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Sweet Dreams in Fairyland
Forum-Index → Roleplay → Sweet Dreams in Fairyland
Posted: Tue, 02/07/2024 21:53 (4 Months ago)
Sweet Dreams in Fairyland
Once upon a time, in a kingdom far far away, there lived a little boy and a little girl. Every waking moment they would spend together, crafting a world beyond that of the little forest they called home. In their kingdom they were king and queen, ruling their subjects and creating a haven where heroes saved the day every time. Always, in the end, the little boys and girls and children went home and loving parents embraced them and told them that some day they could be heroes too.
The place in the woods and the fantasy in their heads was the girl's whole world. When she and the boy went to school, she'd dream about the next adventure. Maybe, she thinks, this time she will choose to be the hero.
But one day, while the boy and girl were playing, they noticed something strange. Out of the corner of the boy's eye, he saw a shadowed figure in the bushes, hand resting against a massive oak. The hand was thin, with long elegant fingers and for a moment he thought of the elves of his storybooks. Then he saw the pointed ears, hidden within a crown of curly black hair and he knew what was going on.
This was the start of their next adventure. The real one.
The girl's hand found his and she tried to tug him back.
But he stepped forward, fingers outstretched for the beautiful man in front of them, his mouth opening in a question.
"Oh, little one," said the stranger softly. He tilted his head, black curls falling across his beautiful face. For a moment, there was a flash of amber eyes before the sheet of wild hair fell over his face, obscuring his expression except for the slight smile playing on his lips. "You dream of something more, don't you? This world isn't enough for you."
The girl stepped up beside him. "Who are you? How did you get here?"
The boy shushed her and she shot him a look of betrayal. But his eyes were fixated on the stranger.
Who laughed. Still smiling at the children. "That's rather unimportant, considering the matters at hand, don't you think?"
"I think it's important. And if you aren't going to answer, I also think we should go. Come on." She tried pulling the boy away, but he didn't move. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I could give you a whole other world if you so wished. All I ask is that you answer a question of mine."
"Anything," the boy whispered.
The girl tugged nervously on his wrist, but the boy's eyes didn't move. Just fixated on the beautiful fairy in front of them, their story, their future- the one who would make them heroes.
The man smiled and it was cold and awful and promised great pain in the future.
"Which one of you created this dream?"
Another day, another migraine. Luther sighed, rubbing the spot between his eyes and sat up. Immediately, his eyes locked onto the poster of St. Marie's University.
His mom had set it up right across from his bed, for the "motivation". The school was "his dream", after all, and it was supposed to make it easier to get through a day of babysitting for a spoiled brat. Unfortunately, it rarely did anything for him.
With a groan, he slipped backwards into bed, pulling his sheets over his head and debated calling in sick.
"Luther! Luther, are you awake yet?"
"Yeah, Mom! I'm up! Hold on a minute, I'm coming."
He sighed. Accepting his fate, Luther sat up and surveyed his room.
He couldn't say the place was that much better than living in a shoebox, but it was definitely his. From the bright posters of the Cheryl Brothers on the wall, to his drawings of antique French typewriters, it was flooded with all his weird phases.
It always embarrassed him to see his old art, but hey. It showed progression, right? You could be proud of that.
The groan of loose floorboards snapped hin out of his thoughts.
That must be Mom coming up. She'd never figured out how to go quietly up and down the old staircase. It was weird, considering they'd lived in this house since before he was born.
Or maybe she had figured it out at some point, and she was just messing with him every time she went down at 3am. You never knew with her. It was definitely possible that her crazy wake-up times were rooted in annoying him more than weird-momness.
In any case, he'd figured it out when he was a little kid. Maybe her waking him up too early was just their thing.
Maybe you'll miss it when you leave, said a quiet voice in the back of his head.
Shaking off the weird thoughts, he called out, "I'm coming!"
The creaking paused, and he threw off his covers. Quickly getting dressed, he met her at the staircase.
She was an older woman now, with more wrinkles than he remembered her having as he was growing up. The ash from working in the old factories had left her with permanent grey stains on her face. But when she smiled, every one of those wrinkles seemed determined to scrunch into laugh lines, and the aging appeared to melt away with her obvious joy.
She'd always supported him in his dreams of being an artist. Every day of her life, she'd worked, ignoring her coworkers who urged her to bring her son to work.
It made him uncomfortable, being so loved. As a kid, he'd never appreciated all the sacrifices she made so that he could spend every waking moment drawing. The guilt still remained. Everything she'd done, she'd done for him, and he couldn't even give something back.
If only she didn't love him quite so much, and then he could feel okay with how hollow he felt on the inside. With what he was about to do.
