"Hey Doll, guess what I heard."
Maddy sighed and rolled her eyes before sending Allen a glare. "What did you hear?"
He frowned, his glasses propped up on his head as usual. "You're supposed to guess."
"Allen, the poppet and I are busy." Oliver interjected, his bright blue gaze focused on the cupcakes he was currently frosting. "Either tell her or go away."
The baseball wielding nation pouted for a minute then looked at the blonde again. "I heard you were going crazy."
Her expression didn't change, except for the eyebrow she raised at him. "Did you? Well, I heard that you can go fuck yourself."
Allen's jaw dropped and Oliver jumped, dropping the cupcake he was frosting in shock. "Poppet! Language!"
She turned back to the pink haired man and sent him an apologetic smile. "Sorry Oliver." She pulled some money out of her pocket and put it in the swear jar. He smiled at her and patted her head. "It's okay poppet."
"I see how it is." James said, leaning against the kitchen doorframe. "I bring you over to bake with Oliver since you're having a panic attack and baking helps you calm down and you repay me by dissing my brother."
She grinned at him. "It's what I do best after all." She helped Oliver finish frosting the cupcakes and they put another batch in before joining Allen and James in the living room. The conversation didn't really go anywhere interesting, but Maddy listened eagerly anyway. She was mostly just trying to find out any weaknesses she could exploit. "Hey Allen, I figured out why you call every girl 'doll.'"
He sent her a wary yet curious look. "Did you?"
"Mhm." She replied nonchalantly. "It's because dolls are the only way you get any action."
James choked on his drink and coughed violently, spewing water onto his jeans and the carpet. Oliver stared at her in shock and Allen's jaw was hanging open. "Poppet!"
"Where is all the sass coming from?" Allen whispered, his eyes wide.
She grinned at him. "It's always been here, dearie." She glanced at James and her eyes widened with worry. "James, your face is turning really red. Either laugh or breathe."
He snickered and took a deep breath, trying to keep his laughter contained. "Bro, you just got owned." He snorted and covered his mouth, attempting to hold it in. "Dearie." The bad imitation was apparently too much for him, because he burst out laughing and kept at it until his sides hurt. "Oh my god."
"It wasn't even that funny, James." Maddy told him, her voice tinged with worry.
"Except that it was." He replied, wiping at his eyes. "That was great."
The oven beeped before she could reply and she followed Oliver into the kitchen, watching him pull the cupcakes out and set them on the stove. "They're not poisoned, are they?" Oliver frowned at her and she grinned, chuckling softly. "You know I'm just teasing. Don't be mad at me." The pink haired man frowned again but this time it was in defeat. His shoulders slumped as he realized he couldn't be mad at her. "I'm not poppet."
She smiled at him again, a small smile that made his stomach feel fluttery and he looked away. Cupcakes. Focus on the cupcakes.
"There should be a warning sign on my dick." Allen interjected, his eyes gleaming with what he perceived as an oncoming victory.
"Really?" Maddy replied, only partially paying attention to him. She couldn't care less about the words coming out of his mouth, but maybe she'd be able to roast him again. She enjoyed that. "And what would that warning sign be?"
Allen grinned. She was taking the bait! "Choking hazard."
She finally looked him in the eye, her gaze piercing through him. "Isn't that the warning they put on small objects?"
James choked, coughed and spewed water all over again. He coughed again, laughing betweens breaths. "Remind me not to drink anything around you anymore."
"Noted." Maddy replied, turning her attention back to Oliver, who was staring at her. "What?"
He blinked and shook his head, before saying too quickly, "Nothing poppet!"
"Okay.." She didn't completely believe him, but was willing to let it go. She was honestly surprised he'd warmed up to her as fast as he had. He was one of the very few people who didn't seem to hold the past against her. "Hey." She looked up, locking eyes with James. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Hey..?"
He fidgeted under her gaze. "When- when was the last time you had a-" He paused and cleared his throat. "One of your-"
"One of my hallucinations?" She interrupted, her patience wearing thin at his manner. He nodded and she rolled her eyes, anger and irritation curling around her heart like a snake. She hated it when people did this to her. Alfred had done it. Arthur did it. Matthew did it. She wasn't some porcelain doll that could shatter at any minute. "Honestly, James, if you're going to talk about my mental problems, don't act like you're speaking in code. It's not some huge secret that no one can know. In fact, I'm pretty sure no one I know is unaware of the fact that I'm mentally unstable. And to answer your question, I haven't had any recently. I've actually been taking my medication, thank you very much." She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed at him coldly.
"Good for you poppet. I'm proud of you."
"Thank you, Oliver. Good to know someone realizes I can take care of myself."
James looked completely and utterly cowed and Oliver was trying to hold back a laugh. He was pretty sure he'd never seen James look so embarrassed or unsure of himself. This girl certainly seemed to keep him on his toes. She turned away from him and faced Oliver. "Are the cupcakes cool enough to frost?"
He nodded and got the frosting, pushing it over to her. They began frosting the cupcakes, Maddy purposely ignoring James and avoiding having to say anything to him or look at him. Sure, the silent treatment was immature, but she didn't feel like coming up with anymore comebacks to use on him. Oliver yelped and Maddy turned to him to see what was wrong. He'd dropped a bag of flour. Time seemed to slow as she stuck out a hand to catch it, but it was just out of reach. They both flinched, waiting for the impact and the cloud of flour to explode on them.
It didn't happen. They both peeked at the flour, eyes growing wide as they registered that it was floating. "H-how-"
"Try moving it, poppet."
