Smells Like Teen Spirit
Dec 11, 2018 18:44:36 GMT -6
Post by Snick on Dec 11, 2018 18:44:36 GMT -6
After scarfing down a few soft tacos, Phrixos hurried from the cafeteria. He promised Siobhan he would see her back at the lighthouse long before curfew, even though he knew he couldn't guarantee that. With the elves' black market always in a different spot, he might not find it any time soon. Pratt hurried down the street of little buildings in Wight Towne, ducking in and out of alleys, checking in dumpsters, and squinting up at the tops of trees. His head jerked up in greeting to a curious elf that had stopped to watch him running his hand along the cobblestones between the sweet shop and the book store.
"Dropped my invisible headphones," Pratt lied, then held up a hand like he was holding something. "Found 'em!"
The elf, seemingly satisfied with that explanation, hustled off to who knows where. Pratt continued his search, finally finding the little booth, manned by one elf at present, on the ceiling of a storage building shaped like a barn. He grimaced, standing in the doorway of the shed, wondering how they expected anyone to get up there. His mouth opened to ask as he stepped foot inside the building, but before he could say anything, the whole world was turned upside down and he plummeted down - or up, he wasn't really sure at this point - to the ceiling.
Rubbing his now-sore elbow (that was definitely going to bruise), Phrixos stood and carefully traversed the slats toward the booth. Immediately, the elf gave a look of recognition and started digging around in a little bag. By the time Pratt reached the counter, the elf had set a little blue bottle upon it. "Long time no see! Prices done gone up, Mr. Pratt," the large-eyed creature said cheerily. "One Dubloon, five Ducats."
He stared at the small bottle, brow furrowed, and chewed on his lip. Then his head finally shook in refusal. "I need something else, Stinky," his gaze remained fixed on that bottle. "Something for my girlfriend."
"Ahhh... I see," Stinky didn't take the bottle away, eyes glinting knowingly, then started digging in his bag again. "I've got just the thing to knock her out. Then you can do anything you ple-"
"NO. God, no... just.. no," Pratt's eyes finally snapped up from the blue bottle, burning with ire. He wondered what kind of sick perv would use that, a shudder going up his spine. "Something nice. Jewelry or perfume or something." Seeing the excited look in the elf's eyes, he quickly added, "Nothing that's enchanted or anything."
The elf's face instantly fell. Grumbling, he searched his bag once more. Pratt was focused again on the bottle, drumming his fingers on the stall. Stinky sat another bottle beside it. A purple one adorned with the words "Kindred Spirit" in fancy, loopy letters. Seemed like a stupid name for a perfume, but Stinky insisted it was the only one he had. Phrixos pulled out the ornate cork and took a sniff. When he made a face, the elf shook his head, took the bottle, covered the opening with a long finger, and shook the bottle gently a couple of times. With a drop of perfume on his finger, he rubbed Pratt's wrist then urged him to smell it.
"Ahh... much better," his eyebrows rose in surprise. "How much?"
"For you? A Dubloon," Stinky grinned and Pratt handed over the golden coin, then hesitantly put another plus five silver in the elf's still-open palm. His wicked grin widened. "I knew you'd change your mind."
Pratt snarled and grabbed both bottles. "Maybe it isn't for me," he could think of several people that needed it. "Later."
Shoving the bottles into his pocket with a soft clink, he made his way back to the exit. This time he fell on his knees, the corduroy of his pants protecting him and burning him at the same time. Dusting himself off, Pratt walked out of the little barn-like structure. He felt like a failure, but he hadn't taken the potion yet. It would be used in an emergency only, he swore to himself.
Elizabeta was walking through the dark, enjoying the enveloping isolation the darkness provided. Having grown up on a dragon reservation she often walked in the woods at night, albeit it was outside of the warded dragon enclosures. A habit that gave her a lifetime of practice moving about the woods in very low lit conditions. Of course she could simply use her wand to light her way but she found that detracted from the reason she was out after dark.
