Work Text:
It was 2:30 AM. Monster time was over, the City was safe for another night and Olivia Smith couldn't sleep.
Jobby job job. Need a job. Been freeloading here for over half a year. Maria, Ma and everybody has helped me as much as they can but now I need to help them. And me. I've had some good gains at the gym maybe I can try to get another job stocking shelves. Like, grocery store shelves, not hardware store shelves. I mean maybe a convenience store clerk again. No, fuck I still suck at math. If I had a dime for every time I though 88 cents was the right change when an order came out to 22 cents...math help hasn't materialized at MAGICS. They're doing their best and my therapist is great and my medication is helping but is my medication why I can't sleep right now? Or am I just worried about my future? Founder I need to be productive. Laundry. Get out of bed and do laundry. Nobody else is down there I'll have the machines all to myself it's great it'll work. Up I go. Time to kick ass.
And with that Olivia crawled out of bed, threw on jeans and started picking her clothes up off the floor.
Anything fall off the hanger in the closet? Oh right shit that fucking dress. Staring at it isn't going to make it go away. Burning it would. Maybe I should just throw it out and be done with it. No, dammit Candi got you that dress and she'd say she understands but it would break her heart. Leave it there forever? Sick of looking at it on the floor. Reminds me of that day every fucking time I look at it. Ok fine dress, I'll wash you. But no promises after that. Wait...is that one of those 'light colored clothes' I've heard so much about? Will washing it with my other clothes ruin it? That actually sounds like the situation solving itself so in you go.
Before not too long Olivia had what she hoped was all of her dirty clothes and made her way to the laundry room. It was empty as per her suspicion. So she attempted to gain some sense of accomplishment by loading them into the machines and turning them on.
Why don't I bring a book when I do laundry? This is so boring. Do I own any books? What books would I even own? Wish I still had my CDs. Maybe when I get a job I can rebuild my collection. Shit. How? Not like I can buy 'Revenge of the Fuck Demon' at For Your Music. Ugh I'd have to go back to the 201. Don't wanna go back to the 201. They suck. I mean I could find some of their CDs there like Bad Foundation. Didn't Pink P*ss* somehow get a record deal? Right I mean that's why everybody calls them 'Pink Posse' to begin with. Do I even want to buy their old shit back? That crack against the registration poster girl the night after her funeral was too fucking much. Probably made a bunch of enemies that night when I called them out on it. I wonder if I could have joined a band if I had stuck to learning to playing the bass. Maybe I could buy a new one once I start actually making my own money. Wait where would I play? The 201? The Afterparty? NO! NOT the Afterparty. NEVER the Afterparty. Why am I even waiting around anyways? Why don't I just go back to my place and come back when the laundry is done like a normal person? Because I don't want people stealing my fucking laundry again, that's why. This really doesn't seem like the kind of place where people steal laundry and half the tenants are related to Ma anyway. But what about the other half...
Olivia didn't know how long she was lost in thought, but those thoughts came to an abrupt halt when another person came through the laundry room door with his own bag of laundry. He looked to be in his 20s with greasy hair, a dark, poxmarked face and a considerable amount of musculature. Olivia had no idea who this man was, but she quickly came to know one thing...he didn't see her there.
"DIOS! A laundry ghost!" The man lunged back in shock upon seeing Olivia. She wasn't sure if he was being serious or not. "Wow, give me a heart attack will ya? Who does their laundry at 3AM then just hangs around?"
"Me I guess. And also you. I couldn't sleep, what's your excuse."
The man made a somewhat sour face. "My excuse is I don't want to run into my ma so I come over and do my laundry in the dead of night."
"Wait, you come over? You're not actually a tenant here? Why do you come here and how do you come here? We have security doors."
The man became jocular and replied with more than a hint of sarcasm "Oh I got me a key. I'm a VIP you know, very special. My ma is kind of a big deal around these parts. Owns the place..." the man kept speaking but Olivia hung off that phrase.
Wait a minute...
"Wait, that means you're an Alvarez."
"Oh you heard of us? Are you a fan or do you just remember the name from the rent checks? I don't have a pen because...well nobody ever asks for my autograph." The man's voice remained jocular through the exchange right until the end.
