2025-02-12 - Siblings, Shovels and The Paul Bunyan Special

[TXT to Roman] Brandon: Hey man, you good for Nora's at like 9AM?

[TXT to Brandon] Roman: You buyin'?

[TXT to Brandon] Roman: Kidding, kidding... I can be there in a few 😂

[TXT to Roman] Brandon: cool but yeah i'm buying, i will owe you one

Nora's is fairly busy for the weekday breakfast hour, not quite packed but hopping enough that the waitstaff have no time for chitchat. Brandon's already there, sat in one side of a booth. A small ceramic coffee cup on a saucer is half-filled with black coffee, which an older waitress drops by to 'warm up' back to the brim. When she asks if his friend is coming, he gives her a pleasant affirmative and she moves on to take someone else's order.

A notebook with a lyric sketched out in bold, flowing handwriting is open next to him, a pen on the table, and of course his phone and earbuds. He's not actually engaged in writing, but he clearly has been. Idly, he scrolls though his phone, apparently Instagram. He pauses at a story of a shining knight down on a knee, offering a laurel crown up to a blonde in a red sweatshirt that looks an awful lot like... well now. No wonder Brandon's smiling to himself.

When Roman said a few, he meant more like 15 minutes give or take. It's easy to see why it took him a while to get to Nora's, from the damp hair and the surfboard he left leaning against the side of the building, he has been at the beach, riding what waves he can get while he can.

As he enters Roman casts a searching look around and heads over to where Brandon has grabbed a table for them. "Heya Brandon." he greets cheerfully as he drops into the seat across from him "You really don't have to buy, but I'm not going to argue if you really insist."

Brandon glances up, smiling amiably at the big Hawaiian as the fellow sits down. He's getting more familiar with Roman, and accepts him into the booth like a friend. It's a bit of the shift for the singer, whose generally easygoing nature has tended a bit more anxious around Ruby's brother-by-choice.

"No way," he laughs. "The other night, Ruby and I were talking about... well, trust me." He cuts himself off. "Bottom line is, I should buy and I can buy so I will buy. Thanks for coming! I think I need your help."

"Sure, sure." Roman agrees, sticking with his assertion. There is a grin to the waitress as she brings the coffee pot around and pours him a cup "Thanks!" as he grabs sugar and creamer packs to doctor the drink, he is clearly trying not to say what immediately comes to his mind "To easy." he says instead "I'll take your word for it." no need to embarrass the man.

Roman's eyebrows quirk upward at Brandon needing his help "Well Ruby hasn't come crying so I am guessing you didn't do anything wrong." that's not a stretch, but seemingly not the case "What's up?"

Laughing at the notion of making her cry-- outrageous! The poor boy's practically gushy!-- Brandon says of Ruby after a sip of his black coffee, "Well... Friday is Valentine's Day. And I'm kind of out of practice. Does she care? Does it matter?" He leans forward, glancing left and right before saying quietly back to Roman, "I mean, I just went down on a knee and named her a Queen of Love and Beauty at my show." He taps his phone, which had timed out back to the lockscreen but apparently had significance.

"I don't know if I can go bigger for Valentine's. And I don't think she'd want me to. I love how she's not really into putting on airs. But I... don't want to guess wrong." He laughs a bit sheepishly at that. Brandon has a track record of guessing wrong.

Not having anyone he seems romantically interested in Roman probably wouldn't even realize the Valentine's Day was coming up, were it not for the various thematic happenings related to it in the park. As he listened to the situation, he has poured enough creamer into the coffee to not only make it almost white, but also to fill it to the brim. "Is that all?" he says after leaning over to sip from the cup so it won't spill over when he picks it up.

"Then don't. Do that thing..." he waves a hand giving his fingers a snap trying to come up with the phrase he is looking for. "subvert expectations." that's the words he wanted. "You are here first boyfriend." how's that for pressure. "You can't ignore it, but you two just started dating so grand whatits, isn't expected. Keep it simple."

Being reminded he's her first boyfriend is usually a bit of a shock for Brandon. There's a reality there that he hasn't entirely accepted yet, maybe because in his head, she's incredible and there's just no fucking way that girl hasn't dated before. Logically, yes, she spent most of her life on a boat at sea, but... well, it is a kind of pressure. In its own way, it's a welcome one, though. He nods thoughtfully.

"Keep it simple," he repeats Roman's phrase. "That makes sense. It's also a really good Delays tune," he recalls, singing the melody from the chorus: "Let's keep it simple..."

"I like that. I'll do that. So that's one thing." He laughs. "But that's not all."

