Thanks again! Looking forward to reading what you come up with!\n
\nThis entry was originally posted at https:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/61455.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/288585.html?view=comments#comments","category":["multilingyule","letter","fanfiction","fandom","yuletide"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/288487.html","pubDate":"Fri, 01 Jan 2021 19:06:17 GMT","title":"Yuletide Reveal!","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/288487.html","description":"Dipped my toe into the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon fandom for the second time with \"Kennig's Ransom\"<\/a>!
My recipient asked for Eric-centric fic, which was fine; IMO, Eric is one of the better-defined characters from the cartoon. But I knew I'd hit my groove when the character I felt least comfortable writing (Uni, the baby unicorn) started spouting lines in my head! I actually like Uni; as the D&DC's 'animal mascot\/comedy relief' that cropped up in most 80s cartoons, I find her much more likeable than some of the other examples of the period. Notwithstanding that, however, she's not exactly a character I normally consider when planning a fic; she's just sort of... there. And suddenly, she was there with lines and something to do!
I'd say that two of the toughest challenges I had were,
- Getting Eric to say what he needed to say but still sound like Eric. Without spoiling, I put him in a situation that brought him face to face with some of his inner demons.<\/li>
- Finding a low-level monster that might be skulking around a grain warehouse. I needed the encounter to be more funny than scary; we're talking a monster that would startle Eric but one that Uni could handle. I scrolled through an online pdf of the D&D Monster Manual, as well as a CBR list of the \"10 Weakest Monsters in Dungeons and Dragons\"<\/a><\/li><\/ul> to find my winner!
The other misstep initially was in my working title. I was thinking to call out to another classic story about a kidnapping, O. Henry's \"The Ransom of Red Chief\". Initially, the lead OC was going to be called \"Rechef\". However, as hilarious as that story was when I studied it in lit class, it reinforces a number of stereotypes about Native Americans and significant elements of it have not aged well. So, I went with a play on \"King's Ransom\" instead.
As far as the rest of it, I found myself having a hard time coming up with lines for Presto. Eric, Hank, Bobby, Sheila, Diana, even Uni? No trouble at all. Presto sort of ended up with a few generic lines that could have been spouted by anyone, just to remind us all that he was there, but that was about it.
All in all, though, things went pretty well.
I usually hang out in bigger fandoms. (I'm currently writing two longfics in OUAT.) For me, Yuletide is when I take a chance, stick my hat in the ring, and try writing for a property I know well but one outside my usual wheelhouse. I had fun this outing. And who knows? I might try writing in this fandom again when it's not an exchange assignment!<\/a>\n\nThis entry was originally posted at https:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/61240.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/288487.html?view=comments#comments","category":["yuletide reveals","dungeons and dragons","fanfiction","yuletide","yuletide 2020"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/288106.html","pubDate":"Sun, 18 Oct 2020 03:41:19 GMT","title":"Yuletide 2020 Letter","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/288106.html","description":"Dear Yuletide writer,
Thank you so much in advance! If you've read my AO3 signup, you probably already have a good idea of my DNWs (no graphic sex or violence; I prefer K through T for the most part. Especially with the fandoms whose target audience is juvenile\/pre-teen, I don't want fics that are more explicit\/adult than the canon. Obviously, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn deals canonically with some pretty tough subject matter, but it's far less graphically depicted than it could have been.) And I'm a sucker for happy\/hopeful endings. You can give me tragedy and angst for 99% of the fic, just so you end on a, \"This won't break me; I'm going to get past this and come back stronger than ever\" note.
So. As far as specifics:
1. Anne of Green Gables
I love slice-of-life, Anne gets into scrapes, grappling with growing up, heart-warming fluff, angst, dreaming of romance, again, pretty much what you get in the books. I also wouldn't mind something like Anne imagining a more adventurous life, daydreaming about being the Lady of Shallot or Queen Guinevere and getting so caught up in her fantasies that... well, you fill in the blank.
2. Belgariad\/Mallorean
Seeing the character tagset gave me the idea for the prompt, but I'm flexible. I do love some good banter, whatever else you choose to write.
3. Blue Castle
I LOVE a Valancy who speaks her mind the way she did at the anniversary party. I love her and Barney together, too. Again, wide open.
Emelan
4. I love the whole Emelan universe, but if you want to pick a specific point in canon, Will of the Empress is my absolute favorite. And I know I said I love Sandry, but there really isn't a nominated character I dislike. You want to focus on Briar, Tris, Daja... Go for it; just give Sandry a few good lines, even if you don't put her front and center.
5. Daredevil (Comics)
Bromance. I think what I put in the signup says it all.
6. New Mutants
Again, please give me the Volume 1 characterizations. If you want to bring in other characters from later volumes, that's fine; I just want to read about the characters I remember.
<\/a>
Thanks again!\n\nThis entry was originally posted at https:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/61031.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/288106.html?view=comments#comments","category":["fic exchanges","letter","yuletide 2020"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287897.html","pubDate":"Fri, 25 Oct 2019 11:24:45 GMT","title":"Yuletide Letter 2019","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287897.html","description":"Dear Yuletide Writer:
First and foremost, thank you so much for doing this! I really appreciate your efforts and I'm looking forward to whatever you deliver.
A few basic guidelines:
I don't like stories that end on a down-note. Happy endings are great. Hopeful endings are, too. (I.E. Stuff along the lines of, \"Yes, we've lost so much, and things are looking pretty grim right now, but we're [Insert name of family\/group\/team] and we never<\/i> stay down! We'll never give up!\" is perfectly okay.)
I'm not into graphic sex or violence. Mature themes are fine. Hints at what might go on behind closed doors are great. Think Hitchcock (\"I'm not going to show you what's going on. I'm going to show you the guy watching in the window\/listening in the next room reacting<\/i> to what HE sees\/hears and let your imagination fill in the blanks...\") rather than Friday the Thirteenth.
That doesn't mean I necessarily want darkfic. I'm open to it, but I'm also open to fluff, angst, missing scenes, bromance, friendship, humor, adventure, divergence AUs, h\/c... Really I'm pretty flexible. I just wanted to be clear on my few absolute DNWs.
The only other DNWs I can think of offhand are 1) implied sexual relations between adults and minors in a canon when such relations are neither canonical nor condoned, and<\/i> where the age gap is significant (A 20-year-old with a 16\/17-year old is fine. An 18-year with a 13-year-old is not). 2) Underage with an age gap of more than a year or two. Two experimenting 13-year-olds? I'm open to it. A 17-year-old and a 13-year-old? No thanks.
So much for the basics. The specifics are in my signup, but I'll reprint here:
The Blue Castle<\/b>:
I adore this novel. I think I place it above all of L.M. Montgomery's other works. Valancy is such an amazing character, and she and Barney are wonderful together.
I'd like to see more of their married life, either pre- or post-last chapter reveals. Include other characters if you like. I'm more a fan of PDAs and kiss-and-fade-to-black than steamy scenes that wouldn't have been acceptable in the original novel. Humor, slice of life, telling off snooty relations (I think one of my favorite scenes in the novel is when Valancy refuses to be cowed and finally speaks her mind at the silver anniversary dinner), you name it. I'm open to babyfic\/kidfic if that's your thing, too.
Emelan \u2014 Tamora Pierce<\/b>
Either set before The Circle Opens or during\/post-Will of the Empress, please. I don't mind if either their teachers or their students show up in supporting roles. Sandry is my favorite character, but I love them all. Other than that, I'm open to stories focusing on training, slice of life, angst, fluff, adventure... really anything but my DNW's would be fine. I'm a sucker for happy or hopeful endings. (\"We failed this time, but we'll beat succeed next time; no way we're just going to give up!\" is absolutely okay.)
Do not want: graphic violence or sex, romantic pairings between the foster sibs, deathfic. To be clear, I don't mind if you want to do a romantic story between one of the Circle members and someone outside the Circle. But not among themselves. And not Teacher\/student either.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn \u2014 Betty Smith<\/b>
As long as it's Francie-centric, you can use any or all of the nominated characters, or characters you like that haven't been nominated. Bonus points if you can make the period come alive as Smith did in the original novel. Suggestions\u2014and don't let them limit you: Missing scenes, Francie having a heart to heart with Neeley or trying to with Katie. Introducing Ben to the family. The Nolans (or Nolans and Ben, whether he and Francie end up marrying or just stay friends) dealing with either the Great Depression or WWII. Francie either deciding to marry or not marry Ben.
DNW: graphic sex or violence. Mature themes are fine, so long as they're handled the way they were in canon (i.e. matter-of-fact, unsensationalized presentation. Darker points hinted at but not in lurid detail.) I don't mind if you want to give Francie or Neeley kids, but please don't let them upstage the canon characters.
Daredevil (Comics)<\/b>
I am ALL about the bromance. I don't ship these two romantically, but I firmly believe that either would die for the other. Please no non-canonical deathfic, though. If you want to set this at any point in canon when one believes that the other has died like say, Brubaker's \"Devil in Cellblock D\" run), that's fine. Foggy being there for Matt after Battlin' Jack Murdock's death, or Karen's, or Milah's placement? Excellent. Matt being there for Foggy during chemo? I'm so there. Either one in trouble and the other running to the rescue? Go for it.
I don't care if you give me angst, h\/c, adventure, missing scenes... just please end on a happy or hopeful note. I've read the noir periods in comics and while I loved much of Brubaker's run, I kept waiting for things to turn around and they never did. (Yes, I know that's kind of what 'noir' is supposed to be about. And I don't mind seeing a hero go<\/i> down. Where noir and I part ways is that noir has the hero stay<\/i> down. It takes him to rock bottom and flings him a shovel so he can keep digging lower. At some point, I want him to start climbing up, dagnabbit!)
Dungeons and Dragons (Cartoon)<\/b>
If I could have nominated more than four characters, I'd have done the whole cast, lol! Instead, I stuck with my four favorites, but feel free to add the rest if you like.
Wide open here. Give me a realm adventure. Something pre-or-post-Realm. Angst, comedy, drama, action, h\/c...
Gen or Hank\/Sheila and\/or Eric\/Diana. Please don't put the kids in anything more explicit than canon did.
<\/a>
Thanks again! I can't wait to see what you come up with!
P.S. I'm going to be out of town between December 22nd and January 5th. I'm not sure how often I'll be online. I'll be checking my email, but I may not get a chance to read\/comment until I come home. (I'll have my phone, but I'm discovering how frustrating it is to type text on one of those after years of just using a desktop.) Please be patient with me if my feedback\/acknowledgment has to wait until I'm back home!
This entry was originally posted at https:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/60689.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287897.html?view=comments#comments","category":["0xup5","writing","fanfiction","yuletide"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287734.html","pubDate":"Mon, 22 Apr 2019 17:00:23 GMT","title":"Going out of my mind","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287734.html","description":"I'm in Montreal. Have been since last Monday. Hubby came in on Friday. And when he did... Soot ran out the door. Hubby delayed his departure four hours, hoping the cat would turn up, but judging by the new damage to the screen door, it looks like he didn't hear when Soot did.
Sitter is still coming and trying to coax him back in but... she's a stranger and he's shy.
He's been indoors for fifteen months. What if the two other cats, the feral ones I still feed, beat him up or chase him off now? They've surely taken over his territory. What if he's lost his survival instincts? What if he's not coming back?
Hubby goes back tomorrow and we're hoping Soot will come out. But right now? See post title.","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287734.html?view=comments#comments","category":["all about me","soot"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287397.html","pubDate":"Tue, 01 Jan 2019 05:35:36 GMT","title":"dragonbat2006, post more and you will find more subscribers!","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287397.html","description":"Yep, I've definitely lurked moar this year...
<\/a>
You can get card with your statistics here<\/a>!<\/p>
#2018<\/p>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287397.html?view=comments#comments","category":["#2018","#lj2018"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287230.html","pubDate":"Tue, 13 Nov 2018 19:34:39 GMT","title":"Been A Long Time Since I posted Anything About My Life Instead of Just Fic Stuff","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287230.html","description":"So, unsurprisingly, stuff has happened in the last two years.
- Went from Obesity Level III:
![](\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5021879\/uploads\/editor\/lc\/zf600syc0u4j.png\")
to Overweight:![](\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5021879\/uploads\/editor\/p6\/tnb7pyljtypf.jpg\")
in 2 years (P.S. That's Rose \"Tinkerbell\" McIvor with me). Basically, the veins in my legs collapsed under too much... me and I developed cellulitis and lymphedema. Both, thank G-d, under control now. But a referral to a vascular surgeon gave me a diagnosis of \"chronic venous insufficiency\" and medical orders to get compression stockings and lose weight. I joined My Fitness Pal<\/a> and have dropped 107 lbs in 2 years. Which has led to...<\/li>- I now walk 2 hours daily and work out with dumbbells. Lifting up to 50lbs (i.e. a pair of 25s) at the moment.<\/li>
- Ran a 5K in 28:17. Placed 51st overall out of 500. 21st of 300 women. First<\/i> of 32 women aged 45\u201349. Yes, I'm hyped!
![](\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5021879\/uploads\/editor\/q1\/h95tnykc29md.jpg\")
<\/li>- Not as onerous as it sounds, but... I've got bladder cancer. My uro-oncologist calls is a nuisance. Basically, this kind 92\u201393% of the time doesn't spread. It's treated with TURBT surgery and immunotherapy. 98% survival rate, but as my uro-oncologist put it, they don't talk \"survival\" rates, but \"recurrence\", because it's practically a given that it's not going to finish me off. The surgery is just to get it out so I don't run the risk of moving into that other 6-7%. Last cystoscopy was clean. I have one on Dec 8th. If that one's good too, I think they move to letting me go 6 months between checkups instead of 3.<\/li>
- We've got a cat! Soot, the feral\/stray who kept wanting to move in won over hubby and... he's an adorable little cuddle muffin now. FIV positive, but in pretty good health despite that. Playful, affectionate, friendly... We never planned on this, but we're glad he's in our life.
![\"Soot](\"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/5021879\/uploads\/editor\/0f\/ytxrngauohbt.jpg\")
<\/li><\/ol><\/a>
I guess those are the high points. I'll try to post more often, but no promises.
This entry was originally posted at https:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/60669.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/287230.html?view=comments#comments","category":["cancer","all about me","soot","weight loss"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286881.html","pubDate":"Wed, 10 Oct 2018 06:42:22 GMT","title":"Dear Yuletide 2018 Author","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286881.html","description":"First and foremost, thank you so much for doing this!
I don't have any known triggers, but I do have a few squicks\/do not wants.
Generally, I'm not a fan of hardcore sex or violence when graphically portrayed. I'm fine when it happens off-page, or if something is implied. Exception: If it happened in canon, feel free to go into as much detail as the source material did.
Belgariad\/Malloreon<\/b> (Garion and Zakath):
I'm a big fan of banter. Give me some verbal fencing and we're good. Feel free to involve other characters as you like. And one thing I like about Eddings' writing is the way he has of letting characters talk about serious issues in a way that sounds comedic but can get surprisingly serious once you look past the witticisms. I don't ship Garion and Zakath as a couple, but if you want to include other characters, I don't mind some of them are couples and romance ends up in the background. Or if Ce'Nedra and\/or Cyradis turn up and their husbands take time out from their conversation to talk with them\/include them.
Daredevil (comics)<\/b> (Matt and Foggy)
I'm all about the bromance here. I don't ship them romantically, but platonic brotherly love? I'm there. I'm fine if there are dark elements in the fic, but I definitely want something ending on a hopeful note if not a happy ending. I don't really care about the era; I gave my favorite comics periods in the letter but feel free to write about a different period if that's your preference. And so long as the friendship is front and center, I don't mind if it's a situation where one is in trouble and the other has to bail them out, problems with a GF\/spouse, a conversation, and argument, Matt's mental health issues putting him in a bad place, Foggy's physical health issues (under Waid anyhow) knocking him for a loop... I'm good.
Dickensian<\/b> (Amelia, Nancy, Honoria, Frances)
I think I said everything I wanted to on the sign-up, but here's the copy-pasta again:
You don't need to use all of the characters, but I'd like to see interaction between at least two of them. Other characters welcome. Possible ideas:
1) After one-too-many insinuations by Frances that she considers her sister scarcely better than a woman of the streets, Honoria storms out of the house and encounters Nancy. The two have a frank discussion about sex, love, etc.
2) Honoria tries to reach out to Amelia after the latter is jilted.
3) In Dickens canon, Frances raises Honoria's child. At the end of Dickensian, it's heavily implied that the child will be adopted by Amelia and grow up to become Estella. Perhaps a conversation between Frances and Amelia in which the deal is struck?
If you have any other ideas, feel free. Please, nothing more graphic than was seen on the show or would have been depicted in the novels. Genfic only.
Dungeons and Dragons cartoon<\/b> (Eric and Hank)
I'd like to see these two realize that under the snark and arguing, they've got more in common than they realize. Whether it happens during some downtime where they're sitting around a campfire or marching toward the next possible way home, or in the middle of a melee fight is up to you. I don't mind some background Hank\/Sheila and\/or Eric\/Diana if you want to include it, so long as the main focus is gen and on Eric and Hank.
Ella Enchanted (Book)<\/b> Ella and Char
Set during the story, before Ella breaks her curse.
Flirting Char! Clueless Ella! Maybe a back-and-forth of their letters. Maybe Ella getting and reflecting on the letters. Or Char thinking about how he can get Ella to see him as more than a friend.
Emelan<\/b> Sandry, Tris, Daja, Briar
Wide open here. Any or all of the four. Give me siblings bantering, struggling, fighting among themselves or against a common foe. Please set either during Circle of Magic or Will of the Empress. Genfic please!
I will admit to a slight<\/i> preference for Sandry-centric, but if you'd rather focus on one of the others, that's fine. I like all four; Sandry's just my favorite by a very slim margin.
<\/a>
Thanks again!
This entry was originally posted at https:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/60331.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286881.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286573.html","pubDate":"Sun, 24 Jun 2018 05:54:13 GMT","title":"Dear Fic Corner Exchange Author","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286573.html","description":"Thank you so much for doing this!
I'm a gen-lover for the most part. Not really looking for dark, though angst with a happy ending is always welcome.
Anne of Green Gables:
I'm pretty old-school on this one. I like the sweet, funny, wholesome feel-good stuff where Anne's imagination leads her into peril or adventure, where crises generally loom large in her own mind, but the grownups either laugh them off or get the wrong impression entirely. Either a new scrape or some insight\/introspection into something that happened in canon.
I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the new TV series. If you want to introduce some element from there in passing, that's fine, but I'd rather the main focus be on book canon.