"So you're Maria's...brother?"
"Ah so you're a fan of my sister. Are you waiting for her to wake up or something? Because that's kinda creepy I won't lie. Also it's way too early. You could have slept in for another 3 hours at least and still stalked her." The man's tone remained mostly upbeat.
"I'm not her fan I'm her old partner."
"She had partners? Sorry I ain't all up on the whole magical girl thing. They are strong women and they intimidate me. If you don't believe me ask my ex-girlfriend."
Olivia was shocked that Maria's brother seemed to not know much about his sisters' magical girl exploits.
"Olivia Smith, they called me Power Weapon back in the day."
"Hector Alvarez, they call me when they need somebody to job to somebody with a future." Hector said as he started unloading laundry into one of the machines. One piece of Hector's clothing greatly stood out.
"A Frog costume? Did you go to a costume party?"
"Nope!" Hector said as he pulled the Frog costume from the washing machine. "These are my work clothes. I am a very busy Rana with much important Rana business to do." Hector saw Olivia's confused expression "Rana is 'Frog' in the old language." As he clarified he crumpled up the Frog costume and threw it back in the machine.
"A Luchadore I take it?"
"Ding! 5 Alvarez/Burke children, 4 luchadores. Allie is in college working on her sports medicine degree. I'm the one nobody gives a shit about. Well me and Gloria. But at least Gloria is respected." Hector's jovial facade lowered more an more throughout that statement.
"Ouch. And I mean Maria can't even make her debut for another like...9 months."
"Ah Dios don't fucking remind me. Bad enough I gotta deal with my brother." Olivia was started to get a very clear message of what Hector's deal was "Oh holy shit listen to me. I ain't even know you and I'm talking your ear off."
It wasn't hard to see that Hector's oversharing was the result of a man who needed to get a lot off his chest, Olivia decided to try to indulge him.
"Oh don't worry about it. I was Maria's partner, that means Ma adopted me. We're practically siblings. Just ask her."
"Oh great now I get to be the 6th best kid thanks. Holy shit what is wrong with me today sorry I don't fucking know what's up. None of this is your concern."
"You'd be surprised. Trust me you ain't in 6th. I've been freeloading off of ma for like 6 months. Got the brain problems. Nahou they call me."
"How did that come about?"
"Incredibly long story. Embarrassing really. It involves a sad, pathetic girl reaching out to her old partner hat in hand and now I'm doing laundry at 3AM. The end."
"You were a magical girl though. Don't you get set up after that gig?"
"Maybe if you were popular and didn't attack a popular morning talk show host."
"You did what now?"
"Tried to make Marissa Kay of the Daylight Update drink my blood. I'm not proud of it....I'm sorta proud of it. It was awesome. I'm awful."
"Man I wish I could make popular morning show talk hosts drink my blood. Or at least be popular."
"Eh, popular's overrated."
"Not in my line of work it ain't. So like they strip your pension or something?"
"My what now? Fuck no the City don't pay you to do that shit. It's a volunteer gig."
"Getting killed for a fucking volunteer gig? Why?"
"Cuz the city told you it's your duty. Or you wanna be popular and bring in that sweet brand merch. Or you were raised from birth to be a perfect monster killing machine and just run with it."
"That last one sounds sweet."
"Dude it is not and please...it's just not. All jokes aside, it's fucking not."
"I was not expecting that to hit a nerve. I am rather terrified that hit a nerve."
"That is the correct response." Olivia decided it was time to turn the tables away from this horrible topic. "So what makes you the black sheep anyway?"
"I suck. Just ask ma, she'll tell you."
"I highly doubt Ma will say one of her children sucks. Unless you killed a guy or go to the ring with your underwear on your head."
"I did that once. The last one. As a joke. It was funny. A fucking laugh riot. It is good to get fucking laughed at while your brother is partying on his throne as King Shit of Fuck Mountain."
Olivia's curiosity about the specifics of this situation had reached a fever pitch. "Ok I guess I just gotta ask...what the hell are you talking about?"
"So ok I guess despite living here for half a year and being Maria's "sister" you never watch the shows."
"I...poked my head in a few times. That's about it."
