FIC: Karma Points Gained are Karma Points Earned (Mac, Madison) PG-13
Title: Karma Points Gained are Karma Points Earned
Author: StarCrossdSparrow
Characters: Mac, Madison
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, and I don't make any money writing about them. Blech :(
Rating: PG-13 for swearing
Word Count: ~1200
Spoilers and/or Warnings: 3.12 "There's Got To Be a Morning After Pill"
Summary: Mac and Madison run into one another.
Author's Note: My first ever try at the 60_minute_fics challenge (i.e. write a fic in an hour)! The theme was 'what do we talk about when there's nothing to say?'. So it was a fun little challenge, and is also un-beta'd, 'cause of the time constraints and all.
She was tapping her heel insistently against the metal chair leg, desperate for her laptop, her iPod, even her damn Sociology in the Modern World textbook...anything to not have to look at the girl who'd just walked - no, strutted - into the PepBoys waiting area.
"How long will it take?" Madison whined.
The bored looking kid behind the counter - a real brick house of a guy, Mac thought - shrugged at Madison. "Like an hour."
"But I have a hair appointment in an hour!" she seethed, barely controlling the volume of her voice.
The clerk shrugged and looked back down at his copy of Maxim. Mac resisted the urge to laugh...but only barely. Because if Madison was going to sharing her breathing space for the foreseeable future, she didn't want to call attention to herself.
Instead, she snatched a torn magazine from a rack - a summer 2006 issue of Motor Trend - and delved in. She felt Madison sit haughtily down on the only other available chair. Great...now she couldn't set the magazine down and trade it for another. She was stuck. So she started to read about the latest in automobile engineering, not giving a flying fuck about fog lamps and front wheel drive.
Soon, her attention was drawn to the girl next to her. Madison was huffing and snorting like an eager racehorse, anxious to get out of the gate...or for a sugar cube. Mac knew she wanted someone to pay attention to her, perhaps save her from the hellhole that was a second-rate auto shop. At that, Mac wondered why Madison was even there. It wasn't like the girl was hard up for cash or anything.
Instead of asking, she burrowed her face closer to the magazine, intent upon the latest advancements in body design for a Ford F-150.
"Uh, excuse me," Madison butted in rudely.
Mac peeked over the torn pages of her magazine to see Madison shaking her mobile phone at her.
"Yeah, uh, my cell's dying. Do you have one I can use?"
Mac twisted her mouth into a thinking frown. Helping Madison would mean aiding The Enemy - akin to an act of treason in her eyes. On the other hand, not helping would made her the lesser person...and she figured it'd help her out in karma points for the future. She nodded and reached into her bag, plucking her cell out and handing it over.
As Madison gave a simpering smile of thanks, Mac prayed that whatever gods there were had just witnessed her act of kindness.
"Hey, Mummy? Yeah, so the new car smells like ass." Madison began once the call had gone through. "Oh, come on, Mom! Anyway, can you come and get me? I'm going to be late for my appointment at Frederick's..."
Mac tried not to listen, but she had to wonder why Madison's new car (the cherry red BMW Mac saw through the window, nearly obscuring her view of her green Bug, beyond had to be Madison's) smelled 'like ass.' Maybe German engineering had invented a new car smell that adjusted to its owner? Mac held back a laugh and resisted the urge to flip through her magazine in search of the article detailing the latest in automobile olfactory perks packages.
"But, Mom!" Madison whined. Mac winced - surely a dog somewhere had bleeding ears thanks to Madison's little vocal performance.
"Fine!" she snapped, folding the phone closed angrily. Mac peered at her, and she had a sense that Madison was about two seconds from a tantrum. However, as she looked on, the girl just huffed and thinned her lips into a narrow line. She turned back to Mac and thrust the phone out. "Thanks."
Mac simply nodded, taking a breath that she'd narrowly escaped detection. She'd done her random act of kindness for the day - no, considering who was on the receiving end, this one should count for the rest of the month - and now she could simply wait for her oil change to be done and-
"Hey, you went to my school didn't you?"
Mac looked up, and Madison was watching her. She was caught. A deer in the headlights, a dolphin in the net, a fox in the snare. Fuck.
"Uh, yeah. You went to Neptune, right?" As if Mac didn't know - Hell, as if she didn't know Madison knew. They'd been in the same classes through ninth grade; they'd even been partners on a fourth grade science fair project. And Madison would certainly know her ex's little brother had dated her.
