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meowdymista · 4 years

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Van der Driscoll Pt 7

Part 6 - Masterlist

Part 8

This is a bit of a filler chapter, which is stupid for the ratio of original wording to in game script ratio. Next one will be more engaging, I promise. Also sorry for the long wait; I took time off from writing last week because it was my birthday, and then England swept into a second lockdown so it’s been poo trying to prepare especially in work because I process somms for small-medium businesses but whatever. No one is getting much for Christmas this year lol

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You find, much to your relief and Arthur’s annoyance, that Sean’s chaotic charm and energy swallows everyone’s attention over the next few weeks. He’s loud, boastful and brash: The Irish Terrier as Arthur and his adopted fathers call him.

You can’t help but find his totally unapologetic nature comforting. Whilst washing shirts, you overhear him get Molly to admit she considers him no better than a chimney sweep from the local bog - and immediately crucify her for it, calling her “snotty nosed” and a “right little madam”, much to her dismay. After the weeks of dirty looks (despite little to no actual confrontation), Sean brings a breath of fresh air. With him nearby, you know exactly where you stand and whether anyone in the vicinity is plotting against you.

“Please, Y/N,” groans Arthur into his hands one evening. “Please tell me you ain’t makin’ friends with that bastard.”

“Why?” you ask, genuinely surprised. “Isn’t he like a little brother to you?”

“Yeah, but not in a good way.” He moves his hands to give you a look of despair. “What’s wrong with Lenny? Or Tilly? Or Mary Beth?”

“Karen’s fun,” you muse, earning yourself another groan.

“Always with the loud drunkards,” he grumbles.

“Mmhm, and what was it Dutch said? When you go missing he checks the saloon, and if you’re not there he checks the jail?”

“Shurrup.” He wraps an arm around your waist and pulls you onto his body, grinning as you protest, laughing.

“Don’t play innocent - Hosea’s been telling me stories!”

“Ahh, don’t go listening to him. He spins stories for a living, and anyway I was a kid in most of them.”

“And the stories I’ve heard from Lenny?” you smirk, still fighting despite it proving futile with you laughing so much. He growls, peppering your exposed skin with kisses as you wrestle playfully.

You cry out when a flailing limb makes contact with one of your swollen breasts. Arthur immediately releases you, watching you with concern as you try to rub out the punch without swearing.

“Y’alright?”

“Fine,” you huff. “Just sensitive is all.”

“I’m sorry - shouldn’t be playing so rough with you when you’re… in the way tha’ you are.”

“It’s fine, Arthur,” you repeat firmly, staring him down. “I’m fine. You didn’t knock my stomach, so we’re fine. Like I said, I’m just sensitive.”

He hums doubtfully.

Following a shootout with the Pinkertons and the law in the middle of Valentine, Dutch had ordered the camp out of Horseshoe Overlook and ushered you south east into the state of Lemoyne. On the other side of Dewberry Creek, Arthur and Charles had scouted a hideout chistened Clemens Point. Arthur hadn’t been the keenest to tell you that story, but you had weaseled it out of him.

Micah had recommended the dried out river bed, but when Charles and Arthur had arrived to scout it, there was an abandoned camp nearby, complete with a dead body. Whilst trying to assess the location’s risk to a group of outlaws should they move in, Arthur had moved some crates to find a woman with her two children.

“I guess I saw you,” he mumbled sadly, avoiding eye contact. “An’ the mess I might leave you in one day.”

You rubbed his shoulder patiently. “What happened?”

“I told ‘em to go ‘cause we needed the land.”

You were confused by the guilt still plaguing him and told him so. With a heavy sigh, he described how the girl translated her mother - that their father had been kidnapped and how it took Charles insisting otherwise to convince him to go look.

“So it’s really thanks to him we found this place,” he says gesturing at the open space bordered with woodland and lake.

If anything, you prefer this new destination to Horseshoe Overlook, and not just for the absence of bad memories. You love the sense of freedom swimming gives you: how it makes you weightless, how easy it is to tilt your head back and listen to the low rumble of the earth and water. You also enjoy that the road is more than a stone’s throw away here. A wanderer would have to purposely go out of their way to discover the camp, to hear the noise or see the light of the campfires. Clemen’s Point made you feel safe, even with the occasional canoe sailing by with a wave.

The new location lifted everyone’s spirits. So much so, Dutch dragged Arthur and Hosea out fishing. They returned hours later - singing and surprisingly sober - with deputy badges and a boat load of fish. Whilst the shiny badge continues to earn Arthur a lot of gib from you and everyone else in camp, Dutch insists the news is beyond fantastic.

“We are inaugurated in the local law!” he cries during one of his many speeches. “Hiding in plain sight!”

Still tired and snacking throughout your waking hours, you are relieved to find your morning sickness has passed its peak. Whilst you feel like your veins are popping out of your skin, Arthur insists your stomach is beginning to curve. You accuse him of an overzealous imagination until you try (and fail) to button the jeans from your past life as an O’Driscoll and your shirts that still fasten offer little to no breathing room.

“Think a trip to town is in order.” You jut out your bottom lip, demonstrating the distance between the buttons and their corresponding holes as your lover looks on laughing.

“I think you might be right.” You don’t resist as his fingertips tilt your chin up to plant a kiss on your lips. “Let me go see if Pearson’s got a list and we’ll head out. Think they’ll do another couple hours?”

“Don’t really have a choice,” you grumble, stealing Arthur’s worn blue shirt from under the cot. You can hear Sadie and Pearson bickering even from the edge of camp, so it doesn’t surprise you when Arthur’s tone cuts through the noise.

“-ain’t cooking work?”

Looking over, you see Arthur has taken the expostulating Mrs Adler aside. You look away quickly - there’s no reason to ruin an acceptable day by agitating her enough to start shouting at you too. Her and Pearson have been at each other’s necks since she’s pulled herself out of the worst of her depression, almost as though he has become the target of her grief.

You focus your attention on preparing the cart. A trip to town means a trip for supplies, and with so many mouths to feed, horseback wasn’t a viable option.

"How are you, Miss?"

You turn around, surprised at being addressed directly by someone other than Arthur. Seeing Kieran’s familiar pastiness relaxes you a little. As an ex-O’Driscoll himself, you trusted him the most not to stab you after Arthur and the little boy, Jack.

"Fine," you reply flatly, brushing out the tangles of the shire’s mane.

"We ain't really had much time to talk since we was in Tall Trees a few months back, have we?" You hum in response, trying not to flash any amount of flesh by moving too much. The poor boy was skittish enough. He immediately begins to help you, being the horse fan he is.

"I never even suspected a thing, Miss,” he gushes. “So I bet you anything Ol' Colm won't have neither."

"So you two were close, huh?" You barely contain the sarcasm.

He shrugs off the question awkwardly. "Which feller was you again?"

"Well I must’ve been good if you have to ask." You feed the shire a carrot, avoiding eye contact. "I was Thomas," you admit quietly. The following silence is prolonged. Doubtful.

“Thomas Donoghue?” You shrug your shoulders. “So you were friends with Paeder then?”

“Peter?” You respond coolly. “Never knew him.”

He opens his mouth as if to argue, but Arthur is marching across camp, shouting back over his shoulder to Mrs Adler. Spooked, Kieran bolts to a safe distance, doing nothing but look on as Arthur helps you up onto the back of the cart.

Acknowledging you with a sneer, the other woman takes her place on the bench up front. “So I’ve graduated from choppin’ vegetables to shopping?”

“Shut your goddamn mouth…” grumbles Arthur, reins in hand as the cart moves off. You give Kieran a small, apologetic wave farewell, but it’s difficult to contain the relief of your companions’ timing. Paeder was a private matter, and one which you had no desire to discuss out loud. You’re sure the shaky man meant no harm, but some things were better buried.

“You cooled down then, yet?” Arthur asks the widow, distracting you from your thoughts.

“I guess,” she grumbles. “And I ain’t no scullion! And I sure as hell ain’t takin’ orders from that sweating halfwit!”

You can almost hear his eyes roll. “Well I guess we all gotta do our share, princess.”

“Where’s that letter?”

“Oh, you reading his mail now?”

Sadie throws him a dirty look. “Robbing and killing’s ok, but letter reading’s where we draw the line?”

You stifle a smirk as Arthur pulls it from the inside of his coat, knowing he’s been had. “Here.”

“Dear Aunt Cathy-”

“You are somethin’ else…”

“I haven’t heard from you in some time, so I prayed to the Lord above that your health has not deteriorated further… bla bla bla… s’boring… Oo! Wait a sec, listen to this! Since we last corresponded, I have travelled widely, making no small name for myself.” You all laugh out loud. “Before you ask, I am still yet to take a wife, but I can assure you it is not for lack of suitors.” Arthur barks out laughing again as Sadie giggles. “He ever actually talked to a woman he ain’t paid for?” she asks in disbelief.

“Look, we’re all hiding behind something.” Whilst his tone advises the limit of fun has been reached, the smile is still audible.

“And what’s this? Return to Tacitus Kilgore?”

“Oh that? That’s Dutch’s idea. All mail to be sent to the same alias. Whenever we set up somewhere new, Strauss, he heads into town, tells them to start expecting mail from a Tacitus Kilgore or whatever they changed it to… Here, gimme that back. We got work to do.”

You all sit quietly as the cart rolls into Rhodes. The locals watch you, wary of the unfamiliar faces, but you keep your head high. Strangers smell weakness. It’s better to come off aloof and avoid trouble than to present as vulnerable and be beaten down at every turn.

“Ok, here we are.”

“So what’s the plan?” Mrs Adler points a pistol at the side of the building, squeezing one eye shut as she gauges the iron sights. “I shoot the shopkeeper, while you-?”

“No! You insane?”

“Well I thought we was outlaws…?”

“Outlaws! Not idiots!" he hisses, pushing down the gun as he looks around for any witnesses. "We rob fools that rob other people! These people- they’re just tryna get by! So you head on in there, and you buy us some food to eat. And no guns.”

“Are you sure?”

“This time.” The two of you share a look again as he helps you down. “There’ll be plenty o’ time for killin’ soon enough.”

“What are you doin’?”

“I’m gonna go check the mail, nothin’ exciting.”

Sadie shrugs and saunters off. Arthur sighs and shakes his head, touching your arm. "You gonna be alright?"

"Here's hopin'."

"Any trouble, holler. Stay outta her way best you can though, alright?"

Knowing that his concern lies with your companion's open hatred for anything remotely O'Driscoll rather than your ability to defend yourself, you nod. Blowing him a cheeky kiss, he waves back at you with a grin as you enter the general store.

"-flour, oats, salt, eggs, apples if you have them..."

"Sure, not a problem,” responds the shopkeeper as he begins to gather the goods. “Big family, have you?"

"Somethin' like that." Mrs Adler barely spares you a glance as the titter of the doorbell announces your presence. "And you sell clothes?"

So Arthur had explained to her your purpose for the journey. You're flattered, if a little bewildered at this kind gesture. From the looks she’s been giving you, you’re surprised she has buried the hatchet of your past so quickly.

"We do. Not the widest range of ladies fashion, I'm afraid."

"That's alright. I'll look at everything you got."

"Of course, Mrs…?"

"Kilgore," she smirks, turning to bat her eyelids at you. You realise then that her request is completely unrelated to you. Why wouldn’t it be? You’re not the only person that has been swept into the Van der Linde gang with little more than what you were wearing on your back. From Arthur’s story, she escaped with nothing more than her wedding ring and her nightclothes, so it’s only natural that she is also in need of a new wardrobe. "What? You don't even trust me to handle the shopping by myself?"

"You're not the only one in need of new clothes, Mrs Ad- Kilgore." You force a polite smile at the sales clerk whilst Mrs Adler browses the shelves dully. "What are the biggest sizes you have in stock? Any maternity wear by chance?"

"Ain't many women round here makin' babies," he sighs, pulling out a few options. You can feel Sadie's eyes burning past you at the pile. "You're best tryin' Saint Denis or ordering outta the catalogue. There's a tailor in Blackwater I heard is pretty good for that sorta thing, but it's quite the journey-"

"Too far for me, I fear." You flick through the pages as Mrs Adler leaves to try a few things on from the pile in front of you. Writing a quick list with estimated sizing, you purchase the largest button up shirt and skirt for sale. The trousers will have to wait for another day - you know investing twenty dollars in a pair that you'll breach the waistline of in a matter of weeks is a luxury you can't especially afford right now.

Mrs Adler on the other hand spares little expense with a sturdy pair of jeans. Finally out of the cumbersome skirts, her whole character changes and suddenly you feel the same pit of dread you did when faced with a full camp of spitting Van der Lindes all those weeks ago.

Intimidated, you step outside whilst she settles the bill. You take a short wander up the main road, taking in the familiar buildings with apathy. Who would have thought you would end up here again? Now you’re not so apprehensive about your life span, you can see how rundown this dusty crumbling town is. The few shops that are open have seen better days, and the best kept building is the bank. You feel your skin crawl as you spot the large parlour houses on the horizon. Of course this place is struggling to survive - anywhere that profited from slave labour deserved to rot. Part of you hopes it’s slow perilous march to abandonment continues: it would be disappointingly merciful to see a place be lost to one good shoot out.

“I’ve birthed foals with more strength than you!” Mrs Adler’s cursing sinks your stomach as you navigate your way back to the store where a man is helping her load the cart. “Hell, my sister’s newborn had more strength than you and he came out bright blue!”

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder!”

Spotting Arthur, who is strolling back himself, fills you with relief. The shopkeeper walks back to the porch, checking the list before walking back. “I think this is everything,” he says, swinging the sack of salt on the cart.

“Thanks… here, take that for yourself, okay.” She flicks a silver coin and he catches it out of the air, scowling.

“Thanks,” he spits.

“Well, give it back then! Jesus! I didn’t ask for his goddamn help..." She pushes the sack on more securely to stop it rolling off when the cart moves. “OK, get on. I’m about done here.”

“Why don’t you drive?” suggests Arthur coolly after making sure you’re sat safely amongst the supplies. “C’mon lady, get a move on.”

She scowls as she takes the reins. “I like Sadie, not lady.”

“I know. So you get everything?”

“I think so.”

“And some… new clothes, I see?”

“Don’t start,” she sighs, the heat returning to her voice. “I can wear what I damn well want. Like I told you, my husband and I shared all the work. I wasn’t some little wife with a flower in her hair baking cherry pies all day.”

“Yeah, I don’t doubt that. You sure look the part now. Won’t be long before you’re smoking cigars and playin’ the harmonica.”

“I’ll have you know I used to love playing the harmonica before… well… my house and everything I owned got burned to the ground.”

“I know... I’m real sorry. About what you… you know. Maybe I’ll keep my eye out for another one.”

