Encouragement and Mental Images

Who: Peyton and Geo
Where: The Williams' House
When: 4:30pm

Geo sat on the front porch of the house, deeply, intrinsically aware that his mother was in the living room - probably watching him. Annoying - yet also reassuring. It was nice to not be the responsible one. His iPod was on, turned down low and soft. Foo Fighters today - only calm songs. It was all he could really handle - this was weird, after all. He kicked the floor, moving the porch swing into motion again, waiting for Peyton.

It took Peyton a bit to get to Geo's, seeing as Tyler was out with Jason helping clean up around the school, and her dad was working, so she had to walk. It gave her time to take in the damage done to the town, and all she could really do was hope that Marquette would get cleaned up and hopefully return to some semblance of normalcy. Maybe. She headed up the street toward Geo's and spotted him out on his porch. She could also see the bandage on his eye and felt herself frown. She couldn't go up to him fretting about. He was probably getting enough of that from his parents. Peyton pulled her own iPod headphones from her ears and headed up his driveway. When she got to his porch, she offered him a small smile and went to sit next to him on the swing, her hand reaching out to take his in a comforting way. "How're you feeling?"

Geo squeezed her hand, gently, half-grinning. "Oh, not bad...considering. Yanno." He waved at his face with his free hand. "Mom's finally let me out of her sight...a bit." He waved at the window, leaning in to stage-whisper. "I swear, she's right inside the window keepin' an eye on me." The curtains seemed to shift, and he managed a slight laugh that came out somewhat forced. "See?"

Peyton smiled when she saw the curtains move and then fall still. She was almost of the mind to go in and say hello, since she quite liked Geo's mom, but the important place was where she was. "She's just worried about you. Which I think is pretty understandable." Turning back to Geo, she studied him. "You look... dangerous," Peyton teased a bit, nudging him with her elbow. "Real tough like... which is a compliment you have to take because I could make jokes about pirates and everything, and I don't think you'd appreciate that one as much."

"Tough, huh?" Geo leaned back against the porch swing, working his foot to keep it moving in a gentle, hypnotic motion. He finally thumbed off his iPod, setting it on the railing. "Tough like, what, like a gangster? I could handle that, I think..." Better to think of it as a sign of toughness than, say, a sign of weakness. Which was exactly what it felt like right now. "And I appreciate you keeping the pirate comments away. I don't like pirates. Unless they're the music type." He took another glance at the window and carefully raised his voice. "Not that I would even condone such a thing as music piracy."

She couldn't help but giggle a bit, wondering if his mom was really going to stand by the window and keep an eye on them. Or rather, Geo. "Definitely not music pirates... er, piracy. I'd for sure go more along the lines of gangster style. Though I'd much rather prefer the mob style, with the cool hats, trenchcoats and machine guns, over the bandanas, baggy jeans and horrible rap music." She leaned back with him on the porch swing. She would have helped him rock the swing, but her toes barely brushed the porch as they moved back and forth. Peyton looked at Geo with a smile. "Your mom's not gonna think I'm a bad influence on you, if I'm encouraging gangster mentality to go with your tough eye bandage, is she?"

"Ohhh, don't let Sammy hear you say that. He's all about bad rap music and baggy jeans..." Geo's smile went crooked again. "You should see him dance, though..." Though I don't know that I was supposed to tell you he does. Er. "And you?" He changed the subject hurriedly. "A bad influence? I've got this friend back in Skokie, really is a gangster. Steals cars. Or he, ah, used to, 'til he got his girlfriend pregnant. He's been tryin' to shape up for her and the baby since, but old habits die hard and all. But compared to M? You're a saint. No worries there."

Peyton's smile widened at that and she clapped her hands together happily at the thought. "Sammy dances? Maybe I'll get to witness it at homecoming or something. I'll have to remember Sammy likes rap music... because he so doesn't seem like the type. Except for those... things in his hair." She motioned to her own hair and twirled her finger a bit. She dropped her hands to her lap again and reached with her toes to help him rock the swing. "And you have a gangster friend who got his girlfriend pregnant and steals, er, stole cars?" Peyton shook her head. Geo didn't really seem like the type to have those kind of friends, but then again, Sammy didn't seem like the type to dance to rap so... the Williams brothers were chock full of surprises. "You're special, Geo, because not everyone can have a gangster and a saint as friends. But being a saint is boring, I'll tell you that much. I want to be cool and have some sweet nickname like 'M'. Preferably not 'P' because that's just going to get me teased."

