#im just really into the idea of their family dynamic being that carolina is the favorite but cannot fit into those expectations

[fischiee]

carwash siblings carolina dyeing her hair red to be less like their mother, wash bleaching his hair to be more like their family

[favvnsongs]

@fischiee @khimkito

lmao im making a separate post rather than tacking it onto the orig bc I don't wanna flood notifications every time I have big feelings about this but. yeah???

literally everything about those two make me so unwell. I'm never not thinking about it. bc the whole. not just having to second hand (or.. third? alpha then epsilon Then wash).. okay so third, I guess. anyways. being essentially subject to the same sort of torture and psychological abuse that alpha was via epsilon? and that on top of the directors original distress over allison? epsilon trying to kill himself inside his head! what tf does that even. bc they really only sort of handwave talk about it. what in the fuck does it actually Mean for an ai implanted in your brain to try and kill itself. and having to keep all of it a secret. for months if not years. the not being able to tell anyone?

(there's a weird sort of somber acknowledgment and tender empathy when it comes to wash and alpha too. bc wash Knows. he knows all of it?? even if alpha doesnt? the distress and insistence and confusion and loss that comes with tex not being at valhalla? 'I know all about her, church' even if church doesnt! even if He doesn't remember, wash does? what a burden that must be. that wash was the last of the team to actually see and speak to and be with church before he and all of the other fragments were erased? what sort of! and there's no justice in it! he gets his ass thrown into prison and then he has to work with whatever tf is left of maine in the Maybe hopes of getting his slate wiped clean.)

the odd fucking bizarre. wash and lina and epsilon and tucker (and caboose but he's a whole other.. im not awake enough to be able to talk about my feelings when it comes to caboose lmao)

but wash was the last person to see alpha. and then epsilon comes back and has no idea who tf tucker is bc caboose just didn't feel the need to. like? in a weird ass roundabout way, wash killed alpha and epsilon got cozy and familial with lina and both wash and tucker are left sorta stranded lmfao.

(and the behind the scenes lina&epsilon dynamic too. we really don't get to see the process of them becoming actually super fond and siblingy with one another but they are?? they went on a quest so lina could kill the director but nope leonard is just a lost defeated broken hearted wreck and that's her Father, at that point. pathetic and hopeless and so so tired. the grief and resignation and acceptance in leaving him to kill himself. epsilon and his bewildered righteous rage. they had that one chat about allison at the end of s10 but obviously there must have been more bc epsilon mentions allison a few times throughout chorus! do they talk about their feelings? does carolina ever get to properly acknowledge and process all her grief?)

like carolina is So Close to epsilon and that has to be so.. disconcerting at times for wash. bc he tried to kill himself while fucking! implanted into his brain! (and ive always figured that there's things wash must Know about carolina and all of her family drama. just as product of epsilon being alpha being leonard. yknow? but it'd also stand to assume that epsilon (and lina, maybe)) Know Things about wash. what sort of secrets do they keep for the sake of maintaining that illusion of privacy and boundaries.

I have stuff to say about tucker too but that might need to wait until after I have a sleep bc asdfghjkl.

[thenatvral]

KIP BERMAN OF THE NATVRAL

You are a great storyteller; your lyrics and music are a perfect medium for conveying those tales. Is there a line between fiction and non-fiction, autobiography, and off-limits topics that you adhere to when conceptualising and writing?

Thank you, that’s really cool of you to say. Most everything I write comes from my life, though I’m not sure what that really means – as it’s not just my experiences, but people I’ve known and tried to know a bit better by looking out their eyes.

One thing I’ve noticed with my solo music is that sometimes I come at an idea I’ve written about a while back, but it seems the model has shifted their pose, or the light has changed. Some of my new songs “check in” on older songs – “Carolina” is one such song. Its’ subject is, more or less, the same as “The Tenure Itch.” That older song was fixated on the more prurient elements, the dynamics of power and sex. If it seemed a bit judgemental, it’s not exactly covering its eyes or averting it’s gaze either. It’s a bit of a “peeping tom” of a tune, looking through other people’s windows. But in “Carolina” I want to know “what happens after? Are you alright? Am I?” Maybe its concern still isn’t entirely noble, and that’s fine. But something has changed with what I’m after. Same goes with “Stephanie Don’t Live Here Anymore.” It could be another telling of “A Teenager in Love” – an old PAINS song. But where that one romanticized this uncompromising and ultimately destructive devotion to ideals and absolutes, “Stephanie…” is more cautionary. It’s thinking about my place – and culpability - in all that mess. It’s less an anthem (or elegy) for doomed youth and more a “hey kids, be careful.”

