sodapop curtis!

[ ding ding! ] welcome to the DX, buy you a pepsi or a candy bar — whatever gas station snacks to your pleasure. Sodapop Curtis ram sacks the counter, you can put an ask in his Tip Jar!

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

Ding ding!

“Soda, what the hell is that?” Steve asked with a gruff, wiping the sweat off his forehead with an oil rag.

“Uhh, pretty sure that's a jar, Stevie.” Sodapop replied, smirking at him.

“No, dimwit. What's that?”

Steve pointed at the label on it, which read: "TIPS. also taking questions – SODA."

“Oh, yeah!” Sodapop perks up, turning the jar so he could reread the note he had taped on there just an hour before. He stared at it lovingly, like as if it was the best creation he made.

“We're taking questions now, too!”

“We? There ain't no we in you foolin' around, Sodapop. This ain't gonna get us no money!” Steve waved his hands at the jar to gesture to how it's a problem. Soda didn't really care, he was just proud of his jar.

“Uh, no, it ain't, but it does get us some good entertainment, don'tcha think?” Soda's face was bright as he turned the jar back around. “This place is boring! You can only flirt with girls for so long. Well, me. You got your own girl.” He pokes at Steve, winking.

Steve huffs and shakes his head, making his way around the counter and snatching up a waterbottle from underneath it.

“Yeah, well, you have fun with that.” He scoffs, before making his way out.

Soda sighs and shakes his head with a big smile. “I will!” he hollers back.

SODAPOP CURTIS — NOW TAKING QUESTIONS AND ASKS!

ran by @kalied0skull , drawings made by same user!

i will not guarantee a drawing for every ask, but i will be doing my best to answer each one! ^_^

I'm not the best writer, + this is purely for fun, so please don't take this seriously as i will not be perfectly in character!

reminder to stay within rated E topics for asks, (meaning I'm just not comfortable with NSFW or detailed stuff... swears are a-okay though!)

this blog is written post-outsiders, pre-twttin for lore! (so, about 7+ months after TO events — meaning dallas & johnny are canonically dead here.)

oc interactions , headcanons , and aus are all accepted (please provide au names in the asks though ! ) :D

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

(drops two five dollar bills into the tip jar, one for Steve and one for soda. A note is also in the jar that reads..)

Question for soda: ok so I know your parents named you sodapop probably because they’re very original people, but, like, why sodapop specifically? And Ponyboy? I need to know how they even came up with that lol

Soda taps his pen impatiently against the counter, looking back and staring at the clock, watching 2 minutes go by in an agonizingly slow pace before whipping back around to distract himself once again.

Four hours, he reminded himself. Just four.

It felt more like 20 with how time felt so slow. Maybe if he stopped checking it, it'd go by faster.

He turned back around just to check. Nope, still 4 hours.

Soda groans in annoyance as he stretches over to grab another paper, hoping writing will keep him distracted long enough because so far he's just been feeling on edge about everything.

Uh... y'know, I'm not too sure, honestly! I always asked Pops, n' everytime he always gave me a different story.

For Ponyboy though, that was all me n' Pops simultaneosly. We both picked his name because I wanted a Pony, and he wanted a boy —and Pops got what he wanted, so I wanted my end of the bargain too— Darry was just right off the bat going to be a Junior, I think. I was a bit of a funny choice.

One of the stories Pops told me was that they played rock paper scissors or something to figure out who'd name the kid. And Dad got paper against rock, so he named me... Soda.

Mama howled at him and laughed in his face, thinking he was crazy or something until the nurse came in with a paper and wrote down just that, under his request.

For some reason, Mama was surprised. Jaw dropped and tired eyes wide, Pops would've laughed right at her if it wasn't for the fact she would've jumped out of her hospital bed to grab at him. Hahaha!

Either way though, it's all funny stuff. Our parents were real silly people, and they raised real silly boys just like me! Wouldn't have had any other parents, I'm happy with how I turned out! And I like my name too! I think it fits me :)

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

Can you play piano at all?

Soda was just writing to distract himself at this point, grabbing whatever little paper slip he could and scribbling something down on it to distract himself from whatever else he had to deal with — which, apparently, was a lot.

Well, if I try hard enough, I'd say I could play a little bit of everything!

But if I told you I could play piano, I'd be lyin' straight to yer face. HAHA.

