Tag Archives: fiction

A Moment in the Life of Fred Durst

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(I wrote this because I was listening to the Mom Can’t Cook episode about Lemonade Mouth where the bad guy is a rap rocker. I listened to Break Stuff and it is a really good song for what it is. This idea just popped into my head. I actually have a great deal of respect for the man. Him showing up in I Saw the TV Glow, a deeply trans film and Y2K where he good-naturedly made fun of himself. I think that he might be an alright dude.)

He didn’t have to look around to find his trusted red baseball cap. It was always within arms’ reach and of course, he could easily summon it to his hand through the deep magic of nu metal. He could not show people that though, lest he be stripped of his powers by the nu metal mages that taught him his dark craft. But now was the time to write. Now was the time to express himself.

He sat down at his desk. He tapped his pencil against the desk, it’s point ready to be dulled through his art. He looked at his notebook. What would he bring into the being? What would he draw from the fabric of creation?

He decided that he had to speak to the people. To the everyman. What was one of the most universal things to say to somebody else? He thought for a few moments and nodded to himself.

“Did you ever have one of those days?”

There it was. A cordial phrase. One that you would say to a friend. Someone you loved. They would know that you’re going to talk about a shared experience. What else did people not want? Sometimes you…

“Did you ever have one of those days? Where you didn’t want to wake up.”

Yes, yes, YES. He was describing a bad day. Everyone had had bad days. Of course, he was far richer so his bad days were much better than others. Much easier. But he could still relate to the people. He needed to describe the people that you encountered.

“Everything is fucked. Everybody sucks.”

Beautiful. He was a wordsmith. He had to keep going.

“You don’t really know why.”

Excellent. Time to express the anger. Truly express it.

“But you really want to justify ripping someone’s off.”

What if he was an assassin? One that you didn’t want to make angry?

“No human contact. And if you interact, your life is on contract.”

His pencil was nearly on fire. He kept writing. When he was done, the eraser remained untouched because why would you need to erase any of it? He had had his pencil wore near down to the nub. But he looked upon his song, “Break Stuff”. This certainly wouldn’t come back to bite him in the year 1999.

The Genius of the Power is Power scene

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A bit of a primer for this scene is that Petyr Baelish is trying to play the Lannisters, here represented by Cersei. He mentions the fact that Cersei is sleeping with her twin brother, Jaime and that he can use that knowledge to harm them. Thus, him telling her that knowledge is power. What follows is Cersei demonstrating that it’s hard to tell people what you know when a guard cuts your throat.

My God, the writing was strong back in the early seasons. But of course those are just words on a page. You need talent to bring them to life. Aiden Gillan brings slimy heat to Petyr but of course, it’s Lena Headey that’s the MVP of this scene. She moves from overwhelmingly powerful to flippantly violent. The way she laughs as she says “I’ve changed my mind”. She then instructs her guards to close their eyes.

Maybe it’s the tone of her voice or just everything we’ve just seen, but we know that they’ve closed those eyes without having to take away from them being random faceless guards. I don’t remember if this scene is in the books but if it was, I would have something in there about Petyr knowing that the guards had obeyed her without having to see their faces.

It’s not just the absolute loyalty that the guards have whether through fear or pay, but the pettiness. Her playing these guards like they’re her toys. And the fact that she turned on a dime from a normal conversation to getting ready to spill someone’s blood in the middle of the palace. Because she knows no one will say a god damn thing.

In the later seasons as she made mistake after mistake and then more mistakes trying to fix those first mistakes, it’s hard to remember this Cersei. The one that seemed to be confident and capable. But that’s generally what I think makes villains interesting as they realize that their plans were always stupid and doomed to fail. Kind of like Randall Flagg from Stephen King’s novels. At the end of the Stand, he wasn’t that much. Same as Cersei who couldn’t stop what was coming. Of course that ending sucked but… you have to take what you get.

say hi to your dog for me

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Lorelei had been driving around with the bumper sticker from WeRateDogs on the back of her car for the last two years. She wasn’t a dog owner but she was a fan of dogs. She would go to the parks and watch people walking their dogs. Wishing she had the room or time for one. Not right now. Not until she got her promotion and had more control over her time. Soon. Soon.

She pulled up to the light and sat there. She knew this light and that she was going to be there for a long time. At least it was a nice day. Bright and clear. There weren’t too many folks on the road.

