"Whatever happened between you and Chip Skylark?" again they were on the topic of Vicky's past relationships, mostly in an effort by Timmy to procrastinate confronting the feelings he ha for Vicky.
"Well you know that I kinda... kidnapped him and held him against his will..."
"And shortly after he wrote that song 'Icky Vicky'."
"Yep."
"Y'know, most people don't know it's you the song is referring to. Only me, a few of my friends and Chip himself."
"And me."
"And you. It doesn't... bother you that much does it?"
"I don't show that it bothers me, do I?"
"No, but... I don't know... I mean you liked his music, and you definitely liked him, at least before..."
"I still do like his music, some of it anyway... but I tried to make things... work between us, but back then I was still the Vicky that most people feared, I was still 'Icky Vicky' if you will. And he couldn't change that, only I could, and I didn't want to."
"So what happened?"
"We dated, for about a month, surprising if you consider the fact that his number one song was essentially about how much he despised me. But it wasn't meant to be, I guess. In the few days we have spent together like this, you have seen more of the real me than he did in a month of dating, that has to mean something right?"
"Well of course it does, we've known each other for years now, practically lived together thanks to how often my parents called you over, and now we really do live together, sharing the same room, technically the same bed!"
There was silence between them now, the game system and TV having been shut off before the conversation began, both of them having grown tired of it.
"I wanna ask you something Timmy."
"Go ahead..."
"How long has Frances been bullying you?"
"...Long enough."
"Did you know I used to babysit him?"
"No... why are we talking about this?"
"Because this'll be a learning experience for me."
"Alright, well no, I wasn't aware you used to babysit him."
"Well I did, and because of my treatment towards him, which was not unlike how I treated you and your friends, he is rather afraid of me."
"Okay..."
"And you remember that I told you he was in the supermarket when we were the other day, right?"
"Yeah..."
"And how I told you to be careful?"
"Uh-huh..."
"Well it was because I was worried about you."
"I kinda figured that..."
"But do you know why I was worried?"
"Well... at that particular moment I figured it was because if he beat me up, my parents would be mad at you for letting me get hurt..."
"Well you're right to some extent, but I was really, truly worried about you too. I'm sure you've noticed that he's gotten bigger and stronger with age."
"Vicky I don't really notice how the men in my life develop that much, prefer women."
"I'm serious here Twerp!" she snapped at him. "I've always known since I first met him that he wasn't right in the head, but it's worse than that now."
"How so?"
"You haven't noticed the posters going up about missing pets and even one about a missing kid?"
"Not really, besides pets go missing all the time, and even kids now and then, that doesn't mean it was Frances..."
"You haven't been paying much attention then, the pets and kid all went missing within a mile of Frances' house. You know anyone else who is crazy in that particular neighborhood?"
"Sure there's Crocker, apparently Veronica, and... oh yeah, you."
"Crocker doesn't live around here, he just likes to scope out your house looking for magical creatures. Next there's Veronica who, while crazy, has no reason to be making animals and a kid disappear. Finally, there's me, which might fit but I actually like animals, I wouldn't ruin someone's life by taking theirs away. And I certainly don't kidnap children, celebrities maybe, children no."
"How do you know all this?"
"We already covered this Twerp, eyes and ears everywhere. One of the perks of being me, and in your case, being friends with me."
"Okay I'll admit that it is somewhat suspicious..."
"Alright fine, how about this, did you know Frances had a baby brother?"
"Um... yeah, he was born the year before last, his parents were really happy about it, from what I heard he was normal too, wasn't gray or weird looking at all. But he died unexpectedly from that sudden infant death syndrome or something..."
"Except that isn't what happened."
"What do you mean?"
"I may not have any definitive proof, at least not yet, and who knows, maybe I never will, but Frances had something to do with it."
"Based on what? A hunch?"
