"YOU LET ANNA INTO THE SNUGGLY DUCKLING?!" Rapunzel yelled, bolting upright from the cafe seat.
"Rapunzel, you're missing the point here. I owe Vlad four hundred dollars for a new paint job for his bike. Stay on the same page, Blondie!" Eugene said, trying to keep all the mugs and creamers from tipping over. Unfortunately, Rapunzel wasn't in the mood to listen to his problems and just glossed over Eugene's small details.
"Besides, I thought those guys were your best friends or something." Eugene grumbled.
"Well of course they're MY friends, Eugene! I can handle myself, and they respect that." Rapunzel said, plopping back on her chair and crossing her arms, a somewhat smug expression on her face. But her smirk turned into a look of concern as she remembered she was talking about her cousin.
"But Anna can't go into places like the Duckling! She's too weak to handle herself out there! What would her parents think?!" Rapunzel said, casting a hand out to emphasize 'out there'. Eugene weighed the pros and cons of pointing out the hypocrisy of Rapunzel's statement.
"She's not like you or me, 'Rider'…" Rapunzel went on, and Eugene had to quirk an eyebrow, wondering exactly when his girlfriend would run out of steam on this topic. "... bringing her to places full of ruffians… and… and thugs… and…" Rapunzel's mouth stopped mid-sentence and Eugene was glad that his intuition about her rapidly changing moods was right.
"… and MISFITS! MISFITS, EUGENE!" Rapunzel said, jumping up from her seat again. This time Eugene wasn't quick enough to catch the mugs and he had to skid his seat back before hot coffee spilled on his lap.
"Whoa, hey, watch it, Blondie!" Eugene said, trying not to get anything on his pants.
"Oh, I am gonna watch it, Eugene, trust me." Rapunzel said in a low voice as putting her hands on Eugene's shoulders, happy and manic at the same time. Before Eugene could ask about the crazy look in her eye, she pushed off and made her way to where they parked.
"C'mon Eugene, I'll tell you about it in the car!" She said, almost skipping over the sidewalk. Eugene sighed and scratched his head. So much for getting Rapunzel to help out with his money problems.
He put his hands in his pocket and prepared himself for the inevitable rapid-fire explanation of Rapunzel's scheme when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Excuse me, sir. Your tab." The barista said, handing Eugene a receipt.
Eugene had to fight not to gnash his teeth together as he fished for the last bills in his pocket.
Later That Day:
"Rapunzel, I've gone along for long enough. We're half an hour away from home and I still haven't played my placement matches for the season. Can you at least tell me where we're going?" Elsa groused, opening the door to Eugene's car as they parked in the seedier side of town.
"You'll get your platinum stepping stone later, Elsa. C'mon, I promise, this'll be FUN!" Rapunzel just said, pushing Elsa out of her seat.
"Yes, yes, what other buzzwords do you want to throw out, Rapunzel?" Elsa said, standing on the sidewalk. Looking around, this seemed like one of the places that reminded her why she was a shut in. Cracked neon and shuffling drunks were all about in this part of the city. She saw one short, bearded hobo obviously in the throes of intoxication making out with a fire hydrant across the street.
"Are you sure about this place, Rapunzel? I already have enough to talk about with my therapist…" Elsa said, watching a lady wearing nothing but red walk right past her. She looked at Eugene for support, but the man just shrugged and started making his way down the sidewalk. Eugene didn't want anything to do with Rapunzel's crazy plan for Elsa to open up. Hopefully the girls would have enough on their hands that he could spend the rest of the night without being harassed.
"Ha ha ha, am I sure? Listen, there were two things that helped me get over my robot problem, Elsa. Eugene was one of them, and this place…" Rapunzel said, dragging Elsa right in front of the pub's signage. "… was the other one! It'll do you loads of good!" Somehow, Rapunzel's hyper grin did very little to ease Elsa's apprehension.
"Well… I do like ducklings?" Elsa said, not really sure what to make of the name. Maybe it was a café or something, Elsa thought as she stepped inside. The area seemed out of place for such a…
Elsa's inner monologue went to a full stop as her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the Duckling taproom.
Bikers.