It was a cloudless night so there was decent levels of ambient light and the sun only recently set. She could see the lights of the elf village but stayed clear of Wight Town proper. No reason for her to disturb the elves at least not tonight. At some point she intended to spend an afternoon or evening in the village to talk to them about the Lighthouse. She expected they would have tales and their own take on the sentient structure.
Hearing somebody coming out of the town, muttering something under his breath, Elizabeta was curious who it could be. It didn't sound like an adult and many reasons for students to come down here. Moving towards the sound she decided not to blind the guy with her wand so didn't light it.
"Just what do you think you are doing?" Elizabeta said in her best imitation of Principal Cook's voice. Not normally a prankster there are times even Elizabeta couldn't resist the perfect time to cause some student to jump out of their skin. She had no idea how good her impression of Cook's voice but she liked to think it was decent enough to be recognizable as at least an attempt at Cook's voice.
Pratt froze in his tracks, squinting into the darkness. His heart stopped then started to race. The voice was vaguely familiar, similar to Principal Cook's but different enough to give away that it wasn't her. Whose was it though? Teacher? Student? Now that he thought about it, it really didn't sound like anyone he could think of. Was it one of the kidnappers? His blood went cold and Phrixos instinctively pulled his wand from the special pocket at his hip.
"You want me, come and get me," he turned this way and that, looking for the source of the seemingly disembodied voice. "But I'm not telling you shit, no matter how many fuckin' dismembered body parts you toss at me. I'll chew my own fuckin' tongue off before I sing, you bitch."
Without Ginger around, his filter was gone. Besides, he felt more intimidating, bad ass, and grown up when he cursed.
Levi carefully followed each little clue Sadie had left for him. From the acorn hat in the tree, to the note tucked under the glowing rock, to the tiny note obscured by the cracked shell fragment from a blue robin's egg. But each had a tiny sparkle, and a clue that was connected to Sadie and her magic. At the end would be whatever she wanted him to find, probably her and where she was hiding. He was so busy watching the ground for the next clue, that he ignored the sounds of people talking, the smell of fragrance, or that he was getting close to the elf village. He pretty much ignored most of it other than tracking the next clue until . . . OOF!
He hit right into Pratt! The two tumbled over in a tangle of arms and legs.
"Shit! I'm sorry, Pratt! I wasn't looking! I was reading clues . . . and . . . that was stupid of me; are you all right?" he asked, sitting up and dusting himself off.
He didn't even notice Elizabeta standing there.
Elizabeta had not realized it was Pratt till he spoke, full of challenge and bravado. In a way it was impressive given the younger student spent the last year or so doing his best to be the school's biggest goof. A part of her felt a little guilt given he thought she may be a kidnapper. One reason she was never really big on doing pranks. She drew her wand, just about to cast the Lumo's spell to reveal herself when she sensed somebody else moving in the woods. She stepped back and neatly avoided being ran into by a student who's silhouette had him focused on something in his hands which resulted in him walking headlong into Pratt.
The two boys fell into the ground in a tumble of arms and legs, the one boy apologizing profusely to Pratt. She snickered lightly then decided to reveal herself.
'Lumos!" She said the word in her normal voice, lighting up the area around her and the boys in a soft luminous glow. "Terribly sorry about startling you Pratt...when I heard somebody moving about in the dark, I couldn't resist a little humor. I am sure you understand the temptation."
Elizabeta decided apologizing to Pratt for giving him a moment of panic thinking she was a real threat. Turning to the other boy she frowned, not certain who he is for a moment then his name came to her. He was one year below her but she remembered his name. "Are you alright Levi?"
Before he could react, someone collided with Pratt and both figures tumbled to the ground. "Son of a bitch," he sucked air through his teeth as his bruised elbow hit the ground. Luckily Levi spoke, or else Phrixos would have thought he was the owner of the voice in the dark (the long hair did make him look like a girl in this darkness). "Another scavenger hunt?" he rolled his eyes as he returned to his feet as quickly as possible. Pratt was glad Siobhan wasn't a cuckoo bird like Sadie. The hand that wasn't on his wand checked his pocket. All was good.
