Camp Dave, Thursday Midmorning

[swerval_zero]

Zero had had a long night. She'd spent over an hour in a cage trying to convince some people she wasn't really a fairy, despite the purple hair and flowers, then gone to an African dance workshop before watching movies 'til dawn. Then, there had been pancakes. God, goddess, or whatever they preferred love the pancake people.

Now, she was unwinding with a cup of chai from the Cafe and watching the bustle at the center of the city as workers hastened to rebuild the Man. The open notebook and acoustic guitar next to her on the beach towel indicated songwriting in progress, except for the part where progress didn't seem to be getting made. Doodles of spiders, fairies, and men made of leaves filled the page instead.

Life was good.

Comments

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Zero probably heard Parker before she saw her.

MEEP MEEP! The Teal Deer bike horns were loud.

She maneuvered through the crowds on her bike, saying, "Look out, pardon me, comin' through, whoops, on your left, thanks guy," in quick succession, and then slowing to finally brake in front of Zero.

"I have henna tattoos on my toes,some Gypsy Nomads braided my hair with these cool beads. and I finally found Hector's exhibit and it's amazing. I think I need to go dancing, I'm having too much fun," she said, pulling down her purple goggles and re-adjusting her burnoose.

[swerval_zero]

"Did you get pancakes?" Zero asked. "Because the pancakes are swerval. Also, where were you at two AM when I needed you to bust me out of fairy jail?"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker arched over her handlebars, laughing. "Fairy jail? Oh, I am sad I missed that. I was either at... hmm, either getting a Tarot reading, or following the fire. I got a little distracted. And no! No pancakes! Where pancakes?"

[swerval_zero]

"There is a whole camp dedicated to providing pancakes every morning, my God, how have I not showed you this?" Zero shook her head ruefully. "They're in the 9 O'clock Plaza if you need to go without me tomorrow morning. Look for soft rock and a lot of people demanding pancakes."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Two things I can deal with fairly early in the morning, with the assistance of coffee," Parker said, climbing off her bike. She shot a glance toward the Man, and said with venom, "They should let us try him here, for vandalism and buzz kill. Sheesh."

[swerval_zero]

"Yeah, but the lynching would harsh my buzz," Zero said. "Oh, word of advice?" She pointed to the bruise on her leg. "Playa rugby dudes are hardcore."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker admired the bruise, shaking her head. "Yow. Some of these playa guys kiss well," she said, smirking. "And are willing to demonstrate in return for massages." She sighed happily. "And you were so, so right about the spa."

[swerval_zero]

"I told you. Which reminds me, do you feel like Spanish food or Japanese noodles tonight? Or something else? Because I'm sick of Doritos."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Mmm, Japanese. Hey, where's Stella-Dora?" Parker asked, looking around. "And walking or biking to noodles?"

[swerval_zero]

"Eh, we can walk. They open around sundown, so it'll be a while. If we get split up, just meet me at 4:30 and Desert." Zero pointed toward Dave. "She's napping in the van. I can get her," she offered.

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Nah, let her rest. She's been a busy gnome." Parker grinned, and put her turned toward 4:30. "I love how you can't get lost here. Simple layout. Much better than Rome," she admitted, then frowned as the wind started to whistle. "Oh, again?"

[swerval_zero]

"Maybe it won't kick up," Zero said hopefully. She glared at her notebook for a moment, then said, "Right, this is not happening. Let's go do something!"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker pulled up her hood and put on her goggles, just in case, not trusting the weather. "Definitely. Hey, how about finding one of the Radio Stations and hijacking it?"

[swerval_zero]

"Could," Zero mused. "I don't have a new song yet, though. I guess I could sing an old song." She opened the van to put up her guitar and notebook. "Hey, you think they'd like "Kicking Trolls?""

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Who doesn't? It's got melody, and a great hook, and steel-toed boots. Tom the Record Guy still wants a second CD, even though the band's mostly gone." Parker grabbed a handful of Teal Dear CD's for currency. "You should grab a hat. I don't trust that wind."

