I WANNA BE WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE

Eric had started on his meal quickly, as he was quite hungry from the work he’d done earlier that day. However, he saw that Ariel hadn’t started eating yet, and even more, she said she wasn’t feeling well. Eric put his fork on his plate, and his face got a concerned look.

“This isn’t the first time, is it?” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Do you wanna go to bed, maybe?”

Ariel’s not feeling well hadn’t gone unnoticed by Eric. In fact, she had been irritable the last few days. However, this didn’t make Eric angry or anything, just concerned about Ariel’s health and stuff.

  Glancing down at her plate, she was filled with guilt for worrying her husband.   He was a prince and a busy man, he shouldn’t have been concerned by something   trifling like her being ill. Surely it was just a bug that would pass in a few days and   then they could go back to enjoying their meals, or at least she could. 

     “No, I’m afraid not. The last few days have been,” she made a movement with       her hand, circling it around in the air. “No, no, it will pass. I feel TERRIBLE that       I haven’t spent much time with you these past few days.” 

  One hand came up to cover Eric’s, a small smile on her face to reassure him.   There was always time for sleep but spending time with her husband was her   favourite past time. She gently laced her fingers with his and brought his hand   to her lips, kissing his fingers. 

 ❝ How lovely. Anything nautical would be.. Up top over here. Not many       people looking for nautical things anymore, so some are pretty dusty.. ❞

           Thomas climbed a ladder to get to the top of the bookshelf. There were only so many sea shanties about death. Not that he cared, much. Plucking a few he thought she might like from the shelf, he slid back down and placed them on a table next to them.

 ❝ There are quite a few more up there, but these.. well, they’re a few       of my favourites. One of them’s about a crew trying to survive a real       terrible storm.. Cliche, I know, but damn good. ..I’m Thomas, by the       way if you need any more assistance. ❞

       “What a shame, nautical is an interesting topic for anyone who has         an affinity with the sea. Thank you so, so much.”  

   It was lucky that he HAD heard her and came to her aid, she would not have    thought to look high up on the shelves, especially ones far out of her reach.    Gently running her fingers over the titles, she admired the books chosen for    her. 

    The dinglehopper pushed through the delicious meal that Chef Louis had made     and yet, it made the young princess’s stomach churn with distaste. It was her     FAVOURITE meal, she had eaten it a hundred times over and yet, just the scent     meeting her nose made her want to gag. Pulling a face, she placed her cutlery     down and pushed her plate away, instead choosing to take a sip of water. 

               “I’m sorry, Eric. I’m NOT feeling very well.” 

         “It’s ’cause it’s TRUE.”

   No matter what he said, she was sure to prove him wrong. That was    more than clear by the irritated tone of her voice. Doing just that,    proving her point, the fiery haired girl bent off and Jim couldn’t help    his wandering eyes as they moved to her behind, that tiny smirk still    on his lips. Brown eyes flickered back to her when they came face to    face once more, though his head was still slightly tipped to the side,    a bad ogling habit he’d picked up.

         “Take it from a professional male, it DOESN’T matter.”

          “You CAN’T even see anything!” 

  Her hands smoothed down her skirt, confident that she hadn’t revealed   anything. Not that you could tell by the look on his face. A small part of   her felt smug that he was indeed checking her out, and quite obviously.   The other, larger part of her, was offended. First he knocked her over   and, even though he helped pick up her papers, now he was ogling her   like she was a piece of meat. The larger part overwhelmed the smug   feeling and she poked him in the shoulder. 

      “HEY! Pervert! Don’t be rude! Just because a girl where’s a        skirt it doesn’t mean you’re allowed to ogle her! In fact, you’re        LUCKY I didn’t slap you, mister.” 

     “I’m POSITIVE.” 

 Injuries were never a big worry for him, they were always a minor  problem, one for a later time. Her reaction caused him to laugh a  small laugh, one corner of his lips pulling up. 

    “It’s short. I wouldn’t recommend      bending over, not around here.”

 His eyes flickered down her legs, following the hem of the skirt. He  couldn’t lie and say he wouldn’t have ENCOURAGED her to bend  over any other time, but not now.

  It was difficult for her to take his answer and not help him with at least   a bandaid but she didn’t have much option. So she let it go, slinging her   backpack over her shoulder. The comment caught her off guard and   she scoffed. 

        “Are you SERIOUS?! You sound like my father!” 

  She was not oblvious to the way he looked at her skirt and then her   legs. It was short, sure, but it covered everything that it needed to and   that’s what mattered. 

       “I can bend over and not show off my ASS, it’s not hard.” She               grumbled and, to prove her point, she knelt down to touch               the grass and straightened back up. 

 Looking over the tools in his hands, he was skeptical if he COULD fix  it, but he would surely try. Without it, he was stuck and even so, he   would want the solar surfer because it was something he did when he  wanted to get out and relax or de-stress. 

     “They should be, thanks.”

 Glancing over his shoulder, he looked at the shore, knowing the surfer  had crashed into a rock there. He was still out in the water, though, and  he wasn’t a very good swimmer, having not had much experience with  water. Montressor wasn’t known for its lakes.

   She watched on with both fascination and confusion. He had the    tools but he didn’t seem to be doing anything with them at all. With    her lips pursed, she lazily flicked her tail in the water and waited    again.