Considering how long Ruby and Roman have known each other it is a mystery to everyone but them, as to why that never happened, and even bigger one as to why the tabloids didn't accuse them of being involved at some point. There is media out there with both of them, but never the accusations. Lucky them? "As long as you do something to celebrate with her, you'll be good." he should put a disclaimer there, but that should be a given.

When the waitress comes back around he orders one of those breakfast casserole bowl things. "What else could there be?" now he is curious and leans forward, crossing his arms on the table.

For his own sake, the once (and future?) Silvertones frontman orders something called the Paul Bunyan Special. The menu says it'll feed a blue ox. Brandon's not a blue ox, so it might be overkill, but stranger things have happened.

Having accepted Roman's Valentine's advice in stride and with visible gratitude, Brandon sips at his coffee again and waits until the waitress is out of earshot before explaining. "There's you. And you're cool," he says amiably. "But then there's her other brothers. I mean-- I know it's early but--"

He sighs, looking down into his coffee, and runs a hand through that sandy mop of hair. Could Brandon actually be nervous? He looks back up.

"I mean, you can tell how much I like her, right? Whenever I think it can't be real, things just get better. So at some point... I mean, my life since I was twenty-one is out there in the public domain. You know her family. What are they going to think of me?"

"Ohhhh, the brothers." It makes sense that they would be a concern for Brandon, and it has Roman giving a laugh "Jason and Kyle will maybe harass you for half a second, but then get over it and be chill." probably more like a day or two, but in relationship time that isn't very long "I'd be more worried about Jade if I were you." brothers are easy, they will just beat you up, sisters on the other hand, they don't play fair. "At least if Jade is anything like my other sisters." so mileage may vary.

"I don't think you have to worry about her parents. As long as she is happy, you'll be fine."

Brandon leans forward again, eyebrows arching and his blue eyes widening in boyish enthusiasm. "Really? Seriously?" The idea that he might not have to worry too much about that moment down the road is legitimately exciting. "Whoa."

Sitting back into the booth once more, he draws a deep breath in obvious relief and grins across at Roman. "See? This is why I'm buying breakfast. You just spared future me a whole lot of stress." Then his glance narrows shrewdly. "But why should I be worried about Ruby's sister? They get on... don't they?"

"Yeah, you're worrying about things that are way out of your control, and so early in the game too." Roman gives a small shake of his head, his damp curls bouncing with the motion. "All of that is future Brandon's problem." which is easy for him to say. He isn't in this situation.

There is a bark of laughter at the question about the sister "Dude, sisters be feral. Do you not have any brothers or sisters? And they get along fine." at least he hasn't heard any different.

That's the moment when the breakfast arrives. The waitress, to her credit, expertly balances a circular tray bearing a pair of very large breakfast dishes-- Roman's egg dish, and what turns out to be a platter of pancakes and bacon belonging to Brandon. She sets them down before the guys, then asks if they'll need anything else.

"No thanks, looks great," replies Brandon, eyeing the stack of four pancakes hungrily. Then he looks back to Roman and adds, "As far as siblings... yeah. A brother and a sister. They've got their own things going on, though. Ruby's got nothing to worry about there. They both hated Wendy-- my ex. My folks didn't like her much, either. Of course, nobody told me until after we broke up. But Ruby's like the opposite of her. They'll adore her for that alone."

He fixes Roman with a curious eye. "Just how many siblings do you have?" "

"Sweet!" Roman says as his food is placed in front of him. He's good on the food and drink front for now, so there is nothing he needs at the moment. "Wendy?" just the name leaves a bad taste in his mouth for some reason "Clout chaser?" he asks before poking at his food with a fork "They must have really thought you were into her if they didn't' say anything.

"When I left it was nine, but since then my parents have taken in three more foster kids. If history is any indication, they will probably be adopted as soon as the state lets allows it." implying that some of those siblings are adopted and not blood related, which doesn't make a lick of difference to him.

"That's really impressive," Brandon says, accepting the idea of fostering and adoption pretty handily. He's heard of large families like Roman's, clearly. "Your folks must be solid people." Digging into his pancakes with a fork and knife, he slices up perhaps a third of the actual cakes before drenching them in maple syrup.

"I'd say Wendy was more of a fame chaser. She already had the clout. Her dad... he's big in the music biz," Brandon explains. He glances up, eyes a little flat. "It's hard to admit but... she's kind of a starfucker, I guess." He grimaces at the word. "'Cause she helped make me a star, and then once I wasn't going to be one anymore, she moved on to some guy with a Ferrari and a place in Bel Air. "

A pause, a sip of coffee and then, "Ruby's like the exact, literal opposite. But you know her. You know that. You know how they say when someone really loves you, they make you better? It's like that. I didn't think that was real. It is."

