Think I had too much fun with this lol, so it's a little long. Hopefully still worth the read.
Nothing terribly intense, but, just incase. TW for implied abuse.
Dewy clouds diffused Saturday's daylight, mild showers pattering along sidewalks lit by streetlamps. Within downtown Dimmsdale stood the auburn concrete of the Greek Revival–style building, roofed in gabled white slab. Dimmsdale Public Library carved into the roof's front-facing stone, two steps of white concrete led up the portico where rustic double doors greeted bookworms and scholars alike.
Her ears listened to small pitters of rain along the French windows as she traveled. Immersed in the bewitching allure of towering cedar-wooden shelves, dim lighting perfect for reading, and the aroma of aging books calming her into another world. Her indigo necklace hung around the neck of her lavender parka, hands warmed in insulated pockets upon her arrival a couple minutes ago.
Both parents had committed to shifts no less than twelve hours long, and while she would've favored spending that much-needed break from yelling and arguing cooped in the solace of her room, her fairy godmother had suggested she not stay in one place. Clark's executive decision to schedule an appointment with Dr. Wahlgren to discuss switching medication and starting Chloe in therapy had sent Connie into a verbal uproar. Venting her frustrations of all these nonessentials for a ten-year-old physically healthy. Chloe had heard nothing but negative things from her mother every evening after school, and with an entire Saturday free from parental contention, Susie was worried for Chloe being left in the isolating company of self-deprecating thoughts.
Though she'd initially wanted to utilize her library time for studying, she instead listened to her godmother's advice to visit her favorite section of the library; Fantasy Fiction. She was unable to join Sanjay and Elmer in viewing the movie adaptation of the second book, yet part of her didn't care for picture adaptations when Hollywood meddling tended to leave out bits and pieces of what makes a book feel like reading a movie. Still, just the mention of her favorite series had reignited her interest. While over half-way through the fourth edition of the Terry Totter book series, she did not own physical copies of the first three. She figured she'd wish to spend the day re-reading what she could as a refresher and possibly wish for copies of the first three books at a later time.
Making her way down the slim aisle between walls of Fantasy Fiction novels, Chloe stalled when she laid eyes upon the only other kid in the same section. Taller and possibly a little older than Remy, his bright-auburn hair was styled in a bowl shape with freckles across the cheeks of ivory skin. Purple eyes like Tootie's scanned the books through thick black rims, buckteeth squarer than Timmy's mulling in thoughtful search. A hunter-green turtleneck was worn beneath the striped tee of turquoise and white, dark-green denim jeans paired with matching white and turquoise sneakers, and in spotting the dark-teal chain dangling to one side of his pants, Chloe could make out the miniature crown and dark-teal eyes that led her curiosity to look down at her indigo necklace.
"Is he…another godchild?" she asked her fairy godmother. After Timmy had explained how he discovered other godchildren, half of her didn't expect to run into another godchild outside of school.
"I dunno, is he?" Susie discreetly reminded that it was against Da Rules to confirm for certain.
Thinking she may have already figured it out on her own, Chloe looked up to the boy pulling out the Terry Totter and the Chalice of Fire novel that she herself already owned. Watching his eyes widen in excitement towards the novel before showing it to the dark-teal chain at his side.
"Lookit!" the boy beamed. "It's really here!"
"See?" the chain humored with a subtle grin. "Told ya they'd have it."
What's this? Was he not only another godchild, but a godchild also into Terry Totter? Timmy's extent of reading hardly extended past comics, Remy had never shown interest in the series, and Tootie's previous religious restraints had kept her in the dark. There was Sanjay and Elmer, but as she unfortunately learned, Terry Totter was the extent of how much she could relate to them…
When he turned gawking at the Terry Totter novel in his grasp not realizing he was now directly facing her, Chloe caught a clear glimpse of the medic alert bracelet cuffed on his right wrist. He has a medical condition? Is that why he was granted a fairy godparent?
As the first to realize they were no longer alone, a low cough in chain's throat caused the boy to look up. He saw Chloe faintly gasp under his stare, his beam fading into baffled curiosity towards her. Her shoulders shrunk with clasped fists held to her chest below the indigo necklace that he zeroed in on, raising both eyebrows at the sight of a crown and indigo eyes.
