museboxingring | DARIA OPEN POST 2016

"Which is why I got all the stuff for a killer road trip!" Give her the Winning Smile. Nobody can resist the Winning Smile.

He really didn't want to go on his own. He was supposed to go with Nick and, after all that time trying to score tickets...well, now he was a little stuck. Daria was going to need a lot of convincing to go to a noisy hockey game, but she was his only option.

He's not going to TELL her that, of course.

"So, whaddya say? You in?"

Not one text, not one phone call, not one clue or idea how this entire process could've happened. Daria had no proof of anything, just that doofy smile to try to win her over. Cute, very cute, stupidly cute. But. But. Daria was a hard ass broad. You win her with reason, most like.

Casey really needed to sell this to her, and with more than that silly ~~adorable~~ smile.

So she could be snark or she could still genuinely question. Daria went to that hockey game at her school, and she only went with the promise of watching one of her teachers settle a score and have a heart attack in the process. That didn't happen, but she did watch her science teacher slug a guy.

She could...go to the game and keep the guy company, with the promise of some brutal fighting. Again, she wanted him to admit that to her, to understand that. Maybe she was tugging him a little, maybe she was being needlessly merciless.

Maybe it was worth it and she didn't care. She wanted him to be fair and straight with her.

Let's see what some more "gentle" questions get me.

"Maybe, as much as it sounds fun to go on a road trip eating" doughnuts for a few hours, why do you think I'd like to go to a hockey game? I don't even go to pep rallies at school."

That was a very good question. Just...really great. Casey had better come up with an equally good answer and quick.

"...Well...'cause...'cause pep rallies don't got penalty boxes! C'mon, don't tell me you never wanted one of the cheerleaders to whack each other in the chin with those pompoms." He's kind of wanted that, and he's involved with school sports the pep rallies are meant to get students worked up for.

And also a teenage boy in front of cheerleaders.

Anyway, he knows she's way too sharp not to pick up on his dishonesty if he lets her think about it for more than a second. "Not to rush ya, but we are burnin' daylight! You in or out?"

He was rushing her, and he offered a rather flimsy argument. Though...there was truth in it. She always wanted the cheerleaders to beat each other up. Mostly, hearing Brittany in any form or capacity was enough to want to have her ears ripped out.

But nothing about that sounded right. Not at all.

But it was Casey.

Look at that dumb expression and that dumb enthusiasm.

Daria looked to the window to see her family watching the situation. They either wanted to see her go or not, it was a guess at this point. Maybe her parents were talking softly among each other about it, they seemed to be speaking.

If I give him a chance, he can either take advantage of it or come clean. I know there's something fishy about it. Maybe some more gentle prodding down the road will do the trick.

Maybe the hockey game will be fun, you had fun last time.

Your choice, Daria. Deal? Or no deal?

"Alright. As long as I get to watch someone punch someone's lights out, I'm in."

"Aw, wicked!" He does a little fist pump of victory. "Don't worry, it's the playoffs. There's gonna be blood."

Casey swung his legs to the floor and turned the key in the ignition, starting the van. It popped and coughed to life as he jabbed his head towards the door. For a moment, he's forgotten that he's basically lying to her (Is not telling her stuff the same as lying to her? It...probably is but it still might not be?) because for now he's off the hook and as long as she doesn't get too nosy it'll be smooth sailing!

"It's open, hop in!"

What have you done. Remember your brain, and never let him forget it. Don't lower yourself to his level, Daria. You still don't trust this.

He had to know she was trusting him with this enough to go, but she was always alert. She was going to be nosy, count on it Casey. You weren't in the clear.

"I have nothing better to do on a Saturday, might as well."

Daria already had her wallet and phone in her jacket pocket, that was all she needed. Her parents gave her the thumbs up, and she had to hold in rolling her eyes at it. They shouldn't have high expectations for this. Maybe they don't, and are just happy she's out doing something for a change.

Fine. It was fine. This was going to be fine. Sigh...

She hopped on in and buckled up.