When Elizabeta lit her wand and revealed herself, Pratt calmed, but not much. She was a Skull, after all - not to be trusted, in his opinion. "Hah, yeah, you got me," his wand lowered, a feeble attempt at a smile was made. "I never took you for the joking type. You're just full of surprises."
"Yeah, I'm okay, Elizabeta." Now he let out a big sigh and took in a breath of fresh air. "Damn, you smell pretty, Pratt."
He did a double take at Elizabeta's apology. "You were pulling a practical joke? Seriously? You don't seem the type, nothing personal." Frankly, Pratt didn't seem to have taken it well.
"I am known for surprises time to time." Elizabeta dimmed the light of her wand. There was no need to broadcast to anybody looking in their direction where they are. The slow dimming of her wand will make it easier for the eyes to adjust to the night once its out. "Not something I planned ahead of time Pratt, just one of those unable to resist moments. I doubt I will ever get the jump on you again, after all you have far greater talents at pulling pranks than I."
Elizabeta realized she would sound like she was buttering him up. In truth, if it was anybody other than Pratt she would have just laughed and left. Given what Pratt and his girlfriend went through during the Hello Dance and the meeting afterwards, she felt a little cruel for her prank. Of course the first thing he thought of was some kidnapper coming for him.
"So you and Sadie still play these clue games? You hope to be a detective when you graduate?" Elizabeta asked the older of the two boys.
"Thanks," his face flushed. "It's perfume. For a girl - not me - but the elf made me put it on so I could smell what it smells like on a person instead of straight out of the bottle."
Pratt wasn't sure that was believable enough, but he didn't want to give away that Siobhan is his girlfriend nor let people think he was off tumbling around with a girl. Plus, he was feeling insanely guilty about his other purchase. Guilt tended to make him ramble a bit.
"You should get some for Sadie," He added as an afterthought and looked to Elizabeta. "All's good in this hood, 'Beta. No worries, no need to flatter me. I know I'm an original pranksta." Phrixos made half-hearted fake gang signs, wishing he could just shut up because he sounded like a moron.
"No, I'm not going to be a detective. Sadie just likes to give me clues, 'Beta." He smelled Pratt again. "Yeah, I may have to find some of that stuff for Sadie. At least if she won't smell exactly the same as . . . who are you giving that to, Pratt?" Levi asked.
"Dropped my invisible headphones," Pratt lied, then held up a hand like he was holding something. "Found 'em!"
The elf, seemingly satisfied with that explanation, hustled off to who knows where. Pratt continued his search, finally finding the little booth, manned by one elf at present, on the ceiling of a storage building shaped like a barn. He grimaced, standing in the doorway of the shed, wondering how they expected anyone to get up there. His mouth opened to ask as he stepped foot inside the building, but before he could say anything, the whole world was turned upside down and he plummeted down - or up, he wasn't really sure at this point - to the ceiling.
Rubbing his now-sore elbow (that was definitely going to bruise), Phrixos stood and carefully traversed the slats toward the booth. Immediately, the elf gave a look of recognition and started digging around in a little bag. By the time Pratt reached the counter, the elf had set a little blue bottle upon it. "Long time no see! Prices done gone up, Mr. Pratt," the large-eyed creature said cheerily. "One Dubloon, five Ducats."
He stared at the small bottle, brow furrowed, and chewed on his lip. Then his head finally shook in refusal. "I need something else, Stinky," his gaze remained fixed on that bottle. "Something for my girlfriend."
"Ahhh... I see," Stinky didn't take the bottle away, eyes glinting knowingly, then started digging in his bag again. "I've got just the thing to knock her out. Then you can do anything you ple-"
"NO. God, no... just.. no," Pratt's eyes finally snapped up from the blue bottle, burning with ire. He wondered what kind of sick perv would use that, a shudder going up his spine. "Something nice. Jewelry or perfume or something." Seeing the excited look in the elf's eyes, he quickly added, "Nothing that's enchanted or anything."