No way…his inquiring steps forward inched her lavender boots backwards, making his stop as he continued to stare. If she was another godchild, what was she so afraid of?
"My name's Dwight." he started with a friendly introduction. Maybe showing that he was sociable would make her more comfortable. "What's your name?"
Diffident eyes held his stare, lacking confidence in her voice "…C-Chloe."
"Nice to meet you, Chloe!" Dwight Charlie Schlatter offered a bright smile, managing to faintly lax her tense stance. He pointed to her necklace. "That's a fairy, isn't it!"
"Easy, Dwight." the godfather lightly chuckled to his godson's overenthusiasm. It'd been a while since they'd openly met another godchild.
Her heart thumped between her ears. He figured it out so quickly and with zero doubt. Just how long has he had a fairy? "…her name is Susie."
"Hi Susie!" Dwight waved to the necklace in his approach, and fear of the unknown mostly stood Chloe in place. "It's really nice to meet you, too!"
"Aww, you're adorkable!" Susie kvelled. She then addressed his pants chain. "How's it going, Irving?"
"It's going." Irving grinned to the fellow godparent.
"…you know him, too?" Chloe noticed Susie address the fairy godfather by his name.
"We were in the same Fairy Academy graduating class." Susie explained. "We're more like acquaintances but," she flashed him a joking smirk "he aight, I guess."
"Still got your sense of humor, I see." Irving recalled the spunk that he'd interacted with in college nearly ten millenniums ago.
Friendly interactions went silent when the thick novel dropped before Dwight's feet, falling to light-green tile in a hard thud that blinked baby-blue in a stunned gasp. She then looked up to purple eyes once vibrant now vacant in their unblinking daze. His hand crinkled the center of his shirt in twitching tugs, and his lips appeared to mouth unvocalized gibberish.
"…Dwight?" her uneasiness called out. His stare failed to acknowledge her. "…a-are you okay?"
Irving let out a small sigh "…I was afraid this would happen."
"…afraid what would happen?" Chloe worried when Dwight's twitchy hand continued to pull at his shirt, rigid stance subtly rocking unsteadily.
Irving raised his wand in turquoise sparks. Magically steadying Dwight still to keep him from absently wandering into, say, any nearby bookshelves or anything that could hurt him. "You're okay, buddy." he coached, though a little unsure if Dwight could hear him. "You're gonna be fine."
Standing helpless, Chloe clung to her indigo necklace. Looking on for the longest minute of her life before the twitching settled and absent eyes fluttered in confusion.
It felt like his brain was somersaulting in his skull as Dwight massaged the side of his temple "…did I…?" he groaned, too fuddled to finish his thought.
"'Fraid so, buddy." Irving lamented.
"…w-what happened?" Chloe asked her fairy, too distraught to question the source directly.
Susie looked up to her godchild, remaining calm despite her brewing anxiety. "Dwight just had a focal seizure."
…a seizure?! That's a serious issue! Why is no one treating this like an emergency!? "S-Should we call 9-1-1?"
"It's alright, sweetheart, this just happens sometimes." Irving wanted to put the poor girl's stress at ease. "Just give 'em a minute; he'll be just fine."
Nodding in acknowledgement, Chloe inhaled the breath that she shakily exhaled. Bending down to pick up the Terry Totter that'd been involuntarily dropped. If this was something to be expected, then that explained the medic alert bracelet…
Dwight continued to massage his temple, and sympathy sank in Chloe's heart.
Debussy's 'Clair de Lune' sang within the white walls of the Fancy Schmancy Country Club, serenading the upper-class ears of mingling members and exclusively invited attendees.
Occupying a lone round table within the dining hall, the young billionaire held his chin in one palm while the other idly brushed the purple fur of his ferret nestled placidly in his lap. Mint-green glued to the flowing rain along the window pane nearest him, staring out into the passing storm as the moonlight piano of Db Major quieted his own silent storm within.
He'd rather watch the storm from his window, cocooned in his room. Too bad the country club had recruited new members, and as he was still considered a Buxaplenty, Remy was obligated to make an appearance. Why? Because the newest blonde-haired, blue-eyed money mongrels came with kids.
So far, these 'kids' showed little interest in interacting with the fifth Buxaplenty heir. The feeling was mutual, yet that didn't prevent knowing more information than desired about them.
