#vinniedrabble

[normallyxstrange]

30 Days of Writing –  April 2019 –  One Word Prompts

Day 3: “Smile”

© 2019 F.R. Southerland

feat. Vinnie & Casey

     They needed this. The past few months had been a whirlwind of craziness. Casey's work schedule at the grocery store was all over the place—covering double-shifts, being called in on days when she was supposed to be off. Vinnie had been overwhelmed with classes and exams, not to mention her magical studies. She tried harder than anyone and to fall behind—it was unacceptable.

    This Girls Night In was just the thing to help them both relax. They'd watch a few episodes of some shows, a movie or two, and pig out on their favorite snacks while they tuned out the rest of the world for the evening.

    But Casey was still mopey and on edge. Vinnie didn't have strong empathic talents like her mom, or sister, and nowhere even close to what Neoma could do, so there was no way she could actually feel the blonde's morose mood, but she could see it in her listless behavior.

    She pulled her legs up to her chest, staring at the TV, but without really seeing what was happening. Vinnie missed it too. She was too busy watching Casey. After a few beats passed and canned laughter filtered from the television at the second joke they both missed, Vinnie sighed. “Case, we're supposed to be having fun and I get this really distinct feeling you're not.”

    Casey didn't answer right away. She brushed hair out of her face and blinked a few times, as if coming back to her senses. “What?” she asked, when she noticed Vinnie's stare.

    “Where were you just now?”

    “Oh, I don't know. Far away, I guess. This week's been real fucking long. Sorry,” she murmured and offered a shrug.

    “Too far away to enjoy the show? I could turn it off and put on something else?” Vinnie reached for the remote anyway and hit pause. “Or turn it off completely and we can just try to sleep.” She would be the first to admit that sounded like a good idea too. It would be the Girls Night In she envisioned, but if it worked...

    “No, no.” Casey was quick with her response. “Like, I'm tired, but not a sleepy kind of tired. You know?”

    Vinnie did, unfortunately. It was the kind of tired that kept you worn down. “That's why we're having this night,” she said, and hated that her voice held a defensive tone. Almost whiny. “To recharge from the being tired stuff.” She sighed. “Or something.”

    “I know. I know. And I think I'm too tired to relax or some shit.” A humorless laugh slipped out as Casey stretched out her legs.

That wasn't encouraging. Vinnie's hopes for a good night were quickly falling apart before her eyes. “Oh. Well.” She didn't know what to say.

    “But this is nice,” she went on, directing her eyes back to the screen. “The company and the noise. I mean it. The sound of the TV and shit playing in the background is probably the soundtrack to my childhood. For the most partly. Kind of... weirdly comforting.” A hint of a smile started on her lips.

    Vinnie caught the smile. It was small, barely there, but it was genuine. She hadn't seen anything of a real smile in what felt like forever. Seeing it put some of her anxiety to ease. That was all she truly wanted to see—Casey happy, in some way. It wasn't much, but it was something.

       Maybe she could help make it something more.

    “Okay, well, what about a new soundtrack? One for your young adulthood,” Vinnie suggested.

    Casey sat up more. “Okay, but none of that bullshit sitcom stuff. I've had enough of that.”

    “Okay, that's fair.” Vinnie aimed the remote and began searching through Netflix. “Only reality TV shows about celebrities you don't care about.”

    “Oh, fuck that. No way!” A laugh broke through, joined by an even wider smile.

    Mission accomplished, Vinnie thought. That's more like it. Her own smile moved over her face. “Reality TV shows and Wheel of Fortune. Maybe Jeopardy.” It was hard to keep the laughter out of her voice. Once Casey started, it caught her too. Damn contagious.

    “C'mon!” Though she tried hard to sound annoyed, she didn't look it one bit. “Don't do me like that. It's gotta be a good soundtrack. Good memories.”

    “Good memories,” Vinnie agreed with a chuckle. “All right, all right.” She handed over the remote. “Pick whatever you want. We do this right.”

    “Hell yeah,” she said, taking the remote.

    Warmth flooded through Vinnie, when Casey's fingers brushed lightly across hers. The smile was still there on her face, brighter than before. 

    Yeah. It really was something.