"Alright, so here's how things work. I am a luchadore. I am called 'El Rana'...the frog. I wear that dumbass frog suit and jump around and do comedy spots like a fucking idiot."
"Comedy spots?"
"So yeah in Lucha usually it's like an athletic competition..."
"But fake?"
"Choreographed thank you."
"I remember Maria saying the same thing. Is that like a conditioned response or something? What's the difference even?"
"Fake implies we arn't getting the shit beaten out of us doing this stuff. We get the shit beaten out of us doing this stuff. Trust me."
"Wow really? So it's like real violence but you're not trying to actually hurt each other but it happens anyway?"
"Sometimes we try to hurt each other. Not like break each others necks or anything but we like slapping each other's chests really hard."
For the first time in Olivia's life she found Lucha Libre fascinating.
"Go on..."
"Well anyway, yeah sure sometimes you chop each other and you slam each other and you get the crowd hyped up with this awesome contest of athleticism and emotional investment and intensity...and sometimes you wear underwear on your head and do other goofy shit and call it a match. I am what is called a 'comedy wrestler'. I do stuff to get the crowd laughing, warm em up a little. Sometimes at the beginning of the show, sometimes after a really good match in the middle of the show when people are tired of cheering and have to go to the bathroom or take a nap or what the fuck ever. The point is sure I get cheered sometimes. But mostly it's just laughter and occasional apathy. Not a ton of respect there if you get my drift. Now my brother Eddie? You met the man?"
"I've seen him training Maria a few times."
"Holy shit I thought it would be Gloria...dios fuck him." The last part was said under his breath so Olivia couldn't hear him. "Anyway my brother. Eddie Alvarez. King Shit of Fuck Mountain. That's what I call him anyway. Ma and everybody else calls him "The Future Legend". He's got it all. The looks, the charisma, the moves so he gets to be the star of the show. The guy who goes on last so the fans have a big finale."
"And you're jealous."
Hector's eyes alit with flame as he pounded the washing machine in anger.
"I'M NOT FUCKING JEALOUS! I've been in that fucker's shadow for my entire goddamn life. And all through growing up he made damn well sure I knew it. And if Ma has her way that's the way it'll be for the rest of our lives."
"That...doesn't sound like Ma."
"Don't get me started. Ok it's too late for that I'm fucking started. Ma...well she's a good Ma. But there's family Ma and there's business Ma. And business Ma says 'Hector you are so good at being El Rana. Hector there is no shame in not being the star of the show. Hector, you should be proud of your niche.' I want a run against Eddie. I want to show the City I'm not his shit-ass black sheep little brother. Well really I want to show the city I exist! Ma won't bite. She won't bite because she doesn't believe I can do it. She thinks I'll fail. And I can't get it through to her. I'd retire if I didn't love doing this shit so much. Even as a fucking frog."
"You enjoy Lucha that much?"
"Even as a shitty comedy frog doing your thing in front of a crowd is fucking intoxicating. I mean crap look at you. With the whole punk thing and the face shrapnel you look custom built to be a lucha. Need some more muscle though."
"Don't get me started on muscle. I'm working on it. I was 96 lbs 6 months ago and could barely lift the duffel bag full of my remaining personal possessions."
"Ay Dios I'm sorry. That sounds like shit."
"Ok hold on switching the subject for a minute. What is this 'dios' thing you keep saying? Is that an old language thing?"
"Dios is like...God right? You know the Founder yes?"
"All too well."
"And she created the City yes? But who created The Founder? Who created the outside world and the world and sky and the stars? Dios. I always thought the Founder things was a little...I don't know, shortsighted. We can't see it, we can't touch it but we know it's there...the rest of the world I mean. So when it comes to seeking any sort of like, comfort from greater powers I go to Dios. But enough about spiritually, time to talk about my shitty brother!"
"He sounds like a complete asshole. He never seems that way with Maria though."
"...That's because Maria is another...him. And she's 14 years younger than him. And a girl. She's gonna be the next big deal after Eddie. He's got a peer there. A comrade in arms. Not a fucking whipping boy. Can just see 'em now; wrestling each other in the main event. Laughing at their shitty frog brother."
