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juniordeputyvance​:

Summer afternoons at the sheriff’s department were turning out to be a lot more boring than Harvey had originally expected. The only concern for the workers as of late turned out to be the growing heat and humidity instead of troubles in Normal. Of course it was fitting - a small, sleepy town like Normal shouldn’t be brimming with crime on even the worst of days. Still, Harvey had to admit the slowness kind of killed the joy of working with the sheriff. Slow days typically meant two horrid things - First, the potential of going home earlier than typical which meant being hounded by his parents over whatever little thing about his life was bothering them as of late. Second was the company of Officers Tweedledee and Tweedledum. While Harvey would sing the praises of any of the personnel at the sheriff’s department, he had a particular distaste for Lockstock and Barrel. Something about the pair rubbed him wrong. Perhaps it was their unnerving laziness whenever the phones weren’t ringing, but likely it was how they had a tendency to pick on the junior deputy. Which was exactly what he assumed was up when Barrel burst into the office where Harvey was currently filing paperwork. Glasses sitting low on the bridge of his nose, he gave the officer an annoyed look — one only made sour as the other laughed in the background. What stupid mischief are you two up to? He wanted to voice his thoughts but instead set aside the last file he’d been working on with a sigh before making his way out of the office. Just humor them for a moment, then you can go back to work. Hurry and finish, maybe grab some Marie’s on the way home, or even dine in and plan that date with Mariana… “Alright, go on, have your laugh and make it quick. I’ve got work to do—”

Harvey had trailed off at the sight of two rather large and sad eyes staring back from the main area. He’d had very little compassion for the subjects of the side job he’d been given by the sheriff, but even Harvey’s stone cold resolve was melted at the sight of Edwina Clussy crying. And why wouldn’t it be? It was basically the same as watching a puppy get kicked. Shoulders slumping, he frowned as the girl began bumbling off about her bike of all things — Officers Dumb and Dumber snickering and chuckling behind him. He couldn’t even feel annoyance at their presence — he was too busy trying to make sense of the fast paced words tumbling out of the girl’s mouth. “Not a cop,” he inserted quickly when she suggested it was a police officer’s job to help people. Harvey was pretty sure she’d made that same mistake before — lots of people did, which he couldn’t understand. But she carried on, Harvey becoming more confused by the second. Rubbing his chin, he’d waited until she was finished to finally speak up on the actual “issue” at hand.

Pausing momentarily when the girl finally stopped, Harvey raised a single brow. “Okay, let me get this straight… You came all the way to the station because you can’t ride your bike?” He could hear the officers’ snickers get louder. Hands on his hips, he half turned to them with a steely glare. “Hey Bert and Ernie, how about you go do your actual jobs? Unless you want the Sheriff to know you’re dawdling?” And really he would rather deal with this humiliation without Lockstock and Barrel eavesdropping. Turning back to Edwina, his expression softened. “You’re not going to become a teenage delinquent because you couldn’t ride your bike for a few months, Edwina. Believe me, you’ll survive. And for the record — My Chemical Romance is a great band. You can enjoy them without having a phase.” Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his eyes narrowed slightly. “But all that aside… doesn’t fully explain what you’re doing here. What is it exactly you want me to do…?” His confusion was evident, though in the back of his mind he figured he had an idea where this was going. And his mind was churning through just how he was going to help this girl get at least one good bike ride in this summer. Definitely not the kind of excitement he expected upon signing up for the junior deputy program, but it was part of the job description to assist those in the community right?

“More like a secretary.” Barrel chimed in as he stuffed his face with a donut. Lockstock threw his head back in laughter as he applauded Barrel’s remark. Edwina’s lip magically stopped trembling and she put her hands on the counter to hoist herself up higher to meet the men’s eyes at their desks. “Hey pea brains, you heard the man! Get back to those cases collecting dust on your desk!” she barked (well, more like yapped considering her size) in an attempt to get them to lay off of Harvey. The two just exchanged smirks and not-so-concealed chuckles as they went back to looking over their work. “Yeah, that’s right, turn around!” Eddie said, slightly jolting herself forward as if to say ‘come at me, bro.’

When Edwina was done trying to rumble with the two cops, she went back to looking up at Harvey with sad eyes. “It’s not just the bike. It’s what it signifies.” she explained, her hand raising and punching her fingers together like she was an Italian mobster. “Bike riding with your friends in summer is like the closest thing to freedom you get to taste before moving out of your house.” And the Clussy parents were a little less generous than the average parent with the freedom they gave their kid. It’s not that they didn’t trust her (which, maybe they shouldn’t considering the girl was so prone to peer pressure), but she was their only child and it took her parents a pretty emotionally draining series of events to have her and bring her home. 

