Tooth kept on telling me that I was shell shocked from finding a body, but I don't know exactly what she was telling me. I was out of it, yes, but I was quite aware of what was going around me. I could hear the sound of tears, everywhere. It hurt, and it was slowly driving me to escape. I needed to find an area where nobody was near and I couldn't be near the vicinity of spirits. I could feel their sorrow, and I know it was hard on them all…. but couldn't they just SHUT UP. I tried to explain this to Tooth, who nodded as if I was a mental case before guiding me to her room. She wanted me to stay in the lobby and be near her.
I guess that was alright with me, if….. Aster. Like, I get in the room…. and he is in there. He sees me, grumbles something and then disappears into his room. I can understand that. We still aren't in good terms, and I don't think he really wanted to deal with me so early in the morning. I can respect that.
But that wasn't it.
His fur.
Bed fur. It was standing up in every direction, and I can see the area where he had slept on because of the flattened hair on his body. There were some bits that were sticking straight up. Even I didn't know that Pookas could do this: he looked a little ragged, like he needed to shave the stubble that grew over night. (If he shaved, that would really be embarrassing. I don't think I could look at him if he had shaved. I'd die from laughing so hard.)
I wanted to laugh and snuggle up to him at the same time. He was just so… dang…. am I really admitting to this? Fine. I am. He looked really attractive. (Alright!? Happy? Fine. Giggle. You fangirls are all the same.)
After freaking out secretly to myself, I had to calm myself while Tooth got me a glass of water. It felt like I was intruding on a special room that only rare guests have to conduct themselves with the highest honor. I didn't know what to do. What if Aster came out again? Flip, am I blushing!?
No. No I am not. Stop giving me that look.
This Pooka isn't falling in love, she is just admiring the merchandise in front of her. If she really wanted to, she could go on about how hot Hate looked. Seriously. The dude had abs. That's all. Nothing happening here.
But… I personally think that Tooth is right. I am shell shocked, insomuch that I am actually looking at guys. Seriously. That is a sign for insanity. I should get back to my graveyard so I can be the insane person that I am.
Shaking my head, I cleared it away from my head. I was thinking too much. That is bad for me. I shouldn't think. I would confuse myself with my girly thoughts. What I really needed to think about is how to hide from Mother Nature.
She was the one who dealt with Light, not me. And that was for a reason. She had never really enjoyed being around the dark as it reminded her of her father. Pitch. So whenever I had to visit her in my astral form, I did it far, far away from her. She would attack me, and I did not like the tickling sensation of her attacks. They made me feel uncomfortable.
Manny didn't tell her that I had been found, so if you'd ask her she would say that I was still stuck in that time hole. Now, if she saw me. I don't think she'd recognize me, but my magical aura is still the same. If she'd attack me, it would definitely hurt more.
I did not want Mother Nature after me. She might even blab my secret. Not the really important one of what I am, but who I am. I can easily tell what was going to happen if suddenly the universe knew that I was helpless and in a mortal form.
That is why I am willing to hide.
"Are you alright?" Tooth came back with a tall glass of water, a smile on her face as she carefully balanced it. She gave me the glass, and I nodded my head.
"Is it a bad sign when I start thinking about guys?" The question blurted out without my permission. When did I start thinking about dudes again? Stop thinking Lola, you're starting down a road you can't get back from.
Tooth giggled and then scooted closer to me. "Lola, I had been hoping that we could have a conversation like this! Girl talk!" She squealed, and hugged me. I spilled the water over myself as she threw herself over me.
"Whoa there." I sighed as I felt the water seep into my clothing. I appreciated the hug, but it wasn't really anticipated.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" She cried out as soon as she saw it, and she suddenly had tissues and started to dab at my clothes.
"It's alright. Hey, how about I change in your room, and we can talk about guys in there." 'Also a good time to show Tooth exactly what I am, and live up to my side of the deal' I thought silently. I also didn't want to talk about guys when there was one who had supersonic hearing next door.
"Alright!" Tooth beamed up at me, and then guided into her room. The door shut behind me, and I sighed.
"Tooth, I need to tell you something." I sighed, "last night, Jack kinda figured out what I was, and was going to blab to the whole world… except I drop the jerk act and stuff. But I also had to tell you." I explained in the most vaguest way that I could. Tooth looked curious, but settled herself on her bed.
"Go on." She said, curiosity in her voice.
"One thing though. You can't tell anybody. Not anybody of the Guardians, not anybody. Not even your little babies. This is between us girls. 'Cuz I'd like that. Alright?"
Tooth nodded, and then looked at me. "I promise I won't tell anybody. I understand you are trusting me with something is important to you."
Well..
Long story short. Tooth screamed when she saw me.
Aster hadn't expected to see Lola- yes the Lola- walk through the doors with Tooth behind her. He wasn't ready for anybody to walk through those doors. He was pretty sure that he looked like had just gotten out of his nest.
Oh wait. He had.