“I don’t want no pity,” she snaps. “Just… treat me equal and know… nobody’s taking nothing from me ever again.”

Arthur hums in comradery. “Just don’t kill the camp cook…”

A horse gallops up alongside you. “Hey there! What are you folks up to?”

“Just heading home,” says Arthur casually, adding a quiet “keep it cool, Sadie”.

“You’re in Lemoyne Raider country. You need to pay a toll to pass through here.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“You don’t think so?” The hairs on the back of your neck prickle at the anticipation of conflict. You realise with a sinking stomach that you’re completely unarmed. “How about you pull over right now?”

“Pull over?” he repeats incredulously. Your eyes scan the bags and boxes around you. There has to be something here that can double as a weapon of some kind.

“That’s what I said.”

“Hey!” calls Sadie coolly. “How’s about this?”

A pistol cracks and the Lemoyne Raider cries out in pain. She ushers the horses on with a Go, go, go! as Arthur stands up, drawing his revolvers and firing. You duck down as bullets fly over your head, your hands scrambling for anything that could be of use.

“What the hell was that?” cries Arthur furiously.

“They was gonna rob us!”

“A new pair of pants and you think you’re Landon Ricketts!” He curses loudly as more men run out in the road ahead.

“I’m gonna run this son of a bitch down!” she shouts, pulling the wagon over one raider and off the road.

“Well you wanted to see some action, lady, now you got your wish!” Arthur slings his longarm from his back and shoves it in your direction as he continues to fire. You can see more men coming out from between the trees and you take aim, knocking them down one by one as Arthur clips off any extras over your head.

“You alright there, Sadie?” you shout over the gunfire. Arthur is still firing behind you, but she’s out of your line of sight from where you’re crouched behind sacks of grain.

“Of course! You think I can’t handle these fools?” You don’t retaliate and you can almost hear her voice aim at Arthur. “Told you I could shoot a gun, didn’t I?”

“I don’t remember asking you to prove it,” he grunts, tossing you extra ammo just in case. The last bastard is fleeing south down the dirt track. You take aim, but he’s out of range.

“Yeah you run, you goddamn coward!” screams Sadie before taking a steadying breath. “I think we’re good here. Nice shooting. I’ll drive us back-”

“No! Pass those reins here!”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve caused enough trouble already.”

She doesn’t find grounds to argue, instead looking back at you, her face straight and unreadable. “We showed those bastards, huh?”

“Remind me not to get on your bad side,” Arthur scowls.

“They was clearly plannin’ to bushwhack us!” she argues, facing forward again.

“You did good, but that’s a lotta mess to make near camp. Hope it don’t bring anyone sniffin’ around.”

“Are you gonna tell Dutch?” she asks mockingly.

“Maybe… if he asks. But, maybe not.”

“So who did they say they were? Lemoyne Raiders?”

“Yeah, somethin’ like that. Who knows… Anyway, don’t you go ribbing Pearson about that letter.”

“How dare you? I wouldn’t dream of it!”

“Riiight, you wouldn’t…”

“I have travelled widely, making no small name of myself…”

Arthur laughs. “I won’t be giving you no mail to post any time soon, that’s for sure.”

She chuckles too. “I just wanna peak in that journal of yours. The mind boggles.”

“Not a chance…”

“You didn’t get yourself killed then, Miss Adler?” calls Pearson, strolling over smugly as Arthur pulls up near the horse station.

“Not quite,” she responds truthfully.

“Well, I’d like to say I missed your refined conversations, but I’d be lying.”

She accepts the box shoved into her chest without complaint. “I… I enjoyed myself out there.”

“Yes, we err… Mrs Adler did ok!” He holds up his arms and lifts you down gently by your waist.

“At shopping?”

“Yes, at shoppin’...”

The double meaning doesn’t go unrecognised by Sadie who thanks him with genuine gratitude.

“Don’t mention it. I would ride with you again, Mrs Adler, if you will ride with me.”

“Maybe,” she laughs. “If you prove you can handle yourself.”

“Well, they say I lack finesse, but I ain’t afraid of gun smoke.”

“We got this, Arthur. You’ve already done me a big favour today.” Turning to you with a smile, Arthur accepts the repeater you proffer. It’s best to remain unarmed for now - there’s no need to risk one of your lesser fans finding an excuse to regard you as a threat. “Okay, Miss High and Mighty. And… nice pants by the way.”

“You okay there, Y/N?” He wraps an arm around your waist, pulling you in close to his side. “You manage to find something too?”

“Just about,” you admit. “Had to put in an order. How long do you think we’ll be around here for?”

“Until we can’t most likely. Everything alright? They didn’t catch you or nothin’, did they?”

“Of course not, Arthur.” Your weak smile is genuine and heartfelt at his concern. “I’m not above shouting when I’m shot.”

“‘Course not.” He rubs your back, leading you back to your shared tent. “You gonna try them on, or what?”

“Nah, I figure I might as well make the most of still being able to fit in this stuff, even if it’s only for a few more days.”

He laughs, pulling you into a big hug. “Fair enough.”

From under his arm, you spot the rousing attention of Herr Strauss nearby. You nudge him in warning, but it’s too late.

“Ah, Herr Morgan! How are you enjoying yourself out here?”

“Well enough, I guess,” he replies gruffly. “And you?”

“Well, it turns out the pursuit of freedom is not a cheap business. Not for us, and not for some of the locals.”

“Sharking, already?”

“I prefer to call it banking.”

“You ain’t the one handing out the beatings,” snarls Arthur.

“No, but I am the one feeding the women and children in the camp,” he retorts. “What choice do we have, Mr Morgan?”

Arthur sighs. “Ah, I don’t know. Well, come on then! Tell me who…”

You stop listening as Strauss reads off a list of names, and only tune back in to hear Arthur ask how many he expects to be able to pay.

“With enough encouragement, both of them!” he chuckles, his black eyes twinkling from behind the round spectacles.

Sighing, Arthur returns to where you’re sat on the camp bed. “I’m sorry, darlin’. I’d best be gettin’ on.”

“Don’t worry about it.” You stand up to kiss him. “The gang comes first.”

He grimaces at that, but doesn’t dispute it. You give him another kiss for good luck and wave him out camp before dropping the flaps, not missing the glare of bitterness from Sadie across camp.

#red dead fic #rdr2 fanfic #rdr2 fic #red dead fanfic #arthur morgan x female reader #arthur morgan x reader #arthur morgan x o'driscoll #meowdymista

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fullmetaldevil-blog · 5 years

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Batim Stitched Au Short: A Gift of Water and Light

The 4th of July is rapidly approaching and everyone wanted to make the summer holiday special for the two demons. A little discovery goes a long way towards the holiday and with the new found information they were willing to go all out to make the most of the situation.

*Authors notes: I had planned on having this short finished BEFORE the 4th of July but as they say ‘life gets in the way’ so I didn’t get it out in time.

so without further interruptions

On with the show~!

The town shopping center was bustling with life as people came and went with party supplies for the coming weekend. Norman couldn't help but grin ear to ear as Janice, Benny's neighbor, had called him up asking him to help her set up a barbecue at the elderly home for the 4th of July weekend. She had invited Wally, Sammy, Susie, Bendy, Benny and their respective families to join them for the 4th of July celebration. The care giver happily boasted about having the best seats in the valley to watch the fireworks and she wanted the toon's first summer holiday celebration to be special. While the toon's couldn't swim and the adults were all told to bring swim gear, Janice had other festivities planned to more then make up for their inability to get too close to the water.

So now Norman found himself in the nearby art store to help pick up supplies for decorations while Janice was doing her best to keep a tight lid on the grandmas. As soon as the elderly ladies found out the 'kids' had been invited to celebrate the holiday with them they went into overdrive with making sure the party went off without a hitch, even if it was giving Janice a few more Grey hairs. The Projectionist drifted down the red, white and blue decorated isles picking up extra summer themed items when he passed by a display of items that were on sale. While normally he wasn't interested in the art supplies, a bottle with a unique label caught his attention. He approached the stand and gingerly lifted a bottle reading 'sealer' he turned it over reading what it was supposed to do.

To his surprise the liquid was used to waterproof artworks and finishes helping to preserve them. A small memory came to his mind of him watching both Benny and Bendy down ink on several different occasions. Bendy had a funny habit of downing colored ink and at one point he drank enough yellow ink and with some concentration, he had managed to turn his face, gloves and bow tie yellow like Benny. He even had Benny jokingly draw his stitches in ink on the toons face and they tried to act like there were two Benny's to fool their respective parents. They didn't get far once Allison held out a container of food with the real Benny eagerly at her side, the woman knowing how to lure her toon to exactly where she wanted him. Norman chuckled at the memory of Henry putting away Bendy's collection of colored ink for awhile as punishment.

The projectionist's eyes returned to the bottle in his hand. If Bendy and Benny were able to consume art supplies would they be able to drink this to withstand water? It wasn't a secret that both toons couldn't handle too much water while Benny could withstand it a bit longer then Bendy. For grins he grabbed a few bottles and tossed them into his cart before making his way to the register to check out. Before going anywhere Norman found a pay phone and called Janice explaining what his plan was and she sounded elated at the idea. The elderly ladies all took turns taking to Norman and finalizing their plans for the toons should the sealer work, they still had a backup plan on the off chance it didn't. Once he hung up, he retreated to his van and headed down the road.

The mans first stop was Henry's since the man lived further away and he could pick Benny up on the way back to the home. He was thankful the traffic was light as it seemed that everyone was out of town making his drive to the animators house much faster. To his surprise Henry was out in his front yard watering some roses when the projectionists van pulled into his driveway, the older man waving at the animator.

"Norman, what brings you here?" Henry smiled at him while turning the water off, he quickly rolled up the hose and approached the van.

"Nothin' much. Is Bendy aroun'?" Norman grinned from the vehicle getting a raised brow from the animator.

Henry gestured to the house "He's inside reading last I saw. Why? What's up?”

"Thanks, though I was wonderin' if it be alright fer 'em t' hang wit' me fer a spell?" Norman politely inquired.

"Yeah, I'm sure he'd like to hang with you for a bit. Just make sure to have him home before dinner." Norman nodded at Henry's request and watched the animator head into the home.

He didn't wait too long as Bendy happily came bounding out the house and to the side of the van. Norman unlocked it for Henry as the animator helped the toon inside and made sure he was buckled up.

"Hi-yah! Norman!" Bendy happily chirped in his seat. "What brings you here?" Norman laughed and told the toon it was a secret earning a confused look, but he decided to take the man up on his word. He wasn't gonna lie, he really wanted to know! Bendy waved good bye to Henry as the vehicle pulled out the driveway and headed down the road to the highway for the hills.

Bendy instantly knew where they were going when the familiar hills came into view, they were going to Benny's house! He eagerly swayed in his seat in anticipation of rough housing with his counterpart. His eagerness ground to a halt and was replaced with confusion when Norman pulled into the driveway and told Bendy to stay put while he rolled down a window and went towards the house. The toon looked at the projectionist completely baffled at why he couldn't leave the van, but did as he was told and waited. A few brief minutes later Norman exited the home with Benny following him earning a grin from Bendy as the toon slowly got himself into position.

"Where are we going?" Benny inquired as he followed Norman to the van clearly unaware as to the other occupant.

Norman rested his hand on the door chuckling "It's a surprise." The man barely opened the door when a black blur charged out colliding into Benny sending them both rolling.

The toon squeaked in shock, but was replaced by laughter when he realized who it was "Bendy! What are you doing here?" The toon pushing the other off of him.

Bendy stood up and helped Benny to his feet before gesturing to Norman. "Norman brought me."

Benny looked up at the man confused. "What's going on?"

Norman scratched the back of his head. "Well I needed help on makin' some things and I was wonderin' if you boys wanted t' help out."

Both toons nodded eagerly and both were helped back into the van. once they were buckled up and ready to go, Norman returned to the driver seat to head down the road. To Benny and Bendy's surprise they drove to the elderly home and were promptly greeted and smothered by the elderly ladies. Norman had to swiftly follow the group inside with his bags from the store, lest the old ladies lock him out.

The toons were placed in the living room and were eagerly chatting with the ladies until Norman caught up with the group entering the room with a bag in hand setting it on a counter. Once he was there the ladies turned their attention to the man thus drawing the toons attention to him as well. Norman cleared his throat and the older ladies said their good-byes clearing the room and leaving behind two very confused demons.

Norman waved at the ladies before speaking "sorry t' drag you boys all th' way out 'ere but I wanted t' confirm somethin'." Both Benny and Bendy looked at each other with equal looks of confusion before giving Norman their undivided attention. "Now so I got mah facts strait, both you boys can drink ink correct?" Both demons nodded. "Now you" Norman pointed at Bendy "found tha' you can drink different inks and feel no effect from 'em except if ya get enough if it ya can change yer colorin' correct?"

Bendy nodded and politely asked "Where are ya goin' with this?"

Norman scratched the back of his head while sheepishly smiling "See I got this idea to see if you boys can handle a little water over the weekend." Both toons gave each other worried glances before looking at Norman with deep concern in their eyes. " Now befer ya'll get any ideas 'ear me out first. See I foun' this stuff." he reached into the bag on the counter and pulled out a bottle allowing the toons to read the label. "This is used to water proof artworks. Now I doubt its a permanent fix fer yer water problem, but I think it can give ya enough immunity to it t' go swimmin' with yer folks if ya get enough of it in ya."

Both toons looked at each other nervously, but also with twinges of curiosity. Both of them had to admit to small feelings of jealously at watching most normal people play at the pool and swim, especially when they watched small children learn how to swim and play with their parents. They couldn't deal with water too long even if they wanted to. Swimming looked so much like fun and they silently dreamed of the ability to swim with their respective parents, but that was just it. A dream.

Bendy dryly swallowed before looking up at Norman. "So what do we do with it?"

The man shrugged before looking at the bottle "I think you might be able to drink it and see if there are any changes, but if you boys aren't comfortable, we can nix the idea." Just as he was about to put the bottle back in the bag a gloved hand caught his.

Norman looked to see Bendy grasping onto his hand with a shaky grin. "I'll try it."

"I ain't forcin' ya to." Norman calmly spoke. He knew there were many questions about if it could work. The toons had legit reasons to be scared as water can easily thin the ink that makes up their bodies, plus they had always drank ink, they never once tried to drink any other art supply before.

"I want to try. I want to swim and have fun." Bendy gripped his hand a little harder. Norman soon found Benny's hand on his leg as the plush toon looked up at him expectantly as well. “Please?”

"A'ight 'ere's what we'll do. We'll try a small bit first t' see if it works, then we'll try with th' kitchen sink. Ok?" Both toon nodded and waited.