Ella Enchanted:
Snarky Ella, trying to be as disobedient as possible Ella, Humorous Ella, Loyal Ella, Vengeful Ella... Ella, Ella, Ella. Any other characters welcome. Please just friendship and\/or romantic banter with Char; nothing more intense.
Little House on the Prairie:
I just love Laura vs Nellie. Other characters welcome. Frenemies or even enemies.
<\/a>
Thanks again!","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286573.html?view=comments#comments","category":["fic corner","fanfiction"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286306.html","pubDate":"Wed, 04 Oct 2017 21:58:06 GMT","title":"Yuletide Letter","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286306.html","description":"Dear Yuletide Author,
First of all, thank you so much for doing this! I really appreciate it.
I tried to be detailed in my signup post, but just in case more clarification is needed, here we go.
1) I'm mostly about gen, but canon friendships that could become something else\/have subtext are fine. I like witty banter. No PWP, though.
2) My comfort zone is All Ages and\/or Teen. If the reason for a 'mature' rating is a couple of F-bombs or you're including some violence and rating it high to be safe, that's okay. I'm just not looking for explicit sex scenes.
3) I'm a sucker for angst, hurt-comfort, divergence AUs, friendship, and happy endings. And that would include 'hopeful' endings, too. Something along the lines of \"Despite everything that fate's tossed our way, we're still here and we're not going anywhere. Maybe we lost the battle, but we'll win the war!\" is 100% okay. As is a bona-fide happy ending.
4) Angst over canonical character death is fine. Please don't kill off a character in the fic.
Fandom specifics:
Daredevil:
As mentioned, I'm a sucker for Matt-Foggy bromance. I love them as friends, but I don't ship them romantically. As long as that friendship is there, you can give me additional characters and the plot of your choice. I like Matt angsty and I like Foggy savvy (please, no Silver Age buffoonery). Ben and Milla are fine to add, but not necessary.
Dungeons and Dragons:
I love all of the Young Ones and had more of them been nominated, I would have listed them all. Also, this is one of the few times I wouldn't mind romance (Hank\/Sheila). Gen is good, too. Wide open here. Give me something in the Realm or a before-the-ride or an after-they-got-home. I'm not really interested in DM-centric or Venger-centric, but no problem if you're inspired to use them in your fic, so long as the Young Ones are front and center. Use as many of the six as you like.
Spider-Gwen
I like Matt and Gwen as adversaries\/frenemies. Something where they're forced to work together (either the way it is in canon, where Matt is blackmailing her, or some reason why they would unite in the field against a common foe, albeit temporarily) would be good. Supporting cast is fine; there really isn't anyone I dislike in the comic, though I prefer Castle in small doses.
Thanks again!
This entry was originally posted at https:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/60102.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286306.html?view=comments#comments","category":"yuletide"},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286061.html","pubDate":"Fri, 07 Jul 2017 04:56:47 GMT","title":"The Hero In My Life (Chapter 29)","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286061.html","description":"Words: 2565
Summary: Back to school... with all that entails.
Previous Chapters: Click the Hero In My Life tag.Chapter 29<\/h1><\/center>
I didn\u2019t see Sharon at all over the break. And there was no anonymous gift dropped off where I was sure to find it. If there had been, I would\u2019ve reciprocated with the labradorite pendant, but since Sharon was obviously still mad\u2014or still expecting me to apologize first\u2014I was keeping the pendant. It saved me from having to admit to my parents that Sharon and I weren\u2019t talking at the moment; when Mom asked what she\u2019d given me, I\u2019d taken it out to show them. It almost wasn\u2019t a lie. The whole reason I had it was because Sharon was being stubborn and not coming around to talk to me, so in a way, I guess I did have it because of her. Yeah, I knew that was a pretty big stretch, but whatever. I was used to lying and working just enough truth into my lies to make them technically<\/i> true. If you squinted.Where\u2019s Sharon?<\/i>
\u2014Oh, I think she\u2019s all tied up at the moment<\/i> (To a bomb, in an airplane cargo hold) but she\u2019ll be here soon.<\/i>
\u2014She had to dash off for a minute<\/i> (at 150 kph) but she\u2019ll be back as soon as possible.<\/i>(I hope!!!)
Yeah, I was an expert at telling technical truths. It was great to know I hadn\u2019t lost my touch.
Really great.
Seriously.
Sure.
Jodie and I got together a couple more times, but it just wasn\u2019t the same as hanging out with Sharon. If the two of us had been in the same class last semester, we probably could have found things to talk about, but now, when Jodie wanted to tell me what I\u2019d missed in Roehampton, it all seemed to revolve around people I didn\u2019t know. Sharon, Jodie and I had gone to Oliver Mowat, but that wasn\u2019t the only middle school that fed into Simcoe. Jodie kept bringing up kids I\u2019d never heard of and then sort of stopping when she realized I had no clue who she was talking about.
Eventually, we just watched movies on Netflix. Or we tried to. But Jodie liked to talk over the movie soundtracks, giving her<\/i> take on whether the leads had any chemistry together or how cheesy some of the special effects were. Or she\u2019d start squealing and saying she couldn\u2019t look when someone on the screen was clearly headed for a disaster. I wasn\u2019t really into rom-coms or roadtrip movies in the first place, but if I was going to watch one, I wanted to actually follow the story. Which I couldn\u2019t when Jodie wouldn\u2019t shut up. I toughed it out. It was still better than being tied up in a museum and being guarded by a cobra. Weird how that was still my gold standard for unpleasant situations. It hadn\u2019t even been the worst fix I\u2019d ever been in, just the first.
By the time the new year arrived\u2014Mom and Dad let me stay up to watch the ball fall in Times Square on TV and gave me some rum-free eggnog that tasted too sickly-sweet to finish\u2014I couldn\u2019t wait for Sunday when I\u2019d be going back to Glen Ayr.
If only I\u2019d had another way to get back there besides the Macklins.
Well, I didn\u2019t have another way to get back, not without telling my parents that Sharon and I were fighting. Which probably wouldn\u2019t have been all that big a deal, now that I think back on things, but at the time, it felt pretty major. I figured my dad would just tell me I\u2019d make other friends, which wasn\u2019t the point. I already had. I still missed Sharon. I imagined Mom either giving me another talk about friends drifting apart over time or offering to call Dr. Macklin to see if she could talk to Sharon about patching things up. I could deal with a sympathetic \u2018I thought that\u2019s what was going on\u2019 if I had to. I mean, I didn\u2019t like the idea that my mom could sometimes read me like a book, but she was my mom, you know? If she couldn\u2019t, who could? Somehow, though, she always picked up on the stuff I didn\u2019t want her to and stayed clueless on the stuff I wished she\u2019d figure out. (Sometimes, I wasn\u2019t sure if the whole business with Sharon\u2019s double life was an exception or a case in point.)
Anyway, I might not have minded Mom trying to cheer me up, even if I probably wouldn\u2019t have admitted it. But involving Dr. Macklin? No way. I had to avoid that at all costs. I\u2019m sure Mom noticed that Sharon and I weren\u2019t constantly together over the holidays, but I told a few technical truths, enough to let her think that we might not be as close as we used to be, but that we were still friends. There was no reason not to spend over five hours in a car with her. So I was going to.
But I wasn\u2019t going to like it.
Sharon was \u2018tired\u2019 again on Sunday. Or, at least, that\u2019s what she told me when I clambered into the back seat.
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be,\u201d Dr. Macklin said, sounding concerned. \u201cYou went to bed early last night.\u201d
\u201cYeah,\u201d Sharon agreed, \u201cbut I guess I was too excited to sleep and it\u2019s catching up with me now.\u201d She sighed. \u201cI feel like I could sleep for hours.\u201d
She sounded convincing. Maybe she really was sleepy. Except that even when she was, it had never stopped us from talking before. One time, she dozed off while we were talking, only she kept up the conversation in her sleep for a good half-hour. It wasn\u2019t until later that we realized she couldn\u2019t remember a thing we\u2019d said after a certain point.
\u201cI hope you\u2019re not coming down with anything,\u201d Dr. Macklin sighed. \u201cSorry, Kerri,\u201d she said. \u201cLooks like it\u2019s going to be a quiet trip up.\u201d She paused. \u201cActually, if you\u2019d like to sit up front, you won\u2019t have to worry about Sharon slumping into you; I know the car\u2019s kind of small.\u201d
I nodded, wondering whether she was seeing through Sharon\u2019s act.
\u201cHave a good sleep,\u201d she added. \u201cAnd hopefully, it\u2019s nothing serious.\u201d
Now I was really wondering. Judging from the expression on Sharon\u2019s face, so was she.
At first, I worried that Dr. Macklin was going to spend the whole trip peppering me with questions. Not that I would have minded conversation. I kind of liked the one we\u2019d had in the summer that ended with her getting me into Glen Ayr. But\u2026 she was a psychiatrist, which meant that whatever I might say, she\u2019d probably read more between the lines. I knew how to snow my parents. But a telepathic shrink who already knew a bit more about my life over the last few years? Maybe I ought to sign up for a workshop in interrogation counter-techniques this term; I thought I\u2019d seen it offered in the fall.
As it was, after a couple of polite questions about my vacation, she focused on the road and I dozed off somewhere around Kleinburg and didn\u2019t open my eyes until she stopped the car to fill up in Barrie.
\u201cWe\u2019re more than halfway,\u201d she greeted me when she got back in.
I nodded. Sharon was still sleeping. Or acting. Whatever. I remembered something then. \u201cUm, Dr. Macklin?\u201d
\u201cI\u2019d ask you to call me \u2018Callie\u2019, but I know that would probably be awkward,\u201d she smiled. \u201cWhat is it?\u201d
I hesitated. \u201cWere we supposed to get our marks over the break? Because I didn\u2019t.\u201d
Dr. Macklin started the motor. \u201cWell,\u201d she said, \u201cideally, you would have. But the school prefers to release the grades all at once and some teachers are able to mark the exams faster than others. Mid-January is more usual.\u201d She sighed. \u201cI was\u2026 unexpectedly occupied for over a week, back in Roehampton. Luckily, I was only teaching a couple of workshops last semester, so I didn\u2019t have any grading to do. If I had, I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d have submitted everything myself.\u201d
\u201cOh.\u201d
\u201cOne thing I should mention,\u201d Dr. Macklin continued, sounding more serious. \u201cYour parents will be getting a transcript of your marks at the same time that you do. Their copy won\u2019t have every subject you\u2019ve taken\u2014if you understand my meaning.\u201d
I nodded. You\u2019d better believe I did.
\u201cYou\u2019ll see on your copy that the subjects are split into two sections. Your parents will only receive the first, unless you or they inform the school that they\u2019ve since become aware of the true nature of Glen Ayr Academy.\u201d She smiled. \u201cAny other questions?\u201d
I shook my head. \u201cI guess not. Unless you know how I did?\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t,\u201d Dr. Macklin replied. \u201cAnd even if I had that information, it would be a breach of ethics to disclose them within earshot of a third party.\u201d
Sharon snored.
\u201cParticularly one who\u2019ll be a far more convincing performer once she learns to stop hamming things up.\u201d She looked up at her rear-view mirror and smiled. \u201cYou\u2019re not quite ready for a Genie nomination, yet, my dear.\u201d
Sharon snored again.
\u201c\u2026Although trying to brazen through your cover is smart,\u201d Dr. Macklin continued. \u201cTry to get some real sleep while you can; you\u2019ll be back to the grind before you know it.\u201d
There was no response from the back seat.Dr. Macklin dropped me off in front of my dorm and helped me get my stuff out of the trunk. I think Sharon really was asleep this time. Either that, or she was being deliberately disgusting, because I saw a thin line of drool in the corner of her mouth when I peeked in the back. It had been a long time since we\u2019d had sleepovers or campouts, but I was pretty sure she never used to do that.
Then again, half the time, she\u2019d had to sneak out in the middle of the night to save the world. Or, at least, Roehampton.
\u201cYou sure you can handle that duffle bag?\u201d Dr. Macklin asked. \u201cMaybe I should ask a few of the Track Ones to hang around and offer assistance.\u201d
I shook my head. \u201cI\u2019m fine. I\u2019ll just need to make a couple of trips.\u201d I probably could have done it in one, but my kettlebell was in the trunk, too.
Dr. Macklin frowned. Then she stared into the back seat for a moment. I heard Sharon gasp. Then she mumbled, \u201cOkay, okay, sheesh!\u201d opened her eyes, and unfastened her seatbelt.
\u201cLet me grab something,\u201d she said smiling the same almost-convincing smile she\u2019d given me before the drive home, as she got out of the car and moved toward my bags.
\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d I repeated.
\u201cC\u2019mon,\u201d Sharon said, still smiling. \u201cLet me help. I\u2019ll even let you take the big bag and I\u2019ll just grab the small one.\u201d So saying, she picked up the duffle with my kettlebell in it. Her eyes widened. \u201cHeavier than it looks,\u201d she said, still carrying it easily. \u201cWhat\u2019s in there? Books?\u201d
\u201cEight-kilo kettlebell,\u201d I admitted.
She blinked. \u201cSeriously?\u201d
\u201cYeah,\u201d I said, trying to shrug like it was no big deal, as I got my big duffle out of the trunk. \u201cI can handle it.\u201d
\u201cI know, but Mom won\u2019t believe it,\u201d she said. \u201cSo just let me take it. The sooner I get it inside, the sooner we can drop the show.\u201d
And here I'd thought she was trying to make up. I sighed and gave in. \u201cWhatever.\u201d
She got my kettlebell to my suite door and beat it. I was surprised she hadn\u2019t used her power; no dampers in the Track Two dorms. She\u2019d moved off about as fast as she could without engaging it, though. I was rolling my eyes as I unlocked the door.
I dragged my stuff into my room and got hit with the strong smell of lemon-scented cleaner. Someone had been in to clean it while I was away. Normally, that was my responsibility. Common areas were everyone\u2019s, unless it was something like a burned out lightbulb on the ceiling. Or a stopped toilet. I hadn\u2019t expected anyone to come in during the break. I just hated lemon cleaner. I normally got unscented at the campus store. With a sigh, I opened my window to air out the room. It was freezing, of course, but there was no rule that said I had to take my jacket off indoors. It would be worth freezing for a few minutes if it got rid of the smell.
I went to knock on Marianne\u2019s door.
\u201cWhat is that<\/i>?\u201d I asked, pointing to something on Marianne\u2019s bed that looked like almost like a round set of wings.
Marianne hesitated. \u201cWell, with any luck, it\u2019s what I\u2019ll be wearing for a couple of powwow dances this summer,\u201d she said. \u201cMy cousins helped me make it.\u201d
I gaped. \u201cYou mean you made it? Whoa.\u201d
\u201cWith help,\u201d she reminded me. \u201cI\u2019ve never done any of the dances before. I mean, not performing in regalia. I never thought I was good enough. But my cousin Belinda\u2014she\u2019s almost nineteen\u2014she taught me some of the basics and told me that if I practice, I can probably do it.\u201d She hesitated. \u201cWe\u2019ll see.\u201d
I was still admiring the feathers. \u201cAre they eagle?\u201d I asked, remembering what she\u2019d said about her father\u2019s code name. I think I\u2019d read something about eagle feathers being sacred, too, but I didn\u2019t know if that was true for all Native peoples, or just certain nations.
Marianne was shaking her head. \u201cIt\u2019s my first bustle. Eagle feathers are precious. If I\u2019d ruined any\u2026\u201d Her voice trailed off. \u201cNo, they\u2019re turkey feathers, but they\u2019ve been dyed to look like eagle feathers. Maybe one day, if I get good at making these,\u201d she gestured toward the bustle, \u201cI might have real ones.\u201d
\u201cOr you could buy one,\u201d I suggested.
\u201cI could commission<\/i> someone to make me one,\u201d she corrected. \u201cOr I could make it myself. Or someone could pass theirs on to me. But you don\u2019t buy regalia off the rack in some tourist trap. It\u2019s\u2026 just not done.\u201d
I felt my face grow hot. \u201cSorry.\u201d
\u201cNah, you didn\u2019t know,\u201d Marianne grinned. \u201cHeck, I don\u2019t even know half the stuff I don\u2019t know. I didn\u2019t grow up on a rez. I\u2019m<\/i> still learning more every time I visit.\u201d She lifted the bustle off of her bed and started to slide it into a garment bag. \u201cAt least, with you, if I don\u2019t have an answer for something you ask, I can just make stuff up and you\u2019ll believe it.\u201d
Wait. What? I shot Marianne a sharp look and she giggled. A second later I started laughing, too. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t!\u201d I gasped. \u201cWould you?\u201d
Marianne took a couple of deep breaths. \u201cProbably not. No. I wouldn\u2019t. Unless\u2014\u201d
We heard the suite door opened and slam shut and someone walked in.
\u201cWho\u2026?\u201d I asked.
Marianne shrugged. \u201cSophie\u2019s the one who sees through walls around here, not me,\u201d she murmured. She hesitated for a moment. Then she walked over to the door, pulled it open, and stepped out into the hall. I followed.
There was a girl in the hallway fumbling with a key-card at the door to one of the other bedrooms. She turned at our approach and we both stopped short. The other girl was Lynne Dufour.
<\/a>
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/59705.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/286061.html?view=comments#comments","category":["hero in my life","writing","original fiction"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/285511.html","pubDate":"Tue, 28 Mar 2017 04:43:41 GMT","title":"The Hero In My Life (Chapter 27)","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/285511.html","description":"Words: 4336
Summary: Kerri takes a break from school to go shopping. And has a big decision to make.
Previous Chapters: Click the Hero In My Life tag.Chapter 27<\/h1>
Somehow, I got through the rest of my mid-terms. The study group didn\u2019t meet again, but Marianne and I bounced questions and answers off of each other every afternoon and evening. She also made sure that we took a one-hour break besides supper. Actually, supper wasn\u2019t much of a break. Sophie wasn\u2019t the only person bringing textbooks to the table in those two-and-a-half weeks.
And the food changed, too. The breakfast muffins tasted\u2026 well\u2026 healthy, I guess. Less like cake and more like cardboard. There had always been healthy options<\/i>\u2014in a place like this, there practically had to be. But now, cookies and sweet buns disappeared, leaving only yogurt, whole-grain cold cereals, hot porridge, eggs, and lots of fruit. It was the same with lunch: plenty of fish, lean meats, and chicken, as well as a brown-rice-and-garbanzo-bean casserole for the vegetarians that worked as a side for the rest of us. It was good enough that I had it on its own a couple of days. Loads of veggies. But dessert was a choice of fresh fruit or dried fruit compote. Oh, and punch bowls filled with walnuts and sunflower seeds.
