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Pieces of 8: Bones of the North

Dead Cruiser said
I've just got my Air Force physical evaluation tomorrow. I guess this is the part when I shove you guys into lockers.

My roommate had hers last night and we had to cancel wasted Wednesdays. =| I have mixed feelings.

Pieces of 8: Bones of the North

fantasyfan28 said
@Dot I used google myself so I could make sure that it was authentic. I know that sounds a little absurd considering the content matter but I enjoyed it.I will save you time for future posts, I will always try and make sure that the creatures I use/mention are true to form lol.

Nah, don't worry about it. I only asked 'cause it's also my name, and I feel like I need to confront my mother.

Animorphs RP

Wow, that is a loooot longer than I thought it'd be. Sorry, guys. O_O

Animorphs RP

What's your name?
Are all the questions gonna be like this? Because of they're all gonna be like this, this is gonna take, like, what, two, three minutes? Right? You think? I mean, maybe more, because sometimes, I get a little off track, my mom says I think like spaghetti or yarn, and one thing just leads into another, so if you ask a super easy question -- like about my name -- I could go off on a tangent for days, but I think it's a talent, because it means I'm never out of things to talk about, which I guess could be bad if you're shy, or if you have to pee real bad, or --

What? Do you have to pee?

...oh. Right. Yeah. My name. It's Maxine. Maxine Jada Jackson, but that's a stupid name. Way too many letters. And syllables. There is no reason for a four-letter work like 'Jada' to have two syllables. 'Book' isn't two syllables. 'Isn't' is, but that's just 'cause it's a contraction, so it's pretty much two words, like --

Right. Right. My name.

Call me Max.

How old are you?
All the questions are gonna be this easy! Awesome. So, I need to go, then, and call the boys, because I told them I wouldn't be able to take them to see that new Lego movie, because I had this thing, but if all the --

Oops.

Sixteen. Well. Almost. Fifteen years, eight months, and two weeks. Not that anyone's counting. That was a joke, I'm counting because I can get my license in fourteen weeks! Fourteen! This is gonna be the best summer ever.

What do you look like?
What do I...but you're looking right at me. Can...oh my gosh, can you not see me? I am so sorry, I didn't know. No, it's totally okay, Mom says Aunt Susan was legally blind, and I was always with her....but I also used to leave lots of stuff out on accident, and she kinda fell down sometimes...But I won't leave anything for you to trip on! I was really little at the time, like...fourteen. Now, I'm practically a grown-up. Did I mention I'm getting my license soon?

Right. What do I look like. Okay.

Umm...nothing much, I guess? I dunno. I used to get made fun of kind of a lot for how I look. I don't really mind, though. I figure there could be a whole bunch of things wrong with me, and how I look is one I can't change, so why worry about it, y'know?

I'm...pretty short, but it works out alright. I do a lot of gymnastics, and all those girls who go to the Olympics are tiny, y'know? I have a whole bunch of hair. It's brown, and super curly. Hazel eyes...um...oh. The freckles. I have a lot of freckles. Like, a whole lot.

See?

Do you have any hobbies?
Yeah, I just said! My favorite thing is probably gymnastics. Mom put me in what I was just two, 'cause she said otherwise, I ran around the house and got into things and it bugged my dad a bunch. She said she saw my climb out of my crib one day all by myself, and that's when she knew.

So, I've been doing that a long time now, and my teacher said I have a pretty good chance of doing the Olympics in a couple years...if I stop getting distracted during practice. Oops.

Aside from that? Um...well, I teach gymnastics and tumbling at my gym. That way, I can get my lessons for free, and then I get paid half time, too, and I always go shopping with the boys then.

OH! My little brothers, I love them pretty much more than anything. Their names are Jack and Cody, and they're twins. They turn five two days after Christmas. Can you believe it? They were pretty much just born yesterday, but they're HUGE, and they're way louder than I am, I don't know what my mom is talking about...

Any dislikes?
Dislikes? Um...well...no. I try not to dislike things, that seems judgy. My Gramma -- my mom's mom -- she used to say not liking something was only ever evidence of not being able to empathize. I know empathy's not a hobby, but it's important, I'm pretty good at it. I think.

So...I guess I don't like when people are mean, or don't give other people a chance. But I don't avoid them, or anything. I think, lotsa times, when people are mean, it's just 'cause nobody ever showed them how to be nice. And that makes me sad.

So...no, then?

Oh wait! I don't like sitting still. Being patient is basically the hardest thing in the world, y'know? Like, who ever invented lines? I don't wanna hate that person, 'cause that's mean, but I really wish they just...hadn't.