"Contact, captain. Let the bucket of bolts ride into the horizon."

"Awright! Get ready for takeoff!"

Let it never be said that Casey Jones didn't know how to start a party. He threw the Party Wagon into gear (which it did with a lurch and an audible thunk) and drove just a little too fast for the neighborhood...Though, really, Casey always drove just a little too fast no matter where he was going.

He snuck little glances at her as they rolled down the street, trying to get a read on her emotions. Daria's expressions were always subtle. Or...non-existent. And she thought about stuff all the time. She was probably working on cracking him right at that very moment, which would totally through a wet blanket on their awesome hockey adventure. Maybe a distraction was in order.

"Yo...pick a station for us, would ya? Can't have a road trip without sweet drivin' tunes!"

He was moving really fast, so Daria rolled down the window just in case she got carsick. She probably looked out the window as they were about to leave the neighborhood, just in thought generally. About a lot of things, ranging from all of this to really nothing specific. Casey would be right, she was always thinking.

She was actually caught mid thought about where to go about this now. Daria was neck deep into this and now she was just trying to find logical sense at how to tackle finding the real truth behind it. Casey wouldn't lie to hurt her, at least, she didn't believe that. Maybe if there was a lot more to the story, it was more like he didn't want her to tear him apart. Or accidentally offend her.

She didn't know. But now she was posed with the question on music.

A mild distraction, but fine.

"You give me an awful lot of power, Captain," she said as she started flipping station after station. Rap. Pop, gross. She stopped at classic rock, with an AC/DC song playing. "A responsibility I take seriously."

He nodded approvingly at the chords of Back in Black crackling through the speaker. "That's 'cause you're one of the few people rad enough to handle being co-pilot!"

Sure, it wasn't exactly the mind-scouring punk that Casey liked to drive to, but maybe this time that was a good thing. Music is the language of the soul or...something poetic like that, right? Whatever, it's something to get them in the spirit. He starts bobbing in time with the beat, grinning as he pulls onto the highway.

"And co-pilot gets to break into the donuts! Bettin' you didn' eat breakfast before we left."

Good lord, he was trying that really hammy charm that obvious wasn't working at all, what are you looking at? He was trying really hard, golly it almost made her feel bad for still wanting to grill him. Almost.

"Nothing says road trip more than junk food and soul music, we just made our own montage," Daria said as she went to grab said donuts.

At least Casey was enthusiastic, making sure she could catch that mood like an infectious disease. That's what they say about really genuinely happy people, right? Like catching tuberculosis.

When was a good time to start being inquisitive? Maybe when she handed him a glazed donut, "Perk of waking up and hitting the road within minutes of each other. Spontaneity."

Edited 2016-02-08 17:43 (UTC)

"Mmmph mmm mmph mph?" Yeah, not the greatest time in the world, considering Casey shoved the donut in his mouth the moment he had it in his hand.

Might have cut down on the charm a bit. OK, try that again without his mouth crammed full of fried dough. He chews quickly and swallows hard. "Yeah, well...wouldn'ta waited till last night to get the tickets if I knew we were doin' this, you know?"

Well, he's not lying. He really wouldn't have. That took calling in a lot of favors with his Lawndale teammates and at least one back in New York, and it was only luck that he found someone willing to sell.

Nerd. Dork. How pleasant.

Despite that being probably true, it still was setting off a various amount of alarms. She had to tread carefully about it, because really, she just wanted to know the deal. Maybe just the thought process of that seemed very curious to her. She was nosy, blame her.

Daria wiped some of the sleep that formed on her eyes. She was still exhausted. She stayed up late, maybe if she knew he was coming around, well...

"Sounds all pretty last minute for the Stanley Cup. Tickets must've been hard to get generally, I figured."

He finished the donut while she was talking, licking his fingers of glaze. They were about to turn onto the freeway, and he was starting to get the impression that he might be on the edge of being in trouble.

Call it the intuition of a serial troublemaker, but his eyes get just a little more shifty, he fidgets just a little more with the wheel.

"Well...yeah. Took me a while to come up with the cash."

