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The Fab Four knew if they wanted a favour from Cherri they had to be careful when they asked. Not how, the Witch herself knows how much he would do for that group, but what the four has come to learn from loitering around the radio shacks Dr D had set up, was Cherri had a very odd sleep pattern.
Usually sleeping for shorter periods twice a day, one when most people were also resting if they weren’t partying, and the other was at the hottest point of the day, around midday they could always count on Cherri dozing off in a blocked out room in the station.
This is how they found him when the Trans Am rolled up to the station, barely awake before Party was handing over The Girl with a mutter of “watch her for the day we gotta get something for Dr D” before the group left, three of the four giving him either an apologetic shrug and smile or at least a wave goodbye before he was left with the five year old. The Girl looking up at him with big eyes and a grin before hugging his leg with an excited yell.
“Cherri!”
He gave a small laugh, the constant tension draining slightly from his shoulders as he knelt down to give her a proper hug, “Heya Motorbaby, how’s my favourite rock’n’roller doing?” Standing up again as he asked, taking her through to the lounge area of the station.
“I’m great! Party said they would bring me back something cool!” She explained as they sat on the old couch and she immediately went to start rooting through things in the box Dr D had made of all the things the Four had left as the studio before.
Relaxing back against the couch he nodded along as she kept rambling on about her day, adding the appropriate responses where needed letting her get rid of the restless energy she always had whenever she had to be left behind.
The pair stayed there for quite a while, messing with little trinkets and such from the box or just cuddled up on the couch, and before long he was regaling her with stories of the four before they had taken her in.
“And the whole thing just exploded everywhere! You couldn’t find a single item that wasn’t covered in paint, and poor Jet had to bully the others into basically cleaning the whole diner.” He explained as The Girl sat across from him listening with rapt attention. “I think that was the last time Poison kept his paints out in the open, especially if they are planning on messing with Ghoul first.” He finished giving a few huffs of laughter remembering coming round to pick up Kobra for the derby and finding the whole place blues and greens, and getting the rushed explanation as Kobra had taken his chance to run and dragged him out so he could go beat everyone at the race track.
Once the giggles from The Girl had finally died down she sat quietly, long enough that Cherri was getting a little concerned and was about to ask if she was okay before she spoke up again, “Cherri? Can…can I ask you something?” As Cherri looked her over she didn’t look particularly upset, at least not yet, just confused and slightly annoyed.
Leaning forward he took her hand and gave a small reassuring squeeze and a grin nodding. “Of course you can firecracker, what’s up?”
“Why do you call Party just Poison and not Party?” Was the question he got asked, and if that wasn’t an innocent punch to the throat it was followed by, “Everyone else in the family calls them Party, I’ve only ever heard Poison when them and Ghoul used to argue lots, or by other crews who are mean.” As she sat there confused, Cherri had to swallow down the nausea the question had brought, giving the girl another reassuring grin before trying to figure out how to explain to a child the…unique relationship he and Party Poison shared.
Running his other hand through his hair he sighed and spoke, “Well…it’s complicated bud.” He laughed as her face made the same discontented look it always did when someone tried to imply she wouldn’t understand, “I’m getting there, slow your motor kid, I’m just saying it’s weird okay?” At her serious nod he nodded back, face just as serious, before they both shared a small smile. “Poison… they don’t like it when people they don’t like calls ‘em Party. Makes them all gross feeling, like when people say you’re just a baby, yeah?”
“But Party likes you!” She jumps in looking even more confused than she had before, “Kobra and Party talk ‘bout you all the time.” She told him huffing.
“Not sure that’s much liking and more complaining bud, but hey, me and Kobes are friends so am I and Jet, heck even Ghoul and I are on the same signal. It’s okay if Poison doesn’t wanna be friendly with me.”
Apparently that was less okay than he implied as she looked even more annoyed, if not a little upset now, “But why! Party likes Dr D and Pony! So it’s not cause you don’t stay with us…” Cherri winced as the kid worked herself up over it and he was quick to pull her over and into a hug.
“Wow hey, I think we need to take a breather. It’s okay, Poison can do what he wants, okay?” He told her gently and they swayed back and forth waiting for her to calm down a bit more before he continued. “Poison and Kobra have gone through a lot, so Poison doesn’t always trust people, and yeah they trust the others, doesn’t mean they have to trust everyone.” Feeling her nod slightly against where she was cuddled up next to him he continued talking, “I think it’s easier to keep us at a distance sometimes bud, and that’s okay, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do anything for Poison, and I’d do anything for your whole crew.” Getting more dramatic at the end poking her in the nose and smiling as she laughed trying to bat his hand away.
