afterglow

running late was always in meg’s repitoire. it didn’t matter what it was or where she was going, the grecian girl was always in a hurry.  this time, however, she was running late to pick up her boss’ new years order from a local bakery. “ HEY! “ she exclaimed as she almost barrelled right into another person’s chest. “ watch where you’re going. “ a scowl formed across her face as she skidded to a hault, trying to catch her balance.

it’s only a reflex for phineas to apologize, muttering “sorry” almost simultaneously with her exclamation. even though it’s not entirely his fault that he didn’t see her until it was already too late to move aside due to the crowd inside the shop. maybe not the best day for picking up a bunch of treats for his family’s little new years party. “what’s the hurry?” he asked, shifting the boxes in his arms so that they didn’t get dropped.

     Silvermist is far too soft-spoken to be good at shouting rules from her lifeguard post–and the whistle is so shrill she doesn’t use it unless absolutely necessary. When any regulation needs repeating, she does so calmly. “Please don’t run by the pool–wet floors are slippery and you could fall and get hurt! If you need to get somewhere quickly, you can try just walking a little bit faster.”

    Even though it’s a heated indoor pool, the place is almost deserted. Only a few other people have any desire to go swimming this time of year, and most of them were more of the water aerobics type. So when the lifeguard calls out from her post it isn’t difficult to figure out who she’s talking to. “I’m fine,” Webby called back with little more than a glance up at the lifeguard stand and continuing to race to the far end of the room until she reached the wall. Giving herself ample room for a running start. “See? I know what I’m doing.”

the  other  probably  has  more  important  things  to  do  than  help  him  and  ricky  can’t  help  but  feel  a  little  bad  -  at  least  at  east  high,  he  was  a  little  bit  see-through,  before  the  musical  thrust  him  into  the  sight  of  many  others.  he  was  fine  doing  whatever  he  wanted  ;  skating  with  red,  all  that  kind  of  thing.  but  even  in  walton  things  are  different  and  it  feels  like  there’s  a  spotlight  on  the  back  of  his  head.  "recently  -  i  had  it  then  i  think  someone  took  it.“  which  sucks,  'cause  that  was  expensive.

dodger raised an eyebrow at the suggestion that someone might have stolen it. sure, it was possible, but walton creek was surprisingly low on that sort of petty crime. he would know. but he certainly hadn’t taken it, and to the best of his knowledge none of his friends had either. a skateboard would probably be up tito’s alley, but he wouldn’t take anything from a kid. it's more likely that it just got misplaced. “well, where was the last place you had it? i’ll help ya’ look.”

                 nini gently sets her drink down, taking a seat right next to the stranger. you’d think after being here so much nini would have her own table.  ❝  thank you, i wish i knew it was this packed here today. would’ve probably gotten here earlier if that was the case.  ❞  nini releases a chuckle, taking small sips of her smoothie to ignore the awkward tension if there was any.  ❝  i don’t think i’ve seen you before either. i’m nini - you could say i’m new here? it’s nice to meet you, phineas. you have one awesome name by the way. are you a newcomer too?  ❞

there’s no casual way to disclose the fact that you’re royalty, so ben just offers a sheepish smile and says, “i was raised as a prince – i’m a little behind on my basic skills.” somehow, he imagined that would have sounded more normal than stating i’m the king of a kingdom far away from here but it seems he was mistaken. it still sounds very weird. “really? this town has been very…ordinary, in my experience.” and he’s thankful for it. “but i guess i’m not a very good judge of what’s ordinary, am i?”

                  days continued to be a bit lonely and gloomy - nini wasn’t exactly sure whether it was just because the weather here at walton creek was completely different than utah but.. she supposed this was her home now. technically, this so-called ‘holiday café’ nini has been going to for the past month is probably where she spends most of her time. a sigh escapes her lips as she picks her pink smoothie up, only to find no open seats anywhere.  ❝  um.. hi. do you mind if i sit next to you? i mean - only if that’s okay. i won’t be a bother, i promise.  ❞  this was just another situation where nini was embarrassing herself once again.

walton  creek  –  is  surely  something,  ricky  thinks.  it’s  not  like  salt  lake  city  ..  but  it’s  still  nice,  he  supposes.  there’s  almost  a  breath  of  relief  when  he  doesn’t  have  to  remember  lines  for  the  musical,  or  deal  with  his  parent  fall  out  (  part  of  him  is  still  in  denial  )  ;  it’s  a  nice  break  from  it  all.  instead,  he  does  what  he  does  best  -  skate.  or  ..  he  wishes  he  could  because  he  can’t  find  his  trusty  skateboard.  "hey  –“  he  says,  almost  shy,  but  determined.  y'seen  a  board  'round  here  ..  maybe  a  bit  longer  than  this?”  his  arms  spread  as  an  example,  though  he’  sure  it’s  not  much  help.

dodger raises an eyebrow as the boy tries ( and seems to struggle with ) describing what he’s looking for. he’s new — that much is obvious based solely on how lost the poor kid looks. and really, it’s that lost, confused vibe is what made him stop long enough to see what he was after in the first place. this town and the fact that he still hadn’t managed to find his people again were making him go too soft. “i know what a skateboard looks like,” he answers with a light wave of his hand. “you seen it since you been here? or you lose it more recently?”

