Chapter Text
Walking onto Brian Boulevard was an interesting experience, Sean won't lie about that. The last time they were there; Jon, Liane, and himself were bombarded with loud, cheerful voices and heavy hands patting their heads and shoulders as though the residents and regulars had known them for forever. Then again, that was within the limitations of a building where the noise of voices collided with the noises of the stereo, the clattering of dishes from the kitchen, and even some announcer from one of the TVs. It was a bit –lies, a lot– overwhelming at the time, thankfully Sherwin showed good enough sense to find a quieter spot on the second floor loft overlooking the main floor.
Now, walking on the street, it was almost as lively as it was then, though, if not more tolerable with the more available space. There were still people everywhere, of course, wandering the street just like them, and they all only added to the interest of the experience. Everyone was dressed like they lived in the dark ages, or were really into Ren Faire. There were smaller shop stalls standing outside actual storefronts on the sidewalk with people shouting for attention towards their merchandise. Little kids in similar clothes ran around, weaving between individual people and groups, with wooden weapons. Sean watched as one small girl stopped to jump up onto a stray crate and held out a bow, loading it with a ball-tipped arrow and shooting one of her friends in the back, the gaggle of children giggling the whole time. And decorations, too, tapestries, or maybe more like banners, hung from oddly old-fashioned streetlamps –the sort that needed to be manually lit, like with a lighter or something– each banner a cycling of three colors; red, yellow, and blue; as well as green streamers dangling between buildings like malnourished vines yet not taking away from the excitement.
Wait- is that a marionette stage? Sean halted in his step, watching a grown man shake and maneuver puppets on strings for the entertainment of another group of kids and others passing by. Ozzy had to grab him by the arm to keep their group moving together, his attention already split between his phone and what was basically a festival around them.
“Win said he’ll be at his aunt’s bakery,” Ozzy said, looking up from his phone to read building signs. “Which should be ri~ight… Here!”
The five of them stopped in front of a small stall offering a variety of pies –they smelled amazing– and behind said stall was your standard brick building with a large display window showing off even more baked goods waiting inside. Despite the teenager calling out absently from the pie stall out front, there was a line coming out of the bakery itself, people of various ages chattering excitedly with each other.
“Is it bad to say that I want to eat one of those pies?” Miranda asked with one finger pressed to the corner of her mouth, her eyes were glittering. “Like, a whole one, by myself.”
“Oh no,” Jon shook his head, equally leering at the selection in front of them. “I am so with you on that idea.”
“Jon, when was the last time you actually ate something with “bad” sugar?” Liane questioned, her phone’s light flashed quickly as she took too many pictures of their surroundings.
“I have a stash.” He answered absently, waving a hand as he and Miranda gathered up at the stall. “And I’m starving.” Sean saw Liane’s eyes roll before refocusing on her phone and the pictures she was still taking.
“You drool on it, you bought it.” The teen manning the stall called out, barely raising his head from his hand. He had a book open in front of him. That’s not something you see much anymore, outside of school that is.
“Oh, oh!” Miranda hopped over. “How much for a whole pie?”
The teen looked up from his book, finger marking his spot. There was clear boredom in his familiar honey-brown eyes. “It’s a dollar for a slice. Six for a whole one, but, Ma’s got some mini pies inside for a dollar fifty each.”
“That’s pretty cheap.” Liane commented with narrow eyes.
“Consider it an event special.” The teen answered snarkily. “Are you buying or what?”
“Wow, what a salesman,” Liane retorted, nearly speaking Sean’s whole thoughts. Miranda was digging out her wallet. “No wonder you’ve sold so many.”
“You’re welcome to move along, sweetheart.” He waved his available hand as though to show off the rest of the street. Liane’s mouth opened to say something else but a piece of pie was unceremoniously stuffed there instead. Jon pulled her back as he stepped forward.
“Stop starting arguments for no reason.” He shook his head, exasperated, then pulled out his own wallet. “Could I get two pies, please?”
The teen pushed his book to the side and sat upright as Jon set down two whole pies, one missing a chunk. He pressed plastic lids onto each one then put them into a plastic bag.
“Twelve dollars.” He barely got the words out before Jon put the money in his extended hand. “Enjoy the festival.”
Jon just grinned and stepped to the side, dragging Liane with him, so Miranda could pay next. He directed the girl to stand beside Sean. She had her cheeks puffed as she chewed.
Cute, Sean glanced away quickly to ignore the thought.
“Alright, so he’s not inside.” Sean snapped his gaze towards Ozzy as he joined them. When had he gone off alone?