After a few more minutes The Girl spoke up again, “So it’s cause they don’t trust you?” Questioning her ‘parental figure’ on how they couldn’t trust the man in front of her.
“Sort of, they trust me to help with the station, to play driver and deliver supplies, or to help keep you safe.” He explained as she nodded, looking awfully thoughtful for a child, “but they don’t want to be friends or all buddy with me, and that’s okay too firecracker, I’m happy to respect that.”
“Do you want to be friends with Party?”
Another innocent question that hit like an old bullet, of course he would like to be closer with the killjoy, as there was always an air of hostility when Cherri himself would visit the diner or the four came to visit. He knew most of the reasons Poison disliked him were too difficult to explain to the child, the red heads' distrust and dislike of the man stemming from Poison not trusting Cherri with their brother, the close relationship the pair had, had threatened Poison probably more than they would admit. Cherri also knew the other would often consider him a coward, choosing repentance and healing over his old violent ways.
Sighing he nodded to The Girl as he felt small arms squeeze around his waist in a small hug, “I would love to be better friends but you gotta promise not to push it yeah? It’s their choice.” He could feel her frown and the beginnings of a disagreement before he spoke up, “how would you like it if they made you do something you didn’t like? Not very fun is it?” Once again he felt as she sighed out a final huff and shook her head before agreeing that meddling wasn’t a good idea.
He decided maybe this conversation should be over and with The Girl defiantly wrapped around him and not letting go anytime soon, he huffed and carried both himself and the girl over to the old record player to let her pick something out. Her pouring through them before deciding on something old but flashy, Cherri gave her a grin before placing the record to play and they had themselves a bit of a dance party that when Pony dropped in to leave something with him for Dr D, the skater heaved a laugh lifting the girl and spinning her round the room while Pony and Cherri grinned at the delighted screams of the child.
“Well aren’t you a shiny one motorbaby! Do you know how long I’ve tried to get a dance party outta this one?” Pony spoke with the girl, exaggerated whispering making her lose herself with laughter all over again, while Cherri joined in on the bit, exclaiming and defending himself. The bit continued and Pony and Cherri danced/argued and the girl watched it all with unbridled glee.
Eventually Pony had to leave, and the dance party had slowed to a stop a little while after, The Girl sufficiently tired out and she dragged Cherri with all the strength her tiny self could muster and as soon as he was laid down on the couch she was crawling on to use him as her personal pillow and was out like a light.
Laying there, he was careful not to wake her up as he processed everything that had happened since he woke up today, he never realised that it really only was him in their close circle who called Party Posion “Poison” he was just trying to keep to the others boundaries that seemed to only be set for him. Before, it was for him and Ghoul, who had been last to join the crew after Cherri had found the wandering joy, and let him stay at the station with him for a bit, before the three at the time visited and Ghoul seemed to almost pack bond with Kobra within minutes, Kobra defending his case to join the crew to his sibling who had been adamantly against it. The pair had both been the recipient of Poison's bitter comments and distant behaviour, until recently when the two now seem closer than ever, Cherri doesn’t know what changed but Ghoul no longer looks like a cornered animal when he and Poison chat so he’ll take it.
It does mean however that any and all frustration is now aimed his way. While Ghoul gave as good as he got, Cherri had always just let it run right over him, refusing to get in fights with the killjoy for stupid things, even when his words are as venomous are his name, Cherri didn’t want to worsen the riff he might’ve caused.
Musing to himself as he listened to the slow quiet music he’d left playing as The Girl slept, he realised he really didn’t enjoy this one sided rivalry Poison had decided they had. Poison put too much on their own shoulders and Cherri wished he could help more than the other allowed. Both had put their necks on the line for each other many times, Cherri even getting up when he couldn’t bare the thought of being under the sun, just because the other had radioed in asking for a pick up after a fight with the crew.
No matter, he thought to himself as he let himself drift off slightly, he’ll respect the others' wishes like he’d made The Girl promise. That he can at least do for them.
He went in and out of a sleep, trying to keep an eye on the door, while the drowsiness tried to win him over, making him miss when the door to the station opened, and a familiar four walked in to find the pair cuddling on the couch. Grins over taking Ghoul and Kobra and the pair walked around to the end of the couch and Ghoul jumped on the arm while Kobra stood by the wall, as the other two dropped off what they went to collect with Dr D, this led Cherri to being poked in the leg as he woke up to find Ghoul perching inhumanly on the arm of the couch with a grin.
“Hey there fizzy.” Was spoken before Cherri groaned, kicking slightly at where Ghouls feet were to push him off the couch, ignoring his falling, offended squawking and Kobras shushing as he woke himself up and looked to the pair. Adjusting himself to sit up without waking The Girl.