It doesn’t seem like anything needs to be off limits, but I do change some names to avert angry ghosts and awkward texts.

Every artist has their own methodology and approach when conceiving a tune, converting it from a concept and turning it into a tangible form. Can you talk us through your approach?

I have no idea starting out – or at least, I’ve never been able to write a song with intention “about” something. I do admire people like Billy Bragg, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, or anyone that can. Me, I just pick up my guitar and sing while I strum. If it’s memorable, I’ll remember it. If I remember it after a while I’ll start giving it form, writing it down and building it out. But if I’ve forgotten it, I trust it’s forgettable.

Your latest release was one born out of an all too familiar time of lockdown and the global pandemic. This in its own right must have been a powerful and unfolding story to immerse yourself in and be stimulated creatively in ways that up until that time would have seemed improbable and unimaginable?

You know, it’s a hard time to talk about. Not because it was such a tragedy that it couldn’t even be spoken of. Nor because it was somehow “not so bad” or trivial—it certainly wasn’t. But it’s almost impossible to talk about those times ‘cuz we were all there. It’s like working in a family business, then asking your brother or mother “how was work?” No one wants to go there because everybody was there. And besides, this record isn’t about that time, it just came out of that time.

But the abrupt shift in the rhythms of how I was living opened me up. All day I was just trying to sustain a kind of mundane normalcy for my two kids who had just turned 4 years old and 18 months when it all started. It was whatever the opposite of what people think “ideal artistic circumstances” might be, certainly not the stuff of writers’ retreats or communing with babbling brooks or whatever. And I was far from remarkable in any of this, as my partner was working from home so tremendously hard – seemingly around the clock and still finding time to be with us in important ways. And of course it wasn’t just us, everyone out there was doing all they could just to get to the next day, intact- many without the privilege of taking shelter. Without school, their friends, or even playgrounds, I just did my best to make sure my children had routines, washed their hands, and had someone to use as a makeshift jungle gym (me).

When they went to bed at night I was exhausted – mentally especially, as there seemed no end in sight. I bet they were too. Every day was going to be like the one before. But in the moments when I could go to the basement and play my guitar a bit, I was doing a lot of cover songs, and singing everything from Margo Guryan and The Stones to Third Eye Blind and Galaxie 500. Some songs came naturally enough, others surprised me – but I felt I could try all sorts of things. And in my own music I was writing—and there were loads of songs that never made it on the record – it felt like the feelings and the desires weren’t so confined to (my own) expectation.

In that earlier question you asked about how I would take “something I want to say” and put it in a song-- it’s pretty much opposite. I don’t know what I want to say. I “say stuff,” and the meaning only comes to me when I listen back to what I’ve said. I have to interpret my own music, and sometimes even my interpretations change. There’s some part of me that can only come out when there’s an absence of intention. If I watch my own pot, I never boil.

Recorded during the height of the pandemic, it is inevitable that those times and feelings would be impregnated on the album. Particularly as it was a global unknown for so many which for most involved a lot of soul searching, isolation, and inner exploration. Now on the other side of such times, what is your take on the music you made and its relation to then, now, and the future?

I’m surprised by it, listening to it now. How did I make a record like this? I could go back and listen to what I was doing just a few years before with PAINS— and not just the sounds or the instruments, but my voice. Why does it sound like this now? Why do I lean into it when I used to try to hide it, obscure it? Why do I record mostly live and loose, when I used to be meticulous in search of some ideal? It wasn’t the pandemic or lockdown - this was happening before. No one wants to hear some cliché about “when I became a parent everything changed, man.” That’s a lot of bull. But I do think it casts your identity in this entirely different perspective – not the hackneyed “mature, gaining perspective on life, man” singer-songwriter BS. It’s more like you become unafraid of yourself because now all your worries are for other people. It’s liberating, sort of.

Was there a desire to demarcate where Tethers ended and Summer of No Light began so as to keep them as separate entities or is the new album in your mind simply a continuation?

I was fortunate in that I wrote Summer of No Light before Tethers came out. I had recorded Tethers in 2019 and was set to release it in Spring 2020, but because of, you know… the record was shelved for well over a year. So I wrote these new songs with no sense of expectation or even dialog with how people may have received Tethers.

Some artists really get off on “answering their critics” or “telling the haters where to go,” and all that. But I think it’s a dangerous thing to be in dialog with anything other than your own heart, your own muse. Rarely does anyone get the chance of creating in a vacuum – but between the isolation of lockdown and the first record not being released, I was able to do just that.

Drawing parallels between this time and that of the climate crisis of 1816. Where do those lines intersect and where do they diverge in terms of how you see the past and the present and how those thoughts are reflected in Summer of No Light?

