Behind the Crystal
Chapter 5
By Trynia Merin
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Lazy Town. They belong to their respective company of the same name. I am just borrowing the characters for this fan fiction. I only own Readsmore and Lidenbrock, but the name of the latter is somewhat inspired by Jules Verne's character from Journey to the Center of the Earth. My thanks to KrysSaiyan my first reviewer! You've given me a few ideas for the next chapter after this one. And don't worry, there MIGHT be a bit of Robbie/Sportacus coming up possibly… as well as hints of Stephs' feelings for the sports elf! I rewrote this after I read the carrot cake scene because I didn't want to seem like I was stealing your great idea:blush:
After a quick shower, Miss Lidenbrock had decided to try her hand at pulling some of the weeds out of her garden. Donning a straw hat she grabbed a basket and put several gardening tools in it. Soon she crouched on aching knees and scrabbled in the dirt with the small trowel. With a loud meow, Pumpkin leapt over the fence and ran past her towards the porch. Socks rose and stretched; blinking unimpressed at the other feline resident of their new home.
"Where have YOU been?" she asked, turning to look at Pumpkin. He bounded up to the ledge of the porch, looking nervously from left to right with his gold eyes. Trying to look innocent, he licked his front paw.
"You didn't get into trouble with the neighbor's dog again did you?" she asked, blinking at her cat. Knowing he would not answer she returned to her task. She wrapped a gloved hand around the green weed, and yanked hard.
"Hi, Miss Lidenbrock, I hope I'm not bothering you," said a little girl's voice.
"OH, hello Stephanie. No you are not. I was just pulling weeds," said the science teacher, sitting on the lawn. She wore faded bluejeans and a loose T-shirt, her eyes covered with tinted sunglasses.
"My mom liked gardening," Stephanie said. "Anyway, I brought you something. Uncle realized we forgot to give you a welcome to Lazytown present."
"Oh you shouldn't have!" she said, brightening up as Stephanie showed her the cake plate with its cargo. Pican glaze icing slathered over a two-layer cake, decorated with coconut sprinkles and small designs shaped like apples.
"Uncle and I made it. It's a recipe called "jewish apple cake" even though I'm not Jewish it tastes great. Hope you like it!"
"Tell him thank you. That's very sweet of you," she said, standing up and taking the plate.
"Anyway," Stephanie said, dragging a sneakered toe in the dirt. "I just wanted to let you know I appreciated you thinking I wanted to work out alone with Sportacus, but you didn't have to ditch."
"Would you like a glass of iced tea and some of this cake. I can't eat it all myself."
"Sure," Stephanie said brightly, relief flooding her body. She entered into the shady house after her teacher. Behind them slapped the screen door shut. Once in the kitchen she helped pour two glasses of iced tea while her teacher set the table. Gretchen selected a knife and cut two pieces of her uncle's carrot cake. Before long teacher and student sat down cattycorner to one another.
"Well you enjoy that sort of thing. And sometimes two friends just need some alone time, eh?" she winked.
"Um what do you mean?" Stephanie asked. She swirled ice tea in her glass, letting the ice tinkle against the sides.
"He's a nice good looking man. What girl wouldn't want time alone with him," said Gretchen. Her mouth enclosed around the morsel of carrot cake stabbed on her fork. She used the side of the impliment to cut another bit off, then held it poised before her mouth.
"I don't know what you mean I…" Stephanie spluttered, pushing her glass away.
"I was nine years old once, Stephanie. You like him, and that is perfectly okay. I don't want to intrude on that," said Gretchen.
"Is it that obvious?" Stephanie glanced around, moving closer. "I mean it's silly I'm a kid…."
"You've got feelings. You will be a woman someday. And having an attraction to any man is not a crime. At least I don't think so.
"I feel so stupid. I mean I'm a little girl and he's a grown up. But I still wish he…"' Stephanie spluttered, pushing crumbs of cake around with her fork.
Leaning over Gretchen rested her hand on Stephanie's small one. She said softly, "Could be your boyfriend? It is not silly Stephanie. You are growing up. And someday you will be a woman you know. And by the looks of it, a pretty woman too."
"Thanks for not thinking I was silly," said Stephanie nervously. It scared her that Gretchen had so quickly looked past her to see what she was really feeling. Yet it saddened her and she suddenly wanted to be anywhere but there thinking about such grown up sensations. Still to know someone understood, someone female that she did not know as well as the others made it less difficult. Voicing the strange shadowy shivers made them real and valid.
The sharp rat-tat of someone knocking the door startled both of them. Stephanie swung her head around towards the living room. "Wait a minute I'll get that," said Gretchen.
