Visit
"Mother, I bid you farewell." Puck nodded to his mother as he shook her hand. It had been one far too long month back where he 'belonged'. Moth had made a move on him every freaking day, Tatiana had been reserved and distant as per usual, and all the state meetings he had been forced to attend were long and dull. Did the officials have contests to see who could be the most dry and boring?
"I wish you every instance of good luck in your travels." Tatiana leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek, her dry, chapped lips skimming his skin.
"Goodbye, Mustardseed. I shall see you again come Christmas." Puck pulled his brother in for a quick hug and whispered, "Don't die of boredom."
Moth was the third and, thankfully, last in line for goodbyes.
"Adios, Mothball." Puck dropped the mask of perfect king for a brief sentence.
"Remember, my king, you are mine." She hissed. "No mere Grimm will have you."
Puck blinked at her. "So sure." He commented. For the entire month he had been there, Mustardseed and Moth seemed to believe that Sabrina was… his girlfriend, for lack of a better term. Puck had caught Mustardseed looking for appropriate wedding gifts on his phone once.
"Indeed." Moth dropped a curtsy, her bright orange skirts billowing around her.
"Goodbye." Puck nodded to the room, before swinging his suitcases into his car (it was a Porsche. Tatiana had been rather impressed by her son's grades, to say the least.).
He climbed into the driver's seat, and started the motor. Within seconds, the King of Faerie was gone, leaving a trail of dust and no backward glance.
~The Sisters Grimm~
"Puck!" Sabrina tore out of the house, running towards the red car in her family's driveway.
"Nice to have such an enthusiastic response." Puck smiled, stepping out of the car.
Sabrina stopped short and looked at him, confused. "Are you feeling weird?" She asked, off put by his attitude.
Puck blinked at her, then inwardly cursed. He was still using his 'king' voice. It was easy to slip into, but harder to come out of. "No. Gee, Grimm, what's wrong?"
Sabrina looked at him a second longer. "Nothing." She said, but she still sounded suspicious.
"Puck!" A dark haired teenage girl with glasses darted out of the house, followed by red-haired Basil.
"Marshmallow!" Puck grinned, and tugged her into a hug. Basil ran right into Puck, nearly knocking him over. "Hey, hey, plenty of me to go around." Puck laughed, rubbing Basil's head.
"Come on." Sabrina smiled. "Mom's waiting inside with chocolate chip cookies."
"Excellent." Puck rubbed his hands together before taking his suitcases from the trunk of his car.
"You'd better run." Sabrina informed him. "The Grimms are notorious cookie eaters."
"Ah, yes, my dear Grimm, but so am I. Race you!" Puck broke into a run for the house.
~The Sisters Grimm~
"This is good, Mrs. Grimm." Puck complimented Veronica, who beamed like a hundred watt light bulb.
"Thank you, and please, call me Veronica." She dished more pork chops onto his plate, along with a healthy serving of potatoes.
"So, Puck," Henry swirled the water in his glass, "how was college?" Something in his undertone told Puck that Henry didn't want to know how well he had done in American History.
"It was great, Mr. Grimm." He replied, smiling and picking and choosing his words carefully. "I learned a lot this year." This was true. He had learned the lure of homemade chocolate chip cookies, to be wary of Sabrina in a bad mood, to bomb zombies, and how to get away with pranking Heart. He had taken copious amounts of notes on many subjects, although most weren't related to school.
"Really?" Henry asked.
"Dad, could you please chill? We're only friends." Sabrina begged.
"So? Friends can't be a bad influence?" Henry asked his daughter, shooting her a look that said 'stay out of this. I'm having fun.' "What did you learn?" He asked the fairy.
"The muscle coordination of the human body, four ways to solve a calculus problem, and managing a budget. Why is that in math and not Life Skills?" Puck shrugged, careful to meet Henry's eye and sound completely sincere. When called on, Robin Puck Goodfellow could make a pretty darn good impression on a adult.
"Huh." Henry leaned back in his chair, grudgingly impressed. The boy wasn't an idiot who spent all of his time in front of a TV. Maybe he wasn't so bad.
"Puck was top in Math class, Dad." Sabrina added. She sounded very proud, as if she were his mother… or his girlfriend, who coached him through his first lesson. Which she had.