"Oh crap." He mumbled to himself as he met Lola's blue eyes. They looked alarmed, and yet something else told him to get out of there as fast as he could. He saw merriment in her eyes. All the looks that she had ever given him were of disdain, disgust, anger. This was a whole new side of her that he had never seen.
And Aster calmly walked into his room.
And then promptly flipped out right as soon as the door closed.
'Holy crap! What was that!' Aster thought to himself, and placed his paw over his heart. It was racing too hard for his liking. He didn't know that her blue eyes could look so light, so happy. It made him want to keep her that way. 'Oh bloody- I am not falling for her.' Aster thought to himself. He had gone through his process with Lisa. His loved one.
"Are you alright?" His ears picked up the sounds of Tooth returning the room.
There was a silence as an object was being exchanged between the two and then Aster heard Lola say something he hadn't expected to hear.
"Is it a bad sign when I start thinking about guys?" Lola asked Tooth, who squealed when she asked that question.
It was like Aster's heart had stopped. Lola was thinking about a guy. A male. He had been the last male she had seen. But… Jack had said that he had talked to her and calmed her down when he couldn't. Did she like Jack? Sandy? Or even North? Aster was panicking. Lola couldn't like somebody. She was his stubborn mule who butted heads with him in everything. He couldn't see her with anybody but-
"Lola, I had been hoping that we could have a conversation like this! Girl talk!" Tooth interrupted his thoughts, and he came back to reality. Aster shouldn't think. It was bad for him. He heard water being splashed across something as the couch squeaked. It sounded like Tooth had thrown herself on Lola.
"Whoa there." Lola sighed, but it was in good humor. He had never heard Lola's voice soft before. His heart began to race.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Tooth apologized, but Lola chuckled.
"It's alright. Hey, how about I change in your room, and we can talk about guys in there." She told Tooth who immediately agreed. Her voice was soft, and full of sincerity.
'No! I want to hear your 'girl' talk!" Aster thought to himself, and then facepalmed. Why was he so concerned about Lola? Exactly. That's why he won't bother them anymore. He turned around to head into his room, his paw brushing his fur into it's original position. He turned on one foot and went back to the door. He shouldn't do this. He should just go back into his room. Yeah, that was a great idea.
Except, Aster ended up sneaking out into the lounge so he could hear what Lola was saying.
"-Jack kinda figured it out…. had to tell you….." Was she really saying that she had a crush on Jack? Aster moved a bit forwards to hear better. "... not even…. babies….us girls." What? Aster moved even closer until he was about half way across the room. "... I'd like that…"
Did he hear that wrong. That sounded suspiciously like… I like Jack. Oh gosh. Lola had a crush on Jack.
Ears flattening down to his skull, Aster walked silently to his room. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up at all. Why would he even like Lola? She's a dark spirit who covered herself from head to toe in fabric. She was afraid to be shown to the world. But that didn't bother him. She had her own life, he should just keep himself to himself now.
Aster was about to close the door to his room when he heard Tooth scream.
"Tooth!" He cried, his thoughts turning to how Lola could hurt Tooth. It was a mistake to leave her alone. Panic rose through him, as he flashed over to the other side of the room. He opened the door with a slam, ready to fight for Tooth.
He didn't expect to see Tooth hugging Lola on the ground, her mouth moving so fast that it sounded like, "ohmygoshthisisamazing! You'resopreciousIcanneverletyougo, andinnocent! IloveyouLola!" Or something like that. She was going a bit too fast for Aster to keep up.
"Alright you gumbies, I am not leaving you guys unsupervised." Aster grumbled, and lifted Tooth off of Lola. Lola looked like she had hurriedly thrown on her hood and scarf. It was messy and crumbled, and she looked like she had just gone through a hellish storm. "Come on, both of ya. You ain't leaving my sights."
Can I tell you how stressful it is to quickly wind a scarf over your head and flip up a hood while a fairy is tackling you and a giant rabbit is just inches of finding out your secret? Well. It is very stressful. I had a heart attack. Seriously. You can probably understand how stressed if you were a college student who had a huge test tomorrow while you have to spend every second of studying time writing a paper for a different class that was due in three hours.
That is a perfect description.
That was nice to get that off my back. Ha. Breathe in. Breathe out.
After Aster had officially taken us into his custody, he had pushed out back into the gym where all the other spirit were crying. It was hell. I was anxious to get out of there, while Aster got caught up to the times. I could visibly see him deflate when he was told the news.
He is a spring spirit, so it strongly affected him. A new spirit was to be found, and they would have to learn their powers. Spring could have some dangerous times ahead as their new powers fell out of their control. Just look at Jack. He was still learning his own powers. After three hundred years later.
For my current situation, all I can say is…
Awkward. Awkward. Awkward. Awkward. Awkward. This is sooooo awkward. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, Tooth next to me. She was looking off into the distance, probably dreaming about teeth, or the interesting conversation that we were going to have. She and I couldn't talk in front of North and Aster who were across from us, both staring at me intently. I didn't expect her to scream, otherwise we would have still been in her room talking.
This was so awkward.