"I'll clear up," Stephanie said, grabbing the plates and stacking them. Suddenly she felt the need to hide in the kitchen because she was afraid that she would be asked more about what she felt. Never mind it was silly to worry because nobody could read her mind.
Striding through the living room, sparse with some furniture she reached the front door. Standing behind the screen once she opened the solid wood door was a cheerful smiling face. Two blue eyes seemed to stare right into hers as Sportacus held up a basket of apples and oranges. "Oh hi…"
"I thought you might like some sports candy… a sort of welcome."
"What in the world is 'sports candy?'" blinked Gretchen, opening the screen door so she only stood a foot away from the muscular hero. She tried to divert her gaze from the intensity of those blue eyes so she focussed on the shiny number 10 on his badge instead. Orange and red blended together on the numeral that graced a shiny plastic translucent case glittering like a crystal. Was it her imagination or did she see a real crystal shimmering inside.
The sound of his voice snapped her attention up when he held up the basket wrapped in blue and silver celophane. "That's what I call fruits and vegetables. Makes much better snacks then sugar and fat."
"Oh I see. Well won't you come in?" she said, stepping back to let Sportacus enter the living room. He quickly glanced around the shiny wood floor and sparse furnishings.
"Looks nice," Sportacus nodded with approval.
"I haven't gotten all my furniture yet. It's rather sparse," she said quietly, closing the door behind them.
"Sparse isn't bad! There's lots of room to move around," he nodded. He followed her through the open raftered chamber into the kitchen separated off by a small shoulder height divider.
"Stephanie said she was bringing you a cake her uncle baked and it seemed like you were rather down before…"
"Thank you. She's actually been sharing some apple cake with me now," said Gretchen. Peering over her shoulder she saw Stephanie's frantic shake of the head no, and the huge blush spreading over the child's face as she wrung her hands. Seeing the object of her crush so quickly after admitting it was more then the nine-year-old could handle.
Sportacus noticed her at once and waved, "Hello Stephanie! Didn't expect to see you still here!"
"I um… I just realized I have to get back… I um… I have to meet Trixie and the guys at the treehouse… we were going to uh… read comic books!" she spluttered.
"Read comic books?" Sportacus blinked as Stephanie rushed past them into the living room.
"Sorry I can't stay, Miss Lidenbrock!" she called, rushing out the door. "Thanks for the iced tea… You can send the plate back when you're done."
"She seemed in a hurry," Sportacus blinked as the teacher shook her head. Her face flushed with the memories of little shivers that came over her those years ago when Captain Nimrod had smiled at her. Under her breath the schoolteacher mumbled something in German, not sure of what else to say. Sportacus placed the basket of fruit on the table and saw her turn around shaking her head and biting her lip. Narrowing his eyes he could not help but get most of what she had said.
"Surely it's not THAT bad," he said.
"What…" she blinked then uttered a curse.
"Is Stephanie all right? She seems rather… distant lately," he asked.
"She's got a lot on her mind. The sort of things many girls do at that age," Gretchen said. "You know how it can be, having been a child yourself long ago?"
"What sort of things?" he said, pushing his cap back a bit so he could scratch his head. It was his turn to mumble something in Icelandic that caught her ear and she could not help but chuckle at how cute he was when he looked confused. She grabbed one of the apples from the basket and absently rubbed it on her jean leg. To his relief and delight, she bit into it readily.
"Actually I didn't mean it like that. I mean I know it's hard when you're not a girl, but there are some things universal," she muttered in German absently.
"True," he nodded. "If I were a girl I might understand, but that's a bit beyond my capabilities. I never passed shape shifting class."
"Now that sounded strange in any language," she said.
"I suppose it does," he said, realizing she had just spoken his language. "You speak Icelandic?"
"A little," she admitted. "Though I shouldn't be surprised you can speak German."
"Well I can't exactly, but it DOES sound like Icelandic… in that the languages sound similar," he said in English, taking one of the apples she tossed him. Both casually leaned against the kitchen counters eating their fruit for a few minutes, puzzling mutually over Stephanie's odd behavior.
"By the way you don't need to feel… embarrassed," he said.
"Embarrassed about what?"
"Wearing sweats around… um… well when you're exercising. I mean it is the best thing to wear when you are working out…" Sportacus said. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, ostensibly jogging in place.
"What on Earth are you talking about?" she blinked at him.
"Well Stephanie suggested you left her and me because you were concerned about 'not looking your best', and I…" Sportacus started to say, but then put a hand over his mouth at how stupid it sounded. Especially when Gretchen blinked at him with a confused frown. She mumbled another oath in German, and then started laughing.