[swerval_zero]

Zero grabbed a hat and a scarf to tie said hat to her head. "I'm swerval. Do we need anything else?" She glanced around their camp. "Oh, my tiara!" Zero jammed a tiara made from pipe cleaners on top of her hat. "Ta-da!"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"No wonder they thought you were Sidhe. Sparkles and purpleness." Parker grinned and shook her head, then shuddered as the wind suddenly whipped a beach towel and some garbage bags by. "Gah! Why don't they tie those things down?"

[swerval_zero]

Zero swore and started chucking their beach towels in the van. "Hard to tie down a beach towel," she observed as she watched a girl in chaps chase after the towel. "Got those purple goggles?"

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker was already adjusting them on her head. "I feel like the that guy in the pirate movie, or 10,000 Leagues Under the Ocean." She ducked as a trashcan lid followed the trash, then frowned and turned around. "Uh-oh. Do you hear yelling?"

[swerval_zero]

Zero frowned. "I hear yelling. And not good yelling. I think it's coming from thataway."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Thataway it is," Parker said, wrapping a scarf around her face as they took off toward the sound. Most of which was, "Ow, my goddamn leg!"

Rounding the corner of one of the VW vans, they found a Burner lying half in the street, clutching at his foot-- which sported a chunk of rebar that had punched through the arch. A frantic younger guy was trying to tug on it, yelling, "Somebody help!"

Parker slapped his hands away and pulled at the kid, saying, "Go find a Ranger, now. Okay?" Then she knelt down by the guy, and said, "Zero?"

[swerval_zero]

"Here," said Zero. "We should wrap that so it doesn't move--here," she said, untying the scarf holding her hat to her head. "This should work."

"Are you dudes medics?" asked the kid.

"No, I'm just not stupid," Zero snapped at him. "Ranger. Now!" Then she turned back to rebar guy. "You're going to be fine. It's only a flesh wound." This was kind of a lie, it looked pretty nasty, but, "Stop screaming."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

He was rocking back and forth, trying to reach for his foot, and Parker grabbed his hands, pulling them away. "No, no no," she chanted. "Look at me, c'mon, guy. Listen, we're going to get you to the medics." She looked around at the crowd that was forming, and saw that a few burners were already making a travois. "Awesome. See? Your own little chariot, with bearers. You'll love it." She peeked at what Zero was doing and restrained a grimace. "A few muscle relaxants, a huge dollop of painkillers, they'll have that thing out and your foot patched up in no time. I swear."

The guy settled down into whimpers and pants, and tried to give them a grin. A pathetic one, but still. "So, like, what year is it for you?"

"In a way, we've been her forever," Parker told him. She glanced at his foot again, making sure to keep her arm up between him and Zero. "Nice job. See? My friend's got it tied off, you're good for now."

[swerval_zero]

"Seriously, dude, don't look at your foot," Zero told him. "You're gonna have one squalling scar. And, uh. Keep the scarf."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker nodded vehemently as the Burners lifted the guy onto the makeshift travois. "Consider it a gift of the playa."

"Thanks, ladies, we got it." One of the bearers gave Parker a surfer's wave, and another one lifted his hand to high-five Zero. "Way to go."

"Yeah, nice job." The Ranger had finally arrived and was calling in to the Clinic. "Have a couple free coffees at the Cafe on the Rangers. Tell them Roger sent you."

"Ranger Roger?" Parker asked, voice lilting. He grinned back. "Seriously?"

[swerval_zero]

"Is there a Ranger Rick, too?" Zero wanted to know. She told the travois bearer, "I would totally high-five you, but my hands are all bloody."

"S'cool, little chick," the guy said, so Zero shrugged, said, "Swerval," and high-fived him anyway.

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"A Ranger Rick, a Ranger Rob, and a Ranger Rod. But he goes by Big Dog," Ranger Roger said. "And I'm Dodger," he told Parker, giving her a flash of dimples. "Enjoy your stay on the playa, and I get off-shift at midnight, if you're not dancing in a conga line somewhere."