I know I may look a bit worse for wear, but I wasn’t actually alive for the one in 1816.

But I did find the story of Mary Godwin (later Shelley), her (then married to another) lover Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and his lover (Mary’s half-sister) Claire Clairmont as debauched, barely-adults passing the time in a time of crisis by getting fucked up and fucking, while finding partial escape in writing to be… relatable— and also, not.

When I had just finished school, I was riding out a summer at a crumbling rental house in Portland, Oregon with some dubious characters, including one that – 20 years later – I’m now married to. For the record, she wasn’t all that dubious, then or now. I was working/napping in a library by day. The nights went on ’til dawn, but usually ended with being the first customers at the local bagel shop, possessing a now-unbelievable belief that no one “could tell” we’d been up all night. Unlike 1816, literary works of the stature of Frankenstein were not composed. I wrote a lot of songs that rhymed “night” with “alright.” More the stuff of Dracula, really. I was playing guitar in a band with my best friend that sounded like a not-so-good version of The Strokes. The less said about this time, the better. “Summer of Hell” might fill you in on the details. I do love the Stokes, though.

In 2020 I was taking shelter - and yes, I’m aware of the privilege to take shelter- as Mary did - and peering out the window at these lurking specters: covid, climate change, and the social upheaval happening all around as a suddenly vulnerable capitalism sputtered to a halt (though that silver lining was short-lived). And what was I even doing? Just trying to keep the ordinary things feel ordinary for my family and writing songs in my basement. They sounded less like The Strokes this time.

I still don’t know what any of it means. I felt pulled between the necessity of the present and a desire for anything else. I don’t think I was unique in that. On Earth, no one was having much fun. So, there I was, mourning the recent past and imagining an older one that offered some solace. And if I conflated other ‘summers of no light’ with the one of literary legend - it all made the present seem a bit more normal. We’d done this before, we’ll do it again- no doubt.

Having fronted Pains of Being Pure at Heart and most recently as a solo artist, how did your time with your precious outfits inform and shape your solo work and satisfy the creative urge you were seeking from it?

With PAINS there seemed to be too much need to have “stuff” to play music – pedal boards, certain amps—even a full group of 5 people. As The Natvral, I wanted to make music that only needed the song – just my voice and a guitar. Yeah, I’ll play with a band sometimes, and that’s a cool way to interpret the songs. But really, I can say “yes” to anything. I don’t want to poison this music with “stuff,” I just want to sing you a song, and as long as I have air in my lungs I can do that.

As the world is in an endless state of flux and in navigating all of life’s ever-evolving challenges, what has been the one constant or guiding principle that you have applied to your music and career?

“The best bands are just the best ideas.”

Having yourself been influenced by countless artists, and also having released a hefty body of work over the years, does your attention occasionally turn to thinking about how is it that you have influenced others and how your music has come to inspire fellow musicians and upcoming artists?

I’ll start with my old band - every once in a while, I see videos of kids in Indonesia, The Philippines – and even Japan either covering old PAINS songs or playing music that is part of the lineage of what we did. There’s a band called The Bunbury from Yogyakarta, Indonesia that’s great! Another called Morningwhim in Japan that’s cool too. It’s extremely heartening to think about a bunch of Americans like us in the 00’s and 10’s being inspired by bands mostly from the UK in the 80s or 90s and then that sound becoming most entrenched half-way around the world as its own distinct thing in this decade. There’s real community, a scene of DIY kids doing what they love just cuz. It feels so familiar, so relatable. Even though my bandmates in PAINS came from different backgrounds – I think too often there were people on the outside that saw the kind of music we loved as something that was only for “certain” kinds of people. It relieves me to see kids that have totally different experiences, language, culture and religion – can use jangly, noisy music to express something vital to them.

As for my new music, The Natvral? Maybe I can convince people to spend less on boutique guitar pedals and hand-wired amps, and more time just trying to make something cool out of what you already have? And you already have yourself. But it’s too early to think about that.

Performing live must surely be one of the most enjoyable moments of any release or tour and the last time Musicology had the pleasure of catching you live was at Rough Trade London during an in-store performance. Can you share with us a highly memorable gig you have played throughout your career and what made it so special?

With my old group, PAINS, I wrote the songs in my bedroom, and I simply wanted to impress Peggy, Alex, and Kurt and maybe play a show at Cake Shop with Crystal Stilts, My Teenage Stride, or Pants Yell– people we thought were cool. But when our first record came out, there started to be this feeling at the shows that went beyond how it felt playing to our 12 friends at Cake Shop.

