slam on the breaks

“I get to work with animals! And I tend to get along better with them than humans.”

“I don’t like to pick favorites, but... Chestnut the Otter! Sweet Pea the Manatee! And Nemo the Clown Fish.”

“The best day would to camp out in a fancy movie room, that’s not a movie theater, surrounded by blankets and pillows, and just watch movies all day. Or a beach day. I love a good beach day.”

“I mean, I probably said the normal kid stuff like fire-fighter and astronaut, but after all of that I always wanted to be a zookeeper! And now I am!”

     “I’m really torn between the witch or the devil.” Yes, she was buying matching costumes for herself, and her cat. Clearly she didn’t think it was weird by the way she was holding up a witches at and then the horns. Swapping them back and forth as if that would help her make the decision quicker. “Oh! If we do witches I can give duckie the little hat, and a cape and i can have the broomstick and maybe like a spellbook or something. But If we do the devil I can have the horns and a cape, and he can little bat wings and a cape. Either way he’s getting a cape so it’s a win win honestly.”

 “Considering a cape and whatever else you put on your cat is probably going to last just a few moments before he rips it off... I think you should do with your gut and whatever you’d like to wear.” Gavin offered with a wave of his hand. ‘Come shopping with me’ she said. ‘It’ll be fun I promise’ she said. It had been fun five hours ago. Now, Gavin was tired and drained of energy. “Bat wings would be cute.”

“This is the first time I’ve lived somewhere that isn’t haunted and I think I hate it. It was like having a roommate that didn’t eat my food or use my stuff.”

“You... like to live places that are haunted?” Gavin asked curiously. He was a scaredy cat, and while he didn’t really believe in ghosts, he’d hate to live in someplace haunted. “Where they friendly like Casper? Or Poltergeist scary?” 

“I didn’t either.” Harley sighed. He didn’t mind the rain, he enjoyed the smell and even the vibrations of a good thunderstorm. But he didn’t like the idea of being trapped under the pavilion for who knew how long. “I’d ask how long your bike ride home is, but it doesn’t really matter when it’s raining this hard….I like the rain, but the tech on my head,” he pointed to his cochlear implant. “Isn’t waterproof and I don’t have anywhere to put it where it’ll stay dry.”

“Right? When it’s this heavy - You walk out for a second and you’re soaked.” Gavin sighed deciding with all the electronics in his backpack, it wasn’t worth it either. He kicked his bike’s stand into place and made himself comfortable, sitting criss-cross on the top of the picnic table. “Ah, makes sense,” Gavin nodded when Harley pointed out his cochlear implant. “Well, I’ll keep you company. Until the rain goes away at least.”

“Holy shit, how did that happen?” No way had they only scheduled one person, did everyone else have cooties or something? He chuckled as the other mentioned a fight in the produce section. “Damn, and I missed that? Sounds like it could have been the highlight of my day. Did you see it?” He asked curiously.

Gavin shrugged not really sure what went wrong at this super market. All he needed was a few items and now his whole afternoon was being spent at the grocery store. “I walked up to grab an avocado when the first punch was thrown. I, uh, moonwalked away. Basically.”

“They are cool! I’m sure you’d appreciate them. They have a band and everything, but I didn’t bring a fake guitar because I always loose stuff.”  

“You can’t? Is that why your punch works so well? Are you like, naturally that way or is it about the punch too?”

“Oh, gotcha! You could have gotten one of those inflatable guitars? That way it’s not a big deal if you lose it? I guess?” Gavin shrugged, not even sure if it was a good suggestion. “Oh, fairies are naturally this way. I think that’s why we spiked the punch so everyone had to tell their truths tonight.”

It was Sunday afternoon and the sun was shining on this unusually warm October afternoon. Now that midterms were over, Harley had every intention of taking advantage of what could easily have been the last warm day of 2020. So he had found himself on a walk. Very suddenly, the blue sky turned to dark grey….this was what Harley got for not checking the weather before he left. Thankfully, Harley could see a pavilion in the distance and ran to hide under that, the rain starting only a moment later. It was really coming down! He glanced behind him, startling a little when he realized someone else was in the pavilion with him. “This storm came out of nowhere!”

Gavin clutched the handle bars of his bike and nodded. This was one of the times he wished he had a car, and was capable of driving one. The winter months were always rough in Michigan. “I didn’t even grab an umbrella when I left home. I’m regretting it now.” Gavin looked out at the sky and it didn’t look like this would be clearing up anytime soon. “I’m trying to decide if I should just go for it.”

Chandler almost always used the self-checkout at grocery stores. Despite his enjoyment of parties and hanging out with people, he wasn’t naturally a social creature, and he hated small talk with cashiers. However, this particular store was locally owned and didn’t have any machines he could deal with place of an employee. And he had apparently chosen a very popular time to shop, as the lines had all merged into one, snaking down into the nearby deli section of the store. “Holy shit, is this really the end of the line?” He asked the person in front of him.

Gavin, who opted to not grab a basket since he was only supposed to grab a few things and was already regretting that decision, turned to Chandler and nodded. “They just have the one cashier. There was also a little fight in the fruit aisle, so the manager is dealing with that. It’s been a very eventful grocery store run so far.”

“They appear in a few of the movies, and they are amazing. They are a girl band and they have vampire fangs and you’ll know more in our watch party.” Nic wondered wondered if their threat was disproportionate, before shrugging the thought away. Being a vampire was great. “I won’t, Gavin. Not if it bothers you so much. The Hex Girls wouldn’t like it.” 

“They sound cool,” Gavin nodded, not minding the idea of a watch party at all. Even if he wasn’t usually the biggest fan of vampires. “Well, I appreciate that Nic. I honestly think it would ruin the movie night. But I seriously want to leave about these Hex Girls and see what makes them so special. I promise. You know fairies can’t lie!” 

As he shook his head no, Sophia had to wonder if there was a certain human on his mind but quickly erased those thoughts. She bit her lip slightly as he went on about not being comfortable enough to move out yet. Part of her wondering if she should bring up the one truth that she had probably kept from him. And the fairy part of her really did want to bring it up but she restrained that part for now. “I get it change can be a big scary thing. But you know the past few months you’ve probably done a lot of things that you thought you wouldn’t..” she left it at that not wanting to add on that he probably also did a bunch of stuff he didn’t want to as well. “Grey relax. We don’t have to go. It’s not compulsory.”  

“You’re not wrong...” Gavin admitted, almost reluctantly. But she was right. He’d done a lot of things the past couple of months that he never thought he’d do. He went to a ball, left Vesta, went on a date, and talked more than he had in years. His aunt seemed to finally have her own life and now he was having to move back and disrupt it again. “Sorry, you know how I freak myself out, Soph.” He sighed, his wings fluttering quickly. “At least we have tonight.”

“What, when you offered me water? I don’t know about you, but that’s a rather weak attempt in my book,” Lysa shook her head, pouring the contents of her cup on the ground before crumpling it up in her hand. She’d had two sips, which was quickly proving to be two too many, as she felt the drink take effect again. “No, but I’m willing to reconsider if you blab. Now, how long does this thing last?” 

“And when the vampires have their party, how forthcoming with you be with your tricks?” Gavin asked knowing his attempt was weak, but it was more than most people would do. Gavin shrugged and motioned to the punch. “I believe it lasts the rest of the night. Again, I didn’t make the punch. I don’t know how strong or weak it is.”

Lysa was about to lie and say no, blame it all on missed breakfast before laughing it off as a joke, but found herself nodding instead. Telling the truth. Again. Looking down at her cup, she could feel the furrow between her brows deepening, just as the realization settled in. “Seriously?” She asked, her gaze settling back on the fairy. “You know I have to kill you now, right?” It was a joke. Probably. 

“I tried to warn you,” Gavin defended himself, taking a few steps back and putting his arms up in surrender. He couldn’t tell her outright what was wrong with the punch, but he had offered her water. “You won’t actually kill me right...?”

“I would prefer to be drunk.” she answered honestly, amending, “But water is a better choice and my wanting to be drunk is probably a manifestation of my constant desire to avoid what is best for me.”

She pressed her lips together, then, unsure as to why the rest of the words came out when she could have only said ‘yes’ and moved on. Staring at the man for a moment, she couldn’t help but notice he had beautiful eyes. 

“Your face is really handsome.” she almost breathed, again confused as to why she would want to tell him that. “I am very confused right now. Do you know why I …” she drifted off, hand going to her hair as she tried to think of an explanation before answering for herself, “Dammit, the fairies spiked the punch, didn’t they?”

“Well...” Gavin trailed off, unsure what to say since it seemed like the punch was already kicking into gear. “It sounds like you could use some water, even if you’d rather not do what’s best for you,” he remarked, quickly fluttering away and coming back with a glass of water. 

He handed over the glass of water as she complimented his face. The tips of his ears became hot and red, and he smiled bashfully at his own glass of water, really unsure how to reply now. “Spiked? Not with alcohol,” he remarked with a somewhat sly grin. Well, sly for Gavin. “There may be some fairy magic sprinkled in there.”