“Did you guys just get back?” Looking out the window he could see it was definitely way past when they should’ve been back, but not long enough it was concerning.
Kobra shrugged as Ghoul sorted himself out before speaking, “We ran into some trouble but it was nothing we couldn’t handle.” As he said that, the others walked in. Jet looked alright but there was a slight trail of blood going down Poison's face. Looking back at Ghoul with a flat look, the other defended his statement, “Hey! It wasn’t anything bad, we just had a slight disagreement with another crew, and someone,” he continued looking pointedly at the red head, “had to be a tough guy, and got himself pistol whipped in the head.”
He looked to Jet for a proper answer since Poison just huffed in response, the other wasn’t the best medic, but he was certainly better than the other three, and at least wouldn’t downplay any problems they had. Jet shrugged a little looking at his friend before back at Cherri, “Doesn’t look like a concussion but someone might want to double check, at the very least it needs to be wrapped.” Nodding he gestured for someone to take the limpet he had attached to him, which Kobra took with a small but real smile, as she immediately latched onto him in her sleep.
With that Cherri got up, nodding to the younger pair of the four with a grin before making his way over to the other pair, sharing an easy smile with Jet. “Feel free to steal the couch and take ten, I'll make sure everything is still working up there.” Laughing as he heard a mutter of “as if it ever did.” From a suspiciously Ghoul sounding voice, and with a polite smile he nodded in the direction of the kitchen area, which was really just a place in the shack with decent electricity so the lights were a bit better there. “Head on through and I’ll grab the kit from the back room.” Watching as Poison gave a stiff nod and making their way through to the other space, Cherri headed to grab what was left of their first aid kit.
Once he had what he needed he made his way into the kitchen, finding a slightly out of it Poison sat down at the table poking at the blood dripping down their face. Sighing, he moved over to the table, placing down the kit as he knelt in front of the red head, who was making a valiant effort to not look him in the eyes. A slight eye roll himself and then he was pulling out a spare cloth to wipe away the blood so he could see what was going on, with a quick “May I?” and a reluctant nod, Cherri started working away on the head wound.
It had been a couple of minutes of awkward silence before surprisingly Poison broke first. “You don’t have to do this y’know…cleaning me up and shit, could’ve just wrapped it and let us leave.” Quiet words, possibly not to disrupt the tentative peace in the room, but more likely to not alert the others a room away.
With a disgruntled look, Cherri paused his work to look at other seriously, “Yes I do. I do have to help you, you know why?” Waiting for Poison to realise he wanted an actual answer to which he received a slight shake of the others head and a slight curious look, “I do have to help because I care about you all. I want to help you out Poison. It’s not a burden to me to help clean a head wound, or watch The Girl, or to help on a run.” Getting a scoff for his efforts Cherri pushed on, “I’m serious Poison, I care about all of them, you too. I don’t know what evil plan you are convinced I’m scheming, but sometimes I just want to do nice things because people deserve it.”
Poison, in return, glared at him a moment before wincing as it pulled on the wound. “‘Deserve it’, yeah right, what have I ever done to deserve nice things? What have you ever done.” Ignoring the twinge of hurt, Cherri got back to cleaning the wound, not answering until he heard Poison start muttering.
“You deserve nice things because life has dealt you a shit hand and sometimes someone helping you with that burden can be enough.” Finishing up with the cloth, Cherri grabbed the bandage for them and with a quiet voice finished his thoughts, “I don’t deserve anything from you, from anyone really, I’ve done wrong and was proud of it for a long time. I didn’t know any better and if you ask Dr D he’ll tell you I was manipulated. What I was, was in denial, it was all I’d ever known and I was too afraid to leave it.” Watching the confusion grow he continued, “I’m not trying to gain sympathy points here, Poison, what I’m saying is sometimes people will help you, or care about you, whether you think you deserve it or not, and the hard part is letting them. You do though, you let Kobra, and Jet, heck even Ghoul and the other radio members in, and it hasn’t bitten you in the ass yet.” Finishing up and leaning back he let Poison process what he’d just said while cleaning away the mess kit.
“So…what? I should just trust you cause you say so? Not very convincing Pepsi, I gotta say.” Was huffed at him but with a lack of confidence it usually did.
Chuckling he shook his head, “Ah yes, my devious plan to gain your trust, to rob you blind. As if the three other members of your crew don’t let me into your home on a daily basis.”