Ponyboy is the one who does keys. I do strings and I know the harmonica a little bit, n' if I get a rhythm, it's not to hard to play drums.

All of us (me n' my brothers) are pretty musically aligned. But we ain't no professionals or nothin'.

The door chimes open as a collection of socs walk in, and Soda immediately brushes the note off the counter and underneath it.

He watches as the collection of what looks to be 5 all trail their way to the back of the DX, talking about some sort of story about a buddy with a car problem the week earlier. That's as much as Soda can hear out of it, at least.

Two of them separate from the group and make their way over to the counter, and Soda sits up right and puts on his charming smile.

“Well how do, boys? This all for ya?”

“Yeah, that'll be it.” The blonde one replies, coiffed curls bouncing as he glanced outside. He wasn't interested in conversation.

Soda just nodded and rang up their treats. And the same routine followed as the other 3 made their way into line, each getting the same small talk and ring up process.

The fourth one held the line for a bit, trying to grab something from behind the shelves, making up a new decision on what pack of cigarettes he wanted every time Soda went and tried to grab one. He was fucking around, and Soda clocked that immediately. He didn't mind, it was just wasting his time.

But, at the same time, being made fun of was also distracting him. So maybe it was worth it, in some depressing sense.

After about 5 minutes of this soc dragging Soda around, he finally settled on Winstons. Soda hesitated as he grabbed at them—always does—and placed them on the counter as he sat back down.

“Had your fun?” Soda joked roughly, ringing up the cigarettes and putting them in a bag, despite not asking if he should in the first place.

The group of 5 boys were cackling like hyenas, giggling to themselves, pushing each other around before the 4th one got his things. “Yeah, we're savvy.”

The final boy came up and nodded at Soda, grinning at him in a way that made Soda... confused. He was trying to pass some message off to Soda in body language, and quite frankly, it was a little funny because Soda couldn't tell if it was an apology or if he was flirting with the way he was keeping his eyes low.

Either way, Soda didn't comment on it. He just closed the register and waved to them on their way out. “Thanks for stopping by!”

He sighs tiredly and rubs his hands against the counter as he pushes himself back in his stool, like a cat stretching. “What even is today...” He mumbled to himself.

He looked up and over his shoulder at the clock. Four hours. Four more hours until he could go help look for Ponyboy.

He looked back under the counter and took up the note, folding it up and putting it back into the jar.

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

Sorry I haven’t uh. Been around. Shit happened I guess! Find a new girl yet? Kidding. Pretty much. Wanna hang out?

Soda took a deep breath and another cigarette out from under the counter.

He stared down at the box he took the cigarette out of and tilted his head. They were the ones Steve usually had, his brand. He shrugged it off and lit the cigarette, taking out a slip from the jar.

He recoiled as he read Cola's note. As much as he was thinking about her, the last thing he wanted at the moment was try and interact in yet another sweep of a mess.

“Glory...” He mumbled, puffing out smoke as he let air pass his lips.

For once, the talkative boy was just about out of words. He didn't know how to reply. But he knew if he didn't, it'd be another thing about "not saying anything," so the least he could do is actually write back.

Haha! Yeah, you can say that again. I think the world likes to take turns on beating people's asses, and it's back on my turn.

My baby brother's gotten himself into something new again this week, so unless you wanna help me and Darry look for him, it's all up to you.

You'n gotta though. I know how awkward it must be. I'm real sorry you gotta put up with me. Hah. :')

He put the note back in the jar, staring at it for a moment before spinning around to stare out the window.

He still had so long left of work. 5 hours, and Ponyboy Curtis could be anywhere in that time.

He didn't wanna think much on the possibilities.

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

You'll find em promise ♡

Soda looks around a bit after grabbing this paper. He kinda forgot that the jar was accessible to the people in the store currently too, instead of just... people from earlier.

It caught him off guard, is all.

Glory, I sure hope so.

He groans, rubbing his face tiredly as he goes for another paper in the jar. Something, anything to just distract his brain. He needed something to calm him down, or just—

He stuck a cigarette into his mouth and lit it in a swift motion as he heard the door chime and swing open.

Soda's eyes immediately go wide and he makes it over to the aisles faster than he can catch himself.

“Mark.”

“S-Soda! Hey– oh, uh– uhm. Sorry, about everything, I really didn't–”

“Where's Ponyboy?” Soda grabbed Mark tightly by the wrist, taking his cigarette out with the other and stomping it out.