"Won't you give this old woman a hug, Luthie?"
Feeling his face go hot at the stupid nickname, he wrapped his arms around her then quickly jumped back. She laughed, gave him a pat on the shoulder, and turned around, heading back down the steps.
He followed after her, the guilt curling up even tighter in his stomach. With each step down, she appeared to flinch at some pain in her hip or her shoulder, then laugh it off and keep going down.
If only...
Luther ate breakfast quickly, and after mom waved him off as he headed down the road towards the rich side of Frenbrair. The smog seemed worse than usual today, but as soon as he walked through the gates, the air was suddenly clear.
Most of the new neighbourhoods had controllable weather systems, because apparently rich people couldn't soil their lungs by breathing the same air the rest of the world did. It always left him with a strange feeling, because in a way, he appreciated it, but at the same time it just reminded him of the injustices in the world.
Why did his mom have to suffer, so these people could enjoy their stupid fake rain?
Coming up to the Arison's grandiose door, he rang the bell and waited for their answer.
A whining keen rung in his ears. In front of his eyes, a mouth moved, speaking words, but he couldn't make it out. He was underwater, but he could feel the air moving in and out of his nose. He tested the tip of his tongue against the roof of his mouth and it was sticky.
Not drowning then.
It reminded him of that time he'd fallen in the river. It was the only time he'd ever seen Toshiko scared. One second she'd been laughing at him, her ugly face twisted up awful sneer, then there was a pressure on his chest. Her mouth opened super wide, and for once she reached out to touch him, her eyes so wide it was crazy. It was funny and he laughed right out loud, staring up at the sun and thinking of his big sister's stupid face and her stupid surprise.
Then he fell backwards and his head hit the water.
He was underwater, he decided. It just made sense. He couldn't hear, couldn't think, and the world was rushing by like the rivers in big sister's books.
Maybe this was what it was like to die.
That's right, there was some word for people who couldn't hear nothing and it was something like "dead". Kubo thought he remembered reading something like that in sister's books. Maybe dead people got dead ears too.
If this was what it was like being dead... well, he wouldn't mind, really. If you couldn't hear nothing, then hen people couldn't yell or say awful things. They couldn't make momma cry, or big brother storm out of the house, or big sister start screaming and never stop. Everything would go away. No thunder, no door slamming, and no angry dogs.
That... would be nice, wouldn't it?
"Are you alright, son?"
Kubo blinked. "Mm?"
The man's face blurred into focus. He had big brown eyes, what momma called "smile lines", and really big hair. It was super frizzy and Kubo weirdly got the urge to sneeze. It was like one of those things feathery things big sister used for her "chores", a task he was dubious on the existence of, considering that big sister spent most of her time reading dumb books and yelling at him.
"Where are your parents?"
Parents...
The ringing in his ears returned. "Far away. Hundred thousand miles."
The man's frown intensified. "Do you know how to contact your folks at all? I'm sure they're worried about you. Little guy all alone and that..." He started to reach into his back pocket.
Kubo became aware of where he was. Too aware. In a little crack between buildings, in a big city far away from big sister and the water, sitting by humongous black bags and Loraas bins.
He jumped to his feet and nearly tripped. The man's hand flew out to catch him and Kubo slapped it away.
For a second they stared at each other.
And then Kubo took off.
"Hold on! Kid!" he yelled.
The man had kind eyes, momma's smile lines, and he wanted to help Kubo. He was a nice man, the one momma always told him to find when he got lost.
But he was an adult, and Kubo was done trusting adults.
Ten minutes later, little Kubo stood, panting on a corner, staring out into the endless lights of the city. Flashes of purple and red and blue and every other colour in the rainbow darted through the sky. The busses never ended here, because the night never ended either.
Somebody told Kubo that it was because of the "ere-pole-lucian" but he didn't know what that was, just that this whole place was scary.
Something cold hit his cheek and Kubo yelped, pulling back. He looked up just in time to see an angry red care roar by, sending the slush into the air.
His whole face was wet with gross stuff. He started trembling and his eyes felt hot.
More cars rushed by. One honked at him and he flinched, pulling further back onto the curb. He needed to get home. He needed to find the others...
He wished he were still asleep.
Why did the adult have to wake him up? In Fairyland, there were no cars or slush or water or sisters. He wasn't in a city anymore and he wasn't home.
It was okay. He was okay.
Kubo squeezed his eyes shut and wished for someone, anyone, to whisk him away. If only a bird could reach up, pluck him by the shoulders, and carry him into the sky. Far, far, away, into a sky so blue, he could forget about all the yelling, all the cars, and the ere-pole-lucian.
