She was done with work. Many people when they finished with work would peel out of their work uniforms, trying to hide their shame. However, Ellie liked what she did and had full pride in her abilities with cars. So as she walked back home, she wore her dark blue jumpsuit with her patch of red and white with her name on it. She had a few smudges of oil that had stuck to her skin and would stubbornly remain until she took a shower. She had her hands in her pockets and her denim backpack hanging from one shoulder. The blonde was taking the scenic route home, or rather, was allowing her feet to decide where she was going.

Today's path had led to her spotting a familiar trio of braids. A trio of braids she hadn't seen in a long time. In a non-discreet manner, she called out "HEY ******** FACE!"

Hopefully that would get his attention. She grinned a bit in his direction.

Desukyun
Waylon was tired. Really really tired. The past few weeks had been murder. Ditch digging, box lifting and other just as undignified manners of manual labor had filled a good 16 hours per day for the last few weeks. Graduating meant a lot of things. It meant leaving Hillworth and Bernard behind for the first time in years. However, it also meant that he was entering the job world with a record which had thankfully been reduced due to his status as a minor for most of the more…egregious errors of his youth. It also meant the the center for troubled youth was his place of business for sometime now. Getting his driver’s license had been a regrettably demeaning experience especially with his repeated failures to understand the difference between “speeding” and “driving”. Learning to write a resume was even worse. Still, the new piece of plastic in his wallet and the resume he’d been able to pass around was testament to the fact that they were at least serious about helping him.

With great stubbornness came great independence. The biggest change upon graduating was becoming an up and coming citizen and being an up and coming citizen was hard work for someone who used to care less. He reckoned it was even harder than being a senshi. Well, maybe not as hard but definitely just as painful. Even pulling the small suitcase behind him was absolutely agony.

After losing touch with so many people, the familiar voice that rang out was as close to a godsend as it possibly could be. Without even needing to confirm her identity, considering such an affectionate term was normally not yelled out at a stranger with such affection, he called back. “Sup, Ellie?” His voice, while loud enough to reach her, was much more subdued than normal. Exhaustion seemed to seep out around every word. “I haven’t seen you awhile. A long while…”


The tomboy easily narrowed the gap, taking in the full situation as best as she could. The suitcase was definitely not a normal thing to tote around. So the moment she was close enough to ask the question in a relatively normal tone, she asked the question. "Homeless now?"

It was blunt, but got to the point pretty fast. Of course, she did add in eventually "Not much... finished with work, findin' my way home... nothin' all that new... but... seriously... what is..." She gestured to the suitcase "...this...?"

Desukyun
He chuckled softly, giving the suitcase a quick jerk until it stood upright against his leg. “I’m not homeless…” Waylon reflected for a moment before obviously correcting himself. “Well, not really.” It wasn’t a surprise that Ellie honed in on the suitcase so quickly. It definitely wasn’t something you would expect your friend to be lugging along behind them. Another quick kick to make sure the wheels were set assured him that it could stand upright by itself.

“I got a bit tired of Bernard. It’s like all he does is b***h about how much stuff I don’t get done.” Waylon rolled his eyes as he sit precariously on his suitcase, trying to balance his weight so he didn’t just fall flat on his face against the pavement. “And he does it in that stupid smiley way. I ain’ haven’t any more of it. I’m bein’ talked down to like I’m a damn five year ol’. Do I look five? ” It had been a long time since he’d been able to talk about it and it still sounded like a stupid reason to leave. It wasn’t like he was being mentally abused just for existing. Bernard had every reason to try and mold his brother’s life. Being the perfect child and role model for 90% of the human population pretty much dictated it. Still, it was Waylon’s reason which meant is was the best reason. Obviously.


She gave him a steady, hard look in the eyes, as if she was trying to cut through the potential bullshit he might have sputtered. The mention of Bernard (the occasionally mentioned sibling of perfection) was all Ellie needed to hear before gaining a true grip on the situation.