Our show at Chorlton Irish Center in Manchester was one such gig, as was Primavera Sound in 2009 – our first festival and first time in Spain, a country that became so special to us and seemed to really embrace what we were about. But as the years passed, the more I tried to make our performances “good” the less that uncorrupted spirit happened. We could barely play when we started, but for some reason no one really noticed. When we eventually tried to do things like “tune” and “know what songs came next in the set,” it felt like we had made some inadvertent transgression against the shambolic gods of indiepop. It was almost as if we engendered some cosmic “tsk tsk” from Stephen Pastel, Comet Gain, or Amelia Fletcher.

That show you saw at Rough Trade, where there was no mic and just a borrowed acoustic, that’s the kind of thing that feels right to me. I just want people to hear the songs, and I don’t want anything material to get in the way.

Lastly, what does music give you that nothing else does?

When I play music I feel connected to myself and – sometimes - something beyond myself. Not aggrandized or special, mind you. But I feel this connection to something essential and enduring in what it means to be a person. Anywhere on earth, however far you want to go back - there was always someone like me singing a song of love, of loss, desire, frustration, or whimsical nonsense. They were bored, perhaps. And they could have been doing something more practical, sure. Maybe their parents said they ought to go to Hammurabi’s Coding Camp, or Solon the Lawgiver’s Law School. But for whatever reason, they didn’t. Their friends or family might have laughed or scoffed - but also, maybe asked to hear that one again. Every time that ever was a time is now mostly forgotten— and my time will be forgotten too. But it still happened. And, it meant something. Playing music means something. It is a gesture against the void.

Plus, it’s pretty fun

[itsdjjones]

Myrtle Beach || DJ & Parker

TAGGING: @notpeterxparker @itsdjjones

DATE: weekend 5/1 - 6/4

PLACE: Myrtle Beach, North Carolina

NOTES: Parker finds out about her sister and DJ spends the day distracting her from real life.

Parker didn't leave her spot on the couch when she found out about there being another Fabray and she couldn't process it. The trip had been great so far, so she didnt want this to put a damper on the mood for DJ. So she sat there, played with PJ and clicked through the channels, but she couldnt help think about the person she was talking to about fighting and wasn't for sure if she was her sister or not. She let out a breath when PJ brought back his toy and started to play tug-of-war with him.

DJ hated seeing Parker so down. He knew it was a confusing situation for her and he couldn't imagine that happened to him. He was in the kitchen of the hotel room making some coffee while Parker sat on the couch. It was a lazy day today before they went out, figuring Parker needed to relax a bit before they did anything else. He brought two cups of coffee with him to the couch and sat down next to her, handing her a cup. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked. DJ didn't push but he wanted to make sure she was okay.

Parker nodded as she dropped the toy and gotten more comfortable before she grabbed the coffee from him. "Thank you and I'm just, so confused and I don't know what to think besides why didnt my mom tell me when she reconnected to me?" She asked before she took a sip carefully and placed it onto the table. "Like, yeah would've been shocked but at least I wouldn't be this confused and I don't know what to do. Do I cry? Or do I just be content with the fact I have another sister."

DJ shrugged. "I don't know." DJ paused for a minute trying to figure out what to say. "It's ideal the way you found out but it's better than being in the dark forever. You're family just expanded and maybe you just have to be open to it, and not dwell on the how you found out you know?" He took a sip of coffee. "I dont think you have to be content with anything. You can cry you can be angry, your feelings are valid whatever they may be. It's gonna take time to be okay about it all I'm sure."

Parker rubbed the corner of her eye as he spoke, nodded as she leaned against the wall and knew that he was right. "Yeah, that's true." She chewed on her lower lip as she thought about what was going to happen now and how the dynamic was going to change. "Its going to be a while until I am fine again and not be shock about it." She looked at him. "That's pretty much it, Im shock but not to the point that Im angry about the fact that I have another sister, but Im angry at the fact that I had found out that way."

DJ "And that's okay" DJ nodded understanding when she spoke. He opened his arms for her and pulled her in close. "I know babe" he said softly and kissed the top of her head. "You'll be okay and everything will work out fine, I just know it." DJ held her in his arms in silence for a long while. He just wanted to be here for her no matter what.

Parker wrapped her arms around him as she laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes when she felt him kiss her head. "Thank you babe." She whispered as she relaxed his hold. She felt PJ rest her head on her leg, that made her glanced down and smiled at the puppy.

DJ finally broke the silence. "I know you think you ruined the vacation but you didn't" he said. "Honestly it's probably the best time to find out because know we just have a load of fun things to do to distract you" DJ patted PJ on the belly. "It's that right girl?" She perked up and barked, jumping down from the couch. DJ laughed and shook his head. "She's so hyper all the time. How can you not love that face?" He smiled.

