Crossover: Trail Mix 24 & Peanut Butter 5
Author: Casey
Story: Shifts: Index - Post-Shifts and 1306’s Toothpick Arc
Challenge: Trail Mix 24 (middle of nowhere), Peanut Butter 5 (wood)
Toppings & Extras: Malt (Snowflake Milkshake), Milkshake (Toothpick, Zack and Regina are not mine, but the wonderful 1306’s!), Caramel (the twins are 14)
Word Count: 1,063
Rating: PG
Summary: Mariah meets someone who gets it.
Notes: It occurred to me that Toothpick and Mariah would totally get each other, so here we are! I apologize for taking a bit of liberty with Toothpick’s ability to hear trees, but I had to shift it a little to have it fit into the Shifts world.
There was a part of Mariah who loved the woods and the quiet it afforded her - both emotionally and actually. She wandered ahead of her brother and Finn, who was in their charge for the afternoon. The only forest she really knew existed on a large tract of land that Isabelle Wellingstone owned out behind her large mansion, which is where they were. And although she knew it butted into less urban area, she had never gone far enough into it to find them.
In fact, in all the times she had spent out in it, she had never ran into another soul, so her surprise was rather large when she all of a sudden picked up on three sets of emotions not too far ahead of her. She paused, staring ahead with narrowed eyes, before heading that direction cautiously. Mariah finally hit a small clearing, spotting three kids - two boys and a girl - about her own age, standing there. The youngest of the three had his hand against one of the tree trunks, looking up into it with a rapt, glazed look that Mariah thought looked familiar.
Then, the boy turned and looked straight at her, expression clearing.
She jumped, instinctively taking a step backward, but he smiled and there was something incredibly disarming in the simple expression. “Hi!” he said, his friends looking a bit more warily, staring into the underbrush at her.
Taking a deep breath, and knowing that Josh and the nine-year-old Finn were not too far behind, Mariah stepped into the clearing. “This is private property, you know.”
The boy shrugged, hand never leaving the tree. “It’s not posted. And it has the oldest trees around.”
She frowned. “Why would that matter?”
“It doesn’t,” the older of the two boys said loudly. “C’mon, Toothpick, let’s go home.”
Mariah squinted at them, sensing something off. “You’re lying to me.” Then it came to her where she recognized the look of euphoric concentration on Toothpick’s face. “Were you...talking to the tree?”
Instantly, she knew all three were about to lie to her. “No,” the girl said. “He most certainly was not.”
Mariah shifted her gaze to Toothpick and waited for him to respond. After a moment, he shrugged again, almost guilty. “They like having someone who listens.”
This did not surprise her at all. Finn had never discussed his ability much, but she suspected it was much the same as this boy’s. She took a step towards him, ignoring the protective flairs from the other two. “Do they talk a lot?”
“Toothpick,” the other boy said again. “We should get home.”
“They sing,” he told her. “It’s the most beautiful sound in the world.”
As Josh and Finn finally caught up, she tilted her head, glancing up at the woods briefly before looking back at him. “Emotions definitely aren’t at all beautiful. They’re just messy and ugly most of the time. Even good ones.”
All four of the others regarded her with surprise. Toothpick looked thoughtful. “Well,” he said slowly, “I would say,” he paused again, “I would say that maybe it’s all how you listen sometimes.”
“I don’t understand,” the girl said.
“I’m Mariah. This is Josh, my twin, and Finn, our, um, sorta cousin. Finn has a thing for plants too.”
“Trees are too big for me,” Finn said pleasantly. “Can you talk to them?”
“Yes,” Toothpick said, before introducing himself, the girl as Regina and the boy as Zack.
“D’you have powers too?” Finn asked them.
“Um, no. Powers?” Zack asked.
Finn gave him his very best ‘are you stupid’ look. “Y’know. Magic. Like Toothpick and me, Mariah and Josh.” As he and Zack set to it, Mariah ignored them and turned back to Toothpick.
“I don’t see a good way to look at it,” she told him. “It’s just a pain in the butt. Can you hear the trees all the time or just when you’re touching them like that?”