\u201cBrain food,\u201d Marianne grinned one morning.
I blinked. \u201cHuh?\u201d
\u201cAlways eat high-protein before an exam. It boosts your thinking. And avoid white flour and refined sugar. It does the opposite.\u201d
I\u2019d heard fish was supposed to be brain food. The other stuff was news to me. \u201cI thought a sugar rush gave you more energy,\u201d I said.
Marianne shrugged. \u201cMaybe it does, but that doesn\u2019t mean you think any better.\u201d She sighed. \u201cAll this time I was so happy that our cafeteria food didn\u2019t taste like cafeteria food\u2026 and then they go and throw these at us.\u201d She pointed mournfully at her muffin. She\u2019d broken a bit off the top and bitten into it first thing. Forty minutes later, she\u2019d had soygurt, muesli, more soygurt, and whole wheat toast with a thin layer of walnut butter. The muffin with its broken crown had been moved to her napkin, as if she didn\u2019t want it associating with the rest of her breakfast. I didn\u2019t blame her.
\u201cAre you sure it\u2019s safe to have it that close to your plate?\u201d I whispered in mock-horror. \u201cI mean, what if it\u2026 touched?\u201d
She gave me an annoyed look. \u201cI am so looking forward to going to Wikwemikong over Christmas. My aunt makes this gingerbread that\u2026\u201d She sighed. \u201cLet\u2019s just say that after having some, it\u2019ll be a while before school desserts taste good again.\u201d
I blinked. \u201cWikwemikong?\u201d I repeated, hoping I was saying it right. \u201cWhere\u2019s that?\u201d
\u201cClose,\u201d Marianne said. \u201cIt\u2019s over on Manitoulin Island. My cousin Jerry\u2019s going to pick me up here and we\u2019ll drive back.\u201d She smiled. \u201cMom\u2019s coming in, too. Aunt Betty said it\u2019s a perfect reason to have us all together for Christmas, what with me practically there already.\u201d She smiled faintly. \u201cActually, it\u2019s about a three-hour drive, because you have to go all the way up to Sudbury and then west to Espanola to get on the road to the nearest bridge. If they could build another one at Killarney, I could probably be there in no time. But,\u201d she added brightly, \u201cit\u2019d be about five hours back to the Soo and I haven\u2019t seen Aunt Betty and the rest of the family at Wiky in ages.\u201d
\u201cThat\u2019s rough,\u201d I said sympathetically.
\u201cWe Skype and email,\u201d Marianne said quickly. \u201cSome. But it\u2019s not the same.\u201d She sighed. \u201cMaybe they\u2019ll make it up to Batchewana for the pow-wow this summer. Or I\u2019ll be back for theirs. Anyway,\u201d she put a smile in her voice, \u201cyou ready?\u201d
I closed my biology book with a sigh. \u201cI almost wish this was the final, not the mid-term,\u201d I muttered.
\u201cBet I know why.\u201d
I nodded and grinned. \u201cNo more Macomber!\u201d we said in unison.
I tried not to think about what would come after the academic mid-terms. We\u2019d started the semester with fitness assessments and we were going to end it the same way. There was no real way to prepare for most of it. My hapkido class booked a gym for a couple of hours on the weekends during mid-terms and we reviewed what we\u2019d learned in class, which is a nice way of saying we attacked each other with gusto and probably relieved some of the stress we were feeling. I knew I was in a better mood later on when Marianne and I sat down to study.
I kept up with my kettlebells and even went on a run or two with Marianne, but that didn\u2019t go as well. She had a track mid-term coming up and she wasn\u2019t holding back anymore. And she was faster than I was and knew how to pace herself so she didn\u2019t go all-out at the beginning. I\u2019d never learned, so I got out of breath pretty quickly.
\u201cYou\u2019re sprinting,\u201d Marianne pointed out. \u201cYou can\u2019t keep that up over long distances. Conserve your speed, take it slower, and you\u2019ve got the energy to stay the course.\u201d
I glared at her. \u201cEasy for you to say.\u201d
Marianne held up her hands. \u201cHey. Sprinting has its place. If there\u2019s a bomb going off in fifteen seconds, you get out fast with every bit of speed you\u2019ve got. Well, unless you\u2019re Sharon, I mean. Cuz you\u2019ll probably be up at Attawapiskat on James Bay when you stop, unless you can\u2019t slam your brakes on and you wind up in the water\u2026\u201d I didn\u2019t want to smile, but I couldn\u2019t quite stop myself. She grinned. \u201cBut sometimes, you need to cover more ground. And for that, you learn to hold back so you don\u2019t get out of breath so easy and you can go farther instead of faster. And at the end, you still have a bit left in you for a last burst of speed.\u201d She nodded, still smiling. \u201cOf course, it takes training.\u201d
I groaned. \u201cWhat doesn\u2019t?\u201d
\u201cNot much.\u201d She touched my shoulder. \u201cI want to do another circuit of the grounds.\u201d
I shook my head. \u201cHave fun. I\u2019m going to have to do chin-ups tomorrow. I\u2019m doing some more kettlebell reps.\u201d
\u201cDon\u2019t overdo.\u201d
\u201cYou either.\u201d
I managed ten pull-ups the next day. I also shaved ten seconds off my September obstacle course time and added nearly a meter to my long jump. I didn\u2019t remember how I\u2019d done at the other stations the first time around. All I knew was that I seemed to be doing way better overall, even with the stuff we\u2019d never worked on this term\u2014like the obstacle course and the hurdles. Mostly it was less stressful and more fun than it had been the first time. Except when Sharon and I were at the same station.
I wasn\u2019t mad at her anymore, not really. I think I was ready to make up and be friends. But I didn\u2019t want to be the first one to apologize. I mean, I hadn\u2019t done anything wrong. She was the one who\u2019d seen me and Reggie horsing around and jumped to conclusions. And I had a feeling I knew why, too. Because the hero always got the guy. Or girl, depending. The hero got the ticker-tape parade and the key to the city and the kids running up to ask for autographs and photos. And me, I was just supposed to be thrilled to be rescued, I guess. But\u2026 I had a guy. I mean, I wasn\u2019t sure if I wanted him, but I sort of thought maybe I did. And Sharon? Well, I believed her when she said she wasn\u2019t interested in Reggie, but I sort of thought that she might be interested in having a boyfriend. Especially since I seemed to have found someone before she had. But that didn\u2019t have to be my problem. Why couldn\u2019t she just be happy for me? More to the point, why couldn\u2019t she have seen me with a guy and not immediately assumed that the only reason he\u2019d want to be around me would be to bug me? That was what really stung. It was like she\u2019d been surprised to find out that someone like Reggie would be interested in someone like me. Someone who wasn\u2019t a Track One.
I shook my head like I was trying to shake the thought out of it. If we were back in Roehampton, I don\u2019t think I ever would have thought of anything like that. But if we were back in Roehampton, we\u2019d still be hanging out together all the time, just the two of us. Here, I found myself spending more time with Marianne and she had Tina\u2014who never let me forget that I was a Track Two. Someone who had to be looked after and rescued and protected. Someone who dragged everyone else down. Someone\u2026
\u201cPalmer?\u201d I blinked and realized that Tremain was trying to get my attention. \u201cYour turn.\u201d
I nodded guiltily. Then I moved into place for my vault and pretended I didn\u2019t see Sharon looking at me sympathetically. Or maybe she just thought I was pitiful. Well, I\u2019d show her! It had been about a month since we\u2019d done this in class, but it wasn\u2019t rocket science once you knew what you were doing. I exploded into a sprint from my starting position, ran up the springboard and jumped, clearing the vault with centimeters to spare. I came down in a handstand on the landing mat and let gravity do the rest. Then I lay there for a moment, looking up at the ceiling. I\u2019d done it. It hadn\u2019t been a complicated vault; I had no doubt that any one of the girls Marianne worked out with could have done as well, if not better. But I\u2019d done it.
\u201cNot bad,\u201d Tremain said, smiling. \u201cYou need to lie there another minute?\u201d
I wanted to, I\u2019ll admit. But there were still a couple of people waiting. I shook my head and tried to pull myself up. Tremain grabbed my hand and helped. \u201cOff you go, then,\u201d she nodded. \u201cRobles!\u201d
As I jogged back to the others, I found myself thinking that maybe Sharon had really been smiling because she\u2019d been caught daydreaming before, too, and had only been trying to let me know that she understood. When I tried to catch her eye, though, she was deep in conversation with Monica Cole, a girl I\u2019d met in the infirmary during that training exercise. Sharon didn\u2019t stop talking with her until it was time to move on\u2014to different stations this time.
I had a week before my hapkido final and I spent the first couple of days just catching my breath. I read Vanity Fair<\/i>. I bundled up really well and went off-campus to get my hair cut in the village. While I was there, I did a little shopping, too.
I found a pendant on a sterling silver chain with a stone I\u2019d never seen before. It wasn\u2019t flashy; it was kind of understated, blue, but with something grey and metallic, too. It didn\u2019t looked washed-out or faded, but it wasn\u2019t sparkly either. Even so, I kept coming back to it.
\u201cLabradorite,\u201d the clerk interrupted my thoughts. I jumped. \u201cSorry,\u201d he continued. \u201cI didn\u2019t mean to startle you. I was just saying that the piece you\u2019re interested in? It\u2019s labradorite. From Newfoundland. Did you want to try it on?\u201d
I did, but\u2026 \u201cUh\u2026 How much?\u201d No point falling in love with something I couldn\u2019t afford.
\u201cI could let you have it for thirty-five,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s supposed to be forty, but we\u2019re marking down everything in this case next week. I could let you have the sale price today.\u201d
I started to nod when something else caught my eye. \u201cHow about that one?\u201d
He took it out of the case. \u201cThis?\u201d He grinned. \u201cThis one\u2019s practically local. It\u2019s amazonite from the mine at Magnetawan.\u201d He laid the milky green stone on the glass counter. It was rectangular, with copper wire wrapped around it and it hung on a black cord. \u201cTwenty-five?\u201d
I nodded. Marianne would love it.
\u201cOh, is the string all right or would you like to look at some copper chains, too?\u201d
I had other gifts to buy and the cord looked fine. \u201cNo thanks,\u201d I smiled. \u201cI\u2019ll take it as-is.\u201d
\u201cSure thing.\u201d He slid the necklace into a small pouch that looked like a quilted envelope that sealed with a snap at the point. He then put the pouch in a cardboard box. \u201cGift-wrap?\u201d
I nodded. \u201cYes, please.\u201d All the while though, I was debating something with myself. The labradorite was still on the counter. And it was still\u2026 holding me. Last year, I would have snapped it up in a hurry. But now? I took another breath. \u201cAnd this one too, please,\u201d I pointed to the labradorite. \u201cAlso gift-wrapped.\u201d I wasn\u2019t yet sure who it was for, but I\u2019d figure it out at some point.
There weren\u2019t a lot of touristy things in the village, but I found a mug for my mother and a pen for my dad. Each had the school crest on it. \u201cIs it safe?\u201d I asked the checkout clerk. \u201cI mean, my parents don\u2019t know everything about the school, but other people might.\u201d
The clerk smiled. \u201cIt\u2019s good you\u2019re cautious,\u201d she approved, \u201cbut there\u2019s no real reason to worry. Chances are, your parents haven\u2019t kept your whereabouts a secret. The only people who know what the academy is really for aren\u2019t about to inform them. Either they\u2019re associated with the school in some way, or they\u2019re the ones you\u2019re here to learn to protect yourself from. Either way, telling your parents the truth is likely to end with people asking them<\/i> a lot of uncomfortable questions.\u201d She shrugged. \u201cIf you\u2019d rather pick something else\u2026?\u201d
I thought about the people I saw walking down the street in Roehampton who wore Harvard sweatshirts and UBC baseball caps\u2014even if those clothes were as close as they were ever going to get to those schools. Marnie and Vivian, whose parents had ordered them McGill knapsacks back in grade six, or Keith, with his Andover Prep jacket. I smiled and shook my head. \u201cNo, these\u2019ll be great. Thanks.\u201d
Two more gifts down. At least three to go.
When I made it back to the dorm a couple of hours later, I was tired, but I felt good. Too much time hitting the books and the gym must have been stressing me more than I\u2019d realized. It had been great to just get out and do\u2026 normal things for a day. Christmas shopping. Window shopping. Haircut. I\u2019d even gotten myself a matching hat, scarf, and mitts set that had made me feel warmer just looking at it. It was a little more expensive than the same thing probably would have cost me in Roehampton, but I\u2019d bought gifts for everyone else today. I thought I deserved something, too.
Yes, it had been good to get a break from school stuff. Now I had to worry about the hapkido mid-term. Natalie had told us that it wasn\u2019t precisely mid-term. More of an assessment plus an essay. There were three levels for Hapkido II next semester. Hapkido 201 meant that I\u2019d be taking things slower, still trying to nail the basics. Still a white belt. Hapkido 211 meant I\u2019d advance to koo gup<\/i>. I\u2019d still have my white belt, but there\u2019d be a yellow stripe on it. And hopefully, I\u2019d advance to pal gup<\/i> and get my yellow belt at the end of the year.
\u201cYou\u2019d be going from grade ten to grade nine,\u201d Natalie had told us. \u201cIn hapkido, you work your way up<\/i> to first gup<\/i> and then move on to first dan<\/i>.\u201d
Hapkido 221 was more intense and would mean more classes. If I got into that one, I\u2019d taking two gup<\/i> in the same semester, koo gup<\/i> until the end of March, pal gup<\/i> until the end of the year. But I\u2019d get to chil gup<\/i> and earn a green stripe on my yellow belt.
It wasn\u2019t going to happen, of course. I\u2019d probably get into 211 easily enough; I knew I was doing well. But 221 sounded like it was more for kids planning on going Hero stream next year.
And maybe I didn\u2019t know yet whether I wanted to be in Civilian or Support, but I did know that I wasn\u2019t hero material.
Meanwhile\u2026 I had to focus on the assessment. We\u2019d booked a gym for practice again tomorrow and I needed all the practice I could get!
I thought I did all right on the physical portion of the assessment. It was hard to know about the essay, because I hadn\u2019t had to write one for Natalie before. It\u2019s always tough to know how a teacher marks ahead of time. It\u2019s worse when the first time you hand something in is for a major test. The topic was \u2018What I hope to gain through the study of Hapkido\u2019. I had to think about it. I mean, I was in Hapkido because my academic advisor asked me a bunch of weird questions and told me that it would be a good fit for me. But all that told me was that Ms Agrawal thought I\u2019d do well in it. And yes, she was probably right, though I guess I wouldn\u2019t know for sure until I saw my grade. But what did I<\/i> want?
Funny. She hadn\u2019t really asked me that. Or maybe she had, but she hadn\u2019t really paid much attention to my answer. It was like, \u201cDo you know what you want? No? Okay, I\u2019ll tell you.\u201d And maybe she\u2019d been right. I was enjoying Hapkido and I was doing well with it. But really, it was one more person deciding things for me, one more person telling me what to do, one more thing I didn\u2019t get to decide for myself.
Ever since I was eleven years old,<\/i> I wrote, I have been targeted by costumed villains. I am tired of sitting and waiting for a hero to save me. Through the study of Hapkido, I hope to develop the necessary skills so that I can save myself\u2026<\/i>
Once I got started, I couldn\u2019t type fast enough. It only had to be a two-page essay and we had an hour to finish it. I had three pages done in forty-five minutes. I spent the last fifteen going back over it and deciding what to cut. Natalie had warned us that she didn\u2019t want to spend time marking \u2018novels\u2019. I hoped she wouldn\u2019t be too upset that my final draft still had two lines on page three, but I just couldn\u2019t figure out what else to delete. Besides, it wasn\u2019t like she was going to flunk anyone for writing an essay that was a little too long.
Was she?Reggie burst into laughter when he pulled the plush killer whale in out of the gift bag. \u201cWhat is this?\u201d he demanded. \u201cA fish in Wolves\u2019 clothing?\u201d
I giggled. The Wolves were Sudbury\u2019s OHL hockey team. I wasn\u2019t sure whether this was official team merchandise, but one of the stores had a whole bunch of stuffed animals in different OHL uniforms. \u201cNo!\u201d I shot back. \u201cIt\u2019s another porpoise to defeat.\u201d
\u201cKiller whales aren\u2019t porpoises,\u201d Reggie grinned. \u201cThey\u2019re orcas.\u201d
He didn\u2019t know it yet, but he\u2019d just walked into my trap. \u201cI looked it up, Einstein,\u201d I grinned back. \u201cDolphins aren\u2019t porpoises either!\u201d
Reggie stopped laughing. \u201cWait, what?\u201d he asked me. \u201cSeriously?\u201d
\u201cYeah,\u201d I shrugged. \u201cDolphins have longer beaks and their teeth are cone-shaped. Porpoise teeth are more like spades.\u201d
He whistled. \u201cLearn something new every day,\u201d he grinned. \u201cGot anything else?\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t remember much more,\u201d I admitted. \u201cJust that they\u2019re also called mereswine.\u201d
Reggie blinked. Then he started laughing again. \u201cMereswine? Like mermaids, only half-fish, half-pig? Do those people in charge of making Muppet movies know? Because I\u2019m pretty sure \u2018The Little Mereswine\u2019 with Miss Piggy would be a hit!\u201d
I laughed with him. \u201cI knew you\u2019d get a kick out of it. So,\u201d I became serious for a minute, \u201cyou really like it? You\u2019re not just saying that?\u201d
Reggie grinned. \u201cI love it. Oh, um\u2026\u201d He reached into his pocket. \u201cI\u2026 got you something too.\u201d
I looked at the little box. \u201cUh\u2026 I hope that\u2019s not an engagement ring,\u201d I said. \u201cI think I\u2019m a little young.\u201d
\u201cOpen it,\u201d he answered, smiling nervously.
I did. There was a silver necklace with an enamel charm hanging from it. I pulled it free of the backing. \u201cOh wow,\u201d I breathed.
\u201cI know you\u2019re taking hapkido, not kung fu, but this was as close as I could get. Hey, maybe the franchise\u2019ll spin off with Hapkido Hawk or Judo Jaguar.\u201d
I polished the Kung Fu Panda charm on my coat. \u201cLet\u2019s go indoors,\u201d I suggested. \u201cIt\u2019s too cold out for me to take off my scarf so I can put it on.\u201d
As we turned toward the library, Reggie wrapped an arm around my shoulders. It felt\u2026 good.
There was an email from Natalie in my inbox for me the next morning asking me to stop by after breakfast. I looked at it and felt my heart start pounding. When a teacher wanted to talk to you privately, it usually wasn\u2019t a good thing. When I mentioned it to Marianne after she got back from her morning run, though, she didn\u2019t seem concerned.