The eldest son, Anthony Wells, was two years Remy's senior and an eighth grader at Brightburg Enrichment Academy. Learning that Chloe was from the same city, this private school educated California's most academically gifted. Or, as Chloe had put it, California's most affluent with money to splurge on glorified public education. Their eldest daughter, Hillary Wells, was the same age as Remy but a grade level above and another student of Dimmsdale Enrichment Academy.
Both she and her older brother stuck by their parents' sides as they mingled with other members. Noses held high and dressed head to toe in Gucci just as their parents, almost as if to make some 'elitist' statement. That alone rubbed Remy the wrong way about these siblings. It was giving 'name brand' versions of the popular kids…
"Oooooooooh…" a little girl's intrigue breathed in his, sounding extremely close if he could hear it over the speakers' music.
Remy turned away from the window to a bush of black curls atop the round face of skin melanated in rich umber. There was a gap comparable to Chloe's between her fuller lips spread in a fascinated smile, and her button nose reminded him of Alvin Jr. Her white shirt worn under a pink and navy-striped sweater with teal denim jeans and purple Converse sneakers outcasted her from the elegant dresses and classy suits around them. As he raised a skeptical brow to the girl who had to be no taller and no older than Tootie, he soon realized what caught her big, brown eyes.
"May I pet him?!" she pointed eagerly, her index finger ringed in bright-red metal. Pointing to his ferret who, to Remy's surprise, didn't seem thrown by this stranger's presence.
"Um…" Remy lowered uncertain eyes to see Juandissimo inch his welcoming nose to the girl's finger. Seemingly permitting her to happily scratch behind his right ear with the same hand. She giggled with delight as Juandissimo's forehead nuzzled her palm, and when Remy noticed a gold crown hovering above the reddest eyes he'd ever seen, his own eyes widened ever so slightly.
That ring on her finger must be why his godfather acted so sociable to a girl they'd just met.
"Can…" he tried to remember how to English "…we start with 'hello, and you are?'"
"Oh! Sorry!" she removed her hand from Juandissimo, meeting Remy's stiff eye contact. "My name is Hazel Wells!"
"Wells…?" Remy recognized the surname of the newest country club members. But that can't be. Her hair wasn't blonde, and her eyes weren't blue. And not a single stitch of Gucci on her.
"You're Remy Buxaplenty, right?!"
"…I am." he replied to her innocent beam. Not only did she look unlike a single soul in this club, her odd enthusiasm was unlike anyone who'd ever stepped foot in this uptight space.
"I like you!" Hazel Olisa Wells spoke bluntly of the godchild that she'd met all of two seconds ago. She then gave the purple ferret another fond scratch beneath his chin. "And your fairy's really nice, too!"
As if her excitement just meeting him wasn't enough of a shellshock. "…you…saw his crown?"
"Uh-huh!" she nodded beamingly. "It's the first thing I noticed!"
Remy pursed his brow at her smiling gaze. Interesting, everyone else just sees Juandissimo as either an oddly-colored ferret or his watch. Guess Turner was right; no matter how a fairy is disguised, other godchildren can see through it like glass. "…I…take it your ring is a fairy as well?"
"She is!" Hazel raised her ringed hand, holding up her red ring. "Her name's Nyekundu! I call her Nee-Nee for short."
"Hmm..." Remy scooted from the table, cradling his ferret in one arm as he stood to his feet "…this is Juandissimo." he coolly introduced, petting Juandissimo's back. "Juan for short."
"Hi, Juandissimo!" Hazel waved.
Juandissimo returned a friendly grin. "Hola, Hazel."
Just hearing him speak made Hazel gush with amazement. "Oooooooooh I like your accent!"
"Settle down, Kakao." Nyekundu's Kenyan accent smiled to her little cocoa drop. For a normally reserved child, Hazel was extremely comfortable around these two. Perhaps it was just the exhilaration of meeting another godchild that melted her ice. Regardless, anything that made her godchild happy made Nyekundu happy.
Unfortunate for such happiness to be cut short when a country club member yanked the little girl away from the Buxaplenty heir by her arm. Contempt clear in the middle-aged woman's hazel-green snarl.
"How did you get past security!?" her snarl demanded.
Nerves darted brown eyes between the glaring woman and the ground "…I-I walked in with my family?"
"Preposterous!" she spat scornfully. "There are no negros here!"