"Well," Geo drawled, "We could start calling you M-dizzle or something like that? And, well, saints aren't boring you know. Some of them are very interesting. There's San Julian, patron saint of wanderers, or Saint Francis, patron saint of animals...birds in particular. He took a vow of poverty, lived in rags and tamed animals with his words." His grin went a little less lop-sided. "There's a long list of saints who did interesting things, they weren't all just good people who never did anything."

"I'm not overly big on poverty, or dressing in rags," Peyton admitted. "But you can't say I'm a saint because I think I'm just one of those good people who never does anything. I could try that whole talking to animals thing and see how it works out." She paused for a second. "Seriously, though, I do want to do something, even if it's small. Not necessarily something to achieve sainthood, but maybe around the M-dizzle level. Gangster lifestyle excluded, of course. Though... I may be able to get pregnant and see how about stealing cars. I'd be pretty unassuming, no one would expect it from me." She nudged him lightly with her elbow. "You could be my sidekick... Trenchcoat Larry."

Geo just stared for a beat, good eyebrow raised. "....Trenchcoat Larry? What. Just...just what." Teasing aside, Peyton really was doing something, and in a big way. She just might not see it as big as he did. "Stealing cars is not as fun as it sounds, honestly. It's a pain and the timing has to be just right and all this other...stuff."

"Trenchcoat Larry just rolls off the tongue better than Trenchcoat Geo." She shrugged as if that explained it all. "And we'll get you a really kick ass eye patch and you can stand with your hands in your pockets and slouch a bit and scowl? People will fear Trenchcoat Larry, believe me. You'll be a legend." Peyton grinned at the mental image that invoked. "And if stealing cars isn't as fun as it sounds? Why do it? Unless it's for the strip it for parts to sell thing... didn't you see that movie with whatshisface? Where they steal the cars and it's all about adrenaline that's better than sex and all that stuff?" She waved her hand dismissively before eying him suspiciously. "Hey, how would you know about the timing and painliness of it all? That better be an indirect knowledge from Mister M rather than personal experience."

His gaze flickered to the house window nervously before he leaned in to whisper hurriedly. "We may have been his lookouts once or twice. Don't tell mom. M always did it for the money; chop shops and all that. Highschool dropouts aren't high in demand, yanno? And he thought he couldn't get money any other way but drugs and he was too good for the drugs, thank all things holy." He chewed on his lip for a second, reaching up to touch the bandage again. "Trenchcoat Larry sounds like a band name."

Peyton's eyes widened a bit but she kept her lips pressed together to keep from gasping. If Mrs. Williams was still spying, that expression would probably be one that'd have her ear pressed up against the glass. "For shame, Larry," Peyton whispered back. "I mean, yeah it's better than selling drugs, but dude, I would be so pissed is some guy stole my car! Not that I have a car, but if I did and it got stolen? Yeah, so pissed. Then I'd track down who stole it and do some damage... and then find out who the lookouts were." She tried to give him a stern look, but failed horribly due to the smile. "I won't tell your mom. As long as I don't catch wind of you doing anything else illegal." She shook her head and reached up to push her hair behind her ears again, her eyes studying his bandage. "Trenchcoat Larry sounds like a really kick ass band name. I can just see it on a t-shirt or something."

"Mhm!" He shook his head slightly. "But there's no need to worry 'bout that; he quit once his kid was born. His girlfriend...kinda made him choose between stealing 'em and her and her kid. I think he made the right choice. He doesn't need a lookout any more." Truth be told, Geo was borderline jealous - sure, M had his problems, but at least he was doing something with his life.

"Ah, the ultimatum." Peyton nodded and leaned her neck back against the top of the porch swing. "Good for him though, because not every guy would do the right thing in that situation." She turned her face to look at him and smiled. "You could be my lookout. Though in order for me to steal hot cars, I probably ought to learn how to drive one. It's embarrassing, being almost eighteen and not having my license. Otherwise, I'd run the cars into trees or something and be like, the worst car thief ever."

"Try being almost twenty and not having it." Geo pretended to sulk. "Though, mine was for completely different reasons, I'm sure..." He paused, uncomfortably, before speaking what came to mind. "...and I guess it doesn't matter that much now." He hadn't thought of that, but would he be able to ever learn to drive now? That wasn't anything he'd ever thought he'd have to worry about.

