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Blade looked about the buzzing room. Of course, he'd been on this scene a thousand times, he was an actor, right? He was used to parties like this, right? It was all part of the job. Make no mistake, Blade knew it was a nice party, he'd say that. But he was too overwhelmed enjoy it.
His so called 'costar' was hopping about the room, clearly enjoying all the attention. And where was he? Left on the sidelines. Again. If he was being honest, he was getting tired of Nick's little antics. They were supposed to do this stuff together. Deep down Blade knew Nick didn't mean anything by it, and he probably didn't realize he was leaving Blade all alone.
Blade shifted on his tires uncomfortably. He was pretty sure the tight expression on his face wasn't a good indicator of a fake smile. Not that it seemed that anyone was looking at him.
Ever since he was a little copter, parties like this were not his favorite. That's when he started his acting career, really. HIs parents didn't want their only child to be acting grumpy in front of their guests. So he was forced to play the part of being happy. And now here he was once again, at a party so much like the ones of his childhood. And he just didn't have the strength to pretend.
A forklift zipped through the crowd. Past other forklifts, cars, and the occasional helicopters of high social status. Was he supposed to be here? Not really. But that never stopped him before. He soon caught sight of his goal: Blade. He noticed something was off about Blade earlier in the day, and he was gonna get to the bottom of it.
Just then Blade realized he wasn't alone. His set mechanic was parked about ten feet away from him.
"Maru?"
"Blade." Maru greeted.
"How'd you get in here?" Blade asked in surprise.
"What? You don't think I was invited?" Maru asked with a pout.
"Mechanics aren't typically invited to these type of functions." Blade said plainly, stating a fact. He knew this party had an exclusive guest list, with security.
"No one questions your intentions when you're wearing a Chef's hat." Maru said, clearly proud of himself.
"So you pretended to be a chef?" Blade asked.
"I said I was wearing a chef's hat. They let me roll right past."
"Humph."
"What's got you in a mood?"
"I don't like parties." Blade said gritting his teeth.
"Blade, I've worked with you for the better part of two years. And I've never seen you this uncomfortable at a party." Maru prodded, hoping to find out what was wrong.
"Well... " Blade tried to think up an excuse. "They... haven't renowned us for the third season."
"Blade, we just wrapped the second season. And we're supposed to be celebrating that. And you know just as well as I, that as long as the ratings are good enough, you'll have your third season. Now, you wanna tell me what's actually wrong?"
Well that excuse was blown right out of the water.
Blade grunted. "Idontwannatalkaboutit."
He gave a cautious glance about the room. He needed enough reaction time to put on a smile in case a camera came his way.
"I have an idea." The mechanic said. "How about I get you a drink? Some bubbly maybe?"
"Sure." Said Blade. It would get the tug off his case for a few minutes.
Maru scuried off, Chef's hat in place once again. Blade tried to think up a plan to get rid of Maru for a longer stretch. That way he could be a miserable wallflower in peace. The only thing he could think of was sending Maru to check up on Nick. Who was having the time of his life...
Maru returned and set the drink in front of Blade. Blade couldn't help but notice the smug look on the mechanic's face that screamed "aren't you gonna tell me what's wrong?"
"Where's Nick?" Blade demanded, hoping Maru would take a hint and just leave him alone. He knew full well where Nick was. He was in the corner with all the executives, half hopping, half fluttering his way through the crowd.
"Oh you know," the mechanic began, "he's over there rubbing tires and kissing babies."
"He should have been a politician." Blade spat under his breath, which extra venom on the word politician. "And Nick has skids!"
"Well then rubbing skids and kissing babies. It's just an expression. Why don't you take a drink?"
Blade did, but it wasn't what he was expecting. "Why'd you give me Martinelli's?!"
"I don't waste perfectly good champagne on grumpy helicopters." Maru said curtly. "Now, we can do this the easy way, and you tell me what's wrong or we can just keep doing what we've been doing."
"You just gave me apple juice!"
"It's high quality apple juice and it's in a champagne glass. Nobody but you and I know the difference. But if you keep this up, I'm gonna bring it to you in a juice box, so that everyone here can see you're acting just like a toddler. "
That threat seemed to wear Blade down a bit.
"I just- I mean-" Blade sighed. Maru sat patiently waiting for Blade to speak. "This party is bringing up memories for me. And I can't always act as confident as Nick. He's just too-"
"Charming, hyper, likable, plesent?" Maru said finishing Blade's sentence.
"Yeah."
"I see." Said Maru, much like a doctor diagnosing a patient.
"I do good sticking to the script. Nick does better throwing it out. He's always been better at improvevising. And there's no script for me right now."
"Ah, I see." Maru said once again. "To Nick, all the world's a stage."
"Say that again?" Blade asked slightly puzzled.
"I said 'all the world's a stage'."
"I wish I could be more like Nick." Blade sighed.
"Nick was born for this." Maru said boldly.
"You're right. Anyone who could say '10-4' or 'pull over' could play my part..." Blade sounded discouraged.
"But so were you." Maru said suddenly. "You don't have to be like anyone else. You both have unique talents that you bring." Maru nodded his encouragement to Blade and watched the light come back into the young helicopters eyes.
"NICK!" Maru shouted across the room.
"What?" Nick hollered back.
"How dare you forget your co-star! Get your tail over here!"
"Oh yeah! Sorry!" Nick said quickly. Blade could see him blushing red, while turning to hop and hover his way towards them.
"Need you to show Ranger here how it's done." Maru said pointing to Blade. "Well I'm needed in the 'kitchen'." Maru said, putting on his guise of the Chef's hat. "Drink your Martinelli's Blade, you're gonna need it." Maru warned with a wink.
Blade wasn't entirely sure what Maru meant by that, but none the less, he took it as the chance to dish some good-natured wit back to Maru. "I hope you enjoy your juice box, Maru, so that everyone knows you're just like a toddler."
"Come on Blade!" Nick squirmed impatiently. "I'll show you how it's done. Nothing to it really." Nick began to wisk Blade away into the crowd. "All you gotta do is be charming." Nick winked. "Shouldn't be too hard, seeing as you ARE Blade Ranger." Nick giggled.
Blade began to realize what Maru meant. Keeping up with Nick... this was going to be a long night.
Maru parked back and watched the two helicopters. He sipped his champagne. Tonight, Nick was more bubbly than the bubbly. And that was just the medicine Blade needed.
"They really are better together." Maru remarked to himself.