It was because of that d**k-face that Waylon hadn't been able to patrol lately. The blonde kinda liked patrolling with Parthenope, but something else had been pressing her lately into seeking the boy out. Cracking a half smile, she mentioned "Yer th'tallest f*ckin' five year old I've met in years!"

He had asked for that sort of response with the rhetorical question. Spinning around so she wasn't facing him for a moment, she swung her hands behind her head. "So yer homeless then... well... that sucks... Ya got any plans fer how yer gonna take care of that? Or should this be th'point in time where I offer ya a place t'stay?"

Desukyun
Perfect siblings probably accounted for more out of control teens than one would expect. Especially when the aforementioned out of control teen was the middle sibling, stuck between perfection and potential. Waylon was the part of the family that no one had any hopes and dreams for, doomed to go through life being merely average in a family of perfectionists. Brilliant.

“Man, I wish I was still 5. Everythin’ was so much easier.” Waylon slowly lifted himself off of his suitcase as he spoke, taking great care to make sure it didn’t topple over. It may have just been a suitcase but what was in it was important enough. “Well, I planned to save up an’ move but that ain’ goin’ so well. It’s not like I’m makin’ six figures doin’ odd jobs. If that doesn’ work then I have no choice but to crawl back home to Bernard…” He smirked a bit at her offer. “Though I am lookin’ for some where to sleep. But I’m sure your parents would object, yes?”


Ellie gave Waylon a look. It was as if she was silent scrutinizing his choice in words. Before saying anything, she turned around and started to walk. She shoved her hands in her pocket and eventually she said in a voice loud enough for anyone nearby to hear.

"Yer comin' home with me t'night... end of discussion."

There was something demanding about her tone, but it was truly up to the Cajun boy whether or not he wanted to follow along. At least it seemed that way until the girl paused and turned around to face him once more. As if she was using the tip of her nose to point, she seemed to gesture for him to follow after her.

She had more to say, but she wasn't going to say it until she had a certain boy walking along with her, essentially following her home.

Desukyun
He grabbed the handle, trying to match her stride as quickly as possible. Though they’d only known each other for what he would call a short time, Waylon had gotten used to just following her demands. Even though it meant that they were getting weird looks for those who had been near enough. A random girl saying that she was taking some random guy home wasn’t the most wholesome of conversations to overhear. It didn’t stop him from giving a knowing smirk to one extremely confused man that walked by.

“Is this a normal thing? Or is it jus’ a privilege for your teammates?” A privilege that he greatly appreciated. Sleeping out in the open in the middle of nowhere wasn’t all that appealing and is was definitely something he liked to avoid at all costs. To say that he was thankful was an understatement. Though he’d probably be much more thankful when there was a shower and a hot meal involved.


"Um... dude... if one'a my friends says they ain't got a place t'stay...then I'd let them stay over." It didn't seem like a big deal to her, and she rolled her shoulders for a shrug as they walked. "I mean, I don't think Jared's mom would ever kick his a** out on the street... and Zuniga I think is too smart t'get put in that sorta situation..."

Did she just indirectly call Waylon stupid? You bet your sweet a** she did! She still continued to walk along, not seeming to pay attention to the surroundings, nor paying much attention to the boy trailing along behind her.

"It won't exactly be a long lastin' set up... I mean... I don't think my parents would really care in all honesty... fer a night or two. Too long and yer wearin' yer welcome..." She eventually turned to face a cheeky smile at him.

"I think I might be able t'find somewhere fer ya on a more... um... permanent basis... I could probably talk to Phil or Hank!"

Desukyun
Friends huh? It was odd to think of her that way or at least weird to think that she thought of him that way. Not that it was a foreign concept to him. Waylon just didn’t think that Ellie was so, for lack of a better word, fond of him. I guess ‘friend’ is what you’d call someone when your outings consisted of saving each other on a near daily basis. What else would you even call them?

