Turn It Into Magic

"Welcome back to the second installment of the Dope Hat name drawing ceremony! In case you're living under a rock, Ginger needs a lover and we're trying to help provide him with one," Abi announced, stepping out in front of the large crowd of people that had gathered in one of the empty rooms that was used for the band meetings that occured every few months. She was greeted with a few cheers and a round of applause, most of which was coming from a smug Pogo and an overly excited Tim Skold, who still had hope that his name was going to be drawn.

"Twiggy, would you like to do the honors this time?" Elizabeth asked, motioning to the Dope Hat.

"I would love to!" Twiggy exclaimed, jumping up from his front-row seat next to Marilyn and Ginger himself. Ginger rolled his eyes and tried to hide himself from the world. Twiggy, on the other hand, skipped to the Dope Hat and shoved his hand into it, his eyes trained to the ceiling to let everyone know that he wasn't cheating or peeking into the Hat as he drew names.

The crowd was silent as the name was pulled, everyone's breath's held except Ginger's, who was sighing dramatically every few seconds. Twiggy opened the slip of paper, looked at it, and beamed.

"Ginger, come here!" Abi said, pointing to a spot next to her. Ginger groaned and stormed up to the front of the room. He was still very frustrated from the night before, when his sexual adventures with Trent had been interrupted by Abi bitching at Pogo via intercom.

Twiggy handed the paper to Elizabeth with a huge smile on his face. Elizabeth grinned when she seen it and so did Abi as Twiggy skipped back to his seat.

"And the name drawn today is..." Abi trailed off, motioning to Elizabeth to finish the sentence.

"JOHN 5!" Elizabeth yelled, clapping her hands excitedly. Ginger's head snapped up and he suddenly looked less unhappy. John cried out with joy and high-fived Daisy Berkowitz, who happened to be the closest person to him. He walked to the front of the room, trying to contain his excitement. He was trying to be subtle, which is incredibly hard for him, considering his nymphomania.

"Who would be so kind as to take these boys to their room?" Abi asked the crowd. Twiggy and Marilyn appeared by their side. Twiggy was grinning so wide that it looked painful and Marilyn was smiling, though it was quite small compared to Twiggy's.

"We'll do it!" Twiggy offered, practically bouncing with excitement. Without a word from Marilyn, Elizabeth, or Abi, he grabbed John and Ginger and began to drag them off the their room, which was the one that Ginger and Pogo had shared two days prior. The sheets had been washed and the entire room cleansed to make sure that there was no evidence of Pogo's dirty deed.

"Tell the Ginger I said good luck," Pogo grinned, wrapping his arm around Abi. Abi strategically slid out from underneath it.

"He's right there, why don't you go tell him yourself?" Abi asked, pointing at Ginger, who was making conversation with Zim Zum. Twiggy and John were both standing impatiently behind him.

"GINGER!" Elizabeth yelled. Ginger jumped and cringed, then seen who it was and waved. "GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

Twiggy hooked his arms through John and Ginger's and tried to fit all three of them through the door at once. It didn't work, of course, and they all got stuck. Twiggy giggled and turned them so that they could wedge their way through. Marilyn was rubbing his face as if he didn't know what to do about the situation.

"To the chalkboards!" Abi exclaimed. Elizabeth grabbed Abi's arm and began to drag her out the door. They made good time to their room and made even better time setting up the cameras, feeling the anticipation of a good drawing.

"This is gonna work!" Elizabeth said, "This is gonna be the one! I just know it! John and Ginger make such a good couple. It just has to work. And have you ever noticed how John gets all giggly around Ginger and how Ginger gets all soft around John? Oh, it so cute!"

"Yes, I've noticed," Abi said.

"And how they-"

"Just shut up and listen."

John and Ginger had both been pushed into the room with wishes of good luck from Twiggy before the door was slammed shut and locked. The atmosphere was much more comfortable compared to the tension in the air while Pogo and Ginger occupied it.

The two men in the room sat down on the bed. Ginger leaned against the pillows and John made himself comfortable at the end of the bed. The talked quietly about music for a few minutes, then the room became silent as Ginger declared he was tired. Ginger layed down and John scooted over next to him.

"What's going on?" Pogo asked quietly from behind the two girls, causing them both to jump in surprise.

"Pogo, you asshole!" Abi said, lifiting her hand to hit him, then lowering it when she remembered his warnings.

"That's what I thought," Pogo smirked, settling himself into a chair next to the girls. Elizabeth shook her head and Abi glared at the chalkboard in front of her.

"Don't you have something to be doing?" Abi asked tersely.

Pogo shrugged, "Nah, not really."