Parker glanced up at him, nodded slightly. "That's true." She agreed and ran a hand over PJ's head, smiled when she barked and nodded as she watched their dog. "She is, I love it and I have no idea, though Im glad that I don't have to find out. Im glad that we found a pet friendly hotel. I couldnt stand leaving her back home, alone."

DJ smiled. "Me too. I mean we just got her. I would not trust the guys to take care of her" he laughed. DJ looked down at Parker and smiled slightly. He licked his lips and looked away. "So what are we doing today?" he asked, wanting to change the subject for her and get her mind off her sister. Anything else but what was going on back home. This was vacation. It was supposed to wisp you away from your problems.

Parker laughed when she heard him. "Exactly." She replied before she glanced back up at him and glanced down at his lips before she glanced away. "Well, I say we should check out the board walk and if we don't find anything there, then make our adventure?" She suggested. She was looking forward to forget about her problem until they get back.

DJ nodded. "Sounds about right. Epic Adventures of Parker and DJ." he chuckled and smiled. "We could have our own tv show. We'd be so entertaining" He nudged her playfully. "So you know I'm gonna make you ride that ferris wheel right?" He gasped excitedly. "We should do it at night so the boardwalk looks really cool and lit up. I bet its beautiful"

Parker smiled as he spoke and nodded with a giggle. "We would be, yeah." She agreed and sat up with a grin on her face. "Can we? That way I can take a bunch of pictures and enjoy it with you even more? Im sure its beautiful."

DJ "We can do anything you want Parks" He squeezed her once more before standing up, PJ following him as he walked to the kitchen to put away his cup. "I'm ready to go when you are. We can walk the boardwalk and shop at the little places there, grab something to eat maybe?" He suggested. DJ walked to the table by their bed. They had opted for a one bed room because it was cheaper and well they had slept in the same bed many times before so it wasn't that crazy. It probably would have been more weird if they got two beds. He slipped on his watch and stuck his wallet in his front pocket, getting ready to go.

Parker smiled when he squeezed her again and stood up as well. She drank her coffee as she headed into the kitchen, swallowed it and glanced over at her. "I am ready to go and sounds like the perfect plan." She made sure that PJ had enough water along with food and glanced at him. "Hey, do you think we should take PJ with us or should we leave her here?" She leaned against the counter as she looked at him and scratched her cheek.

DJ paused for a moment and looked from Parker to their dog. "We can take her out to the beach tonight when we come back so she's not stuck in here all day. I kinda wanna just be us though. She's a handful." As he speaks PJ sits there starring up at the two of them wagging her tail. She really settled in quickly with them for sure, thank goodness.

Parker nodded as she agreed. "Sounds good and okay. She is." She replied as she bent down and petted the dog. "We'll take you with us later, I promise." She talked to her and kissed her head before she stood up then slipped on her shoes as she slipped on her purse. "Are you ready then?"

DJ "Yup, I'm ready. Let's go." After making their way outside and to the boardwalk they stepped in time hand in hand and DJ's stomach as already growling. "Okay food and then shopping?" he suggested as he looked around for a place to eat. Spotting a pancake place he paused and looked at Parker with his eyebrows raised. "I mean...come on. We have to go there right?" He asked with his shoulders raised and head tilted to one said. "Come on Parks, we can get pancakes as tall as you" He teased her.

Parker glanced where he was talking about, nodded in agreement and laughed when she heard him. "Then, what are we waiting for, hm? Let's go." She replied as she started to led him towards the place and glanced back at him before she glanced back ahead. "I want to see you eat pancakes that are tall as me."

DJ When Parker glanced back at him he smiled in her direction. He couldn't help but stare for a moment. For some reason since she had moved in, he noticed her more. Noticed her body language and the little things that he never paid much attention to before. He snapped out of it when she spoke and he smiled wider, catching up to her and poking her sides. "I could if I wanted to...I might explode though" he laughed. "Even if you are a shorty" He smirked and opened his mouth, walking backwards in front of her for a moment as if he was daring her to chase after him after that remark.

Parker let out a laugh when he poked her sides. "Aw, Im sure you won't explode." She replied with a pout and raised an eyebrow when she heard that remark. "Oh really?" She watched him walking backwards with his mouth open and started to chase after him before she slowed down. "Its not my fault that you're a giant."

DJ turned around and ran a bit and slowed down as she caught up. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close. "Yeah but then who would cuddle with you as good as I do if I wasn't this tall?" He asked his eyebrow raised. DJ didn't like thinking about Parker with other people. It wasn't that he was jealous. He knew she could do whatever she wanted. But somehow she felt like his. No one knew her like he did. Who could appreciate her more than him? They walked into the pancake diner and was seated by the hostess. The diner was set up like the 50's with red and white booths and black and white checkered floors. There was even a jukebox on the other side of the room.

