underneath the lights || hsmtmts

shovel talk | ej & big red / redlyn

ej and ashlyn both grew up only children, and given the relative absence of their respective parents, they'd been raised more like siblings than cousins. this fact meant a great many things of course, but ashlyn moon caswell knew once she started dating big red that ej was definitely going to take it upon himself to do the protective big brother speech.

in some ways his care for her was endearing, but that doesn't make it any less embarrassing when ej takes it upon himself to crash their movie nights on the couch or 'coincidentally' show up in the choir room after school when big red's helping her practice. red definitely more observed than assisted, but his encouraging presence was more than enough. ej's on the other hand... it was a little annoying at the moment. ashlyn supposes at least she's grateful that he hasn't managed to get her boyfriend alone on any of these occasions, but little does she know that is about to change...

—

the chime on the door of the redonovich family pizza parlor dings, and big red instinctively goes to greet the new patron. it takes a moment though before he processes that it's ej caswell, ashlyn's cousin. not only that, but it's just ej, by himself at the host stand. the ginger collects himself before greeting the young man properly.

"hey ej! cool to see you here. are you waiting on someone? ashlyn maybe?"

"nope, not waiting on anyone. if you have a minute to sit down though i'd like to to have a conversation with you."

red nods, raising an eyebrow at the odd request. "ohhh-kay..." he sort of looks at ej a bit blankly before leading him over to a little table.

"you don't seem very busy, so i'll get to it."

big red does take a seat at the table awkwardly, before waiting for ej to spit out whatever he has going on. this was... weird.

"red you're dating ashlyn now, and i know you're a pretty good dude, ash has much better taste in relationships than i've had over the years it seems."

"thanks... i think?"

"i'm not finished." EJ interjects, the senior class treasurer energy jumping out with this intensity. "as much as i don't think we're going to be having any problems, ash is my baby cousin. i'm sort of out here trying to make sure she's having the best life possible so if you do absolutely anything to ever even lay a finger on her wrong i will not let you live it down."

"i would never hurt ashlyn, i promise. i really like her..."

"i want to believe you, redonovich. i do... but i also know that it's my responsibility to do the whole 'fear of god' speech for her. which is an interesting name for this whole occasion by the way"

"i mean... i guess?" red's brief statement doesn't do much to cool ej's words now that he's started thinking too much about a topic.

"i don't think any of the protective brother speech names are good though. like what's a shovel talk does it mean i threaten to bury you or just hit you with a shovel? I don't get it."

ej realizes after a few moments that he has been rambling on, and based on the expressions on big red's face, the impact of his words is definitely a little unclear.

"shit... i guess i should have come more prepared for this, but um you just take care of ashlyn, she deserves a nice boy like you."

"got it. uh- thanks ej."

ej nods at the younger boy, smiling. "no problemo."

"i'm uh- i'm going to get back to actually working now if that's cool? it feels like we're done here..."

ej agrees, and red gets up, but ej just sort of sits there.

"are you going to want pizza or did you literally come here just to give me the speech?"

"mostly for the speech." ej admits, causing red to just shake his head with a laugh.

"but- ashlyn is coming to join me, i think she would be here pretty soon. just get me a root beer for now?"

"okay. okay cool. so... question, are you going to chill out more now since you did your required scary older brother thing?"

"i don't think caswells have the word chill in our vocabulary." ej shrugs his shoulders. "but if you're asking if i'm going to keep sitting on the couch with you for movie night so you can't make out... not so much. eventually that will turn into you two no longer caring that i'm there and i do not need to see that."

"sounds like someone speaking from experience?"

"oh no, not in the way you think. you're ash's first. i just know that i'd get over that sort of thing real quick."

"to be fair you're ej caswell. no offense but it feels like you're a little shameless sometimes."

"guess i know where i stand." ej chuckles.

"i said no offense?" red laughs, very mindlessly getting ready to go for a second time. but before he's able, ej gets up to give red a quick hug before the pizza boy goes to get that root beer ej has asked for.

—

a while later, ashlyn and ej are smiling and laughing at their table, just eating their pizzas without much care to their surrounding circumstances. but when ej excuses himself to go to the bathroom he gestures for big red to go talk to ashlyn.

"thanks for making her happy like this." ej says more seriously. "she can't stop smiling."

"huh? you were just talking to her..."

"about you. we were talking about you."

red smiles. "cool. thanks dude."

"now go talk to her, lay on the charm or whatever she likes about you. she's going to be home alone again tonight so maybe you can go over and watch a movie." ej suggests.

red does listen to ej's suggestion to go talk to her, and when he suggests movie night, she's all over it. ej meanwhile just stands back and watches the exchange as he pays for their food.

—

a half hour or so into the movie ashlyn pauses it, looking at red curiously.

"what did you and ej talk about? he said he wasn't too stressed about having to wait because he could just talk to you. and i love my cousin but that's weird right?"

"honestly? he wanted to give me the speech about how if i hurt you he'll hurt me but y'know- physically."

ashlyn practically facepalms at the admission. "oh gosh- i am so so sorry. he's trying but- i think that was definitely overkill. i'll have to give him a talking to. he shouldn't threaten my boyfriend."

"no- no need to give him a lecture. he kinda was a little all over the place it wasn't all that scary even if ej definitely can be. because he's y'know-"

"ej caswell senior class treasurer, captain of the waterpolo team, most popular guy in school?" ashlyn finishes for him, and they both burst out laughing.

"yeah" red nods. "exactly. but you will notice he isn't here"

"yeah i did notice that. good job keeping it a secret." ashlyn says with a laugh.

"actually he suggested it, he's not going to be interrupting us anymore. apparently he thinks over time his presence becomes less of a deterrent to us y'know..."

"got it. well good for ej minding his own business..." her intonation is very incredulous like she's shocked by her cousin's behavior and big red just laughs.

"he's a good guy. i'm glad you two have each other." red tells her, more serious and more gentle with these words.

"don't tell him i said this, but me too." she admits, before leaning over to kiss big red gently on the lips.

they'll go on with their night, just grateful to be uninterrupted by ej's usually constant commentary on the film they're supposed to be watching.

{author's note: hope you all liked this one! it's got some cute redlyn content but it's primarily about the ej and red thing so yeahhhhh. please please please leave a comment if you have any requests! i'd love to write you something}