Norman walked over to the bar counter that separated the kitchen space from the dining room and set the bag down. He walked around the bar into the kitchen swiftly followed by the toons. He picked them up one by one and sat them on top the bar before he opened up a bottle of the sealer and handed it to Bendy. The demon looked at the bottle and lightly sniffed it finding no real odor. He carefully brought the bottle to his lips and cautiously drank some of the liquid finding that it was quite bitter. He shuttered at the taste, but if it was to allow him to touch water safely then he'll cope. All the while he was under the watchful eye of both Benny and Norman.

"Well?" Norman asked looking at the toon.

Bendy closed his eyes and concentrated on the liquid now within his body, he willed it to cover his arm and to the groups surprise Bendy's arm took a light sheen to it, like someone had polished the toons inky skin somehow.

"Bendy! Look!" Benny's voice causing Bendy to look at his arm. He was shocked at the shine on his arm and held it up to examining it with a wide grin on his face. It worked!

Norman let out the breath he had been holding and chuckled "Well now, we gotta see if th' stuff works."

Benny extended his arms and grabbed a hold of Norman's shoulders and pulled himself up onto the mans back to watch while Norman scooped Bendy off the counter and turned on the water in the faucet. Upon seeing the sink filling up with water Bendy froze up with fear clear in his eyes.

"W-What if it doesn't work?" The toon lightly grasping onto Norman's shirt. Bendy stared at the clear fluid and the last thing he wanted to was to lose a hand to the stuff. While he could easily replace a lost limb with enough ink the process to do so was excruciating.

The man looked down and patted Bendy between his horns and turned the toon to look at him in the eyes. “Well I'm 'ere should anythin' go wrong. If it bother's ya don' hesitate t' say somethin' so I can pull ya away."

The demon nodded and looked at his arm that had a shine from the sealer he drank. He inspected his arm one last time and slowly and carefully dipped his fingers into the water. He fully expected to have to rip his had away once it starts to melt causing excruciating pain, but he felt nothing. His hand was perfectly intact and he tested it by wiggling his arm around in the water splashing about. He was fine! He was completely fine!

The demon turned looking up at Norman flashing him a wide grin "It worked!"

"Let me try, let me try please!" Benny tried to crawl over Normans head, but the man caught the toon with his other hand and lifted him up and over.

Norman chuckled at the eagerness of the toon "ok, ok, ok hold yer horses." He lowered Benny allowing the toon to grasp the remainder of the bottle and waited patiently while the toon downed the liquid. He chuckled at seeing Benny's reaction to the taste of the liquid with the toon uttering small complaints about it apparently being quite bitter and no better then drinking bacon soup. Just how bad was the stuff?

Bendy told Benny to concentrate on the liquid and to focus on having his ink push the fluid to coat his arm like he had. The demon nodded and closed his eyes focusing and in a short time his arm developed a small sheen as the fluid mixed in with his fabric skin. Benny opened his eyes to inspect his arm noting the glossy surface and beamed up at Norman, confirming that his arm was ready. Norman nodded and slowly lowered the toon to the sink. Benny took a glance at this arm and slowly lowered his hand into the water and after a minute he was happily swishing his arm around in the water. Soon both demons were happily splashing water about and even got a little on each other as well as the floor.

"A'ight you two" Norman lifted them away from the sink. "We need t' figure out 'ow long this lasts an' if ya can cover more then just yer arms."

Both demons nodded and set about drinking more of the sealer while Norman wiped up the water on the floor. They discovered that they can cover their entire body with the coating except their eyes so Norman made a mental note to get the demons a pair of goggles to solve that problem. He made them promise not to say anything to their parents until the weekend. Both devils were confused, but consented and once Norman was sure they had agreed, he set up a sprinkler for the two to play in the back yard. The man sat back and watched them play for a good hour happily running in and out the sprinkler and he even had to butt in at one point when Bendy grabbed the hose and chased Benny. The mans reward for trying to save the plushtoon was him getting soaked instead. The projectionist retaliated by grabbing the 2nd garden hose and all but drowned the little ink demon in retaliation. Once Bendy learned his lesson about messing with the man, Norman returned to watching them play while letting his clothes dry. Janice came to the back of the house to call the boys back inside to help with the decorations and to turn off the water. She was met with a mini chorus of 'awwwws' but seeing the elderly ladies moving to the dining room to begin making decorations spurred the toons into coming inside. Norman left the toons in the ladies care while he set about what he really was called over for.

With the demon's out of the way, Janice met Norman on the side of the house and helped open up the crate that had been delivered. Both of them stood back admiring the grill and smoker she had bought with the man's help. Since becoming good friends with both the toons respective families and the elderly ladies adopting the toons as their grandchildren, the families often gathered at the elderly home for a holiday or a weekend. It was beneficial for everyone since it was such a large home and the amount of love within. Janice wanted to make the summer holiday special and went out of her way to find a grill and smoker set large enough that could feed everyone. The pair eagerly grinned at each other rolled up their sleeves and went to work. Norman pulled out the parts and started assembling them while Janice fingered through the instructions reading them aloud and slowly the smoker and grill was put together. They didn't want the toons knowing the grill was there so with a bit of effort they rolled it deeper to the side of the house and covered it with a tarp. Once they were done Norman glanced at his watch.

"Well it's 'bout that time." Norman tiredly shrugged.

"Thanks for the help Norman" Janice smiled while walking with him back to the house.

"No problem, 'sides I wanna see 'em have fun." He chuckled as they came to the door and stopped seeing the table covered in a mound of summer themed decorations and two toons sleeping in their chairs. The ladies beckoned the pair to come and to take the 'tuckered out boys' home.

With small whispers of 'thanks' Norman gathered up the sleeping devils and noticed that the shiny coating that was on their bodies has begun to fade. He checked his watch and noted that the sealer seemed to last for up to 5 hours with them. That would be more then enough time for the weekend activities before the real show begins. With the final farewells given, he left the home and set the sleeping demons in the van and drove down the road. He first stopped at Benny's house dropping him off and then headed to Bendy's home dropping him off before heading home himself.

---- 4th of July -----

The weekend hadn't come soon enough for Bendy as he eagerly ran about the home helping Henry pack the SUV with food. Linda had spent the previous day cooking extra food that was to be brought with them and more then once she had to fend off her husband and demon. It had even gotten to a point to where Henry and Bendy had to tag team her to sneak a bite of the morrow's meal before getting swatted away. Linda even placed a bunch of chairs at the kitchen doorways to block her husband from entering till she heard a splash and saw Bendy's Ink Demon form pop out of one of his dark doorways snagging 2 cookies. He froze when he realized she was standing right next to him armed with a broom, she swatted the demon playfully on the head chasing him back into his dark door. Bendy popped out into the living room holding the two cookies for which both he and Henry happily enjoyed while under Linda's watchful glare. After that the pair made it a point to stay away lest they end up on the wrong side of Linda's broom and once she pulled out the long handle skillet the argument was over.

On the other end of town Tom and Allison were loading up several roll away coolers with food while Benny carefully stowed away drinks and small dishes within his hammerspace. He wanted to sneak some of the food so bad, but was willing to wait till he got to the Grandma's house. Plus Norman had warned him not to eat too much before their planned event, but by golly he couldn't wait! Allison had been asked to make pies and small side dishes that he had never seen before. He asked about several of the food items that had been made and was told that they are items typically made for summer parties as they are light and easy finger food. Tom had surprisingly enough behaved himself despite the spread since he said that once he got there he was hitting the pool and couldn't afford a bunch of food in his stomach. When Benny asked him why, his answer was that humans would cramp up if they went swimming after a meal and he wanted to save the food for later.

--- At the home ---

Norman and Janice buzzed about the home preparing the house and warming up the grill. The pair stood before the fully set up grill marveling at all the meats and veggies that were slowly cooking on it. Norman had come the previous day to marinade the meats in his self proclaimed 'special down home seasonings' as well as to drop off the needed supplies for the grill so they wouldn't have to make any last minute store runs. Janice left Norman to attend to the grill while she retreated into the home and pulled out two gift bags looking them over with joy. The Grandma's had found out that Norman's experiment was a success and they immediately pooled their money together and bought both toons swim sets and toys to play with in the water. While the older ladies themselves couldn't swim they were more then happy to sit pool side and watch their grand kids swim in their place.

Soft knocking on the door followed by small curses let Janice know that their first set of guests had arrived. With a spring to her step she opened the door to be greeted by Allison and to see Tom struggling with balancing all the coolers while Benny was trying to help him pull them up the small hill to the door.

"Welcome everyone!" Janice cheered at the crowd and was briefly hugged by Allison.

"Thanks for the invite Janice." The actress smiled as she handed over some of the bags of food, before turning to try and help her husband.

Benny darted past Tom leaving the man to struggle alone before going into the home. Once he was inside he transformed into his Ragdoll form and from the safety of the home he extended his arms outside and relieved Tom of all the coolers, the man patted Ragdoll's large hands as they withdrew into the home.

"Thanks Benny." Tom patted the Ragdoll demon on his shoulder when he finally got inside the house.

Benny happily hummed at the gesture handing over the coolers to Janice and Allison before a horn honked outside grabbing the demon's attention. Tom watched as Benny's attention was drawn outside and the demon stayed deadlocked on it. A grin swept across his face as the cords that kept his arms together once again lengthened coiling on the ground. Tom lifted a brow and looked past the devil to see Henry's SUV had just pulled up in front of the house.

"Hey old coot!" Tom cheekily hollered at the slightly older man stepping out the vehicle.

Henry waved from the side of the truck before turning to fiddle with it's contents along side Linda. Bendy exited the vehicle and immediately spotted Ragdoll in the shadows of the doorway and wanted to play with him as he kept eyeing the demondoll, but relented and needed to help Henry. Linda and Henry slowly pulled out all the things they packed away and were met by a large pair of gloved hands that drifted over to take their luggage. The man smiled looking over at Benny who was gathering up their baggage to spare them from carrying them.

"Thanks Benny." The man patted the hands before they withdrew into the house.

Henry and Linda gathered up the last of their bags while Bendy followed Ragdoll's hands back into the house to help put food away. As soon as the older animator and his wife stepped through the threshold into the home they were greeted by various smells of the food already there along with the faint smoky smell of the grill.

"So happy you're here!" Janice approached the couple with wide arms hugging the both of them.

Benny reverted back to his toon form and went chasing after Bendy as they went running into the living room to go play nearly running Norman over whom had come inside at the sounds of the two demons. The man telling them to slow down a bit as the house wasn't going anywhere.

With the two demons out of the way Janice pulled Henry and Linda aside before grabbing Tom and Allison as well. Making sure they were out of ear shot of the toons she told them of Norman's experiment and how it had worked. Naturally the parents questioned the stability of the events and Norman joined them to answer any and all questions. He told them of how the sealer worked and that he personally supervised them playing in the sprinklers and hosing each other with the spare gardening hose. The more information Norman provided about their experiment and the general time limit that he had discovered the parents relaxed while a glint of eagerness shown in their eyes. They had been told to bring swim gear and now hearing that the toons would be able to swim with them added on to their eagerness.

Once the group was done chatting, they slowly drifted into the living room and was met by both Benny and Bendy running up to them wearing a pair of swim trunks each and a set of goggles around their pie cut eyes. Benny wore purple swim trunks with a yellow and black crisscross pattern on the rim of the shorts and sported purple goggles. Bendy wore yellow swim trunks with a simple black trim and wore yellow goggles on his shimmering pie cut eyes. The group could hardly contain their laughter as the toons eagerly bounced around them begging to go swimming. Norman had to catch them and made sure they each drank a copious amount of the sealer and to wait a bit for it to set in.

While the two devils impatiently waited for the sealer to do it's job, a ring of the bell caught their attention and they rushed to the door to find Tom already opening it.

“SAMMY!” Both toons practically flew out of the doorway earning a yelp from the man, but he was just fast enough to side step the lunging demons.

“Do you have to do that every time you see me!?” The irate musical director questioned as he was holding a fruit bowl out of harms way and was thankful he didn't get tackled by the toons or else the food was done for.

“Quit complaining song bird and get inside already.” Tom gestured for the man to come inside.

“Nice to see you too Mr. Connor” Sammy groaned as he warily heading inside the home with both Bendy and Benny following the man in his shadow. Sammy repeatedly looked over his shoulder to be met with two sets of grins earning a small whimper from him as he was led into the kitchen. He noted the outfits the little devils wore, but with their mischievous pie cut eyes watching him he wasn't about to question their attire and assumed that they were dressed for the occasion. Norman happily greeted the musical director and showed him round back where both Allison and Linda had already changed into their swim suits. Sammy smiling at the two women “I see you ladies and demons are all ready for the pool.”

“Yep, are you gonna swim Sammy?” Linda inquired while looking over the former director. The man wore a simple shirt, pants and shoes and clearly didn't look like he was gonna hit the water any time soon. He didn't even look like he was dressed for the summer at all.

“Nope. I don't feel like swimming.” The man shrugged answered before a hand landed on his shoulder. Sammy turned to see Henry grinning at him simply uttering 4 little words. 'not on my watch'.

Much to the musicians protest, Sammy was led away to another room of the house to change since Janice had bought quite a few swim sets for both the men and woman. It was a pool party and she meant it. The two ladies could hear the shrill cries of the musical director as Henry clearly wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. While the two men were disposed of, Benny and Bendy got roped into helping Allison and Linda apply some sunscreen on their backs earning a nearly completely Grey face from Bendy and a pink face from Benny, both women laughed at how shy the toons were.

Wally and Susie were the last to arrive as Wally had offered to pick the woman up along the way. Both arrived already dressed and ready to go for the festivities. The former janitor came sporting a Hawaiian shirt shorts and even a lei as he bounded through the home with arms full of drinks and a black bag that he didn't want the toons playing with. When asked about the bag, it was opened to reveal various small fireworks. Norman naturally got on his case about the bag, but was told that he had brought them to provide a mini light show so the toons could watch since. He wanted to add a small personal touch to the evening hours festivities. Norman glanced at the bag with concern and made it a point to mention the evening plans to Henry, hoping the animator would be ok with the fireworks.

Susie had brought several fruit platters and arrived already wearing her swimsuit under her dress. As soon as she saw the other ladies already outside and ready to go she eagerly joined them getting hugs from the other ladies. Bendy and Benny thought they were free of the suntan lotion and tried to slip away, but Susie roped both boys into giving her the same treatment as their mothers. Both demons silently swore to themselves that they would never go near the stuff again.

Sammy finally exited the changing room looking paler then normal, with Henry following right behind him looking pleased with himself. The musical director had been changed into a pair of black and white swim trunks with little musical notes swirling around them. The man became irate when all the woman snickered at the choice of attire for the man.

“looking good Sammy” Linda snickered while Allison blatantly laughed and Susie's smile was cracking.