"I have eyes in the police department as well, what most people don't know is that they never found any body. His parents were investigated because of it. You hear about it now and then: parents decide they don't want the kid so they get rid of it somehow. The problem here is that they did want the kid. There was never any evidence to suggest anyone in the family was responsible, and no one even thought to look at Frances. So they covered it up to avoid looking like they were incompetent, it was very well done in my opinion, but I know he had something to do with it, and the missing pets and the missing kid."
"This is all becoming a bit much for me to take in Vicky..."
Vicky sat upright now and grabbed Timmy's shoulders.
"Just promise me you'll be careful. Please be careful. I've not yet lost anyone I truly cared about and I don't want to lose you, not ever and certainly not like what I fear might happen if he catches you alone. He may fear me now, but I don't know what'll happen if he realizes that he is stronger than me now, if he realizes he doesn't have to fear me anymore."
"I-I promise."
"Good." Vicky released his shoulders now and stood up, walked over to her suitcase and began fishing through it. After a few minutes she produced a pair of black shorts, a longer green tank-top, and a towel. She then started for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To take a shower. I haven't gotten a chance to since I started living here."
"You haven't?"
"No, not with settling in and smashing my hip, it just kept slipping my mind."
"Huh. I only asked because... well... y'know, you don't... uh... stink."
"Uh... thanks? It isn't like I've done a lot of sweat inducing activities though, and it stays pretty cool in here. Have you even taken a shower recently?"
"Well no... why do I stink?"
"Nope. Trust me I would have told you if you did. Still, you probably should at some point tonight..."
Timmy felt courage surge through him for an instant:
"Is that an invitation?"
"Do you want it to be?" Vicky replied in a sultry voice.
Her response unexpected, the courage Timmy felt drained away in an instant and his face became a color that would rival the most vine ripened tomatoes.
"Nice try Twerp." she was happy that she could always one-up him in this department, she continued out the door and into the hall, closing his bedroom door behind her.
Timmy's brain had nearly completely shut down amid mental images of Vicky sans clothing. Several minutes later it rebooted enough for a response, though Vicky was long gone by now.
"Damn! Damn! Damn! She beat me again! Cosmo, Wanda! You around?"
His fairies appeared in front of him.
"Long time no see sport!"
"It's been like, a day. Where have you guys been anyway?"
"Oh we've been here... just hidden. Gotta be careful with your girlfriend being around all the time."
"Right I suppose that's- Hey she isn't my girlfriend!"
"Yet."
"Oh no, I see your game, you're trying to do that classic anime cliché where you say she's my girlfriend and then I vehemently deny it way too strongly, thereby proving what you assume to be true."
"So you're not denying that she's your girlfriend?"
"I... plead the fifth."
"That's boring. You're boring. Did you need something sport? We were watching what is going on in other universes when you called."
"Anything interesting?"
"We're... not really supposed to tell you..." this from Wanda.
"Did you know there's a universe where Vicky becomes an all powerful dictator and destroys Dimmsdale, Timmy?" this from Cosmo.
"Cosmo shush! We're not supposed to tell!"
"Well I do now. But I need to make a wish. I wish Chip Skylark's song 'Icky Vicky' was his worst rated song."
"Why do that Timmy? He practically saved his career with that song, besides, I love it!" As Cosmo said this he poofed in an iPod playing the song far too loud.
"He may have saved his career with it, but it was at Vicky's expense, much like a lot of the fun I have had. It's time to right some of my wrongs and this is where I'm starting."
"Oh! See Cosmo? Timmy's growing up!" Wanda beamed at Cosmo but he was jamming out too hard to notice her. "Um... right then, the wish."
Upon granting the wish, Cosmo threw down the iPod.
"I suddenly hate this song for no reason!"
"Well it's a start..."
Timmy then heard the sound of the shower turn off.
"Alright, you guys better split for now. I'll let you know if I think of anything else."
"Okay we're gonna go watch alternate realities unravel! Have fun with your girlfriend." Wanda then stopped and thought for a second. "But not too much fun." they then both poofed away.
