Status: DISCONTINUED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Master of Sardonic Wit
12.
May 7 1997
Drinking from her tea, Celia Euringer briefly wondered where that son of hers was hanging out. She had been talking about him for a while now to her friends, who sounded very interested in meeting him. Celia however didn't quite know where he was hanging out, last time she heard of him, he was visiting bringing Chantal, the lovely girl he had been dating for almost 2 years now, to the harbor where she would take the ferry to New York.
“Celia darling, where is that handsome son of yours?” one of her friends asked, sipping from her own tea.
“He should be around, I don't really know, last time I heard he was going to the harbour to drop that lovely girlfriend of his off, she had some business to attend to in New York and couldn't stay any longer.”
As she finished up that sentence, Celia was sure to hear the front door slam close and some footsteps in the hallway before they stopped at the door and it opened, revealing James dressed in a pink suit and his hair slightly spiked up and dyed pink.
“Mom! I'm ... home, oh hello!” James smiled at the ladies and nodded to his mother before running up the stairs towards his rooms, grinning.
“Uhm, I'll go talk to him for a moment, ,excuse me,” Celia stood up from the couch and walked out of the room and up towards her youngest son's room where he was currently packing up to return to New York himself the day after tomorrow. Why he was already packing up was beyond Celia's knowledge but she just shrugged if off as her son wanting to be ready to leave on time and not do anything last minute.
“What the fuck did you do?”
“Uhm, fell in a big can of pink paint?” James asked his mother back, smirking a little bit at her before wincing and realizing that he was caught.
“I'll repeat that again and hopefully you'll answer me good this time, what the fuck did you do?”
“I dyed my suit, you like?”
“It's pink darling,” Celia raised an eyebrow at James who grinned brightly.
“That's what Steve also said before gushing over me and telling me baby pink is my color.”
“And what did you do to your hair?” Celia touched her sons hair but quickly pulled her hand back.
“Kayleigh decided it would be better if my hair fitted with my outfit,” James grinned, “at least, that's what she told me through the phone.”
“Right, did you fall on your head or something?”
“Baha James looks like the pink panther!” Mark laughed from in the doorway of James' room, just passing through and seeing his brother in his pink outfit and halting for a moment to laugh at him.
“Mom! Mark is laughing at me!” James pointed at his brother doubling over and pursing his lips together.
“Honey, I'm having a hard time not to laugh at you,” Celia pointed out, smiling at her son who rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling uncomfortable.
“What's going on up there?” Fred Euringer called up, looking amused at his oldest son literally rolling over the floor laughing.
“Pa, you got to come see this!” Mark laughed, “seriously, it's worth gold!”
“What is?” Fred walked up the stairs and towards the room where his wife and son were and then started laughing himself at James who looked at his father with a raised eyebrow.
“I love you too dad,” James smirked.
“Jesus Christ James where the fuck did you get that outfit!”
“Kind of made it myself pa,” James rolled his eyes, “you really think you can buy this shit in the store?”
“Well one thing is sure, baby pink suits you,” Fred laughed, only causing Mark and Celia to get in another fit of laughter while James looked at his family like they had just lost their minds.
“Tell me something I don't know,” he smirked.
July 17 1997
“Come on Chantal! We're going to be late!” James pulled Chantal further down the street, Chantal giggled slightly and shook her head at the enthusiasm of her boyfriend.
“Seriously James relax, we got another two hours,” Chantal giggled, shaking her head at James who was already running ahead of her and disappearing in the crowd of cosplayers and comic book fans that were waiting for the doors to open.
“Now where did he go,” Chantal muttered, wondering if she would even be able to stay around James the moment they entered the convention center. Over the years Chantal had known him, James had started out as a comic book nerd, knowing almost nothing and by the time he had finally realized there was a convention for it in San Diego, he had pressured Chantal into coming. Not that she really minded, she loved comic books almost as much as she loved James and even she was excited about entering the building but not as bad as James.
“Chantal!” James' whiny voice came from between cosplayers, apparently he had already made friends with some of them as he himself was slightly dressed up for the occasion. A black suit with a red tie and a black bowler hat. Where he had got the outfit was still beyond Chantal's knowledge but she didn't really care, he looked damn good in a suit.
“Chantal!” James yelled again, this time a little bit more stern.
“What?!” Chantal yelled back, tapping her foot on the floor and looking at James who's features softened before he stretched his arm out to her.
“Come here,” James sticked out his bottom lip and looked at her with big eyes, making Chantal sigh and walk over to him to give him a peck on the lips.