“It's wasn't my choice!” The now red faced Sammy shouted.

“Oh shut up and march” Henry lightly nudged the musical director to the gate of the pool area. “You coming Wally?”

“Nah, I can't swim, but I'll be more then happy to mind the eats while you all swim.” Wally pointed at the grill next to the pool. “And besides, I'll still be able to have fun with ya.”

Once Benny and Bendy were done with Susie they eagerly ran up to their respective mothers and asked if it was ok to go swimming which naturally earned a concerned look from the remaining guests. Norman took a moment to explain to the party what they discovered all the while the toons were glued to the gate leading to the pool.

“So your telling me that the little hell spawns can swim now?” Sammy groaned at the mere thought as Tom opened up the gate letting Bendy and Benny though. “Nothing is sacred anymore.”

“They aren't 'hell spawns', and yes they can at least learn now.” Tom motioned for the group to enter the pool area with Sammy being the last to enter.

Allison inflated a few floaties and had Benny and Bendy both put them on while Susie slowly dipped into the water happily sighing at it's cool feel. Norman pulled Henry aside briefly explaining the later events to the man earning a small groan from him but told Norman that he had come prepared on that off chance. Once Henry was fine and dipped into the pool, Norman took up a spot on the beach chairs as he was working on his 'tan' and to play 'life guard' despite the pool being full of adults and two 30 year old toons.

“Aren't you coming in Sammy?” Susie swam out further into the pool before swimming to it's edge looking at her former boss giving her the sweetest doe eyes she could muster.

“No. I didn't come to swim nor had I planned on it. I shall gladly take a seat right he-” Sammy didn't get to finish his sentence as both Benny and Bendy eagerly tackled the man sending him and both demon's over the edge, the man howling in frustration and surprise as he fell into the pool.

The entire party burst into laughter at the misfortunes of their musical director and laughed even harder when the man scrambled out the pool like a wet cat. “NOT FUNNY!” Sammy shrieked at the rest of the group earning more laughter and a pair of grins floating at the edge of the pool eyeing the man.

Allison and Linda both swam over and collected their respective demons from the edge of the pool and to relieve Sammy of them. Each woman floated in the shallow end teaching the toons the basics of swimming. Allison scowled at Tom as the man went running into the pool doing a full on canon ball kicking up a lot of waves that was making the toons struggle a bit with the choppy waters. Bendy kept eyeing Henry as he wanted to swim with him, but couldn't since the man was in the deep end and even though he had floaters around his arms, Linda didn't want to take the chance. Henry noted that Bendy kept watching him had a little idea, he swam up to his wife and toon gently taking Bendy from Linda's grasp. He floated on his back while having Bendy ride on his stomach while the man did a few lazy circles in the deep end. Benny feeling a bit jealous at his counterpart looked over at his father and Tom realized what the little toon wanted, but he had a different idea. The man had Allison swim to the deep end while he dove beneath the surface earning a confused sound from Benny. The noise turned into a shocked squeak when Tom swam beneath him grabbing him by his feet and pushed off the bottom of the pool launching Benny into the air sending the toon flying into the deep end with a splash. Allison was right there to scoop up the toon as he was shocked by the action, but quickly wadded back to Tom to do it again since it was fun.

The group swam for hours with Sammy finally lightening up and joining them in the water with both Bendy and Benny wadding around him in the floaties like little demonic sharks. Sammy looked amused at the toons slow but steady paddling around him and even asked if Benny was taking after his father in doing the dog paddle. That comment earned him a beach ball to the face from the 'dog' in question. Janice relieved Wally of the grill and had him sit pool side while the group broke into a game of 'air ball'. The elderly ladies finally joined them and rested in the adjacent chairs with Norman while occasionally bouncing the beach ball back into the pool if it got knocked out. They were more then happy to watch the wide grins on the toons faces as they paddled around the pool playing with their parents and friends.

Norman and Susie decided to make a small game of 'fetch' earning a small scowl from Tom at the dog joke, but with the offering of money the man was more then willing to join in. Sammy lightly commented that this sort of pool game was right up Tom's alley earning a devious look from the man. Susie fetched a small bag of change from the elderly ladies and they took small brightly colored pool weights and placed a few coins within them. The name of the game was for everyone to stay at the edges of the pool and once the weight was tossed in at random that they were to dive for the weight and whatever change was inside was theirs to keep. Both toons groaned at not being able to dive for the change, but they cheered when they were told that not all the toys being used are weights as some of them will float as well to make it fair.

Once Susie and Norman loaded all the toys they both turned their backs so they couldn't see where they were tossing the toys and one by one they tossed them into the pool. The first toy landed near Sammy as the man lightly swam to the toy, but was pulled under by Tom whom nabbed the toy holding in high in the air claiming victory. Benny cheered when Tom gave him the toy and the toon wadded to edge of the pool setting it aside to count the change later. All the while Sammy glared at Tom from under the water vowing revenge.

After Tom's little stunt with Sammy, the musical director took the game more seriously. Plus he realized that the fathers were playing for their toon's sake as the demon's had to stick to the surface while they could dive to the bottom to scoop up the weights. Tom and Henry played for keeps as the men were openly competing and were immediately on top of any sinking toys while their little demons wadded around gathering up the floating toys. Sammy stepped up his game by diving for the toys as soon as they were tossed into the pool to get the jump on Henry and Tom. He only got as far as one toy cause as soon as the man reached the surface with the toy to hold it up triumphantly he was met with two shimmering pie cut eyes as both Benny and Bendy wadded up to him with equal puppy dog eyes. The man's stern facade cracked and he gave in splitting the toy and taking his losses. So much for his revenge.

The fun and games came to a close once Janice announced that food was ready and for everyone to dry themselves off, both toons and some of the adults were a chorus of 'awwww's, but the setting sun was a indicator that they hadn't eaten anything and that the 5 hour mark was rapidly approaching for the toons. One by one everyone got out of the pool and dried themselves off somewhat before heading to the grill and tables that had been set up next to the pool. Allison and Linda both carefully toweled off their respective toons and wrapped them in the towels while carrying them over to the table to let them eat.

The table had been decorated in the various decorations that the demons and the ladies made earlier in the week making both parties swell with pride with complements to the overall decorum. However the decorations paled in comparison to the food that had been laid out along with the additional items that were being added that was fresh off the grill.

Everyone happily chatted amongst themselves as they dug into the various dishes that had been brought. Norman boasted about his famous ribs and made sure that both Benny and Bendy had a heaping serving alongside Henry's steaks and Tom's Burgers. Soon it became a battle of who had the best meats as Henry, Norman and Tom all boasted about their 'famous' dishes and proceeded to make everyone try them to see who was top dog of the grill even though they didn't cook them as Wally had minded the grill for them. The verdict was that all the prepared meats that the men took pride in were equally good and the toons didn't care, food was food. Sammy despite his occasional standoffish attitude towards the toons, made sure they had some of the fruit salad he brought since it 'was the only healthy thing on the table'. His words got debunked when Susie blatantly pointed out the fruit platters she brought and Wally made a comment about 'birds of a feather' earning him a stern look from both the dueling pair. Bendy happily gorged himself on Susie's tropical fruit platters thoroughly enjoying the fruits making the woman smile while Benny nearly inhaled the more traditional fruit salad that Sammy brought.

The shimmering pool surface was dyed a deep blue as the amber rays of the sun had just set drawing the pale purple curtain of the night sky with the occasional early stars peeking through. The Night sky now upon the group the elderly ladies ushered the party guests inside as they, Norman and Janice set up the grass lot on the side of the house that over looked the city below. The ladies brought out several blankets handing them over to Norman and Janice to lay out while the more mobile ones returned to the home to fetch a water basin and a few buckets. Janice took the basin and the buckets from the ladies and filled them with water setting them aside. Once the outside was set up Janice returned to the home to fetch the guests as they moved to the side of the house.

“What's with the blankets?” Bendy asked as he took in the sights of the blankets that had been laid across the grass.

His question was met with a hand atop his head ushering him to the space. “You'll see” Henry smiled at the toon as he found a spot on the blanket and sat down.

Bendy looked at him confused till Linda lifted him up and sat next to Henry setting him down on her lap. He looked up at her confused and saw several others all doing the same. Sammy picked a corner seat but was quickly booted towards the front by Janice whom needed the elderly ladies to sit towards the back since it was closer to the house. The man grumbled, but Susie shut him up by offering him an empty spot next to her which he gladly took. Tom, Allison and Benny sat towards the middle with Benny sitting between his respective parents. Norman sat towards the rear along with the ladies as they were fiddling with several bags rummaging through them and slowly pulling out their contents while Wally was preparing some items in front of the group.

“What are those?” Benny asked when he saw Norman slowly circle throughout the group passing around strange sticks occasionally returning to the ladies for a few more.

Tom looked at his stick grinning. “You'll see” the man grasping it and bent it in half making a loud cracking sound.

Benny looked at him baffled as to why he broke his stick till it suddenly started glowing a bright yellow. “That's so cool!” The toon shouted at the glowing stick in his father's hand.

“Yep, these things are called 'glow sticks'” Tom smiled while lightly shaking it to make sure it was completely mixed through. “You bend them in half mixing two chemicals that create the glowing light you see.”

Benny eagerly bent his finding that his glow stick was pink earning snickering from Bendy earning a scowl from Benny. The small ink demon didn't laugh too long as he found that his glow stick was also pink earning a retaliatory snicker fest from Benny.

“Here, Benny” Allison chuckled handing him her glow stick that was purple earning a grin from the toon and a 'thank you'.

Linda tapped Bendy on his shoulder and waved her green glow stick at him which he gingerly exchanged his with hers while thanking her.

Once all the glow sticks were all broken and passed around with the night sky now fully upon them Wally took center stage with his bag as he pulled out several items and set them up. Henry got a little tense at the sight of the objects, but Linda was right there telling him that everything was fine and that she was with him. Bendy looked at his slightly panicking creator with worry and removed himself from Linda's lap and sat on Henry's leaning into him to calm the man down. Seeing Henry's ill reaction to his items made Wally rethink his choices, but Linda pulled out a small pair of earmuffs having Henry wear them before giving Wally a thumbs up urging him to continue.

“Since this is Bendy and Benny's first 4th of July, I thought we might start it off with a bang.” Wally addressed the crowd.

“Get on with it.” Sammy piped up from the side.

Wally laughed “Hold your horses Sammy.” The man bent down and pulled out a lighter and carefully lit one of the little sticks.

The toon's watched as something shot off the end of the stick and into the air bursting into a bright array of colors decorating the sky along side a loud bang making them jump slightly from the noise.

“What is that?” Bendy looked up at Henry who was still a bit tense, but was relaxing a bit as Wally lit another stick sending up more bright colors. The toon nudged him to get his attention with Henry removing a cover to listen to him. “What is that?” Bendy pointed up at the sky.

“Those are called fireworks.” Henry looked down at Bendy gesturing for the toon to turn his attention to the sky as another firework danced in the air. “They are used in celebration of many different holidays, but primarily for the 4th of July and New Years in the states. There are many types of fireworks that dazzle crowds as they paint the night sky. The really large fireworks are handled by people called Pyrotechnics, they are kinda like artists but their canvas is the night sky. They paint dazzling collages of colors in the sky and can sometimes be accompanied by a band of sorts.”

Bendy and Benny both listened to the animators words as Wally sent up the fireworks one at a time with each one more spectacular then the last. They were amazed by the brief flashes of colors that raced through the sky to paint their picture before their light was sniffed out. They thought the show was over once Wally ran out of the fireworks, but Norman shouted for the group to look strait ahead at the valley below them and both demons eyes were wide in shock.

The electric sea before them was bursting with color as fireworks broke through it's surface like a fish showering the sea below in dazzling colors. There were hundreds of light shows all going off at once completely filling the night sky putting Wally's little show to shame. Benny tugged on Tom's arm and the man lifted the toon up to sit on his shoulders as the little plushtoon was captivated by the valley wide light show. Bendy was about to try and do the same, but Henry beat him to the punch and lifted him up on his shoulders so he could get a better view.

By the end of the various fire work shows the toon's were slowly nodding off while doing their best to fight sleep. They wanted to see the shows to the end. Little 'Z's kept popping up and bursting over the toon's heads as the the firework shows showed off their finales trying to out do the other before the their lights and colors cascaded to the electric sea below dipping below it's surface leaving a tranquil night sky. Once the stillness of the night had been restored Benny and Bendy finally succumbed their respective battles with the floating 'Z's. Bendy slumped over Henry's head earning a chuckle from him with Linda scooping him off her husbands shoulders while Benny nearly fell off of Tom with the man scrambling to catch him. He succeeded in catching the toon, but by his leg temporarily dangling him upside down earning a scowl from Allison as she took Benny from him with the toon out like a light unawares as to the events around him.

The mother figures followed the elderly ladies into the home leaving the guys to help clean up with Susie abandoning them to their fates. Sammy was about to complain, but a look from Norman quashed that idea and he just muttered as he helped gather up the now dull glow sticks. Tom and Henry gathered up the blankets folding them while Wally cleaned up the remains of his firework display and poured out the water basin and buckets of water that they had nearby for emergencies. Norman returned to the grill extinguishing the coals that had been left burning to smoke the last of the meat while everyone was watching the show. He piled the ribs on a plate setting it aside before double checking that the smoker and grill's coals were completely submerged in water before grabbing the pan and pouring out the ashes and spent coals at the edge of the garden. The backyard was soon returned to it's normal order and everyone piled back into the house to help clean up.

Benny and Bendy had their swim gear removed and were wrapped up in a blanket as they napped on the couch while the ladies were packing up the remains of the food. Allison and Linda divided up the left overs so everyone got to go home with a container and that there was plenty left over for the elderly ladies whom were being helped to bed by Janice along with Susie's help since the elderly ladies were a bit too energetic for bed. Tom took up residence on the couch while Henry poured himself a small cup of coffee.

“Got a bit of a drive before you old man.” Tom commented while he watched Henry lightly sip on the dark brew.

Henry chuckled at Tom's comment. “Yeah, but it was worth it.” The man smiling at his reflection in the cup. “Seeing the excitement and wonder in their eyes when they were swimming and at the firework show was worth it.”

“You know.” Tom sat up a bit while he lightly ran his hand along Benny's horn earning a small smile from the sleeping demon. “You, Linda and Bendy can spend the night at our place so you don't have that drive home. We got spare rooms and I'm sure Benny would love the company.”

Henry looked at Tom in brief surprise before he smiled. “I think I'll take you up on the offer, but let me see what Linda has to say about it. Though I doubt she'll be up for the drive either, we aren't as young as we used to be.”

Tom stifled a laugh. “Ain't that the truth.”