She reached out to take his hand again and give it a squeeze before offering him a smile.. "I doubt we're missing much, right? We don't have to pay car payments, or complain about insurance, or gas prices... Maybe we're just meant to ride a bike, or walk for the rest of our lives. At least we'll be in shape while everyone else gets fat car seat asses."

"Fat car seat asses don't fit in sharp suits and trenchcoats all that well, so I guess that's good!" Silver lining on every cloud, right? "We're protecting our future fanbase from disillusionment and sorrow. Or something like that."

Peyton laughed and nodded. "Or something like that, yes." She rested her head back against the porch swing again and turned her head to look at him. "Are you going to be okay? Do you need anything from me? CDs? Candy? Some pimptastic new wheels for your bike or anything?"

"Sunglasses."

The word came out before he really had a chance to think, and he ducked his head for a second before schooling a smile back onto his face. "Figure I need maybe a decent pair or two, and then just a whole bunch of novelty ones." He rubbed the side of his hand before waving at the bandage. "I just...I don't think it's gonna....look nice, for a while, and pirates...well, after Hallowe'en the whole look'll just fall apart."

She kept the smile on her face and studied him. "Pimptastic sunglasses then. And I think you're going to look fine, regardless. Trenchcoat Larry, remember? The most obvious thing for Halloween for you would be pirate, so you can't do that. You've got to be total anti-pirate."

"I don't know about that." Geo faked a scowl. "The anti-pirate would be, like, a high-class-gentleman or something, or one of those prissy ladies they - the pirates, I mean - always kidnap, and really, can you see me in a dress?" He paused for a second before shuddering. "I apologize for any permanent damage and-or mental scarring that previous mental image just caused."

"Not high class! And not gentleman," she stated with a giggle. "Total gangster! Haven't we already discussed this?" She poked him good naturedly. "Though yes, thanks for that mental image. It's bound to stick with me for awhile. Though who knows, you in a dress? You could be the prettiest belle at the ball for all you know."

Geo fluttered his eyelashes at her. "Maybe I oughta do that for Halloween - Geo Williams, drag queen?" He let that sink in before he shuddered again. "...no. Just no."

"Aw come on!" Peyton reached up to fluff his hair. "I've got some lip gloss you can use. All you need is some fake lashes and a bow in your hair and you're ready to go. You've got such a pretty face," she teased. "See? You've got so many options other than pirate. You've just got to find them."

He let her ruffle his hair, laughing despite himself. "I think mom would toss me out the door if I came home in that get up, yanno?"

She sighed dramatically. "Yeah, she probably would. That's okay, though, we've got like... another month and a half before we have to worry about Halloween. I'm sure we can come up with ways that you won't terrify your parents." Peyton paused. "Plus, we don't want Sammy being traumatized by seeing his big brother wearing eye makeup. Though I think it'd be fun to see his reaction."

"I don't think Sammy is capable of being traumatized, 'least not by me." Geo smirked. "And I'd love to see if we could work somethin' out, though I have to say given the current topic of conversation I'm glad mom's not by the window anymore." He stuck his tongue out at her, still teasing. "Now I won't have to explain myself."

She looked over at the window and smiled widely, giggling at the way he stuck his tongue out at her. At least she knew that even though he was older than her, he could still pull the juvenile card. "All it takes is some perfectly worded phrases about eye make-up, and maybe glitter, the next time I see your mom and make my words, those seeds of doubt will be planted. Then you'll have to explain yourself."

"Hey, I could work with glitter, glitter is awesome. Besides, David Bowie did glitter and eye make-up and he rocked, so..." He tapped the bandages again. "Maybe I could make a pink eye-patch and dumped purple glitter on it or something." He stood up, grabbing the porch-swing so it wouldn't tilt and dump her off. "Or make it based on, like, Ziggy Stardust or somethin'. C'mon, I'll show ya what I mean."

Laughing, Peyton stood from the porch swing. "You're really going to show me?" she asked, trying to imagine Geo as Ziggy Stardust. That was more bizarre an image than him in a dress, oddly enough. "I'm all for that. You know, it'll be fun... somedays you can be Trenchcoat Larry, and somedays Ziggy Stardust... or Geo Stardust. Or Giggy Stardust... the possibilities are endless."

"Oh, hell no, Giggy Stardust sounds like a stripper. And I'm not gonna touch that one with a ten foot pole." ...and he'd just totally walked into the most obvious joke ever. He winced, and opened the door for her, waving her ahead. If he could laugh, that was a sign this all would pass, right? "...After you."