Remy blinked awkwardly, unsure how to react.
"It's true!" Hazel fought back, flailing her arm in attempts to yank it free. "They're over there talking to the Buxaplentys!" she pointed to the blue-eyed blondes across the room, only deepening Mrs. Cash-A lot's distrust of this black bastard who didn't belong here.
"Don't lie to me!" Mrs. Cash-Alot talked down to the squirming child. "I don't know how you weaseled your way in here, but I suggest you find somewhere else to steal!"
"Unhand my daughter!"
As the speakers switched to the fluid melody of Debussy's Reverie counteracting the intensity of the escalating tension, Remy turned to the scowling blue eyes of the woman, her tan jacquard-knit dress embedded in black Gucci embellishments. Matching ankle boots charging towards Mrs. Cash-Alot before she clawed Hazel from her imprisoning grasp.
"Your daughter?!" Mrs. Cash-Alot gawked.
"That's right!" Angela Wells pulled her the now whimpering little girl behind her. Abhorred by what foul atrocity that Mrs. Cash-Alot growled next.
"There's no way that dirty nigglet is your daughter!"
"Excuse me?!" Angela loomed towards Mrs. Cash-Alot, dangerously close to invading personal space. So much that her husband intervened and pulled her away, black wool sweater embellished in white Gucci logos paired with beige khakis and ankle Gucci boots similar to Angela's except in black and white.
"Stop this at once, Angela!" Marcus reprimanded his wife, and Angela yanked her shoulder from his tight grip.
Remy could see Hazel's shudder from Marcus' booming baritone. He could also see Anthony and Hillary's antagonizing storm towards Hazel as if some animal that'd escaped from its cage.
"Why do you have to stir trouble everywhere we go!?" Anthony's pubescent voice berated.
"Father told momsy to leave you at home!" Hillary sourly agreed with her brother. "We can't take you anywhere!"
Big, brown eyes brimmed with shame in her snivels, and both mint-green and blue-violet furrowed morosely. Why so much derision for one, little kid?
Glooming clouds overcast the glass roof of the blue-grey building, 'Wall 2 Wall Mart' in bold red mounted along the front wall of slab. Glass walls lined the singular entrance into the discount department store, several floors of the broad space providing products from groceries to electronics as a one-stop shop for consumers.
Amid the other Dimmsdale shoppers, the redheaded teen pushed her cart through the canned goods aisle with folded elbows of her black leather jacket on the handle. Scanning the preserved vegetables and fruits for good options to purchase. Her raven-haired little sister traveled quietly by her side, hands tucked into the pockets of her black wool jacket.
Stopping before the canned vegetables, Vicky sorted through the cut green beans, sliced carrots, whole kernel corn, and sweat peas. Even considering the mixed vegetable option as she took the can from the shelf to set inside the cart. "How many you think we should get?" she wanted to at least include her sister, holding the can of mixed vegetables.
Taking time to contemplate, Tootie then raised four fingers with the hand cuffed in a teal bracelet. Going with this decision, Vicky grabbed three other cans and placed them in the same cart.
"Think I should get other vegetables, too?" Vicky asked again, seeing Tootie's nod before pointing to the other options. "Which ones?"
Walking around the front of the cart, Tootie pointed to the sliced carrots and sweat peas for Vicky to also ask how many cans of those options she should get. Tootie responded with the same four fingers, and Vicky grabbed four cans of sweat peas and four cans of sliced carrots before she continued to push the cart down to the canned fruit.
Vicky gave the purple-rimmed girl a thoughtful glance, observing Tootie's forward stare in silent strides. She was starting to forget what own sister's voice sounded like, and this poked and prodded at her worry. Tootie's Social Worker had mentioned something about kids developing this coping mechanism for heightened anxiety to complex situations that they're unable to control. Definitely a valid cause in Tootie's case; there was no doubt Tootie was troubled. The extent of her trouble, adversely, would express itself in two extremes. Muted whimpers, or damn near inconsolable wails.
A prosecution attorney, Ms. Monet, had been assigned to Tootie's trial. Tootie had been deemed fit to stand trial aside from her refusal to speak, yet her refusal to speak is what greatly concerned Ms. Monet. Without Tootie's testimony, she feared the judge may side in the favor of the Byrnes. Though, Vicky didn't think that made much sense considering this same judge had granted their Uncle Vic temporary guardianship over Tootie from the Byrnes.