Thumbs tapping over his phone screen as he walked. “And he’s not answering his phone. I tried asking the guys behind the counter but they're too busy to even look at me.” Ozzy glanced back at the line still hanging out of the shop’s door, it didn’t look like it had gone down at all.
“You could try asking him.” Miranda suggested, sucking pie filling off of her fingers before pointing at the bored teen that had returned to his book. “He doesn’t look too busy.”
Ozzy eyed up the guy for a moment then gave a shrug, walking towards the stall. Sean followed behind him.
“Yo, got a minute?” Ozzy approached the stall. “We’re looking for a friend of ours, pretty sure he’s a cousin of yours.” He held up his phone so the screen faced the other.
The teen flipped a page in his book. “So are at least half of the li’l bastards running up and down the street,” he said. “You'll need to be more specific.”
“Recognize this one?” Ozzy held out his phone further towards the teen. The teen looked up and squinted at the screen then shrugged.
“I’ve only been here for an hour,” he said. “Your buddy might’ve left before then.”
“C’mon, man,” Ozzy groaned. “His name is Sherwin, if he’s not here do you know where else he’d be? We were supposed to meet him here.”
“Sherwin?” The way he said the name was more like testing how it sounded than questioning. The teen turned his head to look down the street where most of the people were gathering. He was silent for a moment before his face lit up, or at least the half of it that Sean and Ozzy could see.
“Oh yea, Mr. Private School!” The teen laughed in a way that didn’t sound wholly mocking. Sean raised a brow at the apparent nickname. “I think he got himself snatched by some other cousins and taken for a change of clothes. Dresscode an’ all, you know.” He gestured to his own attire with a begrudging grin.
“And that would be where?” Ozzy pressed. Sean wondered quietly if they would be expected to change as well.
The teen pointed towards the crowd. “Just follow the street until you find the stage, there’s a tailor shop behind it that’ll be sporting festival-wear in its windows.” He gave both Ozzy and Sean a look over and curled his lip. “Maybe get yourself some duds too, nice clothes don't last long on this street.”
“Thanks for the tip.” Was all Ozzy said before walking away. Once again, Sean followed, changing a glance down at his own clothes.
He wouldn't call them “nice clothes” particularly. While not his worst outfit, it still was a far cry from his best. Just a simple, clean blue polo shirt over a white long-sleeved tee and a pair of skinny jeans, cuffed around the ankles because Nana swears he's going to hit another growth spurt soon. The only accessory he is wearing is an old watch that is two sizes too big for his already thin wrist and slides up and down in a mildly annoying way that Sean has been forever used to ignoring. Apparently it was one of his dad’s, according to Nana, and something he should be grateful to wear, according to his grandfather.
Giving a final shrug, Sean assured himself that even if he didn’t care about getting his clothes dirty it still wouldn’t hurt to check out whatever the shop would be advertising. Support local businesses, or something like that. Whatever.
“Turns out Sherwin got snagged.” Ozzy told the others. “The guy said there’s a shop down the street he was likely taken to. And Liane, stop taking pictures. It's creepy and there’s already a few people here that don’t like you.”
The girl rolled her eyes but still put her phone away in her purse. “Whatever.”
“Don’t.” Jon spoke, one cheek puffed with pie. He didn’t even spare a glance to the side eye she gave him, instead seeming completely unbothered and more than content with the food in his hand and the entertainment around them.
“Then let’s go!” Miranda cheered, practically sprinting ahead. “I wanna see if they do axe throwing!”
“Look for the community garden.” The pie-selling teen called out.
“Oh my god,” she squealed excitedly, practically vibrating with it. “There’s a community garden guys! Come on, come on!” Miranda darted back and grabbed Liane by the arm before dragging her along. Liane managed to grab Jon’s shirt collar, pulling him along as well. Poor guy looked like he was going to choke on his pie.
Sean glanced at Ozzy, who was tapping something quickly on his phone. Once he was done the device was put away. “Hold up Mims! Wait for us!” They both then took off, chasing after their friends.
Note how earlier that Brian Blvd was considered merely interesting; The Lion’s Burrow being its biggest indicator that you’ve entered an odd, almost pre-1800s era of architecture. It may be from an unskilled perspective but The Lion’s Burrow looked like the oldest building on the whole street, though very well maintained and adapted to modern changes. Which would make sense, seeing as it was Sherwin’s grandfather and great-uncles who had owned and ran the businesses for many decades. But the further down the street you went, the progression of architecture changing was stunning in both their subtle and obvious ways. Sean made a mental note to ask Sherwin if any of his relatives worked in construction or were architects. The first few they passed seemed like they were for residential use, brickwork laid in a federal style that made the building look beautifully prim if not for the faded paint on the open shutters. However, not a building you would expect to see people dressed in wool and furs walking in front of. It was a fascinating clash of different eras.
