Disclaimer: Still not mine. Never gonna be.
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Root woke up tangled in damp sheets, half way off the bed. In the process of untangling himself, he fell of the rest of the way and landed on the hardwood floor with a loud thud. Swearing, he untangled himself and glanced at the clock. It was already ten. He swore again and went into the shower, hoping it would cleanse himself of the nightmares. It did, and once he was dressed and on his way to the kitchen, he felt much better. Until, that is, he saw Holly sitting at the kitchen table with a steaming mug of coffee.
"What're you doing here?" he said loudly, going and pouring himself a cup of the coffee.
"Eating breakfast. What does it look like?" Holly snapped back.
"Why aren't you downstairs?" Root asked.
"Because I want to go shopping," Holly replied. "Well, I don't particularly want to go shopping, but I need to. I highly doubt that anyone except for blonde bimbos like Frond would like to go shopping."
Root snorted but quickly disguised it as a cough. "How long have you been here?" he asked.
"About fifteen minutes," Holly replied. "I thought you would be up here when I came up and since you weren't, I made some coffee for us to share."
"Thanks," Root replied and quickly drank his cup. "Should we go?"
"Yep," Holly replied, put her mug in the sink and followed Root to the front door where he strapped on a pair of Hummingbird 2000 wings. Holly sighed since she knew she would never own something that high-tech. Not until it was obsolete. "Do you have anything I can borrow?"
"Yeah. There's an extra set in the closet over there," Root replied, pointing to a door next to the basement one.
Holly walked over to the closet and opened it. She jumped backwards as a ton of various useless items that people keep in their closets fell out. "Jesus, Root!" she yelled. "When was the last time you cleaned this place out?"
"Umm . . ." Root trailed off guiltily. "About fifty years ago?"
Holly groaned. "Joy," she mumbled and started looking for a pair of wings. She eventually found a set of the older Hummingbirds and strapped them on. She stepped back and surveyed the mess. "You can clean that up. Later. When we get back."
"Fine," Root replied and went outside with Holly following him. They flew to the nearest mall in silence, both pushing the previous night's thoughts to the back of their head so they could shop without being too distracted.
"Where do you want to go first?" Root asked.
"Clothes, I guess. That won't take very long," Holly replied and started walking towards the discount store.
"Holly, where are you going?" Root asked.
"Clothing shopping?" she offered, surprised.
"There?" Root asked sceptically. "Don't you want to go some place nicer?"
"Don't have enough money," Holly said brusquely and continued to walk towards the store.
Root gently grabbed her arm. "I'm paying, remember?"
"Wouldn't want to inconvenience you," Holly replied. "I always go here. It's fine, really."
"I'm it is, but since it's my money you're spending, can't you at least go where I want you too?" Root asked.
Holly sighed. "Fine. Where do you suggest?"
"Scarlett's?" Root asked, suggesting the fairy equivalent of Banana Republic.
"No way! That's too much," Holly insisted.
"Holly . . ." Root warned.
Grumbling, Holly followed him into the store. "Y'know, I don't think I've ever even been in this store."
"There's a first time for everything," Root replied. "I'll meet you up front."
"Ok," Holly replied and started browsing. She found some cargo pants that looked like they were in her size and tried them on. They did indeed fit so she kept two pairs with her and migrated over to the skirt section, since she did sometimes like some to relax in during the weekends or after a particularly hard day at work. She didn't find any that she liked, though, so she went back to the jeans and picked out two more pairs in her size.
Holly went over to the shirts and started looking through them. She immediately found a light blue sleeveless shirt that she really liked and tried it on. She smiled when it fit her perfectly and went back out, looking at the other shirts. There were some plain black tee shirts, which she got two of, a nice long sleeved v-neck and another v-neck cardigan. She also got two oversized, men's work shirts like the one that she had liked of Root's. Right next to the shirts were the sweaters and found one she liked and settled with that.
She grabbed a couple of packs of underwear, one pair of tights and a bunch of socks before approaching Root with her clothes.