To Vicky, it was clear as day that the judge did not view the Byrnes as proper parents. However, Ms. Monet had reminded that the Byrnes willingly suspended their parental rights, theorizing that the judge may have seen this as part of their practice of 'shunning' and not necessarily a guilted reaction to getting reported for abuse.
A load of fuckin' horseshit, if you asked Vicky.
Like, seriously lady. Which side of the stand do you work for?!
. . . . . .
Having purchased groceries that would hopefully last a couple weeks or so, The Byrne sisters gathered their handfuls of plastic bags after pushing the cart back with the others. A rumble of thunder shook weakly through the walls, once light sprinkles now a shower of heavy rain from the darkened sky visible through the automatic glass doors of the entrance/exit.
"Wait here." Vicky advised. She didn't think to bring an umbrella from how light it'd sprinkled just an hour ago. "I'll bring the truck around."
Giving her portion of grocery bags for Tootie to make room for carrying on both arms, Vicky reached into her leather jacket for the keys. Removing the sleeves from her arms to then shield her hair with her jacket as she stepped out into the gust raining down like curtains swaying in the wind. Biting her lower lip, Tootie walked to a corner near the automatic doors away from the sensor, wishing to hug herself if it weren't for the army of plastic bags slung on both arms.
"You doing okay, sweetheart?" her teal bracelet inquired, given some breathing room from the plastic bags.
Unsure whether to nod or shake her head, Tootie settled on a small shrug.
"We're almost home." Rose thought to reassure. Without a verbal or written response, she didn't have much to go on, and it's impossible to read Tootie's mind.
"Cool bracelet."
Purple and teal raised glances towards the source of the mysterious voice. Seeing a girl possibly around Chloe or Remy's age who looked as if she's never seen the sun as black combats stepped towards them. A dark-purple beanie atop her black low pony, her low bang swooped to one side with one visible yale-blue eye lidded with heather eyeshadow. Coated in black leather similar to Vicky, the cuffs of her black long sleeves were visible beneath a grey short-sleeve with a skull stitched in the sweater's center. Raisin-denim jeans belted in black leather, and a dark-blue studded earing dangled from her right ear.
Aside from the contrast of pale skin against dark clothes, Tootie was more drawn to the studded earing. Subconsciously squinting when a pair of dark-blue eyes stared back at her. Catching a glimpse of the tiniest gold crown that looked exactly like Rose's crown.
"Yep, totally a fairy."
Perturb purple broadened towards yale-blue, lidded indifferently as if she'd been there done that. Instinctively, Tootie resisted the weight of plastic bags in her reach to clutch her bracelet. She herself had just learned that she was not the only existing godchild all of four days ago. How many godchildren has this girl discovered?
Tootie darted suspecting eyes towards the dark-blue earring once more, the same stud that the mysterious girl soon brushed with a loose thumb.
"Guess you figured it out, too." the girl assumed. No signs of fear as she lifted a casual hand to her earlobe. "Her name's Swizzle." she introduced, and the same hand left her ear to extend towards the fellow godchild. "And I'm Molly."
Studying the mysterious girl now known as Molly, Tootie's braces chewed at her bottom lip. Slow to extend her own arm (to be fair, the bags were starting to feel heavier than they were) as her heated palm locked with cool fingers.
"You don't talk much, do you." Molly Grey DeLisle arched a brow, making Tootie frown with hunched shoulders. "Eh. I get it." Molly ended the greeting handshake, retreating to stuff both hands back into her leather pockets. "I don't usually talk to strangers either, but…" she shrugged mildly "…guess you're not really a stranger."
Tootie continued to stare, though her frown softened.
"Since we're doing introductions…" the teal bracelet spoke up. She'd been discovered without getting exposed so, why not be cordial. "…I'm Rose. And this is my godchild, Tootie."
"Ah, Rose." the earring now known as Swizzle slyly acknowledged. "Shoulda known it was you."
Rose slit her brow. "Meaning?"
Swizzle simply smirked. "Sheesh, relax, will you?"
"Considering your she-devil rep," Rose did not have fond memories of her fellow Fairy Academy graduate "forgive me if I'm a little guarded."
"Molly! What the hell are you doing!?"