"What… did I say something wrong?" he asked. As she continued to giggle, he tried saying it again in Icelandic; "I meant she said that it was something that women are self conscious about their appearances and want to look the best…"
"No that's not what I'm giggling… I mean laughing about. It is just the idea of a hero like you suddenly not knowing what to say. That look on your face was priceless and I could not help but laugh. No offense… but it looked… cute."
"Huh," he muttered, biting hard into the rest of his apple. He munched on it, not quite sure if he could meet her gaze because she had just expressed an opinion about his physical appearance. Now it was his turn to feel awkward and clumsy because this woman was teasing him. He was at a distinct disadvantage and all the athletics in the world could not help him solve a puzzle like Stephanie, or Gretchen.
"Did I say that, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you," she apologized.
"No it's not that at all. It is just that everyone always thinks people like me are 'cute'. Never handsome. Always cute. Is it because of the elf or what?" he mumbled in Icelandic, turning around and chucking the apple core halfway across the kitchen. It landed with a clang in the center of the garbage can after a graceful half arc.
"Is that why you wear that hat? Because you're worried about your ears, Ithrottaalfurinn?" she asked. Sportacus was sure that if she could see his ears they would be bright red with embarrassment. With his back to her, he gripped the side of the counter hard; the muscles knotting like cables under the number 10 on his vest.
"If you know so much about heroes you'd know it was part of the costume," he huffed. "And how did you know that name?"
"It IS your name. I rather like the sound of it better, Ithrottaalfurinn," she said with a chuckle, resting her hand on his shoulder. Hearing the reassuring tone in her voice, he relaxed the tense muscles in his back.
Softly Sportacus muttered, "Not many people say that name right here. But I'm still Sportacus."
"What's with the costume? I mean if you are admittedly an elf, I would have expected more of the leggings and long hair. Or perhaps you're pandering to the misconception of them," she said, walking a half circle around him and eyeing the costume with a critical eye.
"It was number 9's idea," Sportacus mumbled. "He gave me the costume before I came. The one I really wanted to wear they said looked too… silly."
"The funniest thing is my brother and my uncle did speak about someone from hero school from Iceland. Only a few people graduated from that country and made assignments. My brother talked a lot about Ithrottaalfurinn. But when everyone here called you Sportacus, I didn't realize that you were the one that had graduated in his class."
"Small world," Sportacus chuckled, releasing the tension. Hearing his real name spoken by a Germanic tongue, even if it was not Icelandic was softly reassuring. He turned around, with a twinkle in his blue eyes. She was slowly peeling the orange with a small paring knife, winding the rind off in a spiral pattern much like someone would peel an apple. A tense silence hung and Sportacus was unsure of how to end it because there were two things he hated. Standing still, and silence. The pungent smell of citrus twitched his nostrils when she peeled off a bit of the orange and held it out to him.
"This whole business of stopping avalanches with singing. I admit I had heard of those unique powers… but… how? I would think avalanches were caused by loud noises," he said. His fingers brushed hers when he accepted a bit of orange and popped it into his mouth.
Gretchen nibbled on a bit herself and said, "Well he can create a smaller avalanche at the right frequency that diverts the path of the first. In addition, if he puts up a wall of sound… that is another way. He took personal lessons from Syrinnian herself."
"Mmm, the teacher of Cacophonies and Melodies As Super Moves. I did not have the powers for that one. It was a four hundred level course," Sportacus stroked his chin remembering his graduating class. Noticing the piece of orange she held up he suddenly leaned over and ate it from her hand.
"HEY that was mine," she grumbled. He dodged around her and grabbed another orange, quickly peeling it.
"Don't be so dissapointed, there's PLENTY where that came from," he laughed, waving a piece of succulent orange under her nose. Juice dribbled down his hand onto his gauntlet, but he didn't seem to notice as he held it just out of reach. Gretchen dodged for it, as Sportacus played keepaway with the orange wedge. Huffing cutely but amused, she dodged up, only to have him shove it into her open mouth.
"Got you," he said.
"No fair," she mumbled through a mouthful of juicy orange.
Through the side window, a pair of soft grey eyes from behind glasses blinked. Seeing her with the sports elf made Robbie flare with jealousy. He knew then and there his suspicions were true. Either Sportacus or the german schoolmarm had to go. Robbie Rotten grumbled to himself then stuck a finger in his throat making a gagging reflex.
"If I don't break up this feel good powow, Sportandshave will make me puke! I've got to put my plan into action!" he grumbled, then almost tripped over the hissing cat that darted under the bushes.