"Really? What are you trying to get a major in?" Henry asked, genuinely interested this time.
"I wanted to be a teacher, but I changed courses and am currently working towards graduation with a diploma in international diplomacy." This was also true. His teachers had all pushed him to try something more to his skill level. Sabrina had practically threatened him that if he didn't take this, she would stop cooking. Puck had changed courses the next day. Besides, it might be useful for when he inherited Faerie. He might actually understand some of the meetings.
"So you're brilliant?" Daphne asked, grinning at her surrogate older brother.
"Yep. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise." Puck winked at the teenager.
"What is international diplomacy?" Basil asked with his mouth full.
"International Diplomacy is a huge major, meant to make you write twenty page papers and learn all the customs of Paraguay." Puck grinned.
"Oh. Sounds boring." Basil shrugged and went back to his meal.
"Sometimes it is, sometimes it's cool." Puck explained. "We got to learn the proper way to eat with chopsticks in the last lesson, but in the one before that, I got to learn the different ways of saying no, but it looks like I'm saying yes."
"Sounds like a good way to promise to be home by curfew." Daphne suggested.
"I used that last week." Puck grinned. "Moth was mad at me for hours."
"Moth?" Basil screwed up his face. "What kind of name is that?"
"I didn't name her." Puck defended himself.
"Who is Moth?" Daphne asked curiously, nabbing a biscuit.
"Moth is a stuck up prissy girl who Dad got me engaged to a few years before he kicked the bucket." Puck frowned. "Mustardseed and I are still working on a way to get me out of it."
"Engaged?" Veronica asked. "Aren't you a little young?"
"Veronica, he's over four thousand years old. I think that's plenty old enough o be married. And have great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren." Henry reminded his wife.
"But he looks like he's nineteen." Veronica protested. "And, you know, since you live in the United States, you can by all rights break it off as a forced engagement to an unwilling minor."
Puck nodded. "We considered that. But Mom would have a fit because we left old traditions in favor of new American, and thus inferior, laws."
Sabrina blinked at him. She didn't know what going home for a month had done to him, but her roommate was talking differently. "I think your mom can put up with the disappointment." She shrugged at all the eyes staring at her. "It sounds like she's forcing you to become king and to go to college. You could deliver the ultimatum that your engagement gets broken off. It sounds fair to me."
Puck stared at her for a second. "That would work if Mom wasn't in danger of going crazy." He explained. "See, ever since Dad 'met his end' she's been acting… Weird. Before Dad died, she probably would have agreed to that idea. But lately she's been clinging to old traditions and she is unstable. She recognizes us, but she only acknowledges us if we talk properly. She doesn't seem to know us otherwise. The doctor said that all questions and decisions had to be delivered carefully, or else she might fly off the handle."
"So deliver your idea carefully. Use those stupid diplomacy lessons for once." Sabrina sat back in her chair, looking triumphant. Puck wondered why he hadn't taken his lessons a little more seriously. Grimm might have found him a way out of this thing.
~The Sisters Grimm~
A rap sounded on Sabrina's door and Daphne poked her head in. "Can I come in?" She asked her older sister.
"Sure." Sabrina looked up from her book arranging. "What is it?"
Daphne stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She sat down on Sabrina's bed, pushing her glasses up with her index finger on one hand and cuddling the stuffed rabbit Puck had given her for her birthday with her other arm.
"Is he really going to be able to help us if a war does come?" She asked quietly. Daphne loved Puck, sure, but he seemed… irresponsible in her eyes.
Sabrina sat down beside her. "I know he looks like the biggest Joker ever, but trust me, he can fight. Puck isn't just the class clown. He's dangerous when he wants to be, and he's not stupid. He could help us plan out and win battles."
Daphne nodded slowly, reassured by her sister's words. "But is he going to be enough? Will he actually help us win?" She pressed, doubt still clouding over her.
Sabrina nodded. "Hey, even the tiniest amount of force is some help." She grinned. "And if he comes, so does his brother and they have armies, believe it or not. And with their connections and ours, we'll have an army, too. He might actually be the turning point."
Daphne nodded.
"Don't worry. We'll definitely win this thing." Sabrina rubbed her sister's head and changed the subject. "Have you been writing in your Grimm diary?"