"I know I can't get all of this, but-"
"It's fine," Root interrupted and practically dragged a protesting Holly to checkout.
"But-"
"Holly, you need clothes, and if you get them here, they won't fall apart so you won't need new ones really soon. Besides, you seem to like these," Root explained as the cashier rang up the purchases.
"Well, yes, I do, but that's not the point!" Holly protested. "I can get clothes I like for half this price that won't fall apart."
"Why are you being so stubborn?" Root asked angrily after he paid and he and Holly were standing in the mall street.
"Because it's a waste of money!" Holly exclaimed.
"But it's not your money! It's mine!" Root snapped.
"I don't want to waste your money!" she replied.
"It's not a waste. What else do you need?" Root asked, ending any further debate.
"Nothing while I'm staying in your basement," Holly replied. "Everything I need is there."
"Are you sure? If you don't like the furniture or something, I can get you some you like," Root offered.
Holly stared at him in amazement. "You can't just buy new furniture!" she exclaimed. "That's thousands of dollars when you already have fine furniture!"
"I know, but you'll probably be staying in my basement for a while so if you don't like it or it's uncomfortable, you should be able to get things you like," Root replied. When he saw that she was going to continue to argue, he snapped, "After all that lecturing about the furniture at the LEP, you really have no right to turn me down. Where do you want to go?"
With a slight smile on her face, she suggested, "Carney's Furniture?" the equivalent of Jordan's Furniture.
"Fine," Root replied and led her to the store. "If you want, I can wait here you're your bags," he offered.
"Thanks, but I'd rather have you come and help, if you don't mind," Holly asked.
"Sure," Root replied and followed her into the store. "Where first?" he asked.
"Beds?" she suggested and walked over to the bedroom section. They were soon lost in a seemingly never-ending maze of displays.
"See anything you like?" he asked.
"They only have double beds," Holly replied. "Which is pointless for me since I haven't shared a bed in about thirty years," she added, blushing slightly.
"What about that one?" Root asked, pointing behind Holly to a "Traditional" style twin bed.
Holly walked over to it and circled the bed. "I like it," she finally said. "In fact, I love it."
"Do you want it?" Root asked.
Holly looked at him sceptically. "Are you sure you can afford this?"
Root nodded. "My pay is . . . bigger than yours."
"No, really?" Holly asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "So, what do we do? I haven't bought furniture in . . . Well, I actually don't think I ever have. When I moved into my apartment, my parents gave me the furniture."
"I'm not sure," Root confessed. "Nikki . . . Nichkola took care of that."
Holly saw a sales person walk by. "Excuse me?" she called out.
The fairy turned and walked over to her. "Yes?" he asked in a friendly voice.
"How would we buy this bed?" Holly asked. "Neither of us have really done this before."
"Getting married soon?" the sales person suggested with a slight smile on his face.
Holly and Root both blushed. "No. He's just my friend," Holly said.
"Well, we have that bed in stalk, so you come with me, pay for it, and it will be delivered to your house in about a week," the sales person said and led them towards a cash register. "Credit card, please," he said. Root handed him his card and the sales person quickly swiped it through and handed it back to Root. "Julius Root?" he asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "On 120th Street."
"Ok," the sales person said and handed the card back to Root. "Do you want it assembled?"
"No, thank you," Root answered.
"Alright then. The total charge, tax included, is $472.50," the man said.
Holly glanced at Root.
"That's fine," Root answered for her.
"Here's your receipt," the sales person said, handing Root a piece of paper. "Is there anything else?"
"No, we're fine," Holly said and dragged Root away as well as she could carrying several bags of clothes. "Are you insane?" she hissed. "You're throwing out that money!"
"Holly, you're sounding like me," Root replied, slightly amused.
She stared at him with something remarkably like hatred.
"Now you know how I felt at the LEP. You helped me with that," Root pointed out.
Holly opened her mouth to argue, but she knew he was right. "Are you sure?" she asked one last time.