"Noooo problem," Parker assured him. "I'll just swing by and say hi." She smirked. "Byeeeee," she called as he biked off. She turned back to Zero and made a face. "You rock and you've got mad skills and we need to find you a water pump, stat."

[swerval_zero]

Zero made a face right back at her. "This is so gross. So, so very squalling gross. I need a new word for how disgusting this is." Then she started looking around. "I think there's a punk camp around here somewhere. Maybe they'll give a little sister some water."

Later, she would reflect on that choice of words with amusement.

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"We can tell them we were part of the performance of the playa," Parker said, clearing the way through the crowd for Zero. "Medic, coming through. Reality drama clean-up time, thank you... Hey, you should put this on the Black Rock TV. Where's your camera?" she asked, as they approached a camp with a fountain out front. A stage with strobe lights and a pick-up band was jamming out to a hyped-up fusion of "Sympathy for the Devil" and some kind of Zydeco tune.

[swerval_zero]

"Now that," Zero said, pointing to the band, "is swervalocity. Camera's in my backpack, but I can't exactly get it out with my hands like this. An' I was a bit busy tyin' guy's foot back together to film."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Hopefully someone else got it. Or you can always interview the guy at the clinic, afterward." Parker sat down on the edge of the fountain, and watched the flowers spray water in random directions from watering-can funnels. A maitre'd in full black tie and Hawaiian shorts offered her a towel, but she just pointed to Zero, then cocked her head at the musicians. "Hunh. You're right, they're really good."

[swerval_zero]

Zero finished rinsing her hands and took the towel from the maitre'd. "It wasn't until later, when I was washing the blood off my hands, that I even knew he was dead," she intoned, and the maitre'd's eyes popped. "Performance art," Zero said glibly, and he relaxed visibly.

As she made to hand the pink-tinged towel back, he said quickly, "Keep it."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker cackled, and then sang under her breath, "He had it coming, he only had himself to blame... Reminds me, I got the *weirdest* phone message from someone this week..." She paused, distracted by the stage. "Hunh. That sounds familiar."

[swerval_zero]

"It really does," Zero agreed, turning toward the stage. "Maybe it--" she stopped midsentence just as the lead guitarist struck a bad mischord. "RAT??"

"ZERO??"

Rat scrambled down from the stage as Zero rushed toward him. "You were in LA! I drove you there!"

"You were in London! I took you to the airport!"

And then, in chorus, "What are you doing here?"

There was a long moment of silence between the siblings, then Zero said, "Mum must never know."

"Agreed."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile, Parker cackled like a fiend in the background, holding her stomach and trying to catch her breath.

[swerval_zero]

Rat shot a look at Parker, then went on, "She'd only be jealous."

That was about when Zero socked him in the arm. "You didn't tell me you had a new band! And you didn't tell me you were coming to Burning Man. What else haven't you told me, huh? Huh? Got a wife around here somewhere?" She smacked him with her open hand this time.

"Hey, no violence on the--"

Zero rounded on the hapless maitre'd. "He's my brother."

"Oh. Smack away."

Rat flung up his hands in his own defense. "We just sorta got together after we all got here."

Zero deflated a little. "Oh. You're really good."

Rat grinned. "Thanks. Hey, Parker."

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Rat," Parker said cheerfully. "Great band. Great outfit. Spygirl around? I hear I should shop with her."

[swerval_zero]

Rat shrugged. "Jane--" he manfully ignored Zero's muttered, "If that is her real name--" and tried again. "Jane couldn't make it. Maybe next year." Then he turned back to Zero. "Right. I didn't see you, you didn't see me?"

"Agreed," Zero said. "If I can stay for the rest of the set."

"Deal." They shook on it.

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker grinned and asked the maitre'd, "Could we have two lemonades, and some little flags to wave?"

"Of course, madam."

"I love this place."

[swerval_zero]

"Told you," Zero said smugly, just before she threw up the fist of rock and yelled, "Woooo, Rat!" as her brother climbed back onstage.

"Sorry about that, guys," he said into the microphone. "My little sister's in the audience. Uh. Don't tell our mom." On a three-count, the band launched into "Cuddlebug."