"Ok ok I'm going to stop you right there. I am really getting the impression you don't actually know Maria that well because if you did you'd know that is absolutely not who she is. At all."
Hector took a contemplative moment.
"Ah damnit. Yeah, I don't know Maria that well. I'm 11 years older than she is. Haven't interacted with her too much since I left the house. Just during the holidays and at shows...sometimes. I just knew she wanted to be a Luchadora and then I hear about her becoming a fucking magical girl and I start getting word that she's becoming super popular and I see her at the gym and she's absolutely jacked and I hear the other luchadores talk about like she's the second coming and...why do I have to have TWO siblings that make me look like an absolute chump? It wasn't bad enough that I had one sibling I could never match up to? I got to spend the rest of my life looking up to my big brother and my little baby sister on top of it? And you tell me she's nice? That makes it worse. If she were just a bitch I wouldn't feel bad about ha...being resentful towards her but she's nice and I'm just an asshole. Just a bitter nobody asshole."
"Hector...um...how to put this." Olivia was starting to put together something from Hector's self-flagellating rambling "I'm not entirely sure your issues are just professional in nature. As somebody who has spent years dealing with, in quotes, "some shit" it's pretty obvious you are also dealing with some shit. I gotta tell you...sometimes you need therapy to unravel this kind of thing. I'm in it. it helps."
"Do I really come off as that pathetic?"
Olivia got incredulous. "I don't know? Do I?"
Hector took a contemplative moment.
"I didn't always hate my brother. He was my hero. I grew up wanting to be him. He made it his mission in life to assure me that would never happen and that I knew it."
"Hector when you put it like that it sounds like hating your brother is a pretty good approach to dealing with him."
"Yeah...it does." All animation in Hector's voice dropped, he sounded almost mournful. "That was high school though. The big shot senior not wanting his freshman little brother around. Or if he did, making sure everybody around knew which one of us was King Shit of Fuck Mountain." Olivia was seriously starting to wonder how Maria looked up to Eddie. "But that was just high school. When he became an adult he...really started to regret that. He's apologized a bunch. Tried to make it right. Said he'd talk to Ma about that me vs him program. I screamed at him. Told him he was just trying to set me up for failure. Told him not to dare. DAMN IT! He sucks so much. He's my fucking hero and I fucking hate him. I just...can't forgive him."
"Hector that is very good to hear and I love that we've known each other for 20 minutes and you feel comfortable enough to dump it on me but you are frankly doing a great job proving how much you need therapy. Because this shit is complicated"
"Wow, holy shit it's only been 20 minutes. What is wrong with me dumping all this crap on somebody I've known for 20 mintues."
"Like I said, we're basically siblings."
"Damn wish I actually had a sibling like you. Gloria's a nag and Allie's a nerd."
"Well, don't think it's one-sided. You are like the first person I've talked to in forever that I don't have to be on my guard around. I love Maria and your Ma has done so much for me but I just feel so indebted to them I have trouble interacting with them like peers or whatever. My girlfriend...I am so in love with her but it's always a dance around your girlfriend. I don't want to worry her or say the wrong thing and piss her off or...you get the idea. You though? Talking to you is like cleaning the social pipes."
"Uh yeah you know what? Can I get like...your phone number or something because talking to you is really great and I don't want to keep wandering into the laundry room hoping to find you at 3AM."
Olivia was slightly taken aback. "Ok once again just so we're clear; girlfriend. In love with."
"And just so we're clear you are way too young for me. And also; I'm gay. It's why my ex-girlfriend is my ex-girlfriend." Olivia didn't flinch so Hector continued. "Like, you don't have to give me your number if you're uncomfortable. We can just run into each other at Crimmus or something if I come this year."
Olivia took a second to think about it. There was something about Hector that fascinated her. Even beyond his issues and there were things she wanted to discuss further with him.
"Actually yeah. Lemme just wait to put my stuff in the dryer and I'll go up to my place and get note paper and stuff.
"Nice. It's been super cool to meet you laundry buddy." Hector put out his hand to shake.
"Agreed laundry buddy." Olivia shook it.
Their hands remained clasped for a few seconds...then.
"This is awkward we still have the dryer cycle."
Olivia could only laugh.