"Yes," Root replied. "Is there anything else you want?"
"A desk, I guess," Holly replied. "But the bureau is fine."
"Alright," Root replied. "Do you have any idea how to get out of here?"
"None whatsoever," Holly replied, smiling slightly and started wandering off in the direction they had come with Root following her. Eventually they made it out and into the main section of the store.
"Office furniture is over there," Root said, pointing at a division much like they had just been in but with desks and chairs.
Holly immediately rushed over to a foldout desk with a million compartments. "This one," she said instantly.
"Are you sure you don't want to look around some more?" Root asked sceptically.
"Absolutely," Holly said. "I've wanted a desk like this forever."
"One with tons of little compartments?" Root asked.
Holly nodded happily. "Please?"
Root laughed. "Sure," he replied.
Holly continued to smile at him, happy that she was getting the desk and proud that she had made Root laugh. It wasn't an easy task. They quickly paid for the desk, which would also arrive in about a week, and left the store.
"Is there anything else you want?" Root asked.
"Yeah: to go home so I can rest. I'm exhausted," she said.
"Fine by me," Root said and walked with Holly outside to where their wings were. "Do you want some help carrying that?"
"Yeah, thanks," Holly said gratefully, handing Root one of the two bags. They quickly flew to Root's house and, as soon as they went inside, Holly laughed. "I'll put my stuff away and give you Nichkola's while you clean this mess up," she said, indicating to the junk from Root's closet that was lying on the floor.
"Fine! Go ahead and take the easy way out!" Root pretended to snap at Holly as she disappeared into the basement.
Once downstairs, Holly emptied the dresser drawers and put in her new clothes. She brought up Nichkola's clothes and set them down next to Root who was surrounded by several large piles of various items from the closet.
"Something else for you to clean up," Holly joked.
"Could you put those on my bed?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure," Holly answered and picked up the piles of clothes and brought them to Root's bedroom and put them on the bed. Before she left, she looked at the picture again. She wondered if Nichkola's death had made Root the person he was today. And if there was anyway to resurrect that person. With those thoughts in mind, she went back upstairs and sat down on the bottom stair of the main staircase which was next to Root.
"How's it going?" she asked.
"Remind me never to let it go this far again," Root said. "This is ridiculous."
"Never let it go this far again," Holly joked.
"Hah hah. You're funny, Short," Root said dryly.
"Short? What happened to Holly?" she asked, taking the first step in her unformulated plan to bring back the Picture-Root.
Root looked at her. "Why?"
"Why not?" she countered.
Root didn't have a good answer so he went back to sorting through his things.
"Y'know, you could make a lot of money if you had a garage sale," Holly pointed out, gesturing to the largest pile that she had figured out was the throw away pile.
"Is that all you ever think about? Money?" Root asked.
Holly shrugged. "I'm used to working on a small budget."
Root looked at the huge pile that he had been planning on throwing out. "That's a good idea. Thanks."
"Sure," Holly replied. "If you're closet is like this, then I'm sure your attic is even worse so if you also went through that, you could practically open your own store."
Root thought for a second before saying, "If you help me organize it and price everything, I'll split the profit with you."
"What percentage?" she asked.
"I don't know!" Root exclaimed. "30?"
"70," Holly countered, remembering how her father had said to work down.
"No way," Root snapped. "35."
"60," Holly countered.
"40," Root asked angrily.
"50 and no lower," Holly replied.
"No," Root spat and went back to sorting through the closet.
"Are you sure you really want to do it all by yourself? Think about how much you're getting just from your closet and then the added amount from the attic. It's really a huge project," Holly said. "How about this: 50 percent goes to the LEP, 25 for you and 25 for me. We can take donations from other officers and turn it into a fundraiser. That'll help the budget. We could even set it up in the lobby so everybody will see it. I can make signs advertising it and put them up around Haven."
Root looked at her, impressed. "Deal."
They shook on it.
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Here's the fourth chapter. Hope you like it and hope it isn't too out of character.
