Disclaimer: Don't own POTO…or Gerry (sadly)
A/N: Misty strolled into her den, flipping through her reviews, humming "Angel of Music." The Gerry was sprawled out on the over-stuffed sofa, snoring softly with a purple throw draped across his body. The Authoress smiled affectionately and gently stirred his jet-black hair as she passed him, heading for her computer desk.
The doorbell rang, startling the Gerry from his nap.
"Whasss goin' on?" he mumbled, hauling himself into a sitting position, blinking blearily at Misty.
"Someone's at the door. Would you answer it, my love?"
"Sure." The Scottish Phantom stood, purple throw falling at his feet to reveal a bare chest and pair of black boxers as he stumbled out of the den and to the front door.
"SQUEEEE!" An ear-splitting shriek of girlish delight cracked through the quiet house, scaring the patrol socks and sending Misty diving for her lightsaber. The Gerry shot back into the room, ducking behind the petite Authoress for protection.
"It's a phan!" he whispered in horror. Misty readied herself to defend her phantom at all costs. The socks growled. Quiet footsteps echoed in the hallway, coming nearer and nearer. At last, a dark figure appeared, swathed in a black cloak.
"Speak!" Misty commanded, lightsaber ignited.
The figure stepped into the den and flipped back the hood of the cloak to reveal Marianne Brandon. Misty relaxed, turning off the saber, and the socks greeted the newcomer enthusiastically, covering her knee-high boots with lint fluff.
"It's only Marianne, my love. Please come in," Misty said, alternately addressing the cowering Gerry and her newly appointed Captain of the Minions.
"She tried to glomp me," the Gerry said stubbornly, keeping a wary eye on the Captain.
Misty shrugged, "That's what you get for answering the door in your boxers. Make your self at home, Captain."
Captain Marianne bowed and promptly seated herself on the Gerry's sofa. "You called, Authoress?" she asked, winking at a sulking Gerry.
"Yes, some things have occurred to me and I thought I might as well let you and Gerry know at the same time since you are on my staff," Misty began, settling herself into her swiveling chair like a dictator giving battle directions. "One is that these A/N's seem to be taking on a life of their own. Is that a good thing?"
Captain Marianne puzzled for a moment before replying, "Yes, lots of writers include things like this in their phics. It's just part of the phanphic community. I think you could see it as part of a double feature, with the new chapter being the main presentation. Besides, it includes the Gerry." The black-clad girl gave the Phantom another wink.
Misty nodded, "Okay, good enough for me. Thing two, I was singing in the shower today—"
"Very loudly and out of tune," the Gerry muttered.
"—And my mind suddenly created a new word. It is: blipic."
The Gerry and the Captain blinked at the Authoress for a few confused seconds.
Misty sigh, "It's this weird welding of blip and epic. I don't know why it came out that way, but I think it's a sign. I've decided that in between the larger, epic chapters, I'm going to include some brief little blips of scenes that either randomly pop into my head…or however I see fit to use them. And I shall call these little chapters blipics."
The Gerry groaned and shook his head. Captain Marianne thought it was a good idea.
"Good. And, Captain, here is your official captain's badge." Misty handed the girl a beautiful pewter badge, with a raven, a spirit, and a mask wrought in the center. It was very heavy, but useful in pinning back her cloak.
Misty continued, "Also, you'll need to formulate an appropriate method of initiation for anyone who wishes to become a minion…something tells me I may need to use them later on." She scanned the Captain's letter of acceptance once more. "Oh, yes, and you wanted to know if your new position comes with any special privileges."
"Yes, Authoress!" Captain Marianne sat up straight, eyes flickering to the nearly naked Gerry huddling fearfully in a corner.
"Well, I think I can allow you cuddling privileges with the Gerry. But no more than cuddling…as Authoress I must maintain some semblance of rank amongst my staff."
Captain Marianne squealed happily and patted the place on the sofa beside her. Reluctantly, the Gerry shuffled over and allowed her to snuggle against his bare, broad, thick, muscular (drools) chest.
"Oh, Captain, before you get too comfortable…would you mind delivering these things to the lair? They're from some of the reviewers and I know Erik will appreciate them," Misty said, indicating a gift basket and brown paper package tied up with string, which were occupying one corner of her desk.
Captain Marianne leapt to her feet and straightened her cloak, "Save my place, Gerry." She gathered the items into her arms. "How do I get to the lair?"
"Through here…" Misty led her to a large old wardrobe—the kind that has a looking glass in the door—sitting in a far corner of the room and opened it. It was full of genuine fur coats and there were mothballs on the floor. Captain Marianne resolutely stepped into the wardrobe.
"Don't close the door," Misty advised. "It is very foolish to shut one's self up in a wardrobe."
The Captain gave a curt nod and disappeared into the coats.
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ERIK'S SAVING GRACE
I'm sure most of you can imagine to the shock on Erik's ugly face when he cracked open his front door and found a young woman in a black cloak standing on his doorstep, her arms wrapped around a gift basket and brown paper package.
"Do you have a death wish?" the Phantom hissed, glaring at the strange girl through the eyeholes of his mask.
"No, I don't actually," the girl quipped cheerfully.
"Then why are you standing here and how did you get past my traps?"
"In answer to your first question…" the girl heaved her load into Erik's hands. "I was asked by the Authoress to deliver these to you. She said you would appreciate it. And in response to your second question, it's for me to know and you to never find out. Bye, now!"
With that Captain Marianne disappeared into the shadows, leaving a very confused Phantom at the door. Erik retreated into the house, toting the gifts into the sitting room. An occasional groan issuing from the master bedroom, which had become PMS central, was all the noise to be heard in the house.
Tentatively, Erik examined the gift basket. Judging by that insane firework display in Perros, he thought it best to treat anything that hand once been in the hands of this Authoress person with extreme caution. The grey whicker basket was decorated with red, white, and black ribbons, its contents cushioned by a lump of purple velvet and wrapped in black silk. There was a parchment note sticking out of center of the individual objects.
With long, cold fingers, Erik plucked the parchment out of the basket and broke the seal. It read:
Dear Anna and Brooke,
Here are some supplies to hold you over until the Poppins Bag returns.
Yours respectfully,
Beregond'sGirl
Setting the note aside, Erik rummaged through the silk-wrapped item in the basket, revealing a plentiful supply of tampons, kotexes, and Midol.
"Thank you, God!" Erik cried, and he really meant it. Eagerly, he tore open the note from the brown paper package. It said:
Dear Erik,
Keep plenty of this around the house. When the girls jump on it before breakfast, then you'll know it's time to watch out.
Love,
Gevasia
Frowning, Erik ripped open the paper packaging, finding a large box of dark chocolate inside. As he rushed the deliveries into the Lothorien corner, Erik made a mental note to send a message to the Authoress, informing her that he would gladly sing any song of Beregond'sGirl's and Gevasia's choice, and might consider kissing their feet, for saving him from a week in double menstruation hell.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
A/N: Hey, just a quick update with an elaborate author's note at the beginning. I hope you guys get the concept of blipics. It seriously occurred to me in the shower…unfortunately, there was no Gerry to here it. (tear) Anywho, this is an example of a blipic. These little scenes just pop up, or bits of plot surface, that just don't fit into an epic chapter, but I want to share them with you all, so here it is. I know the whole made-up word thing is weird, but it's fun to say. It's like the noise a frog with the hiccups would make.
Marianne Brandon: I hope you don't mind your sudden appearance as a character!