~The Sisters Grimm~
Puck woke up early the next morning and stretched. It was nice to actually be on vacation. In Faerie, he was treading on eggshells. He was more tortured there than at college.
Springing to his feet, Puck quickly dressed in old jeans that he had never been allowed at home and a t-shirt Sabrina had bought him because 'it was on the clearance rack at Goodwill and I know you don't have appropriate summer clothes.' She had later stolen the money for it back out of his wallet. Puck hadn't cared. She had thought to grab it, and it was green, his favorite color.
Puck literally flew out of his bedroom and down the stairs, landing neatly outside of the kitchen and strolling in, hands in pockets.
"Come on, fresh oatmeal and eggs." Sabrina turned from the stove and grinned at him. She flipped said eggs and pointed to a huge bowl of oatmeal on the counter with the spatula. "You better get it before Daphne or Basil do." She laughed as Puck hurried to his bowl, eyeing the two people seated at the table as if they might steal it from him now, rather than when it had been on the counter.
"Puck, are you going to teach me fencing?" Basil asked eagerly. "Sabrina said she was too busy, and Dad isn't really good. Daphne just zaps bad guys with a wand and Mom… Mom uses a metal baseball bat and she boxes."
"Sure, kiddo." Puck began wolfing the food in his bowl. "When do you want to start?"
"This afternoon?" Basil asked hopefully.
Puck counted off his schedulable. He had done all his summer homework at Faerie, he was going to mow the yard this morning (he really needed to stay in Henry's good graces. He didn't want to go back home already.), and this evening he was going to bicker with Sabrina. He had all afternoon free. "Sure, munchkin. We can do that. Prepare to be defeated."
Sabrina whacked him on the back of the head. "Dolt, today you're training him in simple blocks and strikes. You can't defeat him for another week at least."
"Well, he can still become prepared." Puck reasoned. Daphne laughed and Basil stuck his tongue out at the fairy.
~The Sisters Grimm~
"Supper!" Veronica stuck her head out the kitchen window and called for her scattered family. Within minutes, they were all seated around the table, waiting for pork chops and macaroni and cheese.
"Did you all wash your hands?" She frowned at the assembled people, already crowding for the rolls in the center of the table. Basil and Puck guiltily peeled off from the group to find some soap and water.
It had been a week since Puck had shown up. He was constantly poking at Sabrina, teasing Daphne, and teaching Basil sword play (as well as calling him munchkin and training him to be his personal minion.).
Veronica and Henry had been observing their daughter and their guest. Veronica was much more subtle than her husband, but both of them were effective. Henry saw a certain softness in their jibing and he noticed their interactions (which he frequently interrupted. He wasn't comfortable with how comfortable they were with each other). Veronica was more on the lookout for a mutual crush. She had several photographs already of the pair blushing, which she considered excellent evidence.
Daphne had joined her mother in the hunt. She was a hard core romantic, and her sister's love life since Daniel was non-existent at best. Now she had something to research. She wasn't pushing them together, but she was a very careful observer.
Basil saw Puck as his cool older brother. So what if he and Sabrina teased each other a lot? Having Puck here was almost like visiting Red, his surrogate older sister who played video games with him and made him wear a coat when it got cold out.
Puck himself was happy. The Grimm household was much more comfortable to be in than his own home. Sabrina made him make breakfast and dinner twice a week, she helped him to take care of the yard and understand the legends and mysteries she was researching on the Scarlet Hand. Henry was alright, and Veronica was just cool. Daphne and Basil were the younger siblings he never managed to exploit. He was happy here.
Sabrina noticed nothing different. As good a detective as she was, she somehow missed her mother and sister's cameras, her dad's glares at Puck, and the looks she got from other teenage girls when she and Puck had gone to the supermarket for milk. None of it was new to her, and she remained blind to it.
~The Sisters Grimm~
"Hey, Puck. Basil wants to watch some experts at fencing. Want to have a go?" Sabrina poked the prone figure in the tree.
Puck turned his head towards her. "You want a match?" He asked eagerly.
"Yeah." Sabrina nodded. "I want to see how good you are."
Puck leaped down from the tree. "Come on then. I bet I'm better, Grimm." He grinned.
"Really? Want to make it a competition?" Sabrina smiled. "I can get Dad to referee, and Basil, Daphne and Mom can watch." Her eyes glinted at the challenge.