“All the time. It can be,” again he paused, choosing his words with care, “tiring and overwhelming, but all living things love to talk, in their own way,” he said and then smiled, nodding towards Zack and Finn, who were still bickering happily, while Josh and Regina exchanged amused looks and waited to intervene if it got to be too much.
“Tiring and overwhelming are good words,” she said. “Do they ever threaten to swamp you?”
“Trees are very polite,” Toothpick said. “It sounds like Finn could tell you that, so I can ask them to quiet down if I need to.” A troubled look crossed his face. “It’s hard when I’m close and they’re in pain for some reason. That’s one of the reasons why I like these woods, because it’s calmer than a lot of the smaller stuff close to our farm.”
“Well,” Mariah said impulsively, “you can come here whenever you want.”
He looked a bit surprised. “I didn’t know Mrs. Wellingstone and Mr. Preston had kids.”
“We’re not their kids. We’re, well, it’s complicated, but I’m sure Isabelle and Michael won’t mind. What...what do you do when you get overwhelmed? Or they feel sad?”
Toothpick smiled. “Why else do you think I have friends?” he asked brightly. “Zack and Regina keep me sane and help me stay happy. It only gets really bad if I’m sick and they’re sad.”
“Yes!” Mariah said, knowing how difficult it was to keep her barriers when she was sick and her focus was shot. “I didn’t say,” she said apologetically, “but I’m an empath and it’s a lot the same.”
A clock alarm went off and she glanced at Josh, distracted. He held up his watch and pointed at it. “Gotta go or people’ll get nervous.”
She rolled her eyes. Between their three powers, it was all but impossible they would ever get lost in the woods, but their parents, and other relatives, still worried themselves silly about such things.
“Guess we have to go. Could we talk again?” she asked Toothpick, having gotten the sense, in the brief conversation, that he understood in a way that even Oriana could not always do, because some things just needed to be experienced.
“Sure,” he said, smiling that affable, disarming smile again. “I’d like that!”
She grinned back. This, she was sure, was the start of a great friendship. Even if Finn was insisting on antagonizing his best friend.
Story: Shifts: Index - Post-Shifts and 1306’s Toothpick Arc
Challenge: Trail Mix 24 (middle of nowhere), Peanut Butter 5 (wood)
Toppings & Extras: Malt (Snowflake Milkshake), Milkshake (Toothpick, Zack and Regina are not mine, but the wonderful 1306’s!), Caramel (the twins are 14)
Word Count: 1,063
Rating: PG
Summary: Mariah meets someone who gets it.
Notes: It occurred to me that Toothpick and Mariah would totally get each other, so here we are! I apologize for taking a bit of liberty with Toothpick’s ability to hear trees, but I had to shift it a little to have it fit into the Shifts world.
There was a part of Mariah who loved the woods and the quiet it afforded her - both emotionally and actually. She wandered ahead of her brother and Finn, who was in their charge for the afternoon. The only forest she really knew existed on a large tract of land that Isabelle Wellingstone owned out behind her large mansion, which is where they were. And although she knew it butted into less urban area, she had never gone far enough into it to find them.
In fact, in all the times she had spent out in it, she had never ran into another soul, so her surprise was rather large when she all of a sudden picked up on three sets of emotions not too far ahead of her. She paused, staring ahead with narrowed eyes, before heading that direction cautiously. Mariah finally hit a small clearing, spotting three kids - two boys and a girl - about her own age, standing there. The youngest of the three had his hand against one of the tree trunks, looking up into it with a rapt, glazed look that Mariah thought looked familiar.
Then, the boy turned and looked straight at her, expression clearing.
She jumped, instinctively taking a step backward, but he smiled and there was something incredibly disarming in the simple expression. “Hi!” he said, his friends looking a bit more warily, staring into the underbrush at her.
Taking a deep breath, and knowing that Josh and the nine-year-old Finn were not too far behind, Mariah stepped into the clearing. “This is private property, you know.”
The boy shrugged, hand never leaving the tree. “It’s not posted. And it has the oldest trees around.”
She frowned. “Why would that matter?”