It would be just him and the wind flying into their eternity of blissful silence.
If that were real life, he thinks he could live with that.
TW:// Child neglect.
"Good morning~" Nora sang to an utterly silent room. With a grin, she hopped to her feet and strode over to her window. She flung open the curtains and stared out into the dense fog of the city.
The smell of smoke seemed to be in everything here. Carpets and walls were stained with the stuff, even in the well-upkept Mawer mansion.
It was a good thing she liked the smell! Laughing, Nora spun on her heel and hurried to get dressed.
...
As always, the hallways were crowded with people who rushed to get out of her way. The same faces over and over again... undoubtedly some of those weird stayovers from mum's crazy parties, probably. At this point, some of them were probably living with the Mawers.
Not that Nora minded. She hated the silence most of all.
The kitchen doors were wide open. Breakfast was already set, two placings and a bunch of silverware on the shamelessly fancy table. Her mum and dad were already sipping coffee and working away at the pancakes.
Nora brightened up. Her favourite! To celebrate her first day back at school, maybe?
"Good morning!" she cheered.
Dad grunted and pulled his newspaper up. Mum dabbed at her mouth with a handkerchief, offering a polite "thank you" to the maid who refilled her cup of coffee.
Sourpusses.
She laughed to herself, sweeping past the suddenly stiff maid to grab a plate off the counter. She served herself, and plopped down on one of the kitchen chairs, never one to sweat the small stuff. If mum and dad were having some issues with basic math, well, she wouldn't hold it against them.
In any case, they made pancakes.
That said something, didn't it? They were getting back to normal. After all, they loved each other. Nothing could tear this perfect family apart forever.
Nothing.
Her throat tightened and for a second, she remembered her mum's face, the fear, the anger, as they talked to that stupid man who didn't understand who they were, who Nora was...
He knew nothing.
The Mawers were perfect. So what if, for the past three months, her family had forgotten their perfect child even existed?
TW:// Stalking
The Mawers claimed to be the perfect family. Renowned in their community for several generations, they hosted party after party, catering to anyone who seemed to be clawing their way up in the wealthy world. Old money, but with the talent to hold onto and expand it. Every child in their perfect line would graduate with top marks, marry, and have another perfect child to carry on after them.
They were absolutely perfect. Not a smudge nor a chip in their pristine reputation. Every other wealthy family had something. A crazy cousin, a cover-up, or a political assassination on their hands.
The Mawer family was a miracle.
But Xenia didn't believe in miracles.
They'd grown up dirt poor. They'd seen the worst in humanity, from the very bases, with people who were desperate just to survive. In this city, nobody was perfect. Everyone was screwed up in some way. Some people just had a little more to lose. Didn't make them better, just made them try harder to hide it.
The Mawer family claimed to stand above it all. Ha. Try again.
There was something going on. And she, Xenia Coombs, amateur journalist, would find it.
After all, this could be their first big break. And their chance to climb up on top. And they'd start by sending those Mawers crashing to the bottom.
With a grin, they slapped a new picture onto their corkboard. They plunged the pin in, took a step back, and stared into the beautiful mess which formed their office.
People called it clutter, but she called it "Coombs coordination". Just because it looked like the house of a hoarder didn't mean there wasn't a serious organization system going on. Anyway, if nobody knew what you were doing, they couldn't say you were doing it wrong, hey? Or steal your notes about your planned break in to the Mawer residence.
In any case, they'd found their lead. The one who would get them to the heart of the Mawer's corruption.
At the centre of the corkboard, freshly tacked was their newest acquisition. A picture at a suspiciously low angle and framed by suspicious leaves- hey, it was hard to catch a glimpse of rich people when you were broke, and anyway, sneaking into shrubbery wasn't really beneath Xenia at this point-- capturing the face of the next in line to rule the Mawers.
Long, wild brown hair framing a smiling tan face, a lopsided stance, halfway through a cheery hop- the photo was of Jace Mawer, fourteen years old. The heir. The most guarded secret of the Mawers.
She'd vanished from the public eye several months ago. There was really no cause for alarm. People went off the grid all the time.
Yet, the paper's silence was what raised red flags for Xenia. Even the gossip columns were suspiciously silent. They just moved on to new things, silly stuff really, mostly about who was with who, WHO had a new baby?
Someone was keeping those gossip columns silenced.
There was something rotten in Denmark. The perfect family wasn't so perfect after all.
With a grin, Xenia threw on their favourite star bag and strode out the door.
It was the perfect day for a walk. Who knew who they might run into? ...Especially if they just so happened to walk by the Mawer estate, the very day of Jace's reintroduction into society?
