Gingerbread 28; Cherry Vanilla 6
Author: Marina
Story: The Dragon World
Challenge: Gingerbread 28 (the fairest of them all), Cherry Vanilla 6 (love at first sight)
Toppings/Extras: Caramel (for the last two sections), Cherry (present tense), Chopped Nuts (the last section bleeds into my sundae project with Casey), Malt (Summer Challenge, Bunny #139: Sometimes I’m terrified to realize how many options other people have), Milkshake (Dean is Casey’s character)
Word Count: 800 (8-part pocky chain)
Rating: G
Summary: As far as Chase is concerned, there are only two kinds of people in the world: His People and The Enemy.
Notes: I love the idea of character pocky chains. I’d like to do them for all the DW characters, so this’ll be the first of six. I chose to include the last section (the Chopped Nuts part of the equation) because it highlights Chase’s character development post-DW really well, even though it’s not really canon. Please note that the fourth and sixth sections are no longer canon.
Chase happily plays with the rabbit while Laura frantically rearranges the other stuffed animals he toppled in order to get to it. Suddenly, she snatches it out of his hands. “This is mine,” she says sternly. “You can’t just take things that aren’t yours.”
He tears up immediately, stretching up to try to take it back. “I want Boo-boo!”
His sister begins to put it back on her bed with the others, but stops, considering both him and the toy. “Okay,” she finally says, handing it back to him.
Later, he won’t remember, but that’s when their friendship really begins.
***
He hops down the stairs as nimbly as Peter does in the movie, posing once he’s reached bottom. Mommy, Daddy, and Laura applaud.
“Okay, let me take a picture,” Mommy says. Laura stands by Chase. “You two are the cutest Peter and Wendy ever. Smile!”
Chase’s patience lasts for two shots. “Can we go yet?”
“No, we have to take one with Daddy,” Laura insists.
Daddy joins them, waving his hook threateningly. The flash goes off one last time. “All right,” Mommy says. “Have fun, and be safe.”
I have the best family, Chase thinks, not for the first time.
***
Once Boo-boo sits securely atop his pencil box, Chase takes his hands away and inspects his work. “There, now you can see everything,” he says, satisfied.
“What’s this?”
He looks up to see a boy he barely knows standing nearby, staring at Boo-boo. “This is Boo-boo, my rabbit. He came with me because it’s the first day.”
The boy scoffs. “That’s stupid.” He flicks the rabbit so hard that it falls over.
“You’re stupid,” Chase snaps, setting Boo-boo upright. Snickering, the boy leaves.
From then on, everyone who makes fun of Chase becomes The Enemy, and is given no quarter.
***
He feels unsure about Aaron at first. Aaron is family, but also a stranger, and Chase fears that they might not get along.
Then Aaron notices Boo-boo. “That looks kind of like the Velveteen Rabbit,” he says. “Do you know that story?”
“It’s one of my favorites!” Chase exclaims, pleased.
“My mom used to read it to me all the time.” Aaron smiles. “Sometimes auf Deutsch.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means ‘in German.’”
Chase regards him. “How do you say rabbit in German?”
“Das Kaninchen,” Aaron says promptly.
Chase decides that his cousin can stay, because he is unexpectedly awesome.
***
Carrie’s awesomeness is never in question, except maybe for a few seconds at the very beginning. She likes a lot of the same things he likes, she’s an excellent artist, and she happens to be really good at telling off bad guys. And she lets him call her Care-bear, even though she obviously hates it. It’s like he has two sisters.
None of that changes once they get home. She calls him the next morning, in fact. “D’you want to come over and play Kingdom Hearts?” she asks, as if they do this every day.
“Are you kidding? Of course.”
***
“Laura, Chase…this is Sidney.”
Sidney looks like her brother. Chase can tell that she’s still not totally well, but she looks like she might be cool anyway. Laura immediately advances to give her a hug. “It’s so nice to meet you,” she says. “Kevin’s told us a lot about you.”
“He talks about you all the time, too,” Sidney says excitedly.
Chase glances at Kevin, who’s watching Sidney with love in his eyes. Maybe Kevin’s not just a jerk after all, he thinks.
Later, he catches the older boy kissing Laura and concludes it’s less confusing to just hate him.
***
Mr. Walker has been his Woodshop teacher for nearly two years now, is mostly cool with questions, and knows about his occasional neurotic episodes. Still, Chase waits until after class to approach the desk. “Mr. Walker? Can I talk to you about the assignment?”
“Certainly, Chase.”
“I don’t like using knives…could I take it home and have my dad help me with the engraving?”
Confused crinkles form around his teacher’s eyes. “You’ve handled power tools, and you’re worried about a knife?”
“Knives bother me.” Chase shrugs uncomfortably.
“Then I’ll help you,” Mr. Walker says, and that’s the end of it.
***
“Okay, making another sequel to Lion King wasn’t one of Disney’s greatest ideas,” Dean says, once the credits start rolling.
Chase gasps. “You take that back!”
Amused, Dean shakes his head. “Nope. I stand by it.”
Hoping that he can get Carrie to back him up, Chase leans over to catch her eye-and his heart stops. She and Dean are holding hands.
He sits back very slowly.
Carrie notices. “Are you okay, Chase?”
No! he wants to say. How could you two do this to me? Don’t you know that it’ll change everything?
He can’t, though, so he lies. “Yeah.”