With a rev of an enormous engine, a pick up truck pulled behind her. It then revved again and pulled up next to her. She heard the sonorous sound of the horn and glanced over.

The man sitting in the car next to her was white, bald and wearing wraparound sunglasses. He was smiling a wide smile. She didn’t know what to make of the man. She wondered if he was about to say something to her whether sexual or racist. He kept smiling though.

“Say hi to your dog for me?” he called. “How about you do it yourself.”

He lifted up his hand and Lorelei nearly died. He held a chihuahua in his hand that was small and black and brown. The eyes were bugging out. It was shaking in the hand of its owner. She couldn’t tell if he was scared or just shaking like most chihuahuas do.

“Oh my God, look at that sweet angel,” Lorelei cooed. “What’s their name?”

“Apple pie!” the man called back friendly.

The light finally turned green.

“You two have a wonderful day,” Lorelei called after him as the man lowered Apple Pie back to their seat.

He gave her a friendly wave and drove through the light. Lorelei continued with her day as well, feeling a little bit happier. A little bit brighter having seen such a beautiful little one. Such is the power of the dog.

Random Word Generator: Archive

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(I learned this from Paul Robalino on the behind the scenes of Game Changer on Dropout.TV. He talks about using a random word generator and then writing from that word. This time we’re looking into a collection with the word: Archive)

The door swung open and slammed against the wall. The man that entered the room was ruggedly handsome, his hair was salt and pepper, face covered in stubble and wearing a bomber jacket and slacks. He had a pistol on his belt. His name was Jake Blast.

The other occupant was standing at a stove, watching some vegetables sizzle. He was the opposite of his visitor, clean cut, wearing a t-shirt and jeans. He poked at the food with a spatula. His name was Glenn Smart.

“Are you kidding me?” Jake said.

“About what?” Glenn replied his glasses fogging up from the steam.

“That I fought all those nazis, I got through all of those traps and flew halfway around the world for a cookbook.”

“I guess.”

He looked like he wanted to punch something.

“I thought you were an archaeologist. What does it matter that it’s a cookbook? It’s still history,” Glenn said.

“You just… you just hope that you put all the effort in and you hope that it’s going to be something really great.”

“I think it could be great.”

“Is that one of the recipes from the book?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Doesn’t smell great.”

“Yeah, they didn’t have access to certain spices,” Glenn said giving it another stir. “I knew you were coming so I made enough for two. Do you want a plate?”

“Sure,” Jake said.

When the food was done, they sat down and tasted it. They both chewed on it for a long time.

“Kind of bland,” Jake said.

“Truly,” Glenn replied eating another forkful.

“Maybe we just stick this in the archive.”

“Yeah, might as well. Good job though getting it.”

“Maybe the next tomb will be more interesting.”

Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward, the classic that should have been

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I’m sure if I was better versed in fantasy I would know that there are several books like this with the same concept. Villains having to do the right thing because the heroes don’t realize they’re dooming the world. But the one I ended up coming across was Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward.

From the cover, you know this book is going to rock. Our concept is simple, a wizard Mizzamir and his band of heroes saved the world by killing a great evil. Mizzamir has also started using his powers to forcefully remove the want to do evil from people. Because of that, nights are growing shorter and lighter. The world is “whiting out” as it were but no one can think that because everything is so much better.

Enter two of our villains Sam and Arcie, a human assassin and depressed dwarf thief, respectively. They get captured and Arcie gives Sam a contract to kill Mizzamir, this motivates Sam to break free and the two of them go on the run. They run into a druid named Kaylana who explains how the world is ending and the way that they can save it, by opening something called the Black Gate. It’ll release evil back into the world and balance it out.

What proceeds is a well written, funny and altogether great story. They encounter a sorceress who just loves being evil but has some real pathos about her, a silent black knight and a centaur bard who doesn’t know much about what’s going on but he is a double agent for the heroes.