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Root woke up tangled in damp sheets, half way off the bed. In the process of untangling himself, he fell of the rest of the way and landed on the hardwood floor with a loud thud. Swearing, he untangled himself and glanced at the clock. It was already ten. He swore again and went into the shower, hoping it would cleanse himself of the nightmares. It did, and once he was dressed and on his way to the kitchen, he felt much better. Until, that is, he saw Holly sitting at the kitchen table with a steaming mug of coffee.
"What're you doing here?" he said loudly, going and pouring himself a cup of the coffee.
"Eating breakfast. What does it look like?" Holly snapped back.
"Why aren't you downstairs?" Root asked.
"Because I want to go shopping," Holly replied. "Well, I don't particularly want to go shopping, but I need to. I highly doubt that anyone except for blonde bimbos like Frond would like to go shopping."
Root snorted but quickly disguised it as a cough. "How long have you been here?" he asked.
"About fifteen minutes," Holly replied. "I thought you would be up here when I came up and since you weren't, I made some coffee for us to share."
"Thanks," Root replied and quickly drank his cup. "Should we go?"
"Yep," Holly replied, put her mug in the sink and followed Root to the front door where he strapped on a pair of Hummingbird 2000 wings. Holly sighed since she knew she would never own something that high-tech. Not until it was obsolete. "Do you have anything I can borrow?"
"Yeah. There's an extra set in the closet over there," Root replied, pointing to a door next to the basement one.
Holly walked over to the closet and opened it. She jumped backwards as a ton of various useless items that people keep in their closets fell out. "Jesus, Root!" she yelled. "When was the last time you cleaned this place out?"
"Umm . . ." Root trailed off guiltily. "About fifty years ago?"
Holly groaned. "Joy," she mumbled and started looking for a pair of wings. She eventually found a set of the older Hummingbirds and strapped them on. She stepped back and surveyed the mess. "You can clean that up. Later. When we get back."
"Fine," Root replied and went outside with Holly following him. They flew to the nearest mall in silence, both pushing the previous night's thoughts to the back of their head so they could shop without being too distracted.
"Where do you want to go first?" Root asked.
"Clothes, I guess. That won't take very long," Holly replied and started walking towards the discount store.
"Holly, where are you going?" Root asked.
"Clothing shopping?" she offered, surprised.
"There?" Root asked sceptically. "Don't you want to go some place nicer?"
"Don't have enough money," Holly said brusquely and continued to walk towards the store.
Root gently grabbed her arm. "I'm paying, remember?"
"Wouldn't want to inconvenience you," Holly replied. "I always go here. It's fine, really."
"I'm it is, but since it's my money you're spending, can't you at least go where I want you too?" Root asked.
Holly sighed. "Fine. Where do you suggest?"
"Scarlett's?" Root asked, suggesting the fairy equivalent of Banana Republic.
"No way! That's too much," Holly insisted.
"Holly . . ." Root warned.
Grumbling, Holly followed him into the store. "Y'know, I don't think I've ever even been in this store."
"There's a first time for everything," Root replied. "I'll meet you up front."
"Ok," Holly replied and started browsing. She found some cargo pants that looked like they were in her size and tried them on. They did indeed fit so she kept two pairs with her and migrated over to the skirt section, since she did sometimes like some to relax in during the weekends or after a particularly hard day at work. She didn't find any that she liked, though, so she went back to the jeans and picked out two more pairs in her size.
Holly went over to the shirts and started looking through them. She immediately found a light blue sleeveless shirt that she really liked and tried it on. She smiled when it fit her perfectly and went back out, looking at the other shirts. There were some plain black tee shirts, which she got two of, a nice long sleeved v-neck and another v-neck cardigan. She also got two oversized, men's work shirts like the one that she had liked of Root's. Right next to the shirts were the sweaters and found one she liked and settled with that.
She grabbed a couple of packs of underwear, one pair of tights and a bunch of socks before approaching Root with her clothes.