“So..who's all coming today?” Chantal asked as they sat down in front of the door and waited for the organization to open them so everyone could get in the building and start geeking out over comic books.
“Uhm, David Hasselhoff, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Matt Groening and the best of all...Jhonen Vasquez!” James said excited, clapping his hands.
“And you're going to ask all those guys autographs?” Chantal raised an eyebrow, looking at James who nodded feverishly, “oh dear, this is going to be a long day.”
“Hey, you love Jhonen Vasquez!” James whined a little, pouting at Chantal's lack of enthusiasm.
“James, it's so early!”
“No it isn't,” James rolled his eyes at Chantal who closed her eyes and laid down her head on his shoulder, trying to catch a little bit of sleep before entering the convention center.
“James, the doors won't open until 9.30 am, right now it's 7.30 am,” Chantal said dryly.
“Hey, don't go sleeping now! We're at Comic-Con!” James shook Chantal slightly, trying to wake her up and pouting.
“James, seriously, I'm knackered,” Chantal rubbed her tired eyes, “Comic-Con or not, I want my sleep.”
“Spoilsport,” James muttered under his breath before leaning comfortable against the wall behind him and wrapping his arms around Chantal's waist, looking at her sleeping.
About two hours later, James quickly woke up Chantal the moment the doors opened. He smiled at his girlfriend and helped her up before wrapping his hand around her wrist and dragging her inside the building, almost shaking from excitement and seeing the artists that he adored so much.
“So, we're inside, now what?” Chantal asked James the moment they entered the building and saw all the different company booths.
“Oh my god! Dark Horse Comics!” James yelled on the top of his lungs before sprinting towards the booth of DC comics with Chantal following, trying to stop the smile from appearing on her face and knowing that she should have expected a reaction like that.
“Seriously, James, we got a whole day,” Chantal rolled her eyes and leaned against James as they waited in line for whoever was signing, James didn't really bother to look but he was sure it was worth it as the line was already rather long considering the doors had opened just 10 minutes ago.
“Best to use every minute of it then! Yay DC comics!” James jumped up and down, resembling a kid at Christmas. Chantal was surprised they weren't getting any surprised looks from the people around them, noticing that most of the people were either grinning or acting just like James.
By the end of the day, the couple had seen almost every booth and taken pictures with several artists they had met. Chantal's feet were starting to hurt slightly from all the walking around and James was still grinning widely even though he could not hide the yawns he sometimes had around the evening.
“So, how much did we spend on the first day?”
“Too much,” Chantal groaned, sticking up a cigarette and receiving a disapproving look from James.
“What? I need one right now,” Chantal muttered between clenched teeth holding the cigarette. James sighed and agreed, shrugging.
“I just wished we could've met Jhonen,” James said sadly.
“Well maybe he'll be here tomorrow,” Chantal touched James' arm and looked a little more hopeful than he did at that moment.
“James? Are you still there?” Chantal waved her hand in front of James' face who looked shocked at the person walking in front of them, texting something with a frown on his face.
“Uhm,” James gulped before nervously tapping the man on the shoulder and biting his lip,” excuse me Mr. Vasquez?”
“Yeah kid?”
“I just want to say hi,” James sighed in relief to see that it was indeed Jhonen Vasquez and not some other guest from the convention.
“Well hi there, you can call me Jhonen by the way, how are you?”
“We're fine Jhonen, how are you?” Chantal asked, joining James.
“I'm pretty fine, busy day today, tomorrow will be worse probably, so, what did you guys all bought today?”
“Too much,” Chantal groaned slightly, showing several bags that had the logo of Comic-Con printed on them.
“Well I can see that, at least you two look like you had fun,” Jhonen nodded, smiling at both James and Chantal.
“Uhm, Jhonen, I have a question for you, I'm in a band currently and I was always wondering if you could perhaps,-”
“Do some artwork? Sure kid,” Jhonen interrupted James and smirked, “let me just get a card of mine, if I can find them.”
Jhonen opened his laptop bag and started searching for his card, frowning and cursing under his breath as some of his drawings fell out of his bag. Chantal picked them up carefully and gave them back to Jhonen once he was done searching through his bag for a card.
“Ah, here it is,” Jhonen chuckled, handing the card to James who thanked him and took his artwork back from Chantal, smiling fondly at her.
“I got to go though, see you tomorrow kids!”
James and Chantal looked at the black haired man walk out of the convention center, once again holding his cellphone in his hand and a smile on his face. Both of them looked at each other for a moment in silence before James finally managed to say something.