“What?”

“He's missing. Do you know where he ran off to?”

Mark shook his head awkwardly, that stupid grin on his face not leaving for a second, and Soda knew it didn't have anything behind it, but he swore if he could he'd slam a fist into Mark's face just to get him to—

“Soda?” Mark repeated.

Soda blinked, shaking his head and looking back at Mark again. “Huh?”

“I said he probably left a note. He was scribbling something down the last time I saw him.”

Soda blinked again, hard, before letting Mark go. “Note? For what?”

Mark shrugs. “Tellin' his whereabouts, I'm guessing.” He rubs his arm, pocketing a candy bar in the same motion.

Soda sighs, looking Mark over. “And you're sure you don't know where that'd be?”

Mark laughed. “Look, as much as you think Ponyboy only gets into shit with me, he isn't one to talk to me about the shit he's doing by himself. He's quiet, y'know?”

Soda nodded, turning away. “Yeah, I know. Get the hell out before I call someone for stealing.”

Soda stared at the floor for a good minute. A note, somewhere. Should he call Steve or Angela about that? Would Curly know about it if Mark doesn't?

Soda turned back around, and just like he asked, Mark was out and gone already.

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

Is da baby off school yet?

Soda chewed on his pen anxiously, leg bouncing against his stool as he sat and thought, and thought, and– at this point, he felt like he was driving himself crazy.

He picked up the slip of paper and whined tiredly. Why now? Why worry about Steve now of all times?

Nah, he ain't off just yet! He's still got a few hours left until then. And even then, he's got, uhm... stuff to do, I think.

I dunno. He's busy still, sorry!

He sat and stirred through the jar with his hand, spinning the papers around in there before grabbing another.

Hahaha, nope! Still gone. He's at school, sorry!

Soda bit his pen too hard, tasting the metal of the clicker awkwardly and taking it out of his mouth. At least there was no ink...

“No Steve, but I sure would appreciate his prescence right about now...” Soda grumbled, putting the papers back into the jar and resting his head against the cash register.

His forehead awkwardly pressed buttons as he laid down. He didn't care.

Soda let out another puppy whine before eventually sitting back up. He hated being emotional when he was stressed.

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

any drag races coming up?

“Soda?” Darry gruffed over the line. “Why're you calling, what happened?”

“Ponyboy ran off. Out of school. With a bag, n' something else, and Angela called and she hollered at me something crazy because no one knows where he's headin' and Curly should've grabbed him but—”

“W–hah– What? WHAT?” Darry yelled over the phone as Soda continued on.

“—I don't know, Darry! I don't– I don't know why he's deciding to do this now, when he just got in trouble for somethin' else, and– sweet Jesus, Dar!”

“Calm down, okay, we'll– Shit. Okay. We'll get it figured out. She said she couldn't see where he was headed?”

“No,” Soda sounded like a baby with his reply. Tiny and quiet, and nervous like no other.

Darry made some sort of sound of exasperated confusion before nodding his head. “O-Okay, then we'll call the po– no, fuck. No, we're not.”

“Darry..” Soda sniffled.

“We can't, Soda. We're on a tight rope as is with these social workers, I-I dunno what they'll do when they find out–” He held his breath, sighing hard and Soda could practically envision Darry running his hands through his hair. He always does it when he's stressed.

Soda was fidgeting with another note he had in his hand as he stayed on the line, it was this one. The two of them sat there quietly, anxiety hung in the air as they both thought about... where Ponyboy could be.

“He could've hopped on a bus.” Soda mumbled, “Maybe he ran off with Mark again.”

“He wouldn't do that, he– I dunno, he probably did it for some stupid reason. Maybe he's punishin' himself.”

Soda laughs dryly. “That sounds like something he would do, huh...?” He teared at the edges of the note carefully, shaping it out into some really uneven circle and putting the paper pieces into his mouth. He was stress eating.

Darry sighs again. “Okay, look. Neither of us can get off. So– so... I really don't wanna have to wait to go out for him.”

“Neither do I. I can go and look.”

“You need'a stay put, Soda.”

Soda huffs, “M-Maybe the Shepards and Steve, then.”

“...Sure, fine. Just– you shouldn't go without me. Because if they see two Curtis brothers out in the wild, they'll be even more suspicious.”

