They met at a house party; a typical scene for two students to meet. It was an evening themed around Super heroes and everyone had made an effort to come up with their own particular character.
Now the guy apparently possessed the powers of Lego … I’m not exactly sure what that entails; the ability to construct elaborately coloured buildings perhaps? Or perhaps the pieces of plastic just float around him like orbiting moons? Anyway, he was as he called himself; Lego Lad. He had painstakingly attached thousands of pieces of Lego to his polo top the night before and was impressed with his short-notice abilities. He had a fiery mane of hair and accompanied his t-shirt creation with a reliable pair of jeans; he envisaged a dangerously inebriated night with circus-like antics. Smart move.
The girl, however, was a less man made subject; she was Pantheretta. A step up from cat woman to be sure, but her name was really the only thing that differentiated her from all the other spandex-clad girls that fill the history of comics. She had felt self conscious as soon as she put on her costume. When she bought it she had a team of friends there to give her an ego boost and the confidence to purchase it. But, alone in her room and in front of THAT mirror she lost her nerve. So she had to quickly chuck on a crop top, one that had the face of a Panther on it, before she left for the party; where she would no longer be exposing her tiny boobs to scrutiny. Last minute panics sure do conjure up innovative ideas.
It was an unlikely pairing to be sure; complete opposites when considering their costume choice but nevertheless they made the perfect partnership; neither were sidekicks.
I’m not exactly sure who spoke to who first, or who preyed on who, or who’s eye caught who first, for it was a crowded room and I seemed to have missed that particular first glance. They did however seem to gravitate towards each other, as if by design, and ended up colliding into each other in one almighty THWACK!
‘Ouch!’ they had said in unison.
‘Bloody hell, how much room do you need?’
‘It’s not my fault I didn’t see you.’
‘Sure, because a man covered in Lego is really hard to notice.’
‘I was distracted … and those hurt me! Look I actually have circular dents in my arm.’
‘Your own fault.’
‘No it wasn’t!’
Eyes met and glared.
‘Fine, whatever, sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going ok?’ She sauntered off in the direction of the kitchen to find sustenance; by way of a stiff drink. So far this evening wasn’t going to plan.
He watched her storm off and noticed that his eyes were solely focused on her hips as they were swaying their way away from him. Bemused, he followed.
‘Hey wait a minute!’
‘What?’
‘Let me mix you a drink? I can make you a tasty jelly-baby.’
‘Is this your way of saying sorry?’
‘No. You said sorry, I’m here to
make you a drink, ok?’
‘Sure, fine, whatever … I do want one.’
She watched him dubiously as he mixed together a concoction of spirits and bright colours. He presented her with a cloudy green liquid, with a piece of Lego floating on top, accompanied with ecstatic arm gestures when he was done.
‘Ta da! Now tell me that doesn’t taste like sweets, go on.’
She tentatively took a sip and was instantly glad she hadn’t said no, it was as if he had stabbed a jelly-baby and she was lapping up their fruity sweet blood.
‘That is amazing!’
‘I know.’ He stated smugly.
‘You are now my official drink maker for this evening, although you can have this back, I don’t fancy choking on it.’ She tossed the yellow brick he had put in her glass in his general direction and continued to slurp. It landed on the floor and disappeared from sight.
‘You can’t throw.’
‘You are right … but I can catch and that’s more important.’ She crowed.
‘You know many people here?’
‘Yeah, you?’
‘Yeah … but how have we not met before?’
‘Don’t know. I’d certainly remember that mess of hair on your head if I had.’
He laughed and assumed his usual flirting position; cocked head and a leaning arm that renders him precariously close to his victims personal space. Her eyes flickered to the face which was now intimately close to hers and hid a smile behind her drink. Perhaps her original plan didn’t matter anymore?
‘What’s your name?’
‘Lego Lad.’
‘No your real name.’
‘Oh, you’ll have to earn that; a hero never reveals his identity unless it’s essential to his cause.’
‘Fine.’
‘You meant to be cat woman?’
‘No. I’m Pantheretta … sounded better than Panther women.’ She added when a mocking smile spread over his face. She felt inadequate all of a sudden and gulped down the remainder of her green jelly-baby blood juice.
‘Ah yes, I see your t-shirt now, I thought those two blobs were there to draw attention to your bosoms… now I see they are eyes!’
‘Well making men look at my boobs is my only mission in life, didn’t you know?’ How far from the truth that statement was he’d never know.