[trustmeimawitch]

🗣Andy & Vinnie lol

Send two muses, see them interact (main/default verse)accepting all muses@emmaxmeyer

     “Where are the donuts?” Andy could’ve sworn there was a box of them there, with about three left. But the table in the shop’s backroom was empty. It was no mystery, really, what had happened to them.

     Vinnie.

     “Really?” Andy leaned against the door frame, one hand on her forehead, frustration palpable. “I finally get a chance to sit down after handling Ms. Worst Customer Ever, and you eat all the donuts? How unfair can you be?”

     Her younger sister glanced up from the catalog she’d been occupied with. “Pretty unfair where it counts, but I didn’t eat the donuts.”

     Andy dropped her hand and looked across the shop. “There’s powdered sugar on your shirt.”

     Vinnie paused mid-turn and straightened from where she’d been leaning forward against the counter, and looked at the evidence on her blouse. “Shit,” she muttered and immediately brushed away what she could of it. Busted.

     “Uh huh.”

     She made a face and continued to swipe futilely at the mess. “Okay, so I ate them. I never said the donuts were for you anyway.”

     “You put a box of donuts in a communal space–assumptions were made.”

     “Not my fault you assumed.”

     Andy huffed out a breath. They’re just donuts, she told herself. Let it go. She mustered a smile and flipped hair over her shoulder. “Fine. But I’ll remember this.”

     Without missing a beat, Vinnie looked back to her catalog and let out a small snort. “Okay. I’ll be sure not to remind you about it.”

      Rolling her eyes, Andy went headed back into the store room. Little sisters. It was too late to return her. Might as well just deal with her. “Brat,” she murmured under her breath just before the door slid shut.

      A smirk worked its way over Vinnie’s face. “Yeah, love you too.”

[normallyxstrange]

“Can you feel this?” drabble (original fiction) feat. Vinnie & Andy #fictober18

#Fictober18 prompt

Day 1: “Can you feel this?”

swearing //

    “Tell me again—why are we stuck clearing out this shit?” Andy made a face of disgust, drawing back her hands. There was a fine film of dirt on her palm. How old were these boxes that they'd become so filthy? She made an attempt to wipe it off on her jeans, but to no avail.

    Vinnie, for the moment, ignored her sister. The box she was currently elbow deep in had something wedged at the very bottom. She freed it, finally, and brought out the box. It was wooden, intricate designs inlaid into the lid. The hinges weren't even rusty.

    “That doesn't even look old.” Andy leaned into Vinnie's side to reach for it, but she pulled it back to her chest. At the look she shot her, she backed off. “Alright, geez. Just curious.” She looked back, eyeing the shelves and the other stacked boxes in the cramped garage. “Mr. Donovan's got a lot of crap. Nice of him to call mom and unload this shit and leave us stuck doing it.” She let out a mirthless laugh. “Do you really think there might be something here we could resell? Or give to Mason. I mean, if there's any cursed junk...”

    But Vinnie had stopped listening. Her gaze was still drawn to the box. The finish was smooth—lacquered or something. What was inside it? It was probably something incredible, something amazing. The more she held it, the more intrigued she became. There was definitely something there. Something--

    “Can you feel this?” she murmured. It was like warm sunshine. It felt like a good book. It felt like dirt beneath her hands. It felt like a first kiss from a really pretty girl. Her fingers slid along the seam, searching for the clasp to open it. It felt like every Christmas and every birthday. It was--

     The box flew out of her hands. She blinked, startled, some noise of protest escaping her. The box hit one of the shelves, clattered against some other junk, then tumbled to the floor. She immediately started for it, but Andy's hand enclosed around her forearm.

    “Let me go! It's mine!”

    “Vinnie! Vinnie, look at me.”

     A firm yank on her arm sent a glare in Andy's direction. The second she met her sister's wide-eyed stare, the spell was broken. Vinnie blinked, feeling the haze lift from her.

     “What--?”

     “The box—cursed or something. I was just saying there might be something like it here. You wouldn't answer me when I said your name. Shit, Vin.”

     Vinnie pressed her lips together and slowly glanced back to the box, still sealed, on the floor. “It felt like—I don't know. It was too good.”