It’s just such a bummer that this book didn’t get off the ground and become a series or that Eve didn’t write more than three books(I just found this out, I never actually looked it up until now). Because she’s an excellent writer. The book flows with wonderful character moments, it’s funny(there’s a moment where they encounter a village of Smurflike creatures and do what we all want to do and cuts a tree down so that they get crushed) and she utilizes the concept to its utmost. Just because evil is gone doesn’t mean people are better. And shows that forcing people to change isn’t this great and good thing. That there is a truly horrific cost for all of it. And just because “evil” is gone, doesn’t mean that people are better. There’s an exceptionally well written scene where Sam is out and about at night and hears a woman being sexually assaulted, which he steps in to save her from. This could easily just be a save the cat moment but it then rolls into Sam discovering a power that becomes a major plot point.

Mizzamir is a great villain because he’s not over the top but he’s so sure that he’s right. He looks upon the villains with pity that reeks of hypocrisy and snobbiness. The rest of his crew are more overtly antagonistic towards the villains and seek to harm them. They make for two distinct and interesting antagonists that feel like viable threats.

My main complaint honestly is that some things are not delved into as much as I would like. My sister has told me that she doesn’t need things like that and that it’s a personal issue of mine. Maybe it is but if the main complaint I have for a book is that I want more of it, then it’s something special.

It’s available on kindle and audible so read it if you can. A paperback version will run you about 86 bucks because it was only a first pressing. I got it for about forty back in 2004. I don’t regret spending that at all. Read it and enjoy it my friends.

Two Suits

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I bought two suits in 2020
The promise of getting a new job
Things didn’t work out that way
And they stood in my closet
Waiting for a chance to do their thing
Now, I’ve worn them out
I lost sixty pounds from when I bought them
They fit me better now
I keep track of how often they go
To sad events or happy ones
Unfortunately, the score isn’t even
It’s been a hard five years

Random Word Generator Story Time: Extreme

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(I learned this from Paul Robalino on the behind the scenes of Game Changer on Dropout.TV. He talks about using a random word generator and then writing from that word. This time we’re getting EXTREME with the word, extreme.)

What follows is the transcript from the Regional Semifinals for the Radical Race and Extreme Sports Festival presented by Power Jam Juice. When you need to jam some power, you know whose juice to jank.

John: It’s a glorious day today at the local fairgrounds that have been converted for a day of extreme sports and racing. I’m John McJortson and I’m here with my cohost Leslie Redd-White, which makes you wonder why she didn’t just combine her hyphenated married name into Leslie Pink. How’re you doing today, Leslie?

Leslie: Fine, John, and the reason that I haven’t changed my name to Leslie Pink is that there is already a pornographic actress with that name. I wouldn’t want to try and trade on another woman’s name especially one as talented as her nor would I want to have to use my middle name to continue my own career. Sorry aunt Gladys but your name is old and lame.

John: Right you are, Leslie! Now, we’re about to get underway with our first events. We’re going to check in on the half pipe where Sean Lentil is about to start his first run. He’s dropping in and starting to pick up speed.

Leslie: Still picking up speed. He has not performed a single trick nor has he touched his board with anything but his feet.

John: He sure is getting some air on those exits.

Leslie: Wait, he’s starting to spin! It’s a 1080! And another one! And another! He’s really spinning. Oh, wait, he’s starting to achieve flight. Rising! Rising! And he’s reached escape velocity! While we’re waiting for the results for the run, we’re going to take a moment to thank our sponsors today, Power Jam Juice. They have two new flavors, Menacing Mango and Grandma Killed a Man and Covered it Up. The second one has a blue raspberry flavor and they would like to let everyone know they will no longer be offering poll voted flavor names.

John: Thank you for reminding us of our sponsors, Leslie and we have an update on Sean. He has broken the atmosphere and is currently in space. Apparently, the ISS has seen him achieve faster than light travel and disappeared. Godspeed, Sean and good luck.

Leslie: Achieving FTL from a single trick is pretty extreme, John.

John: Right you are, Leslie. What do we have next?

Leslie: Next up in the half pipe we have Corey Randalsandals who, looking to impress the crowd has taken off his shirt.

John: Those abs and tattoos will certainly impress some people in the crowd if they’re into those kinds of things.

Leslie: That’s a hell of a tattoo of kanji on his back. Having studied Japanese, I can read that and apparently it says “My name is Corey Randalsandals, I’m a selfish lover and even more of a red flag. I’m jealous and mean and I don’t deserve a wonderful girlfriend who knows what kanji means. I got this for very racist reasons that used the describers, exotic and mystical. By the time I unveil this at the Regional Semifinals for the Radical Race and Extreme Sports Festival presented by Power Jam Juice, my girlfriend will have taken everything out of my house and headed for greener pastures. Go fuck yourself, Corey, I know about Nicole.”