"...Hey-!"
Vicky entered the room.
"What?"
"Uh... Hey how was the shower?"
"Great, I really needed it." she wore her long green tank top now, covering her usually exposed midriff, and the black shorts reaching halfway down her thighs. "You got a laundry basket?" she asked him but received no reply, he was just staring at her. "You should take a picture it'll last longer. Laundry basket?"
"...Corner." he pointed toward the corner of the room, by the window.
"Ah! Thanks." she threw her laundry into the basket. "Now what's up? Clearly you have something on your mind? Spit it out, I wont bite... hard..."
"Y-your hair..."
"My hair...?" she realized that she hadn't bothered to put it into a ponytail like usual, it was down, reaching just below her shoulders. "What of it?"
"I've just never seen you wear it down before, that's all..."
"Well sure you have-"
"No, definitely not."
"Okay... well then, what do you think?"
What did he think? With her hair down like it was, slightly darkened from being damp, the fiery red color somewhat subdued, she was beautiful, but did he dare to tell her that? It would be fine, there would be no dire consequences, after all, she made it pretty clear in her conversation earlier when she told him to watch out for Frances that she cared about him, that she felt the same (or similar at least) as he did. She had positioned herself directly in front of him now, her eyes meeting his, though she had to look down slightly to do so, and he up. He was taller now at fourteen, but she still had a few inches on him, and while she was still slightly intimidating (especially in their current positions) he knew he would have to muster up his courage and answer.
"Y-You l-l-look "stop stuttering, you don't have a stutter!" beautiful V-Vicky." "God you suck at this."
He looked down now, erroneously finding the floorboards more interesting than the girl before him. He then felt her arms wrap around him and pull him into a light embrace, Timmy was stunned into silence, the last time he was this close to a girl was Tootie, and that hug was... unwanted to say the least, this one was not unwanted, just very unexpected. He was aware of a wet lock of her on his forehead as she leaned to whisper in his ear.
"Go take a shower, now I can smell you."
She released him now, and strode over to the bed before sitting down on it, her eyes half lidded and the sly smile adorning her face once again.
"...okay..." Timmy's brain had for the second time tonight shorted out, but while the last one was relatively quick, this one was more: 'your brain has left the building'. He grabbed a change of clothes, shorts and a shirt, and looked again to Vicky.
"I'm not going anywhere. Go."
Timmy exited his room, walked down the hall, entered the bathroom, and shut the door before rational thought returned and his heart started to pound in his chest. Piecing his brain back together he remembered why he entered the bathroom: shower. Turning on the water he noticed that it was barely even warm, turning the nozzle all the way merely caused it to become warm, he then was slightly happy he didn't join Vicky for a shower, evidently she took scalding hot showers. Only slightly happy though.
His shower finished, Timmy returned to his room to find it darkened, only the bedside lamp being on, though he could still see Vicky, sitting on the bottom bunk, evidently still patiently awaiting his return. Timmy threw his clothes into the laundry basket and began to climb the ladder to the second bunk when he felt Vicky grab his arm.
"Wha- What's up?"
"Not you..." she pushed him off and around the ladder and then pulled him onto the bed with her, making him lie down next to her.
"Vicky... what're you-"
She wrapped an arm around him and pulled him to her before resting her head on his. She could feel his still damp hair on her neck. She seemed to know what she was doing, Timmy however, was frozen, too afraid to do anything but let her lead. For a few seconds there was only the sound their breathing and there barely audible heartbeats, then Vicky released a contented sigh.
"This is nice..."
Timmy was inclined to agree and relaxed into her.
"Yeah..."
A/N:So this one is kinda dark, with whatever Frances is up to, but I think I may have slipped into slightly WAFF territory, if my understanding is correct. I'm almost fully recovered but my muse hasn't, still trying to placate her with sweets, slow going, anyway next chapter is going to be up Monday, the buses don't run on the fourth of July, lazy bastards...