Parker couldn't but help grin when he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. "That's true, and I don't think I would cuddle anyone who wasn't you." She replied as she wrapped her arms around him and looked at him. She knew that they weren't dating, but whenever she thought about him being with someone else,it made her feel uneasy. She wasn't possessive, but she felt like he was hers. He knew her like she knew him, better than anyone. She was grateful for him and wanted to make sure he felt appreciated. "This is cute." She took in the restaurant, smiled a bit when she noticed the jukebox. "I wonder if the jukebox still works."

DJ turned around in his seat when she wondered about the jukebox. He moved back to his position, facing her in the booth. "You should go try it. I wonder what music they have on it. Probably old stuff huh?" He nodded for her to go look as he looked at the menu. "What do you want to drink?" he asked, just in case she wasn't back at the table when their waiter came around.

Parker pulled out her coin purse and nodded. "Probably, any artist you would like to hear?" She asked as she stood up and placed her purse on her seat. She hummed a bit. "Iced Tea with a lemon." She answered before she kissed his cheek.

DJ "Surprise me" he smiled and nodded at her response. He smiled to himself as she kissed his cheek and walked off. He turned slightly to watch her walk behind her and he he felt his heart swell a little. "iced tea with lemon" he said to himself. The waitress came and ordered they drinks, DJ getting a favorite of his, chocolate milk. Especially good with pancakes. He looked at the menu as he waited for Parker to come back to the table.

Parker nodded as she walked towards the jukebox and did a small fist bump when she noticed that it still works. She selected Tutti Frutti by Little Richard after she placed her quarters in and started to dance a bit as she headed towards back to DJ. She placed her coin purse back into her bag, sat down and glanced down at the menu.

DJ smiled as he recognized the song she chose. "So lots of oldies yeah?" he asked as she sat back down. "I never understood this song though. I mean what does Tutti Frutti mean because a flavor of jelly beans?" he laughed. "Love it though. Also now I really just want jelly beans." He frowned and shook his head. "I think I'm gonna get the endless pancakes because why not right?" He set his menu down. "What about you?"

Parker smiled when she heard him. "Yeah, which Im happy because usually they fill them up with newer music." She replied and looked at him as he spoke before she nodded. "I have no idea, all I know is that I had a shirt when I was little with Tutti Frutti saying on it." She brushed some of her hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "Same and I have jelly beans back at the room." She chewed on her cheek. "I think Im going to go with two eggs, bacon, pancakes and hash browns." She answered as she placed her menu on top of his.

DJ "You would have a shirt that says that" he laughed. "I feel like you'd <i>still</i> have a shirt that says tutti frutti." DJ smiled at her as she moved her pink hair out of her face. Parker was more wild than DJ. At least the DJ he was now. He was much more rebellious his high school days. "Sounds good to me" They order and not long after their food was there. DJ kept asking for short stacks of pancakes and after his third round he was way too full to even finish. "I'm pretty sure I didn't even eat pancakes as tall as Pajamas, much less you" he laughed. When they got the check he pulled out his wallet insisting that he paid.

Parker laughed. "What can I say? I like Little Richard and you do? I guess I have to go and find it when we get home." She had been wanting to tell him that she had been thinking about dying her hair back to blonde, but with having another Fabray running around, it would be a good idea to keep the pink hair. "Great." She finished her food, feeling full and laughed a bit when she heard him. "You almost did." She started to pull out her wallet but then placed it back into her bag as she heard Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers, from another film she had loved when she was little. She started to hum along with the lyrics.

DJ glanced at her and smiled to himself as he put some cash on the table. "Come on, lets go explore the rest of this place." he smiled. DJ stood up and took her hand as they left the diner. He was stuffed and quite tired as they left but the hotness of the sun beating down on them made it feel nice and he was ready for the rest of the day with her. "I told Emilia I'd bring her back a present but I have no idea what to get her. I was thinking like sand or seashells from the beach. Is that too boring though?" He asked her.

Parker rested her head on his shoulder as she fell asleep and lifted her head off of his shoulder as he spoke. She felt a small stung when she heard her friend's name, knowing that they were friends before they were. "I feel like, maybe sand and seashells?" She replied as she looked at him. She hummed a bit as she looked at everyone's looks, not caring about it since she was used to getting them. "That way, its both and the seashells can decorate the sand a bit."

DJ "Wow I totally didn't think about that, you're so smart!" he said sarcastically, but mostly just teasing her. "I bet we can find something like that in one of these shops." he smiled down at her. "That one has clothes, you wanna go in there?" he asked pointing to a shop as their walking slowed a bit.