John: That’s quite a lot.

Leslie: Small print. Looks like he’s pulled out his phone and is making a phone call. He’s yelling into his phone. Now he’s pathetically begging. Looks like his girlfriend was funding his lifestyle as he’s not a very good skater. Okay, he hasn’t dropped in but he has curled into a ball and is starting to cry.

John: That’s quite a move, I don’t know how the judges are going to score it. Well, he’s dropped in and left the half pipe. Looks like he’s skating away. Just disappearing over the horizon. Godspeed, Corey.

Leslie: I’m pretty sure that he came here in a car. Anyway, this is a good time to bring up Ron’s towing another sponsor that will treat your car like it’s his own. That’s not that good because I’ve seen the way that Ron treats his cars.

John: And as always, Power Jam Juice, try their other newest flavor Bananaramalabamaslammamamajammagamma juice. The fun thing about this one is that it actually doesn’t have a banana flavor but more a citrus flavor. There was a miscommunication between marketing and R&D and they had already made the cans, so yeah.

Leslie: Oh my god, in all my years of sports broadcasting, I’ve never seen this happen. A large hairy man, that can only be the Bigfoot has come onto the halfpipe. Kids, I want you to notice that even sasquatch is wearing proper safety gear. You should always make sure that you’re safe and happy when skating.

John: Couldn’t agree more, Leslie. Bigfoot is not an official contestant but he is being given special dispensation to enter. He’s about to start his run. Oh my god, I’ve never seen skating like this.

Leslie: A 900 into a Christ air into a heelflip and then a kickflip. He’s getting some good hang time there. And right into a Dizzy Gillespie. That’s the best skating wombat that I’ve ever seen. He’s… yes, he’s knitting! That’s a beautiful scarf! Bigfoot has excellent color sense. And he finishes with a Leaning Tower of Pisa. The crowd is going nuts. Wait… it’s not only for Bigfoot. Oh my god… there are deer at the edge of the grounds.

John: Those are not deer.

Leslie: Yes, that one has four eyes and eight antlers.

John: In this shocking turn of events, Bigfoot is running towards the not deer.

Leslie: He’s shouting something in his language of grunts and growls.

John: I took Bigfoot language in college and by taking it I listened to a crazy man tell me about his erotic and tender encounters with Bigfoot for five hours. I understand what he’s saying. He’s shouting that he has fallen in love with our society despite our flaws. That he wishes to save these innocents from those monsters. That he knows our mistakes and he loves us no matter what.

Leslie: I’m openly weeping, John.

John: And he’s entered battle with them! The not deer are shifting into forms that I can’t describe. The sounds that I’m hearing are horrific. Bigfoot is fighting valiantly. It looks bad though. Oh my god, no, he’s won… but he’s been mortally wounded. The crowd is running to him. Looks like several members of the crowd who have medical training are looking to help him. A woman has knelt and is holding his hand. He’s tenderly stroking her cheek. And… his hand has gone limp. The crowd has gently closed his eyes. The crowd are screaming in sorrow. It looks like they’re lifting his body gently.

Leslie: From what I can hear, they’re calling to take him to the local cemetery and build a great mausoleum for him. They don’t care how many people they have to drag out of their graves to make room for him.

John: Leslie, I’m going to end my broadcast here. I know of several wealthy landowners who have been laid too much at rest.

Leslie: Let me come with you, John. I’ve always had a great love of Bigfoot as any American would and should. This has truly been extreme. May a fleet of angels sing thee to thy rest, gentle Bigfoot.

End of transcript

One of the great tragedies in literature

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Recently on reddit someone asked who the character is that makes you sad. There are a lot of characters that I could think of but the one that came to my mind is Pangle from my favorite book, Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier.

The book is about Inman trying to get home through the losing south during the last days of the Civil War. He is amongst a group of people called outliers who are hiding from the home guard. One of the outliers is Stobrod, a violinist who after playing a little girl out has no longer been able to focus on the war. He runs into Pangle while hiding in a cave on Cold Mountain.