Soda tilted his head. “N' you don't think they're gonna find us looking for him together late at night isn't gonna raise suspicion?”

“Nobody cares what happens to greasers at night, Soda.” Darry said it roughly, but Soda could painfully agree with him there.

After a little bit, they got off the phone, and Soda called back up the school for Steve and Angela (and Curly, too.)

They all agreed to ditch to get a search going, Steve being extra careful with where he stepped out at.

And now all Soda could do was sit here anxiously, worrying about his baby brother.

Goddammit, Ponyboy.

Something like that, I think. There's a drag race every other week.

Whether we'll go to the one tomorrow, though... uhm... we'll see. :)

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

Got any pet peeves

Soda rolled his eyes, the last customer who had spoke to him was a pet peeve if he could incorrectly describe one. Or maybe the letter that came after it.

He doesn't know, he was just bugged for no good reason. He didn't like being upset. So, he tried to change the mood a bit with the other notes.

I ain't exactly the easiest person to get on their nerves. Shoot, well, I mean today's definitely been something. But I think I might'a just woken up funny.

Uh... I guess last second plans? I like knowing when things are gonna happen at least an hour or two in advance. I get real buggy around being dragged places!

Sometimes it's fun to get dragged around though! You do some stuff here n' there, go back, act like it's all normal. Surprises can be nice, it just sucks when someone jumps out on me we got something important to do and I'm half dressed and 3 days needing of a shower and I only got 15 minutes to get ready!

Soda yawns boredly, folding up the note and putting it into the jar. Maybe the day was just going slow. Maybe he was forgetting something. He can't tell to save his life.

He picks at the grout on the counter, sitting there awkwardly as he tried to figure his mood out before hearing the phone ring.

Ring ring!

Ring ring!

Ring—

He picks up the phone.

“Y'ello? This is the DX, America's Finest. Yer speakin' to Soda.” The same sentence as always when he picks up the work phone.

On the other end was some muffles and shouts, coming from who he could only imagine was Angela Shepard. “S– Slow down, slow down. Ponyboy did what?”

There was more shouts and protests, and before he knew it, he was hanging up the phone to dial Darry.

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

important OOC post, just for scheduling!

so, to put it easy, this short absence of mine has accidentally become quite the long one, and will continue to be unfortunately for the next week — so I'm putting the blog on a bit of a short hiatus notice.

having just recently gotten out of school, I've been working on figuring out a schedule now that i have so much looseness, and being one who struggles with schedule changes, and also one who gets constantly distracted by the real world, it's become quite the hassle trying to fit soda in still into my little world ,,

you're just gonna have to bare with me! i can absolutely promise you all that i am NOT abandoning this blog, and am planning on returning come early june (hopefully june 5th at the latest!)

i just felt the need to at least publicly put it out there on THIS blog and not just my main blog ( @kalied0skull ) that I've been away just since I can't fit soda into my unorganized life at the moment, and i will be away from tumblr for the upcoming week so i thought it best to at least make THAT PART known.

but again, i promise I'm not leaving for long! it's just gonna take me a little while to sort everything out! soda is quite the job if i do say so myself, despite being a little passion hobby / project mesh baby, and he takes a lot of brain power to write for!

i thank all of the little supporters out there who have still been interacting with the blog despite it being so silent, cannot tell you how terrible i feel for kind of disappearing so suddenly and taking so long to say anything ... but i promise! it's only for a little while!

when i come back, you'll hardly ever know i was gone in the first place!

until then, soda's canonical day is just on pause. still early in the morning, on a thursday. as far as he's aware, all is normal and it's still a day away until cola shows back up and business starts ... well, businessing. hehe.

we'll just call this hiatus puttin' the can in the fridge, because soda's taking his moment to chill. until then! keep an eye out on my main blog, where i use the #soda's blog bts tag to talk about soda. or if you just wanna see my other content both outsiders & a-little-of-everything related, i can be quite the talker :3

i am happy to do a little q&a over there as well! any questions you have for this blog or maybe this version of soda in general, i will do my very best to answer! i just don't wanna leave the people with nothing, is all.

either way! I'll see you all soon! not a closing for the night, just a... little lunch break, i suppose :)

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

please oh please give me money. thanks love ya —donna

( — @askdonnawinston )

“C'mon man, just a little gas for what I got.”