Both godchildren didn't have time to probe about the strained dynamic between their godmothers as matted jet-black hair and aged pale skin charged forward. Bones wasting away beneath a soaked purple tee with washed denim riddled with worn holes. White sneakers dirtied black and brown from close contact with mud and rain puddles.
"…just talking…" Molly muttered, her expression darkened. Something Tootie immediately took notice right before this woman nearly ripped Molly's low pony from her head, yanking her backwards.
"What've I told you about bothering people!?" the woman gritted her teeth, irritation wild in her dark-blue glower.
Grabbing at her pony to ease the tension, Molly grumbled "Ma, I wasn't-"
"Don't chu talk back to me!"
Standing as an involuntary witness, Tootie shuddered. Knees trembling as Molly struggled out of her mother's ire grip. A few shoppers coming and going snuck nosy glances at the scene. None of whom proved nosy enough to intervene, under the assumption of another worn down mother disciplining her unruly child.
"Just wait 'til we get home!" Molly's mother threatened, roughly shoving her daughter as Molly stumbled to regain her footing. "I'll teach you not to wander off away from me!"
Tootie shot a glance at Molly's tight lips, her jaw clenched to keep from screaming. Rancor pressed behind her scowl towards the woman who, as a result, was about to give this level of disrespect a biting backhand.
This woman had a little bit of restraint, it seemed, when her raised hand froze midair. Frozen from the squealing honks of a red pickup waiting outside the front entrance.
Tootie found herself caught in a tug-of-war between wanting to help Molly and not wanting to keep Vicky waiting. And yet, her mind froze. The scowl of Molly's mother flashed images of her father's scorn across her eyes. Tears welled behind her glasses, quivering legs petrified in place.
"Tootie, let's go." Rose urged, for her godchild's sake.
Molly's glare shifted towards Tootie's shock. Why was she just standing there? Then again, looking closer, she answered her own question she saw terrified fear. Fear directed towards the woman that Molly had the misfortune of calling her mother. For Tootie to have a fairy godparent…did she deal with stuff like this, too?
Another impatient horn jerked fear from Tootie's stare, and black boots scurried past the sensors. Rushing with shuffling plastic bags through the automatic doors without a second glance.
Baby-blue grimaced at its own bathroom reflection, buckteeth clinched in his jaw. Jet-black hair gelled in a Greaser style, removing his black shades from the bridge of his nose. Blue Timberlands planted firmly on rustic linoleum flooring, washed denim fitted like skin to his legs. A white tee worn beneath the sleeves of his red leather jacket that the faint of his quivering hand rolled, revealing the redness of his wound blistered into his arm.
Gary Marsden Vladislapov continued to stare, puckering his brow. Staring into the darkness enclosed around him, the slice of his past that haunted him. His chest pinched from the strain of his coughing cries, and a warm sensation filled his pants from the diaper far past soiled. His empty stomach gnawed from the inside, snot caked beneath his red nose as he struggled through desperate wails left unheard...
Alone in the darkness. Abandoned.
A sharp pinch to his arm tugged Gary from his past, but only just. He dug fingernails into his wound once more, ripping the fabric between past and present. Stinging burns sparked through his arm, igniting enough pain to suck Gary back to the glass reflection of his present self. A low groan escaped his lips; this week-old wound had been irritated beyond its limits. That's gonna leave a nasty scar, and if Alondro ever found out…
Gary kept himself front facing towards the mirror, snapping a glance to the pathetic whines of a dog outside the bathroom door. Welp…speaking of Alondro…
Knowing he couldn't shut out his fairy godfather for long, Gary covered his secret with his jacket sleeve. Inhaling a breath before he released it, mentally chiding himself to get a grip. Tearing himself from the white laminate countertops, Gary went to open the bathroom door. Met with golden retriever fur dyed in his godfather's signature bright-yellow, icy-blue eyes laced with concern.
"What's up, Londro?" Gary leaned against the door, finding no use faking a smile.
"You said that you would return in two minutes." The yellow retriever pouted. "Eso fue hace diez minutos..."
"I had ta number two." Gary shrugged an excuse. An excuse that Alondro grimaced to.
"I did not hear a flush."
A slight roll of his eyes left back inside the bathroom. Gary pressed down on the handle, a gurgling flush swirling clear water within the como before he walked back to face his yellow retriever with a hand on his hip. "…there. Happy?"