“I love that man even more now.”
Drinking from her tea, Celia Euringer briefly wondered where that son of hers was hanging out. She had been talking about him for a while now to her friends, who sounded very interested in meeting him. Celia however didn't quite know where he was hanging out, last time she heard of him, he was visiting bringing Chantal, the lovely girl he had been dating for almost 2 years now, to the harbor where she would take the ferry to New York.
“Celia darling, where is that handsome son of yours?” one of her friends asked, sipping from her own tea.
“He should be around, I don't really know, last time I heard he was going to the harbour to drop that lovely girlfriend of his off, she had some business to attend to in New York and couldn't stay any longer.”
As she finished up that sentence, Celia was sure to hear the front door slam close and some footsteps in the hallway before they stopped at the door and it opened, revealing James dressed in a pink suit and his hair slightly spiked up and dyed pink.
“Mom! I'm ... home, oh hello!” James smiled at the ladies and nodded to his mother before running up the stairs towards his rooms, grinning.
“Uhm, I'll go talk to him for a moment, ,excuse me,” Celia stood up from the couch and walked out of the room and up towards her youngest son's room where he was currently packing up to return to New York himself the day after tomorrow. Why he was already packing up was beyond Celia's knowledge but she just shrugged if off as her son wanting to be ready to leave on time and not do anything last minute.
“What the fuck did you do?”
“Uhm, fell in a big can of pink paint?” James asked his mother back, smirking a little bit at her before wincing and realizing that he was caught.
“I'll repeat that again and hopefully you'll answer me good this time, what the fuck did you do?”
“I dyed my suit, you like?”
“It's pink darling,” Celia raised an eyebrow at James who grinned brightly.
“That's what Steve also said before gushing over me and telling me baby pink is my color.”
“And what did you do to your hair?” Celia touched her sons hair but quickly pulled her hand back.
“Kayleigh decided it would be better if my hair fitted with my outfit,” James grinned, “at least, that's what she told me through the phone.”
“Right, did you fall on your head or something?”
“Baha James looks like the pink panther!” Mark laughed from in the doorway of James' room, just passing through and seeing his brother in his pink outfit and halting for a moment to laugh at him.
“Mom! Mark is laughing at me!” James pointed at his brother doubling over and pursing his lips together.
“Honey, I'm having a hard time not to laugh at you,” Celia pointed out, smiling at her son who rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling uncomfortable.
“What's going on up there?” Fred Euringer called up, looking amused at his oldest son literally rolling over the floor laughing.
“Pa, you got to come see this!” Mark laughed, “seriously, it's worth gold!”
“What is?” Fred walked up the stairs and towards the room where his wife and son were and then started laughing himself at James who looked at his father with a raised eyebrow.
“I love you too dad,” James smirked.
“Jesus Christ James where the fuck did you get that outfit!”
“Kind of made it myself pa,” James rolled his eyes, “you really think you can buy this shit in the store?”
“Well one thing is sure, baby pink suits you,” Fred laughed, only causing Mark and Celia to get in another fit of laughter while James looked at his family like they had just lost their minds.
“Tell me something I don't know,” he smirked.
July 17 1997
“Come on Chantal! We're going to be late!” James pulled Chantal further down the street, Chantal giggled slightly and shook her head at the enthusiasm of her boyfriend.
“Seriously James relax, we got another two hours,” Chantal giggled, shaking her head at James who was already running ahead of her and disappearing in the crowd of cosplayers and comic book fans that were waiting for the doors to open.
“Now where did he go,” Chantal muttered, wondering if she would even be able to stay around James the moment they entered the convention center. Over the years Chantal had known him, James had started out as a comic book nerd, knowing almost nothing and by the time he had finally realized there was a convention for it in San Diego, he had pressured Chantal into coming. Not that she really minded, she loved comic books almost as much as she loved James and even she was excited about entering the building but not as bad as James.
“Chantal!” James' whiny voice came from between cosplayers, apparently he had already made friends with some of them as he himself was slightly dressed up for the occasion. A black suit with a red tie and a black bowler hat. Where he had got the outfit was still beyond Chantal's knowledge but she didn't really care, he looked damn good in a suit.
“Chantal!” James yelled again, this time a little bit more stern.
“What?!” Chantal yelled back, tapping her foot on the floor and looking at James who's features softened before he stretched his arm out to her.
“Come here,” James sticked out his bottom lip and looked at her with big eyes, making Chantal sigh and walk over to him to give him a peck on the lips.
