Disclaimer for the story: Sadly, I do not own Strange Magic, although I do have the DVD that I play once a week.
My work-in-progress is stalled at the moment, so those waiting for the companion to Badge of Valor have a little longer to wait. The sequel to Wild Desire is already written but you ain't getting that until next week. Translation for Scottish and British insults/slang is at the end. Constructive advice is appreciated but please refrain from criticism. Enjoy!
Slightly important note: I really do appreciate helpful advice on all my stories. I know they could use a lot (understatement) of improvement both storywise and writing-wise and they will all be refreshed (hopefully) in the future. If you see something messing with the flow then there is a very good chance I've already noticed it but can't pinpoint it. Don't think your advice is useless if I don't do something about it, it's just that my brain can't process the information properly and I can't do something about it just yet even though I probably agree with you. You enjoying the story even just a little is me blackmailing myself into not allowing these stories to end up in the graveyard like all the poor souls I've written before it.
Bog King looks up from his place at a table as Roland Knightly walks through the door and promptly slips on a spilled drink. The lanky Scot tries desperately to stop his laughter before he chokes on his food but to no avail. He quickly washes down his coughing fit with water as the Briton gets to his feet.
"Hey, buddy," Roland greets, taking the seat across from him! "Where is everybody? I thought I would be late."
"Ye are late but so is everybody else," Bog comments. "Where are Connie and Oliver?"
"Connie sent me ahead to get the food ordered because Oliver got into my shaving cream and she is cleaning him up," Roland explains. "He wanted to imitate me. It's great, Bog, Oliver is going to be just like his Dadda!"
"Poor kid, I had such high hopes for him," Bog quips.
"Shut your gob, you're talking cack," Roland grumbles.
Bog smirks at his childhood friend's glare before taking another bite of food while Roland gives his order to Jack. He couldn't resist teasing the polo star-turned-instant father every chance he got. It was still amazing that the ladies' man took to fatherhood like a duck to water. Even more amazing is how it all came to be.
"You look so pathetic every time you think about a certain American brunette," Roland remarks, grunting as Jack hits him. "What! It's true! It's very obvious everytime Bog thinks about Marianne."
"And you don't think you look just as love-sick when you think about Connie," Jack comments.
"Shouldn't you be getting my food ready? I'm hungry," Roland mutters.
"I wasn't just thinking about Marianne," Bog denies as Jack walks away. "I was thinking about when we sat at the bar one year ago today. Remember?"
"How could I forget! Just thinking about what a cock-up my life could have been had that not happened makes my head hurt," Roland remarks. "If I had never called my ex-girlfriends to apologize and talk to them then I never would have discovered about Connie having a newborn. She would never have contacted me since she felt it was her fault that the pill didn't work and she didn't want to ruin my life with a baby that she thought that I wouldn't want."
"Then had ye not decided to stop all dating to be a real da to yer son then ye wouldn't have realized that ye did have The One and left her because ye thought an artist wasn't exciting enough," Bog adds.
"Boy, was I daft," Roland mumbles, shaking his head. "Thank God that Connie forgave me."
"When are you two planning on getting married," Jack asks, setting a glass of orange juice in front of Roland?
"We've talked about it but Connie doesn't want to get married for a while and I agree with her. She doesn't want either of us to ever look at Oliver and feel like we got married because of him," Roland explains. "It's somewhat true that he's the reason we got back together since I might not have gotten involved with Connie again had I not tried to be a good dad but I just don't want him to ever think that the only reason his parents are together is because of him. Does that make sense?"
"Coming from ye? Perfectly," Bog comments. "Ye both want Oliver to know that he is responsible for bringing ye two back together but not that he is the reason ye're staying together. If the kid ever questions the love ye have for each other then send him to Uncle Bog and I'll tell him that his da is a bampot that doesn't know his arse from a hole-in-the-ground and didn't know a real wifey until his son showed him."
"I hate you," Roland groans.
"What did Bog do this time," Connie chuckles as she nears the table?
"I just told him that he's a blind numpty," Bog explains innocently. "Anyone could have seen that ye two were for each other. Ye dated for nearly two months without any trouble until ye were busy for yer finals and someone has an attention span the life of a mayfly."
Connie shakes her head at the baited comment and places the sixteen-month-old toddler in Roland's arms before taking her own seat next to him. Oliver happily squeals at his father's attention as Roland coos at his identical son.
"We're here, Boggy-Bear," Dawn announces!
"Bog," Bog corrects, grunting as the bubbly blonde squeezes his chest. "Hey, Sunny, get yer fiancee off!"
"Not a chance, man," Sunny chuckles. "It's better you than me. She already bruised my ribs when I got off the plane yesterday."
Bog breathes a sigh of relief as Dawn lets go and coos at Oliver before taking a seat at the nearby table with Sunny. He swears that her grip has gotten tighter ever since he forgave her completely.
He couldn't stay mad at Dawn for too long, especially when he heard about her efforts to fix whatever damage she had accidentally made. Dawn had even stopped being the social butterfly who made fast and breakable friendships with everybody. Whatever his mother had said to the pair that fateful day had stuck and it seems that they couldn't be happier.
"So what's the topic about today," Dawn questions after giving Jack her order?
"Last year today," Bog answers.
"Oh," Dawn sighs sadly. "Yeah, that was kind of a bad day."
"While it was a bad day in some sense, it was also a good day," Bog comments. "Can ye honestly say that ye wish it didn't happen?"
"It did turn alright in the end, even if we did have to deal with a scary goblin that wanted to eat us," Sunny remarks.