Too confused to question the command, Maddy lifted her arm, watching as the bag of flour followed the motion. It tilted as she twisted her arm, almost spilling before she righted it again. "That's not normal." She said finally, allowing the flour to drop with a soft thud.
Oliver, however, smiled. "Poppet, you can do magic."
Her stomach churned. "But that's-" She'd been planning to say that that was impossible. There was no way she could have magic, but the bag started floating as she focused on it again.
Oliver smiled reassuringly, noticing her discomfort. "Don't worry poppet. It'll be fine. Let's clean up and then you can let it sink in." Eventually, all the cupcakes were frosted and the kitchen was cleaned up. Oliver called up the stairs for Allen and Francois, whom hadn't interacted with the rest of them for a few days now. Maddy decided not to comment on it, despite her growing curiosity. It wasn't her business, after all. What right did she have to stick her nose in it? That mental speech had gone through her head many times and it just barely worked. She was itching to figure out what Francois was up to when he disappeared. She also wanted to know why Allen and James kept locking the basement door. It was just a basement, right? Unless it wasn't. She looked up and took a quick survey of the room. James was sitting on the couch with a book, Allen had come downstairs and was now trying to get his attention. The basement door wasn't within sight of the couch. If she was quick… "Oliver, I'll be right back."
"Alright poppet."
He didn't even question it! She carefully folded the rag she'd been using to wipe the counter off and placed it by the sink. Walking out of the kitchen, she looked completely natural and like she was just exploring the house. Once she'd gotten out of sight of both the kitchen and the living room, however, she began tiptoeing towards the door, her heart pounding. She stopped every few steps, both to make sure no one was about to catch her sneaking around and because -to her at least- her footsteps sounding like an elephant was clomping around the hall. She reached the basement door, checking around again. It seemed that no one had realized what she was doing. She reached out and jiggled the doorknob, hoping but doubtful that it would be unlocked. It wasn't. Despite suspecting it would be locked, she was still miffed. Her hands were moved to her hips as she stared at the door quizzically. She wasn't surprised it was locked, with the way James and Allen crept in and out of it, acting like it was a bank vault with some precious treasure in it. She looked around, searching for something to open the door with. Normally, she'd just try and break it down, but that wouldn't work, considering she was trying to be stealthy. She pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and inserted it into the keyhole, not completely sure the movie trope would work.
After a few minutes, she stopped. The single bobby pin wasn't working and she didn't have the rest of her pins. Maybe the credit card trick? She patted her pockets, finding that that idea was a bust. She didn't even have her wallet, much less her card. She supposed she could sneak around the house until she found the key, but that would look suspicious and she'd already spent a lot of time on this. If she was gone too long, Oliver would get suspicious or worried and come looking for her. Plus, the key was probably with James or Allen -the former being more likely- and she couldn't just walk up to one of them and ask for it.
"What are you doing?"
She jumped, mentally cursing and screaming at herself. She'd taken too long! She took a deep breath to calm herself down and turned to face James, plastering what she hoped was an innocent smile on her face. "Exploring."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Exploring a locked door?"
Her smile threatened to fall. She could feel the corners of her mouth twitching. "What's in the basement? Why's it locked?"
James suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable. His eyes flicked between her and the door in question. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Um.. it's where I could Kumajiro. Oliver doesn't like him wandering around the house." The polar bear, having heard his name, came ambling down the stairs and stood next to the blond man.
Maddy raised an eyebrow at him. "He's supposed to be in the basement, huh?" She could believe Oliver not liking the bear wandering around. Knowing the people that lived here, Allen probably got in fights with the bear all the time. Not to mention the fur that would be left behind when it shed. Unlike Matthew's Kuma (who had shed so much, it looked like it was constantly snowing in the house), this bear was full grown.
The explanation just didn't seem to fit.
James silently cursed himself for not coming up with a better explanation. Now she knew -or at least suspected- that he was lying. "S-sometimes, I let him stay in my room."
She raised an eyebrow at him again. "So he's either stuck in the basement or your room? No wonder he attacked you." An animal like that needed more space than what was provided in a basement or bedroom.
James glanced down at the scars on his chest, blushing in embarrassment. "He's always been a little unpredictable."
"He's a polar bear." Maddy stated bluntly. "Of course he's unpredictable." She actually hadn't ever interacted with the bear and honestly had no desire to. Being bitten by a dog had been bad enough, being mauled by a polar bear sounded much worse.
James looked away from her, the bluntness of her statement hitting him hard. She knew he was lying. He was caught and he wasn't sure what to do. He cleared his throat uneasily. "Well, yes, I suppose that's true."
"You suppose?" Her voice had taken on that irritated, disbelieving tone it did when she knew she was right and so did whoever she was talking to, but they kept trying to argue with her.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and began dragging her away from the door. "Oliver was wondering where you were."
"Well then, why didn't Oliver come get me?"
He flinched. "I told him I'd figure out where you were."
Maddy allowed herself to be led back to the kitchen, but her mind kept returning to the door and how obvious James' lie had been. That just sent her thoughts in circles, constantly coming back to the same question.
What was in the basement?
pinkittwice54: Yes, the italian chapter. I wanted t do more with uncle Feli and Great-Grandpa Rome too, but I really want to get the plot moving. Most of these chapters have just been filler, to be honest. It's been my attempt to build relationships between the characters, but the plot needs to happen. Your character is coming back, just not yet. Soon though, within the next few chapters.