“Awww, c'mon guys, you aren't that old” Wally chimed in from the kitchen as he joined them with his own cup of coffee.

Tom laughed while Henry chuckled at the janitors statement. “Trust me Wally, kids make you feel older then you actually are. They have boundless energy while you are long past your sell by date.”

Tom finally got a handle on his laughter and joined in “Yep, and then you come to realize that your injuries are no longer caused by your own stupidity, but from trying to play with the kids.”

Wally shrugged at the two men. “I guess.” Janice and Susie emerged from the hallway that lead to the ladies room chatting away gaining Wally's attention. “Ready to go?”

Susie looked at him before tiredly nodding. “Yeah, I'm ready to head out.”

“I'm taking off too.” Sammy emerged from the restroom fully dressed again shooting small glares at Henry whom lifted his coffee cup in greeting.

Janice smiled at the group before making her rounds hugging Susie, Wally and Sammy. “Thank you all for coming, I'm sure the boys had a wonderful time.”

Wally grinned from ear to ear. “It was my pleasure ma'am. I couldn't resist coming when I found out that the little ones were gonna be here.”

“Someone has to keep an eye on the little hell spawns since their so called parents don't do it.” Sammy deadpanned.

“Hey!” Tom piped up. “These so called parents aren't about to deny their children when it comes to them showing affection towards their family or friends 'Mr. Sammy'”

“Besides, you act like you don't care but you're the first one to show up when it comes to them.” Henry bluntly pointed out.

Sammy's face glowed red in embarrassment “S-Someone's gotta be the responsible one here Mr. Stein! And that's Sammy to you Mr. Connor!”.

“'Ey. Pipe down.” Norman walked into the room followed by Allison and Linda carrying several boxes. “The kid's are sleepin'”

“Here.” Allison walked up to the irate music director. “This is for you to take home.”

Sammy calmed down a bit and accepted the box with a small 'thank you' before turning to Janice pulling out the swim trunks he wore earlier. “Here, thank you for letting me 'borrow' them” Sammy turned his head to Henry emphasizing 'borrow', before he held out the pair for Janice to take.

The woman shook her head before smiling mischievously at him. “Nah, you keep them. They looked good on you.” her statement earned a few snickers in the room.

Sammy's face turned an even deeper red as he pocked the swim wear grumbling small curses. He turned thanking everyone for the day and the food before heading to the door to head home. Taking that as a sign to leave, Wally gathered up his and Susie's boxes from Linda while the actress hugged Janice good-bye and thanked her for having them over before joining Wally in the doorway. The pair followed Sammy out leaving the rest of the party waving good-bye and wishing them well on the roads home.

“Don't you have to be going home too Norman? You have a longer drive then I do.” Henry turned to look at the projectionist.

“Nah' I'm spendin' the night 'ere.” Norman tiredly smiled down at Henry. “Since Janice asked me t' help out with the holiday she offered t' put me up for the weekend.”

Tom got up from the couch and walked over to Norman holding out his hand. “I'd like to thank you for all that you did for the little devils today. It was truly something watching them laugh and play in the water for which they have never done before. That opened up so many opportunities for them.”

Norman looked at Tom's outstretched hand before taking it and pulling the mechanic in a small hug before releasing him. “It was mah pleasure. I want th' best for 'em just like y'all do.”

Each respective parent took turns hugging Norman and thanking him for his efforts in pulling off the holiday for all of them. They all had to admit that they would have had fun even if the toons couldn't join them in the pool, but with the introduction of the sealer provided by Norman, that changed everything. Henry and Linda were able to relive what it was like teaching a small child how to swim and the joys that came with it while Tom and Allison were experiencing it for the first time.

Allison and Linda drifted to the couch gathering up their sleeping demons in their arms while Tom and Henry packed the remains of the bags with Norman's help. Henry told Linda how Tom offered for them to spend the night at their house to prevent the drive home and she was instantly on board with the plan. She had to admit that she too was tired and was only staying up to keep an eye on Bendy since the demon is very energetic, she was silently thankful that all the swimming tuckered him out.

The last of the bags were packed and the boxes of food had been rounded up. Norman offered to walk them home, but was turned down by Allison telling him that he looked tired and that it was only a 5 minute walk, that he had done enough for the day. The group said their good-byes as they drifted down the road home accompanied by a small flashlight that Tom packed. The fathers idly chatted while occasionally glancing over their shoulders at their wives behind them that were carrying the little sleeping devils.

Henry smiled at the relaxed expressions on the toon's faces and turned around facing the road ahead of him. “We need to do these events more often.” the man speaking into the open air. “There's so much more to do now.”

Tom looked over at the content animator silently agreeing before looking back at his own little toon in Allison's arms. Benny was so relaxed in her arms and it was a comforting sight to see him in such a state of contentment rather then fear. The toons had come a long way and were finally getting to experience the outside world for what it is and all the wonders that came with it. Water was always their biggest obstacle and now that hurdle had been cleared opening up a whole new world of opportunity for them. Tom felt like his heart was a little lighter and his step a little faster as he turned to the road before him looking forward to the new adventures that the morrow was sure to bring.

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storiesofadanandhisdog · 5 years

Text

The Kings Crown

PROLOGUE

The rain fell in large drops, straight down on the hood of Keldorn’s worn cloak. The evening was thick with the smell of wet and rotting wood from the forest floor. Mud sucked and grabbed at the wheels of his drive cart and trailing load. They were heavy and piled high with all kinds of goods on their way to the market in Talaris.

“Come on ya filthy orc smellin’ son’s o’ cows.” Keldorn shouted at the gorthas pulling the train along with seemingly no trouble at all. Gorthas are huge leathery animals that closely resemble a rhino crossed with a pig, but bigger than you might think.

“We won’t find no dry place to sleep ere’n this forest tonight if ya don’t git those stubby legs movin'.” He knew it was a totally useless suggestion though; gorthas after all have only two speeds, slow and 'I’m dragging An entire store behind me, through a foot of sucking mud, and can’t possibly move any faster if you lit my butt on fire'. So he pulled his hood a little lower and mumbled to himself.

Keldorn had started out from his home in the mountains of Roundhin, more than two weeks past the point any other traders will make the trip. Winter comes hard to this region, and most make good and sure they and their horses are home before it hits. Winters bite would have little effect on the thick skinned gorthas though, and Keldorn has seen a few hard winters out of doors and far from a warm bed.

His thoughts started to wander again to his friends, and the thought of seeing them again after what seemed a long time indeed. “Come on, GET! “ He barked snapping a seldom used whip at his side. He felt bad using the tool because of its symbolism, and not for any thought that they may get mad, or even feel it. These gorthas have been with him for twenty years. The moment they are born, gorthas are introduced to the dwarf who will be as their family. Keldorn and no other can ask them to move. Anyone who tries to force a gortha to go where it doesn’t want to go is wasting the last few moments of their life pushing a mountain that can pulverize steel in it’s blunted teeth.

“S'ok, I’m just a might touchy s’all.” In Talaris his friends are gathering at this very moment to drink and laugh, toast and cheer, of their past adventures together. There is no place on earth he would want to be more.

The rain worsened, but there was a small almost invisible smile on the side of Keldorn’s face. He’d be there by dawn.

Davin Mitrell rode to Talaris atop a perfectly groomed mare named Apple. The horse had no sentimental significance, but was a good mannered and intelligent beast. He rode well and the way was smooth, so the trip had been good so far. He was only a half day out by soft ride, so he took his time and enjoyed the day.

In the trees and bushes, that line the eastern road, eyes watched his passing with more than a passing interest in his wizards robes. These eyes noted no spell book at hand or even visible, wizards often had valuables on them and were easy marks when caught defenceless.

Davin sat back and smiled as he thought of the perfect way to surprise his old companions, he’d walk in to the tavern with a chicken under one arm and a loaf of bread under the other and say ……

An arrow dug into the side of his robe and scratched a deep line along his chest, as twelve men jumped out onto the road in front and behind him.

“Get him quickly before he can get to some sort o’ magic or another,” one of the bandits barked. They rushed forward from all sides, and another arrow passed by the now rearing horse.

Startled into action, Davin cast the only spell he could think of. “Slee val ectrom!“ Davin is in point of fact not a wizard as the bandits had thought but rather a sorcerer, and a rather odd one at that. Not to say odd in manner, but in that every spell he seems to learn goes wildly out of control, or has some sort of unexplainable side effect. Most of the time you never know what’s going to happen.

The bandits all start to fall fast to sleep, which is good seeing as it was a sleeping type spell, but so does everything else. Birds drop from tree branches, squirrels fall onto the road, and most unfortunately for Davin is, his horse droops it’s eyelids an lays down for a nap. “Huh,” Davin looks around at the seen only slightly surprised, but more than a little concerned says,

“Now, should I wait for the horse to wake up or will they all wake up together?” He thought “Damn it.” Davin yelled, reaching down and picking up his pack, and anything he can carry from Apple, dusts himself off, and starts to put some ground between him and the bandits. “Sorry Apple, but I’m a little out manned here and have no way of knowing when they’ll get back up.” Davin tipped a nonexistent hat to his horse and the rest of his belongings, and headed for his friends and The Top of The Hill Tavern in Talaris. If he’s lucky he’ll be there by dawn.

The monk sits in a wobbly waggon pulled by three very old mules. They should be living out the last of their days in a field grazing lazily on oats, but the group of pilgrims the monk is travelling with can’t afford to replace them. The going is slow but none seem to mind, they are used to long journeys. They came from a group of small villages to the south and planned to make the temple district in Talaris their last stop before the long trip home.

The monk has fallowed this group for eight months, watching their faces as they see places and people of religious importance to them and their histories. He understands this need to feel connected to a larger world because of his own need to visit these places, to study what they may teach him. The monk has spent almost his whole life in the study and mastery of his mind and body, to better understand his own place in the world.

“Beggin’ your pardon Monk, but we're going to stop for a rest now,” Ged, one of the pilgrims said stirring the monk from his thoughts. “will ye be eating with us?”

“I will be glad of the fine company, Ged.” The monk would some times decline the offer when he was fasting before a meditation, which had no set time as far as his companions could tell, so they always asked. “Whose turn is it to prepare the meal?”

“Mary is up for the job today. She’s makin’ some sort of soup or stew, I’m not real sure.”

“Humm, maybe I’ll meditate after all.” These two never find the good natured women’s food very appealing, but neither of them have the heart to tell her.

“Ha, come on then lets be grateful for the fact that you're not cookin', and grab a bite my friend.” Ged helped the monk from the waggon and they set out to make a spot clear for the group to eat.

They ate their lunch in a flat clearing by the side of the road and talk quietly to one another.

“Tell use Monk, how along has it been since you saw these friends of yours?” Mary asked him as he finished his, uhm, soup, stew…. meal.

“The last time I saw them was three years ago. We had had a time of sorting everything out between Davin and that wizards guild I’ve told you of, and Keldorn, the dwarf of the group, made use all promise to meet again. We have been in touch over the years through various ways and agreed on a time and place convenient for everyone. I must say that I’m really going to be glad to see them all again. It seems a very long time.”

“We will probably make it there with time to spare, if the mules don’t die on us.” Ged laughed. ”We shouldn’t be more then an hour or two away from the city before we have to stop for the night.”

“It would be good to see them again,” he thought. “Not long now. We should be there at dawn.”

Mark Megal had an unusual travelling companion for a thief and a rogue. He rode beside his long time friend Corvin Godsmold, whose ornate chain shirt caught the sun and threw it about, shining and dancing off anything close by. The paladin almost always seemed to Mark to be giving off some kind of light. They were an odd pair, but they got along so well they just never got around to saying good bye as the others had after their last adventure together. Secretly, Mark stayed to have a good reason not to join a thieves guild, or worse an assassin’s guild. He just wasn’t that kind of a guy. Being able to say, “if I joined your group, I think my paladin friend there may have to smite me or something, and I have no desire to be smotten, thank you very much,” is a great way to avoid unwanted hassling. Mark is good at opening places that may have been shut to others, and finding his way safely to and from some of the more unsavoury places one sometimes needs to go, but he had never liked taking something that wasn’t his to take. Of course, possession is nine tenths of the law, and what Corvin doesn’t see won't kill him.

Corvin is a chosen paladin of Hundoo, God of honour and valour. He is a good man with strong principles, and he is rarely ever swayed once he has made up his mind what is right and what is wrong. Corvin likes having Mark with him for both company and for someone to help him stay true to his honour. He can trust Mark to always be Mark, a constant, always pulling some joke or scam. It’s in his harmless, if slightly immoral nature, that Corvin is reminded of what all people truly are at heart. Just people living their lives in the best way they know how.

“Do you think Safrin and Morin will be there by now,” Mark asked trying not to sound excited.

“They have been there for a week already, on some ranger business. We will Probably be the last ones there.” Corvin said, pointedly looking at Marks small horse. Mark had been forced to get a new one after his last one took a badly aimed arrow in the back of the head. This one was there, and cheap, two things that have great sway over the rogue purchasing decisions.

“It’s not my fault, we were running on rough ground and she jerked up at the last second. Anyways it not my fault.”

“Well with that mangy nag, we won't be there today, we’ll have to ride through the night to be there on time,” Corvin mocked Mark with a grin.

“Well that’s not a big deal, after all, it’s not like we’re going to have any trouble with you all decked out in your Hundoo parade gear. Who in their right mind would attack us?” Mark grabbed the back of Corvin’s cape and gave a tug, laughing wildly as Corvin fussed over his dress cape being mishandled.

“Right then,” Corvin said leaning forward so quickly that it almost pulled Mark, still holding onto his cape, right off his nag. Corvin grinned, spurred his horse and rode circles around Mark as he regained his seat. “If you can catch me this time, I promise not to tell Keldorn you shot and killed your own horse in glorious battle.” He proclaimed holding a fist to the sky at the glorious combat line.

“You wouldn’t.” A look of terror came over Mark’s face. “You’re not that mean.” He pleaded. “Isn’t it against your religion to kill someone by humiliation?”

“No”.

“Get back here you filthy god lover. Coward. Weakling. Oh come on.” Mark pleaded with the nag to move just a bit faster but it just would not move. As he watched Corvin ride away, he knew he’d never hear the end of this from Keldorn.

Corvin’s voice could still be head far down the road saying, ”Let’s go Mark, we don’t want to be late. We can be there by dawn.”

#fiction #fantasy #adventure #novel writing

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gosecretscribbles · 5 years

Text

Stanuary 2019 Week 1 Bonding

“GET BACK HERE!”

“AAAGH!”

Stan chased after the tourist, brandishing his cane in one hand and the crossbow in the other. The guy had tried to pay for his tour with a baby goat! What did he think this was, Medieval Europe?! Goats were not currency! Goats weren't even profitable! They just ate, pooped, and stank!