TW:// Child Neglect, References to Animal Abuse
The world was quiet today. Momma said every Sunday was quiet, 'cause the train was out. Perched on the windowsill, Dana gazed out into the smog of the city. In her lap, she gently stroked Whiskers, her beloved cat stuffy.
"It's cold today," she told him softly. "We should stay inside so the germs don't get you. Cause if the germs get you, then you don't get candy and you have to take medicine, right? And then the medicine'll make you dead, 'cause the factories make bad medicine right now."
He stared blankly back at her with his two beaded eyes. He didn't talk, but she didn't mind. Quiet was nice. Days like these, where she could just be with him, listening to the noises outside, waiting for daddy to came home.
Sometimes she missed having a momma. She could be mean and get angry sometimes, and she broke the real Whiskers, but her momma always told her the truth about stuff. Daddy always watered it down.
He said Whiskers went to the farm, but momma was real, momma-
Dana blinked. Her face felt wet.
"Don't cry," she told the stuffy Whiskers. "If you cry, then you'll use up all your water. Then you die."
She carefully wiped her face with her sleeve, then wiped fake Whiskers' face. She was his momma now, and she had to make him okay.
When was daddy coming home?
Dana wished she was still asleep. In Fairyland, daddys and mommas were always home. There was no work, there was no bad water which made mommas dead, and you were never cold.
Shivering, she pulled the not-dead Whiskers closer and hoped that daddy would be home soon.
Posted: Tue, 02/07/2024 23:06 (4 Months ago)
Blue Sky.
Puffy funny looking clouds.
The day was starting almost just a bit too well, but who was he to complain?
Jing Yu swiftly went downstairs, casually put on a jacket and grabbed his backpack. His parents were out of town on a business trip and school was going to start in a hour. He grabbed a slice of bread and shoved it in his mouth main character style and messily put on his sneakers running out the door.
The wind lazily blew at his already messed up hair that he didn't bother combing. What was the point when it was going to get messed up by the wind anyways? Of course the only con was that it got in his eyes, but that was nothing a haircut couldn't fix.
Running down the neighborhood, Jing Yu counted down the houses in his head. He was from a rather rich neighborhood, so to get to his destination, a little bit of running was needed.
'3.. 2.. 1'
"Found Ya!"
Skidding to a stop, Jing Yu stopped in front of a much more ordinary house.
He took a deep breath. He raised his hand. And in one swift move-!
"Yu Xuanji! Wake up! We're going to be late!!"
He banged down.
Posted: Tue, 02/07/2024 23:20 (4 Months ago)
She made no movement to acknowledge him, however. Instead, she fished out a pair of silver keys and locked the door, before securing them in her pocket once more.
As usual, Xuanji had her jet black hair down, along with her dishevelled looking uniform, which included trousers instead of the skirts that most of the girls wore. Xuanji hated skirts, they were uncomfortable and hard to move around in, in her eyes, trousers were just so much better. Apart from all the usual, she was wrapped in a large coat, too big for her, but the girl couldn’t care less.
Like every other day, the air was stuffy, filled with whatever chemicals and particles the adults dumped into the atmosphere. The sky was greyish blue, the clouds shaped weirdly and a foggy haze surrounding almost everything near. But Xuanji couldn’t deny that it was sunny, despite her pessimistic personality.
After a few prolonged seconds of standing like a statue, the girl finally moved, she turned to Jing Yu, looked at him for a moment, and started walking, while eating her breakfast.
Posted: Tue, 02/07/2024 23:42 (4 Months ago)
𝓢𝓸𝓯𝓲𝓪 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓱 𝓐𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓸𝓷'𝓼 𝓟𝓞𝓥
She giggled joyously as she did so, as though squashing ants was the most wonderful thing in the world.
“YEEEes! Who’s your queen now?” she cackled.
Only, to her dismay, it seemed that no more ants were wandering in. How terrible.
Her mother, a thirty-five-year-old woman (who seemed to be making a conscious effort to appear twenty-five, made apparent by her bleach-blonde hair, numerous layers of makeup, and the absence of her glasses) clicked her tongue softly in dismay at the sight.
“Dear, someone’s at the door! I think it’s your… babysitter,” she remarked, with barely hidden disdain.
Sofia didn’t budge. Her nose, mouth, and eyes scrunched into a pout.
“Hmmm, hmm, hm! Hmm, hmmm, hmmm!” she hummed to herself, drowning out the incessant noise.
She sighed in reply, pinching at her forehead. “Honey. Please come out. Don’t make me get your father.”