\u201cMy jeet kun do teacher scheduled something yesterday and my track teacher wants to see me after lunch. It\u2019s probably about your placement for next term.\u201d She shrugged. \u201cI think it\u2019s all the optional gym and combat classes. Maybe fitness too, but I haven\u2019t heard anything on that front.\u201d
I was still worried. \u201cWhat if I bombed on the essay?\u201d I asked. \u201cIt was such a stupid topic.\u201d
Marianne smiled. \u201cEven if you did, how many marks was it worth?\u201d
\u201cTen.\u201d
\u201cOut of a hundred,\u201d she reminded me. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t worry. But if you want to skip breakfast and go now\u2026\u201d She took me by the arm and led me into our kitchen. \u201cYou can grab a couple of my pop tarts to tide you over if the dining hall\u2019s closed when you get back.\u201d
I shook my head. With the amount of exercise I\u2019d been getting all semester, I knew that I could probably eat them and not worry about putting on weight. But somehow, it felt wrong to eat a breakfast that involved frosting and jam. \u201cNo,\u201d I sighed. \u201cI think this condemned soul needs a hearty last meal.\u201d
\u201cSuit yourself,\u201d Marianne nodded. \u201cJust give me a chance to shower and change and we\u2019ll go down together.\u201d
Natalie\u2019s office was on the second floor of the gym, off of the catwalk that circled the perimeter above the main floor of Gymnasium C. It had pastel-blue cinderblock walls and black metal furniture. She had a couple of diplomas on the wall and a picture of herself in costume shaking hands with a muscular woman. Both were wearing dobok with black belts. She had a reproduction of a painting I recognized from the Group of Seven book my parents had given me hanging on the wall facing her desk.
\u201cCarmichael,\u201d she smiled as I turned away from it to sit down.
\u201cI know,\u201d I smiled back. \u201cLone Lake, right?\u201d
\u201cI didn\u2019t realize you were into Canadian art,\u201d she beamed.
I wasn\u2019t, but I nodded anyway.
\u201cThanks for coming by, Kerri,\u201d she said, still smiling but sounding more businesslike. \u201cI suppose it could have waited until next term, but since I\u2019ve finished the grading, I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s right to keep you in suspense.\u201d
Her smile hadn\u2019t faded, but neither had my nervousness. Still no clue how tough a marker she was, remember? Somehow, I managed to meet her eyes. \u201cOkay?\u201d I hesitated. \u201cMa\u2019am?\u201d
She shook her head disapprovingly. \u201cI thought I\u2019d broken you of that habit by now,\u201d she scolded, not really sounding cross. \u201cMy name is \u2018Natalie\u2019. Sabumnim, if you must, though we are outside the classroom now.\u201d
I nodded. \u201cYes, Sabumnim,\u201d I said, studying my fingers.
\u201cAt ease. I\u2019m preparing the rosters for next semester and I\u2019d like to know where to place you.\u201d
What? I jerked my head up again. \u201cMa\u2019am? Uh\u2026 Sabumnim?\u201d
\u201cWell,\u201d Natalie said, \u201cbased on your scores, you\u2019re qualified to take either the 211 or the 221. If it\u2019s the latter, you might think twice before taking on a second martial art or weapon class, though that\u2019s something you can decide at your advising appointment, in January.\u201d
I wasn\u2019t sure I believed what I was hearing. \u201c221?\u201d I managed.
Natalie nodded. \u201cIt\u2019s a dangerous world out there, Kerri. Just because you aren\u2019t in a costume doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re not entitled to proper self-defence training. From what I\u2019ve seen so far, I believe you can handle the accelerated program. And, while you don\u2019t need to declare your stream until the beginning of May, this way, you\u2019ll be on a solid footing whatever you decide.\u201d
She was right. And it wasn\u2019t like being at a less-intense level would mean that I\u2019d be dealing with less-dangerous criminals back in Roehampton. She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a lumpy manila envelope with my name scrawled across it in blue ink. \u201cKerri?\u201d
I took a deep breath. \u201cIf I find 221 too much, can I switch to 211?\u201d
Natalie smiled. \u201cProvided your 9:30 slot is vacant on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you want to keep that option open, be sure to ask your advisor to place you in an afternoon fitness class.\u201d
I nodded.
\u201cSo, 221 then?\u201d
I nodded again and managed a shaky smile.
Natalie beamed. \u201cExcellent.\u201d She pushed the envelope toward me. \u201cMake sure you wear this with your dobok next semester.\u201d
I took the envelope, opened it, and pulled out a folded white sash with a bright yellow stripe on it.
Natalie\u2019s grin grew bigger. \u201cWelcome to koo gup<\/i>.\u201d <\/a>
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/59177.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/285511.html?view=comments#comments","category":["hero in my life","writing","original fiction"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/285108.html","pubDate":"Tue, 28 Mar 2017 03:34:19 GMT","title":"In My OUAT Head-canon","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/285108.html","description":"Rumpelstiltskin binge-watches Deep Space 9 on Netflix.
(Seriously? Between Garak, Quark, and Odo? How can he not?)","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/285108.html?view=comments#comments","category":"once upon a time"},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/284525.html","pubDate":"Sun, 01 Jan 2017 04:12:30 GMT","title":"Fic: Honey and Vinegar (1\/1)","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/284525.html","description":"Fandom: Ella Enchanted (Book)
Characters: Ella, Areida
Rating: K
Genre(s): Friendship, Humor
Timeline: Finishing School
Warnings: none
Word Count: 2026
Story Summary: Julia is not a nice person. But when she gets sick, it falls to Areida and a reluctant Ella to nurse her through the night.
Notes: Written for captainbunnicula (kradarua)for Yuletide 2016. Thanks to Kathy for the beta!
Disclaimer: Ella Enchanted is the creation and property of Gail Carson Levine. All characters and locales belong to Gail Carson Levine. I am receiving no financial remuneration from this work of fanfiction.
Honey and Vinegar<\/strong>
<\/h1><\/center>I\u2019d found my way to the \u201cShores of Sleep\u201d reading Mandy\u2019s gift when the moans woke me. It was probably one of the other girls having a nightmare. I wondered what it was that she might find so fearsome. Perhaps, she was dreaming that she was at a ball and the only lady not invited to dance. Or perhaps, she was dreaming that while she was whirling about the floor, her skirt had risen enough that people could see the flounces on her petticoats. Or perhaps, she was dreaming that she was dancing with no skirt and no petticoats!<\/p>
Giggling was cruel and I knew I shouldn\u2019t do it. And anyway, she might be dreaming of shipwreck, or ogres, or sliding down a bannister, only to realize that there was a thorny rosebush at the bottom. No, I wouldn\u2019t giggle, but I wanted<\/em> to.<\/p>
It wasn\u2019t that I thought nightmares were anything to laugh at. It was that I could tell whose bed the moans were coming from and I couldn\u2019t help but feel a little bit of happiness over it. No, it wasn\u2019t nice\u2026<\/p>
\u2026But then, neither was Julia.<\/p>
<\/p>
If I\u2019d thought to have some respite from torment because Hattie slept in the Daisy Room and I in the Lavender, Julia quickly taught me otherwise. It wasn\u2019t that she was cruel to me directly. Not really. True, she looked down her nose at me when I talked too loud or laughed too much or made it clear that I preferred Areida\u2019s company to that of any of the other girls at the finishing school. That didn\u2019t matter much to me. Thanks to my curse, I hadn\u2019t had a friend near my own age since Pamela, when I was eight.<\/p>
Wait. Did that include Char? Could a prince be a close friend? I\u2019d never thought of him that way. He was simply\u2026 Char. I enjoyed his company, his conversation, and his laughter, but perhaps calling him a friend was a touch too familiar. He was royalty, after all. I was mere minor nobility\u2014though Char never seemed to care about the disparity in our ranks. And because he acted as though it didn\u2019t matter, when I was with him, I never felt as though it did, either. But now that I was away from him, away from Frell, I had to wonder. Especially with Manners Mistress telling us constantly of the way in which King Jerrold comported himself. (Privately, I suspected that the king was nowhere near as particular or stuffy as she made him sound. For wouldn\u2019t some of that have rubbed off on Char, as well? Then again, there was little of my own father in me\u2014apart from my chin, my nose, and the shape of my eyes.)<\/p>
Well, Pamela was long gone and, thankfully, Char wasn\u2019t here. Thankfully for two reasons: he would, in all likelihood, find finishing school even more stultifying than I did\u2026 and a prince attending a finishing school for young ladies would be ridiculous.<\/p>
Here at finishing school, were it not for Areida, I would have no friends at all. And while Julia was merely disdainful of me, to Areida, she was merciless. She mocked her accent, her hairstyle, her yellow embroidery roses, her Ayorthaian gowns, and her commoner blood. Every time Julia said something cutting to her, I felt my own blood boil. I never said anything though. First, if I started, Julia would be certain to tell me to mind my own business and, thanks to my curse, I would have to from then on. That would mean that if Areida wanted to confide in me\u2014about anything at all\u2014I would be unable to sympathize or give advice. That wouldn\u2019t be minding my own business. I could defend Areida once, but the price for such outspokenness would be our ongoing friendship.<\/p>
I hadn\u2019t realized that until later, though. On my third day here, when Julia had accidentally knocked the milk pitcher into Areida\u2019s lap, I had half-risen to my feet, about to say something. Areida had quickly pulled me down. \u201cLet it be, Ella,\u201d she\u2019d whispered. \u201cIt\u2019s not worth it.\u201d Of course, I\u2019d obeyed. I had no choice. And fortunately, Areida\u2019s orders were not spiteful ones like Hattie\u2019s. I\u2019m sure that she had no suspicion that I was under a curse. How could she? But from that point on, I sympathized with her, and raged for her (Areida was far too sweet-tempered to rage for herself). I called Julia things in Ayorthaian like \u201ctall girl\u201d and \u201ccurly-haired,\u201d and made them sound as though they were deadly insults. Julia spoke no Ayorthaian, so she couldn\u2019t know better. And Areida giggled along with me to keep up the pretense.<\/p>
So, to say that I was sorry to hear Julia having a miserable night would be an untruth. I was sorry that her moans had awakened me; I would be tired in class tomorrow. And what would I do if Manners Mistress ordered me not to yawn? Would I be able to refrain from doing so? If I couldn\u2019t, would my curse make me ill, as it usually did when I fought it?<\/p>
I pulled my pillow over my head and tried to hold it there and stick my fingers in my ears at the same time.<\/p>
<\/p>
The next thing I knew, Areida was gently tugging my pillow loose. \u201cElla,\u201d she whispered. In her Ayorthaian accent, it sounded more like \u2018Eyah\u2019. \u201cElla! get up, please!\u201d<\/p>
An order, though she couldn\u2019t have known what they did to me. I sat up at once and pretended to rub sleep from my eyes. \u201cWhat is it?\u201d I groaned.<\/p>
For answer, she gestured toward Julia\u2019s bed. \u201cI thought she was eating too many grapes earlier,\u201d she said, speaking in Ayorthaian. \u201cThey\u2019ve made her ill.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cAre you certain?\u201d I whispered in the same language. By now, I understood it fluently and spoke it well. \u201cPerhaps we ought send for one of the mistresses to call for a physician.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cI\u2019m certain,\u201d Areida replied, sounding unusually brisk. \u201cMy parents\u2019 inn isn\u2019t far from one of our lord\u2019s vineyards. When it\u2019s time for the grape harvest, people come from all the nearby villages to help. They bring their whole families. And while they tell their children to be sure to put more in their baskets than their bellies, too many of them don\u2019t pay attention. There are always some who take rooms with us. I\u2019ve seen indigestion before.\u201d She sighed. \u201cThere\u2019s no point in sending for a physician.\u201d In the lamplight, something must have shown in my face, because she quickly clarified. \u201cShe\u2019ll recover by morning, but it will be a hard night. Can you fetch water?\u201d<\/p>
There was a pump in the garden. We weren\u2019t supposed to leave our room after the lights were turned down, but I was fairly certain I could do so undetected. For weeks, I had been told to step softly and gracefully, to glide and not gallop, to take care not to catch my bows and flounces on corners and nails. Perhaps, my obedience curse would help me now. I nodded. There might not be any love lost between myself and Julia, but it was Areida who was asking for the water.<\/p>
I slipped my cloak off its hook; the night was chilly and my nightgown was thin. I slid into my shoes. They rubbed a bit on my bare feet, but I would be hard-put to explain dirt or mud on the delicately-embroidered slippers I\u2019d been given on my first night, should anyone notice. Then I stole carefully out of the room.<\/p>
The other two girls slept on; neither Julia\u2019s moans nor my conversation with Areida had roused them. For a moment, I envied them their oblivious slumber. The moment passed and, abashed, I made my way through the house to the garden door.<\/p>
<\/p>
Areida hadn\u2019t ordered me to get the water, but her request had the force of a command anyway. She was kind and gentle and, while I was the vinegar to her honey, I loved her for her sweetness and I was by no means eager to reveal to her my own true disposition. So, I filled the bucket, pumping water vigorously enough that I didn\u2019t shiver in the cold night air. Then I placed the bucket on my head\u2014Headmistress had improved my posture to the point where I knew that I would not spill a drop that way\u2014and started back toward the Lavender room.<\/p>
The Daisy Room was two doors from mine and I had a sudden urge to slip in and pour the ice-cold water over Hattie while she slept. I decided against it, though. Her screams were certain to rouse the other girls and bring one of the mistresses at a run. I would be discovered. And meanwhile, Areida was depending on me. Truthfully, if she hadn\u2019t been, I might have thought that the best use for the water was for Hattie\u2019s rude awakening and not for Julia\u2019s fevered brow. But then, while I thought myself a reasonably good person, I wasn\u2019t so saintly that I felt I needed to be kind to those who had been cruel to me. Nor those who were cruel to those I cared for.<\/p>
Hattie would never know how grateful she should be to Areida that she was spared an icy bath one late autumn night.<\/p>
<\/p>
Areida beckoned to me as I re-entered the Lavender room. Julia was sitting up now and whimpering a bit. As soon as I reached the bed, Areida took a linen handkerchief and dipped it into the bucket. She wrung it gently and dabbed it over Julia\u2019s brow. \u201cIt will be all right,\u201d she said gently. \u201cI know it feels like you\u2019re dying, but I promise you aren\u2019t. Here.\u201d She took a china mug from Julia\u2019s nightstand and dipped it in the water. \u201cDrink. It will help.\u201d<\/p>
Julia obeyed. I noticed that this time, she had nothing to say about Areida\u2019s accent.<\/p>
Areida sat down on the bed and rocked Julia gently, humming a song I recognized as one she\u2019d taught me a few days earlier. I couldn\u2019t quite remember all the words\u2014it was an old song and the language was grander and more formal than the Ayorthaian in which she and I conversed. But it was a long, sad ballad that made my heart ache, even if I couldn\u2019t quite understand it fully. It seemed to settle Julia, though. Her whimpers gradually slowed and her breathing eased. In a few more minutes, she was asleep.<\/p>
I looked out the window and saw that the stars were beginning to fade. Dawn would break soon. I yawned and Areida smiled in the dim lamplight. \u201cThank you,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>
I smiled back. \u201cI wonder if she\u2019ll be nicer to you from now on,\u201d I whispered back in Ayorthaian.<\/p>
She shook her head. \u201cIt would be lovely if she were,\u201d she replied, \u201cbut that\u2019s not why I helped her. I\u2019d do the same, even if I knew she\u2019d be even more awful than usual tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>
That perplexed me. \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>
Areida shrugged. \u201cIf someone is ill, they need help. If I choose not to help them, that says more about me than it does them.\u201d She sighed. \u201cIt would<\/em> be lovely if she were nicer,\u201d she admitted. \u201cBut I can\u2019t control anyone\u2019s actions but my own. Even if she is awful, must I become awful in turn?\u201d<\/p>
I knew what she was saying, but I was not as kind as she. Had it been up to me, I would have let Julia suffer. Or, perhaps, slipped out to the garden with a blanket and tried to sleep under a tree where her moans would not awaken me, hoping to return before anyone else awoke. If it hadn\u2019t been such a cold night, I might have dared.<\/p>
I smiled to myself, thinking of Manners Mistress\u2019s reaction. \u201cElla! Young ladies simply do not sleep out of doors unchaperoned. King Jerrold would be ashamed of you!\u201d<\/em><\/p>
Perhaps, she was right. Perhaps, he would be. But something told me that his son might understand.<\/p><\/a>
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/58139.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/284525.html?view=comments#comments","category":["writing","char: areida","fanfiction","char: ella","yuletide","fandom: ella enchanted (book)"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/284180.html","pubDate":"Sun, 01 Jan 2017 04:07:13 GMT","title":"Fic: Back Again... Different From Before (1\/1)","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/284180.html","description":"Fandom: Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon
Characters: Hank, Diana
Rating: K
Genre(s): Friendship, Angst
Timeline: post-canon
Warnings: none
Word Count: 2845
Story Summary: The Young Ones have come home, but Diana and Hank are discovering that life can\u2019t go back to the way it was.
Notes: Written for Gaialux for Yuletide 2016; \u201cGiants in the Sky\u201d written by Steven Sondheim. Recorded by Ben Wright on the Into the Woods<\/i> original Broadway cast album (BMG, 1988)
Disclaimer: Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon is jointly owned by TSR Entertainment, Marvel Productions, and Toei Animations. I am receiving no financial remuneration for this work of fanfiction.