Though she did seem to have a lot of friends. He was sure he hadn’t heard of 90% of the people she was talking about. The other more familiar 10% being her parents. It was difficult to not lash out at her or have a witty quip when she more or less called him stupid but he remembered a little phrase about the hand that feeds you. It would be better not to make her angry at this point. It was definitely time to take a bite out of humble pie at this point. “You don’ have to do all that for me. I jus’ need a place to stay for the night.” He chuckled softly. “Though I figure you’d do it even if I said that I’d die before I took help from you anyway.”


"Yer damned right I'd do this sh*t anyways, whether or not ya wanted it!" she snapped in his general direction before turning away again.

The cityscape soon enough melded into the familiarity of the park, and after even more walking the park melded into a local residential neighborhood. It would look familiar, but Waylon had only visited on rare occasion. As they walked, the girl decided to fill in the Cajun on some things.

"So yeah... first off, lettin' ya know... I've gotta dog now. Named Aque. He's an exciteable lil' sh*t... so... um... be prepared fer that. Also... Mom's on a business trip, and Dad's probably gonna be back 'round 7 or so..." Her voice noticeably paused as she turned towards one relatively unkempt home that lacked a lawn and abused the privelege of gravel.

"Oh... and ya owe me a favor... a senshi favor..." Once at her own doorstep, she turned around to face him again. "No questions asked... yer gonna do it... got it?" There was something about the way she grinned at him that should have signaled some sort of need to worry now.

Behind the door, the sound of high pitched whining seemed to echo.

Desukyun
He'd totally forgotten the area around Ellie's house but he sure recognized the gravel yard when he saw it. Of course, all he was really thinking about was having a nice, warm place to sleep without having to call in favors and IOU's from various acquaintances. Still, that gravel yard was very much a welcome sight.

He'd almost been too lost in his thoughts to realize she was speaking until she very clearly said dog. Waylon gripped the handle of his suitcase a bit harder. "A...dog? That's...great..." If there was one thing anyone could say about Waylon and animals, it was that he was not what people called a 'dog person'. They were a drooling, barking, jumping thing with sharp teeth. None of those things were very desirable in a pet especially the part with the biting and the teeth.

And not only did she have a slobbering monster but she had that look on her face. It was never a good one. It seemed even more of an omen to the man who'd been trying to have a bit of normalcy for a few weeks. Senshi antics never really added up when you were looking for a 9 to 5. Still, it was Ellie and the small part of him that still attached itself to people would be compelled to do it for her. Waylon gave a soft sigh and shrugged. "You've got me in a tight spot. It's not like I can deny you anything..."


There was something about Waylon's tone she didn't like when it came to her dog. Something which should have signaled that she needed to be wary about allowing the Aussie to bother him. However, she instead riled up the animal on the other side of the door. "I know who's behind th'door! Oh god, I bet ya can smell the stinky a*****e next t'me!"

Still grinning.

She unlocked the door, which caused the animal to get a hint louder before she opened the door. A grey and white fluffball of a dog with mismatched eyes was standing there, practically jumping up to his hind legs to get a closer smell of the new person-person.

Ellie did actually know her dog pretty well, and quickly inserted her own leg between them to catch the animal. "I see yer nub is goin' a mile a minute, Aque..." she said in a slightly more subdued tone before gesturing for him to back off.

The animal hopped back maybe three times before sitting his still-moving rump to the ground. And then scooting forward two times.

Bringing her leg back down to normal, she gestured for her guest to come in. "Well... tonight ya can crash in my room... and tomorrow we can take care of that favor..." Once the Cajun had managed to find his way in, she closed the door behind him before wandering in further.

"So... do ya wanna drop yer sh*t upstairs in my room, or jus' leave that fer later? Ya hungry or somethin'?"

The dog let out a long whine while still trying very hard to remain in place. Ellie, don't forget about poor Aque!