Soda rolls his eyes, and plays it off by shaking his head. “I– I'm real sorry, sir, I dunno what I can do for ya for that little. Really.”

“It ain't that little!” The customer huffed, shaking the change in his hands.

Soda stared at the cash. The most it would get him is— well. Hardly enough to even get down the street, really. “Mm-hm.”

He kept trying to explain to the guy that he needed the same amount of change in cash dollars, not cents. He wasn't following still.

The bickering back and forth about math went on for a little longer before the man stormed out, bitching something under his breath and leaving Soda by the counter by himself again.

Soda groans, rubbing his eyes. It was too early for this. He picked up a note, in hopes it'd be something entertaining, only to be even more upset.

He scoffs, picking up his pen and swiping down words.

As if! I ain't just handing out cash for free. And I sure ain't handing it out to your irresponsible ass!

Get it yourself!

He shoved the note to the side and got back up. Maybe a pepsi would cool him down. This heat was making everyone stupid, and making Soda... heated.

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

*Inside the jar was a couple pictures. A coloring page obviously scribbled in by a little kid and some other drawings. There was also a thank you note. It was from the two kids.*

(Sorry I didn’t write what was on the note… 🥲 you can put down whatever you’d like really if you want to.)

The first note Soda had picked out this one, noticing it separate from the others in the way the coloring page paper stood out from the typical notebook or scrap papers he got.

When he unfolded it, he found the small note and read it carefully. It was hard to decipher little kid writing (as if he wasn't just as bad at spelling), but he admired it heavily.

The picture left a smile on his face, and he giggled softly. “Awh, damn...” He mumbles, thumbing over the page. It reminded him of Ponyboy, in some real silly way.

“That's real sweet.” He hums to himself, and the note was short. Something short and sweet, and simply reading: "thank you for helping us. daddy is gonna be much nicer now that we got a helping lady. her name is miss cindy. she lets us talk to her and gives us lots of advice and candy."

He stared at the note for a moment longer before a customer walked in with some kind of attitude, bitching at him and tossing their things onto the counter, completely knocking him out of his focus.

He shoved the note under the counter to save for later and got to work on helping out the customer... to the best of his abilities.

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

Ding ding!

It's been a week.

From one Thursday to the next Thursday, Soda was intending to only be missing Friday for the holiday, and he did—going out with the gang the day off, and they ran off into town doing what they could with Soda's tip money and then landed themselves at a nice lake for the rest of the day.

But what he wasn't expecting was for the DX to close down for the rest of the week.

As to why the DX closed down, his manager Stacy wouldn't say. He just said it was for "maintenance" and "something to do with that murder case."

Soda wasn't gonna stress about it. He shrugged it off, and stayed his happy self at home with the occasional company of Two-Bit, and Steve and Ponyboy and Darry who all came later in the evenings after school and work.

When he got into the DX, the place felt eerie and dustier than before somehow. Like the cops had completely changed the air quality of the place to be... worse.

He cleaned up here and there, dropping his lunch bag under the counter and rolling his sleeves up higher than usual. The weather was finally starting to heat up now that they were finally reaching the beginning of May. If he had a hair tie, he'd probably use it. He likes his hair long, but man, is it hot.

He sat himself down and found a note put on the counter for him to find from Stacy.

There's stuff in the back, just don't mess with it. Bags or something. The cops left them behind and told me the same thing.

Be smart, just do your job. No biggie.

–Stacy

“Huh...” Soda picked the note up and stared it over for a bit, glancing over at the door behind him that read "STAFF ONLY" in dusty, etched letters.

He shrugged it off, pocketing the note and getting to his jar. He wasn't gonna get himself involved in anything today, especially not with all this weird shit going on.

The clock on the wall behind him read 9am. He gotten into work a bit late since someone else opened for him. Everyone was at school, Darry was at work just as he was, Two-Bit was probably bustling around town bumming around.

Soda took out his fair share of notes, laying them all out to go through and answer. But he had this itching feeling in the back of his brain, a terrible curiosity.

He was gonna do his damn best to just ignore it.

Alright, let's get to work then. Shall we?

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

The day was going by excruciatingly slow. With Ponyboy still going in and out of consciousness, Soda having a slow day, and the general atmosphere being quiet... it got a bit boring.

Notes had been answered here and there, though.

Probably something for my family, I like sentimental tattoos n' stuff.