Parker "Thats why you keep me around." She replied to his sarcasm and nodded as she agreed. She glanced in there, glanced up at him. "Yeah, matter as well right?"

DJ followed her into the store and he was overwhelmed by the smell of vintage clothing. He followed Parker around the store letting her shop as much as she wanted. Honestly he just wanted to distract her, hoping that this was helping, being out and doing fun things.

Parker glanced at the clothes as she pursed her lips a bit and grabbed a few shirts, knowing that they would fit. She grabbed a pair of sunglasses, looked at herself in them and glanced over at DJ. She was thankful for him,actually beyond thankful for him and knew that things were slightly different now. She couldnt put her finger on it, but she figured it wasn't something big.

DJ looked at her and smiled as she tried on the sunglasses. "Cute" he said, trying to be a good shopping buddy when really he wasnt. Not when it came to clothes for girls. Now suit and tie, DJ would be all about that. He loved dressing up fancy. "What did you pick out?" he asked wanting her to show him the shirts she grabbed.

Parker smiled before she took off the sunglasses. "Well," She started to say as she placed the sunglasses onto the counter top. "One of them is a band tee," She showed him before she grabbed the other one. "This one I figured it's nice enough that I can wear to an interview and this one." She glanced at the next one, liked the design of it and showed it to him. "I can wear with anything really but there's a dress that I have my eye on. So, I'll go and get that then we can leave."

DJ nodded. "You're not gonna try any of these on?" he asked. DJ looked through the shirts again that her took from her to hold. I mean honestly who wouldn't think these two were a couple. For all intense and purposes they were. DJ thought about that for a moment when the store clerk eyed the two of them and gave DJ a thumbs up. He frowned. What it would be like to actually date Parker, to kiss her and more. He swallowed and shook away the thought.

Parker nodded. "Yeah, I can." She replied as he looked through the shirts again and took them from her. "I'll make sure to do a fashion runway for you." She smiled as she walked towards the dress, grabbed it and glanced back at DJ. She couldn't but think if they decided to date, it wouldn't change anything except for kissing and more. She licked her lips as she headed towards him, took the shirts from him and followed one of the store clerks to the changing room.

DJ watched her walk towards the changing room and he moved to lean against the counter, loosing his balance a bit as he did and tripping over himself. He looked around and composed himself quickly. DJ walked towards the changing room to sit down and wait for her. What was going on with him? This was Parker he was thinking about!

Parker glanced over her shoulder and gave him a smile before she glanced ahead. She thanked the store clerk once she reached a dressing room, closed it and locked it behind her. She slipped off her shirt, grimaced a bit at her bra, knowing that it was the same bra she didnt have an issue with it until now. She furrowed her eyebrows before she slipped on the shirt and let out a breath. She was being ridiculous, yet she couldnt help but think of DJ in that way. "Alright, shirt number one."

DJ looked up as Parker walked out. "I like it!" he said. "But you know I'm gonna say that about ever shirt you come out in right?" he asked her and laughed a bit. DJ looked her up and down and then quickly looked away. "Okay next one!" he smiled at her finally.

Parker nodded with a small laugh. "I know, but still. I like your opinion." She replied and grinned before she turned back around. She slipped off the shirt and grabbed the next one, slipped it on and walked out. "Shirt number two and go."

DJ smiled again as she came out with a different shirt on. "Gorgeous" he said without thinking. But it was true. She was gorgeous and she looked good in anything. He wiped his hands on his shorts as she went to try on the last one. "Did you pick out that dress already?" he asked her from the other side of the dressing room door.

Parker grinned and knew she was blushing. "Thank you handsome." She replied and headed back into the dressing room. "I did, yeah." She tossed the shirt she was wearing off to the side and took off her shorts before she slipped on the dress. She unlocked the door, headed out after she adjusted it and looked at him. "So?"

DJ watched her walk out and it was like it was in slow motion. He didn't say anything for a while and wasn't even smiling. He raised his eyebrows. "Damn" was all he could say, which was a big deal because DJ rarely ever cursed. "You definitely need to buy that. If you don't I'm buying it for you" he said smiling. "You look amazing."

Parker couldnt but help grin before she ducked her head and rubbed the back of her neck. "You think so?" She asked and glanced down at the dress, nodded as she trusted his word. "Thank you."

DJ "I know so" He smiled. "Now lets go buy these things and find some other places to go" he said as he stood and waited for her. DJ went back to the counter and he spun around a carousel of keychains as Parker got dressed.

Parker nodded before she turned around and headed back into the dressing room. She changed back into her clothes, grabbed the clothes she wanted, grabbed her bag and headed to the counter. She smiled when she saw him standing there, placed the clothes onto the counter along with her new sunglasses and pulled out her wallet. She pulled the exact amount, handed it to the cashier, thanked them and looked at him before she slipped on her sunglasses. "Are you ready?"