Oh. I guess I don't really like super small spaces, either. I have nothing against them, or anything. I just don't like to be in them. It makes me feel like I can't breathe. Y'know?

Tell me, what are your goals for the future? Both immediate and long-term.
Oh, yeah! Well, first, like I said, I wanna go to the Olympics! But I only wanna go if I know my mom and brothers can come, so...maybe after high school and before college? If I can afford college. I know I'm s'posed be saving up, but I'm really bad at hanging on to money. Or most things. I used to have this really pretty bracelet from my other grandma, my dad's mom, but I lost it. It was really nice, too. Oh, well.

So, um...the Olympics. Oh, but high school, first. And then...I dunno, I know Mom really wants me to go to school, but school is a whole lot of sitting still, and I hate that. I'd way rather keep doing gymnastics. If I could find some way to do that and get money to help mom pay for the groceries and the mortgage and all the other boring grown-up stuff, it'd be so cool!

So, if you have any ideas, I wanna hear 'em, 'kay?

What's your home life like? Specifically, what is your relationship like with your parents?
It's amazing! Let's see, we have this really great new apartment on the edge of town, with three bedrooms...well, okay, that's not true. It's just two bedrooms, but I helped Mom convert the living room into this little space with a divider, so I kind of have my own room at night! We have to take down the wall during the day, otherwise, the boys might knock it over, but with school and babysitting and gymnastics, I'm only there at night, anyway. And it's way better than when we used to live in the city with my dad.

I love my mom. She's pretty much my best friend, only she's way prettier. People never think she's my mom, only my sister. She's an RN at the hospital in the city, and she's everyone's favorite. She always gets all these great gifts from her patients. All the kids in pediatrics want her to give them shots, and all the old folks in...old folks hospital...OH! Geriatrics, that's what it's called -- they all like her. Sometimes, they ask to set her up with their sons, but Mom just says no, she has two crazy boys in her life already.

She's also pretty fun.

...what? Why?

I told you about my mom. That's who I live with. That's my home life. Why should we have to talk about my dad?

...fine. Whatever. He's a lawyer. He works downtown. His name is Peter. That's it. Okay?

Siblings?
My baby brothers are pretty much the best ever. I guess they're not even babies anymore, huh? They're a huge handful, but I love them more than basically anything, and if anyone ever tries to hurt them, then I guess, I get a little mean.

I guess that's another thing I dislike. I try really hard to be nice to everyone, but when someone tries to hurt my family or my friends, I just...I can't anymore.

You wanna know something really bad?

I don't even feel bad about it afterward.

What's your favorite animal, and why?
Oh! I know! This one's easy. It's the otter. Because they're all fast and little and cute and always moving and swimming, and it's awesome. Did you know they hold hands for life? Or...wait, maybe they mate for life. Or maybe...maybe they break shells on their bellies for life? Well, they definitely do something. Maybe just not for life. That's a really long time. I think. I dunno. How long do otters live?

I also really like killer whales and bunnies and zebras and capybaras -- those are like giant guinea pigs, have you seen them? I saw one on the Discovery Channel the other day, it was like the size of Jack, if Jack was even bigger than he is now. I wonder what they eat?

I bet a capybara would kill for a red Otter Pop.

Oh! Hey! Otters. I like otters.

Favorite color?
Easy. Red! Like hearts. Or fire! Or hearts on fire. But not like bad, like heart burn. Like heart-love. Like when you're in love, and it feels like your heart's on fire. That's a thing, right?

No, no, no! Wait! Blue. Like...like the ocean, 'cause it goes on forever, and covers 73% of your body. No...wait...that's not right. It's cover 73% of the earth, and your body is made up of...water. Lots of it. Maybe not 73%. Definitely less than 100% and more than 6%. And the earth is somewhere in there, too.

Or...orange! More fire! And carrots!

No, no, no, no, no, wait, I forgot purple! I love purple! Did you know it's the color of loyalty? Or...wait...royalty...Um...Definitely one of those....

You wake up late one night to discover that your house is burning down. What do you do?
What?!? I don't know! Why would you plan for these things? Why would you plan for anything, nothing like that ever goes according to plan, especially if you're half asleep! How can I say what I do now???

I...if I had to guess, I'd go to my brothers first. I'd get them out, even if I had to carry them both on my back, and they're getting pretty big. We live in an apartment, and we know the family next door pretty well, so maybe...maybe give them to him? And then go make sure my mom gets out, and then probably get the fire extinguisher, I think we have one of those...but I don't know how to use it. You just squirt, right? Like a spray bottle? I mean, how hard could it be to figure out, they have to make it usable in emergencies, and I know you don't just throw the whole thing at the fire, so --

...wait. You don't. Right?