BIKERS.
EVERYWHERE.
And they were all looking at her.
A giant, greasy looking man was holding Eugene by the scruff of his neck, though the pair seemed to pause to stare right back at Elsa. Every corner that Elsa's eyes fell on was more and more of the same. Tattoos, leather, piercings and other, less savory things. Elsa could have sworn that she saw a man playing with rats off to the corner.
And not to mention the smell. It was like a pottage of everything that was the opposite of Anna. Overall, the whole place smelled like the color brown.
The entire bar seemed like it was growling in unison at her, and she saw that a few of the thugs were getting up from their seats.
'No… no… not like this… I know that I would never lose my virginity to Anna, but please, God, not like this!' Elsa bleated in her mind, trying to step back, only to find herself bumping into Rapunzel.
"Hey guys! This is the girl I was talking about! You guys have everything ready for her?" Rapunzel chirped as she put her hands on Elsa's shoulders. It was all Elsa could do to process that Rapunzel was actually talking to the assembled rogues, horrified that Rapunzel somehow knew these freaks.
"Oh, we are definitely ready..." a bald guy WITH A HOOK FOR A HAND said, and Elsa could feel her bladder loosening as the man stood up from his stool with his eyes trained on the two young women.
Elsa prayed that it would at least be a fast end. Hopefully, there would be some special corner in hell for Rapunzel for setting her up with whatever horrible fate would befall on her tonight.
The menacing hook hand stalked up to her, drawing something from behind him.
Elsa mentally prepared herself for what was coming as the thug brought out…
… a microphone?
"So yer Anna's big sis, huh? Glad you could make it out fer karaoke!" Hookhand said, and Elsa fought not to faint right there and then.
"A..anna? Karaoke?" Elsa parroted, looking at the microphone in her hand like it was some alien artifact.
"Haha, yeah! That little sister o yers sure sings a mean Journey. She gives Punzie there a run for her money!" Hookhand laughed and her cousin joined in. Rapunzel let go of Elsa and drew Hookhand in for a warm hug, and more of Elsa's world spun.
"So how about it, kid? Your sister wouldn't stop yappin about how great ya were. I'm sure a little bit of the jukebox won't be past the 'Best Big Sis In The World' right?" Hookhand said, and Rapunzel nodded, happy smiles on their faces as they looked to Elsa.
It was all too much for Elsa to take. Her eyes began to tear up and she threw the microphone to the ground, causing a burst of feedback in the Duckling.
"Karaoke and my sister thrown in my face, huh Rapunzel? That's what you're bringing out to fix me?" Elsa spat out, tears stinging her eyes as Rapunzel's smile was quickly wiped off her face. "Well, I'm sorry, but it's not FUCKING ENOUGH."
"Elsa, no, please wait!" Rapunzel said, trying to reach out to Elsa but the older girl had already turned away and slammed the door.
Her feet were tired.
"Elsa."
It was too hot.
"Elsa!"
She wished she was back in her room.
"ELSA!"
She felt a hand grab at her wrist. The hold didn't hurt, but it was firm. Elsa didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
"Go back to Rapunzel, Eugene." She said icily, trying to tug her hand away.
"She's just trying to help, Elsa!" Eugene said, trying to keep up the pace.
"I don't WANT her help!" Elsa screamed, and instantly she felt her throat go hoarse. She wasn't used to the volume.
"At least she's TRYING, Elsa! Or maybe you've forgotten what that's like?" Eugene said.
"What makes you think you understand? You're just a normalfag!" Elsa said, her voice reedy as she tried again to free herself from Eugene's grip.
"I understand plenty!" Eugene said with a tone of anger that Elsa had never heard from the usually sarcastic and glib man. She felt herself being pulled back, and turned around to look straight into Eugene's scowl.
"Normalfag, normalfag, normalfag. You two just throw that word around like it even MEANS anything! Well maybe I CAN get that feeling or whatever it is you two keep whispering about! So you went a few years without your sister right next to you, huh? Why don't you try EIGHTEEN without a single person to turn to?" Eugene said, not yelling, but matching the turmoil that Elsa felt in her own heart.