Ultimately, though probably inevitable, Sean and Ozzy lost track of Miranda, along with Liane and Jon. They did find the stage area like the pie-stall guy said but didn't stop at the tailors right away in an attempt to find the other three. What the boys did find was a large park with a heavily occupied playground and more people milling around, some wearing more modern clothing. It was a nice spot, Sean won't lie, much nicer than the park near the bowling alley. With lots of tall trees and a scenic pond that had a bridge going across, a few ducks were peacefully floating around.
“Nice place.” Sean commented.
“Right?” Ozzy sounded equally as stunned. “How have we not been here before? There's a fucking dedication statue!” There, indeed, was a dedication statue. It looked vaguely familiar, maybe Sean had seen it in passing when his grandfather was reading the newspaper, but he had no idea who the statue depicted.
“Maybe because we come from wealthy families that own acres of maintained property yet we spend most of our time in urban areas while this particular place is more of a suburb.” Sean suggested bluntly, sweeping his gaze over the scenery again. “That has a highly active and involved community in not merely appearances.”
Ozzy sent a frown his way, it was more like a pout, then sighed, his shoulders sagging. “Yea… that's fair.” He crossed his arms.
Sean side-eyed his friend for a moment then back to the park, at the playground more specifically with all its activity. “You want to go on the playground, don't you?”
“Yeesss,” Ozzy whined, his head falling back.
“We need to find the others.” Sean reminded him. “And Sherwin too.”
“I know,” Ozzy whined again. Sean could find the only appropriate response to his friend’s behavior to be a snort, earning himself a scowl.
“Don’t laugh at me, asshole!” Ozzy snapped.
“Then stop acting like a dumbass.” Sean shot back.
There was a pause, the two boys standing close enough that Ozzy was glaring up at Sean while the blonde was staring unimpressedly down. It didn’t take long for him to crack, and less for Ozzy to follow, both teens fumbling into laughter. Neither one of them able to take the other seriously.
“Oh, okay,” Ozzy began once he managed to calm down. He turned away from the scenic park and started back towards the boulevard. “Let’s go find Sherwin. We’ll probably find the girls along the way.”
“And Jon?” Sean asked, following him.
“Hm?” Ozzy looked at him curiously. Sean could tell it wasn’t the real sort.
“The girls and Jon.” Sean still insisted despite what he knew.
Ozzy’s expression didn’t change. “What did I say?”
There was a brief moment where Sean wondered just how petty Ozzy could get towards any individual person for any particular reason, then he was reminded that, while the actions might vary to the person, each seemingly minor act is somehow more petty than the last. It was almost impressive and somehow he is always a little surprised when Ozzy starts getting petty. Maybe because it’s a stupid, child-like kind of petty coming from someone who Sean has watched fist fight his own cousin and knock him out cold without so much as a scowl. A jarring difference to the pouts and borderline elementary bullying that was happening here.
“How old are you?” He asked with an eye roll.
The shorter teen laughed, folding his hands behind his head like he had no care in the world. “Mentally or physically?”
“You are so lame, Oz.”
“Says you.”
They found that tailor’s shop finally–technically again but they were busy. Sherwin wasn’t there, or more rather wasn’t there anymore, but his scary older cousin was. What was her name? Sherry? No, Cherry, it was Cherry. She was there with more unfamiliar faces, they were probably her own friends that she had invited to this cousin’s part.
Either way, Cherry didn’t seem too interested in entertaining the younger boys for any longer than she had to, only telling them that Sherwin had involuntarily volunteered to play monarch for the kids running up and down the street.
“Look for the daycare,” Cherry had said, jerking her thumb in the direction where the pair had originally walked into the party when they had the rest of their group. “Laura’s Playtime Lounge. Jus’ a couple buildings back the way you came.”
They found the place and again, Sherwin was absent. Another involuntary volunteer said that he ran off to escape his execution sentence. A certainly interesting game that must have been to say the least. Sean and Ozzy were pointed in the direction of a blacksmith. An actual fucking blacksmith. In a suburb. Are these people insane? Ozzy ended up buying a dulled dagger keychain since he couldn’t get a sword without a parent present, and then they were pointed in yet another direction.
