Lavender and Gold - Dante Reyes x Reader [Fast X]

Chapter 18: Oops!...I Did It Again

✧.* -2023: London ✧.*

Ramsey leads Tej, Roman, and Han through the back alleys of London until she gets to the almost abandoned section of shops that house Bowie's pride and joy, the PC bang. The shop's windows are plastered with outdated signage and random posters for bands or events that happened years ago. Ramsey rolls her eyes at how the facade is still so dusty looking and when she opens the door she isn't surprised at all by its 80s basement vibe. The air reeks of hot Cheetos and the saccharine scent of Mountain Dew. The boys file in behind her, observing the room with obvious skepticism.

Cubicles of computers line three walls, occupied by a handful of random people. In the middle of the room sits an ancient faxing and printing station. The walls are a mix of wood siding and an ashen pistachio green, and at the back behind glass counters filled with purposefully vague objects sits Bowie typing away at his computer.

He doesn't look very different than he did when he was younger, his hair is still cut short and bleached in a lazy way that looks half on purpose, he's clad in his usual ensemble of oversized clothes that scream of addiction to Monster energy drinks, and his eyes are red-rimmed from what is likely a mix of both marijuana and sleep deprivation. The only difference from how he looked as a teenager is some cropped short facial hair and a smattering of jewelry that Ramsey would never admit sort of suit him.

"Did we just time travel?" Tej asks sarcastically as he looks around.

"Would you look for a black market operation in a place like this?" Ramsey asks him rhetorically.

He nods as if to say 'I give you that'. Ramsey leads the boys further into the PC bang and the nostalgia starts to hit. The whole place is built like a shrine to early Internet culture, everything from a Windows 98 poster to the sounds of a dial-up, the PC bang is truly like a living piece of Internet history. Tej is drawn to a vending machine as the rest congregate around Ramsy who walks up to Bowie's station. She raps her knuckles on the glass to get his attention.

Bowie looks over from his monitor not particularly interested but when he catches sight of Ramsey his eyes widen with recognition. He leans back a bit surveying her.

"What's up Bowie420?" she asks, using his old nickname slash gamer tag.

Bowie chuckles a little but there's a hint of malice behind it that Ramsey doesn't miss.

"Oh shit, Freddy Merc!" he says, smiling a little wolflike as he looks around at Tej, Han, and Roman who loiter behind Ramsey.

The boys look over at Bowie at the nickname. She looks over at them a little defensively.

"What? I had a life before you knew me," she says.

Bowie waves at the boys a little sarcastically with a comically large grin.

"Bowie here runs one of the most notorious online black markets. If you want it he'll sell it," Ramsey says gesturing to Bowie, obviously a little embarrassed about having to rely on who she still sees as a delinquent child.

"I thought you didn't like that about me though," Bowie says, inclining his head with a little bit of attitude.

"Well desperate times.." she replies, implying that she would never be caught dead back in the PC bang if it wasn't for being completely desperate.

Han starts to fiddle with one of the food containers on the counter, this one is an assortment of muffins.

"What kind of muffins are these?" Han asks Bowie.

Bowie's eyes widen taking on a mischievous look, he smiles with teeth. He fiddles with his own pastry which he has been intermittently munching on since Ramsey's arrival.