Pangle was run off his family’s property for being “simple-minded” and he hid in the mountains. He discovered a group of other outliers in his cave and was happy to see them. He fell in love with Stobrod’s music and during a raid on a farmer’s house, Stobrod stole a banjo. Pangle took to the banjo easily and the two became a duo. Even before that, Pangle would curl up next to Stobrod to sleep no matter how many times Stobrod shoved him away. In Stobrod’s words, all Pangle wanted was warmth and music.

The tragedy of Pangle comes when him and Stobrod are discovered by the Home Guard, the group meant to find outliers. They listen to the two play some music with only Stobrod realizing that they’re about to get killed. When the guard tells them to get up against a tree, Pangle throws his arm over Stobrod’s shoulders like they’re getting their picture taken. He won’t stop smiling so the guard tells him to put his hat over his face. He does so and they’re killed.

It’s pretty obvious that Pangle represents the kindness and innocence of people in the face of war. His murder is one of several dozen in this book. But this one always stuck out to me due to its unfairness and tragedy. He didn’t have any involvement in this, the war and its consequences came to him. He could have lived for a long time on that mountain.

Due to their mental state, I’m reminded of Lenny from Of Mice and Men. But the sorrow in Lenny is that a friend did it to him to be kind. Knowing that the fate that he would receive at the hands of the land owner would be far worse. These bastards did it just out of meanness.

Ada and Ruby(Stobrod’s daughter) come up the mountain to bury him and Pangle when they find Stobrod alive. When he’s going back down the mountain, Inman points out where they buried Pangle, Stobrod says “if God was to set out killing every men based on their demerits, that boy would make up the hind end of the line”.

When I read that line, I thought of it as a good way to live. Not with the threat of death from an overseeing God but to continue to show that kind of kindness throughout my life. It would be a nice thing to do.

I’m way too upset about these characters in these children books

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In the words of Adam Green, it’s hard to be a girl. It would be a lot easier for these two girls if people would just stop being assholes to them.

First up, we have Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables. I’ve met her just about a dozen pages before and she has instantly stolen my heart. I want what’s best for this child. I want her to have so much more than this world could offer her. She is a joy to be around.

Then snooty Mrs. Rachel shows up and is like “well, they didn’t adopt you for your looks”.

HOW FUCKING DARE YOU, MRS. RACHEL.

All Anne wanted was to be loved and a home. She doesn’t need your hate. I haven’t finished the book but I doubt she’s going to get hers. The greatest villains never do, which is what brings me to our next subject.

Kristy’s dad from the Babysitters’ Club. Kristy just wanted her dad to be there for her. Just once. But no, he had to be out of her life. Couldn’t even take twenty minutes to call her. To let his daughter knew he cared.

I checked and he never got his. There was no comeuppance for him. There should have been.

It’s not that they’re the greatest villains in the world of literature(they’re up there) but it’s the fact that their arrogance and disregard hurts girls that are already facing a great deal. The world has so much cruelty and you can let it change you or you could be better than it. Both of these people need to be better.

But yo, if they lived in the same time period, I think that Kristy would love to have Anne in the Babysitters’ Club and Anne would kill it. She already knows how to save children’s lives.

Random Word Generator Story Time: Dive

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(I learned this from Paul Robalino on the behind the scenes of Game Changer. He talks about using a random word generator and then writing from that word. The word I got was dive and I’m going to write the first thing that comes into my mind.)

Every step terrifies me. Maybe I wouldn’t be so scared is if around the pool it wasn’t hard concrete but instead like a padded floor. I think that it would still hurt to land on that but it wouldn’t be as bad.

I’m at the pool at my school and I’ve been staring at this thing since I was a freshman. I’m about to graduate and I need to jump off of it. I don’t know why I have to face this fear. Maybe it’s something about a mental block to starting the rest of my life. I have to close one chapter and start on another.

I get to the top of it. It takes me a while to lift my leg up and get onto it. I feel myself slip a little bit. I grab harder to make sure that I don’t fall. I get onto the diving board. I finally see over and I freeze. I’m so high up. How does this high dive exist inside a gym? This is insane. I think I see some people standing by the edge of the pool before I scramble to the ladder. I don’t go down it, I just hang onto it for dear life. I don’t know how to get back onto it. There’s another way down but there’s no way in hell I’m taking that way. I guess I’ll just have to wait for a hunky fireman to come by and grab me.