“I can’t hear youuuu! Lalalala!”
Her mother groaned, barging into the room and yanking her upwards.
“OOF! Let me gooo!” she whined, struggling uselessly. Her arms and legs flailed futilely, kicking at her mother’s thick, long skirt with all her might.
Ugh… okay. Come on. There has to be a way out of this…
“You’re going to have to see him eventually. Do you really hate your sitter that much?”
Sofia blew a raspberry in response, scowling.
“Yeah, duh! I don’t want a dumb sitter. He suuuucks! Why can’t I stay here?” She crossed her arms.
“Because your father and I are going out. Now, be a good girl, and go greet Mr. Luther.”
“Pleeeease? Do I have to?” She gave her mother… the eyes.
Which, caused her mother to roll her own.
“If you go see him… I’ll buy you something nice later. Do we have a deal?”
SCORE! Wait, no. Gotta keep my cool…
“Ughhhh. Fine.”
Her mother put Sofia down and patted her on the head. “Good girl. Do you need me to walk you there?”
“Excuse me, I’m EIGHT years old! Eight and a quarter! I’m a big kid, you know. I can handle myself.” She ducked away from her mother’s headpatting, and ran for the door.
“Well… if you say so. At least she’s going…”
Ugh. Grown-ups think they know everything. she thought with a roll of her eyes. Maybe next time, they won’t get so lucky! I’ll run away, I’ll run far, far away, and then they’ll be sorry!
Sofia Elizabeth Arison (albeit reluctantly) made her way to the door. It always felt so tall, so very tall. So… final.
It almost felt like she was taking a step towards something important. Something far bigger than herself.
Though, I mean, come on, she was a big kid now. A whole eight and a quarter years old was SUPER big!
Whatever happened next, she could handle it. For suresies.
As she turned the handle and opened the door, she was met with…
She squinted, and slowly, her irritated expression transformed into a delighted smirk.
“Ohh, hi! It is I, the esteemed Sofia Elizabeth Arison. If it isn’t Mister Luther McLoserface. You here to ruin my life again?”
Seemingly out of nowhere, her mother made an appearance. She clasped her hands together and bowed slightly.
“Thank goodness you’re here, Luther. Thank you for coming. Please, take her away from here before she burns the house down.”
Sofia frowned, immediately pouting again. “I’ll have you know I was only THINKING about doing that! Maybe!”
Her mother let out an exasperated sigh. “See what I mean?”
Police Detective Abeni Madaki’s POV
“That dream again,” she murmured, slowly blinking her bedroom into view.
Abeni Madaki got up from her bed, quickly and carefully as she always did, and snatched the clothes she had specially prepared the previous night to wear under her uniform.
She wasn’t sure if it really meant anything. That dream she kept having, whenever she got enough sleep to dream… well, it was said that dreams always meant something. She knew that.
Yet, how could they? They were mere concoctions of human thoughts. No facts to them, merely fantasy. There was no way it could speak to something of actual importance.
There was no use dwelling on such things.
She showered, brushed her teeth, changed her clothes, had her coffee and toast like she always did, straightened her hair, since it was growing out again, packed her things, and drove to the police station.
Things had been rather uneventful lately. Which was good, but boring. Though she wasn’t sure if she should wish for a good case, given the suffering it often caused in the process.
The last noteworthy thing she recalled… was from so very long ago, she wasn’t sure it counted.
And she’d rather not think of that.
It was…
She carefully lit her cigarette, and looked over her paperwork. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary…
For now.
Posted: Tue, 02/07/2024 23:48 (4 Months ago)
The train roared outside. It wasn't Sunday. It hadn't been Sunday since daddy left.
Dana stood in the cramped entryway, clutching fake-Whiskers tightly to her chest. She'd bundled up as best she could without daddy helping her, but somehow, even with every inch of skin covered up, she still felt cold. She'd wrapped scarves on her exposed wrists, pulled out the winter mitts, and tugged daddy's big woolen cap over her ears.
Why was she so cold? She starting shaking again and her eyes felt hot.
"Don't cry;" she whispered to fake-Whiskers. "You have to go to school today or they'll come find you and ask about your momma."
Releasing a shaky breath, she finally reached up to the doorknob and gave it a twist. It swung open, releasing a gust into the house, stirring up all the ash and blowing it into the kitchen.
With a shiver, Dana finally left the house and started for school. It was a long walk, and she took the time to survey her surroundings.
A group of old men were sitting by a nearby fire. Some were missing limbs, and all had rough, blackened faces. Daddy said that made them miners. One was leaning up against the nearby building and coughing, an awful wet sound that made her think of the angry dragon from her storybooks.