“So..who's all coming today?” Chantal asked as they sat down in front of the door and waited for the organization to open them so everyone could get in the building and start geeking out over comic books.
“Uhm, David Hasselhoff, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Matt Groening and the best of all...Jhonen Vasquez!” James said excited, clapping his hands.
“And you're going to ask all those guys autographs?” Chantal raised an eyebrow, looking at James who nodded feverishly, “oh dear, this is going to be a long day.”
“Hey, you love Jhonen Vasquez!” James whined a little, pouting at Chantal's lack of enthusiasm.
“James, it's so early!”
“No it isn't,” James rolled his eyes at Chantal who closed her eyes and laid down her head on his shoulder, trying to catch a little bit of sleep before entering the convention center.
“James, the doors won't open until 9.30 am, right now it's 7.30 am,” Chantal said dryly.
“Hey, don't go sleeping now! We're at Comic-Con!” James shook Chantal slightly, trying to wake her up and pouting.
“James, seriously, I'm knackered,” Chantal rubbed her tired eyes, “Comic-Con or not, I want my sleep.”
“Spoilsport,” James muttered under his breath before leaning comfortable against the wall behind him and wrapping his arms around Chantal's waist, looking at her sleeping.
About two hours later, James quickly woke up Chantal the moment the doors opened. He smiled at his girlfriend and helped her up before wrapping his hand around her wrist and dragging her inside the building, almost shaking from excitement and seeing the artists that he adored so much.
“So, we're inside, now what?” Chantal asked James the moment they entered the building and saw all the different company booths.
“Oh my god! Dark Horse Comics!” James yelled on the top of his lungs before sprinting towards the booth of DC comics with Chantal following, trying to stop the smile from appearing on her face and knowing that she should have expected a reaction like that.
“Seriously, James, we got a whole day,” Chantal rolled her eyes and leaned against James as they waited in line for whoever was signing, James didn't really bother to look but he was sure it was worth it as the line was already rather long considering the doors had opened just 10 minutes ago.
“Best to use every minute of it then! Yay DC comics!” James jumped up and down, resembling a kid at Christmas. Chantal was surprised they weren't getting any surprised looks from the people around them, noticing that most of the people were either grinning or acting just like James.
By the end of the day, the couple had seen almost every booth and taken pictures with several artists they had met. Chantal's feet were starting to hurt slightly from all the walking around and James was still grinning widely even though he could not hide the yawns he sometimes had around the evening.
“So, how much did we spend on the first day?”
“Too much,” Chantal groaned, sticking up a cigarette and receiving a disapproving look from James.
“What? I need one right now,” Chantal muttered between clenched teeth holding the cigarette. James sighed and agreed, shrugging.
“I just wished we could've met Jhonen,” James said sadly.
“Well maybe he'll be here tomorrow,” Chantal touched James' arm and looked a little more hopeful than he did at that moment.
“James? Are you still there?” Chantal waved her hand in front of James' face who looked shocked at the person walking in front of them, texting something with a frown on his face.
“Uhm,” James gulped before nervously tapping the man on the shoulder and biting his lip,” excuse me Mr. Vasquez?”
“Yeah kid?”
“I just want to say hi,” James sighed in relief to see that it was indeed Jhonen Vasquez and not some other guest from the convention.
“Well hi there, you can call me Jhonen by the way, how are you?”
“We're fine Jhonen, how are you?” Chantal asked, joining James.
“I'm pretty fine, busy day today, tomorrow will be worse probably, so, what did you guys all bought today?”
“Too much,” Chantal groaned slightly, showing several bags that had the logo of Comic-Con printed on them.
“Well I can see that, at least you two look like you had fun,” Jhonen nodded, smiling at both James and Chantal.
“Uhm, Jhonen, I have a question for you, I'm in a band currently and I was always wondering if you could perhaps,-”
“Do some artwork? Sure kid,” Jhonen interrupted James and smirked, “let me just get a card of mine, if I can find them.”
Jhonen opened his laptop bag and started searching for his card, frowning and cursing under his breath as some of his drawings fell out of his bag. Chantal picked them up carefully and gave them back to Jhonen once he was done searching through his bag for a card.
“Ah, here it is,” Jhonen chuckled, handing the card to James who thanked him and took his artwork back from Chantal, smiling fondly at her.
“I got to go though, see you tomorrow kids!”
James and Chantal looked at the black haired man walk out of the convention center, once again holding his cellphone in his hand and a smile on his face. Both of them looked at each other for a moment in silence before James finally managed to say something.
“I love that man even more now.”