Chapter 2 - Fire!

Z is supposed to graduate today. She celebrates by wearing graduation robes all day. 

“For irony, duh,” she says. “I wasn’t asking,” Frankie responds, amused.

So far she can’t do much more than poke at the fire alarm with a screwdriver, but Z hopes to get good enough at Handiness to fix the lights that never seem to work.

Z gets in some endurance training on her way to meet up with Frankie at The Unagi Center Lounge to celebrate her first (legal) drink as an adult.

The mixologist comments on her wacky outfit. Z claims to be entirely unapologetic about the way she dresses, but it only looks weird because she has to follow all of her incomprehensible inner rules governing what color socks goes with what pattern shirt, etc. She changes into formal wear, which is much simpler to match.

Frankie’s late to their date, so Z is sitting by the bubble machine when she sees something out of the corner of her eye. 

“Is the smoke machine supposed to make that much smoke?” she wonders.

Nope, it’s definitely a real fire! Z leaps to her feet to put it out, eager to perform her first heroic deed.

But by the time she gets there, the machine is back to making its normal effects. Z stands foolishly by the stage and tries to avoid eye contact with the pianist.

When Frankie finally gets there, she’s tired and hungry. They have the energy for one quick dance, though. 

Neither of them realizes how dorky they look on the dance floor, and both leave the club happy, if exhausted.

The next day, there’s a small house fire at the Landgraab mansion!! It takes the truck almost two hours to get all the way up to Summerhill Court, where a pregnant and panicking Nancy Landgraab awaits them.

“Where the hell were you guys!?”

Despite the tardiness, Z does a sound job of clearing out the tiny fire, and gets an A for her first job.

Surprisingly, being a low-level cop is good money, and Frankie soon has enough to hire a contractor to build a small house for him. 

The house looks very lonely after several nights staying at the station with Z, but Z rejects his offer to move in. She knows that living with him would reveal her neurosis almost immediately, given the repetitive hand washing, and she doesn't want him to change his positive opinion of her.

The next day, they meet up at karaoke, and take some silly pictures at the photo booth. “Your hair,” he says, laughing. “What’s up with that?” Z has already downed a few drinks and doesn’t think before she answers. 

“I had to change it to 'down' hair to match my new shoes for work. You can’t wear ‘up’ hair with closed-toed shoes.” At Frankie’s blank look, she groans. 

“It’s, like, a ‘thing’, all right? Like, there are rules, with me. If I don’t do it just right, there will be a terrible fire. Etc, etc, etc.” Frankie nods, his heart pounding. “I think your hair looks great,” he says.

A few hours later, well after sunrise, Frankie takes Z home with him, and finally gathers up the courage to hold her hand. 

“I like you,” he mumbles. “You’re brave, not like me. You’re…. strong.”

Z had never heard that said about her in a positive way, and she’s touched. “You don’t mind that I’m, like, neurotic and weird and stuff?”

Frankie answers with a shaky but unhesitating kiss.

Z stays over from then on. Frankie hangs their photos next to his bed.

---

Notes- I was putting off building the house because I absolutely loathe building, but thank god it's finally done and over with. I don't have many shots of the interior yet, but I'm okay with it. I've definitely done worse.

The LN effects machine really did get me - I haven't spent that much time in the bars/clubs, and I saw the smoke and thought, what a perfect first fire for my Z! I felt really silly afterwards, lol.

Z was only able to get 2 jobs done in as many days because they were both on Summerhill court, and it took most of the day to get there. I would be frustrated, but I love playing the firefighter profession, so it's all good.

Bonus pic: Frankie being booed off the karaoke machine by Geoffrey Landgraab, of all people!

Oh, I forgot to mention before: Z's hobby/obsession is painting, and Frankie's is gardening.