Stan thought he was in decent shape for an old fat guy, but the skinny farmer sprinted to his truck like all the tax collectors in the state were on his heels. Plus that stupid baby goat was prancing around Stan and tripping him up. Even so, Stan nearly made it to the truck when the farmer hit the gas. The engine roared to life and dirt sprayed in Stan's face. He skidded to a stop, coughing and scraping at his eyes.

There was a thunk and Stan looked down. The kid had keeled right over, all four legs straight out.

“Oh, great, now he's dead! YOU PAID ME WITH A DEAD GOAT, YA MORON!”

He swung up the crossbow and fired, but the truck hit a bend in the road. Instead of popping a tire the bolt just hit the license plate and jarred it loose. It fell off with a noisy rattle as the truck swung around the curve and disappeared, the other goats' bleating quickly fading from earshot.

Swearing a blue streak under his breath, Stan went to retrieve the license plate. Never know when you'd need one to throw the cops off your trail.

Now he had to decide what to do with a dead baby goat. The next tourist bus wasn't coming until noon, so he had about an hour to figure it out. He didn't really want to stuff it, but he couldn't think of anything else to do with it. Hey, maybe he could make his new mechanic do it instead – what was his name, Zeus or something? Sure, that'd work. He just had to get the goat out of the way until Soup came back from school.

He reached the goat and bent down to grab its leg.

“Baa-aa-aah.”

“AAH!”

He jumped back. The goat's ears and tail twitched, then it rolled over and looked up at him.

“Baa-aa-aah,” it repeated insistently.

“Yeesh, give me a heart attack already,” Stan growled, one hand over his chest. “If you're looking for food, you're lying in it. Grass, meet goat. Goat, meet lunch. Now stay outta the way, I got a business to run.”

“Baa-aa-aah.”

He went inside to work on more pun-related exhibits for the museum. Those wax figures had brought in a ton of money when he'd first set them up, but business had gone dry a week ago, and he needed another money maker and fast. Those portal parts didn't come cheap.

The goat bleated from the porch for a solid twenty minutes, then he heard it clopping away. Stan snorted, then went back to gluing googly eyes on a plastic octopus. Maybe eight eyes, so it was like a combo spider-octopus? Yeah, that'd work. Now he just had to think of a catchy name for it. Or maybe Octo-spider? Arachnipus? Octo-Eyes? Hmm, maybe that'd work...

Stan came out of the Shack in time to greet the next tourist bus. He didn't see the kid anywhere, so many the dumb thing had wandered into the woods. Perfect, one less thing to worry about. He put everyone in the carts and drove 'em out to see random stuff in the forest, like the Tree of the Screaming Tourist. He told them the eerily twisted bark was an actual tourist whose spirit had been sucked into the tree when he refused to pay for the tour. (Everyone was suddenly very eager to pay him for the tour. And tip him. Generously.)

He drove 'em back and waved them into the bus. Then he headed back to the Gift Shop. His pockets were practically bulging with cash. He definitely had to use that Screaming Tree story more often! Even if it kind of freaked him out. Wait, hadn't Ford's journal's mentioned something about –

“Hi, Mr. Pines!”

“AAH!”

He jumped back for the second time that day, glaring down at Deuce, who was standing innocently in the doorway of the Gift Shop.

“Geez, kid, make some noise when you move!”

“Sure, Mr. Pines! By the way, I didn't know you had a pet goat!”

Deuce moved aside. That dumb stinky nuisance was sitting on the floor, legs sprawled everywhere, its floppy tail thumping like a puppy's.

“Baa-aa-aah!”

He groaned. “That's not a pet. And get it out of here! Smells like a moldy haystack, and I got some new attractions I need to make for the museum.” He stepped over the goat and strode to the craft counter in the corner. “Octo-Eyes was a huge hit! Taxidermic monstrosities are gonna make me a fortune!”

“Couldn't we make this little guy an attraction too?” Moose asked behind him. “I bet you could even give him a punny name! Like 'Cutebacabra'!”

Stan stopped and turned around. The goat looked up at him with those weird sideways pupils.

“Yeah,” Stan said slowly, holding up both hands to frame the little moneymaker. “Yeah, the Cutebacabra! Glue on some fake wings, coupla cow legs – maybe some red paint drooling from its mouth! Ha, I love it!”

Bruce beamed at him. “Thanks, Mr. Pines!”

“Kid, gather every spare stuffed limb I've got and a ton of crazy glue. Then go set up a display for him in the museum. This creepy cuteness is gonna be our next main attraction!”

Exactly forty-three minutes later, Stan was showing a new set of tourists into the museum. He'd already taken them to the Tree of the Screaming Tourist, and now he was gonna milk 'em dry. Zeus had rigged up a little stage and a red velvet curtain for Chompers. With a single grand gesture, Stan pulled it aside. Instantly the crowd went 'AAAAH!' and 'AWWW!'

He grinned and gestured grandly. Sluice had made it a little vest and glued on every spare animal limb they had. “That's right, folks, the rare baby Cutebacabra! The only one in the world! Pictures are five – no, fifty dollars each!”

Immediately tourists stuffed good ol' Grants into his hands and snapped pictures, flashes going off in every direction.

The goat's eyes went wide and it keeled over, legs straight out.

A kid in the crowd screamed. “OH MY GOD IT'S DEAD!”

“WE'RE CURSED!”

“RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIFE!”

“Oh come on!” Stan shouted. He didn't bother chasing the tourists – he'd pick-pocketed them while they had their eyes on the goat, and he knew they didn't have even two bucks left among the lot of them. But why in the name of Paul Bunyan did the goat keep playing dead?! If it had done that two seconds earlier it would've cost him all those picture fees!

“I'm back with the goat feed, Mr. Pines,” Puce said, poking his head into the Museum. He was dragging a forty-pound bag of feed. “You didn't give me any money, so I had to pay Mr. Sprotts with three hours of child labor.” Then he caught sight of the goat, turned white, and dropped the bag. “SWEET MOSES HE'S DEAD?!”

“No he's not,” Stan scowled. He reached out and poked the goat with a foot. The goat twitched, then flipped upright and started gnawing on one of the cow hoofs taped to its back. “See?”

The goat bleated and head-butted him.

“Aw, he likes you!” Spruce said.

“Ugh, get it offa me. The darn thing's defective!” He paused. “Then again, if I could get it to do it on command...” Imagine the look on people's faces if he walked his goat into traffic, then made them think they'd hit his Prize German-Australian Longhair Goat! They'd pay through the nose just to keep him from suing them!

“Eh, he probably just has that myotonic thing. Or maybe it was myopia? I always get those two mixed up.”

“Mia-what?”

The gumdrop shrugged. “Myotonia. Mr. Sprotts told me about it. You know how people get startled, and then they freeze up? It's like that, but for goats. And it lasts for longer, like their muscles seize up or something. It doesn't hurt them or anything,” he added, “but it is a genetic thing. Mr. Sprotts said a lot of his goats got it from the toxic waste dump.”

“So he's being literally scared stiff?”

Moose laughed. “Good one, Mr. Pines!”

The goat had finished chewing on the cow hoof and proceeded to gnaw on Stan's pantleg.

“Whoops!” Soup pulled the goat away, then set it down in front of the bag of feed and tore it open. “There ya go, little Gompers! This'll taste waaaay better. Trust me, I tried it!”

“Baa-aa-aah!”

Stan watched the goat eating. “Hey Swoose.”

“It's 'Soos', Mr. Pines!”

“Whatever. You're sayin' the goat just keeps getting scared?”

“Yep!”

“'Cuz it's genetic?”

“Uh, I guess so?”

“Well NOT ON MY WATCH! After one day of Stan’s Scare-A-Thon Therapy Session, this goat’s gonna be so desensitized it’ll never faint again!”

First, Stan got Moose to wire his satellite to pirate-stream horror movies from Japan. (Watching these also traumatized Puce, which Stan found hilarious.) Next Stan hired a clown (who he did not pay) and then practice his jump scares (which made Soos scream so loud it scared off all the birds in a three-mile radius). After that, Stan converted the Museum into a haunted house, complete with sheet-ghosts, cobwebs, and a looped sound track of death metal, complete with screaming. He shoved Gompers in and locked it tight.

He didn't realize until he went back three hours later that he'd also locked the child labor. Moose had collapsed on the floor in the middle of the room – but Gompers was stumbling around bleating to himself. It didn't look like he'd played dead at all!

Stan grinned. “Alright, now we're makin' progress!”

“That's great, Mr. Pines,” Bruce gasped. “You should – oh sweet burrito angels – you should totally save this stuff for Summerween.”

“Summer-what?”

“Summerween!” Soup struggled to sit up and collapsed. “It's – it's this holiday where – oh man I'm having a panic attack.”

Gompers clonked over, bleated, and started chewing on Soos' face.

Stan roared with laughter and slapped his knee. “Ha! This is goat's the best! Alright, Floose –”

“Soos.”

“Get ready for the main event. Something even scarier than Japanese horror movies or that weird mold growing in the corner.”

Sue sat up. “Okay, but if I don't come back, tell my grandma I love her and give all my stuff to charity.”

“The Mystery Shack appreciates your donations!”

Night was falling and the full moon was out. Luckily Soup had fixed the golf cart right down to the headlights, so they trundled along the beaten road in relative safety. Gompers and Soos were in the backseat, the kid's arms wrapped around Gompers like it was a really smelly plushy. He grinned. When he was done that goat would be almost as hardcore as Stan himself!

When they got close enough, Stan stopped the truck, hustled around to the trunk and started handing a stuff to Soup.

“Okay. Run ahead and put these all around the tree ahead. The batteries are all dying so the light'll flicker all weird and creepy. This one has a full battery. Lie down at the bottom of the tree, and then when I give the signal, shine it right at the bark.”

“Sure, Mr. Pines! Which tree is this again?”

“The one with a human soul was trapped in its bark writhing in agony!”

“Ok!”

Stan gave him a shove and then hustled back to the cart, where Gompers was currently chewing on the back seat. He hopped back in the driver's seat, waited three seconds and then drove slowly up to the Tree of the Screaming Tourist. It was hard to see the shape of the messed-up bark, which would make it even creepier when Zeus lit up the flashlights.

He parked, took his portable radio out of the trunk, and then grabbed Gompers. He set the goat down in front of the tree, backed up, and hovered his finger over the “play” button.

“Okay, Sluice...NOW!”

From the radio, a hollow scream filled the air and the whole tree lit up with a flickering yellow light.

“Ha! That's perfect!”

“Baa-aa-aah,” said Gompers.

He grinned, but before he could tell Zoop to step it up, the lights suddenly flickered. They turned orange, then red. The radio suddenly crackled with static and he dropped it as electricity singed his hand. The bark of the tree started moving and a huge ghost-y thing ballooned out of it, just a massive face made of fire and fury. Stan backed up with a shout. Several tree branches snapped and started bending like spider arms. One of them swung around from the back of the tree – and a certain pear-shaped mechanic was dangling from its twigs.

He waved. “Hi, Mr. Pines! I'm a hostage!”

The spirit's yellow eyes turned on him. Its pupils went red. “YOOUUUUU!”

“AAH!”

He sprinted for the golf cart, but the spirit lashed out and smashed it with a bark-covered arm. He grabbed Gompers and held it up.

“JUST TAKE THE GOAT, TAKE THE GOAT!”

“Do you know how long my spirit has been stuck in that tree, completely alone, just listening to those stupid squirrel-squids chatter about acorns and sushi? And after years of waiting for you to come back, you finally bring people to visit me – and you tell every last one of them how terrifying I am, so they'll never! Come! BACK!” The face swelled until it blotted out the sky. Its heat seared his skin. “AM I SCARY ENOUGH FOR YOU NOW, STAN PINES?!”

He screamed and tried to run, dropping the kid, but she swooped down and grabbed him up. She lifted him higher and higher, squeezing him so tightly he could feel his bones creak. He could barely breathe! He had a funny feeling he wasn't the Stan Pines she was talking about, but he couldn't get enough air to tell her that!

“Um, excuse me? Ms. Tree Spirit?”

They both looked at Soos, who was wiggling one of his chubby little hands to get the spirit's attention.

“Hrrrrr,” she growled.

He smiled. “Oh, I'm a him, actually! Although I do have a feminine softness. It sounds like you're mad because you've been lonely for so long, right? But Mr. Pines has been bringing people to see you all the time!”

“They are TERRIFIED of me!”

“Not everyone.” He pointed.

Gompers was standing on the ground below, absently chewing on a fallen stick. The ghost growled and moved closer, her face distorting until her burning yellow eyes were the size of whole cars, and her face was a gaping maw dripping with reddish flame, mere inches from the goat's puny face.

“DO YOU FEAR ME, LITTLE GOAT?!” she boomed, and her voice was so loud and deep the trees nearby actually shivered and creaked on their roots.

Gompers blinked.

“Baa-aa-aah,” he said, and resumed his chewing.

“Hmm.”

“Good goat,” Stan managed. The spirit scowled and squeezed a little harder.

“But this is not what we agreed to. I don't want people to be afraid of me!”

“But scariness is part of the fun!” Soos said earnestly. “Plus it's a fun way to spend time together! My dad never hangs out with me, but Mr. Pines and I watched a horror movie marathon. And even though I wet myself a couple of times, I wouldn't trade that time for the world. I'll bet the families who visited you remember how frightening and fun it was, and they'll probably come back to see you again next year!”

Stan could see the spirit thinking it over.

“Baa-aa-aah,” added the goat.

The spirit snorted and gave Stan a hard look, those ruby peepers staring right into his soul. “You will keep your promise, Stan Pines? You will not leave me to suffer in isolation?”

“Guarantee it,” he wheezed. “Main attraction. Every tour. Can't breathe.”

“Very well. But if you break your promise one more time, the woods will never be safe for you again.”

She let go of Soos and Stan, who hit the forest floor with a dull thump. The spirit withdrew into the bark, lifting her arms to become branches again, while the bark of the trunk twisted and rippled back to its previous shape. Stan waited for a second, but the tree didn't so much as twitch.

He sprang to his feet and scooped up the goat. “Ha! You did it! You beautiful monster, you really did it! You looked that tree-thing straight in the big yellow eye and didn't even twitch! I bet this goat could handle the frigging apocalypse without batting an eye!”

“Probably!” Soos agreed cheerfully.

Stan smirked, then mashed Soos' head in a noogie. “Ya didn't do too bad yourself, there, ya midget.”

“Really?!”

“Uh, are those actual stars in your eyes?”

“For you, Mr. Pines, I would go full-on anime.”

“Don't make this weird, kid. Now let's see if the golf cart's drivable. I'm allergic to all this bonding and I left my old-man tonic in the Shack.”