The weird thing is that all of this stuff is true, but he still feels like a complete heel for saying it anyway. He didn't want to tell her that she was second choice, and he didn't want to lie to her, and he hadn't had to do either yet!

...So why is guilt starting to pool in his gut?

Edited 2016-02-10 04:55 (UTC)

Daria was now looking right at him. Oh, okay, now this was happening. She could see the shifty movements settle in. The ones that wouldn't exist if he didn't have anything to hide. Really, she just wanted him to be HONEST. She tried hard to not seem like she wanted to rip into him. But now he was slowing up, and now she just couldn't find reason to slow it up.

She needed to know the deal now.

Because none of this seemed right.

"So why didn't you try to contact me and I could've help with the cash or paid my own ticket? Even if it were yesterday, we could've met up. I had the money to do it right then and there."

Another really good question, but this time...Casey didn't have an answer. Couldn't even make one up. He just kind of resorts to sputtering.

"Well...That's 'cause...It's just...if you're gonna...I mean...!"

Yeah...he really has nothing. Nothing but a weak and crooked smile and the knowledge that Daria is going to yell at him. Well, OK, Daria-yell. Which sounds exactly like normal Daria speak but still manages to be yelling. Somehow.

"...Busted?"

This was the prime time in which Daria found it necessary to shut off the radio for now. So the only noise could be the cars in the distance. It was serious now, and Daria now had to tread the most carefully. She thought he trusted her more than this. Maybe she was a spoil sport and cold at times, but hell if she didn't appreciate honesty first.

She was disappointed. Not angry, yet. Not willing to have him turn around. Yet.

Her stare wasn't so piercing as just insistent. That one stare that seemed to want something specific.

"Casey," Daria started. "What happened? Tell me. That's all I want. You should know by now that I just want you to be honest with me. Hiding doesn't do anything. I don't think you're a liar, but you're obviously avoiding something."

Ah, jeeze...She's mad at him? Or he thinks she's mad at him? Maybe she's building up to be mad at him? Whatever, he's blown it, and now he has to try and salvage this.

"Look, it's no big deal...you know my bro Nick, right? From the hockey team? Well, he called me up yesterday tellin' me that he found a way to get tickets, right? So I spend all night settin' things up, and what happens when I'm buyin' provisions? He freakin' ditches me last minute!"

Casey threw one of his hands up to gesture. "Wouldn't even give me my money back for the tickets. So I spent all this cash and had no one to go with and I figured, hey, Daria's not busy! Maybe she'll go with me."

In retrospection, he tried to spare her feelings. He didn't want to make her feel like second fiddle, so he kept it from her. Just because he thought that was being nice. It was rough for him considering his friend bailed.

Of course, that conclusion didn't come then.

The emotionally crippled side of Daria felt...a little betrayed. He didn't tell HER this. He had her get on the van like it was a simple slip of time management. Casey really could've buzzed her the night before. At least ask her about it. He assumed she wasn't busy? The hell does that mean? That she was something convenient always sitting around like a true back up plan?

Daria hated lying. That was where her brain went. Casey wasn't a liar but that did seem dishonest to her at face value.

"That doesn't mean you should keep it from me and assume I'd be okay with it," she said, a bit coldly. Daria crossed her arms now, agitated officially.

Edited 2016-02-18 05:43 (UTC)

"Well, I mean...It's not like you're ever busy over the weekend. I jus', ya know...figured you wouldn't wanna hear about all that stuff!"

He would have taken a "no." She didn't have to come with him, no matter how much he insisted. She wants to be along for the ride, right? He'd even turn around right now if she wanted!

He really hopes that's not what she wants, but he's sure she knows he would.

She came with him anyway. She said "yes". Daria was equal to blame. If there wasn't some desire to go, she would've said "no". But she didn't. She came along and thought that was the better option. Maybe there was a desire to figure things out, sure. There was that quick window available, and she took it. She took that hidden desire to spend time with him on a Saturday.