"Sure, why not? They can all be amazed at how awesome I am." Puck teased.
"Yeah, if you win." Sabrina snorted. "Which you won't." She ran to get the others before Puck could protest.
~The Sisters Grimm~
"Are you ready?" Henry asked the two competitors. Sabrina nodded and Puck waved. "GO!"
Puck lunged, making his target Sabrina's side, right under the rib cage. In a shining silver arc, Sabrina's sword moved to block his. Puck hopped back hurriedly, before she could retaliate.
Sabrina spun in a neat circle, gaining momentum, coming closer to Puck as she swung her sword in a figure eight. Puck darted to the side, swinging his sword in a neat arc that aimed for her shoulder, but veered off course when Sabrina pulled her sword up as a defense.
Behind them, Basil cheered as they parried and swung, pirouetted and jabbed. It was lost. Neither of them was paying attention to anything outside of the duel.
Sweat dampened Sabrina's hair and Puck's sword began to slow slightly as the match went on. Both were too good to allow the other to draw blood, and they were too proud to call a tie.
Around and around they went, equal in both strategy and skill, working hard to defeat each other. It stopped when Puck lunged a little too hard and Sabrina stepped sideways. The fairy tripped, and landed on his knees. Sabrina took her chance and ran forwards to hold her sword at his throat.
"Did I win?" She panted, wiping sweat off her forehead.
Puck frowned and nodded. "Mind you, I'm used to fighting while flying. If you were a fairy, I could have won." He defended himself.
"But I'm not, so I won." Sabrina lowered her sword, grinning at her beaten opponent as she scrubbed sweat off her face with a corner of her t-shirt.
~The Sisters Grimm~
Since the sword fight, exhibitions of skill became a regular evening show. Henry and Sabrina gave a demonstration of karate and judo a couple of times, Basil showed them what Puck had taught him. When knife fighting was brought up, Puck was surprised to see Daphne produce two shining steel blades and match them against her sister. Veronica and Basil sparred off boxing, and Puck found himself trying anything the others were doing.
Hilarity often ensued when someone made a dumb mistake and the other one won, or when Sabrina and Puck fought verbally while physically fighting.
One night, Daphne mentioned movie night, "We've been practicing all the time." She explained. "Let's introduce Puck to the wonders of Despicable Me."
Basil nodded happily. "Yeah, you'll love the minions." He turned to Puck, grinning.
"Minions?" Puck asked eagerly.
"No, come on; don't let him see that one." Sabrina groaned. "I have to live with this guy. Do you know how bad he'll get when he sees that?"
"Why do you think I brought it up?" Daphne smirked at her sister.
In the end, Sabrina was out-voted. Resignedly, she started to make popcorn for the 'feature presentation'. Puck snuck half of it while she was heating the butter.
~The Sisters Grimm~
Finally, it was time for Puck to leave. The night before, he had packed all of his bags and stashed them in the car.
He wandered down the stairs late and wolfed down the huge stack of pancakes Sabrina had made for him as a last gift.
"So, Puck…" Veronica sat down opposite to him, coffee cup cradled in her hands. "How was your stay?"
"Awesome." Puck said sincerely, drizzling more syrup over his pancakes.
Veronica smiled. "Well, come back any time."
Puck stared at her, fork lifted half way to his mouth. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. I wouldn't offer if I didn't mean it." Veronica grinned.
"Thanks." Puck smiled widely.
"Where are you going for the rest of summer vacation? You know, all two weeks of it." Sabrina asked, dropping pancakes on a plate.
Puck shrugged. "I'm going to Arkansas. I have some friends there that might be able to help us with the Scarlet Hand problem."
"Really?" Sabrina ladled batter onto the griddle. "Gonna be back in time for college?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Puck grinned up at her.
~The Sisters Grimm~
Hiya, hiya! Yes, a second long chapter! Yeah, I'm pretty sure that the next chapter will be a good bit shorter. But, hey, enjoy it while it lasts.
To everyone who reviewed the last chapter, thank you! I not only made my goal, but I placed ten reviews above it! That means so much to me. Thank you all!
Review answers!
