly.
"Oh Buster, always so dramatic." Ash teased.
"Called show business, ASHLEY." he joked back. Ash stuck her tongue out at him.
He felt a bit drowsy and his head hurt very much, but he was more than happy to spend the evening surrounded by noisy, loving friends. He even didn't mind when he was laughed at whenever he sneezed, Porsha claiming it was because it was 'cute as heck, you cinnamon bun of a koala!'.
Time went by full of laughter, quiet conversations, screaming, whispering, and in Buster's case, sneezing or coughing. He hated both, but, that was that. He did get to help himself to chocolates and the granola bar though, so that pleased him.
After a while, Rosita made them all settle down. Buster, being a little more drowsy and uncomfortable, was curled into a shivering ball on the couch. Rosita felt bad for him. They all did. Now was Nooshy's time to introduce the gifts she got for everyone.
"Hey guys, look, I got you all some stuff. I got everyone in here a new pair of pajamas, and some other stuff too." Buster slightly shifted his head a bit, interested but stifling a tired yawn. Nooshy smirked at this. "First, Rosita, I got you a new purse. It's realky good. I got it on sale. And best part? It's basically indestructible, so you won't have to worry about your kids eating it or something." everyone shared a laugh and Rosita accepted the gift, thanking Nooshy. Next, Ash got some new guitar picks, Porsha got some new makeup, Meena got a new sweater, Norman even got a nice comfortable new suit. Finally was Buster. "Here, Moon-Man. I noticed Caspar bit the screen of your phone and broke it all up so I got you a new one. Oh, and, because this really screamed 'Buster', I got you a new microphone."
Everyone knew this was because she boke the last one. This new one came with a set and had a small koala on the front.
Buster smiled and thanked her as she passed the items to him. He ran his hands over them, grinning as he examined everything about the gifts. He looked back up at Nooshy, smiling at the mischievous lynx. "Thanks, Noosh. These are awesome." he gave her a small hug as she offered the chance and then she sat down as Ash set up the Roku stick.
Everyone was excited. Everyone was smiling. Rosita sat down next to Buster, letting him lean onto her. He was warm. Well, warmer than usual. Despite the shivering his small fever caused, he was the same Buster as ever. Just more cuddly and vulnerable. Rosita found Buster burrowing into her side as they watched Starship Troopers endlessly adorable. She even had him into a small hug-like position.
Near the middle of the movie, Rosita noticed he had become a bit shaky. "Hey, you okay there?" she whispered quietly into his ear to escape the notice of the others.
He nodded slowly, a slightly pained expression crossing his face. "Head just hurts."
"You might need to get something to eat, and some water. What do you say?"
He shrugged. "Couldn't hurt I guess."
Rosita felt a little bit sad that this little cold could turn their optimistic Buster into this exhausted little fuzzball with no appetite but plenty of sneezes. Adorable or not, she felt bad for him. "Why don't you just close your eyes a minute while I make us something small for dinner?" he nodded at this.Rosita paused the movie. "What do guys say to me making us some chicken soup for dinner?"
"Yeah!" a chorus of agreements ran through the room. Buster simply flopped onto the pillow and lay there, eyes closed but awake. He wished Rosita hadn't stood up to make dinner. Now he was cold.
This caught Ash's eyes. "You want sone blankets, Buster? You can have mine." she said when he nodded. She stood up and gently laid it on top of him. Porsha regarded him with an expression that very much expressed pity. Meena stood up to get the little guy some more tea. Norman just tried to soak this up a little bit, to understand it more. He didn't know Buster very well, but here he was. In his house; the little guy almost completely miserable. He didn't understand how Buster kept his smile throughout it even though he felt like dirt. He had some really good friends. Nooshy could be overprotective of what friends she had, and quite the humorous character when she felt like it.
Suddenly, a knock came at the door. Buster pushed off the blanket a moment. He wanted to move a little bit. He hated not doing anything for so long. He slowly hopped up, missing the doorknob. That was a weaker jump than usual. A little harder. Got it! He pulled it and the door squeaked open with an audible click. Buster hopped to the ground with another yawn, depite it only being eight at night. "Oh! Mr. Calloway! Hi!" he greeted, somewhat softly.
"Hey, Moon. Sorry I'm late here, had some stuff I needed to do first. Is that chicken soup?" he asked, regarding Buster in his uncharacteristic blue pajamas. Well, they did have microphones on them but they were still slightly childish in comparison to his usual dress-to-impress routine. 'The little guy must really feel bad, huh?' he thought to himself as he saw Buster simple walk back over to the couch and struggle back onto it, curling up under a blanket on the pillows.
"How's the Moon-man doin'?" he asked Rosita, looking at Buster with a sympathetic smirk.;
"He's okay; for the most part just tired and got a headache I think. Little bit feverish but not too bad. I'm guessing it's a result of his 'stay up for two weeks then sleep one night' routine blowing up in his face."
Clay chuckled. "You putting a reference to the toaster there?"
"Maybe."
Clay patted her on the back in approval before wandering over to sit on the foot of the couch. "You guys watching Starship Troopers? This was my favorite movie when I was a kid."
"You watched R-rated movies as a kid?" Buster inquired with a questionable expression.
"Yeah. Mom didn't know about it until I was about thirteen."
"I hadn't even seen a movie until I was twelve. I had been to several theater shows starring Nana Noodleman, but we hadn't had the money for a dvd player and movies or anythin like that. Not even a VCR." he shrugged. "Things were weird back then. Well, weird-ER."
"Heh, that's agreeable. What'd you do in your spare time then?"