“Soda isn't tonic, Mr. Pines.”

“Says you.”

“Baa-aa-aah.”

A/N

“A myotonic goat, otherwise known as the fainting goat, is a domestic goat whose muscles freeze for roughly 3 seconds when the goat feels panic. Though painless, this generally results in the animal collapsing on its side. The characteristic is caused by a hereditary genetic disorder called myotonia congenita. When startled, younger goats will stiffen and fall over. Older goats learn to spread their legs or lean against something when startled, and often they continue to run about in an awkward, stiff-legged shuffle.”

- from a-source-I-forgot-to-save-the-website-for

Also Nour386 came up with the idea about why the Tree was screaming! I had a different idea but this one is so much better!!!

@nour386

#stanuary #stanuary 2019 #stanuary week 1 #stanuary 2019 week 1 #stanuary 2019 week 1 bonding #nour386 #bonding #goat #gompers #baby gompers #stan #stan pines #soos

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afearing · 5 years

Text

haters see me unironically mcuposting and be like damn why am i still following this clown? blocked

anyway endgame was uhh. a movie

this is where a readmore would go if i could figure out how to insert it on safari mobile. as it is you must scroll

i dont really get the ending, aside from being a really shitty end to steve’s character arc, i thought that the time travel mechanics would have meant that if anything changed it would create a new timeline.... like him still being in this timeline means nothing major changed so what he just chilled while bucky was with hydra and let his wife’s organization get overrun with nazis? and changing who someone marries doesn’t count as a major change? like just what. would have made a fuckton more sense to cut out the old man steve scene, or actually it would have made real sense to have him come back to the present time cause he’s spent all these movies building a life in the present and moving on from peggy was a whole ass thing already?? christ

also they did nat dirty, it would have been much cooler if they refused to kill each other and said something cheesy about how love is an active verb and they did some sweet kickflip type moves to get the soul stone. it just feels like she was never her own character just a plot device in every single movie and i hate it, god and they spent so much more focus on people’s reactions to tony’s death than hers... also idk how slow they think hair grows

i honestly don’t feel too great about tony’s death either. others have said this but it seems like cap and tony’s endings should have been flipped... tony felt like he was supposed to learn how to step back and its so cheap to have them say last second sike this major theme of not only all the iron man but also all the avengers movies was actually a bad idea

you know what? i’m just gonna come out and say it, the mcu’s writing sucks. they have never focused on the overarching story. at least it’s over now but i’m constantly pissed off that the venn diagram of people who have amazing and bold and fresh stories to tell and the people with billions of dollars and carte blanche to tell whatever the fuck story they want is two separate circles. seriously, it’s like never the twain shall meet. fuck capitalism

also the russos seriously said fuck shipper lives lol EVERYONES romantic lives got fucking bad-ended by this film except clint and scott but unfortunately no one gives a shit. steve doesnt count cause i still literally hate it.

oh and WHY THE FUCK WERE THE RAMBEAUS NOT INCLUDED like HELLO carol would obviously at least want to know if they were dusted!!! i at some point had hope that spectrum was gonna get introduced this film but it seems like we’re never gonna get put out of our god damn misery they’re just gonna keep makin em year after year

#text post #endgame spoilers #if you didnt wanna see spoilers then like. perish i guess

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teamrocketmemes · 3 years

Photo

ACNH - Pascal’s Deep Thoughts - Part 5

meme inspired by the shit pascal says in new horizons

Isn't your birthday just the anniversary of something somebody else did? Think about it, maaan.

It's always a good deal to buy something half off. You usually still get the full thing anyway, maaan.

It's hard to stay mad if you're eatin' cotton candy. Mostly because you'll be focused on how sticky you are.

It's important to take slow, deep breaths when you get mad. Short, fast ones just make you lightheaded.

It's impossible to mail boomerangs. No matter how many stamps you put on 'em, they always come back.

It's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow. But, like, a waterslide is more fun than ANY bike.

It's not all about the Bells, maaan. There's also weeding, and fishing, and crafting, and bug catching, and...

It's OK to be a couch potato. Just don't be a bed yam. Maaan, that's just not cool.

It's OK to be scared of stuff you think is scary. Like sharks. Sharks scare me, and that's OK.

It's OK to laugh even when you don't get the joke. It feels good either way, maaan.

It's really easy to forget you have toes...until you stub one. Then it's like, "What are these things, man?"

I've always wondered why they call it "aftermath"... As far as I know, math is still happening, maaan.

I've got a washer and a dryer, but, maaan, what I really need is a put-away-er.

Laughter is your brain getting so excited, it forgets how lungs work. "Hur hur!" It's the best malfunction.

Life is like a pearl... It's hard and shiny and it should smell like the ocean.

Lightning is a game of tag you can play with physics...but physics plays ROUGH.

Lions are the kings of the jungle, but they live in the savanna. So, do they like ruling from a distance, or what?

Live your life one scallop at a time. The rest is just details.

Lots of folks try to take the easy road, but, maaan, that just means you've gotta deal with a lot of traffic.

Lots of folks wish for world peace. Not me. I wish for world pizza. Hard to fight when you're eating pizza.

Maaaaan...I know I say that a lot, but what do I even mean by it? Maaaaan!

Maaan, gravity gets a bad rap. It's just, like, the planet's way of asking us to stick around.

Maaan, if you waste your time doing something you enjoy, then you don't waste your time.

Maaan, sweet dreams are real sweet. But have you ever had a sour dream? Can't recommend it.

Maaan. If night and day could just work out their differences, we'd always live in golden hour.

Magic is just science with your eyes closed, maaan.

Makin' friends is a lot like makin' music. It's a soundtrack for your life, maaan, wrong notes and all.

Maybe a waffle is called a waffle 'cause it can't decide if it wants to be a pancake. You gotta wonder...

Maybe statues are just folks who aren't in such a rush all the time, maaan.

Maybe we should put the cart before the horse sometimes. I bet horses like to mix things up once in a while.

Maybe when we get really dizzy, that's actually us noticing how the world is always rotating.

Mint is weird. Like, how does a flavor make your mouth feel cold? Barely makes sense, but, maaan, it's cool!

Most things are more afraid of you than you are of them. Except for, like, mosquitoes...maaan, run from those.

Music is just air gettin' its dance on, maaan. We're all breathing shy songs that want to cut a rug.

#ask meme #rp meme #sentence starters #inbox meme #video game memes #★ our memes.#★ mod james.

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anarchoromantic · 6 years

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OMG you have ocs ?? Would you mind sharing a lil bit abt all of em?? Just some basic things I'm interested now :0

hewwo!!!!! always comin to the rescue huh hcjdbc 💙💙

okayokay i have A LOT of ocs but the main characters for my most favourite universes are

1) aix (pron. eye) is a dude who i love, hes part of an anti-police detective agency who have become the protectors of a city in the south-eastern united states bc the police department are corrupt and violent (lmao). theyre all humanoids (not human): ‘monsters’ are very common but are oppressed and discriminated against in society. (there are two categories: humanoid and creatural. creatural are more like wild animals but some small species have been accepted as household pets. humanoids are intelligent and sentient beings who have always lived alongside, but not among, humans.) aix has a mouth where his eyes should be and no eyes anywhere and hes got fangs and hes punk rock and he uses sign language to communicate to others, especially his best friend whos head became disattached from her body one day and thats how she found out she had humanoid blood bc shes still livin and breathin and she sometimes loses her head. theyre both in the field division and act as bodyguards a lot hehe. aix is trans and gay and he has a boyfriend named alexavier whos got eyes on his arms who is also trans n hes bi and theyre in love. alexavier works in the computer divison and he specializes in technological security bc hes a Smart Boy. they have a creatural pet named november who is sweet but cant control her claws very well and sometimes scratches people all over but she doesnt mean it \: aix used to live by himself secluded bc he was scared of humans but now he has a big happy family of anti-cop anti-capitalist anti-fascist gays and i think thats fuckin beautiful

2) jamie!! he can see ghosts and there are some ghosts who have moved on but were assigned by The Boss to come back to earth and collect recently dead ghosts and guide them to the afterlife n these ones are the reapers (obviously not original but i wuv coming up with this shit). theres a reaper named green who jamie sees everywhere who doesnt meet his quota every month bc the town he and jamie live in is very small so not a lot of people are dying and he has to stay until his quota is filled (that sounds bad but its how they keep the death to birth ratio balanced and also if theres too high a concentration of ghosts in one area it can mess with living human affairs) so hes stuck on earth and jamie thinks hes just some homeless guy and he feels bad for him so hes like “yo heres some food” and greens like “huh. what. how do u see me. also i cant eat solids” and jamie is like “what the fuck are you talking abt” but they keep talkin n they become friends and jamies house becomes greens home base and then they fall in love. jamie has some friends named steph, arrow, and nim and they only see green when he wants them to.

3) barley is one of my older ocs n hes a dragon shifter and he used to live among dragons but his herd was killed by hunters and he alone was rescued by some hired adventurers and he tagged along w them and their leader was really shitty and manipulative and barley eventually left after a few years and met some better people and now hes adventuring with them and makin money like he deserves. one of them is named siire and hes a trans merman and he gets carted around in a wheelbarrow bc hes stubborn and likes to come with barley who he has a huge crush on. the other is arsenic who is a bard with skeletal hands so he cant play string instruments very well jvjdhcd

4) anik is very new!!!!!! shes a hijabi gnc bi girl who can control fire and shes dating a butch lesbian named eri whos very tall and likes art and anik supports them so much theyre in love (: i dont have a lot of story abt them so far but i want to hcjdbcksjc

5) hermes is a messenger but instead of some greek nerd who wears a winged helmet and robes hes got booty shorts and a crop top and dyed blue hair and he delivers across universes !! this is more of a comedic conscept that i thought was cute hcjsjcksc but he owns a delivery service and he travels the galaxies with his coworkers/underlings, hawk and carneval. hawk is a lesbian and carneval is a twink who i made in like… 2014 and just repurposed hcjdbckshf they work very hard to deliver mail to all the planets and its kind of just an exploration of what i could do with interplanetary travel and different cultures, aliens, etc etc bc im gay

thank u for asking gfjshckjsjc these are long and not explained well and im sorry if any of what i said might be offensive i know the whole humanoid monster thing might come off as a less-than-savory metaphor but really im just a monster fucker ackk ily!!!

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limitedrevolverworks · 6 years

Text

Varmints -2-

Approximately twenty minutes and nearly twice as many miles of bumpy travel later, Doc Norton and Earnest Rivers’ jackalopes were approaching the festival of fruitless carnage taking place in the back of Leeroy Gilligan’s property. The sign held between two poles that gave way to the ranch proper said as much; and if the crude, scratchy calligraphy had skirted the limits of human comprehensibility too close, the crackling of freshly ignited explosions going off every few seconds would have tipped off those who had received news of the latest undead spree.

“Boys must be winnin’.” yelled Earnest Rivers over the noise of occasional wandfire and the jackalopes’ heavily footed hops. “We was blastin’ them brainsuckers so hard earlier we hadn’t the time to listen them moan.”

“Unless some of the ‘boys’ already joined the losing side.” shouted back Doc Norton, the wooden cargo strapped behind him protesting the bumpy ride with a plethora of clinking noises from its glassy contents.

The pair circled around Gilligan’s house, a rough assembly of wood and metal like that of any other respectable scale-skinned Second Layer dweller, behind which lay the barn - a small complex divided in two connected sectors, respectively housing the geese’s nests and the smelting furnace where their natural byproducts found their first and last destination. The cylindrical steel chimney puncturing the latter side’s roof sputtered smoke at regular intervals, little gray clouds lazily floating away from the chaos going on on the dust-bitten ground. The occasional breeze made it seem as if the gaseous particles were waving at the fresh batch of participants, or offering a goodbye to those who had left prematurely by means of having had one too many limbs torn from the rest of their body.

“Ahoy, calfsuckers! Here to get yerselves a steamin’ hot piece of action too?”

The croaky voice of Malady Summers welcomed the pharmacist and his escortee in the midst of the small crowd that had formed at the edge of the Gilligan estate’s cow ranch. Doc Norton and Rivers dismounted their jackalopes near the hitch where a variety of other furry mounts were busy snacking on a vat of ground cacti, their ears occasionally quivering in unison with the occasional discharging noise coming from a triggered wand. Both men approached the group of about two dozen cowboys, some of them perched over the wooden paddock to fire at the vaguely human shapes shambling in the distance, the rest enjoying a variety of typical steppe-borne time wasters, the bulk of them involving alcoholics contained in bottles of colored glass darker than the hearts of bandits.

“How’re the goings, Summers?” asked Rivers, reaching for the bottle of Hardy’s Ole Scum proffered by the woman’s scaly hand, offering it to Doc Norton’s shaking head, and proceeding to pour a hearty portion of the contents down his throat. The many dull spikes lining Summers’ dark blue shoulders moved like waves in a pond as she shrugged.

“Still on, Rivers. Doc…” The lizard nodded at the pharmacist, who gave one of his own almost as an afterthought: his attention had already been taken by the rotting spectacle in the distance. “Some of ‘em’ve been blasted so thoroughly they be crawlin’ along by the skin of them’s tooths, and I be meanin’ it literally.”

Before she had finished talking, the lizardite had turned on her spurred legs, so fast the wide-brimmed hat sitting on the many braids of her rust-red hair, unable to keep up, stood in place; in the same vein, the onlookers’ eyes tried and mostly failed to catch a glimpse of her clawed hands reaching for the shiny metal wand holstered near her hip, pointing it and squeezing the trigger. On the other hand, none had any trouble witnessing the fountain of guts that, in the distance, began sputtering from a dead man’s torsoless legs, their top half still smoldering from the freshly detonated explosive spell.

“You seein’ this, Doc? Only silver linin’ to this be that the things’re so slow by now that they’re less threatenin’ than a domesticated tumbleweed.” Summers concluded by rotating the gun in her hand, letting it loose in the air and catching it back, still mid-rotation, on the tip of her long, spiky tail. “Not gonna lie, it got tirin’ fast. I’d even be feelin’ sorry for them rottin’ bastards if, y’ know. If they weren’t rottin’ bastards.”

“And that’s how it be, Doc.” concluded Rivers, taking one last swig before handling the mostly empty bottle back to a less than pleased Summers. “We was thinkin’ to shove the pieces into a bag and cart them off over the border, but this don’t sit too well with most of us. Doing the dead like that, it don’t feel right.”

“Can’t see so much as a particle of remorse on any of your faces about usin’ them for target practice though, Rivers.” condescendingly rebuked Doc Norton, satchel slung over his shoulder and boots steadily raising the dust with each step taken towards the enclosure.