Cynthia Darling: You're a die-hard Frozen fan then, I take it. What was your favorite song? And Veronica was, in my humble opinion as the writer, every bit the woman who clapped her hands and said, "You've got your first boyfriend!". I was very happy with how that part came out. And I'm glad you liked the chapter so much.
horsiepirate: Thanks! And what will happen next? Tune in next time to find out!
Jay Madeline Gryff: I was sort of iffy about Puck's family. I like how Moth turned out, but Tatiana? Ehh, not so sure. And I though Henry was in character, but then again, I haven't written much for him, so I could be wrong.
PuckSabrinaDaphne: You know by now that I update on weekends only. Or you ought to. But thank you! I'm ecstatic that so many people like this.
PUCKABRINALOVER: Yes, the Grimms did live in New York at one point. But, if you look back in chapter 11 (Puck's Turn), you'll see that I said that they hadn't done too well in New York and had moved. From Ferry Port, they went to New Jersey, because of all the bad memories. Well spotted! I was hoping I'd get to explain that.
RoseTyler10: Great. Since you read this all in one day, can you tell me if my chapters look choppy and messily put together? Because when I reviewed my writing, I thought it was, but no one said anything, so I thought it might be my imagination. I'm glad you like this so much! I fangirl quite a lot too. I wonder what it would be like to read my story as a reader instead of the writer? And I update almost every week, don't worry.
warriorgirl: Brantly is indeed an ogre. It will show up more later. And you'll meet Snow and Charming's family in an upcoming chapter, but I'm not giving away anything until then.
Dark M00n: Thanks! And you helped me reach my goal, so thank you again.
spiritgirl11: I liked the contrast in Puck's character as well. I think that it's going to come back up, but no promises. And I don't plan on using it often. Maybe once or twice more. It would look too weird next to the first nineteen of my chapters. As for my updates… well, write a bit every night. Don't rush, but have a plan to have a chapter ready. Then quality remains and readers are happy! And you don't get out of practice. Very important. And I love long reviews.
lilcarellijohn: Yes, I updated, you're welcome. What could Moth do? Tatiana was queen, Puck was king. Their decisions were final.
Slytherin- Hunter of Artemis: Yeah, pink Moth is kind of scary now that I think about it. And I'm not sure. I think that the constant jabbing of 'you're getting married' would affect a person's feelings, but these two already liked each other, so no problem there.
Guest: Thanks.
Guest: If you can't see the Puckabrina yet, I'm not dropping enough hints.
Guest:
I have no luck: Snowball is rolling. And I did get three hundred reviews, thank you for being a part of that!
Guest: Thanks!
Guest: Sorry. More only comes once a week. I can't write that fast.
TheLadyKingsbury: Thanks! I love hearing about how much people like my story!
TheNotSoGreat: Last chapter was a lot of fun to write. I think it was because of Puck's OOCness. It fit, but it didn't. Anyway, that might be the reason you liked it so much.
Guest: Right back at cha!
Goodorevilangel-yourchoice: Thank you!
The SheWolf and TheSheep: Thanks, I'm glad you like it!
Guest: Thanks!
SmileyGirl:
Guest: Weekly dose of more has been served!
Guest: Can I assume all the smileys are from one guest? Thanks for that! But, please, next time, only one smiley face.
CrimeShowFanatic: Thanks. And now you know how the visit went. What did you think?
Guest: Thank you!
Guest: Yep, I got three hundred reviews. Thank you for your contribution!
Guest: And Now I'm over my goal. Thank you for helping me reach it!
WildChild: I write for a chapter once a week. No more, or else my brain will implode, and it won't be finished anyway. And we can't have that, can we?
Guest: Well, Henry didn't give Puck a hard time but (Spoiler Alert!) he will later.
Guest: I write once a week. No more, no less.
Guest: Thank you for helping me reach my goal!
masterchloe: Hopefully your wait seems short.
Whoa: Thank you for helping me reach 300 reviews!
Optimist11: Yeah, I thought Moth was spot on if I do say so myself.
ILLLLOVEBOOKS!: Oh, that's great! Thank you for telling me how much you enjoy this, it means a lot to me.
Guest: Next installment is in.
redroyale: thanks. I like Puck's perspective too.
And that's all folks! If you notice any misspellings and yada-yada in the second half of the review answers, I am exhausted. I can barely hit the right keys right now, so… Yeah. Not at the top of my grammar physic.
'Til next time!
-The Irish Lass