And you think of all of the things you\u2019ve seen<\/em>
<\/p>
And you wish that you could live in-between<\/em>
<\/p>
But you\u2019re back again, only different than before<\/em>
<\/p>
After the sky<\/em>
<\/p>
<\/em>
<\/p>
\u2014Steven Sondheim, \u201cGiants in the Sky\u201d<\/em>
<\/p><\/p>
Back Again... Different than Before<\/b>
<\/h1>
<\/center>It was weird to be back in school after all this time. Or maybe it was weird that \u2018all this time\u2019 had really taken next to no time at all. Yesterday\u2014Sunday\u2014they\u2019d gone to Loonyland Amusement Park. One last day to have fun before the park closed for the season and schoolwork started to really pile up. They\u2019d decided to let Bobby pick the first ride\u2014he was the youngest, after all. Eric had groaned, of course. He\u2019d declared aloud that Bobby would be sure to pick something dorky, like the carousel or the Ferris wheel. (Not the big wheel that must have been three stories high, but the one half its size over in the kiddie part of the park that didn\u2019t have a minimum height requirement.)<\/p>
Diana smiled a bit at the memory. She\u2019d watched Sheila make a frantic grab for her little brother\u2019s arm, sure he was about to launch himself at Eric. Bobby probably could have taken him, too. Eric was more than five years older, but skinny, weedy, and more likely to run from a fight or pay off an assailant than stand his ground. Bobby was small and wiry, quick to start fights and more than willing to stay around to finish them. He excelled at contact sports and never cared how badly he was hurt, so long as he was the last one standing. For once, though, Bobby hadn\u2019t attacked. He\u2019d pointed to an attraction behind Eric, caught Sheila\u2019s hand, and started running. \u201cHey, look! The Dungeons and Dragons ride!\u201d<\/em><\/p>
Depending on how you looked at it, that had either happened yesterday\u2026 or over three years ago.<\/p>
She was so caught up in her musings that she almost bumped into the three girls talking in front of a bank of lockers. They weren\u2019t exactly blocking traffic, but Diana was walking closer to the side than to the center of the hallway. \u201cSorry!\u201d she exclaimed, stepping quickly past them. They nodded acknowledgment and went back to their conversation.<\/p>
\u201c\u2026I mean, if my mother had come in right there,\u201d one exclaimed, \u201cI would have absolutely died<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>
No, you wouldn\u2019t have. If you\u2019d run into a band of orcs set on making a meal of you, maybe. Venger, probably. Tiamat? Definitely. But your mother bursting in on you right when your boyfriend was making a move on you? Please.<\/em> Diana shook her head and moved on, wondering why the cafeteria had to be at the very end of a very long corridor.<\/p>
Another group of kids were clustered at the next bank of lockers, agonizing over some test or other that they had next period. \u201cI can\u2019t flunk this one,\u201d somebody moaned. \u201cIf I do, my dad\u2019s going to send me to math camp this summer. With all the nerds! It\u2019ll be the worst thing ever<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>
Really? The worst thing ever? Try spending three years in a crazy world with no way out. No, wait\u2026 a zillion ways out, which you keep missing by a split-second. Try facing your greatest fear and wanting to turn and run, but not having anywhere safe to run to.<\/em> Try finding the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and having to choose between getting home and saving his life but knowing that, no matter what happens, you\u2019re going to lose him.<\/em> Sure, Dungeon Master had promised her she\u2019d meet Kosar again one day, but how many years would she have to wait? How old would she be then? She kept walking.<\/p>
\u201cHey, Diana!\u201d a voice called from behind her. \u201cDon\u2019t forget practice today!\u201d<\/p>
She whirled to see her coach striding toward her and she slapped her forehead. \u201cThanks for the reminder,\u201d she replied with an embarrassed laugh. \u201cI\u2019ll be there.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cDiana?\u201d Coach Miller sounded concerned, all of a sudden. \u201cAre you all right? It\u2019s not like you to let something like this slip your mind.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cI\u2026\u201d For a moment, Diana wondered how he\u2019d react if she told him. He'd been coaching her since she was six and taking after-school gymnastics. She'd looked forward to attending Gygax High for years, ever since she'd discovered that he taught here. She\u2019d always felt like she could talk to Coach Miller about anything, even if it wasn\u2019t gymnastics-related. Somehow, though, she had a hunch that this was different. \u201cSorry, Coach,\u201d she said, looking down at her sneakers. \u201cI\u2019ve just had a lot on my mind.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cWell, don\u2019t let it affect your focus,\u201d Coach smiled. \u201cJust because you\u2019ve taken first place for the past two years doesn\u2019t mean you can afford to get complacent. You\u2019re in high school, now. There\u2019s more at stake than ever.\u201d His smile grew wider. \u201cUniversity scouts are going to start noticing you\u2014if they haven\u2019t started already. How you perform at the next few meets will probably shape your whole athletic future. You can\u2019t lose sight of how important it is.\u201d<\/p>
Is it really that important? When you\u2019re flipping and tumbling and cartwheeling, because if you\u2019re a second too slow, you\u2019re an ogre\u2019s supper, that\u2019s important. When you\u2019re throwing your javelin at a fish leaping out of the river, because if you miss, maybe you don\u2019t eat today, that\u2019s important. But these meets? I\u2019m not so sure anymore.<\/em> She couldn\u2019t say that to him. He wouldn\u2019t understand. And if she tried to explain, he\u2019d either think she was out of her mind, or losing her drive, or getting cold feet or\u2026 Or he might call her parents and tell them that something was wrong with her.<\/p>
It was hard enough already trying to act normal around her parents. And it wasn't working out very well; they were already concerned. Just last night, she\u2019d made the mistake of taking a second chicken breast and a helping of fried rice, in addition to her usual baked potato. She hadn\u2019t tasted her mother\u2019s cooking in three years and she couldn\u2019t get enough of it now. Except that gold-medal gymnasts with their eyes on athletics scholarships needed to follow a strict diet. Until now, she\u2019d stuck to that without protest or complaint. She\u2019d mumbled some excuse about skipping lunch because she\u2019d been worried about losing it on the roller coaster. No point in mentioning that after their first ride, they\u2019d all left Loonyland, gone walking along the waterfront until they found a secluded part of the beach, and just tried to process what had happened. How they\u2019d been away for years and somehow, they\u2019d returned at the precise moment\u2014and the same ages\u2014as when they\u2019d left...<\/p>
\u201cI\u2019m going to turn ten again<\/em>?\u201d Bobby had moaned.<\/p>
\u201cHey, look at the bright side, short stuff,\u201d Eric had grinned. And if there had been some mockery in the smile, there was far less malice than might have been there earlier that morning. \u201cAt least you hadn\u2019t hit puberty, yet. That\u2019s hard enough going through once.\" Two elbows, one dark, one fair, collided with his ribs. \"OW!\u201d He\u2019d retreated several steps and glared at both her and Bobby. \u201cNo fair both of you ganging up on me at once.\u201d Then, surprised, \u201cHey!\u201d<\/p>
It had taken Diana a moment to realize what had startled him. Then her eyes widened. Eric might be fifteen again, but the muscles he\u2019d developed through hard walking, fast running, defending them all\u2026 probably just wearing that plate mail\u2014it wasn\u2019t exactly as light as her fur bikini had been\u2014had stayed with him. The same held true for all of them, even Presto. Diana had to admit that her changes weren\u2019t as dramatic; she\u2019d been in near-top physical condition already. But even in her case, she thought she was a bit more toned. And she felt stronger and faster than she\u2019d ever been.<\/p>
They\u2019d spent the next few hours talking over what had happened and debating whether they could tell anyone, and how much they could safely relate before someone started suggesting counseling. Eventually, they\u2019d decided it was just too risky.<\/p>
\u201cWe\u2019ll keep this between ourselves,\u201d Hank had said firmly. \u201cAnd if one of us needs to talk about anything that\u2019s happened, let\u2019s just\u2026 try to be there for each other, because we\u2019re the only ones who can be.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cWe can write down stories about it, too,\u201d Presto had suggested. \u201cMaybe even publish them one day. I mean,they'll get filed under fantasy instead of autobiography, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>
Sheila had laughed. \u201cI guess it\u2019d be easier to explain writing a story about fighting orcs and golems than it would be explaining we got pulled into another world and had to fight them ourselves.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cDon\u2019t forget Kelek,\u201d Bobby grinned.<\/p>
\u201cOr Lolth,\u201d Hank shuddered.<\/p>
\u201cQueen Zinn,\u201d Eric winced.<\/p>
\u201cVenger,\u201d Diana spoke the name they\u2019d been avoiding. They glanced about nervously for a moment, just to make sure that he hadn\u2019t followed them here.<\/p>
Hank looked at his watch. \u201cGuess we\u2019d better get moving if we\u2019re going to catch the bus,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m\u2026 kind of looking forward to seeing my folks.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cI think we all are,\u201d Diana nodded. She\u2019d reached into her pocket and been only slightly surprised to find her wallet there, returned intact with her t-shirt and jeans.<\/p>
Eric hadn\u2019t been as lucky. \u201cUh\u2026 guys? I kind of lost my allowance in the Realm. Could anyone lend me some change?\u201d<\/p>
<\/p>
Hank tore into a rectangular slice of pizza, not caring that it had the texture and taste of tomato-soaked rubber on damp cardboard. He hadn\u2019t had pizza in years, not since Presto\u2019s ill-fated attempt to pull some out of his hat. It wasn\u2019t until he was on his third bite that he remembered that the hat-pizza had actually tasted better than this.<\/p>
It was the sausage. We didn\u2019t recognize the taste and we grossed ourselves out debating if we were eating smoked dragon or pickled chimera or something else with scales. Too bad. We were enjoying it until then.<\/em>
<\/p>Come to think of it, Marinda's swamp lizard stew had tasted better than this, too, even if he wasn't sure he'd want to admit it out loud.<\/p>
He thought he\u2019d flunked his first-period algebra test. For a moment, he wished his parents were more like Diana\u2019s, always pushing him to keep his marks up. That wasn\u2019t fair. The reason they didn\u2019t push him was because he\u2019d been pushing himself since third grade. Nobody usually had to remind him to study. It was just going to take him a while to get back to thinking that GPAs and SATs mattered. He hated to fail at anything\u2014always had. But a short while ago, his decisions had determined whether he and his friends ate or went hungry, fought or ran, raced through the portal home or stayed behind for the greater good, hoping there\u2019d be another chance. Lived or died. After three years coping with that kind of stress, who cared<\/em> what 2x squared minus the cubed root of y equaled? His parents would when they saw his test score.<\/em> Right. Time to try to forget about the Realm\u2014unless Mr. Kilroy suddenly stopped assigning English Comp topics like \u201cThe person I admire most\u201d or \u201cThe country I\u2019d most like to visit one day\u201d and started giving them ones like \u201cHow to survive in a wilderness with no modern technology.\u201d Presto had been right: the things they\u2019d been through would make great stories, now that they weren\u2019t living them.<\/p>
At the table next to his, Hank could hear Brad Johnstone and Darryl Vaughan talking about baseball. A week ago, he might have joined them, but somehow, he couldn\u2019t get excited about baseball now. Not yet, anyway. What he really wanted to do was find out if there was some sort of archery club in the neighborhood that he could join. The summer camp he\u2019d been going to for the last couple of years offered a wide range of activities\u2014archery among them\u2014but Hank realized he wanted a place where it was more of a focus. It wasn\u2019t that he expected to need to use a bow again any time soon\u2014or ever. But he had trained hard to get to the point where, the last time Venger had stolen their weapons, Hank had grabbed an ordinary bow and quiver off of a townsman, started loosing arrows\u2014and discovered that he was doing so with almost the same level of accuracy. He didn\u2019t want to lose that.<\/p>
\u201cHey.\u201d Diana sat down across from him. \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure if you\u2019d still be here or if you\u2019d finished eating.\u201d She set a brown paper bag down on the table and pulled out a Tupperware container. As she lifted the lid, Hank caught a whiff of tuna, probably stronger from spending a few hours in a room-temperature locker. It still looked and smelled better than cafeteria pizza.<\/p>
\u201cHey,\u201d Hank grinned, reflecting how, just last week, Diana would never have joined him if Sheila hadn\u2019t been there. One of the unspoken rules of high school was that freshmen didn\u2019t sit with sophomores unless they were either a couple, or friends with at least one half of said couple. It was a stupid rule and one he was glad she\u2019d chosen to break. \u201cHow\u2019s it going?\u201d<\/p>
Diana opened another container, which proved to be half-full of lettuce and tomato. She unceremoniously plopped the tuna on top and started mixing it in with a plastic fork. \u201cOh, okay, I guess,\u201d she sighed. \u201cJust getting back into the swing of things. You know, school, practice, gymnastics meet next week\u2026 How about you?\u201d<\/p>
\u201cUh\u2026 the same, I guess,\u201d Hank chuckled. He took another bite of pizza and made a disgusted face. \u201cWould you believe I forgot about an algebra test first period?\u201d<\/p>
\u201cOh, brother,\u201d Diana shook her head. \u201cI mean, I forgot about practice after school, but at least I ran into Coach Miller on my way here.\u201d She slapped her hand to her forehead. \u201cMy leotard! I left it at home. What am I going to do?\u201d<\/p>
\u201cCan you go back for it?\u201d<\/p>
Diana shook her head. \u201cOnly if I cut my last two classes.\u201d She shrugged. \u201cI guess I could\u2026\u201d<\/p>
\u201cNo,\u201d Hank leaned slightly across the table and laid his hand over hers for a moment. \u201cDon\u2019t. You\u2019re in better shape now than you ever were.\" He withdrew his hand and kept talking. \"Missing one practice isn\u2019t going to hurt you. Getting caught cutting class, on the other hand\u2026\u201d<\/p>
Diana nodded . \u201cI could handle the two-day suspension, I guess, but not the part where they call my folks.\u201d She rolled her eyes. \u201cKind of silly to punish you for cutting class by making you stay home for two days, when you think about it, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>
Hank\u2019s lips twitched. \u201cIs it just me,\u201d he asked slowly, \u201cor has a lot of your day so far seemed\u2026 kind of silly?\u201d<\/p>
All at once, Diana laughed. \u201cIt\u2019s just so\u2026 I dunno. Everyone seems to be worried about the dumbest things and treating every little setback like it\u2019s the end of the world and they\u2019re all so\u2026 so\u2026\u201d<\/p>
\u201cYoung?\u201d Hank suggested.<\/p>
Diana nodded emphatically. \u201cYoung! Yes! Thank you. I mean, I think Bobby\u2019s probably more mature now. But last week\u2026\u201d<\/p>
\u201cWe were just like them,\u201d Hank nodded back.<\/p>
\u201cYeah.\u201d Diana sighed. \u201cAnd, I guess, part of me wishes we still were.\u201d She smiled sadly. \u201cRemember the Lost Tower of the Celestial Knights? My biggest fear was growing old?\u201d This time, her laugh sounded more forced. \u201cI feel<\/em> old. Way older than the three years we just lost.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cScared?\u201d<\/p>
Diana thought about that for a moment. \u201cSort of. Not like I was in the Tower. But\u2026\u201d<\/p>
\u201cI know,\u201d Hank nodded. \u201cWe may have gotten those three years back, but now, I feel like a grownup dressed up like a kid and I don\u2019t know how long I can keep it up.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cYeah.\u201d She looked around the cafeteria. \u201cI wish the others had lunch this period. And I miss Bobby not being here with the rest of us. I wonder how he's taking it. Elementary school. Not having us around, I mean.\u201d<\/p>
Hank nodded again. \u201cIt does feel strange to be separated after all this time.\u201d He shook his head and flashed her a wistful smile. \u201cI guess we\u2019ll get used to it.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cI don\u2019t want to get used to it,\u201d Diana protested. \u201cBut,\u201d she added, \u201cI guess we will. Somehow.\u201d<\/p>
\"Together,\" Hank replied, laying his hand flat on the table, palm down.<\/p>
Diana covered it with her own. \"Together,\" she repeated, smiling back.<\/p>
Just like they'd gotten through everything else. A lot was different, but some things weren't. The camaraderie the six of them had shared was still intact. The bonds they'd forged in the Realm still held. They were going to keep helping each other, just like they had for the past three years. They were still together. It was going to be okay.<\/p>
<\/p><\/a>
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/58013.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/284180.html?view=comments#comments","category":["fandom: dungeons and dragons cartoon","writing","char: hank","fanfiction","char: diana","yuletide"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283925.html","pubDate":"Sun, 25 Dec 2016 00:43:16 GMT","title":"17 minutes and counting...","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283925.html","description":"Till Yuletide archive opens
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/57763.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283925.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283657.html","pubDate":"Thu, 22 Dec 2016 02:46:20 GMT","title":"Yuletide Assignments Posted!","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283657.html","description":"My original assignment has been up for awhile. Did a post-Dec 18th pinch-hit also. I usually try to take on a pinch-hit, if I have a passing familiarity with one of the fandoms. But after the initial posting deadline, I only step up if, after reading the request\/characters\/prompt I get a clear idea for a fic. With more time to pick away at it, I'll do it if I like the characters and have a vague idea that I can probably do something with the prompt, but with 4 days or less to submit, I need something more concrete.
Well, I got it and wrote it in two days. Spent another day rereading and fine-tuning.
So. Two fics in two fandoms I've never written in before. Fingers crossed that the recipients will like. And I see my own gift waiting in the queue for the archive to open. It taunts me.
Sigh. I'm gonna write some Batfic now.
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/57377.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283657.html?view=comments#comments","category":["writing","fanfiction","yuletide"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283482.html","pubDate":"Tue, 13 Dec 2016 08:00:01 GMT","title":"In Feral Cat News","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283482.html","description":"Soot, the friendly one I'm positive must have had a home at one point (though he's got the cropped ear that shows he's been TNR'd and he's slept in the cat shelter in my yard for the last two winters) now understands what \"Do you want to come in?\" means. At least, when I open my office window and call it down to him in the backyard, he goes running for the side door.
Tonight, hubby was in the kitchen fixing the hinge on one of the cabinets, when he heard what he thought was a knock on the door. Opened the front door (not the screen) and saw nobody standing there. Then he looked down. Two charcoal gray ears atop a hopeful fuzzy face... The cat knows how to knock!
And normally? He won't come in unless I'm alone. I open the door to tell him 'no' and he dashes past me.
And here's the kicker: I have told Soot that I'm working on hubby to let him stay here in the winter. So far, we're at \"We'll see... but he has to stay in the basement.\" I've told Soot that, too. And, despite the fact that when I do let him in now, he prefers the upstairs (flopped in front of a heating vent), once he'd raced past hubby and me tonight, he made a beeline for the stairs.
I had to turn him out. We haven't got a litter box and I can't risk an accident. Besides, it's 1 Celsius\/33 Farenheit and there's a shelter in the back. Where he has stayed in years past on far colder days. So, while I can't blame him for wanting the great indoors, I know he won't freeze out there.
The cat knows how to knock. I'm still wrapping my head around that one.
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/57232.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283482.html?view=comments#comments","category":"ferals"},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283158.html","pubDate":"Mon, 21 Nov 2016 22:25:14 GMT","title":"The Hero In My Life (Chapter 24)","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283158.html","description":"Words: 4034
Summary: Kerri's had it with being a victim. But she's not sure how to ask her parents for what she needs to stop being one.
Previous Chapters: Click the Hero In My Life tag.Chapter 24<\/h1>
I didn\u2019t sound Jeremy out. Not that night, not the next day, not any day the next week. I wasn\u2019t sure how. I mean, you\u2019d think it would be easy, but it really wasn\u2019t. See, if I knew for a fact that Jeremy was interested in Marianne, then it was just a question of who would get up the nerve to ask who if they wanted to hang out together. The problem was that I didn\u2019t know anything for a fact.