“Sure thing Doc, but shootin’ a trespasser’s a whole different beast entirely.” Summers hurried to say, substituting Rivers to the pharmacist’s side while the former wordlessly rejoined his companions for more free booze. “We’d still be givin’ them bones a proper rest when all’s said and done. Shoving corpses off the continent, scatterin’ them all across that dump of a Third Layer below… nah, some of us may be wandslingin’ sons of disreputable mommas, but we got at least that much honor left in our hearts - both of ‘em in us lizardfolk’s case.”

Doc Norton’s moved response was a laconic “What a honorable bunch of no-gooders.” He felt decidedly less interested in the ethics of cattle hustlers than he did about the mystery concerning the latest brand of undead to have hit the country this week. Marching through the grouped up cowboys tipping their hats and occasionally hollering about repaying some debts for a medicine or other that he most assuredly wasn’t going to cash in anytime soon, the pharmacist shoved a bullman about to score a flaming hit out of the way, lowered his ever-present pair of goggles and turned some of the innumerable dented wheels jutting out of them.

“Early stages of decay… seems to be the most consistent trait, at least among the bits and pieces that are still recognizable.”

“Ain’t many of those left.”

“I’d rather you didn’t sound so pleased about makin’ my job harder, Summers.”

Be that as it may, the lizard’s toothy grin didn’t seem eager to leave her face anytime soon.

“Mmh...” More cranking noises accompanied the telescopic regulation of Doc Norton’s lenses. “Where’s the cattle?”

“Cousin Leeroy’s took the opportunity to bring the herd grazin’ at the Robertsie Mines. I can say for sure the mites appreciate the trouble better than me cousin.”

“He saved himself a lot more than he thinks.” commented Doc Norton, raising his goggles and a leg along with it. The wandfire ceased soon thereafter, when the pharmacist was done climbing over the fence and had begun strolling in a trajectory that led straight in the midst of the zombie-infested field. Summers was soon hot on his metaphorical tail, while her decidedly more corporeal followed suit after a few nervous thumps from the sheer surprise.

“Doc, you better be packin’ a lot of parchments if you’re plannin’ to take them on all alone.”

“I don’t count a stand-off against a bunch of ravenous flesheaters among the most feasible of plans, Summers. Which is why instead of heat I’m packing this here bag o’ components with me.”

“Son of a rabid daredevil! You want to feed that crazed gray matter of yours to those cannibals?”

Doc Norton turned his head and the moustache attached to it towards the lizard without letting his step grow any less hurried. Whether he was grinning or scowling behind the thick layer of hair covering his mouth was anybody’s guess.

“Well, Summers. I’ll be countin’ on you and yer impeccable skills with a wand to prevent that happenin’, in the impossibly unlikely event of that becomin’ necessary.”

#wordy seeds #megadethzenbu #shorter update than I planned today #the sudden wave of tiredness I got in the last couple of days is a strong hurdle but I won't submit even if it's to post little snippets

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hoperosehalpin · 4 years

Text

August 11, 2015

The funeral was a week before her seventeenth birthday, which was the cherry on top of all the other fucked up shit he’d bequeathed her, including a dormant case of PTSD that would flare up in the years to come. But for now, there was sweltering Alabama heat, bikers, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Hope’s closet had been more or less devoid of black up until now. But a funeral was the kind of place where you had to wear black. It was how an itchy, sheer black dress patterned with flowers bought at the Tuscaloosa Target found its way onto her body, an old pair of black kitten heels borrowed from Esther, and her nails manicured black to match. Her hair she had pulled up into the tightest bun possible, not only out of consideration for the day, but the sweltering heat she knew they were going to roast in for the next 2-3 hours.

The family stood in a small bundle, Hope, Esther and their mother, Uncle Phil, his wife and their two young daughters. After them, it was a mishmash of Greensboro folk looking like a suspects’ parade — a couple of respectable men in suits who were the Birmingham division of door-to-door salesmen who’d worked with John, every manner of town drunkard or lout, and of course, the bikers. He’d rode with the bikers for a time before marrying Tallulah, and the brotherhood had stayed steadfast, it seemed. Or at least the half dozen men clad in leather all stood, hands clasped in front of them as if in solemn prayer, one of them chewing tobacco, another swatting a fly that kept landing on his face. They were a Looney Tunes cartoon, an amusing diversion Hope and Esther would occasionally landed their gaze on.

Becca, of course, was absent.

The priest, dressed in all black and equally sweating buckets, stood at the head, and said his bit. “We are here today to pay our tribute and our respect to a man of God, our brother, John Wayne Halpin. To know John was to love him.” Bet, thought Hope.

“We are also here today to show our love and support for John’s very precious family. Not only have we sensed our own personal feelings of loss over John’s passing, but our hearts have been drawn toward them, and will continue to be with them. ”

Hope looked up, giving the priest her best what-the-fuck stare, even though the man did not look at her but down at his speech. He droned on for some time, with no one else willing to give a eulogy, or at least nothing they wished to divulge publicly. At any rate, the sweltering heat in the cemetery pressed down on young and old alike to such a degree that most were probably thinking how to shuffle off the mortal coil themselves. Even composed Esther was breaking out in a sweat, condensation beads rolling down her temples, Hope noted every time she glanced sideways at her sister.

The voice of the priest came in and out of her line of hearing, like a radio being tuned up and down. “...Let me say again that the measure of a life is not in its duration but in its donation!”

Well, he sure gave a lot, pop did. A shudder ran down her spine, as soon as the speech was over and she was watching her father’s coffin be lowered. Hope wondered if it was relief she was feeling right now. Maybe it was. The nightmare was over. It had been over for Esther long before this, since she’d left home as soon as she turned 18, leaving 14 year old Hope (excuse the shitty pun) hopelessly alone. But Hope had been happy to see her go, happy to be the lone slab of meat left to the wolves. Her sisters deserved lives free of John Wayne Halpin, at least in physical presence. His spectre would remain no matter what they did, rearing itself in their nightmares and even waking thoughts.

After a bout of silence, Uncle Phil came to the head, where flowers and a portrait of John lay beside his freshly engraved tombstone.

“There’s a song he wanted me to play for you all on this occasion. He wasn’t a man of big speeches, despite half his life bein’ spent makin’ them. But when it came to talking about himself, he wasn’t much for it.”

It was clear this speech had not been written down nor prepared, and Phil looked out uneasily at the small gathered crowd. He was a younger, less rotund and bespectacled version of his deceased brother, with eyes that were kindly and did not belie a raging alcoholic. Sometimes, Hope envied her cousins and the life she imagined they must live.

Phil looked down, stayed concentrated that way for some time until it was apparent to the rest of the congregation that he was crying. He sniffled, pushing back in with the snot the rest of his feelings he was keeping at bay, and looked up again.

“Well, rest in peace, big brother.” It was then that Hope noticed, almost for the first time, a stereo system on wheels, hooked up to an old school boom box. Was that a tape he was putting in? In the year 2015? But Hope was beyond questioning things, today. It was a weird farewell, one most fitting for her father.

[x]

The song started with a crackle, a familiar one. He hadn’t played it much lately, but Hope knew it, with every bone deep down in her childhood. By the point the chorus unleashed itself, the bikers stood erect, in solemn reverence to the rock ’n’ roll standard, one of them pulling his hat down and pressing it to his chest. It was weird as all hell, Hope had never met or so much as spoken to any of them. Or at least didn’t remember doing so; she was sure there was some photo in one of their home albums where she was two or three and sitting atop one of their Harleys. Be a simple kind of man…

Memories came shuffling back, the good, the bad, but mostly the unendurable… she didn’t want them. She wished she could trade all of them in for a blank space. Be one of those people that had grown up without a father. Her mother was a terror, that much was true, but deep down she loved Hope and Esther and even Becca in her broken, half-measured way. Like that one time she promised to bake for a school sale Hope was co-chairing, then ended up carting in 200 store-bought cupcakes that had all been on clearance due to being expired. Occasionally, she tried. Had her father ever tried? It was hard to tell. His love had come in measures and conditionals, domineering itself over three helpless girls. But maybe that was to do with all the control he had lost in his life — losing his job, his identity, his manhood, being reduced to something that was nothing. That would make anyone go crazy for control.

She remembered once when Esther had talked back. His new hobby had been making belts. For some reason, he’d roped Esther into helping him. She was thirteen and Hope nine. He had been showing her how to cut leather the right way, but something must’ve happened, and she had slipped and cut it the wrong way. Hope wasn’t sure. She had been outside, not in the shed, tossing a hula hoop about. But she heard the escalating voices, and knew what was going to come. I did it the way you asked, dad, I swear! His argument back she couldn’t hear, it was a slurred mumble. The quieter he got, the worse a storm was brewing, Hope knew. She distinctly remembered the moment she could no longer hear his answer, her mouth going dry for fear of what was to happen.

She knew never to look, Becca had told her not to. Turn away, she would say. Usually she would push or shut Hope out of the room before the worst of it. But she could still hear. And Becca was gone now. She heard each sickening slap and thud, as if they were landing on her own body. And despite herself, her feet took her to the open door of the shed, peeking in to see images that would burn themselves into her memory. Her dad whopping Esther with the belt full force, Esther with her arms around her head, trying to protect herself. She wanted to yell. Wanted to tell him to stop it. Wanted to run in and hit him with that stupid damn belt herself, for being such a fool. But she was afraid, her mouth was sand, and in all her futility the girl knew that if she intervened, she could be next. It didn’t matter that he’d never laid a hand on her, personally. She could always be next. So she let him do it... and that was on her.

Hope snapped out before the memory turned into a guilt-and-shame spiral — back to the sweltering heat, back to the green grass, back to the funeral. The song was winding down, and was she seeing things, or was someone coming over the hill to the mostly empty cemetery?

Not a mirage, there was someone. As the heat waves distorted and the crickets were loud enough to protest, she made out who it was. Lloyd Carver. He was coming this way, flowers in his good hand. The dark-haired man who worked at the auto shop was someone she’d had her eye on ever since she could remember feeling any kind of way about the opposite sex. Thirty-two, handsome of face but slightly too long of nose, he walked with a kind of intensity set on purpose. He’d known Hope’s father, but she had never assumed the two were close. Well, here he approached, his eye catching Hope’s for a brief second, coming up to offer his silent condolences to her mother with a nod. The flowers were added to the growing pile, and he stood alone, in the gap between the businessmen and the bikers, until the song echoed its last sentiments. Then the crowd started to break up.

It really was weird that he was here. She would have communicated as much to Esther, but her sister seemed lost in reveries of her own. Maybe she was making peace, saying her own goodbyes. Hope let her. Once people started dispersing, spontaneous plans were made. Phil and his wife were going to go for drinks at Crosby’s with some of the men in suits, and so was their mother. Esther would drive Phil’s kids home. Hope extricated herself from all of it by saying she had plans and would find her own way back. Amazingly enough, no one pressed, each lost in a post-funeral fog of their own.

She didn’t know what she was doing, but she approached his ’69 bright orange Camaro anyway. It was a beauty of a muscle car that caught her eye as much as its owner. Luckily, he was just getting into it, so she only had to speed up her steps for the last couple of feet in case he drove off and missed her.

“Where ya goin’?” Hope asked him, leaning her elbows into the passenger window. He looked askance at her, and was slow to reply.

“Back into town.”

“Seriously? That’s borin’. You don’t wanna do that.” She had no idea what compelled her to say this, but here she was, saying it.

“I’m goin’ back to the shop,” Lloyd drawled. Oh, what a handsome, beautiful fool he was, even with the scar on his face, his funky limp, and his bad arm. She was amazed he didn’t have a girlfriend.

“How ‘bout a ride? And takin’ me with?”

It took him some time to debate this idea. Maybe it was because it was her dad’s funeral, or because he felt she would not back down, but Lloyd gave in with a sigh. “Alright. Get in.”

She hopped in and they went for a ride.

[x]

They drove straight through town and headed south on the 69. Hope switched on the radio. She wanted to laugh at what greeted her: more Lynyrd Skynyrd. If she’d believed in God, she would think that was her dad right now, keeping his hawk-like watch on Hope in a car with a boy.

“Y’know... my dad would say he used to hang out with Ronnie Van Zant. Drink with him in Birmingham.”

“Oh yeah?” Lloyd asked. He didn’t take his eyes off of the road.

“Yeah. But I kind of think he was full of shit.”

“How come?”

“Well, I did the math one day. He would’ve been ten or so when Ronnie died. So I think it was all shit. Made up. Unless he was ten years old and drinking beer with one of the most famous bands in America...”

Lloyd, characteristically quiet and stoic, did not seem to change, her attempt at humor not landing. But then his chronically contemplative face turned out a smile, and Hope grinned.

“That is kinda dumb,” he agreed, and it felt like a personal victory. Melting the ice man’s heart.

They passed a few cars here and there, but mostly the road was empty, and they rode on, each lost in their own thoughts, set to the music.

“Go faster,” Hope egged on eventually. Lloyd obliged her request.

“Faster.”

He went past sixty, and was hitting seventy now, looking over at the girl in his passenger every now and then, as if wondering when she would call his bluff and call chicken. But Hope didn’t. She revelled in the speed the car went, just as that solo was ramping up in the song, her favorite song. The guitars strained and yowled to match the diabolic speed of the car and everything was on fire all at once, it was amazing.

Nearly up to eighty now as the Camaro flew down the highway, Hope tugged her hair out of its bun and her blonde locks whipped through the wind, the girl wondering what would happen if another car were to come speeding down the wrong way in this very moment. They would surely die, but wouldn’t this be a wonderful way to die? Absolutely. She would love nothing better.

Hope cackled. Uncontrollable laughter rose low in her stomach, the feeling of freedom hitting her full force along with the wind. Lloyd kept the car streaking down the highway between 70 and 80, and her laughter carried itself out on the winds, out onto the Alabama wilds, out with her all along the way. They passed fields upon fields of nothing, farmhouses and cows, desolateness and non-desolateness. Hope felt small yet infinitely stretched out across her home state all at once. She hated it here on most days, but today, she appreciated it like nothing else.

Free, she was free.

They stopped at an auto parts store in Uniontown, Lloyd picking something up for his shop, a short cigarette break, and a far more mellow return drive home. Hope kept some sliver of hope that he’d invite her to his house, maybe they’d even fuck, deep down having hoped for that outcome since she got in his car, what she yearned for with all her being. But nothing of the sort happened. He dropped her off home and rode off without so much as a goodbye. Maybe he’d felt sorry for her. Maybe he genuinely liked her, but wasn’t one for sentiments. Whatever his reasons for offering her a joyride, she appreciated it.

#self para #death tw #funeral tw #abuse tw #domestic violence tw #a cookie for anyone who correctly guesses who i had in mind for Lloyd's fc

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