"The last I checked you had to earn your keep here."

"No one else does!"

"You offered to do your job!"

"Oh yeah," Pogo grinned. Abi groaned and shook her head as she buried her face in her hands.

"Why don't you just go do it? I think there's two patients in the intensive care wing that need disposal. Go take care of them," Abi sighed, peeking at Pogo through her fingers.

"Why are they all dying?" he asked, standing up.

"Because no one takes care of them...obviously," Elizabeth said. "It's not like we bought the hospital to take care of people. We bought it to live in."

"And eating them is the best way to completely dispose of their bodies. Now go. Get. Dispose of them," Abi said, pushing Pogo along. He sighed dramatically but left the room.

"Why do we even let those people in here?" Elizabeth asked.

"I have no clue," Abi said, shaking her head. They both turned their attention back to the room, where Ginger had buried his head into the John's stomach as they laid together on the bed. John was stroking Ginger's hair. This scene earned an 'aw!' from both of the girls watching.

After two hours of watching Ginger sleep and John doze off, Elizabeth suggested, "Shifts?"

"Only if we've got strong coffee," Abi agreed.

__________

"Elizabeth," Abi said in a hushed tone, shaking Elizabeth awake, "Bitch, wake up! They're talking!"

Elizabeth's head snapped up from the table. "What? What happened?"

"They're starting to talk. It sounds important. Now shush!" Abi commanded. Elizabeth shut her mouth and stared wide-eyed at Ginger and John, who were sitting next to each other and talking.

"It's like...for the longest time you've been here, and I didn't really realize it until a while ago that I thought of you as more than a friend," John admitted, blushing the entire time.

"I've always liked you, John. I didn't want to admit it to myself, though," Ginger confessed, taking John's hand in his. John took no more go-ahead than this and pushed Ginger down into the pillows as he pressed their lips together. Soon, things became heated.

"I cleaned u-YOU PERVERTS!" Pogo yelled. Abigail and Elizabeth both jumped, startled from their thoughts. They turned to see not only Pogo but Marilyn, Twiggy, and Zim Zum.

"We're not perverts," Abi defended. She had switched off the chalkboard as soon as she heard Pogo yell. He was the only one in the hospital with the knowledge of the chalkboard. If anyone else found out, it could be catastrophic.

"We're innocent, can't you see?" Elizabeth asked, pointing at the empty board and glaring at Pogo. Pogo rolled his eyes.

"Do you often stare at blank things?" Zim asked as he made himself comfortable in a chair next to the one Pogo was plunking himself into.

"No, we, um...were deciding what color to paint the wall," Abi stuttered.

"That's weird, 'cause it's a chalkboard."

"Um, there's a wall right there," Elizabeth said, pointing at the wall underneath the chalkboard. Marilyn watched them suspiciously. "It's our hospital! Why does it matter what we do?!"

"Shut up," Pogo stated.

"Stop being rude, Pogo!" Twiggy commanded. "It's not nice!"

"You're not nice!" Pogo shouted back. No one said anything for a moment because they were too busy deadpanning and staring at Pogo.

"That was so second grade, Pogo," Marilyn stated emotionlessly. Pogo turned and stuck out his tongue at Marilyn.

"What happened to you, Pogo? Are you on some kind of drug?" Abi asked. Pogo looked at her and shook his head. "Well, then you must be sick."

"I was always sick. Sick in the head!" Pogo said, then broke out into a bout of what could only be described as insane scientist laughter. No one knew what to do with Pogo, or with themselves for that matter, so the sat and watched him as he laughed.

"Maybe he needs some water..." Zim wondered aloud. Abruptly, Pogo quit laughing.

"I know what it is!" he said, "It's those goddamn dead bodies! They probably were on some drugs and then they get into me when I eat them!"

No one spoke. Everyone knew that Pogo had a problem with eating dead bodies, but it was something that remained unspoken. It's rather uncomfortable to discuss with your friend how they eat dead bodies as a side job to clean up a 'hospital.'

"Anyway, we should probably get going. We were just checking in," Marilyn said. He pulled Twiggy up by his hand and waved to us as they walked out the door.

"That means us, too, Pogo," Zim said, pushing Pogo's arm. Pogo sprang from the couch.

"Bye Marilyn! Bye Twiggy! Bye Pogo! Bye Zimmy!" Elizabeth called as she waved goodbye. Abi said nothing but waved. As soon as the door closed and four sets of footsteps walked down the hall, Abi switched the chalkboard on again to find that John was cradling Ginger in his arms under the covers of the bed, naked and sleepy.

"GODDAMMIT! WHY DO WE ALWAYS MISS THE ACTION?!"