DJ put his hand out for her to hold. "I was born ready." He laughed. DJ took her hand as they left the store and walked back onto the boardwalk. "I'm really glad we went on this trip." He said looking down at her. "Totally better than being stuck In that apartment but it's been fun with you there. I'm glad you moved in." He said wrapping an arm around her.

Parker took his hand with a smile and nodded with a laugh. "This is true." She agreed. She glanced up at him with a smile, nodded once more. "I am too." She looked up at him before she put her face in his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his torso as she leaned against him. "It is, and I mean. Where would you have endless pancakes in a 50's diner? I am too, really. I love it there and I love the fact that I get to see you in the morning."

DJ "me too." DJ really did love seeing her all the time. He knew that even when they got older they'd still be like this. Maybe it was inevitable that they'd end up together. Dj tried not to read into it too much. "So what else you wanna do?" He asked, arm wrapped around her as they walked. He looked around the boardwalk of things they could do.

Parker glanced around, knowing that she didn't mind whatever they had done. "Well, we can always see if we can make a reservation at a nice restaurant for tonight when we come back?" She suggested as she looked up at him. "Then, we can always go shopping for you if you need to? Or whatever you want to do."

DJ "yeah I need to get presents." He said. "That sounds fun. As soon as it gets dark we'll do down to the Ferris wheel." He smiled at her. They spent the rest of the day shopping and exploring the boardwalk and by the time it got dark Dj was pooped. "I feel like I might need a nap." He laughed. "Were still gonna take pajamas to the beach too yeah? I can wear these cool new trunks I got." He said referring to the swim trunks he bought earlier in the day.

Parker "Of course we are and they're pretty awesome trunks, I have to admit." Parker said with a smile and stretched a bit. "So do you want to take a nap before we head to the beach?" She was a bit tired and wouldnt mind a nap. Since it meant cuddling with DJ, which she had been always looking forward to. "And I know for sure Pajamas wouldnt mind napping with us."

DJ "yeah let's do that." They made their way back to their hotel room and immediately DJ tossed his shirt and fell onto the bed. "I don't think I'm ever gonna move from this spot" he chuckled and patted the bed for pajamas even though it was much too high for the little puppy to jump up. She was very excited to see the two of them when they got back to the room.

Parker slipped off her shoes along with her sunglasses and laughed. "I don't think we're going to get up." She helped pajamas onto the bed and laid down next to them. She petted the dog, kissed the dog and let out a sigh once she relaxed against the bed.

DJ laid with her on the bed in silence and he turned on his side, petting Pajamas in between them. "I wish my bed was as comfy as this one." He nodded. "But then I'd never be productive at all." He laughed. DJ looked at her and smiled. She was so beautiful if he really was honest with himself. How he never hit on her or anything was beyond him. She was too good for him. At least that's what dj thought.

Parker nodded as she agreed and propped her head up with her hand. "Me too, and nope." She laughed and smiled when she looked at him. She never hit on him, sure she flirted with him but knew that he deserved better than someone who strips for a living. Especially after turning his life around.

DJ opened his mouth to speak but then stopped. He rolled over on his back with his hands behind his head. "Can I ask you something?" He asked hoping he wasn't crossing a boundary with her. Dj turned his head to look at her.

Parker raised an eyebrow when he opened up his mouth and closed then rolled over onto his back. "Of course." She answered as she looked at him. "What's on your mind?"

DJ looked back at her. "You think it's weird sometimes when people think we're together?" He asked. "I mean, that guy at the shop practically wanted to give me a high five because he thought we were together." He said. "I mean we've always just been friends but we've always been more than that you know. Best friends." He looked at her not really sure what he was wanting to say.

Parker listened to him, nodded as he spoke and thought to word her words. "I don't think its weird, I mean we do act like a couple and do couple things but its been natural for us to do so." She started to say as she laid onto her side and tucked her arm underneath her head to act like a pillow as she looked at him. "Do you think its weird sometimes?"

DJ looked at her. "I've never really thought much about it." He said. "You're my best friend and I want to be with you always." He took her hand in his. "I just think it's weird that other people thing it's weird... I don't know. No one knows us like we do right?" He smiled. "Would it be so bad if we did end up together?"

Parker interlaced their fingers together mindlessly and nodded. "Right and people close to us doesn't think about it when it comes us." She smiled and shook her head. "I don't see anything bad about ending up with you."

DJ smiled at her. After being in silence for a long time his eyes closed and he fell fast asleep. He ended up pulling her into his arms as they napped.