"You think you're alone? Try being ONE kid in an orphanage dorm filled with nineteen empty bunks and just some shitty paperbacks to read because nobody wanted a kid with 'a history' or didn't want you because you're fucking 'too old'." Eugene said, his eyes smoldering, and Elsa could feel the untapped heat underneath Eugene's glare.
"You don't even know what Rapunzel's been through, do you? Look at you, Elsa. Your parents loved you, Anna loved you, and from what I hear, up until college, you weren't even that fucked up either." Eugene said throwing Elsa's hand down in disgust. "Maybe if you had a childhood like mine or Rapunzel's, I'd have some sympathy for you. Maybe if you were a monster or something, I'd give you a pass. But you're just a selfish robot wallowing in self-pity."
Elsa stood there, shocked as the words spilled out of Eugene's mouth, each syllable cutting deeper and deeper into her already fractured soul.
"Did you 'feel' that, Elsa? I hope I used the word right." Eugene said, turning his heel and walking away from the broken girl. And break she did.
The pain in her voice forgotten, Elsa let out a shriek and launched herself at Eugene's back, clawing and tearing at his hair.
Eugene was surprised, but it was hardly the first time he'd been caught off-guard and getting attacked by a hellkite. Elsa managed to give him a few scratches on his cheek and pull out some of his hair, but soon enough Eugene held Elsa's wrists tight, the girl only weakly struggling as tears and sobs replaced the anger and acid.
"Shut up… shut up… I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't know why I'm like this. I don't know why I feel this way. It's not my fault. It's not my fault. It's not…" Elsa said, though her mouth opened wide to shout, only hoarse whispers coming out.
Eugene felt like he'd been sighing too much lately in the past few days. Gently, he lowered Elsa's arms and slipped his own around the girl, hugging her tightly as her shaking sobs quieted and grew still.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry was even born… I'm not even a real person." Elsa managed to choke out, no longer caring about harming Eugene and thoroughly drenching his clothes as she buried her face in his shoulder.
"Nah… you seem plenty real to me." Eugene said, holding Elsa as she finally stopped crying and just let herself be held.
"I don't want to be this way, Eugene. I just want to be fixed." Elsa whispered, though whether she was whispering because of the weight of her words or the pain in her throat, she didn't really know. Eugene loosened his embrace and nodded.
"Yeah, I don't think people can be fixed, Els. Everybody's pretty broken one way or another. I think that's just how we come out." Eugene said, smirking, but it didn't have the usual vigor behind it.
"Anna thinks I can be. Rapunzel too." Elsa said, and she couldn't help but letting a sad smile slip through as well.
"Well, those two aren't exactly rocket scientists. Well actually, I read a few of the books that Rapunzel has lying around so maybe… ugh, whatever. They don't act like rocket scientists." Eugene said and threw up his hands. Again, in spite of herself, Elsa let out a choked laugh.
"I'm sorry, Eugene." Elsa said, lowering her gaze to the sidewalk.
"Nothing to be sorry about. I would have clawed out my eyes too if I said any of that garbage." Eugene shrugged, smirking again. He let that mask slide a bit and talked honestly with Elsa. "Listen. I got carried away back there. You might not have had a really dark past like me or Rapunzel, but that doesn't mean that I get to talk shit about what goes on in head. I mean, I still don't really get what goes in mine, so I shouldn't be the one talking about not understanding."
Elsa tried to say something, and she wasn't even sure what she did want to say, but the toil of the night and the emotional roller-coaster finally caught up with her and all she could manage was a little cough.
"And that's my cue to take you back to your sunny, loving, IMPULSIVE cousin so she can shower you with apologies and we can let this pity party roll on past dawn." Eugene laughed, throwing his arm around Elsa's shoulder. "Well, only if you want to, I mean." He said as an afterthought, stopping his stride.
Elsa just gave a win smile and nodded, taking a step back towards the Snuggly Duckling and Eugene broke into a wide grin.
"That's the spirit! You know, this reminds me a lot when I first met Rapunzel. Now if you want to talk about a girl being a downer, you should have seen her…" Eugene said, and he launched into a story as the pair shuffled back to where they once came from.