"I guess. It's what I am used too. My mom's family is freaking huge, dad's." Roman wiggles his hand "Not so much, he only has one sister." something he can't fathom. "But he's not from Hawaii so we forgive him for that." he snickers, obviously that is some kind of joke.

"Wow...that's crazy." he says around a bite of food, which he shallows before continuing "Sorry you had to go through with that man. I can see how that could make you jaded on relationships. We don't like Wendy." and that is putting it mildly.

"Ruby is the real deal. She will give as good as she gets."

The ‘not from Hawaii’ line brings a grin to Brandon’s face even around a mouthful of pancakes. People where he’s from might say similar things.

Swallowing and washing down the cakes with another sip of black coffee—always black, this guy—he picks up a slice of bacon and is about to take a bite when Roman says what he says about Ruby. For some reason, the popstar flushes and looks distinctly uncomfortable for a moment. He just murmurs, and quite sincerely, “She’s incredible,” then abruptly shifts the subject back to the big Hawaiian.

“So you got someone special in your own life? I mean, the whole Aquaman deal’s got to make you pretty popular, right?”

The vibes coming from the flushing Brandon has Roman giving him a wry grin. "She's okay." He replies, totally downplaying how great he has said his sister is previously.

"Nothing serious." Roman answers between bites of his breakfast. "Kai is popular, and I guess that kinda makes me popular." He had to concede that point. "But I try to keep the fact that I play him quiet." He isn't especially good at that, but most of the guests are clueless at least. The changeling magics help with that at least.

"Staying quiet is... difficult," Brandon chuckles around the bacon, thick-cut and slathered with maple syrup. Paul Bunyan Special, indeed. "I mean, I thought I could hide out here, and it worked for a while, but--"

Then a special girl found him, actually. He probably should've known better than to think he could hide out anywhere, but falling for a fan didn't just alter the master plan, it changed things entirely. He has the grace not to mention this to Roman, instead asking:

"So how do you keep it quiet? You seem a lot bigger in the show. Is that another... magic thing? Like how Ruby can do the dolphin thing?"

"But people don't have the ability to respect a person's privacy." Roman fills in the blank as he sees it. He knows that it wasn't Brandon's or Ruby's fault. He will leave it at, just as the other man does.

"Totally the magic. I can't turn into an animal, but I can make minor adjustments to my appearance. Hair and eye color, complexion, height and bulk." And he does all that for the show. "It also helps that I am not a former pop superstar. Out there," he waves out the window in a mainland direction "I'm just another pretty face." To which he is batting his eyes playfully.

That one gets Brandon laughing! Hard. "Okay, okay, okay," he demurs, shaking his head and holding his hands up in a universal gesture of surrender. "I think I get it. Pretty cool power set, though." He takes a sip of his coffee, then finishes the bacon. The cakes are maybe halfway done and he's looking less up to the rest with every minute that passes. It feels like brunch is winding down.

"Look," he tells Roman, grateful, "Thanks for coming. I really appreciate it. This is a crazy place, where crazy things happen all the time... but for me the craziest thing has been meeting your sister." Brandon pauses, then adds with feeling, "I won't mess that up."

"It's okay, definitely useful, but the water stuff is better. I don't have to worry about drowning, it hypothermia," that served him well at the Polar Plunge "at least not while I am here." Out there is a different matter.

Roman has finished off his own breakfast, and could probably finish a second one easily, but he will keep it at one since Brandon is buying. "You had me at I'm buying." He's full of jokes and only takes things seriously if he has too. "Dude, I know, and if you do, well I know where you can get a shovel."

"Hypothermia? You mean like in the lake? Yeah, that shit was just insane, man," Brandon laughs, enthused at his own memory of the Polar Plunge. "Everyone's all cold and freezing their asses off and you're just like, 'Hey winter, come at me bro!" Grinning and shaking his head, the singer accepts the check as the waitress comes by, dropping it off and calling him 'honey'.

Brandon's fake smile for the nice old lady lasts as long it takes for her to move along. After she's passed, he rolls his eyes for effect and gets out his card. The talk of shovels elicits another laugh. "You sound like my uncles," he says with a smirk. "Anyway, see you 'round, Roman. If anyone asks me where Aquaman lives, I'll point 'em to the beach."