     “Usually a sign that it's dangerous.” Andy sighed. “We need to be more careful.”

     “Yeah.” Vinnie had to agree. She looked away from the box quickly, lest she be influenced by it again. “Let's hurry up so we can get out of here. I've got the creeps now.”

© 2018 F.R. Southerland, @normallyxstrange / @frsoutherlandauthor

[normallyxstrange]

“Who could do this?” drabble (original fiction) feat. Vinnie & Casey #fictober18

#Fictober18 prompt

Day 12:  “Who could do this?”

featuring Vinnie & Casey

swearing //

    “I don't believe this. Who could do this?” Vinnie carefully stepped over a piece of broken wood—the leg from an end table—and bit down on her bottom lip. Casey's apartment was thoroughly destroyed.

    “An asshole.” Casey wasted no time in her answer. Her lips were pressed together into a thin line, white with the rage she held back. “Or a lot of assholes. What the actual fuck?”  She ran a hand through her hair, the emotions drifting across her face from rage, to frustration, to confusion. Tears pricked her eyes.

    One look at her and Vinnie knew the dam was about to burst. She couldn't lie and tell her it wasn't that bad because, frankly, it was destruction like she'd never seen before. Almost as if a tornado had whipped through.

    The door had been forced open, the wood splintered so the doorknob had been knocked free. Furniture was overturned—what little Casey had to begin. Her love seat, which had served as the primary piece of furniture in the living room, was shredded. Stuffing littered the floor. There was nothing to be salvaged of her end table. The small television was smashed.

    She was afraid to look through the rest of the apartment.

    When hot tears began to roll down Casey's face, she was at her side. Her hand gingerly touched Casey's shoulder, but she shrugged her off.

    “Don't—I--I don't know why—how--”

    Vinnie hesitated a moment before she tried again to offer silent support. This time when she touched her arm, Casey didn't push her away.

    The blonde wiped furiously at her tears. “I hate this fucking place.”

    “No, no you don't. You're just—it's bad. You're upset. We can fix it though.”

    “How? Everything I had was here? Everything is ripped to shit!”

    “I don't know, but we can figure something out. My mom can help. So can Andy. Even Mason. We'll just ask. We can find out who did this.”

    Casey said nothing and wiped away the rest of her tears. At least she had channeled her frustration into something productive—fixing this mess and figuring it out. “Well, we can rule out vampires. They'd need an invite.”

    “Yeah.” Vinnie rubbed her arm comfortingly before she withdrew.

    Both girls looked around the immediate vicinity. “Shit... where do we even start?” Casey nudged a piece of stuffing with the toe of her sneaker.

    “Um, tell you what? I'll order some pizza and get us some Dr. Pepper--” Casey shot her a look “--and some Mountain Dew. Fuel for the work and we'll just take it one section at a time, okay?”

    Casey trailed her gaze over the ruin of her apartment and let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah.” She managed a grateful smile as she turned back to Vinnie. “Sounds like a plan.”

© 2018 F.R. Southerland, @normallyxstrange​ / @frsoutherlandauthor​

[normallyxstrange]

“You should have seen it”drabble (original fiction) feat. CJ & Vinnie #fictober18

#Fictober18 prompt

Day 18:  “You should have seen it.”

featuring CJ & Vinnie

    Vinnie breezed into the room, the open door bringing with it the chill of autumn air. It carried the scent of leaves and the promise of rain. Her red hair whipped into her face and she pushed it out of her eyes.

    “Hey.” Surprise edged her tone when she saw CJ at the stairwell. She was dressed in her track clothes, hair pulled back into a high ponytail. Her expression mirrored Vinnie's.

    “Hey. We didn't have a lunch thing planned, did we?” CJ knew they hadn't. She had an eidetic memory, after all. She would've remember if they'd had plans.

    “Ah, no. I was just stopping by. But if its a bad time--”

    “--just heading out for a run, you know.”

    “Yeah.” Vinnie shifted her bag higher on her shoulder, bottom lip finding its way between her teeth. “I can just come back another time.”

    “No, no.” CJ started past Vinnie and grabbed the door handle from an older man who just entered. “Run with me. We can catch up, yeah?”