Desukyun
The high pitched whining certainly wasn't helping the idea that he'd have to be around a dog all night. "Isn't it bad to rile dogs up?..." He figured she knew what to do considering it was her dog but still. Dogs had brains. They could make their own decision. Terrible decisions.

It probably added to her arsenal of insults where he made a noise that would have a soprano jealous and nearly tripped backwards over his suitcase when she opened the door. "Tell a guy when you're gonna do that!" It wasn't until she had it firmly under control that he was able to try and still his heart from going a mile a minute.

"Jesus, Ellie. You really know how to makje a guy feel at home..." Waylon cleared his throat, watching the grey and white dog with cautious optimism. A Stephen King novel this was not. Still, he nearly plastered himself against the wall, gliding past the little dog with a quick but careful few steps. When the door was closed, his entire body relaxed. "That dog is gonna take some gettin' used to." Waylon didn't even try to recover from that with any shred of dignity. It wasn't worth it at that point.

"Let's go with food first and then I'll put stuff away..." He chuckled weakly before trying his best to put down the handle on his suitcase with shaky hands.


"Don't be such a p***y! Hell, ********* does better with Aque, and she's more the size of something that should be actin' like a p***y 'round him!" They had passed through the hall, but at the end, Ellie paused and looked back to the dog who was at the door, but steadily scooting his butt inch by inch to get closer to where the current company was at.

"You... go to the couch!"

Eager to please, the dog ran down the hallway, slipping slightly before stumbling to crash into the edge of the couch in the living room. Once in place, he lay down, but lifted his head as high as he could to try and get some sort of approval. Aque did good, right?

The blonde shook her head and laughed a bit before meandering to the kitchen. "So... um.. dunno what ya wanna eat... this ain't exactly a restaurant... but we've got microwave burritos... I think a frozen pizza hiding in the freezer.... or we could order somethin' in... we've got a f*ck ton of numbers on th'fridge."

This was not the house of a family that did a lot of home cooked meals.

Desukyun
"Well excuse me for...not liking dogs." He watched Aque scramble away from them at her orders. At least it was trained well enough even if it was an energetic little thing.

Waylon finally relaxed when he released that he was out of reach of the canine and slowly went about unzipping one of the many sections of his suitcase. "Not quite sure. I could eat anythin'." A neutral answer for most but, for Waylon, it was true. Even microwave burritos and frozen pizza sounded like the dinner of nobles and kings at this point as far as he was concerned. Mostly because all of it was free. He'd take a free piece of cold pizza over a $50 lobster tail any day.

The sound of the zipper closing was followed by him clearing his throat, an unassuming ziplock bag full of multicolored hairbands, an assortment of small bottles and a rather intimidating looking circle bristle brush in his hands. "You mind if I shower before I eat? It's been a long day..."


The answer about food received a glance up to the ceiling as she thought it over. Her dad would be annoyed regardless, since it was his money paying for the food (ignoring the fact that Mom also earned a fair share of money). However, stuff that had already been purchased prior wouldn't cost any extra money at this point. That money was already gone, instead of depleting the money lining their pockets at that very moment.

She allow her eyes to drift back down and noticed Waylon pulling things from his bag. The question that followed caused her to quirk a brow. "...um... I guess that's fine... um... my bathroom is in my room..."

She didn't linger in the spot too long and soon enough was already leading the way up the stairs to her bedroom. Ellie briefly had to pause to shoot the dog a glare so he knew that he was expected to stay in place, but soon enough was up the stairs and standing in front of her room.

"So yeah... this one's my room... jus' go in... and there should be a door that's open... that's the bathroom. The closed door is th'closet..." She awkwardly paused before she thought of one more thing to mention. Her lips twisted to form the closest she could to a squiggle before speaking.

"Um... it's messy... so like... ignore my underwear and crap... okay?"