I'd always thought about getting a matching tattoo with the gang, too. Darry ain't one for 'em, and he ain't letting Ponyboy get one no time soon. But I bet me, Steve, n' Two could get one all together!

HAHA! I've been a cowboy 5 different years, and each time they're always better than the last. Well, at least it feels better.

But, aside from the fact I'm a costume repeater like no other, I'd probably have to say all of 'em. Mama loved making us do matching costumes with the family, I'd have to find a photo sometime of us dressed as Mickey characters!

Hahaha! We say the same thing!

Darry isn't leavin' no time soon. 'Specially not with us draggin' him around. I think the only thing that would get him out of this town is us, because we bothered him too bad.

...But even then, he wouldn't stay gone long. He still loves us!

Cried hysterically, lost our minds, and searched the streets.

I was looking wherever I could for Ponyboy. Even Buck's. I don't hang over there a whole lot, but I knew Ponyboy had a habit of running in there with Curly on a real rare occasion because of Tim and Dallas.

I had to push Dallas real hard to let me look around, and trust me, he tried to keep me away. But he knew he couldn't hold me down for long.

I kind of found it on accident, actually. I was looking around in general, not really focused on big details. But I stepped on something wet and cringed real hard and Dallas looked at me scared. And then I saw it, and I yelled at him.

Anyways, Darry was just real torn up the whole week. He was growing greys by the second, he was a real big mess of emotions.

That note kind of ends abruptly.

Same as she did about her leaving, she put it in the letter, and then she left.

That one ends abruptly too. You can see a slight finger dent on the note, a spot where he held on too long and too tight.

At some point, Steve makes his way into the DX just like Soda had noted he would earlier.

The three of them bustle around until nighttime, Ponyboy sticking to his respective corner, sat on the floor. Steve never really understood why the kid kept his distance so hard, but he didn't mind all too much either. They still talked casually throughout the day. It eased the anxiety.

Soda had gotten himself busy dealing with an altercation between two customers, having to call the cops and run them out. It wasn't anything wild until someone pulled out a heater.

That's when everyone kind of kicked out of the store, Steve pulling Soda under the counter and pushing him into the back room.

No shots were fired, thankfully. The cops came just in time, and everybody awkwardly went back to normal for the remaining hour they had at the DX.

“Jesus...” Soda rubs his face tiredly, his hands still shaking even after how long it'd been since the situation actually happened.

He flipped the sign on the door, staring at it blankly. There was a stain on the door from someone's face being slammed into it. One of the people in the fight earlier.

Ponyboy hugged himself, just as shaky as Soda. Seeing the gun shook him up real badly, especially because of who it was aimed at—his own brother. “We leavin' yet?”

Steve huffed. “Yeah, we're leavin'. Get in the truck, squirt.” Steve shoved Ponyboy lightly, nodding to the vehicle.

Ponyboy growled something at Steve, snapping at him as he walked ahead to the truck. Steve just rolled his eyes and focused back in on Soda.

“Y'alright?” He leaned forward, catching a better glance at Soda.

His face was hard, and he was biting his lip anxiously. “Yeah,” he mumbled, still staring at the door. He blinked, shaking his thoughts out of his head and turning to face Steve. “Just– still processing.”

“Yeah.” Steve looked Soda over, noticing the way he was fidgeting and then turning away to avoid eye contact lasting any longer. “Well, you're off tomorrow, right?”

Soda's eyebrows scrunch up in confusion. “I shouldn't be? It's Friday tomorrow.”

Steve and Soda both started walking. “Yeah, but it's holiday tomorrow. Some sort of national thing.” He shrugged. “We're not in school tomorrow, either.”

“Oh– well. Maybe not, then.” He smiles. “Why? You got plans for something?” He nudges Steve with an elbow.

Steve just laughs. “Not unless you're free.”

Soda stands by the door to the truck, thinking for a second. “...I should be.”

Steve nods, “Sweet. I'll talk about it on the way home, let's just– get out of here already.” He ran a hand through his curly hair. Steve was just as exhausted as the brothers. It just wasn't as visible.

Soda hummed in agreement, hopping into the truck. Ponyboy had already gotten himself comfortable in the back seat.

And then they were off.

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

once ponyboy goes to college, darry wont need to stick around anymore. your going to end up all alone

Soda sifts through a couple of the notes as he eats food with Ponyboy, readjusting on his respective corner space of the stool and flipping through each little paper.