"Yeah," came Madison's reply. She glanced back at her car. "Your Beetle?"
Mac nodded.
"It's cute."
Mac was shocked. She even blinked. "Uh, thanks. Your BMW?"
"Yeah."
"Nice."
Madison snorted and regained her seat. "Yeah, except it smells like the freaking pier at low tide. And I just got it for my birthday, too! Life sucks."
Mac resisted snorting in response. Madison thought her life sucked? Mac had gotten a lopsided cake that read 'Happy Birthday, Cindy' and a hundred dollar gift card for Best Buy for her birthday - no, for their birthday. Instead, she just nodded. "Yeah, it does."
Madison folded her arms across her chest, lifting her chin imperiously. "There was fucking tuna in my vents. I mean, really? Who in the Hell could have done that? Who would do that?"
"I don't know." Mac did know - the list of Who Would Put Tuna in Madison's vents read like Neptune High's yearbook, but who really could? Mac only knew one person. And now she was pretty sure she knew what had broken Logan and Veronica up yet again. It didn't take a sleuth to figure that out. She really needed to call Veronica, maybe get together over some Ben and Jerry's.
"So, uh, you're like friends with Veronica Mars, aren't you?" Madison asked, pronouncing Veronica's name as one would an especially disgusting strain of the Ebolavirus.
"Yeah, I am."
Madison nodded. "I thought you looked familiar."
Mac was stunned again. That was all? No snide remark about them being lesbians, no veiled threat for her to carry back to Veronica? Maybe Madison truly didn't suspect Veronica of sabotaging her new car. She opened her mouth to answer, but she wasn't really sure what she was going to say. However, she was cut off when the dude behind the desk called her name, holding her keys aloft.
Mac tossed the magazine back on the table and stood. She gratefully collected her keys and was about to push through the glass door into the garage when she stopped. Reflected in the glass, Madison looked truly pathetic, slouching down into the plastic chair. She looked a lot like her brother when he pouted.
It twisted Mac's stomach, and before she could think it through, she turned. "Uh, I'm going back through town if you need a ride."
Madison looked up, genuine surprise coloring her features. "I...really?"
Mac nodded and tipped her head toward her green Bug. "Yeah. No problem."
Author: StarCrossdSparrow
Characters: Mac, Madison
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, and I don't make any money writing about them. Blech :(
Rating: PG-13 for swearing
Word Count: ~1200
Spoilers and/or Warnings: 3.12 "There's Got To Be a Morning After Pill"
Summary: Mac and Madison run into one another.
Author's Note: My first ever try at the 60_minute_fics challenge (i.e. write a fic in an hour)! The theme was 'what do we talk about when there's nothing to say?'. So it was a fun little challenge, and is also un-beta'd, 'cause of the time constraints and all.
She was tapping her heel insistently against the metal chair leg, desperate for her laptop, her iPod, even her damn Sociology in the Modern World textbook...anything to not have to look at the girl who'd just walked - no, strutted - into the PepBoys waiting area.
"How long will it take?" Madison whined.
The bored looking kid behind the counter - a real brick house of a guy, Mac thought - shrugged at Madison. "Like an hour."
"But I have a hair appointment in an hour!" she seethed, barely controlling the volume of her voice.
The clerk shrugged and looked back down at his copy of Maxim. Mac resisted the urge to laugh...but only barely. Because if Madison was going to sharing her breathing space for the foreseeable future, she didn't want to call attention to herself.
Instead, she snatched a torn magazine from a rack - a summer 2006 issue of Motor Trend - and delved in. She felt Madison sit haughtily down on the only other available chair. Great...now she couldn't set the magazine down and trade it for another. She was stuck. So she started to read about the latest in automobile engineering, not giving a flying fuck about fog lamps and front wheel drive.
Soon, her attention was drawn to the girl next to her. Madison was huffing and snorting like an eager racehorse, anxious to get out of the gate...or for a sugar cube. Mac knew she wanted someone to pay attention to her, perhaps save her from the hellhole that was a second-rate auto shop. At that, Mac wondered why Madison was even there. It wasn't like the girl was hard up for cash or anything.
Instead of asking, she burrowed her face closer to the magazine, intent upon the latest advancements in body design for a Ford F-150.
"Uh, excuse me," Madison butted in rudely.