"No." Alondro was blunt. "What were you doing in there?"
"My business." Gary stated dryly.
"Why are you hurting yourself again?" Alondro spoke gently, causing his godchild to look away.
Gary gritted his teeth. Somehow, that sixth sense his godfather's always manages to slip his mind… "What if I can't tell you?"
With Gary's 12th birthday fast approaching, Alondro didn't consider the whole pubescent secrecy starting this early. "It is me, peque. You can tell me."
Gary's nails dug into his palm. He can't tell his godfather that his flashbacks were getting worse. He can't tell his grandparents, either. The last time he did, it took six excruciating months to get discharged from the pediatric ward of the Dimmsdale Psychiatric Institute. That third admission was way worse than the first two. Heck, the first admission was how he got Alondro in the first place…
No way is he going back…
The dong of the doorbell cut the conversation short. Gary and Alondro turned to the elderly man drag his feet across the pine-green stripes of the hallway between the archway of the living room and the kitchen, and Alondro followed on his paws when Gary left to trail behind his grandfather. Peering from the archway into the sun-yellow walls and olive linoleum of the kitchen as Grandpa Vlad unlocked the multiple bolts to the front door.
"Oye, Timmy!" Grandpa Vlad greeted his youngest grandson standing on the front porch.
"Hi, Grandpa." there was mild sadness in the pink-hatted boy's greeting. He was glad to see his grandfather, just not under upsetting circumstances…
"Voydite, voydite!" Grandpa Vlad gestured for his grandson to come inside from the rain. While aware that this boy had sent his only granddaughter to an early grave, Vlad knew that such offense was nothing to harbor so much contempt over. Especially when another family member had committed treacherous acts towards their own blood worse by far…
Gary stepped further into the kitchen as Timmy stomped the welcome mat to clean water and dirt from his boots, propping his umbrella against the nearby wall. Pink and green wristbands peeked beneath the sleeve of the pink winter coat that Timmy shook excess water from, and their grandfather turned to approach his other grandson, a gentle yet firm hand to his shoulder.
"Do not close your door all the way, Vnuk." he reminded Gary.
"Yeah, I know…" Gary murmured, glum eyes to the floor.
Timmy raised a slight brow. Doesn't sound like a lotta privacy…
Grandpa Vlad left the two boys to themselves after fatherly pats to Gary's back, groaning as he stretched the knot in his lower back. Returning to his favorite recliner in the living room to watch the rest of the Channel 7 News broadcast.
The yellow retriever was next to greet the unexpected visitor, barking with his wagging tail. "Oooooh, I see." Timmy kneeled to scratch behind the retriever's ears. Smiling to the gold crown atop yellow fur. "This must be…?"
"He is." Gary confirmed, walking up.
A friendly tongue slobbered his cheek, managing to lick away a tinge of Timmy's gloom. "What's his name, again?"
Even Gary cracked a faint smile. "Alondro."
Alondro licked Timmy's cheek again, conjuring a quiet chuckle from the boy.
"I remember you said the green one was Cosmo…" Gary recalled. "Does the pink one have a name?"
"The pink one is Wanda." Wanda couldn't quite mask all of her cynicism.
"Hey, just askin'." Gary raised his shoulders. Cosmo hadn't spoken to him yet, and that could be for a number of reasons. But he couldn't understand why Wanda seemed so iffy with him.
"Wanda, it's okay." Timmy softly addressed his pink wristband, standing to his feet. "Gary's nice."
"Excuse my wife." the green wristband sounded weary. "It's been a rough morning..."
Reminding himself to ask for more details on that later, Gary wanted to address the elephant in the room first. "Thought the next time I'd see you, you'd come see me and my friends."
"Originally. But I wished myself here because…" Timmy stalled, taking timid steps from the yellow retriever to his cousin "…I needed to talk to you."
That didn't sound comforting. "What's up?"
"Can we go to your room?"
"Sure. Just speak at room level." Gary recommended. "Gramps can hear, but not as well as he claims."
"Gotcha."
Traveling out of the kitchen and down the hall, Timmy followed Gary to the first cedar-wood door to their left. Gary twisted the knob, and it felt like Timmy had stepped into a different world.