He catches eye on this one when he sees both Ponyboy and Darry mentioned, reads it over and kind of frowns.

I can fend for myself too, y'know! Just because I might end up alone don't mean much to me. I still got two friends right here in Tulsa with me.

Far as I'm aware, Darry don't got no plans no time soon, and Ponyboy's still got two years ahead of him 'fore he heads off ta college.

Soda sighs, chewing on a fry before putting the note back.

“Hey, Pony, whattya got planned for college anyways, huh? Like– what're you goin' for?” Soda leans his head on his hand as he stares at his brother.

Ponyboy's awkwardly sat with one knee up and his other leg off the stool entirely. His knee-up leg holds his notebook, which he's gotten back to and is drawing again. “I don't know. Probably a, uh... teacher, maybe.”

Soda smiles. “A teacher? Jeez, you just sound more n' more like a nerd everyday...” Soda laughs, shaking his head.

Ponyboy scowls. “We've had the conversation before! Why're you acting like it's anything new?”

Soda shrugs. “Just wanted to see if ya changed yer mind.”

Ponyboy shakes his head, getting back to snacking and drawing. And Soda does the same, except he's just getting back to other notes.

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

doth thou careth if an oc ask comes ffom.. gulp... a . a.. a curtis.. oc... GYULP..

ooc since the boys are eating rn and it's a question i probably should answer 💀

deeepeeennds? like, sibling wise I'd probably say no because that does complicate the current storyline (I'm fine with other siblings though like from the rest of the gang)

if it's a cousin then yeah sure go ahead!

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

Ponyboy, I’ve heard Tim call you his kid brother so many times it’s not even funny

Ponyboy rolls his eyes as he reads the note over, half distracted as he cracks open a pepsi as reads it.

He places down the can and grabs up his pen, scribbling down a reply.

Well if he's saying it to you, he sure as hell ain't saying it to me.

He places the note and pen down, getting fully distracted now as he grabs at some snacks over the counter—which consisted of two candy bars.

Ding ding!

As soon as Ponyboy sat back down with his treats, Soda had walked back in with a food bag in his hands.

“I got stuff for Steve and me too since he's on his way, but–” He looks up, catching Ponyboy in the act of stealing.

Ponyboy grins and places the candy bars swiftly under the counter. “Hiya, Sodapop!”

Soda snickers. “Coworkers ain't good for nothing. What're you doing, mister?” He walks behind the counter and places the food down.

Ponyboy shakes his head. “Nothin'. I told you I was hungry.”

Soda tilted his head at him, placing his hands on his hips. “And I told you that I was leaving to go get you something ta eat.”

Ponyboy shrugs. “Well, I guess I won't have to eat the candy then, will I?” He ruffled through the bag, grabbing out everything and putting back what he could tell wasn't his.

Soda shakes his head, laughing. “You are so impatient.” He teases, sitting down on the stool with Ponyboy, the two of them awkwardly sharing the seat as they eat.

[sodapopcurtis-dx-asks]

first kiss?

Ponyboy picked out one last note, his wrist was tired from drawing earlier and resting on it for a few hours.

When he picked up this one, he kind of paused awkwardly. It wasn't a question for him, it was for Soda.

He wasn't just gonna answer as Soda, but he could at least answer for him.

Soda told me how his first kiss was with Sandy. It was at an afterschool party in middle school or something.

He explained the story to me over and over again when they first got together, because I mean– the guy was real deep in love with her.

But that's the first real kiss he ever had. Or, he said that. He said it was his first ever "real kiss." I don't know what he means by it though, because he had plenty of other kisses before.

But he said they were sat outside the steps of the school, and Sandy looked so pretty and the sun had just set. He told me they had some sort of really funny conversation, and kept moving closer and closer to each other.

It felt like he was telling me something straight out of a romance movie. Inching closer, getting more giggly and quiet. N' then they kissed, and Sandy ran off laughing.

Apparently, Soda cried when she left. They saw each other Monday afterwards, he thought she hated him. Turns out she was running off to go tell all her girlfriends about how she just kissed her crush.

And then they got together. And then she ran off again.

Ponyboy roughly puts the paper back into the jar. He didn't like talking much about Sandy, and he didn't mean to be so rough with the paper. Still happened though.