"Didn't really have any. My past as a kid is just shameful."
"How so?"
"I spent most of it locked in dumpsters by a goat, a wolf, and a fox." he shook his head. "Either that or I was hiding on a roof somewhere writing really dumb stories."
Clay chuckled at the second bit. "We've all done that. It's how we learn. You were that kid that got bullied, then, I'm guessing?"
"Bullied? Sort of but not really. Forced to spend most if not all hours in terrified hiding? Yeah, something like that. It went from kindergarten through college."
"Didn't your dad do anything about that?" Rosita asked with a concerned expression from the other room.
"He tried. The result was the trio setting our bushes on fire. The house burned down, I nearly died, my dad... he... he didn't make it out." the koala looked emotionless but Ash could see he was fighting a lot of pain at the memory.
"Damn." the lion whispered. "I'm sorry to hear that. What's the rest of your family like?"
Buster shrugged. "I dunno." his expression was oddly blank as he stared at the cieling. "My mother walked out on us when I was six. Right in front of me. I don't know of any aunts or uncles and all of my grandparents passed on way before I was born. I don't have any siblings. I had a brother, but my mother took him with her. Year later she and him were lost in a car accident. It was all over the news. You might have seen it. I dunno..."
Clay felt even worse. He knew not to bring up Buster's family or school ever again. "You have anything fun you liked to do?"
"Aside from theater related stories and such, I liked to sit high up in trees and stare at the sky late at night. Or I would sneak coffee and steal an apple and go sit on the rug drawing with them at five in the morning. I've always been a coffee addict I guess." he laughed awkwardly, the thought entertaining.
Everyone chuckled at that. "At least all you stole was apples." Ash said. "I stole my parents' credit card when I was teno try and buy a hotel. You can guess how that worked out."
Even Rosita giggled at that.
"Hey, Mr. Moon, do you play any instruments?"
"Uh, yeah. A little bit. Guitar, piana, drums, recorder, trumpet, and at one point the ukulele. I am probably rusty at like all of those by now but I can play them. I can't really follow along with Piano songs though. My mind wanders too much, is what my dad said. I wouls start of playing Beethoven, then randomly switch to Mozart, then by the end I'd be freestyling without even realizing it! My dad banned the guitar from the house once I smashed the old China plates when I was playing once."
Meena smiled. "That's a lot of stuff." she remarked.
"Yeah, a li-" he paused with an ubrupt sneeze. "AGH!" he groaned before picking himself back up to his former sitting position. "A little bit."
"Hm... When's your Birthday and when's your favorite holiday?"
"My birthday is November 1st but don't even think of throwing any kind of party because I hate my birthday. My favorite holiday is Christmas. Never got many gifts or fancy food but it was the one day a year my dad would set aside everything to spend ever last second with me. He was a busy guy, but he never let that change anything on Christmas." he sighed, a more content sound but tinged with sadness.
"I don't understand why anyone would hate their birthday but okay. Uh... favorite song?" Clay asked
"... Um... some of my favorites are embarrassing. But I have a lot of favorites. The majority of them being your songs. I also like Why Worry by Duality but that's just another thing that's gonna get me laughed at."
"Nah, to be honest, I'm just surprised you didn't list off the cheesiest pop songs in the history of the universe." Ash said, only to get smacked in the face with Buster's flying pillow. Ash was dumbstruck for a moment but threw it back.
Rosita began passing around bowls of chicken soup. "I just drank Mount Vesuvius." Nooshy commented, waving at her scalded tongue frantically as it burned. Buster smirked and just sampled his own slowly. It somehow just settled his stomach and made him feel better. Rosita was some sort of miracle.
He smiled at her. She was watchin him and she was pleased at how he perked up after eating a little bit of it. "Hey, Moon, what's the dumbest thing you've ever done?" Porsha asked curiously.
"Probably drank a whole bottle of extra hot hot sauce."
"Why? For money?" Rosita raised an eyebrow.
"No money involved. Just bragging rights and heartburn. I actually had to get sent to the nurse's office for my stupid life decisions." he laughed. "The principle was very pokey about it. He exaggerated so much you would have thought I did something life threatening. LIFE THREATENING IS DOING PARKOUR ON TOP OF HUGE BUILDINGS - NOT DRINKING A BOTTLE OF HOT SAUCE!"
"You haven't actually-"
"Oh, I totally have. Eddie was there too. He was basically just facepalming the entire time."
Everyone shared a laugh and finished up their food. Buster, feeling a bit better, offered to take the dishes. He gathered all of them, precariously stacked in his paws. Rosita took some of it off of his paws to help him out and out them in the sink for him. She smirked again at his funny little blue pajamas. She had never seen him in anything other than his usual attire or his christmas suit.
Buster settled back down beside Rosita as they unpaused the movie. By the time Starship Troopers was over, everyone except for Buster, Rosita, and Clay was asleep. They next started the Blade Trinity. "Why do you like scary movies, Buster?" Rosita asked curiously.
"I never really thought about it. I guess just because they make it look like real life is just a game that tries your patience a lot. And just because the action is cool." he replied softly, voice quiet.
Rosita nodded. Clay did too. "I like this guy." Clay chuckled. "But let's not replicate that action anytime within the next few days. I think we've jumped out windows enough for one month."
Buster chortled at this. "That was just BASE jumping. You think that's the most of our concerns?" he had an almost devious smile on his face. "Get me a helicopter and a trampoline."
Rosita laughed hard, "BUSTER. NO."
"Ohh yes."
(Do NOT ask)