He wasn't wrong, he wasn't wrong at all in that statement, and it was the fallacy in her own argument. Yet she didn't like hearing it, and she didn't like feeling like that second fiddle, and she didn't like how her feelings along with some of her own pride suddenly got hurt.

She spent a few moments not saying anything. Daria looked out the window instead, not sure if she did want to say anything about turning around or not.

Staring out the window. In terms of hurting a girl's feelings, silently staring out the window was, like, a DEFCON 2 situation.

Maybe it was his fault? Maybe it wasn't? What Casey knew without any "maybes" was that if he didn't do something to salvage this, he may not be doing anything with Daria again.

But what...

Suddenly, Casey changed lanes, with about .2 seconds of signaling, hitting the exist too fast and whipping into a 7-11, coming to a fast stop.

"Be right back!" And after untangling himself from the seatbelt, he tore from the van and bolted inside the store.

Daria knew it was wrong to stay quiet and considered maybe trying to piece it together would at least be doing something vocal. That was before Casey decided to switch lanes like a crazy person. Then she wasn't thinking about it anymore, she was focused on this. She could feel her stomach lurch and the urge to smack him for this kind of reckless driving.

Her insides were sensitive, and literally felt like they needed to escape her body by the time they got to the 7-11.

Great, he left. Good going, Daria. You should feel good for grilling the guy who invited you to come along. Even if you were second, and basically insinuated that there was nothing better you could do. Brains are homebodies, and you shouldn't have gone. You should've said "no".

At risk of everything else, at that point. She was frustrated all over again. She was frustrated at Casey, and she was frustrated at being frustrated. In her efforts to be right and self righteous, she was sure she totally offended the nerd who probably was stuck not knowing what to do. Just as much as she was.

She sat, and waited, feeling the sickness finally leave from the driving. Now there was just nerves.

And out the window of the car and through the window of the 7-11, she'll see Casey rooting through the shelves, rushing to the counter, and nearly colliding with a grouchy trucker on the way out the door. A little back-and-forth shouting and then Casey dashes back to the van, clutching something to his chest.

"OK!" He breathes as he jumps into the driver's seat, "I get it, yo. Hockey's not your thing. That's cool."

He thrusts a cheap spiral notebook and 7-11 branded pen at her. "Figured you could write, like...uh, whatever while the game was going on!" He'd press-ganged her into this, so he might as well give her the option of doing what she wanted too, right?

...Right?

"Ooooooor we could...just turn around?"

She stared at Casey rummaging through shelves. She stared when he barreled back. She stared at the notebook. She stared at the pen. She stared at Casey. Back to the stuff she was given.

Daria moved the pen between her fingers as she rooted through the pages with her other hand. That clean slate of a blank notebook was something a bit rewarding. She knew Jane felt the same about a new sketchbook.

Was he...trying to cheer me up? Make me feel validated?

It seemed confusing. She knew Casey long enough to know he sucked at being overly deep. But he...usually made it up with being sincere. In a way, this would a cheap tactic. But at the same time, this was a way of showing he understood her feelings. He understood her interests, he understood his own unpreparedness for the whole thing.

"If I didn't know any better," Daria then said, not in a judgmental way. "I'd say this was your way of bribing me."

Casey's face broke out into a genuine, if slightly subdued, grin.

"Heh...well, the donuts sure didn't work." He's not sure he's out of the woods on this one, but she's taken his offering! That's good start!

...Yeah, it turns out that swagger is over-rated when it comes to this stuff. He had the image of sweeping Daria off her feet and charming her into having a great time and that sure didn't work. It's not like he meant to drag her off if she didn't want to go but...she doesn't seem to do anything on the weekends and it makes no sense to Casey.

Doesn't she get bored? And even if she didn't...he still kind of wanted her to sit around with him. The hockey game had been just an excuse in a long line of reasons she might want to as well, last minute and impulsive as it had been.

He turns the Party Wagon on, but waits for some kind of signal as to where they'll be going. He knows what he hopes, and his crooked smile gets a little wider in an attempt to influence her, but it's not up to him.

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