Peacorn Universe ♦ ♢ RELATABLE LOVE STORY ADVENTURE ☼ (Open)

[A.ntique]

October

October rolled her eyes so far into her head, for a moment she was worried that they were stuck. However, her eyes soon drifted back down to focus on Peacorn. She shuttered - he once threw a fit when they were younger because some troll on Facebook had called him "handsome." He had promptly stomped his foot and screeched, "I'M NOT HANDSOME, I'M GORGEOUS." Shaking her head to clear the memory, she called back to her passengers, "Hold on to your hats - And Peacorn, don't lose that shoe!" With that, she slammed her stockinged foot into the gas and the RV tore away from the curb.
Kent managed to grab onto a counter, but the ashes from his pipe were sent falling all around Millard and his… whatever that thing was.

[.jabberwocky]

Millard

Millard started laughing, as if by doing so he could distance himself from his father's troubling delirium in the sight of his cousin. Maybe if he pretended he thought the whole thing was a big hilarious joke that he was more educated than and far above, Kent would understand that Millard didn't really belong here!
But when he started laughing, he suddenly realized he couldn't stop. He laughed so hard it began to hurt and tears of pain and hysteria mingled and poured down his face. Peacorn, his aunt, Guido Jr singing in his ear--it was inescapable! All of it! Then his fingers tingled with an energy unknown to him. He felt around for his ukulele. He felt.. the need to sing about his feelings. Maybe this is what artists called a moment of... Inspiration! Yes, that was it! He began strumming random chords.
Just as he opened his mouth and a cracked note croaked from his throat, he was forced backward into his seat as the RV slammed into gear, speeding crazily onto the road. Millard whirled his gaze around. Where was Phoenie?!
Movement caught his eye. He whipped his head around. There, in that mound of gray dusty stuff--ashes! Millard's eyes widened with an awed glow as the rodent lifted its head, a pile of the ashes sitting atop like a little hat. Millard gingerly, tremblingly, lifted his hands toward the creature to pick it up. He lifted it, light as a feather, its eyes glowing with a sincerity Millard had not yet known in another human being. He felt tears beginning to mist over, he was so inspired.
Just then, Phoenie sneezed, and rodent snot combined with gray tobacco debris sprayed over his face.

[A.ntique]

[ O C T O B E R ]

In an attempt to block out the noise coming from the back, October slid her autographed MCR CD into the RV's stereo and kept her gaze fixed ahead as that first G note of 'Welcome To The Black Parade' rang out. A single crystal tear slid down her wrinkled cheek as she thought of what could have been.

[.jabberwocky]

Millard

- several hours later -

Millard woke up in a strange contortion on the pleather car seat. There was a crick in his neck and something furry and a little smelly over his eyes. As he groaned and sat up, the "something" started to slide off his face, squeaking and scratching; Millard flailed, smacking the critter to the floorboards, where it scrambled around over his feet and disappeared under the chair. Millard's face stung with the dozen new scratches. He set his arm in the puddle of drool on the armrest.

"How long was I asleep?" he mumbled. The car was stopped. He looked out the window, squinting out at the bright, clear day. Millard's eyes watered--they had always been a bit limpid and sensitive to sunlight.

A peeling sign on the building in front of them advertised Gary's Famous Chick'n Stripz, as well as gas for a buck sixty a gallon. It appeared to be a tumbledown, last-chance gas station. Millard flopped back against the seat and sighed. He'd worked at a place like this once. It wasn't a bad place to be, if you didn't mind flipping a coin to prophesy whether or not you were going to be robbed at gunpoint that night, and squatting a mile above the toilet to avoid getting tropical diseases.

[A.ntique]

October

Climbing back into the RV, October paused once she was inside to catch her breath. If only it was as easy as catching men. But no matter.
With a grunt and groan she heaved herself into an upright position, a sickening 'crack' echoing throughout the vehicle.
She entered at just the right moment; her nephew was making some gurgling noise while his rat fell screeching from his face. "Millard, dear," she began as the boy's eyes adjusted to the sunlight. "We just stopped for gas and we're going to eat at Gary's." With a jerk of her hand, she pointed with her thumb to the almost-empty parking lot of the diner.
"Your cousin has got us a booth." She was hoping that the mention of Kent would get him moving faster.

[A.ntique]

( also just realizing that this thread is over two years old and will be 3 in January
;u;
where did time go? )

[.jabberwocky]

Millard

Millard sat up a little straighter at the mention of Kent. Maybe if he hurried inside, he'd have a couple minutes alone with his cousin before Peacorn and October caught up. He was sure that if he could get Kent alone, he could show him that under normal circumstances (i.e. away from his aunt and father), he was a pretty normal guy, maybe even a cool one.

He stepped out of the car and quick-stepped toward Gary's, somewhere between a gallop and a skip, an awkward manner of gait that was embarrassing to even watch, but no one had made him aware of. As he approached the store, the extra-reflective windowpane showed him that his greasy curls were even more disheveled than normal. He leaned forward to get a better look at his reflection, patting at his mop pointlessly, before he realized that he was standing at the window right in front of a booth, and Kent was right on the other side. Millard nearly choked on his own spit. He quickly weighed his options, deciding to dive to the side and out of sight, hoping that he hadn't noticed him yet.

[.jabberwocky]

( also just realizing that this thread is over two years old and will be 3 in January
;u;
where did time go? )

I have no idea. ;-; at least Peacorn Universe has aged like a fine wine

[Lunar Lullaby]

Peacorn

Peacorn sat across from Kent at the greasy booth. The slimy and slick table reminded him of his youth. Suddenly, Peacorn realized how different Kent was from the rest of the family- namely, how different he was from himself. Here you had a well groomed, good smelling, accomplished, gentlemen with great hair and then you had a bumbling dirtbag who worked for the government... or so he said. Peacorn received more conformation of Kent's... awkwardness... when he saw Millard through the window grooming his slimy and slick hair - just a reminder of how well Millard turned out. Yup, he thought, the fruit of my loins.

[A.ntique]

October

Great. Millard had leapt out of the RV and bounded across the parking lot like a fawn taking it's first steps. Down a steep hill. In the rain.
With a sigh that sounded more like a growling dragon, she slowly but steadily made her way down the steps again and began walking after Millard. Luckily for her, her nephew stopped to admire his greasy mop of hair before entering the diner.
"Millard!" She called, her voice splitting the silence of the empty parking lot and sending Pheonie scurrying back under the chair. "Get the door!" It was more of a demand than a request, really, but that was alright. Surely it was nothing compared to some of the strange things Peacorn had requested of his son; like changing his name to Millcorn. Chills ran over her body at the mention of the name.


Kent

The ginger-haired man stared uncomfortably across the ratty table at his uncle. He drug his eyes away from Peacorn when his cousin appeared outside of the window. He seemed to be grooming himself. Kent's mind went to his mission that required him to travel to the jungles where he came across a group of Spider Monkeys. His cousin could fit right in with them. However, in a flash, Millard dove away from the window. Kent winced, picturing Millard's frail body making contact with the pavement.
"So, uh, Uncle Peacorn." The word tasted spoiled on his tongue, "What have you been into lately?" This was always a fun question to ask. With Peacorn it could be virtually anything; teaching a parrot how to say "Floop is a madman help us save us," trying to attach a lawnmower to a parachute to fly, spray painting his own trailer a rainbow pattern, and that one time he had been learning to play "YMCA" on the recorder through his nose.