      “Are you WAITING for something else? Or do you need HELP?” 

   Carefully, she swam up to his little island, leaning her arms against    it to take a closer look and then realised what was wrong. The sky    ship didn’t seem to be with him at all. 

         “Are you missing something?”

      “It WASN’T… Okay, I guess it was.”

  His gaze followed hers, taking in the damage. There were smears of red   but nothing terribly bad. It would clot soon enough and he’d only have to   wipe it away His mother was sure to notice whether he bandaged it or not.

      “I’ll be fine, coulda been worse.”

  Jim had gone home with far worse injuries than a bleeding knee. It would   take nothing short of a broken limb to stop him.

      “If you see any more papers I missed flying around, let me        know. SKIRTS aren’t the best choice for picking up papers.”

        “You DEFINITELY were but you’re forgiven.”

  She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, inspecting her knees for   himself as well. It would have been easy to fix with a bandage if he let   her. Then again, she couldn’t force him to let her. 

         “Are you sure?” 

  She hated to see someone hurt, even if he had been a jerk and hurt   her to begin with. At his words, she narrowed her eyes, looking down   at her skirt and back to him. 

      “What’s WRONG with my skirt? I’m quite skilled and picking        things up, the skirt has nothing to do with it.

“Calling Wonderland utter NONSENSE is very rude.

             I do not approve of that, I know it’s real and I choose to believe it.”

   “Please.” He echoed, still trying to stay on her good side,         if possible. The tools she handed to him were… strange,         rusted and not exactly what he was hoping for, but it was         better than nothing. 

  She was more than happy to hand the tools over once he had   said please. With her hands empty, she rested them back in the   water and watching him curiously, wanting to watch what he   was going to do.                    “Are they enough” She asked. 

tritonsdownfall​ indiianbrave

 "Excuse me? 

            That is INCREDIBLY rude!“ 

     “I DID apologize but… sorry. I shoulda been looking.”

  His mother would had punished him until he was a hundred if she saw   how he was acting. There were many things she gave up punishing him   for, but not for being rude. With the papers taken from him, he picked up   his board again, tucking it under his arm and shoving his hands into his   pockets. 

     “Nah, I’m fine. It’s just a scrap.”

          “You did so sarcastically so it didn’t count. And it’s fine now.            Thank you for apologising. And getting my papers.”

  Her thanks was heartfelt because the last thing she wanted to do was not   hand in her homework. Not only would her teachers get angry but her father   would as well. Sometimes there were better things to do than homework.   Like being outside or adventures. She carefully piled all her papers together   in a neater bunch before placing them in her discarded backpack. One   quick look at his knees and she shot him a skeptical look.

        “Are you SURE? That one’s bleeding quite a bit.” 

  As he came back around her, he saw the paper scattered around   the sidewalk, some blown down to the corner and others across   the street. Placing the board on the sidewalk sideways beside her   so it wouldn’t roll away, Jim jumped into acting, running across the   cement retrieving the papers. 

   “You just yelled at me for getting you hurts, and now it’s ‘OKAY’?”

  Papers collected awkwardly in his arms, he walked back to her.   He’d attempted to sort them but he was more likely to drop them   if he tried any more. 

     “I don’t carry band aids around with me, no.”

  It was a sudden change from ignoring her completely to being kind   and collecting her sheets. She smiled, looking down at his board   before looking up to meet his eyes again. It was almost sweet of   him, a drastic change from his snarky attitude. 

     “Maybe I just wanted an apology because it’s POLITE, especially       when someone knocks you to the ground when you’re minding       your own business.” 

  She carefully took the papers out of his arms, organising them into   a neat pile in her own arms. Now that he had done something kind   for her, she was happy to return the favour. 

     “Do you want some? I carry them around?” 

  As much as he wanted to explain how wrong she was, he’d   much rather get to work on his solar surfer.

   “I’d like the tools, thanks.”

            “PLEASE, and here.” 

  You were meant to say please before you say thank you but   the boy didn’t seem to have many manners. She wasn’t sure   if the tools were what he needed but she had seen sailors   use them.

  There are two ways for things to go, a person could get angry    and walk away, OR they could stay around to yell at him. Jim    always preferred when people walked away, he got enough     yelling, or at least angry talking, from his mother. He was a    screw up, he knew that, why couldn’t people just NOT waste    their time trying to remind him of that fact.

     “Then go to a doctor!” He barked back.

   With a heavy sigh, he tucked the board under his arm and    carefully moved back towards her. Most people didn’t hit him,    but he wouldn’t put it past her. He could see her knees were    scrapped up and immediately started to feel bad. 

        “Is it bad?”

  She was quick to give up on her homework as it was blown away by   the wind. The entire day had become an unmitigated disaster. Already   she was late home, her homework was gone AND she was bleeding.   Her father was going to kill her. Or at least get angry at her and, in turn   she wanted to take it out on the bane of all her problems.

                   “Oh YOU...!” 

  With a huff, she decided that there was no point in cussing him out,   the boy wouldn’t listen anyway. Once he showed actual concern, her   anger lessened considerably. Her arms crossed over her chest and   she shrugged, trying to see nonchalant. 

        “No, I’ll be okay. YOURS looks worse than mine. Do you          have any band aids?”