I think I hear people calling for me. I think I saw people when I looked over the edge of the diving board. I didn’t get a long enough look to know who they were. I hear someone shout “no running” and that’s it.

I look at the ladder again and soon a face appears there. It’s Molly Anderson. Dark chestnut hair, fine features and blue eyes. Of course she’s the one to find me cowering up here. She’s always such an asshole. She’s made fun of me since we got to high school. Maybe I wanted to do this to prove that I was as good as her. Not that I’d ever admit that to her. Not even now.

She looks like she’s worried. It’s probably a trick.

“Hey, are you okay?” Molly asks softly.

“Doing great,” I say.

“You look like you’re scared.”

“Why don’t I save us some time and say that I am and you can start making fun of me.”

“Not up here. If you’re scared, I want you to get down safely. I only make fun of people on firm ground.”

“Why do you make fun of people all the time?”

“You make fun of me too!”

“Because you make fun of me!”

“Who made fun of who first?”

“You did!”

“You did!”

Now that we’re talking about this, I honestly can’t remember when I started to hate her. Here at the end of my life, I’m starting to think about how I actually enjoy our verbal sparring. Oh shit, she’s starting to talk again.

“The fact of the matter is that I was right where you were the first time I came up here,” Molly says. “My first meet, I saw a girl fall off the high dive and get hurt. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

“Thanks for letting me know that. Good glimpse into my future,” I respond.

“That’s not going to happen as long as I can help it. Do you want me to help you down? I can come up there or stay down here and get you on the ladder. I won’t play any tricks on you or do anything. I just want to make sure you’re safe. You can trust me.”

I do trust her. I remember there was one night when her and her friends found my best friend, Stacy, crying after her dipshit ex broke up with her. He had made fun of her and bragged about cheating. Molly had taken care of her because I was out of town. She told me that she had been a bit drunk and they had made sure she got home safe. They had listened to and comforted her. She wasn’t that big an asshole now that I thought about it.

“Why are you up here?” Molly asks.

“I was scared to do this and I wanted to prove it to myself that I could do it,” I reply.

“Okay, do you want me to talk you through it? Let’s start easy. Take a few deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth.”

I do as she instructs. I do find myself calming down. My heart stops beating in my ears.

“Good, you’re already looking calmer. Now, put your feet on the diving board. Slowly. Feel it under your feet. Don’t let go of the railing. Take your time with it under your feet.”

I do as she instructs me. I twist my legs so that I can feel the rough plastic under my feet. I decide to skip to the next step. I stand up.

“There you go,” Molly says. “Can you turn towards the edge?”

“Yeah,” I say.

I turn my body so that I’m facing the edge. My fear is waiting to swallow me up.

“Okay, if you’re going to jump, the best way to do it is with your arms at your sides and feet pointed down. Don’t try and dive, just take a big step off and think about how the water is going to swallow you up,” Molly says. “You’ll hit the water and swim back up.”

“I’m trying my best but I’m not quite there,” I tell her.

“Girls!” Molly shouts. “Give, Jackie some motivation!”

I hear the girls below me start to cheer and call my name. I feel the fear start to dissipate. Eventually, fuck it.

I walk the short distance and then what’s below me just disappears. I snap my legs and arms together. I have enough time to think, “Shouldn’t I have hit the water by now?” and then I hit the water. I slam into the luke warm water and feel my heart jump for joy. I did it. I survived. I swim to the surface. My head breaks out and I look around.

I hear someone yelling above me and Molly slams into the water. She swims towards me with a smile on her face. She hugs me.

“You did it!” she says.

“Holy shit, my feet hurt,” I say.

“Yeah, that happens.”

The other girls jump into the pool. They swarm me and tell me that they’re proud of me too. A firm voice suddenly calls out.

“Hey girls, what’s going on?” the voice belonging to Coach Taylor says.

“Sorry, coach,” I say.

“We do have to practice, Jackie. Could you give us the pool?”

“Sure, sorry.”

I climb out of the pool vowing to come back later. The girls climb up on their blocks. Molly stops me as I start heading for the locker room.

“Hey, you did really good,” Molly says.

“Thanks for helping me through that,” I tell her.

“No worry.”

“You know maybe you’re not such an asshole.”

“I thought the same thing about you.”

“See you around.”

“Yeah, see ya.”

Tomorrow we might be at it again. But maybe we both don’t have to go so hard.