girl, you gotta know you're my shining star

[floozyfacade]

The last ten days have been an impressive effort on my part not to sulk. Seriously, there should be Oscar buzz right now for my performance as a not-petulant teenage girl, possibly an Emmy nom, at least a Globe. Somewhere under the water is a ridiculous and creeptastic city the likes of which no one on this island has seen before with all kinds of

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[pointzerothree]

It is, Eduardo thinks, a little bit like watching a train wreck or some multiple car accident on a highway, where the sight of it alone is absolutely painful, but looking away is just impossible. He has no idea what this music video is that Olive is watching, instinctively sitting down next to her before he really stops to look at the screen, but he does know that it looks simply ridiculous, and not just because of that face.

Bad facial hair and sunglasses aside, Eduardo is pretty sure he'd recognize that face anywhere, even, apparently, singing a song about -

"Oh, my God," he says, eyes going wide, corners of his mouth pulling up in an instinctive, incredulous smile. Turning his head slightly towards Olive without fully looking away from the video, he blinks a few times, tongue pressed to his teeth. "Okay, first of all, what is this? Second, why does that guy look like Sean Parker? This is... strangely hilarious."

[floozyfacade]

"Not gonna get you a diamond ring, that sort of gift don't mean anything," Olive sings, hamming it up for him before she leans over with her head on his shoulder. Taking in Eduardo's reaction to this has to be one of the best things yet about finding the reel on the shelf.

"It's 'Dick in a Box.' It's an SNL sketch that I, personally, think is... extremely self-explanatory as an instructional video preparing you for the holiday season. And he looks like Sean Parker because that -" She slaps lightly at his knee. "- is Justin Timberlake. I told you he looked like Justin Timberlake." It's extra odd when she considers that even one brief encounter with Sean was enough for her to find him irritating - if likewise strangely hilarious - but she can't hold anything against Justin Timberlake other than the video for "Bye Bye Bye."

[pointzerothree]

"I guess I just never really thought about it," Eduardo says, a little dazed, though he can't hide his amusement even now. It is funny, the video seeming to get increasingly ridiculous the more it goes on, in spite of - or perhaps even because of - the man's resemblance to Sean Parker, no matter how much Eduardo hates that stupid, awful face. Sometimes, he wishes he'd thrown that punch after all, just to see the damage it would do, but mostly, he's satisfied with the expression Sean wore upon thinking he was about to be decked. If things had to happen the way they did, he's at least grateful that he got to leave as the superior one.

All of that is irrelevant now, though. Arm slipping instinctively around Olive, he grins, almost transfixed as he watches the video. "They really do, though, look... startlingly alike, you were right."

[floozyfacade]

"I usually am," Olive informs him, but she huffs out a laugh, because her odds are more like fifty-fifty for getting things right (she doesn't actually mind that. Sometimes mistakes are just as productive or satisfying, and sometimes they just need to be made). "And I'm never wrong about the pop culture upon which I grew up." It's strange to realize this particular video is after his time, if only by a couple years, but that does explain a lot about why he never made that connection with Sean, given that Justin Timberlake hadn't embarked on a solo career by the time she was twelve, as far as she remembers. "He looks so stupid, I love it."

[pointzerothree]

"You know, he really does," Eduardo says slowly, almost thoughtfully, corners of his mouth pulling into a wider smile before he can help it. As much as he hates the sight of Sean Parker's face, Justin Timberlake's being close enough that there's no real difference there, seeing him look so ridiculous is an opportunity too good to be passed up. In fact, it's pretty fucking incredible. "I guess the real difference is, Sean is such a dick that all you'd have to do is put him in a box, and bam, there's your title right there."

[floozyfacade]

Olive laughs, tipping her head up to kiss the corner of his mouth. "You are adorable when you're spiteful," she teases. "You know, it's funny, I was just talking to Mark the other day about putting you in a box. But I really doubt this is what he had in mind." If there's one thing she doesn't want Mark thinking about, it's her and Eduardo's sex life. It seems like, for better or worse, he's been folded into so much else, but that much is off limits, even if she knows it's the kind of thing guys talk about with each other.

[pointzerothree]

"What, he told you about the thing with Dustin?" Eduardo asks with a short, surprised laugh, managing to tear his gaze away from the screen for that. It's a memory he'd all but forgotten about, even more insane in retrospect, but then, he generally gave into any of their ridiculous schemes with enough coaxing. (He ignores the strange feeling in his chest at the mention of Olive and Mark having talked about him. For the most part, it's a good one, but there's still something surreal about it, and he has enough else on his mind now.) "Yeah, that was... interesting. And I'm glad my completely justified spite is so endearing to you."