She was a big kid. She didn't need to get embarrassed over admitting she had underwear. What were they, twelve?

Desukyun
Waylon chuckled. "Believe me. I'm good at ignoring that type of stuff." It wouldn't be hard to twist that into something wonderfully punch-in-the-face worthy for Ellie. Though, at face value, it wasn't a completely ridiculous statement coming from someone that lived with a mother and two sisters. Especially when there was only one bathroom for all 4 siblings to share.

He had to admit, he was expecting something girlier when he cautiously maneuvered around the dog and into her room, making sure to close the door as quickly as possible so the little mutt couldn't follow him. It was so anti-climatic. No massive stuffed animals that she lined up with care, giant posters of boy bands or actors and no giant confessions of love painted on the mirror with bright red lipstick. How disappointing. Though he'd be lying if he said that cleanliness was her strongpoint

It wasn't 20 minutes before he emerged from her bedroom once again and it was easy to see that 15 of those minutes were probably spent on the mass of still damp hair that hung completely free of the constricting braids. A makeshift bracelet of an assortment of hairbands was wrapped around his wrist as he continued to brush out what looked like a rather difficult tangle. Though he'd had no qualms using her hair care products, at least he'd had the sense to bring his own pair of pajamas. A pair of green plaid ones in fact. "So...what's for dinner? Frat boy party leftovers or 7-11 Tex Mex?"


Many things could happen in twenty minutes. During such time, Ellie had managed to heat up and eat 3 different burritos, notice that the front door was opening and her dad was home, then briefly explain the situation to said dad.

And Waylon had managed to walk in on the ending part of the conversation.

"He ain't gonna be 'ere forever! I'll jus' sleep on th'couch fer a few nights or whatever..."

A blonde man bit onto a small tuft of his goatee, seeming to take issue with something or other.

Ellie knew what it was. "Dude... I'll pay fer his food from my paychecks..."

The Spectres had given up hope long ago that their daughter would get intimate with any guy. It just wasn't going to happen. So where as most parents might have been concerned with their "innocent" daughter being taken advantage of by some evil, perverted young man, that was simply never an issue for the Spectres.

The blonde haired man was the first to notice the guest, and spat out his beard hair as subtly as he could before approaching quickly and thrusting a hand at the boy.

Swiftly he greeted the Cajun in a manner like he would at work. Quick paced words, lots of energy, and a winning smile. "Ed Spectre, nice to meet ya! Heard you're a friend of Ellie's!"

Ellie turned and smirked the moment she saw the boy being assaulted by her father. "...hey, Dad... stop sellin' th'man a car!" A pause before she added with a teasing undertone"...nice hair, Waylon."

Desukyun
Waylon stood in the doorway, just staring at the man as his entire arm was jostled. He wasn't an enemy of parents everywhere but it was certainly strange to have someone, a Dad no less, jump up and greet him with such enthusiasm. "It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Spectre..." There was an awkward chuckled as his other hand fumbled with the brush that was still entangled in his long locks.

Though the man was so happy and cheery to see him, it wasn't hard to ignore what they'd been talking about. He obviously hadn't wanted to be any trouble especially money troubles. Sure, it was probably nothing more than a dollar here and there but it would definitely add up if he stayed for long. Still, at least he was happy to see him. "Like I could even afford a car! Even at your prices." Charisma. At least he had that on his side. " Besides, a convertible would ruin my marvelous hair don' you think Ellie?"

He swished his hair as well as he could considering the brushes unfortunate position, a wide grin plastered across his face. "Ellie's right though. I'm definitely not gonna be stayin' for long..." He said as he finally was able to pull the brush through that stubborn tangle. "She just ran into me and offered me a place to stay the night."


The man's brow seemed to twitch at the dig that both young adults seemed to have at his expense. However, he brushed it off easily, still trying to keep things informal. "Mr. Spectre was my father, just call me Ed!"