If I asked Jeremy whether he liked Marianne, well, he\u2019d probably say \u2018yes\u2019. I liked just about everyone I\u2019d met at Glen Ayr. I was friendly with a lot of the kids I met in different classes and workshops. That didn\u2019t make me interested in getting together with them outside class or wanting a serious relationship or anything. So, what was I supposed to do? Ask him how much he liked her? Or if he wanted to go out with her? If he said \u2018no\u2019, I\u2019d have to tell Marianne.
I remembered that back in seventh grade, Lana King had come up with what she thought was a great joke. She\u2019d gone around telling different guys that different girls were really into them, but didn\u2019t have the guts to talk to them. I don\u2019t know if she just randomly picked names or if she went out of her way to match the guys up with girls who actually hated them, but I know that there were a lot of hurt feelings for a long time afterwards. What if something like that had happened at Jeremy\u2019s old school, too? Because if it had, then if I sounded him out about Marianne, he might tell me he didn\u2019t like her, just to\u2014as Sharon might have put it\u2014foil my evil plan. In other words, even if he liked her, he might say he didn\u2019t.
Maybe he did like her. But if Marianne didn\u2019t have the guts to talk to him herself, then who was to say she\u2019d have the guts to act, when she had definite information? Or what if they got to talking and Jeremy realized he really liked her, but once she got to know him, she realized that she didn\u2019t like him as much as she thought she did?
I had a sinking feeling that, unless things really did work out perfectly, no matter what happened, they were both going to blame me.
So, I tried to bury myself in my work and hoped that Marianne wouldn\u2019t bring it up again.
I kept up with the kettlebells. I don\u2019t think I can say that I got to like them, but I got to like the way I felt after a workout, when I got to stop lifting and lunging with them and my arms stopped feeling like they wanted to fall off. One morning, when Tremain let us go a few minutes early, I hung around and gave the pull-up bar another shot. I got a dozen before my arms started to hurt, and managed another four before I had to quit. When I stood on the mat once more, I looked at my hands in disbelief. I didn\u2019t feel<\/i> like I was that much stronger. And I sure as heck wasn\u2019t going to get mistaken for an Olympic bodybuilder anytime soon. But obviously, something was paying off.
When I got back to the dorm at lunch, there was an email waiting for my parents, asking me what I wanted for Christmas this year. I didn\u2019t have time to reply right then and there, but I was seriously considering asking for kettlebells. I knew it would surprise them. I\u2019d never been into working out. I mean, Sharon and I had our nature walks and I\u2019d always done okay in gym. I wasn\u2019t a bad swimmer, either. But I\u2019d never been interested in doing anything athletic that wasn\u2019t part of phys. ed., or summer camp.
I kind of took it the way I took tanning in the summer. I never had the patience to lie down in a bathing suit and soak up the sun. Probably a good idea, since it wasn\u2019t healthy with that hole in the ozone layer, but that wasn\u2019t why I didn\u2019t do it. I just found lying down on a towel boring. I didn\u2019t always put on sunscreen when I went outside, either. I just did my normal stuff\u2014walked around town, hung out at the park or pool or conservation area, and just let the sun do its thing while I did mine. And I usually ended up with a pretty good tan by the end of August. In the same way, I didn\u2019t go trying to be an athlete, but I was active enough to be in decent shape without joining a gym or hitting a treadmill.
If I asked my parents for kettlebells, they\u2019d have questions. But if I didn\u2019t, then I\u2019d be spending more than two whole weeks without working with them\u2014all signed out equipment had to be returned at the end of term. It would be that much harder to get back into practice when I came back in January.
It occurred to me then that I probably wasn\u2019t the only kid in the school with a problem like this. Maybe it was time to talk to someone about it.
Track Ones had two extra class periods Monday through Thursday and half a day each on Saturday and Sunday. It was optional for Track Twos. I\u2019d known this since the first week of classes, but I hadn\u2019t paid much attention. I was a Track Two, I wasn\u2019t planning on being Hero Stream, and everyone had told me that high school was going to be so much tougher than middle school, so the last thing I\u2019d wanted was more classes. More gym<\/i> classes. Yeah, if I flunked biology because track or soccer cut into my study time\u2026 forget the villains. My own parents were probably going to chain me to a desk and get a snake to guard me. So, when the Track Ones (and the Track Twos who were Hero Stream or planning on it) were getting in their extra training time, I mostly hit the books\u2014assigned or otherwise.
Until now, I hadn\u2019t paid that much attention to those extra classes, but it occurred to me that some of those kids might be in the same boat I was. Marianne wasn\u2019t. Her mother might not like<\/i> that she was training to be a hero, but at least she knew<\/i> about it.
Crud. Marianne wanted to be a hero and I was the one acting like I had a secret identity. I thought coming here was supposed to change all that. All the more reason to talk to someone else. I grabbed my coat off the back of my desk chair and looked out the window. There was snow on the ground, but the paths were clean. I\u2019d be okay in shoes. I wasn\u2019t sure about a hat and gloves, but I jammed them into my pocket, just in case. That was another thing that had changed: back in Roehampton, I wore them out the door and hid them in my bag as soon as I was out of my parents\u2019 sight. It didn\u2019t matter if it was mild weather or forty below. Call it rebellion. Call it being warm-blooded. Call it a way to make sure I moved quickly to keep warm. Here in Glen Ayr, I carried them in my pockets, ready to put them on the minute I got outside. If my folks could see me now\u2026
\u2026Then they\u2019d go on about how I was going outside without my boots when there was snow on the ground. Suddenly, I was glad they couldn\u2019t.
All the same, I broke into a trot as I headed toward the athletics centre and I kept my eyes open for ice patches on the path.
Except for that day when we all took our fitness placement tests, I\u2019d never watched Marianne in action. I wasn\u2019t counting the kettlebells. That wasn\u2019t part of her regular training and I\u2019d just showed her a few exercises before she went off to run and I went back to squats and lunges. But right now, sitting in the bleachers of a huge gym, I was getting an eyeful.
When I\u2019d come in, she\u2019d been leading five other girls in a hurdle race. All of them older. Three of them bigger. And it hadn\u2019t been a photo finish; she\u2019d been the clear winner. Now, she had a vaulting pole and was patiently waiting her turn for the high jump.
As I watched, Dani Nguyen started her approach. She started off well, building up speed, but when she planted her pole and rose in the air, she didn\u2019t make it over the bar. I tried to look away, but not before I saw the embarrassment on her face. I saw the teacher walk over to her and say something. It looked like he was trying to encourage her and she sort of nodded, but she looked miserable when she walked back to the end of the line.
Then it was Marianne\u2019s turn. The teacher held up his hand for her to wait while he cranked the bar up about another thirty centimeters. Then he signaled to her to go. Right from the start, I could see that this was going to be different. She came down the runway at a fast clip, her eyes straight ahead, her body leaning slightly forward. Her feet left the ground at the instant that her pole hit it. She sailed over that bar with a couple of centimeters to spare and landed almost flat on her back in the pit. She saw me in the stands and grinned, as the teacher ran up to her. His grin was almost as big as hers was. I watched the other four girls take their turns and then they took another pass. Dani did better this time out. So did Marianne.
I looked at my watch. They should be just about done by now. Right on cue, the teacher blew his whistle. \u201cGood class, girls,\u201d he announced. \u201cHit the showers. Enjoy the rest of your day.\u201d
Most of the girls left the gym. Marianne jogged up to me. \u201cHey.\u201d\u201cHey,\u201d I answered. \u201cYou looked great up there.\u201d
She shrugged. \u201cPole vaulting and hurdles are my best events is all,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m kind of glad you weren\u2019t here for my javelin throw. Why are<\/i> you here? Not that I\u2019m complaining, but aren\u2019t you usually hitting the books around now?\u201d
I sighed. \u201cI need some advice.\u201d I explained about the kettlebells. \u201cSo, I thought it might be a good idea to talk to someone whose parents\u2026\u201d
\u201c\u2026Don\u2019t know what this school is really for,\u201d Marianne nodded. \u201cI hear you. I mean, if it were me, I\u2019d ask my folks for money and buy them myself, but you\u2019re right. My mother knows about this place. She might not want me to wear a costume, but at least she\u2019s considered the possibility that I will and if I train for it now, it\u2019ll be easier than trying to do it all later.\u201d
\u201cYeah. So, do you know anyone else with my problem?\u201d
Marianne smiled. \u201cProbably, I just don\u2019t know who, yet. So, come wait in the locker room and we\u2019ll talk it over once everyone\u2019s out of the shower.\u201d
Heather frowned. \u201cMaybe you could just tell her you\u2019re taking up strength training. I mean, there\u2019s nothing about kettlebells that screams \u2018I want to be a hero\u2019.\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t want to be a hero,\u201d I said wearily. \u201cIf I did, I\u2019d be taking this class, too.\u201d
\u201cNot if you were undercover.\u201d Willa was in tenth grade like Heather, but she was a head shorter than I was.
\u201cI\u2019m not.\u201d
\u201cIf you ask me,\u201d Dani said, \u201cyou\u2019re overthinking. Work with me. Suppose that you really had won a scholarship to some prestigious boarding school out of town. And that while there, you\u2019d started working out a bit and wanted to continue over your break. Now. Would you be racking your brains to come up with some excuse to ask for kettlebells without making your parents suspicious, or would you just\u2026 ask for them?\u201d
\u201cI\u2026\u201d I stopped. Dani was right. Ever since I\u2019d learned about Sharon, I\u2019d been dividing my life into \u2018normal stuff\u2019 (okay to talk about with other people) and \u2018costume stuff\u2019 (not okay to talk about with anybody but Sharon). And since phys. ed. was important here because<\/i> it was costume-related\u2014even us non-cape types were basically taking more intense classes than we\u2019d get in other schools because of how cape types affected us\u2014it hadn\u2019t occurred to me that I could discuss it beyond mentioning that my gym teacher was \u2018nice\u2019. What was so wrong with the truth? I\u2019d been pathetic at pull-ups and asked how I could improve. I\u2019d started with kettlebells and discovered I liked them. Who cared if I\u2019d never been concerned about gym before? Last year, I\u2019d wanted to be on the basketball team. I hadn\u2019t made it, but my parents hadn\u2019t been shocked that I\u2019d tried out. I\u2019d taken calligraphy for two years before that. I thought back. Piano, ballet, arts and crafts, swim and gym\u2026 Did I really think they\u2019d give me weird looks over kettlebells<\/i>?
\u201cI\u2019m such an idiot,\u201d I groaned.
\u201cYeah?\u201d Dani shot back. \u201cWell, if you are, so am I. Only in my case, it was wrist and ankle weights for aerobics.\u201d She shrugged. \u201cI wanted to build resistance. Now. If you\u2019re going out for the jetpack workshop\u2026\u201d
I laughed. \u201cYeah, I get it. It\u2019s just that I\u2019ve never really been interested in this stuff before.\u201d
\u201cYou\u2019re a teenager,\u201d Lisette Lefebvre pointed out. She was in twelfth, like Dani. \u201cYou\u2019re supposed to be trying new things. If you\u2019re interested now, then go for it. And if you lose interest in a couple of months, so what? It probably won\u2019t be the first time you play with a gift for a few weeks and then forget about it.\u201d
\u201cRight.\u201d It wasn\u2019t.
\u201cI use kettlebells, too.\u201d Sally Hertez spoke up. \u201cIf you ever want any tips or anything\u2026\u201d
I grinned. \u201cThanks. I\u2019ve got a workout partner right now\u2014\u201d
\u201cYeah, can\u2019t let anything cut into your \u2018Reggie time,\u2019\u201d Marianne cooed.
I waved her off as Heather giggled. \u201c\u2014But if that changes, I\u2019ll let you know. Meanwhile, I\u2019m going to see if I can get my bio homework done before supper.\u201d
\u201cSure,\u201d Marianne said. \u201cHold up a minute for us to get our coats and we can all walk back together. It\u2019s not like we aren\u2019t all in the Track Two dorm.\u201d
She had a point. I looked around. The other girls didn\u2019t look annoyed at the idea of walking back with a couple of grade nines. That was a little strange to me. Back home, we usually stuck to our own grades. A year ahead or behind wasn\u2019t a big deal, but you\u2019d never catch\u2014say\u2014a grade six hanging out with a grade three, unless they were related. Usually even then, it was under duress. But these girls seemed all for it.
\u201cNo problem,\u201d I smiled. \u201cI have to get mine, too.\u201d
\u201cThey seem really great,\u201d I admitted. We were back in our dorm kitchen, downing maple-syrup-infused hot chocolate and melba toast. Marianne had called it \u2018something naughty, something nice\u2019.
\u201cThey are,\u201d Marianne nodded, taking off her chocolate mustache with a piece of paper towel she\u2019d torn off the roll to use as a napkin. \u201cWe\u2019re all in the same boat: we need to train twice as hard to be half as good as the Track Ones.\u201d She grinned and reached for a fresh packet of melba toast. \u201cFortunately, in many cases, this is not that difficult.\u201d
I blinked. \u201cReally?\u201d
The cellophane crackled as she tore open the packet. \u201cI hate to say it,\u201d she said, \u201cbut Macomber isn\u2019t totally wrong about Track Ones being used to coasting. Their powers give them a head start, but just because they begin ahead of the pack doesn\u2019t mean they stay there. If you ever watch distance running, you\u2019ll see that the competitors who take early leads don\u2019t necessarily keep them.\u201d She shrugged. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter. I mean, we\u2019re all on the same team, so as long as, at the end of the day, the bad guys are stopped, the natural disasters are contained, and the survivors are safe, it doesn\u2019t really matter who did the most. But\u2026\u201d
She didn\u2019t finish. I downed the last of my hot chocolate. \u201cBut\u2026?\u201d
Marianne frowned, thinking. \u201cI used to think that with all the training I did, it would just be enough so I could keep my head above water and not be the weakest link on the team. But then, I started to realize that most of the Track Ones come here knowing what they\u2019re best at and they keep building on that. Remember Sharon griping about hurdles back on the first day? I was hearing stuff like that from other Track Ones at every station that day. Me? I always assumed I\u2019d have to work hard at everything, so that\u2019s what I did. But the problem when you\u2019re light years ahead of everyone else at one or two things is that you can convince yourself that the other stuff doesn\u2019t matter. Then you come to a place like this and discover that it actually does. And that\u2019s when folks like me and Dani and Sally, who\u2019ve been training in different disciplines all along, can really shine. We\u2019ve been plugging since Day One. And the ones who\u2019ve been coasting don\u2019t know how.\u201d
\u201cSharon doesn\u2019t coast,\u201d I retorted.
Marianne nodded, but she was still frowning. \u201cSharon doesn\u2019t coast as much<\/i>. But she\u2019s been in a costume for more than five years and both her parents wear costumes. She\u2019s had more training already than most of the other kids here. But, again, her training has been playing to her strengths.\u201d She smiled. \u201cI\u2019ll never beat her in a foot race. The best I\u2019ll ever do is shave a few tenths of a second off of her lead. But when you\u2019re running after a crook or\u2026 let\u2019s admit that this can happen too: running away from a costumed villain with some super-weapon, there\u2019s no guarantee that you\u2019re going to be on a smooth road with no obstacles. So, if Sharon\u2014or, forget Sharon for a second\u2026 If any<\/i> costumed hero can win a five-hundred-meter dash in a track and field match, but can\u2019t manage hurdles, or a long jump, or run an obstacle course without faltering, then once they\u2019re out in the field in the real world, they\u2019re going to be at a disadvantage.\u201d
She sighed. \u201cI\u2019m not saying that the Track Ones can\u2019t\u2014or won\u2019t\u2014catch up and surpass. Most of them probably will. If<\/i> they stop coasting on what they\u2019re already good at and start working on what they\u2019re not. Like you, for example.\u201d
I blinked and felt my face grow warm. \u201cMe? I\u2019m no Track One.\u201d
\u201cI know that<\/i>,\u201d Marianne laughed. \u201cBut,\u201d she continued seriously, \u201cyou\u2019re not so quick to give up at something you aren\u2019t good at right away. You couldn\u2019t handle the pull-ups. You talked to your teacher, and now, not only are you handling them; you\u2019re ready to ask your parents for a set of kettlebells for Christmas. I know a lot of people who\u2019d just figure it wasn\u2019t worth getting worked up over something you\u2019d have to deal with for a week and maybe never again.\u201d
\u201cThat\u2019s because you don\u2019t know the whole story,\u201d I sighed. \u201cA couple of years ago, I was running from\u2026\u201d I frowned. \u201cYou know, I don\u2019t even remember at this point. They were after me because they\u2019d seen me talking with Sharon while she was in costume and figured I was somehow important. I don\u2019t remember everything, but I know I ran into an alley between two apartment buildings. It was a dead end, but the ally ran behind the buildings and they had these fire escapes. I thought that if I could climb up on one of them, maybe I could get up to the roof and maybe escape that way. So, I jumped and I caught the lower step of one of the escapes, but I couldn\u2019t pull myself up. If Sharon hadn\u2019t got there just then\u2026\u201d
Marianne shook her head. \u201cYeesh,\u201d she said.
I nodded. \u201cFor the last few years, it\u2019s felt like I\u2019ve been wearing a giant target on my back. I never thought about whether there was anything I could do besides try to stay out of sight and, if that didn\u2019t work, hope Sharon got to me before the bad guys did more than tie me up or lock me in a storeroom or something. But when we started doing pull-ups in fitness class, I think it finally hit me that, if I\u2019d been strong enough that day in the alley\u2026\u201d
\u201cYou would have made it onto the fire escape,\u201d Marianne nodded back.
I took another breath. \u201cI think I\u2019m always going to have that target on my back,\u201d I said. I think it was the first time I\u2019d ever admitted it out loud and I hoped I didn\u2019t sound too pathetic. \u201cAt least, as long as I live in Roehampton. But I\u2019m tired of sitting around waiting to be rescued. I don\u2019t want to be a hero,\u201d I said slowly, \u201cbut I think I\u2019m tired of being a victim, too. If extra training will help with that,\u201d I continued, feeling a smile on my lips, \u201cthen I say, bring it.\u201d
I got a 74 on my French test. I would\u2019ve done better if it had been oral instead of written; ais<\/i>, \u00e9<\/i>, and er<\/i> all sound the same in French. I didn\u2019t think it was fair of Mr. Belanger to count spelling. When I complained to Sophie at supper, though, she went through a whole list of reasons why English spelling was even worse. I\u2019d never thought about that, though. I read enough that I was just used to knowing what the words looked like. I\u2019d never sat down and wondered why there was no \u2018f\u2019 in \u2018enough\u2019 or why we needed a \u2018ph\u2019 if we already had an \u2018f\u2019.
