Title: Family
Fandom: The 39 Clues
Summary: Everything that makes up the world's biggest extended family in 100 stories.
Disclaimer: The 39 Clues (c) its respective owners. I'm only playing around with characters.
Author's note: Based on 100 writing prompts found while surfing the Web. Genres will vary wildly, crack pairings and self-made fanon will abound, and updates may be sporadic, but I hope you'll all have fun reading this, as I intend to have writing it. Unless otherwise noted, none of these take place in the same universe and nothing past The Medusa Plot is canon. Moreover, as is usual for me, nothing found in the trading cards, the Black Book, or the website will ever be regarded as canon. All characters will be respected. Prompt ratings are unlikely to go past a high T. Requests (for pairing, characters, etc.; as detailed as you like) will all be considered, and those that are written will be dedicated to whoever requested them. Reviews and favorites will be met with gratitude.
Prompt: 9. A garden gnome missing an arm
Rating: K
Genre: Friendship
Characters: Evan Tolliver, OC
Note: Nataliya, the Amy's-young-daughter-OC of intentionally dubious paternity, returns! This time she and Evan are doing some gardening together, but will their differing opinions of creepy-crawlies lead to some kind of altercation? Due to the aforementioned intentionally dubious paternity, you may feel free to regard this story's premise as either "gardening with Daddy" or "gardening with Uncle Evan".
.oOo.
"Let's see…we've got a rake, not sure what we need that for, and some, um, some seeds of some sort, not too sure what to do with those, but I'm sure they have directions on the back, and let's see, a few bags of compost, it'll be interesting to figure out what exactly those are for, now, I know we're missing something – Liya, drop that worm!"
The brown-haired toddler had, true to that name bestowed upon her age group by society, toddled away while he was taking an inventory of their gardening supplies, and was now sitting comfortably on a mound of dirt, hands and mouth covered with soil as she cooed contentedly to a disgustingly squirmy pink earthworm held clumsily in her left hand. He didn't like to admit it to himself – and in all honesty wasn't reminded of the fact that often, given his career – but he had an absolutely irrational fear of worms, probably stemming from that unfortunate time when his older cousin, even more of a bookworm than Amy and therefore able to be completely trusted in Evan's opinion, had told him that Nonna's spaghetti was made of bloody, skinned worms. Ever since then, he hadn't been able to stand the things. Unfortunately, young Nataliya did not share those particular sentiments, being fascinated with everything tiny that crawled on the ground; this extended to cockroaches and spiders, which caused her mother no little alarm.
Right now, Liya seemed to be intent upon ignoring him, although he wasn't sure whether she'd heard him or not. She dangled the worm cheerfully in front of her face, eyes crossing and uncrossing as she sang something nonsensical to it. "Hi!" she said cheerfully as Evan strode up to her, wondering all the while how to get her to let go of that. "Look at d'worm!"
"Yeah, Liya, I… I really like your worm. How about you put him back in the dirt and help me get started on this gardening?"
"No thank you," the girl replied happily, tossing her short hair and staring at the earthworm again as if hypnotized. "It's a her."
Nataliya had been going through one of those stages lately, Evan reflected, where she wouldn't listen to anyone besides Amy, and that only some of the time. He might as well get started by himself, although he had a feeling that he was missing something without which it might be difficult to garden. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of what that thing was. He had seeds, compost, and a rake…well, then, he'd need a hose to water the garden, but only when he was done. Lost in thought as he paced back and forth, he didn't notice what was heading for his toe until it was too late.
Evan yelped and barely restrained a colorful exclamation as the garden gnome fell on its back in the dirt with a clunk, still maintaining its oddly creepy grin. "I knew I should have stayed inside and finished fixing the firewall," he moaned, wishing that his foot hurt less so he could deliver another kick to the thing. "It would be easier than gardening."
"She's broken," Liya said philosophically, coming up behind Evan without a sound and clutching his pants leg.
Blinking stupidly, Evan glanced down at Nataliya, then back at the gnome. It was true; the little man was missing his right arm, which seemed to have once been raised above his head. But it didn't seem to have come off when its owner had collided with Evan's foot moments ago, as the arm was nowhere to be seen. "It's a he," Evan corrected automatically as he bent down to pick up the colorful, very obviously bearded dwarf.
"She, 'cause it's pretty," insisted the girl stubbornly, making a beeline for something in the groundcover surrounding the dwarf that Evan couldn't see.
"So since I'm a he, does that mean I'm not pretty?" Evan asked as Nataliya crouched down to pick up whatever she'd found. He was aware that he was baiting her in order to get a funny response, but being Liya, she might come up with something unexpected.
Instead, she rose to the bait simply and directly as she picked up the colorful object and toddled back to him. "Uh-huh," she informed him solemnly.
"That's nice to know," he told her gravely, reaching out a hand for what he could now identify as the gnome's missing arm. "What's he holding, Liya?"
"Shuvva'," Liya said, flinging the arm blithely at Evan, who barely managed to catch it by the tip of the ceramic trowel it was holding – oh. Oh, yes. A trowel. That was what he needed.
"Okay, Nataliya, you stay right here," he directed her, backing away. "I'm going to run over to the gardening shed and get some shovels and some glue for this little guy. Also, I'm going to call for the gardener, since I seem to lack a green thumb – why couldn't non-Cahills be born with something a little bit useful, like that – and I'll be right back – " Evan froze.
Ignoring him again, Liya had made her way back to the patch of disturbed earth where she'd been sitting a few minutes ago, and it was obvious what she was going to do, as the earthworm hadn't had the sense to tunnel back underground again in her absence.
"And Liya, don't touch that worm!"
As Evan disappeared around a large bush, Liya reached the worm. She blinked at it, then blinked in the direction Evan had gone, as if weighing her options. Then she reached out tentatively and stroked the worm's head with one finger. It wriggled. She laughed and picked it up.
.oOo.