Finally, a tricky one; which came first, the chicken or the egg?
...what? Are we done yet? I wanna go outside. There's a squirrel out there!

Oh! A squirrel. A squirrel is my favorite animal. They're so nutty.

...get it?

I saw that on the inside of a Bazooka Bubblegum wrapper once.

Pink! Pink is my favorite color for sure this time. Except green. I like green. Do you like green? There are so many different types of green, like 'kelly', what even is that? Isn't it a name? I mean, why don't we just name everything...

Pieces of 8: Bones of the North

Aaaand done.

DC -- You're really better off getting something from Heroes or Lil, but if they can't, I'll make you one...soon.

Whiiiich reminds me, mine is not up. Hang on, edits, part deux.

Pieces of 8: Bones of the North

She knew from experience, research, and a fair amount of Internet forum gossip people tended to think Reapers could not die.

It would have been nice if they were right, but Daisy was getting more than a little tired of this River-Styx-in-Champagne-Rose-Number-42 gig, and she knew it was better they weren’t.

She’d moved to Boston six months ago. Two months after leaving Florida, five months after…Max. That’s what she called it now, the whole two days of hell she just shortened into Max, because anyone who knew what she was talking about didn’t want or need to hear anymore than that, and anyone who didn’t didn’t deserve to.

Except WolfGirl. Veti fell into her own category there. Daisy didn’t know what to call it, and didn’t really want to.

It bothered her sometimes, a lot of time, actually, that she, a Reaper, couldn’t say the word ‘died’. Charades could only get you so far when half your day job was saying, “Sorry, dude, you – “ and then frantically gesturing all manner of passings. Though the few customers who’d also been victims of more explicit deaths sort of tended to have it coming, pun very much intended.

She’d received Atticus’s letter halfway down Bourbon Street in New Orleans, where she’d been pretty much since the moment Veti had vanished again. She’d tried spending those days when the werewolf was having her time of the month cramped in that awful little Bostonian apartment, but as it turned out, Daisy and Tiny Vamp didn’t even pretend to get along without Veti. They didn’t fight, really. They didn’t anything. But their truce was only really functioning when Veti was around to benefit.

If you could call it that.

She couldn’t. She didn’t think Tiny Vamp could either. Even Artie tried, though admittedly, any time he was praised for playing with endless chew toys, sleeping in people beds, and stealing scraps from the table, he thought he was doing alright. So, Daisy wasn’t sure that counted. But she could imagine Veti tipping just a little further away from that abyss she knew all too well every time he sauntered up to her as a Lab, or Shepherd, or Poodledoo or whatever the hell dog breeds they were getting away with these days.

Daisy had stood in the side alley, smelling like beignets, looking like a 20-something college kid instead of a pink-haired Reaper, holding the little spherical letter, knowing what it was before she opened, deciding what she owed Atticus, if anything.

She should never have agreed to kill him.

They could tell her, all of them – Veti, Atticus, Henry, Siya, even that old guy whose name she’d never bothered learning – that it wasn’t her fault, and objectively, they’d be right. She’d gotten Max to his destination, and left Artie with him, so he could come back. And she’d thought it would be okay. He was supposed to be able to, she was going to figure something out, she really was – because she’d seen Veti’s face when they relayed the order to kill Max. And she’d argued. Because it was a stupid fucking idea, and she wasn’t allowed, and even though Max had thrown her under the figurative bus the night before, she didn’t hate him. Not enough to kill him. Not enough to hurt Veti. She liked Veti. And Daisy didn’t like anyone.

But she’d been stupid. Proud, maybe. Riding a high off prior events. After all, it had worked once before. Getting the others back from Evil Fox Island. She’d “killed” Abacus, Henry, Max, and Old Guy, and brought them all back, and she was feeling pretty fucking decent about it, too.

But she couldn’t do it again. Maybe it was time. Maybe it was Decima. Maybe it was fucking Maybelline, the point was Max had died. Right in front of her. Like it was her job. Like he was on her list.

And he was. Because she’d put him there.

Veti could say she didn’t hate Daisy for it. But Daisy sort of thought it would be better if she did. Then at least she’d have something holding her here, on this side.

She wanted to tell Veti it wouldn’t be like she thought. Max was gone, way past the Gates, way past anywhere Daisy could get to. It wouln’t be like finding him in a crowded mall. It’d be like looking for a wisp of smoke in the middle of a thunderstorm on the ocean, and there was no moon and no stars and no way back to find a breath.