"Griselda is not a scary goblin," Dawn argues!
"She's terrifying when she's angry," Sunny mutters, getting agreements from Bog, Roland, and Jack.
"I try my best," Griselda comments, making everyone jump from her sudden appearance. "But I agree with Bog. A lot of things would have turned out different if last year didn't happen and not all of it would have been good."
"I guess when you put it that way," Dawn mumbles. "It still sucked being treated like a child, though, and Marianne was the worst."
"Hey, where is Marianne anyway," Sunny questions?
"She had a few more things to do at work but she should be here before too long," Bog remarks.
"Oh, good. I was a bit worried she wouldn't be coming today since you were here alone," Connie comments. "I wanted to talk to Marianne about the self-defense classes she teaches. My co-worker wants to sign-up for a class and while her husband is okay with it, he's worried about the male students bothering her."
"Marianne just started a women-only class last month that doesn't permit any men into the room during the session," Bog reassures. "Aura hasn't advertised it yet because they weren't sure if they could really pull it off but Marianne did."
"Did she ever," Griselda cackles! "Every guy that tried got reminded that the American Tough Girl has a jaw-breaking punch before they could even take a peek at the room's occupants."
"I was wondering what the extra class Marianne was doing but she wouldn't tell me," Dawn comments.
"Of course she wouldn't tell ye since it wasn't supposed to be known except by employees and current students until its announcement to the public, which is this morning. She's still miffed at ye anyway," Bog remarks.
"Oh come on, that was seven months ago," Dawn groans!
"Ye tricked yer sister to get information about my schedule," Bog reminds.
"Well, duh. You were still not talking to me and I had to talk to you," Dawn remarks. "Besides, if I didn't intervene, then the two of you wouldn't be dating and Marianne wouldn't be applying for citizenship."
"Ye still tricked her," Bog repeats.
Bog chuckles as Dawn cross her arms and glares at the newly-arrived food. He would have been unhappy had Dawn's more child-like attitude disappeared during the confrontations but it wasn't hurt one bit. Dawn is just Dawn and he had missed the ball of energy when he was avoiding her.
Full forgiveness came a lot easier when she showed that she really did regard him as a good friend when she cornered him seven months ago and lectured him about letting his love for her keep him from Marianne. It turned out that Dawn did notice other peoples feelings even if she had a hard time interpreting them.
Marianne was right about him realizing that he didn't love Dawn like he thought he did. In fact, it only took him a few days of reflecting on his feelings to realize that he didn't have any physical or even real romantic desire for the blonde American and that it actually disgusted him to try and think about her in that way. Something that wasn't lacking when he thought of her sister.
Bog quickly stuffs his mouth with food to distract his thoughts. He definitely doesn't need to be thinking of such things surrounded by his family and friends. Luckily, conversation strikes up to cover his silence and he turns his attention to the empty chair beside him.
Of course, it was those thoughts that made him feel guilty about moving on so quickly, especially since they're sisters. At first, he thought that maybe it was because Marianne was there to comfort him when his heart was broken and because they got along so well. But the more they saw of each other, the more he wanted to be with her and the more he hated it when they were separated. It was different than with Dawn and that made him feel more guilty because he realized that he didn't truly love the girl that he was planning on proposing to. At least, not the way a wedding ring represented.
The problem was that everyone misinterpreted it as him having a hard time moving on from Dawn. There was also the problem that everyone but him could see that Marianne was in love with him and felt guilty herself because she thought she was exploiting his heartbreak.
Enter Dawn, the very source of their problem. She had even dropped the terrible nickname to confront him about letting her actions keep him from enjoying life, namely her in-love sister. When he had confessed what the problem was, the overjoyed girl had dragged him the whole way to Marianne and pushed them both into a closet. Jack thought the whole thing was hilarious since Marianne had just ordered lunch.
"What are you thinking about," a soft voice purrs?
"About that closet over there," Bog answers, nodding toward the closed door. "Did ye get everything done alright, Marianne?"
"Yeah. Aura wanted to talk to me about opening another fencing class since your's is getting too many applications," Marianne explains. "Now what's this about the closet that SOMEBODY locked us into?"
"It's about how you should stop being mad at me for tricking you seven months ago because it was for your own good," Dawn comments.
"We're just discussing a year ago today and everything that resulted from it," Bog remarks.
"A year ago today, huh? Well, that's an interesting subject with many twists," Marianne chuckles. "Overhearing your conversation about an unrequited love that sounded awfully familiar was a bit unpleasant even before I found out the truth but it turned out good in the end...a lot later. I liked the one where you guided me to meet my new boss and we discovered that we worked at the same place. Heading back to Dawn's apartment and finding a contrite and listening pair was also nice. But I think my favorite memory of that day was when you had let me see your Gran's wedding ring."
"How is that your favorite? All I think about when I think of that is when you two looked absolutely panicked when Griselda had thought that Bog had proposed to you," Jack laughs.
"It's my favorite because of how perfect and right it looked," Marianne comments, hugging Bog from behind.
"What do ye...," Griselda stops mid-sentence as the yellow jewel catches her attention? "Bog! How could ye propose without telling me?"
Bog echoes Marianne's laughter as everyone notices the wedding ring adorning her ring finger. A year ago today, he had thought his life was shattered but it turns out that it was just getting set on the right path. You never knew what could happen in a pub.
Tea Blend.
Scottish insults/slang
bampot - idiot
arse - ass
wifey - woman
numpty - lovable idiot
British insults/slang
gob - mouth
cack - shit
cock-up - error, mistake
daft - odd, mad, eccentric, daffy, crazy