The elf's face instantly fell. Grumbling, he searched his bag once more. Pratt was focused again on the bottle, drumming his fingers on the stall. Stinky sat another bottle beside it. A purple one adorned with the words "Kindred Spirit" in fancy, loopy letters. Seemed like a stupid name for a perfume, but Stinky insisted it was the only one he had. Phrixos pulled out the ornate cork and took a sniff. When he made a face, the elf shook his head, took the bottle, covered the opening with a long finger, and shook the bottle gently a couple of times. With a drop of perfume on his finger, he rubbed Pratt's wrist then urged him to smell it.
"Ahh... much better," his eyebrows rose in surprise. "How much?"
"For you? A Dubloon," Stinky grinned and Pratt handed over the golden coin, then hesitantly put another plus five silver in the elf's still-open palm. His wicked grin widened. "I knew you'd change your mind."
Pratt snarled and grabbed both bottles. "Maybe it isn't for me," he could think of several people that needed it. "Later."
Shoving the bottles into his pocket with a soft clink, he made his way back to the exit. This time he fell on his knees, the corduroy of his pants protecting him and burning him at the same time. Dusting himself off, Pratt walked out of the little barn-like structure. He felt like a failure, but he hadn't taken the potion yet. It would be used in an emergency only, he swore to himself.
Elizabeta was walking through the dark, enjoying the enveloping isolation the darkness provided. Having grown up on a dragon reservation she often walked in the woods at night, albeit it was outside of the warded dragon enclosures. A habit that gave her a lifetime of practice moving about the woods in very low lit conditions. Of course she could simply use her wand to light her way but she found that detracted from the reason she was out after dark.
It was a cloudless night so there was decent levels of ambient light and the sun only recently set. She could see the lights of the elf village but stayed clear of Wight Town proper. No reason for her to disturb the elves at least not tonight. At some point she intended to spend an afternoon or evening in the village to talk to them about the Lighthouse. She expected they would have tales and their own take on the sentient structure.
Hearing somebody coming out of the town, muttering something under his breath, Elizabeta was curious who it could be. It didn't sound like an adult and many reasons for students to come down here. Moving towards the sound she decided not to blind the guy with her wand so didn't light it.
"Just what do you think you are doing?" Elizabeta said in her best imitation of Principal Cook's voice. Not normally a prankster there are times even Elizabeta couldn't resist the perfect time to cause some student to jump out of their skin. She had no idea how good her impression of Cook's voice but she liked to think it was decent enough to be recognizable as at least an attempt at Cook's voice.
Pratt froze in his tracks, squinting into the darkness. His heart stopped then started to race. The voice was vaguely familiar, similar to Principal Cook's but different enough to give away that it wasn't her. Whose was it though? Teacher? Student? Now that he thought about it, it really didn't sound like anyone he could think of. Was it one of the kidnappers? His blood went cold and Phrixos instinctively pulled his wand from the special pocket at his hip.
"You want me, come and get me," he turned this way and that, looking for the source of the seemingly disembodied voice. "But I'm not telling you shit, no matter how many fuckin' dismembered body parts you toss at me. I'll chew my own fuckin' tongue off before I sing, you bitch."
Without Ginger around, his filter was gone. Besides, he felt more intimidating, bad ass, and grown up when he cursed.
Levi carefully followed each little clue Sadie had left for him. From the acorn hat in the tree, to the note tucked under the glowing rock, to the tiny note obscured by the cracked shell fragment from a blue robin's egg. But each had a tiny sparkle, and a clue that was connected to Sadie and her magic. At the end would be whatever she wanted him to find, probably her and where she was hiding. He was so busy watching the ground for the next clue, that he ignored the sounds of people talking, the smell of fragrance, or that he was getting close to the elf village. He pretty much ignored most of it other than tracking the next clue until . . . OOF!
He hit right into Pratt! The two tumbled over in a tangle of arms and legs.
"Shit! I'm sorry, Pratt! I wasn't looking! I was reading clues . . . and . . . that was stupid of me; are you all right?" he asked, sitting up and dusting himself off.