Hacking and wiping his mouth, the man looked around, and his eyes met hers. He smiled sadly, revealing blackened, broken off teeth and raised his hand in a little wave. He was missing his pinkie finger.
She hurried her pace, tugging the multiple scarves around her neck just a bit higher.
As she walked, she began to see other kids making their daily commute and relaxed a bit. It was fine. It was just school, after all and she could do school.
She noticed two middle schoolers walking together and snuck up behind them, staying a few metres back, but close enough.
"You'll be safe with big kids," she whispered sagely to the fake-Whiskers in her arms. "They can beat up the bad people for you, and they won't hurt you, not really."
Great. Luther's eyebrow twitched. He was beginning to hope they might not be home, but just by the time he'd made up his mind to leave, the little brat finally decided to grace him with her presence.
"It's alright, I don't mind."
The money, he added internally. He wouldn't come here on threat of death, but right now, those sweet sweet paycheques had him by the throat.
"How are you today, Sofia?" He smiled at her. "Do you have any plans? If you want, we could do some art today."
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 00:00 (4 Months ago)
"So, I heard your parents are out of town too? What a coincident! So are mine!" He doesn't mention the fact that they were more often than not out of town on either their couple honeymoon or for medical procedures. After all, it was such a nice day despite all the smog, there's no need to ruin it!
"So whose gonna take care of ya while they're gone? Do you gotta nanny to watch over you or are you staying home alone hm? "
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 00:03 (4 Months ago)
The middle schoolers were talking. Daddy always said not to eavesdrop, but she couldn't resist. It'd been so long since she heard a voice that wasn't her own.
Her curiosity spiked. Their parents were gone?
"They're probably dead," she told fake-Whiskers quietly. "I bet you didn't know this, but middle schoolers have parents too. So the water can get them."
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 00:06 (4 Months ago)
“I think we both know that my parents wouldn’t bother to get me a guardian or anything like that. Either way, I can survive without them.” The girl said dryly, hands in her pockets and a slouched posture.
“What, did your parents get you a babysitter or something?” Xuanji added, making sure she had a comeback, no way she would let Jing Yu win this ‘argument’ of some kind.
She peered at her watch, which she wore on her right wrist even though she was right-handed. They had around forty-five minutes to get to school, plenty of time, but perhaps they should speed up, and so she did.
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 00:12 (4 Months ago)
Survive without parents? That was a scary thought. But middle schoolers were big and tough so maybe they could.
Either way, she had to go right here. She hurried her pace and walked past them, making the turn while murmuring to the stuffy in her arms. "They'll be okay, don't worry. If you're big, the bad guys can't hurt you."
She hugged him tighter, and whispered very softly in his ear, an important promise. "I'm big too, so I'll take care of you. We don't need momma, or daddy."
Then she hesitated.
"But he'll be home soon anyway," she said firmly. "So let's go to school."
It was a bit of a walk still, but school was coming into sight now. She felt her shoulders relax and the pressure in her chest ease up. It would be warm in there. Everything was okay now.
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 00:31 (4 Months ago)
Don’t get him wrong, no, it’s not because of the season in and of itself, it was perfectly fine. The temperature was nice, the leaves were falling, everything looked so pretty and orange and yellow, but… It always felt so… off. Like the city just…
Went off.
He sighed, pulling out his phone, as it started to buzz.
“Hello?”
He said, picking up the call.
He stopped for a few moments in the middle of the sidewalk, before stepping to the side, the blonde man running a hand through his hair. He spoke quietly.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m on my way to the daycare.”
pause. Sigh.
“No, I promise I won’t get sidetracked.”
Another pause, another sigh.
“Alright. Bye, I love you.”
Her hung up. Pocketing the phone, he continued walking down the street.
Then he paused one last time, when he started to pass the Mawer Estate, where a person was crouched in the bushes, a camera up to their face.
Oh, Aleks knew exactly what was happening there.
wickedness?
Or is it
weakness?
You decide.
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 00:33 (4 Months ago)
𝓢𝓸𝓯𝓲𝓪 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓱 𝓐𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓸𝓷'𝓼 𝓟𝓞𝓥
Oh, please. Like Loser Waffles over here really didn’t mind. She narrowed her perfect, pristine eyes.
Wait. Waffles were awesome… she really would have to come up with a better insult.
“Thank you so much for your patience. Oh, would you look at the time! You and Arthur had better get going. Have fun!”
Mrs. Arison practically shoved Sofia out the door, slamming it shut with a click. She was now left alone with her worst enemy. Curses.
“Okayyy. Bye, I guess,” she half-muttered.