Story: The Dragon World
Challenge: Gingerbread 28 (the fairest of them all), Cherry Vanilla 6 (love at first sight)
Toppings/Extras: Caramel (for the last two sections), Cherry (present tense), Chopped Nuts (the last section bleeds into my sundae project with Casey), Malt (Summer Challenge, Bunny #139: Sometimes I’m terrified to realize how many options other people have), Milkshake (Dean is Casey’s character)
Word Count: 800 (8-part pocky chain)
Rating: G
Summary: As far as Chase is concerned, there are only two kinds of people in the world: His People and The Enemy.
Notes: I love the idea of character pocky chains. I’d like to do them for all the DW characters, so this’ll be the first of six. I chose to include the last section (the Chopped Nuts part of the equation) because it highlights Chase’s character development post-DW really well, even though it’s not really canon. Please note that the fourth and sixth sections are no longer canon.
Chase happily plays with the rabbit while Laura frantically rearranges the other stuffed animals he toppled in order to get to it. Suddenly, she snatches it out of his hands. “This is mine,” she says sternly. “You can’t just take things that aren’t yours.”
He tears up immediately, stretching up to try to take it back. “I want Boo-boo!”
His sister begins to put it back on her bed with the others, but stops, considering both him and the toy. “Okay,” she finally says, handing it back to him.
Later, he won’t remember, but that’s when their friendship really begins.
***
He hops down the stairs as nimbly as Peter does in the movie, posing once he’s reached bottom. Mommy, Daddy, and Laura applaud.
“Okay, let me take a picture,” Mommy says. Laura stands by Chase. “You two are the cutest Peter and Wendy ever. Smile!”
Chase’s patience lasts for two shots. “Can we go yet?”
“No, we have to take one with Daddy,” Laura insists.
Daddy joins them, waving his hook threateningly. The flash goes off one last time. “All right,” Mommy says. “Have fun, and be safe.”
I have the best family, Chase thinks, not for the first time.
***
Once Boo-boo sits securely atop his pencil box, Chase takes his hands away and inspects his work. “There, now you can see everything,” he says, satisfied.
“What’s this?”
He looks up to see a boy he barely knows standing nearby, staring at Boo-boo. “This is Boo-boo, my rabbit. He came with me because it’s the first day.”
The boy scoffs. “That’s stupid.” He flicks the rabbit so hard that it falls over.
“You’re stupid,” Chase snaps, setting Boo-boo upright. Snickering, the boy leaves.
From then on, everyone who makes fun of Chase becomes The Enemy, and is given no quarter.
***
He feels unsure about Aaron at first. Aaron is family, but also a stranger, and Chase fears that they might not get along.
Then Aaron notices Boo-boo. “That looks kind of like the Velveteen Rabbit,” he says. “Do you know that story?”
“It’s one of my favorites!” Chase exclaims, pleased.
“My mom used to read it to me all the time.” Aaron smiles. “Sometimes auf Deutsch.”
“What’s that mean?”
“It means ‘in German.’”
Chase regards him. “How do you say rabbit in German?”
“Das Kaninchen,” Aaron says promptly.
Chase decides that his cousin can stay, because he is unexpectedly awesome.
***
Carrie’s awesomeness is never in question, except maybe for a few seconds at the very beginning. She likes a lot of the same things he likes, she’s an excellent artist, and she happens to be really good at telling off bad guys. And she lets him call her Care-bear, even though she obviously hates it. It’s like he has two sisters.
None of that changes once they get home. She calls him the next morning, in fact. “D’you want to come over and play Kingdom Hearts?” she asks, as if they do this every day.
“Are you kidding? Of course.”
***
“Laura, Chase…this is Sidney.”
Sidney looks like her brother. Chase can tell that she’s still not totally well, but she looks like she might be cool anyway. Laura immediately advances to give her a hug. “It’s so nice to meet you,” she says. “Kevin’s told us a lot about you.”
“He talks about you all the time, too,” Sidney says excitedly.
Chase glances at Kevin, who’s watching Sidney with love in his eyes. Maybe Kevin’s not just a jerk after all, he thinks.
Later, he catches the older boy kissing Laura and concludes it’s less confusing to just hate him.
***
Mr. Walker has been his Woodshop teacher for nearly two years now, is mostly cool with questions, and knows about his occasional neurotic episodes. Still, Chase waits until after class to approach the desk. “Mr. Walker? Can I talk to you about the assignment?”
“Certainly, Chase.”
“I don’t like using knives…could I take it home and have my dad help me with the engraving?”
Confused crinkles form around his teacher’s eyes. “You’ve handled power tools, and you’re worried about a knife?”
“Knives bother me.” Chase shrugs uncomfortably.
“Then I’ll help you,” Mr. Walker says, and that’s the end of it.
***
“Okay, making another sequel to Lion King wasn’t one of Disney’s greatest ideas,” Dean says, once the credits start rolling.
Chase gasps. “You take that back!”
Amused, Dean shakes his head. “Nope. I stand by it.”
Hoping that he can get Carrie to back him up, Chase leans over to catch her eye-and his heart stops. She and Dean are holding hands.
He sits back very slowly.
Carrie notices. “Are you okay, Chase?”
No! he wants to say. How could you two do this to me? Don’t you know that it’ll change everything?
He can’t, though, so he lies. “Yeah.”