And also you were, like, really fucking blind.

But Daisy never said anything. Because if hate wasn’t holding Veti on this side, then hope was. And if she knew the truth, there wouldn't be anything left at all.

--

Daisy took the fastest route to Ireland she knew.

Well. Second fastest. The fastest way she knew wouldn’t land her in a Vampire Sex Rave. She’d had enough of those to last a lifetime.

They were easy to find, the lot of them. And make no mistake, there were a lot of them. She probably should have guessed this group would throw a massive fucking wrench in the works from the moment she’d opened Abacus’s letter. That was just sort of what B&H did. He called them “an investigation and recovery company.”

No. They were a fucking wrench-throwing company.

She could pick them out from the ones she knew she’d hate right off the bat. There were even more that last time, even without the fae and immortals, though not a single GodBird among them, so hooray fucking small mercies.

One of them reeked of Death, even moreso than she, and not in a good way. This wasn’t Death in suspension, this was death, lower case ‘d’, far past its prime. Died, rotted, fermented, then circled back around again to something admittedly very nice to look at, but ultimately nothing she wanted to have anything at all to do with.

*He’s a Mummy,* Artie rumbled at her shoulder, sounding equal parts bored and intrigued. Somehow.

“He’s an asshole,” muttered Daisy. “But he’s an attractive one.”

Wrench-Thrower number one, then.

Her eyes circled around the group, lighting only briefly on the smaller wrenches. Too many goddamn fae this time around, and if none of them were going to look like the Siren, then what was the point? A girl she couldn’t recognize from –

"Fuck."

Artie didn’t have to tell her what the next…thing was. She pulled up short, half thinking of turning around before they even saw her, and might have, if she hadn’t sensed Veti here. The only reason she was here, as far as anyone, Artie included, was concerned.

Still. She’d let her uncommonly kind and chaste soul get the best of her once and it had nearly cost her whatever remained of her life. This wasn’t a wrench. This was a sixteen-part Swiss Army knife with a Phillips head strapped to it and a live bomb strapped to that.

Artie sniffed experimentally and growled at the black pillar of smoke the Wight represented on Daisy’s side of Death.

“Great. This'll be super fun. Mummies. Wights. Why not bring in the Big Guy himself, we'll have some fucking brunch.”

That was Bain & Hoyle for you. Gorgeous men. Completely disregard for rules, order, and respect. And practically no brunches whatsoever.

She drew the exit second portal up from the water at her feet and stepped through back into life, keeping her eyes on the Wight as she did. The group was even larger from this end. She smiled briefly at Henry, gave Siya a neutral half glance, and casually ignored Atticus.

Last of all her eyes passed as briefly as she could manage over Veti, lurking far off in her corner. She suspected the werewolf did not want to be made known yet, and so made her glance short.

Yeah, that was why. Not because she was a fucking coward.

Veti tried hard, she knew, to keep up appearances, and Daisy had to commend her for that. Siya would know the wolf was crumbling. And Max, of course, if he were here. But then of course, it would be a different night, and a different group, and Daisy might not be here at all.

If she hadn’t been a Reaper, she might never have caught on to Veti's acute distress.

People were wrong about that part, too. Reapers dealt in Death.

But the dead and the dying were not so mutually exclusive as some seemed to believe.

Pieces of 8: Bones of the North

Aaaaand ninja'd. Twice.

Editing post, then posting FOR REAL. SO CLOSE, YOU GUYS.

Pieces of 8: Bones of the North

These are all lovely. Home from a trip with a friend (not to make it sound mature, we went to see the Lego Movie, and it was AMAZING), and preparing to finish up my post now. =)

@fantasyfan -- I had to Google/Wiki your post. I did not know an 'Aziza' was a thing.

Pieces of 8: Bones of the North

It is. And I'm only about a third of the way done

@Grainsy -- Please stay well. And eat...ed. Eat...erized? Eat...Just don't die.

EDIT: Totally forgot to finish that sentence.

I *meant* to say Max'll factor into my post as well. I'm sure to offer a bit more clarity. Or not.

Pieces of 8: Bones of the North

Hello! You are FAR too hard on yourself, Grainsy. And I am doing well! Currently doing a little cleaning, a lot of reading IC posts (again...you people are intimidating incredible, and a fair amount of psyching myself up for bandage changes. Obviously, with showtunes on in the background, because I can do nothing without singing about it dramatically.

And yourself? I feel like I've already missed the day's greetings, but I hope everyone is doing well anyway. =D