“It doesn’t,” the older of the two boys said loudly. “C’mon, Toothpick, let’s go home.”
Mariah squinted at them, sensing something off. “You’re lying to me.” Then it came to her where she recognized the look of euphoric concentration on Toothpick’s face. “Were you...talking to the tree?”
Instantly, she knew all three were about to lie to her. “No,” the girl said. “He most certainly was not.”
Mariah shifted her gaze to Toothpick and waited for him to respond. After a moment, he shrugged again, almost guilty. “They like having someone who listens.”
This did not surprise her at all. Finn had never discussed his ability much, but she suspected it was much the same as this boy’s. She took a step towards him, ignoring the protective flairs from the other two. “Do they talk a lot?”
“Toothpick,” the other boy said again. “We should get home.”
“They sing,” he told her. “It’s the most beautiful sound in the world.”
As Josh and Finn finally caught up, she tilted her head, glancing up at the woods briefly before looking back at him. “Emotions definitely aren’t at all beautiful. They’re just messy and ugly most of the time. Even good ones.”
All four of the others regarded her with surprise. Toothpick looked thoughtful. “Well,” he said slowly, “I would say,” he paused again, “I would say that maybe it’s all how you listen sometimes.”
“I don’t understand,” the girl said.
“I’m Mariah. This is Josh, my twin, and Finn, our, um, sorta cousin. Finn has a thing for plants too.”
“Trees are too big for me,” Finn said pleasantly. “Can you talk to them?”
“Yes,” Toothpick said, before introducing himself, the girl as Regina and the boy as Zack.
“D’you have powers too?” Finn asked them.
“Um, no. Powers?” Zack asked.
Finn gave him his very best ‘are you stupid’ look. “Y’know. Magic. Like Toothpick and me, Mariah and Josh.” As he and Zack set to it, Mariah ignored them and turned back to Toothpick.
“I don’t see a good way to look at it,” she told him. “It’s just a pain in the butt. Can you hear the trees all the time or just when you’re touching them like that?”
“All the time. It can be,” again he paused, choosing his words with care, “tiring and overwhelming, but all living things love to talk, in their own way,” he said and then smiled, nodding towards Zack and Finn, who were still bickering happily, while Josh and Regina exchanged amused looks and waited to intervene if it got to be too much.
“Tiring and overwhelming are good words,” she said. “Do they ever threaten to swamp you?”
“Trees are very polite,” Toothpick said. “It sounds like Finn could tell you that, so I can ask them to quiet down if I need to.” A troubled look crossed his face. “It’s hard when I’m close and they’re in pain for some reason. That’s one of the reasons why I like these woods, because it’s calmer than a lot of the smaller stuff close to our farm.”
“Well,” Mariah said impulsively, “you can come here whenever you want.”
He looked a bit surprised. “I didn’t know Mrs. Wellingstone and Mr. Preston had kids.”
“We’re not their kids. We’re, well, it’s complicated, but I’m sure Isabelle and Michael won’t mind. What...what do you do when you get overwhelmed? Or they feel sad?”
Toothpick smiled. “Why else do you think I have friends?” he asked brightly. “Zack and Regina keep me sane and help me stay happy. It only gets really bad if I’m sick and they’re sad.”
“Yes!” Mariah said, knowing how difficult it was to keep her barriers when she was sick and her focus was shot. “I didn’t say,” she said apologetically, “but I’m an empath and it’s a lot the same.”
A clock alarm went off and she glanced at Josh, distracted. He held up his watch and pointed at it. “Gotta go or people’ll get nervous.”
She rolled her eyes. Between their three powers, it was all but impossible they would ever get lost in the woods, but their parents, and other relatives, still worried themselves silly about such things.
“Guess we have to go. Could we talk again?” she asked Toothpick, having gotten the sense, in the brief conversation, that he understood in a way that even Oriana could not always do, because some things just needed to be experienced.
“Sure,” he said, smiling that affable, disarming smile again. “I’d like that!”
She grinned back. This, she was sure, was the start of a great friendship. Even if Finn was insisting on antagonizing his best friend.