\u201cMaybe you should start reading more French,\u201d Marianne suggested. \u201cIt might help.\u201d
I thought about everything I already had to read and review for mid-terms. About the five-page English essay due next week. About the geometry homework I still wasn\u2019t sure I understood. And I shook my head. \u201cIf I have the time to do that, I need to spend it preparing for mid-terms.\u201d
\u201cBoy, can I relate to that<\/i>!\u201d Sharon laughed. \u201cBut seriously, I don\u2019t know why you\u2019re complaining; you\u2019ve got loads more time to study than I do. You should try having another seven and a half hours of gym and combat training and still have to get all the same assignments in and write all the same tests. You don\u2019t know how good you\u2019ve got it.\u201d
She was right. I knew she was right. But I felt myself getting angry, just the same. Abruptly, I picked up my tray and headed for the bins at the far wall, where we dumped our dirty dishes. \u201cI\u2019m done,\u201d I muttered.
I pretended not to hear Sharon calling after me. I told myself that it wasn\u2019t as though she couldn\u2019t race to catch up with me if she wanted to. That wasn\u2019t her style, though. She was more about giving me time to cool off, like I was some immature little kid in need of a timeout. Problem was, I wasn\u2019t so sure I didn\u2019t need one. Sharon was<\/i> taking more classes than I was. She did<\/i> have less time to study. Only she didn\u2019t care about her grades the way I did. And when she talked about how \u2018good\u2019 I had it, I needed to get away from her before I blew up in front of the whole dining hall.
Sometimes\u2026 I really hated my best friend.
<\/a>
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/57067.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283158.html?view=comments#comments","category":["hero in my life","writing","original fiction"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283086.html","pubDate":"Mon, 21 Nov 2016 06:29:12 GMT","title":"I'm Alive!","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283086.html","description":"Sorry for the delays. I got caught up in writing an OUAT-Pete's Dragon Crossover<\/a> that consumed about 6 months of my writing. Seriously. Bunny galomphed into my head and didn't leave me enough space to write anything else. It's done now. 29 chapters later.
Then I got caught up in Yuletide.
So now... finally getting back into my regular writing. A new chapter of Hero In My Life should be up soon.
In other news, I've recovered from cellulitis and am dealing with lymphedema. I have nurses coming to change a dressing on my calf. It's been that way for a few weeks. Eventually, I'm going to need compression stockings, but the wound needs to heal first. The underlying cause seems to be lousy circulation in my legs. Veins are refluxed. I've also been told that losing weight will probably help with said circulation (along with the stockings). So, I'm on my third week with http:\/\/www.myfitnesspal.com<\/a>. And it's going well. I've lost 10 lbs. I know that's a lot, but it's early days. I'm not starving myself. I'm usually eating 1500-1700 calories. I'm also trying to walk for at least a half hour every day. Pretty sure I'll soon settle into a 'normal' 1\u20132 pound\/week loss with occasional plateaus and temporary gains, but I must admit I'm feeling psyched right now!<\/a>
One of my ferals wants to move in. Hubby's opposed to it. I've told him that when the winter turns brutal, Soot is<\/i> coming indoors. For once, he said 'maybe' and 'but he'll have to stay in the basement'. I'll take it. He's just such a loving little guy. I'm positive he had a family once. First: he's vocal. Not normal for ferals at all. Second: he loves being picked up and cuddled. At least, by me. If anyone else gets too close, he bolts. Third, when I've snuck him into the house when hubby's not home, he behaves himself. He might explore a bit, but he doesn't hide. I don't have to chase after him. I know he doesn't have a home now. He's been TNR'd and has the cropped ear to prove it. But I would love to know his backstory. If he ran off one day and got lost, that's one thing. But if he was abandoned... I am not normally a violent person. But if I knew for a fact that someone did that to this sweet little guy? I would SO make an exception.
I guess that's what's new and exciting with me. How about you guys?
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/56629.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/283086.html?view=comments#comments","category":["writing","all about me","cats","health"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282654.html","pubDate":"Tue, 27 Sep 2016 19:56:24 GMT","title":"So... How hard is it to make fanvids?","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282654.html","description":"It's occurred to me that certain Mary Chapin Carpenter songs seem to evoke bits of OUAT episodes and I would LOVE to learn how to do something with that. I don't know if I need any special software, if I can do it through YouTube, and especially, how to use just the visual from the video and sync it with the audio. I've got a lot of the music, both in my own files and on a YouTube playlist. As for the OUAT material, I watch it on Netflix; I don't own any DVDs. If I'm really lucky, the parts I'd want to use are already on YouTube in clips, if not episodes.
The stars are out tonight, the breeze is warm and light
As I'm walking right back to you
(Okay, this Regina in \"The Stable Boy\")
Along the dreaming road, the only way to go
(\"The Savior\" just where Morpheus makes his appearance)
When I'm traveling by our code that north is true
(True North, Gretel taking the compass from her dad.)
Once upon a time these same bright stars did shine
Down the center line leading here
(Dreamy. Miner's Day. Candles.)
Nearly thirty years ago, now the map is stained and old
(Manhattan, Cora, Hook, and Regina finding the map in the library. P.S. \"Nearly thirty years ago\"?! This song is from 2001, a whole 10 years before the show but...)
But on the dreaming road the coast is clear
(And Straight on til Morning, Rumple using blood magic to make the map appear on the globe)
The rest of the lyrics are here<\/a> and they ALL make me think of the show. So...<\/a>
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/56467.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282654.html?view=comments#comments","category":["help","fanvid creation","once upon a time"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282591.html","pubDate":"Tue, 27 Sep 2016 18:48:56 GMT","title":"I know it's been a long time since I've posted","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282591.html","description":"No real excuses beyond just not feeling like posting. I've felt like writing fic. And listening to music. And playing Cinderella Story on Facebook. And watch a feral cat grow into a cuddle-muffin around me (I strongly suspect he had people at some point and ended up on the street afterwards. He's got one docked ear\u2014sign of being trapped-neutered-and-released in the past, so I know he's not a housecat that gets to go outside. And let anyone else come into the yard and he'll bolt.)
But I'm on day 2 of antibiotics for cellulitus and Yuletide is coming. The neighbor just came to put up our sukkah today, and I'm dusting off the journal.
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/56197.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282591.html?view=comments#comments","category":"all about me"},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282306.html","pubDate":"Fri, 03 Jun 2016 17:09:07 GMT","title":"Fic: Passamaquoddy Impromptu, Chapter 4","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282306.html","description":"Fandoms: Once Upon A Time; Pete's Dragon (1977)
Characters: Emma Swan, Rumpelstiltskin|Mr. Gold, Pete, Elliot, OMC, OFC, Snow, Charming, Henry
Pairings: Gen
Rating: K+
Genre(s): HC, Drama, Angst, Adventure
Timeline: Season 3 AU. Diverges from canon during S3;E15 (Quiet Minds)
Warnings: Canonical character death
Word Count: 1756
Story Summary: Instead of leaving Gold in the Woods after Neal's death, Emma decides that the wisest course of action is to get him out of Storybrooke and away from Zelena's control.
Chapter Summary: A little bit of unexpected help goes a long way
Notes: All Pete's Dragon references are to the 1977 film, not the 2016 remake.
Disclaimer: Disney owns OUAT and Pete's Dragon.
Chapter Four<\/strong>
<\/p>\u201cSeeing as the place is empty,\u201d Pete said from the back seat of the Beetle, \u201cyou can pretty much have your pick of the units. I\u2019d think you might want one of the cabins; they\u2019ve got full kitchens, while the motel rooms just have bar fridges and an outlet for a hot plate or coffee machine.\u201d Before Emma or Gold had a chance to reply, he added in a slightly louder voice, \u201cTake that left coming up and follow the signs for Eddystone Light Motel.\u201d<\/p>
Emma raised her eyebrows. \u201cEddystone Light? Like in the song?\u201d she asked.<\/p>
\u201cThat\u2019s right. And fitting,\u201d he added. \u201cI used to live in the old lighthouse, back when it was still standing. Of course now,\u201d he said with a faint edge, \u201ceverything\u2019s modern. Now, it\u2019s a flashing light at the top of a steel skeleton. Fully automated. The old one,\u201d he sighed. \u201cWell, everything has its day and that one\u2019s long over. I\u2019m just glad my grandfather passed on before he had to see it come down. But the motel logo? I had that adapted from a picture I took of it in better days.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cThe modern one\u2019s not so bad,\u201d Nora said.<\/p>
\u201cYou\u2019re just saying that because it\u2019s the only lighthouse you\u2019ve ever known,\u201d Pete teased.<\/p>
\u201cNo,\u201d Nora said seriously. \u201cI\u2019m saying it because it looks like it\u2019d be easier to climb than the old one.\u201d<\/p>
Pete chuckled at that. \u201cYour father takes you rock-climbing once, and you\u2019re ready to scale the Passamaquoddy Point Light,\u201d he said. \u201cSomehow, I think it\u2019s going to be a while before you\u2019ll get the opportunity. Thankfully,\u201d he added in an undertone, but one meant for them all to hear.<\/p>
\u201cIt\u2019s not like I\u2019d try it without safety equipment,\u201d Nora muttered.<\/p>
\u201cAnd here we are,\u201d Pete said. \u201cOffice is at the end of the drive. Right. If you folks would care to step inside, I can get you registered in no time.<\/p>
Emma glanced at Gold. \u201cIf you\u2019d rather wait here,\u201d she said, thinking about his ankle.<\/p>
Gold was already unfastening his seatbelt. \u201cAfter what happened a few minutes ago?\u201d he demanded. \u201cI think I can manage a few steps.\u201d<\/p>
He consented to lean on her though, as they made their way inside.<\/p>
<\/p>
\u201cYou can borrow this for a day or two,\u201d Pete said, returning to the front desk with a carved wooden knob-stick cane and several neatly-folded garments. \u201cI don\u2019t care so much about the clothes; if they fit, you\u2019re welcome to them, but the cane was my grandfather\u2019s in later years and I\u2019d rather not part with it.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cAre you certain you\u2019re willing to lend it?\u201d Rumple asked, already reaching for it.<\/p>
Pete shrugged. \u201cRight now, you need it and I don\u2019t. I\u2019d just like it back whenever you check out.\u201d His expression turned serious as the cane changed hands.<\/p>
\u201cI know we\u2019ll need to discuss what happened in the parking lot earlier. I think we\u2019ve all got questions. Maybe they ought to keep until morning, considering that they\u2019re likely to be the sort to keep us up half the night talking and I guess you\u2019d probably like to get settled in. Now\u2026\u201d he gave the brochure display carousel on the desk a spin and removed one pamphlet. \u201cThese restaurants,\u201d he said, marking an \u2018x\u2019 with his pen next to several of the names, \u201care open all year. And these,\u201d he underlined a few of the ones he\u2019d already marked, \u201cwill deliver up here. Some charge a fee for it, some don\u2019t. Or, if you\u2019d prefer to do your own cooking, there\u2019s a grocery store on Main Street.\u201d<\/p>
Leonora, who was industriously pulling out towels and toiletries from a shelfing unit behind Pete and stacking them on the desk, lifted her head for a moment. \u201cI\u2019ve got a bike,\u201d she said, with some pride. \u201cIf you want me to pick anything up for you, I\u2019ll do it for five dollars a trip, so long as it fits in the basket.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cAnd so long as you place your order by seven pm,\u201d Pete added. \u201cIf you place it after eight am, she\u2019ll bring it by after school.\u201d He smiled indulgently. \u201cLeonora may spend a good part of her time with me, but her parents still think she needs to come home sometime. We tolerate their peculiarities.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cYou can\u2019t run this place without me,\u201d Leonora said, transferring the toiletries to a wicker basket and tucking the towels under her arm.<\/p>
\u201cI probably could,\u201d Pete smiled. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019d want to.\u201d He slid a key across the counter. \u201cCabin 3. Nora will direct you. And keep everything from sliding around in your back seat.\u201d<\/p>
Emma picked up the key and slipped it into her jacket pocket. Then she scooped up the pile of clothes. \u201cThanks,\u201d she said. \u201cSeriously.\u201d<\/p>
Pete smiled. \u201cYou\u2019re not the only person who\u2019s had to run a time or two. Or who found Passamaquoddy a good place to stop. And I\u2019ve got a friend who\u2019s generally a pretty good judge of character. He vouched for you.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cYou mean, Mr. Coleman?\u201d<\/p>
Pete blinked. Then he smiled again. \u201cYeah. Him, too.\u201d<\/p>
<\/p>
The efficiency cabin wasn\u2019t large, but it had two bedrooms, a bath, a small kitchen, and a common area. As soon as Nora departed, Gold made a beeline for the shower as fast as his dignity\u2014and his limp\u2014would allow. Emma settled into one of the bedrooms and placed her change of clothes\u2014Pete had apologized about having no women\u2019s garments on-hand, but she could manage with sweatpants and button-down shirts\u2014on the chair in the corner. Then she called her parents.<\/p>
She wasn\u2019t overly surprised to discover that Zelena had given them the slip. Still, \u201cI guess, that means we won\u2019t be back tomorrow,\u201d she sighed and explained about the monkeys. She left out the part about the unseen force that had come to their aid; she wasn\u2019t sure how she could describe it. \u201c\u2026But if they can attack out here, I can\u2019t leave Gold by himself. I\u2019ve got a lot of practice getting by without magic. He doesn\u2019t. More to the point, if I come back without him, he\u2019ll be stranded here. No car, no money\u2026 and if those monkeys come back\u2026\u201d<\/p>
\u201cRight,\u201d David agreed. \u201cMeanwhile\u2026?\u201d<\/p>
\u201cMeanwhile,\u201d Emma echoed, \u201cwell, we may not have Henry\u2019s book to help us out, but I just downloaded all of the original Oz novels onto my phone. Maybe there\u2019s some clue in there.\u201d<\/p>
Snow came on the phone. \u201cI just remembered,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen Zelena came over the first time, there were dishes in the sink. I\u2019d just been about to start on them, but she insisted. I think that probably means that water isn\u2019t going to melt her.\u201d<\/p>
Emma stifled another sigh. \u201cI guess it makes a certain amount of sense. If she were that vulnerable to water, she probably wouldn\u2019t have realized it until the first time she went out in the rain, and then, that would also be the last<\/em> time.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cHenry has a lot of questions,\u201d David had the phone again.<\/p>
Emma closed her eyes. \u201cWhat have you told him?\u201d<\/p>
\u201cOnly that you had to follow up a lead and you called to say you were going to be away overnight. We weren\u2019t sure what to tell him about Neal.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cWhere is he now?\u201d<\/p>
\u201cGrumpy took him fishing. They should be coming back pretty soon.\u201d<\/p>
Emma nodded to herself. \u201cI\u2019ll call him. Do me a favor? Talk to Belle, tell her what\u2019s going on and\u2026 see if she has any ideas. We need to figure out what Zelena\u2019s after. We need to see if there\u2019s a way to change our friends back, because if the monkeys keep attacking, sooner or later, I\u2019m going to have to defend myself and I don\u2019t want to end up shooting Bashful or Little John or any of the others. And\u2026 if anyone has any other items to add to the list, go for it. I\u2019ll work on Gold. Something tells me that he\u2019s going to be a lot more interested in helping now than he was when Greg and Tamara activated that failsafe.\u201d<\/p>
They chatted for a bit, hanging up only when David remarked that Henry had just walked in. Emma called him next. He\u2019d clearly had a fun time and she hated to deliver bad news, but she knew it was only going to get harder if she delayed.<\/p>
\u201cKid,\u201d she said softly, \u201cthe reason we came to Storybrooke was because\u2026 someone was in trouble and it wasn\u2019t a client. It was your father. Some bad people wanted to hurt him. Yeah,\u201d she whispered, when Henry asked if she\u2019d found him. \u201cI did. But I was too late to save him.\u201d Her eyes were burning again and she fought the lump that was rapidly forming in her throat as she kept talking. \u201cHe\u2019s\u2026 he\u2019s dead, Henry. I was too late to help him, but not too late to help his father.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cI have a grandfather?\u201d Henry asked excitedly.<\/p>
Her tears were brimming over as she continued. \u201cYeah, kid. You do. And hopefully, this will all be over soon and you can meet him. But that\u2019s why I had to leave so suddenly.\u201d She took another breath and willed herself to stay calm. \u201cDavid and Mary-Margaret told me that they\u2019ll be happy to look after you, but if anything should happen, if the baby comes early and everyone\u2019s at the hospital, if your instincts tell you something\u2019s\u2026 off, I want you to go to Regina.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cThe mayor?\u201d<\/p>
\u201cShe\u2019ll protect you if the Nolans can\u2019t. Got it?\u201d<\/p>
There was a brief silence. \u201cYeah, okay,\u201d Henry said finally. \u201cI got it.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cLove you, kid.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cLove you too, Mom.\u201d<\/p>
She ended the call and looked up to see Gold standing in the doorway, wearing a white terry robe over red plaid pajama bottoms. The expression on his face, she thought, had to be a mirror image of her own.<\/p>
\u201cEmma?\u201d he said hoarsely.<\/p>
She slid off the bed and walked toward him. It occurred to her that there was probably something she ought to be saying, some words of comfort, some memory to share. Something. But she couldn\u2019t think of a one in the maelstrom of emotion that engulfed her now. Neal was gone. Neal was gone and she couldn\u2019t hold it together for another minute. \u201cH-he\u2019s gone,\u201d she whispered, taking another step toward him.<\/p>
He nodded. \u201cI know.\u201d His voice broke on the last syllable.<\/p>
They reached out for one another and held on for dear life.<\/p><\/a>
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/55994.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282306.html?view=comments#comments","category":["char: henry mills","fandom: ouat","char: david nolan|charming","char: emma swan","char: mary margaret blanchard|snow white","fandom: pete's dragon (1977)","writing. crossover","char: rumpelstiltskin|gold","char: elliot","fanfiction","char: pete"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282093.html","pubDate":"Thu, 02 Jun 2016 13:16:44 GMT","title":"Fic: Passamaquoddy Impromptu, Chapter 3","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282093.html","description":"Fandoms: Once Upon A Time; Pete's Dragon (1977)
Characters: Emma Swan, Rumpelstiltskin|Mr. Gold, Pete, Elliot, OMC, OFC
Pairings: Gen
Rating: K+
Genre(s): HC, Drama, Angst, Adventure
Timeline: Season 3 AU. Diverges from canon during S3;E15 (Quiet Minds)
Warnings: Canonical character death
Word Count: 1425
Story Summary: Instead of leaving Gold in the Woods after Neal's death, Emma decides that the wisest course of action is to get him out of Storybrooke and away from Zelena's control.