     “Run?” Vinnie glanced down at her jean skirt and the wedge heels she'd worn that day. She wasn't dressed for running, and even if she was-- “There's no way I could keep up with you.”

    The other girl shrugged and headed out into the brisk morning. “Its a joke. Just walk with me.” Her tone was flat. She didn’t sound like she was joking.

    “Oh.” Her cheeks flamed. She caught the door and followed after. The cold air hit her in the face again and she pulled her jacket tighter around her. CJ was already a short distance ahead of her. Vinnie hustled to keep up.

    There was a determination in CJ's steps as she walked—a woman on a mission. Or, at the least, a woman with some sort of direction. Once Vinnie met her steps as best she could, she spoke. “Really, we can talk later.” It might be better, she thought. “Besides, there's some construction up ahead. They have half the road blocked.” She tried to work up her courage. She needed more time to collect her thoughts. “I think a car hit a hydrant. At least, it looked that way. You should have seen it--”

    CJ's steps slowed. She blew out a breath that hung heavy in the air. “Vin, stop—I know Mason sent you.”

    That made Vinnie stop entirely. “He didn't send me. I just--”

    She rounded on her. “Its just nothing. I don't want to talk to him. I don't want him checking in on me.”

    “CJ. It's not--”

    She shook her head, letting out a quick huff. “Forget it, okay? I want nothing to do with my father. And you can tell him that.” Venom dripped off the word.

    Vinnie didn't get a chance to protest. With a flip of her head, ponytail flying, CJ took off at a jog. Within no time, she was gone around the corner and Vinnie was left behind in stunned silence.

    And all she'd wanted was to mend the rift. She really should've taken her mother's advice and left well enough alone.

© 2018 F.R. Southerland, @normallyxstrange​ / @frsoutherlandauthor

[normallyxstrange]

“Go forward, do not stray” drabble (original fiction) feat. Mason & Vinnie #fictober18

#Fictober18 prompt

Day 25:  “Go forward, do not stray.”

featuring Mason & Vinnie

    Astral projection didn't come easy to many witches, but once Vinnie experimented with a few spells, she uncovered a previously latent talent for it. It was like walking in a dream—strange, surreal. She hadn't quite got a grasp on keeping herself tied to the astral plane.

    And that was why Mason was here now.

    “Relax,” he told her, not for the first time. “Breathe deeply.”

    “Okay.” She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Her eyes were shut tightly against the light of the room. Vinnie sought a place of calm, of comfort, and let herself... drift.

    It always felt strange, like a pulling in her belly. A part of her wanted to retreat back but she ignored the feeling and focused on how freeing it felt to detach herself from a physical form.

    She felt far away, light as air. She opened her eyes—or her astral eyes, as her physical ones were still closed. There she was, sitting straight-backed but relaxed on the couch, and there was her godfather sitting across from her, watching intently. She was thankful that Mason was there to guide her. The astral plane wasn't one so easily accessed and that was her next step.

    “You will see the place between, where the astral meets the physical,” he instructed.

    And she could see it. It was shimmering, like the haze that covered hot asphalt in the summer. Vinnie moved toward it, reaching out to touch it. It felt like silk, like a ribbon between her fingers. Strange. She hadn't thought it would feel like anything.

    “When you pass through, go forward. Do not stray.”

    She wouldn't. She'd heard horror stories of those who'd lingered in the doorways of the between, who became trapped—and she had no intention of becoming another cautionary tale. As she moved forward, she did so tentatively. Her fingers closed around the shimmering partition and pulled it open.

    Or, she tried. It wouldn't give. The confusion was enough to break her concentration. Her astral body jerked backwards and when she reconnected with her physical one, she gave a gasp. Her heart raced, her breathing ragged.

    “Just breathe.” Mason leaned forward. “It feels worse than it is.”

    He was right. Of course he was right. She'd calm down in time. It was always jarring when the connection was broken.

    “I was closer that time. I was able to touch it.”

    Mason nodded his head and Vinnie reclined back into the couch, satisfied with the little progress she'd made, glad Mason approved, and longing to do better the next time. And she would. Practice made perfect and she planned to practice a lot.

© 2018 F.R. Southerland, @normallyxstrange​ / @frsoutherlandauthor​