Pearl river painted the walls, one accent wall brush-stroked with a foggy forest landscape like those computer backgrounds. The accent wall was the headboard of the cedar twin bedframe, the same foggy forest printed onto a cotton duvet. One corner of the room stood a wooden replica of a forest tree where its trunk merged into the painted branches and leaves along that corner of the ceiling. There was a built-in cedar dresser within the sculptured trunk, and the sole window of the room was curtained with fake leaves dangling from mounted tree bark.
"Whoa…" Timmy's boots took awed steps along the artificial grass of the vast rug covering majority of the cedar hardwood flooring. Admiring the fairy lights long different sections of the ceiling.
"You like?" Gary left the door ajar to appease their grandfather. "Gramps and Gran went all out. Had this room already set up before they adopted me."
Giving the room an observatory spin, Timmy goggled to his cousin. "The heck they get the money for this?!"
"Yak in the Box?" Gary grinned, reminding of their grandparents' entrepreneurial restaurant. "It's surprisingly popular."
Timmy would've never guessed judging how small the whole one-story home looked from the outside. He watched the yellow retriever jump onto the bed to lay down, a soft pout in his lips. His parents would never…
"So whatcha wanna talk about?"
"Right…" Timmy went to take a seat near the edge of the printed duvet, making himself comfortable. Unzipping his jacket from feeling warmer than desired. "…first, I think you should know." he raised eyes to his cousin, pointing to the empty space on Gary's right. "Sophie's standing right next to you."
"Holy fu-" a sudden chill shivered goosebumps in Gary's skin, taken aback by the random drop in temperature. Mystified eyes shot back to his cousin. "What do you mean she's next to me!?"
"A while ago, I'd accidently wished to talk to Sophia again." Timmy kept his composure. He too was unable to see Sophia, yet he could feel her presence in the room. "Now, she follows me everywhere I go."
Sooooooo fairy magic can access spirits? That's…different. "…is…she saying anything right now?"
[Hiiiiiii, cousin!]
"What the snot!?" Gary jumped again at the surround sound in his head. And here he was thinking flashbacks made him crazy…
"I'd made another wish before I came here." Timmy revealed, staying calm. "She'd told me she missed you, so I'd wished that you can talk to Sophia too. Now, we can both hear her."
"Oh, great." Gary gave a sarcastic smile. "Now I have another reason for people to think I'm talking to myself..." Because having a fairy godparent didn't cause enough weird looks.
[Love you, Gary!]
Gary let out a sigh. He'd have to come to terms with this new normal thrusted upon him, but, perhaps, this could be a new normal for the better. There're just certain things he couldn't dare talk about with his grandparents…not even with his friends. Not even with Alondro. "…love you, too, Soph."
"That's not the only thing I wanted to tell you…" Timmy had only scratched the surface.
Seeing Timmy's solemn gaze made Gary rest uneasy hands to his hips. "Why do I get the feeling I got the good news before the bad…?"
Looking to Cosmo and Wanda for courage, Timmy licked his lips "…I see why you're only friends with other godkids."
Judging by his somber tone, this was really bad news "…something happen?"
"With my friend AJ, mostly…" Timmy deepened his frown. Skipping the gritty details, he summarized with "…I-I'd told them both something really personal and…what AJ said rubbed me the wrong way."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Gary empathized. "Are you still friends with them?"
"I talk to Chester on occasion…" Timmy paused darkly "…dunno about AJ."
"Must've been real bad…"
"…yeah."
"So…" Gary considered his next question. "I assume you made new friends? With other godkids?"
"…kind of." Timmy shrugged. "We're still figuring each other out."
"That's usually how it is." Gary spoke from experience. "Considering we have godparents for crappy reasons, trusting is difficult."
"…should I wait then?" Timmy's doubt probed. "To use the transporter and bring them to Fairy World?"
"I'd feel them out a little more before you make that decision." Gary advised. "You're always welcome to use it for yourself. And, um…" awkward fingers scratched behind his neck "…you're always welcome here, too."
After a couple of slow blinks, gratitude curled the corners of Timmy's lips. "Same. At my place, that is."
With a genuine smile for the first time that day, Gary accepted Timmy's mutual offer. "Deal."
AN: If any of you have heard of this other FOP reboot rumor, you may have recognized the name Hazel Wells. I just kinda sorta took her name and physical characteristics and created an OC.