Mac peeked over the torn pages of her magazine to see Madison shaking her mobile phone at her.
"Yeah, uh, my cell's dying. Do you have one I can use?"
Mac twisted her mouth into a thinking frown. Helping Madison would mean aiding The Enemy - akin to an act of treason in her eyes. On the other hand, not helping would made her the lesser person...and she figured it'd help her out in karma points for the future. She nodded and reached into her bag, plucking her cell out and handing it over.
As Madison gave a simpering smile of thanks, Mac prayed that whatever gods there were had just witnessed her act of kindness.
"Hey, Mummy? Yeah, so the new car smells like ass." Madison began once the call had gone through. "Oh, come on, Mom! Anyway, can you come and get me? I'm going to be late for my appointment at Frederick's..."
Mac tried not to listen, but she had to wonder why Madison's new car (the cherry red BMW Mac saw through the window, nearly obscuring her view of her green Bug, beyond had to be Madison's) smelled 'like ass.' Maybe German engineering had invented a new car smell that adjusted to its owner? Mac held back a laugh and resisted the urge to flip through her magazine in search of the article detailing the latest in automobile olfactory perks packages.
"But, Mom!" Madison whined. Mac winced - surely a dog somewhere had bleeding ears thanks to Madison's little vocal performance.
"Fine!" she snapped, folding the phone closed angrily. Mac peered at her, and she had a sense that Madison was about two seconds from a tantrum. However, as she looked on, the girl just huffed and thinned her lips into a narrow line. She turned back to Mac and thrust the phone out. "Thanks."
Mac simply nodded, taking a breath that she'd narrowly escaped detection. She'd done her random act of kindness for the day - no, considering who was on the receiving end, this one should count for the rest of the month - and now she could simply wait for her oil change to be done and-
"Hey, you went to my school didn't you?"
Mac looked up, and Madison was watching her. She was caught. A deer in the headlights, a dolphin in the net, a fox in the snare. Fuck.
"Uh, yeah. You went to Neptune, right?" As if Mac didn't know - Hell, as if she didn't know Madison knew. They'd been in the same classes through ninth grade; they'd even been partners on a fourth grade science fair project. And Madison would certainly know her ex's little brother had dated her.
"Yeah," came Madison's reply. She glanced back at her car. "Your Beetle?"
Mac nodded.
"It's cute."
Mac was shocked. She even blinked. "Uh, thanks. Your BMW?"
"Yeah."
"Nice."
Madison snorted and regained her seat. "Yeah, except it smells like the freaking pier at low tide. And I just got it for my birthday, too! Life sucks."
Mac resisted snorting in response. Madison thought her life sucked? Mac had gotten a lopsided cake that read 'Happy Birthday, Cindy' and a hundred dollar gift card for Best Buy for her birthday - no, for their birthday. Instead, she just nodded. "Yeah, it does."
Madison folded her arms across her chest, lifting her chin imperiously. "There was fucking tuna in my vents. I mean, really? Who in the Hell could have done that? Who would do that?"
"I don't know." Mac did know - the list of Who Would Put Tuna in Madison's vents read like Neptune High's yearbook, but who really could? Mac only knew one person. And now she was pretty sure she knew what had broken Logan and Veronica up yet again. It didn't take a sleuth to figure that out. She really needed to call Veronica, maybe get together over some Ben and Jerry's.
"So, uh, you're like friends with Veronica Mars, aren't you?" Madison asked, pronouncing Veronica's name as one would an especially disgusting strain of the Ebolavirus.
"Yeah, I am."
Madison nodded. "I thought you looked familiar."
Mac was stunned again. That was all? No snide remark about them being lesbians, no veiled threat for her to carry back to Veronica? Maybe Madison truly didn't suspect Veronica of sabotaging her new car. She opened her mouth to answer, but she wasn't really sure what she was going to say. However, she was cut off when the dude behind the desk called her name, holding her keys aloft.
Mac tossed the magazine back on the table and stood. She gratefully collected her keys and was about to push through the glass door into the garage when she stopped. Reflected in the glass, Madison looked truly pathetic, slouching down into the plastic chair. She looked a lot like her brother when he pouted.
It twisted Mac's stomach, and before she could think it through, she turned. "Uh, I'm going back through town if you need a ride."
Madison looked up, genuine surprise coloring her features. "I...really?"
Mac nodded and tipped her head toward her green Bug. "Yeah. No problem."