Kids Inc | You’re the One That I Want: III - Human Touch

[luxken27]

Title: You’re the One That I Want
Fandom: Kids Incorporated
Universe: Canon (Season 1 – 1984)
Genre: Friendship/Romance
Rating: T
Summary: Mickey didn’t realize just how much Gloria had come to mean to him until it was almost too late.

Links: DW | LJ | FF.net | AO3

Now that we're at the halfway point, it's time to put up or shut up - so let the (hints of) romance begin! :D

This chapter takes place between episodes 1x12 and 1x13, marking approximately the midpoint of the season. This was my original (original) idea, of having Mickey and/or Gloria come up with the idea for episode 13, "X Marks the Spot," aka Renee's birthday ep:

"" (Watch on YouTube)

I chose this episode, as I mentioned in my notes for chapter one, because of that tiny, shiptastic moment near the beginning, where Mickey practically lands in Gloria's lap as the Kids head for the counter in the second scene. That was one of many tiny shippy moments in the first half of the season, though most of the others happened onstage... =)

So, there is a gradual shift towards the flirtatious on stage, on both their parts; it seems natural to me that at least one of them would have the beginnings of a crush forming. This is Mickey's story, so it only made sense that it be *his* crush - and I was kinda looking forward to the challenge of writing from the other side of the coin than usual.

Renee's birthday is a pretty important episode, if only because it's one of the few that has canon continuity. This episode tells us that her birthday is on January 4th (garnet = birthstone for January; the date is specifically mentioned in the episode). A Season 3 ep, 3x9 "The Gift," establishes that Stacy's birthday is two days apart from her sister's. It also gives us the tradition that Stacy is lamenting this chapter - that of the two of them buying each other the 'perfect' present. These bits of canon help set the scene: it's winter, after Christmas, and everyone is probably a little over giving gifts...which makes it all the more heartbreaking to see this dilemma weigh so heavily on the youngest member of the band.

Gloria has, of course, picked up on the shift in Stacy's mood, but Mickey hasn't - he's a little oblivious just as a matter of course, but he also has his own conflicting feelings to contend with. Somewhere over the course of the past few months, he's lost the ability to speak whenever Gloria approaches him (another ode to the canon, LOL). I don't think he's insensitive, especially since he considers Stacy a friend, but some people just aren't all that great with details, LOL.

As he promises, he helps Gloria get to the bottom of what's bothering Stacy: her gift dilemma. Mickey suggests giving her "the new Springsteen album", a reference to a previous episode (not available on YouTube, sadly) that establishes Renee's fandom, but its an offhand comment from Stace about the difficulty of her task that gives Gloria her great idea: a scavenger hunt! It's creative and inexpensive and something the whole band can do :D

Mickey is the one who actually comes up with the idea of what to give Renee. This was a tough one; I basically had to reverse engineer the episode and figure out how anybody could've come up with such a crazy scheme :P Renee receives her "firsts" all over again: her first doll, book, teddy bear, and ballet shoes...all gifts received for "milestone" birthdays or events. Hence his logic in suggesting the re-gifting idea.

Gloria more or less takes charge of the project, assigning everyone tasks to do. She also offers to help Mickey with his, which is drawing the treasure map they're going to use to "find" the gifts. He can't decide if this constitutes a "date" or not, which I thought (and remembered!) to be about par for the course in navigating the ol' crush waters, LOL.

There's also the running gag with his locker, which was inspired by the episode. The look he gives Gloria when he opens it up is just priceless, LOL - I couldn't resist working it in somehow :) I've always found it a bit odd that their lockers were outside; I've never come across such a thing outside of CA or FL-set TV shows, but I used it anyway, making it a gym locker instead of a school locker. It makes sense - "where Mickey hangs his clothes" is the clue that leads them there.

The last bit of reverse-engineering from the episode is in the last scene, with the Kids hiding their gifts. I split them up into teams, perhaps unwisely, but it was a way to get our duo alone. They have another moment there at the end, when they decide to continue eating lunch together, even though they no longer have the project as an excuse. Just like with the locker, it was a parallel back to the first scene - does this constitute a "date" or not? In the world of fourteen-year-olds, these lines are kinda blurry.

I think it is obvious that the plot is moving in a more romance-oriented direction, but I tried to be mindful of my characters (especially coming off a very angsty-adult romance in Love Letters). Kissing is still A Big Thing at that age, at least in this idealized world :P, so I had to be more subtle about the intensity of their feelings, and the way they act on them. I'm a big fan of hand-holding (at *any* age), and I thought it was a decent 'in between' compromise: more than friends, but not yet quite into boyfriend/girlfriend territory.

There is also a lot of mentions of arm looping, or hands at elbows, etc. This is a move with canon value:



and it's yet another very subtle, affectionate gesture that can kinda go either way. Gloria is the type to openly show such affection, as she's constantly hugging the others, in good times and in bad :)

The title song is a kinda strange cover of Rick Springfield's "Human Touch" from three episodes earlier, when Riley is nearly replaced by a robot:

It's probably my least favorite of Mickey's covers, but I thought the title was pretty spot on, considering the contents of this chapter :P