Ellie kind of rolled her eyes at the mention of the convertible. "They don't get such fancy cars at th'used car lot much... and I honestly don't care if it messes up yer luscious locks..." With a half shrug, she then went to the fridge and opened it up. "So... Dad... what'cha want fer dinner? Did ya want me call fer somethin' in? Or ya want me t'heat up a pizza or somethin'?"

Ed's lips scrunched up before he moved himself to the refrigerator and swung the door open. "...I'll just have that left over lasagna from last night... I've got some stuff to work on upstairs... so if you could heat it up... that'd be great!"

The tomboy only half nodded before the man was out the room, making a momentary pitstop to ruffle the fur on the dog's head who was still obediently waiting to be allowed to run around again. The Aussie had given up on sitting and was now laying down.

The blonde girl was now alone with her teammate again. And she merely just shook her head at her dad silently after he left, then began to pull out plates. "...So Waylon... I totally forgot 'bout that lasagna... did ya want some of that instead?" She then pulled out the tupperware that had caked on tomato sauce on the edges and let it slide across the kitchen counter until it hit the plates she set up.

Desukyun
Waylon shrugged. "I'm not picky. Jus' whatever you want." He onl;y continued to brush his hair giving a casual nod to to her father as he left the room before turning back to address her. "If your Dad wants lasagna then I guess we can eat that. No point warmin' a bunch of stuff up."

His voice faded a bit as he went to throw the brush back into his suitcase. "I really hope I'm not botherin' anyone by bein' here. I can leave if you want. I really only wanted a shower anyway." At least he could scramble back to Bernard with his tail between his legs not looking like a total failure. Well, maybe he'd still look like a failure but at least he wouldn't smell like one.


She did not seem to like Waylon's attitude on this whole matter. The blonde was not known for being indirect, and soon enough her Cajun friend had some b*tch in his face. With a finger, she was pretty much jabbing him in the face as she said in a bewildered tone "You... you... are stoppin' this bullsh*t right now. Yer not botherin' anybody 'ere! Get over yerself bein' such a 'burden' t'all of us!" She quickly swiveled on her feet and soon enough was making her way to the microwave.

"Now, yer gonna eat some lasagna, yer gonna spend th'night in my bed, and we're gonna do stuff tomorrow, got it?!" With that she was popping open the tupperware and slopping cold food onto the plates before shoving them into the microwave.

Desukyun
Waylon could really do nothing but slightly drift away from her as she spoke, or sternly explain to him rather. He'd always felt weird interacting with his team when put out of senshi form but, not only was he out of practice, but he realized that he really needed to keep in touch in more casual ways. Any word that he wanted to get in edgewise either fell on deaf ears or went unsaid until the desire to interrupt her faded entirely.

Only when she started walking away from her did he even do as much as clear his throat. I guess I'm staying for awhile then. He chuckled weakly, half to himself and half to break the overwhelming amount of tension in the air.

"I guess I'll just stay here and look pretty until someone notices." In a few strides, he reached the table, kicking out one of the chairs so he could sit. "Besides, I still need to figure out what this all important secret of your is."


The microwave beeped, and soon enough Ellie made her way back to the table and slid his less-than-thrilling dinner of leftovers to him. In a matter-of-fact tone, she stated "Yer findin' out tomorrow... but ya can stay longer if ya need it. My dad's jus' a tightwad when it comes t'money... always has been... always will be. Mom ain't so bad 'bout that sh*t... eh... whatever..."

She made her way towards the stairs and called out "HEY, DAD! YER DINNER'S READY!" She didn't move from her spot at the base of the stairs before glancing over to Waylon.

"...kay dude... gonna shower... I'll take Aque with me t'stay in my room fer now... Just... ease up.. kay?" With that, she called to the dog with an odd clicking of the tongue before she and the Aussie were on the way up the stairs.

Waylon would have a place to stay that night it would seem. However, his paymet for that evening would not be collected until the next day.