A pet store. A second bakery. A stall that sold mutton chops. A makeshift psychic’s tent in a thin alleyway. On the plus side, they found the axe-throwing range. And the community garden, which was where they found the rest of their friends, minus the one they had been searching for. Sean was sick of this goose chase.
“I’m going to kill Sherwin,” Liane said in a rather giddy tone, her eyes sparkling at her phone screen. Sean snuck a glance at the device over her shoulder where he saw a selfie of her smiling beside an older, sturdy-looking man with blonde hair but an oddly red beard. He was smiling, although it looked a bit awkward. “Terrence O’Brian is one of his uncles and he didn’t think to say anything?”
“Hey, Lois Lane,” Ozzy scoffed. “You’re not owed his bloodline info, y’know. And aren’t you on a question limit now?”
She ignored him, thumbs gliding across her screen with practiced ease. Sean could see she was sending the picture to someone. Maybe her dad, Liane loves doing things to annoy him. A picture with his political rival would definitely do that. Maybe she’ll get it printed and try to sneak it somewhere in her dad’s weird collection of pictures with random, mildly important people. That reminds him, Sean should probably talk to his grandfather about revising their guest lists for the next charity event Nana will want to host, hopefully he’ll listen this time.
Despite the chatter and bustling of people around them, a ringtone was still loud enough to be heard, though that might have been due to proximity.
“I was. Busy. Thinkin’ ‘bout. Boys~”
Ozzy smacked at every pocket on his person before pulling his phone out of his back pocket, quickly answering the call. Sean eyed him suspiciously.
“Sherwin! Dude!” Ozzy turned partially away from the group. “Where are you? We’ve been-...”
“Is anyone else questioning that ringtone choice?” Miranda asked with a crooked smirk. Sean noticed there were feathers and colorful strings braided into her hair now that weren't there before.
“He’s either oblivious or in denial.” Sean answered, shifting his gaze to Jon standing just past her. He was checking something on his phone, giving no indicator that he heard any of what was said. “I can’t tell anymore.”
“Are you still on that Shozzy thing?” Liane snorted.
“Uh, yeah?” Miranda scoffed with both hands on her hips, one had the handle of a plastic bag trapped between her fingers. “Look at that face and tell me it's not a headcanon, or at least implied, for next season?” She pointed wildly at Ozzy's side profile. He was walking in small, quick circles with his phone pressed to one ear and a finger jammed into the other. Every few steps or so the boy would pause and stumble half a step backward before continuing his circles.
“He's going to make himself sick.” Sean said like he wasn't ignoring his own queasy stomach from just watching him. Liane groaned beside him.
“Twenty bucks says that Shozzy is canon by freshman year.” Miranda insisted.
“Do you mean when we reach freshman year or are you including during then?” Liane asked. Sean glanced at her curiously. The request for clarification was somehow odd coming from her.
“Reaching freshman year.” Miranda answered, then her expression darkened. “And no meddling.”
Liane only rolled her eyes. “Since when do I meddle?”
“I can think of a few times.” Jon butted in.
“Oh, shut up,” the girl huffed, stomping her foot. “No one was even talking to you.”
“I thought it was an open conversation.” Jon shot back.
Holy shit, he was developing an attitude now, Sean mused to himself. The world must be ending. He didn't think the normally collected teen had it in him to bite back at someone, much less at Liane.
“Alright, thots and players,” Ozzy rejoined the group, tucking away his phone. “He's hiding out at the Lion's Burrow as we speak. Let's go before he's found and stolen.”
He, almost instantaneously, read the mood, brown eyes turning from one face to the next as he spoke. Sean watched the gears turn and his friend’s expression change, it was always impressive how fast Ozzy caught on.
“Whaaat'd I miss?” Ozzy questioned cautiously.
“Miranda proposed a bet.” Sean answered.
“And you shouldn't be making bets on friends.” Jon added, gaze directly connected with Liane.
“But Jonny,” Miranda whined. “Where's the fun in that?”
“Please don't call me that.”
“Is anyone gonna elaborate about the bet, or…?” Ozzy questioned.
“I'm more hungry than interested,” Sean sighed. He'd also like to sit down for a bit at some point, his legs were getting tired.
“Oh! I still have some pie left if you want.” Miranda offered but Sean shook his head.
“Actual food, please.” He said, not reacting to her pout.
“Then let's go,” Ozzy started walking, leading with his head before his body followed. “We can get something at the Burrow.”