The laugh that came from the other seemed to surprise them both, Poison looking just as shocked at their own reaction to his comment, taking a moment before he responded, “Well, it’s possible. You never know out here.” The joking tone was strong, and the atmosphere had lifted considerably since the pair had entered. “I don’t know what schemes you get up to when we aren’t here.”
“It’s mostly errands.”
“But we don’t know!” Soft laughter from the ‘argument’ and, as the pair calmed down, Cherri shook his head and moved towards the other, “Come on, I gotta check for concussions.” With Poison moving to let him check, he continued on, using to check up to distract from the topic, “Now I will warn you before you decide to take motorbaby home, she might try and ask some awkward questions.”
“What did you do.”
“Hey, look, I didn’t do anything okay? She just had questions about you, ones where she didn’t like the answer I gave her.” Cherri tried to defend himself before the other decided to punch him for possibly upsetting their child. “She wanted to know why I call you Poison. That’s all it was.” This seemed to calm down the red head enough that Cherri could quietly continue his check, but Poison themself seemed a little confused, taking a couple of minutes to process.
“Oh…” was the only response for a moment before they spoke up again. “I can see why that would confuse her.” Feeling there was more to this, Cherri stayed quiet, and sure enough Poison spoke up again, “I guess I never realised that she might not get it.”
“Yeah, next time you can explain to the five year old that not everyone who she likes gets along mate.” Cherri muttered softly, leaning back with a decisive nod. “Maybe a little concussed but I wouldn’t worry, but…maybe don’t drive tonight.”
“Fuck. Wait no backtrack, what do you mean ‘get along’?” Poison interrupts themselves, looking even more confused and annoyed, “We get along fine, I trust you with The Girl.”
“You can trust me with tasks and not get along with me, Poison, that’s totally doable.” Cherri said standing up to lean against the counter as they talked, “I’ve told her not to meddle in it but she is only five so I just wanted to warn you when the ‘why aren’t you and Cherri friends?’ question happens.” Poison nodded along thoughtfully, wincing a little as his head moved too quickly and then ducking to avoid Cherri’s pointed stare.
“No I get it, I think.” Poison responded softly, seeming to think over a lot at the moment.
“I told her it’s okay and she should respect that.” Getting a brief nod of thanks for teaching their kid boundaries existed. Shrugging he continued, “I know we don’t always get on, but I’m glad we can still talk, and that you know I’ll always be there to help Poison.” Smiling softly at the killjoy across from him, get a weak grin and nod in response. Feeling a bit concerned Cherri stepped forward, “Hey, hey are you alright Poison? I’m sorry if I —“
Before he could continue there was a blur of red and Cherri received possibly the quickest hug in the desert. Before the other pulled back, clearly embarrassed. “Sometimes you should shut up, Cola.” He muttered but it didn’t sound aggressive as usual, it almost sounded friendly…or about as friendly as they got. “You didn’t do anything. Not this time at least, I just…I never realised how much you actually care about us is all.” Cherri watching as the other looked anywhere but him as they spoke, “I guess you can be alright…but we aren’t gonna be all pals and shit you hear me?” Doing their best to sound like the leader they were at the end.
Appealingly Cherri held his hands in surrender, nodding at the other, “Okay, I’ll stop, for now.” Laughing softly at the others' looks. “Of course I care about you Poison—“
“Party.”
“What?”
“Call me Party.” They repeated, totally ignoring the shock both on Cherri’s face, and the thump of surprise from whoever was clearly eavesdropping in the other room. “Like I said, we aren’t gonna be all shiny and shit but, you ain’t got a problem with me and Kobra likes you, so I guess you are alright.”
The pair shared a short look, before Cherri smiled and nodded again, “Sure thing Party-“
“It feels wrong but go on.”
“You all can stay the night and head out when your head stops pounding like I’m sure it is. I’ll set you all up in the back room, it’ll help to keep away from the sunlight for a couple hours once it’s up.” Walking them through and collecting the others on the way, the brothers shared a look Cherri chose to ignore and let them have, as he started setting up the back room for more than a couple bodies, Jet helping as the others fussed over sleeping spots. As soon as it was done Cherri headed back to the door, “If I’m still up when you leave tomorrow feel free to say goodbye on the way out. If not I’m sure you’ll be round again soon” getting a few nods and some tired ‘night’s and ‘see you tomorrow’s and another brief look with Party, he left and made his way to the radio set up to sit down near the equipment on the pile of old cushions the members of the shake kept there to give whoever was on the waves company. However in this moment, it was used to give Cherri a moment of silence, some peace to come to terms with the day and to accept that maybe, people do just do nice things because they care, and maybe Cherri and Party weren’t the most compatible but they could still care about each other in little ways.