All of Kim’s life, she’d been in on the action. She’d learned martial arts at a young age, she was captain of the cheerleading squad, she was always going on missions… the point was, Kim didn’t normally have a lot of free time. Was she adapting well? Not exactly. After she finished her homework, Kim ended up in a local part, choreographing a cheer routine. “Go Mad Dogs,” she said enthusiastically, wishing she were back in Middletown.

When someone walked by, Kim removed a headphone and offered the person a smile. “So, how much of that did you catch? Was it totally lame or decent? It’s a work in progress.”

The park was turning into one of Webby’s favorite places in town. It was one of the few places she couldn’t get kicked out of (for one reason or another) so it was where she naturally migrated whenever the nephews were busy or she otherwise had free time. She wasn’t quite sure what the girl on the other side of the park was doing, but it caught Webby’s attention enough for her to wander over and watch. “I was watching for a little while,” she admitted. “It depends on what you were doing. Was that dancing or taekwondo? Or something else? It kind of looked like a combination of both to me.”

Rapunzel found herself finally exploring town ad she wandered into the bookstore. A quiet chime rang over the door and she greeted the employee with a smile and a short conversation before making her way over toward the magazines. She wanted to see what this town was all about. Before she knew it, she had fifteen magazines strewn about her on the floor as she lay on her stomach to read one, flipping through casually. She never had magazines like these ones back in Corona, so it was nice to see the glossy photos and explore a new world. She barely heard the chime above the door as someone else entered the store. “Look Pascal,” she said to her chameleon friend who was sitting on her shoulder, “the people here aren’t so different after all! They just take lots more photos!”

barbie  laughed  at  the  young  girls  naivety.  "not  ghosts,  haunted  is  a  term  used  to  explain  that  someone  seems  scared  —-  and  when  you  say  stuck,  do  you  mean  stuck  in  the  tree?“  barbie  asked,  "i  can  help  you  if  you  would  like.”  stuck  also  has  many  meanings,  and  barbie  wanted  to  make  sure  both  her  and  the  girl  were  on  the  same  page.  "how  would  you  like  me  to  help?“

“had to? no. but besides that, i wasn’t exactly allowed, either.” the exception was school, sort of. at auradon prep, he still didn’t choose the meal options provided, but he at least got to decide which one he ate. ben’s idea of freedom of choice was slightly skewed. “i suppose that makes sense. oh, of course. so, the more crisp the apple, the better?” ben grabbed an apple that felt acceptably firm and placed it in a plastic bag. “i appreciate your help, i know…it must seem silly, assisting a grown adult with something so simple.” sure, he was entrusted to run a kingdom, but he couldn’t figure out how to grocery shop.

in auradon, ben never even had the opportunity to choose what he ate. he had input, sometimes, on what meals were prepared for him, but nobody in the royal family did their own grocery shopping. even when he helped his mother bake, all the fruit was collected by a servant. mal could probably help with this, but in her case, it was an extreme in the other direction. all she’d had to choose from growing up was rotten and less rotten fruits. “so…looks are important?” generally it’s something he doesn’t believe, but maybe in some cases, it holds true.

walton  creek  wasn’t  necessarily  all  that  interesting  ;  frankly,  benny  was  bored.  ethan  and  erica  were  here,  but  like  —-  they  don’t  like  mischief  as  much  as  rory  and  it’s  a  damn  shame  that  he  hadn’t  made  an  appearance  back  into  the  spellmasters  life.  he  could  surely  do  some  dumpster  fights  right  about  now.  the  only  person  who  seemed  to  be  on  the  right  idea  of  getting  into  trouble  was  maya,  but  she  had  her  own  things  going  on  that  it  didn’t  feel  right  dragging  her  into  his  messes.  so,  he’s  on  his  own.  nose  scrunches  up  at  the  kid  —  he’s  not  annoyed,  not  really,  but  it’s  fun  to  pick  on  kids  younger  than  him  –  an  eyebrow  raised.  "what  —  got  y'self  stuck?“

“just a little bit.” no use in trying to downplay, especially if she wanted to get down sometime in this century. and already, webby was getting triplet vibes from the boy looking back up at her. which under different circumstances would be more than welcome. not so much when she’s already annoyed at herself for getting into this mess in the first place. “it’s a long story,” she started, letting out a breath. “you don’t have a pocket knife or anything like that on you, do you?”

“thanks,” she says, just as quietly, her face reddening. she’s still not used to being around humans. for one thing, other fairies didn’t think much of each other’s abilities, even if those from different parts of pixie hollow could appreciate powers they didn’t have. “no, what?” peri asks with genuine curiosity, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “…really? my sister and i did the same thing! er, sort of. we made a snow machine when i came to visit her in the autumn forest.” her wings flutter of their own accord, as if remembering the time they almost broke.