"I know I can't get all of this, but-"
"It's fine," Root interrupted and practically dragged a protesting Holly to checkout.
"But-"
"Holly, you need clothes, and if you get them here, they won't fall apart so you won't need new ones really soon. Besides, you seem to like these," Root explained as the cashier rang up the purchases.
"Well, yes, I do, but that's not the point!" Holly protested. "I can get clothes I like for half this price that won't fall apart."
"Why are you being so stubborn?" Root asked angrily after he paid and he and Holly were standing in the mall street.
"Because it's a waste of money!" Holly exclaimed.
"But it's not your money! It's mine!" Root snapped.
"I don't want to waste your money!" she replied.
"It's not a waste. What else do you need?" Root asked, ending any further debate.
"Nothing while I'm staying in your basement," Holly replied. "Everything I need is there."
"Are you sure? If you don't like the furniture or something, I can get you some you like," Root offered.
Holly stared at him in amazement. "You can't just buy new furniture!" she exclaimed. "That's thousands of dollars when you already have fine furniture!"
"I know, but you'll probably be staying in my basement for a while so if you don't like it or it's uncomfortable, you should be able to get things you like," Root replied. When he saw that she was going to continue to argue, he snapped, "After all that lecturing about the furniture at the LEP, you really have no right to turn me down. Where do you want to go?"
With a slight smile on her face, she suggested, "Carney's Furniture?" the equivalent of Jordan's Furniture.
"Fine," Root replied and led her to the store. "If you want, I can wait here you're your bags," he offered.
"Thanks, but I'd rather have you come and help, if you don't mind," Holly asked.
"Sure," Root replied and followed her into the store. "Where first?" he asked.
"Beds?" she suggested and walked over to the bedroom section. They were soon lost in a seemingly never-ending maze of displays.
"See anything you like?" he asked.
"They only have double beds," Holly replied. "Which is pointless for me since I haven't shared a bed in about thirty years," she added, blushing slightly.
"What about that one?" Root asked, pointing behind Holly to a "Traditional" style twin bed.
Holly walked over to it and circled the bed. "I like it," she finally said. "In fact, I love it."
"Do you want it?" Root asked.
Holly looked at him sceptically. "Are you sure you can afford this?"
Root nodded. "My pay is . . . bigger than yours."
"No, really?" Holly asked sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "So, what do we do? I haven't bought furniture in . . . Well, I actually don't think I ever have. When I moved into my apartment, my parents gave me the furniture."
"I'm not sure," Root confessed. "Nikki . . . Nichkola took care of that."
Holly saw a sales person walk by. "Excuse me?" she called out.
The fairy turned and walked over to her. "Yes?" he asked in a friendly voice.
"How would we buy this bed?" Holly asked. "Neither of us have really done this before."
"Getting married soon?" the sales person suggested with a slight smile on his face.
Holly and Root both blushed. "No. He's just my friend," Holly said.
"Well, we have that bed in stalk, so you come with me, pay for it, and it will be delivered to your house in about a week," the sales person said and led them towards a cash register. "Credit card, please," he said. Root handed him his card and the sales person quickly swiped it through and handed it back to Root. "Julius Root?" he asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "On 120th Street."
"Ok," the sales person said and handed the card back to Root. "Do you want it assembled?"
"No, thank you," Root answered.
"Alright then. The total charge, tax included, is $472.50," the man said.
Holly glanced at Root.
"That's fine," Root answered for her.
"Here's your receipt," the sales person said, handing Root a piece of paper. "Is there anything else?"
"No, we're fine," Holly said and dragged Root away as well as she could carrying several bags of clothes. "Are you insane?" she hissed. "You're throwing out that money!"
"Holly, you're sounding like me," Root replied, slightly amused.
She stared at him with something remarkably like hatred.
"Now you know how I felt at the LEP. You helped me with that," Root pointed out.
Holly opened her mouth to argue, but she knew he was right. "Are you sure?" she asked one last time.
"Yes," Root replied. "Is there anything else you want?"