Chapter Summary: A little bit of unexpected help goes a long way
Notes: All Pete's Dragon references are to the 1977 film, not the 2016 remake.
Disclaimer: Disney owns OUAT and Pete's Dragon.Chapter Three<\/center><\/h1> She couldn't get a clean shot at this range. By now, there was one monkey perched on the hood and another on the passenger door handle. Each had hold of one of Gold's arms and his head and shoulders were sticking out of the window. He was struggling to break free, but even as she watched, the monkeys pulled him forward another inch.<\/p>
\"Nora!\" Coleman was shouting behind her. \"Go get your great uncle. NOW!\"<\/p>
\"But\u2026\"<\/p>
\"Now, Nora! Go!\"<\/p>
Behind her, Emma heard running feet, but she didn't look back. She kept her eyes and gun trained on the car, hoping for a clear target. One monkey's eyes locked on hers and he let out a mocking cackle. Then he deliberately turned his back on her and hopped over to the other side of the Beetle, out of her view. In a flash, she realized that he was trying the driver-side door and remembered that she hadn't locked it. Evidently, though, Gold had, because the next thing she heard was the sound of something battering against the window glass.<\/p>
The fourth monkey alighted on the roof of the Beetle. Emma set her jaw grimly. She had a clean shot at that <\/em>one. As she took aim, though, she hesitated. Was it Little John? Bashful? Someone else she knew? As if it were reading her mind, the monkey jeered at her and took to the air again. She adjusted her aim, but held off on pulling the trigger.<\/p>
She heard Gold cry out and realized that the other monkeys had managed to haul him through the open window. Each had a tight grip on one of his arms. As she watched in horror, the other two monkeys each took hold of an ankle. As the clawed fingers closed around his injured leg, Gold screamed.<\/p>
That was it. She was taking the shot. But even as she adjusted her aim once more, she realized that they were already too high. If they weren't out of range yet, the risk that she'd accidentally hit Gold instead was still too great.<\/p>
Get in the car and follow them, Emma<\/em>, she ordered herself. You know where they're going.<\/em><\/p>
But if she could just wing one of the monkeys, then, from the look of it, three of them probably wouldn't be strong enough to haul Gold all the way back to Storybrooke.<\/p>
And then, she heard a loud roar and a gust of wind knocked her to the ground. The monkeys shrieked again, but this time they sounded neither mocking nor triumphant. Instead she heard terror in their screams, as an invisible force seemed to lash out at them, flinging them away from Gold. Meanwhile, Gold appeared to be hanging in the air, in no danger of falling.<\/p>
For a moment, Emma wondered whether he'd somehow been able to call on his magic, even outside of Storybrooke, but the expression on his face showed that he was as confused by the change in his circumstances as she was. And then, he floated gently to the ground, landing in a seated position next to her and Emma heard a sort of whuffling sound. Something cool and leathery brushed her cheek and she caught a whiff of charcoal and baked apples. There was a light touch on her shoulder and an unintelligible grunt. Another gust of wind tore at her and she pulled her leather jacket more tightly about her.<\/p>
And then, as she watched, the monkeys took off howling as something seemed to buffet them, driving them further and further away until they vanished over the horizon.<\/p>
Emma looked wildly at Gold. \"What was that?\"<\/p>
From his bewildered expression, she didn't think that she was likely to get an answer, but after a moment, he shook his head. \"I believe it was\u2026 No. No, that's not possible. Not here, anyway.\"<\/p>
Emma tilted her head. \"What isn't possible?\"<\/p>
\"They were rare enough back in our land,\" Gold was muttering. \"But to find one here? It can't be.\"<\/p>
Just then, a young girl's voice called, \"Hurry, Uncle Pete! They\u2026\" Then, disappointedly, \"oh, they're gone! But they were just here, honest! Flying monkeys!\" Emma glanced over her shoulder to see that Nora had returned, and was leading a man who looked to be about Gold's age\u2014which, she reminded herself, proved nothing\u2014in their direction.<\/p>
\"She's right,\" Coleman said, stepping forward. Emma wondered whether he'd been standing on the gas station's cement curb the entire time, or whether he'd retreated back indoors after sending the girl off. \"Not sure where they came from, but they were harassing a couple of customers until something <\/em>ran them off.\"<\/p>
\"Did it?\" 'Uncle Pete' sounded interested. He directed his attention toward Emma and Gold. \"Name's Peter Eddystone, but most people in these parts just call me Pete,\" he said, holding out his hand. \"Are you folks okay?\"<\/p>
Emma and Gold looked at one another and nodded cautiously, each clasping the hand in turn. Introductions seemed called for, so Emma gave their names quickly.<\/p>
\"Flying monkeys,\" Pete remarked.<\/p>
Emma tried to smile. \"I know it sounds hard to believe.\"<\/p>
\"Well, it would,\" Pete admitted. \"Except that Leonora and Hiram both saw them and, while Nora's got an imagination I can only envy, Hiram Coleman's never been able to spin a tall tale worth a wooden nickel.\" He shrugged. \"Besides, it's been my experience most people wouldn't come up with a story that farfetched if it weren't true. Most,\" he added. \"I'm not saying I haven't met a snake oil salesman or two, but\u2026\" He broke off, frowning. \"Uh... What did you say it was that ran them off?\"<\/p>
\"We didn't,\" Gold said, narrowing his eyes.<\/p>
\"Where're you folks headed?\"<\/p>
\"Calais,\" Emma said quickly, remembering the name Coleman had said earlier. \"We\u2026 had to leave home in a hurry and we need a few supplies.\"<\/p>
Pete was silent. Emma realized that he was looking, not at them, but at a fixed point in the sky overhead. And he was grinning openly\u2014which made him look about twenty years younger.<\/p>
\"Uh\u2026 Mr. Eddystone? Pete?\"<\/p>
Pete blinked. \"I'm sorry. I got distracted for a minute.\"<\/p>
\"Is that\u2026?\" Nora asked excitedly.<\/p>
\"Leonora,\" there was a warning note in Pete's voice. \"Later.\"<\/p>
He turned back to Emma and Gold. \"Well, if you folks are just passing through, I'll let you get on your way. But, if you don't mind my saying so, you've sort of the look of folks who aren't sure where they're headed and if that's the case, here's as good a place to stop as any.\" He smiled apologetically. \"I'm not being completely honest with you. I run the local motel and tourism's been down this year. Now that the season's over, I probably won't have any more customers until June. And I wouldn't mind a bit more business, even if it's just for a night or two. I'll even cut the rate in half for you.\"<\/p>
Emma hesitated. \"Uh\u2026 could you give us a minute to talk it over?\"<\/p>
Pete nodded, wrapped an arm around Nora's shoulders, and steered her over to Coleman. Emma leaned closer to Gold. \"What do you think?\"<\/p>
\"I think these people are taking certain things in a far more casual manner than I would have expected,\" he said. \"There's more going on here than meets the eye.\"<\/p>
\"I get that too,\" Emma admitted. \"They're not lying, though. I don't need my superpower to tell that they're keeping a few things back, but we'd do the same if they were coming through Storybrooke.\"<\/p>
\"You want to take him up on his offer,\" Gold translated.<\/p>
Emma sighed. \"I don't know this area and it's going to be dark soon. I thought we'd be safe once we crossed the town line, but if those monkeys can attack us out here, then maybe it makes sense for us to stop someplace where there's something that seems to be on our side that can run them off.\"<\/p>
Gold snorted. \"Something.\"<\/p>
\"Their word, not mine.\"<\/p>
\"Indeed.\"<\/p>
\"You know what it is? Or who?<\/em>\"<\/p>
Gold shook his head. \"I have an idea, but it's rather farfetched.\"<\/p>
\"Going by what Pete said, it's probably right, then.\"<\/p>
\"I wouldn't be so quick to jump to that conclusion,\" Gold remarked tartly. \"But we won't be able to come to any verdict if we leave now.\" His shoulders slumped. \"I'm exhausted,\" he admitted. \"Today has been\u2026\"<\/p>
Emma clasped his hand and he squeezed it fiercely. \"I know,\" she said. \"Okay. I'll tell him we'll stay the night.\"<\/p>
<\/a>
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/55663.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/282093.html?view=comments#comments","category":["fandom: ouat","char: emma swan","crossover","fandom: pete's dragon (1977)","writing","char: rumpelstiltskin|gold","char: elliot","char: pete","fanfiction"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/281842.html","pubDate":"Wed, 01 Jun 2016 05:57:19 GMT","title":"Fic: Passamaquoddy Impromptu, Chapter 2","author":"dragonbat2006","link":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/281842.html","description":"Fandoms: Once Upon A Time; Pete's Dragon (1977)
Characters: Emma Swan, Rumpelstiltskin|Mr. Gold, OMC, OFC
Pairings: Gen
Rating: K+
Genre(s): HC, Drama, Angst, Adventure
Timeline: Season 3 AU. Diverges from canon during S3;E15 (Quiet Minds)
Warnings: Canonical character death
Word Count: 1634
Story Summary: Instead of leaving Gold in the Woods after Neal's death, Emma decides that the wisest course of action is to get him out of Storybrooke and away from Zelena's control.
Chapter Summary: Sometimes what happens in Storybrooke doesn't stay in Storybrooke
Notes: All Pete's Dragon references are to the 1977 film, not the 2016 remake.
Disclaimer: Disney owns OUAT and Pete's Dragon.
Chapter Two<\/strong>
<\/center>
<\/h1>Neither spoke as they made their way along the faint hiking trail. Gold moved like a man in a fog, barely paying attention to the way. He stumbled over a large tree root and Emma seized hold of his upper arm to steady him.<\/p>
She had to force herself not to recoil. The woolen fabric of his suit jacket was greasy to the touch and when Gold nodded to her that he was all right and shrugged free, Emma was shocked to see grime coating her fingertips. She'd thought that Gold must have tripped a few times in the woods to look so disheveled, but now she realized that she'd been mistaken\u2014or fooling herself, not wanting to think about how long he must have been wearing that suit. Emma remembered her time in both the Enchanted Forest and Neverland; how after the first couple of days in the wild, hot showers and clean clothes had become obsessions. For a man as fastidious as Gold, a man whom she'd never seen in casual clothes, a man who wore a full apron over his habitual suits to go digging in the woods, something like that had to be a torture all its own.<\/p>
Hot fury roiled up within her, a rage she hadn't felt since that day almost two years ago in the Storybrooke hospital, when she'd finally realized that Henry had been telling the truth about the Curse all along and she'd been too stubborn to see it.<\/p>
She realized that she'd fallen back and that Gold was now looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to point out the direction to take. She jerked her head to indicate the path and quickened her pace. \"It's not much farther,\" she murmured. A moment later, she caught a glimpse of her yellow Beetle through the foliage and headed toward it.<\/p>
As they broke through the cover of the trees, Gold's eyes darted nervously in all directions. \"It's not safe here in the open,\" he whispered. \"She has spies everywhere.\"<\/p>
Emma nodded and hurried to unlock the passenger door. \"Sorry,\" she muttered. \"Old car. No remote for the doors. Gold said nothing, barely waiting for her to hold the door open before he practically flung himself into the seat. By the time Emma got in, he had his seatbelt on.<\/p>
\"Hurry,\" he urged, as she put her key in the ignition. \"Now that Bae\u2026\" His voice broke. \"When we shared a mind, I could sometimes resist Zelena's commands. Now that he's gone, if she summons me before we can cross the town line\u2026\"<\/p>
Emma nodded and put her foot on the gas. \"One good thing about being sheriff,\" she muttered. \"I don't have to worry about speeding tickets.\"<\/p>
She fought not wrinkle her nose. It hadn't been as noticeable out in the open, but enclosed in the car cabin, she couldn't help but be aware of the odor coming from the seat next to her. She said nothing, though, guessing that Gold would probably be mortified by the subject.<\/p>
\"Emma!\"<\/p>
Emma's eyes widened, as she saw the town line approaching, and three flying monkeys circling in the air above it. \"I see them,\" she said through clenched teeth. \"I don't suppose you know how fast they can fly?\" When Gold didn't answer, she gripped the steering wheel with both hands. \"Let's hope it's less than ninety miles an hour,\" she said. \"Hang on!\"<\/p>
The next thirty seconds seemed to stretch forever. The monkeys dived toward them. One landed on the hood of the car and immediately spread its arms wide, blocking most of the windshield. Emma heard Gold cry out, as she fought to keep driving. She knew that the road ran straight ahead for at least three miles past the line. She just had to keep going straight. The monkeys were magical, they couldn't cross the line. They couldn't\u2026<\/p>
One monkey leered at her through the driver-door window, another slammed into the opposite side. Gold gasped and bent over, tucking his head to his lap. He didn't scream, and Emma was glad of it. She closed her eyes\u2014it wasn't as if they were helping much and if this didn't work, she didn't want the last image in her mind to be those teeth and blood-red eyes\u2014and took the speed up to one hundred. The monkeys veered off shrieking as they crossed the line. In her rear-view mirror, Emma saw the back of the 'Leaving Storybrooke' sign shimmer and disappear, leaving nothing but an empty road behind them. She slowed down to sixty and breathed a sigh of relief.<\/p>
\"Gold?\" She glanced at her passenger. \"We made it. We're clear.\"<\/p>
Gold peered out at her from the crook of his elbow, his brown eyes almost as wide as saucers. Then he slowly unlaced his fingers and straightened up. He was perspiring and his face, already pale from who knew how long he'd been in confinement, had a grayish tinge to it.<\/p>
\"Sorry for the rough exit. I think we're safe now. Uh, there should be a couple of granola bars in the glove compartment, if you're hungry.\" There should be a whole box of them. They came in handy when she was on a stakeout, and there had been the one time when the fugitive she'd brought in had been a diabetic in need of a sugar boost.<\/p>
He nodded, but made no move to open the compartment. Instead, he leaned back in the seat, shut his eyes, and took several long, slow breaths.<\/p>
\"You okay?\" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back. After being Zelena's prisoner, after losing Neal, after the monkey attack, that had to be one of the stupidest things she could have asked and she braced herself for a blunt retort along those lines.<\/p>
Instead, Gold drew a breath. \"My ankle,\" he said in a low voice. \"Magic masked the old injury in Storybrooke, but out here, I'm afraid it's going to be bothersome.\"<\/p>
Emma took her right hand off of the steering wheel and laid it over Gold's. \"We'll manage.\" She eyed her dashboard and sighed. \"I'm going to need to stop for gas soon anyway. Maybe I'll just take the next exit.\" There was a sign coming up and she waited until it was close enough for her to read. \"Hopefully there'll be a Walmart or a Walgreens in\u2026\" Oh boy. She blinked at the long string of letters and sounded them out under her breath. \"\u2026Passamaquoddy,\" she finished triumphantly.<\/p>
\"I should just be a minute,\" Emma said, as she pulled up to the pump. \"I'll ask for directions when I go in to pay. You sure you don't want to get out of the car?\"<\/p>
Gold shook his head. \"Even if my ankle wasn't an issue, I can hardly go out looking like this.\"<\/p>
He had a point. \"I'll ask about that, too. I'm not sure if we can find Armani around here, but\u2026\"<\/p>
\"That's hardly a concern at the moment,\" Gold replied, sounding for a moment not unlike his former self.<\/p>
\"Do you want me to pick you up anything inside?\"<\/p>
Gold shook his head.<\/p>
\"Okay.\" She had the door open and her feet on the asphalt, when Gold called after her.<\/p>
\"Emma? Thank you.\"<\/p>
She smiled. \"I won't be long.\" She shut the door behind her and set about filling the tank. As she did, she looked around. The gas station looked like any of a million she'd seen before in her travels. She didn't recognize the name of this one; it was probably part of a smaller chain. Or were there any independent stations left in this part of the world? She wondered.<\/p>
She passed a girl of about Henry's age on her way into the station. She was sitting on a bench in front of the building and sucking on a grape popsicle. She smiled as Emma brushed past her and Emma grinned back.<\/p>
Once she'd paid for the gas, she made her inquiries and the attendant, a sober-looking man in his late forties, considered for a moment. \"Well, you know Ms\u2026 uh\u2026\" he glanced down at her credit card, \"\u2026Ms Swan, the tourist season's over now, so a lot of businesses have closed down or cut their hours. Now, the nearest Walmart's up in Calais, about twenty miles from here. But I'd hardly be a good neighbor if I didn't at least try pointing you toward some of our locals. Now\u2026\" he rummaged under his desk for a moment and came up with a tourism map. \"If you'll just\u2026Oh!\" He looked past her for a moment.<\/p>
\"'Lo, there, Nora,\" he said, smiling.<\/p>
Emma looked over her shoulder to see the girl from outside, holding up another popsicle.<\/p>
\"It's Leonora<\/em>, Mr. Coleman,\" she said importantly.<\/p>
\"Ah, of course. Pardon me, Ms Swan,\" he said, turning back to Emma, \"but would you mind if I just rang this young lady through before her snack melts? It won't be but a minute.\"<\/p>
\"Sure,\" Emma said, moving out of the way. \"Go right ahead.\"<\/p>
\"Thank you. Now, then, Lee<\/em>-oh\u2026\" Coleman's voice trailed off. \"Oh\u2026 my\u2026 what in the world\u2026?\"<\/p>
Emma spun around to look out the window. What she saw made her heart lurch. \"GOLD!\" she exclaimed, running out of the store, one hand reaching under her jacket for her gun.<\/p>
There were four flying monkeys surrounding her bug. One of them was reaching inside\u2014Gold must have rolled down the window to get some air.<\/p>
As Emma raced toward them, she was wondering how she could have been stupid enough to think that the monkeys couldn't cross the town line. She damned well should have known better than that. After all, she'd almost married one\u2026<\/p><\/a>
This entry was originally posted at http:\/\/dragonbat2006.dreamwidth.org\/55477.html<\/a>. Please comment there using OpenID<\/a>.<\/span>","comments":"https:\/\/dragonbat2006.livejournal.com\/281842.html?view=comments#comments","category":["char: rumpelstiltskin|gold","writing","fandom: ouat","fanfiction","char: emma swan","crossover","fandom: pete's dragon (1977)"]}]}} - I now walk 2 hours daily and work out with dumbbells. Lifting up to 50lbs (i.e. a pair of 25s) at the moment.<\/li>
- Went from Obesity Level III: