wind in my hair

“huh? oh my face. Yeah, it’s uh. It’s a doozy isn’t it. I promise i’m fine. Really. You should see the other guy though. it ain’t pretty.”

seeing the male in front of her with blood on him shocked her to the point of being unable to speak right away, instead she just stared with wide eyes. suddenly she was taken back to that day when gothel shot flynn right in front of her and how the blood seeped through his clothes exceptionally fast. taking a deep breath and shutting her eyes for a moment she willed herself to be calm. “i’m truly worried about the other guy then. i can fix that for you if you want, get rid of the cuts and bruises. i’m sure it hurts.”

“twelve, no. Fifteen or around that age, yes. If you have a childish personality there’s a reason they’re giving you a kids menu.”

“..fifteen? i’m twenty-one, i’m of drinking age. not that i drink though, i have tried a shot of vodka once and it tasted like nail polish remover and i thought my insides were going to burn up. but vladimir gave me ten bucks for doing it and i used that money to buy a mcnugget meal so i guess it was worth it. i guess, but i don’t see how in the span of a few seconds they would have a feel for my personality. i know two specific people that should be getting children menus if we’re basing it off personality because those two bicker like five year olds with each other all the time! all i do is play the crane machine that’s usually at the front of the restaurants because i wanted the cute little puppy stuffed animal and somehow that qualified me to get a children’s menu. i didn’t even get the stuffed animal and apparently asking the manager to unlock the machine to get it for me and then i’ll pay for it isn’t allowed and somehow cheating. which makes no sense to me since i was willing to pay for it, it’s fifty sense to play that thing and i offered ten bucks. i thought that was a great deal. oh, but sometimes i don’t even make it to the table because they’ll kick me out because apparently walking around barefoot is unhygienic. can you believe that?” 

“I know the feeling.  I’m actually 25.”

“wow, are you really twenty-five? i’m twenty-one and you look even younger than i do. not to mention you don’t have any facial hair. maybe i should start going to restaurants with you, they’ll give you the kids menu instead of me. if you go after four kids eat free.”

“Maybe the waitresses are being nice. Do the menus have pictures to color? It is fun to color, even if you are not twelve!”

“it’s considered nice to give adults children menus? i mean i guess that’s a possibility. i’ve been locked away from the majority of my life so what do i know about social interactions. maybe it’s a compliment in some way. i do love to color, i always end up drawing my own pictures on the menus and since i bring my art supplies everywhere i go i do some pretty amazing pictures if i say so myself.”

“Uh… no. I haven’t.” At the girl’s offer, Delaney cautiously took a seat, her panic less outright. She paused a moment before allowing her curiousity to get the best of her and asking, “why weren’t you allowed to cut your hair? Seems… I dunno. Weird.”

grabbing a comb and a cup of ice reagan returned within a minute, “okay this won’t hurt a bit, i swear.” she separated the section of hair with the gum stuck in it before holding a cube of ice onto the gum. it was still difficult for reagan to talk about her life with gothel, the woman was locked up in another country and yet she still felt her presence heavily every day. she can’t even sleep without having nightmares about her. “back then i didn’t think it was weird, the woman i lived with always talked about how lovely my hair was. she always said it was the greatest thing about me. i’m pretty sure it was my hair she loved and not actually me.” she took the ice off and began combing out the gum, the substance easily sliding off. trying to the change the subject she put on a happy tone, “but the woman was totally off her rocker if you know what i mean, so i try not to think about it too much.” reagan held out her palm with the gum in it, showing it to delaney, “see, didn’t hurt a bit.” 

“Well how would I know if you have a childish personality I barely know you”

“exactly, that’s also a good point, some of them don’t know me and give me children menus. ..but then there’s also people who do know me because i go to the restaurant a lot and they still insist on me getting a kid’s menu. i’m starting to think it’s a little joke they keep pulling on me.” 

“Honestly, you should milk it for all it’s worth.  Kids’ menus have things to do, the food is cheaper and honestly better too, because mac and cheese and chicken tenders, what more do you need for a night out?  Besides, you’re a beautiful girl and you shouldn’t take that as an insult or saying that you’re not, and there’s nothing wrong with being a child at heart.”

“while all of that is true, it’s frustrating to have been treated like a child my entire life, then finally thinking i was free of all that to just come here and still be treated like a child. my night’s out haven’t been so fun lately, now that i think about they’ve been pretty boring. oh, thank you! that’s really nice, i think you’re a beautiful man. no there isn’t, but i think some of the people around me might think otherwise.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ve been trying to get this gum out of my hair for, like, an hour, and I’m kinda freaking out! How are you supposed to deal with this gunk?

“have you tried ice yet? that’s the easiest way i know to get gum out of hair. when i was little i used to get gum in my hair all the time and i wasn’t allowed to cut any of my hair, so i had to figure out a lot of ways to get it out. if you sit down i’ll take it out for you.”

“BREATHE,” daphne advised, knowing how absolutely disgusted she’d be if the roles were reversed. finally, she found a to-go packet of tissues and travel-sized bottle of sanitizer. “and everyone makes fun of me for carrying around a large purse.” yet it usually came to save the day when trouble arose. “that’s a good way of looking at it. you know how people always say it’s good luck if a bird poops on you? this is probably, like the same thing.” she gingerly handed over the supplies, not exactly trying to wipe the mess off herself. she was nice, but not that nice. “but i can help you find a really cute pair of shoes if you want to, you know, prevent this from happening again.” any excuse to go shoe shopping was good enough for daphne.

taking a deep breath reagan softly exhaled and said to herself, “i am calm.” hoping that saying it aloud would make her think she actually was and not grossed out by what was underneath her. she let out an uncertain laugh, “even though this isn’t the first time something like this has happened, it’s still very disgusting. i’m gonna have to practically boil my foot when i get home.” the blonde nearly hugged the other girl in her excitement, but held back the urge considering her predicament. “thank you thank you!” taking the packet of tissues and sanitizer she hopped to a nearby bench and started cleaning herself off all while trying not to gag. 

Dressed in black from head to toe – an odd look for a positive artist who loved color to sport, but a usual one – Pascal was walking, admiring everything that she spotted. The differences between America and Germany were still striking to her, or at least the differences from her old home and her new home. There was so much to see, so much to do, and she was the deciding factor. Not her parents. Not her teachers. It was truly her life to live now, and that was something she refused to take for granted. Every single day when she woke up to realize that she was truly in Monsanto, and this wasn’t all just a long, beautiful dream, she thanked her lucky stars. She was thinking all of that over now, though her concentration was broken by Reagan’s familiar voice. “Only if it is unicorn poop,” she told her, squinting down at the colorful mess underneath the girl’s foot. “I think it is ice cream.” She offered the girl a smile, though her nose was still scrunched up at the idea of stepping barefoot in someone else’s food.

unicorn poop? with her eyes opened again she looked down and lifted her foot up, relieved it was ice cream. “oh good! i’ll take stepping in ice cream over actual poop any day.” hopping on one foot she moved to the side near a building and leaned on it as she grabbed hand wipes from her bag. she made sure to wipe her foot well before putting it back down and tossing out the wipe. “believe it or not i’m kinda in the mood for ice cream now if you want to come get some with me. i don’t think i’ll be getting the rainbow one though.”

DAPHNE WOULD MUCH RATHER SPEND her days out than being cooped up in the headquarters. today, like many days, she was shopping, or at least window shopping because her funds were not incredibly high. ghost hunting was not a very lucrative as a business; good thing she wasn’t in it for the money. as she walked to the next store of interest, her attention was grabbed by a blonde. daphne grimaced as she peered down at the girl’s foot. “uh–i don’t think you want me to answer that.” she put down her shopping bag to dig through her purse. “i think i have some tissues and hand sanitizer you can use, though.” it always paid off to be prepared.

Vitani was impressed. She couldn’t stop it from showing on her face, eyebrows lifted slightly as Reagan named off all surrounding living things. Still, she was pretty sure she sensed an unnerved emotion, for deeper reason than the ‘cryptic advice’ she’d just given her. “Never made anyone mad before?” She asked, one eyebrow still quirked as she tried to study her. “Never cut in line or bumped into a stranger? Never roll your eyes at a smiling stranger? You never know how little it might take for someone to snap.”

the blonde was used to people giving her those impressed looks after she proved them wrong when they underestimated her and she never grew tired of it. she enjoys showing people she isn’t so helpless after all. the proud smile she wore on her face began to fall as she stuttered over the first few words. “i mean yeah but, it’s fine she’s in prison. i can’t think of anyone else who would be mad enough at me to come after me. have you ever made anyone mad and they came after you?” nervously, she began playing with her hair. “i would never cut a line and never roll my eyes when someone smiles at me! but..there was one time i bumped into someone while walking, but i apologized and she didn’t seem angry. that would be a silly thing to come after someone. right? right!?” a suspicious expression came upon her face as she looked at vitani, “wait a minute, do you know something, is someone after me and you’re here to warn me? that psychic did tell me my traumatic past will come back to haunt me once more.”