Description: A bit of a head cannon about a silly competition while the team is on a camping trip. Who will win the challenge?
Note: So, this again is more of a head cannon so not fully written out. I just was thinking about competitions, and I came up with this silly idea. Written for @vesuviaweekly's prompt: Just a Little Healthy Competition.
Camping out in the fields of the south was an exciting experience. They all would sit around the fire, look up at the stars and share stories. There was also the toasting of marshmallows, which of course gave Lark ‘a great idea’. They could play ‘chubby bunny’.
Sparrow and Robin: No.
Lark: Aw come on guys! It will be a lot of fun!
Sparrow: Yeah, for you maybe.
Robin: Lark, have you forgotten how badly this ended last time?
Portia: Okay now I have to know what Chubby Bunny is!
Lark explains that the game is simple: Two people take turns putting a marshmallow into their mouth and then saying the words ‘chubby bunny’. If the player can’t say the words in a clear enough voice, then they are out.
Lark: I am current reigning champion *grins*
Sparrow: And I was the reigning champion of getting very sick after all that fluff! I still barely look at one without being ill.
Robin: As the person who had to take care of her, I concur. I am out.
Portia: Well, I think it sounds like fun!
Julian: As do I, though I think as a medical professional it’s not a good idea to over do it on anything, especially sugar.
Lark: *Cocking eyebrow* Or salty bitters.
Julian: That was in the name of saving the city, though I confess I too have not been able to look at one without being ill.
Muriel sits out as he’s not too big into sugar and Volta wishes to play but she only ends up eating the marshmallows instead. Lark gives her a bag of her own which she happily munches on. With Robin and Sparrow sitting out, the contestants are Asra, Nadia, Julian, Portia, and Lark. Julian goes against his sister but looses when he nearly chokes on one accidentally. Asra and Lark face off, but Lark pulls though when Asra concedes (he could have won but figures it’s more fun to watch the games). Lark goes against Portia next and manages to win again though it’s a close one. It comes down to Lark and Nadia, who actually hadn’t gone yet.
Surprisingly it’s a pretty heated battle with both contestants filling their mouths to near bursting with the fluffy white. But amazingly Nadia wins, with a clear pronunciation of the famous words.
Lark: *Taking deep breaths after expelling all the marshmallows* Wow, Nadia…that was…amazing…How were you able to do that?
Nadia: It’s simple my dear Lark, as a child I was forced into many an hour of dictation class. I was made to study language and speech, and often times my tutors would bring something to hold in my mouth so I could work on my pronunciation-
Lark: Wait, don’t tell me they would use-
Nadia: *Smiling triumphantly* Marshmallows? Why yes, they did.
Working at the front counter, Fae had full view of the maybe five people in the library. With finals all but over, the campus could be considered completely barren. She and another girl were getting ready to close up soon, but not before--aha, there she was. Fae wasn’t wondering at all what this girl--Larkspur? Was her name?--wanted, and sure enough, she’d brought to the counter yet again the 2005 edition of Pride and Prejudice, for about the 9th time this month. “So, uhhh. You really like Pride and Prejudice, huh?”
Note: For @vesuviaweekly's prompt of "I missed this". Also, this is my head cannon for the au I work in so some of the backstory to the magic shop maybe different from the actual cannon.
The magic shop had a back story all its own as well as a life to go with it.
It was built to contain only two people, the old woman and her young charge. They were the first to put magic into the place, which in a sense brought it to life. To the unobservant person it would be just another shop, a building made of wood and stone, but to those who knew the truth, it was a living creature all its own. For years the magic flowed from the shop as runes were carved and protections put in place. Alongside those things of course were songs, warm food, and conversation which kept the shop happy as it felt its power growing. Then one night, with only one last look back, the young lady left, and things changed.
It was a bitter and cold time. The old woman was the only occupant now, her old hard hundred-year-old magic made the floorboards creak and sag. Customers who filled the shop were no longer as frequent as they were scared off by her anger at the world that had left her alone. The shop felt a similar pain as it felt its life draining away. Could a magical place die? Did it die or just return to being a normal place again?
One day a man arrived and with him three young faces. The shop recognized them almost immediately as belonging to the young woman from so long ago. Their magic was new and warm, though they were a little hesitant at first. But happy for any change, the shop welcomed them. It wasn’t easy at first, especially given the fact that in a shop built for two there was now double that amount. The bigger room was forced to fit there, a curtain separating the older from the younger for a time. But it didn’t really matter in the early months as the two younger had trouble sleeping and slept with their brother almost every night. The shop did its best to keep the creaking to a minimum so as to not spook the poor dears.
Over the years the shop would come to learn their names as well as their magic. It loved all three of them, though she had a soft spot for Robin who was constantly trying to make the shop their home. Even when the old lady left, he was willing to fight for the failing shop, not wanting to give up and lose yet again. His magic replaced the old woman’s, giving it strength. Of course, he was not alone as the twins brought their own sparks. Sparrow filled the shop with song and tea, while Lark was laughter and smiling.
Then there was the wandering magician, Asra.
When he arrived, something clicked. The circle felt complete. The family was whole. Curiously Asra’s magic echoed that of Robin’s so it all just worked so well. Asra was a wonder, almost like an enhancement to the magic around him. The shop adopted him as well and welcomed him as he moved into the small room that once held the craggy witch. The shop took care of its children, protecting them and giving them shelter as they grew and changed. Those were happy years.
Then came the plague and one by one the children disappeared. No one could hear the cry of anguish from the floor boards. The shop watched as one by one they left and never returned. Well, all except one. The wandering magician returned but he had changed. He no longer smiled like he used to. He tried but the shop knew. It knew very well the pain underneath. Even when he brought the doctor in, they would never go upstairs. No one was allowed upstairs, and no one was allowed in the big bedroom. Asra would sometimes stop there, hand hovering over the handle as if wanting to go in. But he would instead collapse with his back against the door and cry. The shop wished it had arms to hold him in those moments. It wondered if the pain would ever ease.
And surprisingly it did, or rather…One night, the children returned. They did not walk through the door, they just appeared. Robin, Sparrow, and Lark returned and the whole shop instantly brightened. There was noise, confusion and shock, but over all there was magic in the shop again. It was the same, but different in a way. Something had changed clearly but the shop didn’t care. Its children had returned and there was life.
Many things happened after that. There were new faces and old, a bit of drama, and then the city fell into chaos which the shop thankfully was not a part of because of its protections (never had it been so thankful for the old woman and her wards). Over time the shop watched the city become new, same with the people in it. The twins grew even more and soon they found their own spaces, though they were never far. Robin and Asra remained, keeping the magic flowing, though they didn’t remain as they once did. It became quiet. Not as quiet as before, but still quiet….
But not really quiet.
The children were never really gone for long and soon others came, filling the shop again with all sorts of magic and the magic shop felt alive again. It had missed feeling full, full of its family that loved it as their home. Luckily it would never have to worry about being empty ever again.