‘Well I approve. Want to dance?’ He gestured towards the living room where a crowd had formed and were boogying along to Katy Perry’s dulcet tones ‘I kissed a girl and I liked it …’
Finally the alcohol in their systems was encouraging the heroes to lose their inhibitions and dance amongst the sofas. A Transformer and a Dino girl were causing an obstruction in the middle of the makeshift dance floor due to their bulky figures but the fatalities were nothing more than a few bruised egos and a couple of disgruntled … errmm … ‘couples’.
He led her in and tentatively dodged tails and capes till they found a suitable spot on the sidelines. The conversation was on pause while they danced and sang loudly at each other. They would both be interrupted by friends who would excitedly tap them on the shoulder and scream ‘Finally, there you are!’, ‘Where have you been?’ and ‘Oh who is this?’ Conversations wouldn’t last long though music either drowned them out or they would be dragged away by other prospects. They would always wind up alone again and they didn’t realise how much they wanted it to be that way for a long time.
After a while she made drinking gestures and pulled him back to the kitchen to make her another special brew.
‘So why didn’t you go off with your friends?’ she asked while he whisked.
For a moment he was silent.
‘I guess I find you too interesting.’ He finally answered without looking at her, ‘You?’
‘I couldn’t very well leave my cocktail maker behind.’ She winked and nestled in closer to inspect his work; this time he was making something pink. ‘Looks tasty, what’s in it?’
‘Never you mind.’ He pulled off another one of his Lego pieces and plopped it into the bubbly mix. ‘Don’t choke.’
This time she drank it with the floating blue brick and her eyes widened as the broth tantalised her senses. ‘Actually, I find you pretty damn interesting too’ she said with a glazed and glossy expression.
And that cinched it they would be inseparable for the rest of the night. Nothing, no one, could keep them apart, even trips to the loo! Maybe it was his eccentric way of telling stories that made her stay and listen; or her appearance of confusion that drove him to continue talking on and on. Anyway both were intrigued and glued.
‘So what is your super power exactly?’ she queried whilst fiddling with the straw in her drink.
‘I can control anything Lego’ he stated, as if it was obvious.
‘So, say I drew their logo, you could then move it around and control it?’
‘Essentially… yes… I guess so.’
‘What made you think of this… power?’
I like Lego’ he grinned.
‘Fair enough. Have you got a back story all worked out? How you got this power? Was it an electrical storm like in Misfits? Or you were born with it like superman?’
‘When I was eleven I went to Hogwarts and perfected the art of wingardrium leviosa.’
She laughed, ‘No really, what’s your back story going to be?’
‘That not good enough for you?’
‘No, not really’ she teased.
‘What’s yours then hum?’ he encroached even further into her personal space and squared up to her as if they were on the verge of a shoot out. His jaw was confidently clenched.
‘I was a feral child and I grew up as a panther cub.’ She said without blinking. ‘Duh.’
‘That’s not very original.’
‘Nothing is nowadays.’
Their personal bubbles had merged and after a bout of tipsy giggles had subsided a moment suddenly struck them. A moment when speaking ceased and only one thing could possibly happen. Before they knew it they were in each other’s arms and their lips were locked together. All thoughts of the guy Pantheretta wanted to initially impress were gone, easily overshadowed and forgotten when in Lego Lads company.
The clock struck the enchanting time of three and forced the couple to resurface. They discovered the house to be relatively empty except for the few, like them, who were still invading each other’s tonsils and those who had drunken or smoked themselves into a coma. Stragglers were ambling around the house looking for personal effects and there they were, in the middle.
‘Time to take you home I think’ Lego Lad breathed.
‘Yeah…’
She led him to her accommodation and after a final frantic smooching session at her door and a tumble in her bed, they slept together in each other’s arms.
The next morning she woke to the giggles of her flat mates. Her head was dizzy and from what she could make out from their hysterical screeching was that photos from last night were up on Facebook. She left the boy in her bed and trudged her way to the kitchen. There were some close ups of her smiling with her friends but most of them were of her in background kissing Lego Lad.
‘You certainly forgot about that David boy in a hurry.’
‘Look at you two going at it!’
‘We couldn’t tear you away from him!’
She ignored their teases and set about making herself a cup of tea.
‘Chloe!’
‘What? Have you found another picture of me in a compromising position with Lego Lad? Super…’
‘No, Chloe, what is that on your arm? Is that a tattoo?’
‘No it’s a sticker!’ Said another one of her friends.
She looked down and saw a sticker on her arm that she hadn’t noticed the whole evening… it was a sticker with the Lego Logo on it.
Read on ReadWave.com
An Eclectics Eye. 