[floozyfacade]

"Okay, so maybe adorable's the wrong word," Olive sighs, head tucked on his shoulder again, voice slightly lowered since she's so close as it is. "It's, uh... nice to see a little bite, that better?" In any circumstances other than those involving this video, it might actually be kind of hot, for that matter. As much as she loves him, Olive can't deny Eduardo takes more than he should at times, and even if it's from a safe distance, any demonstration he thinks he deserves better is satisfying. "And yes, he did, he told me about that. I needed a little, uh, clarification about you being too big to put in a box as a present."

[pointzerothree]

"Oh, is that what it was?" Eduardo laughs, leaning his head against hers, fond in contrast to the video playing and the other subject at hand. There are times he really can't help but wonder how it is he got so lucky, having a girlfriend as incredible as Olive, a rekindled friendship with someone he thought he'd lost, and the two of them able to get along, when he's able to admit now that he didn't entirely expect them to. It's closer to perfect than his life was ever supposed to get. Add to that a really great opportunity to be amused at Sean Parker's expense, and that's even better. "Anyway, I'm sure you've noticed by now, he kind of has a tendency to bring that out of me."

[floozyfacade]

Since he's right there, Olive tips her face up to kiss him again. "It's come to my attention once or twice," she says, instead of asking Who, Sean or Mark? She knows the answer, there's no point in playing dumb. Mark gets the opposite reaction out of him ninety percent of the time. "Is it wrong if I like that?" It's at odds, really, with the guy she's fallen in love with, except that it's not; it might take a lot to get Eduardo's hackles up, but it's not like he can't defend himself. She just likes seeing it, even when it's translated into a kind of cattiness.

[pointzerothree]

"I don't think so," Eduardo says, though his expression grows slightly sheepish for it, one corner of his mouth pulling up a little higher than the other. It's a nice change, anyway, weird as it is to think so; Christy never tolerated it, the times she saw it, and God knows it was rarely worthwhile with Mark. Now, yes, it's petty and he knows it, but fuck it. Sean Parker might just be the worst human being he's ever had to meet, a smarmy son of a bitch whom he's sure isn't entirely blameless for the dilution, and now someone who looks like him has bad facial hair and is singing a song about putting his dick in a box. "If only because I know it doesn't happen often. He's a special case."

[floozyfacade]

As the video wraps to a close, Olive laughs, nudging Eduardo. "Oh, then you'll like this part," she says, as the cops show up to arrest Timberlake and Samberg. Maybe Eduardo will never get to see anything of the sort happen to Sean, but at least he gets this, maybe just a taste of satisfaction. There's nothing wrong with special cases, with the occasional holding of a grudge, although she's terrible at it herself.

[pointzerothree]

Eduardo has to bite his lip to hold back a louder laugh, barely resisting the urge to do something fucking stupid like clap. He almost wants to say it was a long time coming, but then (as he actually has to remind himself), this isn't really Sean, just a grown-up member of a boy band who happens to look startlingly like him now that he's older. "Living up to his doppelgänger's reputation, here," he says, clearly trying, and failing, to keep his grin from growing too broad. There's a sick sort of satisfaction that comes in knowing what became of Sean, or at least that he finally managed to prove to Mark what he was really like. Much as Eduardo hates what Mark must have had to go through because of it, he was still right. "Though I'm not sure a dick in a box is really as bad as anything involving underage interns."

[floozyfacade]

"Depends whose dick is in the box and who's getting it," Olive says, her tone a thoughtful hum before she grins up at him, hand sliding to his cheek to turn his face toward her for a kiss. "Not that that's on my Christmas list, for the record. I just mean there are some things a girl just doesn't want to see." And some interns who are, regardless of their age, perfectly willing and able to judge what they want. Age never kept her from wanting him, and being underage didn't stop her fooling around, even if they drew certain specific lines until recently. Saying it, though, would sound too much like defending Sean, which would hardly be her intent. Mostly she's still getting used to the answer to How old are you? being Eighteen.

[pointzerothree]

"Don't worry, I was really not intending on taking any hints from this," Eduardo assures her, eyebrows raising. Having sex with her on her birthday was one thing, relating to the age itself and how long they'd waited (and maybe a little for lack of anything better to give); this is just excessive, unnecessary, honestly kind of weird to think about outside of the context of something as humorous as the video. "Or from him, for that matter." The last speaks for itself, he's sure, but bears mentioning anyway. While Eduardo has never had a problem being around drugs, but when it comes to Sean and his habits, the aforementioned underage girls, it's an entirely different story.

[floozyfacade]

"It just wouldn't be practical," Olive deadpans. "Where would we even get a box?" Her brow furrows as her thoughts on the subject become somewhat more serious, or at least of a more practical (and generic) nature. "And wouldn't it chafe? And what happens if it, you know... grows in the box, and then you can't get it out and the circulation is being cut off and really, I just, feel like that's an accident waiting to happen. If it hasn't already to some poor soul who probably just thought it would be funny." It's just hard to see that ending well when given real world application.