I shifted again in my seat, and cleared my throat. "So… boys." I started off, my voice cracking. I coughed before continuing, "what exactly do you do?"
North and Aster blinked at me, and North coughed. "We are Guardians."
"I know that already. Like, what's your job?" I said, happy that this conversation was taking the spotlight off of me for a little bit.
"Easter Bunny." Aster coughed into his hand, looking away.
"I am known as Santa Claus to the world. On one night, I fly around the world and deliver gifts to the children." North told me, his voice filled with wonder. I nodded, imagining this happening.
"How exactly do you give them the gifts?" I asked, wondering how exactly that really was working. Did he just go up to the kids and give them a box with a bow on top?
"That is the magic of it! I fly in a sleigh pulled by six reindeer, and I go into their house and set the gifts under their Christmas tree!" North explained to me, and I just nodded.
Secretly I was thinking, 'He's gone crazy. What exactly gave North to do this for his Holiday?'
I turned to Aster, "what about yours? What do you do for Easter?"
Aster gave me a cold look (ouch. It hurt), and sighed. "My holiday lies on a Sunday. On that Sunday, I go about the world delivering my goodies for the children to find."
"What do you usually give them?"
"Eggs. Painted eggs that I hide and the kids would go out and find them with their families. Candy, or such other things would be in the eggs." Aster explained, a look coming over his eyes as he talked about his holiday. I decided that Easter made a lot more sense than Christmas. Seriously. A reindeer pulling a flying sleigh. Who would have thought of that?!
The conversation died, pulling me back into the awkward situation.
"So…. who has the better holiday?" I asked, hoping to get some more conversation. The noise in my ears was driving me insane. I seriously needed a drink, of something very powerful. Vodka sounded nice.
"Lola! NO!" Tooth exclaimed, but it was too late.
"Christmas!"
"Easter."
The two Guardians spoke at the same time, giving me the look of 'Mine is so much better, don't even think about agreeing to the other'.
"Bunny, you do not understand. Easter is not important. Christmas is much better. The children look forwards to Christmas, not Easter." North laughed at Aster, and looked at him with pity in his eyes. Wow. That called for war. Aster laughed sarcastically.
"Here we go. At least mine isn't endorsed to make all the kids greedy. Have ya ever heard what they say to their parents? 'Mommy, can I get that toy?' 'No Daddy, I wanted that one!'" Aster said in little kids voices (which was kinda cute), mocking North.
"Bunny, you do not understand! Christmas is well known more than Easter, and many kids always look forwards to Christmas everywhere. Even teenagers love it."
"Only because school is let out during that time! Mine is in the end of a weekend, and I don't have music that I made myself to give me an ego!" Aster yelled, and I shrunk into my seat. I had never seen this side of Aster before. It was slightly scary.
Aster and North just began to yell obscenities at each other.
"Guys!" I stood up yelling, getting their attention. "Let's just settle down. I understand you both have amazing Holidays, and it was wrong of me to ask between the two of you of which one was better. I'm sorry. Can we just go back to being awkward?" I told the two Guardians.
The two men stared at me, shocked.
Aster cleared his throat. "Well then. Who's holiday do ya think is better?" And then crossed his arms. North did the same, giving me the look saying 'you chose mine, or you are going on naughty list'. What was the naughty list?
I blinked. I had to chose? "Um… between the two…. I don't know. Maybe…" I trailed off, thinking. "Maybe…..Umm.." I looked away. "Easter?"
Aster slammed his hands down on the table, making me jump. "Ha! In your face ya bloody show pony!" He yelled in excitement at North, who groaned.
Then the doors slammed, and a tall amazon like lady walked in. Her gown green and vibrant, her hair long and black. Her sharp gold eyes swept over the room, looking at everybody. A frown permanently etched to her face.
Mother Nature has arrived on the ship.
Vocab:
Shell Shocked- Well. To explain this. By discovering the body, she is shocked herself into reality. So she saw Aster what exactly what he was, not a jerk that he acts. I hope I wrote that area alright, because I don't know what shell shocked people are like. I was too lazy to look up stuff.
Christmas- If you are explaining it to somebody, it sounds like a freaking crazy holiday. Seriously.
Easter- Sounds much more sane, but why would an overgrown rabbit deliver eggs? Seriously.
Cucakes: This word doesn't actually appear in this chapter but it is a word that was just made up. It means a cupcake made of gross things that no one, and I mean no one. Not even Ground Hog, should eat it. (I am the supreme editor. You should thank me for this awesomeness.)
The last vocab was created by my editor (What? An editor must edit...), who was on the same time as I was creating the vocab. She is my amazing bestie, who I owe everything for. She got me back into writing, so if any of you would like to, I would wish for you to thank her in your reviews. Otherwise, Invisibleamericanbugers would be just a dream. *sighs and stares at the sunset over the ocean* *realises that there isn't any ocean around* *sighs for not being at a beach*
Thanks for waiting for the chapter, and Lola is in De Nile. In Egypt. Get it? Get it? Yeah. The daily life of a person with really bad puns. Haha.
Please thank my editor in your reviews, please! :)