”How are you today, Sofia?”
Oh, wowwww.
“How are you today, Sofia?” she mimicked, in the lowest voice her underdeveloped vocal folds could muster. “Oh, just amazing! At least I was, before you came here.”
She stared at her much-taller companion, contemplating deeply on a matter of UTMOST IMPORTANCE!!!
Should I… kick him in his stupid butt? That sounds like fun. Should I… should I not…
”Do you have any plans? If you want, we could do some art today.”
Her eyes widened.
Wait. WAITWAITWAIT! That sounds perfect!
Her mind was already concocting an ✨️elaborate scheme.✨️
She swished her magnificent pigtails, and beamed at him.
“That sounds… kinda not-boring! I didn’t expect that of you, Loser Whale!” She clapped her hands together. “Can we doooooo… finger-painting?”
Police Detective Abeni Madaki’s POV
Autumn. A season where certain things come to an end, and others begin anew.
The children, younger and older, would be making their way to school right about now. She momentarily wondered if they’d call her to the school for educational matters, as they sometimes did.
Teenagers could be brutal. At times, they would do the craziest things. Some boy gets his hair set on fire, some girl beats another student for reasons she’s already forgotten. Drug dealings, lateness, the vandalizing of property, and in extreme cases… far, far worse.
Hopefully, the middle and high schoolers of this generation wouldn’t have things too hard.
It was never pleasant when something bad happened to somebody.
Especially kids.
Some young folks just didn’t know any better.
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 00:48 (4 Months ago)
The man wearing the hoodie was indeed Daniel Shipman. What a surprise! What possible reason could someone of the esteemed Shipman family be sneaking around the ghettos for?
A secret lover? A deal with the mob?
What a story this would be! The tabloids would eat it up!
Snickering to herself, Xenia snapped a few shots as the man looked around warily. She managed to get a great one of his face which she promptly uploaded to a harddrive.
Then Danny moved on, and she could finally sit up. Ow her leg had fallen asleep and OW-
Their hair was caught!
They wriggled backwards, fighting to free themself, but the bush did not seem to be keen on releasing them. With a grumble they began to yank at the branches. After a few snaps, they were freed from the greater body of the bush and managed to fall back on their behind.
"Yes!" They pumped their fist. This was their first step to greatness!
Xenia checked their reflection in their camera and admired their hair. They'd definitely pulled out more of the bush then what they'd left behind.
Oh well. Marks of journalist valour!
Shoved out the door, trapped with the creature of his nightmares, Luther contemplated starving to death after what now seemed to be a long and peaceful life spent mining and dying of dysentry at age 35.
In his head he heard himself saying, I don't recall being named Arthur. In fact, I believe the name on my birth certificate might just happen to be Luther, which we have had you practice saying for the first three days of my working for you, you selfish brat.
But he bit his tongue and instead offered another fake smile. "Finger painting? That sounds great. We can pop by the community centre, and maybe you can bother- er, play with some of the other kids. Your mom'd be happy to hear you're making friends, wouldn't she?"
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 01:05 (4 Months ago)
𝓢𝓸𝓯𝓲𝓪 𝓔𝓵𝓲𝔃𝓪𝓫𝓮𝓽𝓱 𝓐𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓸𝓷'𝓼 𝓟𝓞𝓥
HEY, Buster! I heard that remark!
"Awwww. You don't wanna finger-paint with me, Luthieee? I thought it might be one of the few things you're good at. Since you're a filthy commoner, you're prob'ly used to getting your hands dirty!" she exclaimed, in a bright, pleasant voice, as though she had uttered the hymns of a high-ranking angel.
Still... it would be good to get on Mommy's good side. Maybe she'd stay home a little more... And stop making her spend time with this weirdo.
Suddenly, she was struck with a momentous vision. Of pushing the bad, dumb other kids around, spraying paint all over them and pulling some dumb screaming girl's hair as Sofia jumped up and down with sadistic delight.
Maybe I could burn the "comunitee centur" down... Hmm..
"Well... I guess that's not the worst idea. Maybe second-worst. Lead the way, Loser Whale!"
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 01:10 (4 Months ago)
“Creeping around in bushes. Not very professional.”
He commented, looking her over.
“You an investigative journalist?”
He asked.
“Try parking a car across the street, dark tint windows, and a camera with good enough zoom.”
wickedness?
Or is it
weakness?
You decide.