He didn't even notice Elizabeta standing there.
Elizabeta had not realized it was Pratt till he spoke, full of challenge and bravado. In a way it was impressive given the younger student spent the last year or so doing his best to be the school's biggest goof. A part of her felt a little guilt given he thought she may be a kidnapper. One reason she was never really big on doing pranks. She drew her wand, just about to cast the Lumo's spell to reveal herself when she sensed somebody else moving in the woods. She stepped back and neatly avoided being ran into by a student who's silhouette had him focused on something in his hands which resulted in him walking headlong into Pratt.
The two boys fell into the ground in a tumble of arms and legs, the one boy apologizing profusely to Pratt. She snickered lightly then decided to reveal herself.
'Lumos!" She said the word in her normal voice, lighting up the area around her and the boys in a soft luminous glow. "Terribly sorry about startling you Pratt...when I heard somebody moving about in the dark, I couldn't resist a little humor. I am sure you understand the temptation."
Elizabeta decided apologizing to Pratt for giving him a moment of panic thinking she was a real threat. Turning to the other boy she frowned, not certain who he is for a moment then his name came to her. He was one year below her but she remembered his name. "Are you alright Levi?"
Before he could react, someone collided with Pratt and both figures tumbled to the ground. "Son of a bitch," he sucked air through his teeth as his bruised elbow hit the ground. Luckily Levi spoke, or else Phrixos would have thought he was the owner of the voice in the dark (the long hair did make him look like a girl in this darkness). "Another scavenger hunt?" he rolled his eyes as he returned to his feet as quickly as possible. Pratt was glad Siobhan wasn't a cuckoo bird like Sadie. The hand that wasn't on his wand checked his pocket. All was good.
When Elizabeta lit her wand and revealed herself, Pratt calmed, but not much. She was a Skull, after all - not to be trusted, in his opinion. "Hah, yeah, you got me," his wand lowered, a feeble attempt at a smile was made. "I never took you for the joking type. You're just full of surprises."
"Yeah, I'm okay, Elizabeta." Now he let out a big sigh and took in a breath of fresh air. "Damn, you smell pretty, Pratt."
He did a double take at Elizabeta's apology. "You were pulling a practical joke? Seriously? You don't seem the type, nothing personal." Frankly, Pratt didn't seem to have taken it well.
"I am known for surprises time to time." Elizabeta dimmed the light of her wand. There was no need to broadcast to anybody looking in their direction where they are. The slow dimming of her wand will make it easier for the eyes to adjust to the night once its out. "Not something I planned ahead of time Pratt, just one of those unable to resist moments. I doubt I will ever get the jump on you again, after all you have far greater talents at pulling pranks than I."
Elizabeta realized she would sound like she was buttering him up. In truth, if it was anybody other than Pratt she would have just laughed and left. Given what Pratt and his girlfriend went through during the Hello Dance and the meeting afterwards, she felt a little cruel for her prank. Of course the first thing he thought of was some kidnapper coming for him.
"So you and Sadie still play these clue games? You hope to be a detective when you graduate?" Elizabeta asked the older of the two boys.
"Thanks," his face flushed. "It's perfume. For a girl - not me - but the elf made me put it on so I could smell what it smells like on a person instead of straight out of the bottle."
Pratt wasn't sure that was believable enough, but he didn't want to give away that Siobhan is his girlfriend nor let people think he was off tumbling around with a girl. Plus, he was feeling insanely guilty about his other purchase. Guilt tended to make him ramble a bit.
"You should get some for Sadie," He added as an afterthought and looked to Elizabeta. "All's good in this hood, 'Beta. No worries, no need to flatter me. I know I'm an original pranksta." Phrixos made half-hearted fake gang signs, wishing he could just shut up because he sounded like a moron.
"No, I'm not going to be a detective. Sadie just likes to give me clues, 'Beta." He smelled Pratt again. "Yeah, I may have to find some of that stuff for Sadie. At least if she won't smell exactly the same as . . . who are you giving that to, Pratt?" Levi asked.