"A desk, I guess," Holly replied. "But the bureau is fine."
"Alright," Root replied. "Do you have any idea how to get out of here?"
"None whatsoever," Holly replied, smiling slightly and started wandering off in the direction they had come with Root following her. Eventually they made it out and into the main section of the store.
"Office furniture is over there," Root said, pointing at a division much like they had just been in but with desks and chairs.
Holly immediately rushed over to a foldout desk with a million compartments. "This one," she said instantly.
"Are you sure you don't want to look around some more?" Root asked sceptically.
"Absolutely," Holly said. "I've wanted a desk like this forever."
"One with tons of little compartments?" Root asked.
Holly nodded happily. "Please?"
Root laughed. "Sure," he replied.
Holly continued to smile at him, happy that she was getting the desk and proud that she had made Root laugh. It wasn't an easy task. They quickly paid for the desk, which would also arrive in about a week, and left the store.
"Is there anything else you want?" Root asked.
"Yeah: to go home so I can rest. I'm exhausted," she said.
"Fine by me," Root said and walked with Holly outside to where their wings were. "Do you want some help carrying that?"
"Yeah, thanks," Holly said gratefully, handing Root one of the two bags. They quickly flew to Root's house and, as soon as they went inside, Holly laughed. "I'll put my stuff away and give you Nichkola's while you clean this mess up," she said, indicating to the junk from Root's closet that was lying on the floor.
"Fine! Go ahead and take the easy way out!" Root pretended to snap at Holly as she disappeared into the basement.
Once downstairs, Holly emptied the dresser drawers and put in her new clothes. She brought up Nichkola's clothes and set them down next to Root who was surrounded by several large piles of various items from the closet.
"Something else for you to clean up," Holly joked.
"Could you put those on my bed?" he asked.
"Yeah, sure," Holly answered and picked up the piles of clothes and brought them to Root's bedroom and put them on the bed. Before she left, she looked at the picture again. She wondered if Nichkola's death had made Root the person he was today. And if there was anyway to resurrect that person. With those thoughts in mind, she went back upstairs and sat down on the bottom stair of the main staircase which was next to Root.
"How's it going?" she asked.
"Remind me never to let it go this far again," Root said. "This is ridiculous."
"Never let it go this far again," Holly joked.
"Hah hah. You're funny, Short," Root said dryly.
"Short? What happened to Holly?" she asked, taking the first step in her unformulated plan to bring back the Picture-Root.
Root looked at her. "Why?"
"Why not?" she countered.
Root didn't have a good answer so he went back to sorting through his things.
"Y'know, you could make a lot of money if you had a garage sale," Holly pointed out, gesturing to the largest pile that she had figured out was the throw away pile.
"Is that all you ever think about? Money?" Root asked.
Holly shrugged. "I'm used to working on a small budget."
Root looked at the huge pile that he had been planning on throwing out. "That's a good idea. Thanks."
"Sure," Holly replied. "If you're closet is like this, then I'm sure your attic is even worse so if you also went through that, you could practically open your own store."
Root thought for a second before saying, "If you help me organize it and price everything, I'll split the profit with you."
"What percentage?" she asked.
"I don't know!" Root exclaimed. "30?"
"70," Holly countered, remembering how her father had said to work down.
"No way," Root snapped. "35."
"60," Holly countered.
"40," Root asked angrily.
"50 and no lower," Holly replied.
"No," Root spat and went back to sorting through the closet.
"Are you sure you really want to do it all by yourself? Think about how much you're getting just from your closet and then the added amount from the attic. It's really a huge project," Holly said. "How about this: 50 percent goes to the LEP, 25 for you and 25 for me. We can take donations from other officers and turn it into a fundraiser. That'll help the budget. We could even set it up in the lobby so everybody will see it. I can make signs advertising it and put them up around Haven."
Root looked at her, impressed. "Deal."
They shook on it.
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Here's the fourth chapter. Hope you like it and hope it isn't too out of character.