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 02:21 (4 Months ago)
Valerius shot up with a gasp, heavy coughs wracking his chest as he bent over to hack and spit through the water that had flooded fragile lungs during the night. Fisting the plush quilt that had nearly been thrown off in the haste, Valerius took a rattling breath and launched into another round of full bodied coughs. His head spun viciously even as his coughs subsided, throat rubbed raw with the force of them as he took in shaking gasps. His chest still felt tight and wound up but as he clutched the thin nightgown soaked through with sweat, he felt each rise and fall come easier and easier to him, yet the yawning emptiness never quite left.
Snapping his head up, Valerius desperately looked around, ignoring the fact that the sun was already high in the sky and he had definitely overslept. The bed felt too large for him alone and the darkness that dropped their room in dappled light as thin silk curtains did little to block out the morning light seemed even longer than normal. Toys were put away neatly, leaving the stained wood flooring immaculate and free of dust, all the chairs pushed into grand hand carved desks, and even the door that led out to the cold house remained shut tight. Clutching the fabric under his hands even tighter, Valerius whimpered softly, the sound barely squeaking out of his sore throat as he curled into himself in the middle of the empty room.
"...'ria?"
•°. * иσвℓє ρυяρℓє * .°•
•°. * тнє вєαт σf ℓανєи∂єя є¢нσєѕ σи, ι'м иσт α ωιт¢н σя αиутнιиg * .°•
•°. * яє∂ αи∂ gяєєи тяυℓу gσ ωєℓℓ тσgєтнєя * .°•
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 02:39 (4 Months ago)
"Valerius? Are you awake?"
She asked quietly, setting the tray down on a table, making her way to her brother. She put a hand on his shoulder.
"Valerius. I'm right here. I made you breakfast- it's nothing special, just porridge- Take your time. Do you need some water? I-I have water right here. I have your medicine too."
wickedness?
Or is it
weakness?
You decide.
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 03:27 (4 Months ago)
Internally yelling at two divine beings who had made the choice to subject him to this demon child, Luther gave her a very, sweet smile. The kind of smile that made his childhood friend/bully run to the bigger kids and beg for sanctuary. He still wasn't sure why, Flint started crying every time he grinned at him, as he felt he was a very good smiler.
"Oh that sounds wonderful. I'm sure the other kids will love to have you. In fact, I know a kid who visits every Thursday and would be very glad to listen to your orders." Without a trace of shame, he sold out Flint's brother. "His name is Harry and he doesn't think the rich should rule over the poors. Silly boy should really be taught a lesson huh?"
In any case, Harry deserved this after stealing his childhood photo album and giving it to Flint. He felt absolutely no guilt over inflicting this demon on that little gremlin.
Ahah! Someone behind them!
Xenia whipped around, yelled "SAY CHEESE!" and took a shot of the man's face. She examined him, still shaking her hair vigorously to get out the bush which apparently had fused with her to create one entity.
Hmm. Pretty professional looking dude. Out weirdly early, following her around... Her eyes narrowed.
"What are you, a cop?" Something struck her. "A stalker?" He did say something about creeping, didn't he? Oh no, what if this dude was in love with her or something and following her around like a weirdo? She looked closely, determined he was handsome, reconsidered her stance on stalkers, realised she was a hypocrite, and finally that he was old and weird looking.
"Yeah sorry, not interested." Xenia stuck out their tongue. "You're really not my type. Besides, I gotta be the weirdo in the relationship. If someone matches me in craziness, then we'd probably end up burning down a museum or something. No offense about the crazy part- but actually, rethinking that, total offense if you're following me. Not cool dude."
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 03:32 (4 Months ago)
He pulled his left hand out, turning it to show the ring.
"I just happened to notice the fact that you were, uh, I suppose staking out the Mawer estate. It's always an annoying to be gathering scoops, I know. But isn't it a bit hypocritical to be calling me a stalker, young miss?"
Aleksandr just laughed to himself.
"Oh well. What paper do you work for?"
wickedness?
Or is it
weakness?
You decide.
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 03:58 (4 Months ago)
"Suspicious." Xenia took a picture of the ring. "I need that... for evidence." Crossing their arms, they began tapping their foot. "Calling me a hypocrite hmm? I like your gumption old man. You can have a temporary win."
Aha!
"I'm a freelance journalist." They puffed out their chest proudly. "I cater to no greater body. My interests are that of the public's! I am bribed by no politician, unless said politician is hot and/or has a lot of money."
Smiling and nodding sagely, she said, "I have decided you are a worthy rival, old dude. You can keep stalking me if you want, it's cool now and anyway I'd appreciate the chance to show you up.'
Posted: Wed, 03/07/2024 04:02 (4 Months ago)
He laughed.
"I like your energy. Keep it up, kid."
wickedness?
Or is it
weakness?
You decide.