“You sound just like Jamie.” she commented regarding the MCR thing. It was meant more as an observation, but it definitely could be taken as an insult. Either way, she made a mental note that Harvey listened to My Chemical Romance. He could deny it all he wanted, but Eddie knew that he was probably a lil fucked up if he knew the ‘do or die, you'll never make me!’ verse of Black Parade by heart.

“I want you to ride the bike for me.” Edwina didn’t give Harvey a chance to respond before bouncing in place as she looked at him with desperation. “Please please please please please? C’mon, Harvey, what about protect and serve? I need you to protect me from being sad and serve by helping me out.”

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hollys-eve​:

When Edwina reached out and brushed the shoot for Holly’s nose, she nearly doubled over in surprise. It was such a gentle touch, kind and sweet, everything that Edwina was. She felt her heart thunder in her chest and that same overwhelming urge that took her over at prom to grab this girl’s face and just fucking kiss her bubbled up. But that wasn’t a thing. Because right now they both had boyfriends (was Kaz her boyfriend? God that shit was complicated) so kissing each other was completely off limits. Also, she probably didn’t want to have her first kiss with Eddie be in the cindered remains of her living room. Not exactly top tier mood lighting when at any moment they could inhale wrong and cause an asthma attack.

“That’s the hopeful thing, isn’t it? But what are the odds that Lizzie does anything that doesn’t involve me forced into a situation I’m uncomfortable with?” Holly snorted, turning away as she gathered up a few of the books to see if they were still in good enough shape to keep. “I know Jamie doesn’t believe in them, which in a lot of ways feels like a fucking slap in the face since he’s the one toting the necronomicon around. If even he doesn’t think they’re real then maybe I am just having insomnia induced hallucinations.”

Her hands started to shake as she took a deep breath. “They just feel so real. It’s like I’m there and I wake up and my whole world is upside down. But then you’re there. You and Violet and Kaz and I’m okay again.”

Overwhelmed, Holly reached out, pulling Edwina into a tight hug.

“Someone’s gotta be hopeful around here.” she shrugged. If that was the only thing Edwina could bring to the table, then so be it. “Uhhhhhh--” Perhaps the Lizzie thing was harder to be cheery and optimistic about. Lizzie was like the human embodiment of ice. “Well. . . she’s your mom. And moms are supposed to do what’s best for you, yeah? But sometimes their idea of what’s best for you is different than what you actually need--” Edwina had a purpose in mind when she started speaking, but perhaps it was gunna get lost if she kept rambling. “What I’m trying to say is that even if she keeps making you go to him when you don’t wanna, it’s because she loves you. That’s at least a little comforting, yeah?” she tried to smile, her expression still looking a little unsure.

“Maybe Jamie’s just reluctant to believe because he’s still mad that you didn’t let him write an article about how he thinks there’s dead bodies inside the walls of Our Lady of Peace?” she proposed reasoning to. After all, Holly had been the most skeptical with everything that had happened to them and around town.

Noticing Holly-Eve’s hands beginning to tremble, Edwina put the trash bag down and shed her gloves. “Hey, c’mon you--” And before Edwina could finish or try initiating touch with the red head, Holly pulled her into a hug. Edwina thought maybe she should be the one hugging her, but once she felt Holly’s grip on her, she knew what it was-- Holly was scared. She wanted to be grounded.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay!” she assured, wiggling out of Holly’s embrace so Edwina could cup the girl’s face in her hands. “Look, I pinky promise we’re not gunna leave you.” Edwina spoke on behalf of Violet and Kaz because she didn’t think they’d have it in them to dump Holly to the side of the road. Even if they did, Edwina would probably give them some long winded speech about the power of friendship that would put a kid’s anime protagonist to shame. The girl extended her pinkie out. “So if you’re ever not sure what’s real, then you can just look at us and know, okay?”

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bryce-evans​:

As he was yanked down to the grass, Bryce wanted to let out a string of curses, though he was quickly shut up as Edwina’s hand pressed against his mouth. There were so many things he wanted to ask, such as why the fuck had she done that, though the answers presented themselves soon enough. Heidi. The video of her and Edwina had been amusing in its own right. At least, it would have been if it weren’t for the fact that Edwina had been the one getting slapped in it. Considering he now had to see the girl regularly, that took some of the delight out of it – but only some.  

He didn’t want to tell the girl that she greatly overestimated who exactly Heidi would go through to get what she wanted, not when she seemed so sure that she would be safe with him. As he opened his mouth to speak, a little hesitant thinking that she was going to shush him again and put her hand on his face, Bryce paused, uncertain exactly what to say. He didn’t exactly want to roam around the carnival with Edwina looking for Violet or Holly, but he also didn’t want to just ditch her and leave her to whatever could befall on her. It was fair to be afraid of Heidi, at least someone in Edwina’s shoes.

“Fine. I’ll go with you to you find them.” Another thought came to his head then as he considered his options. He had actually come here with someone, someone who he hadn’t seen in a while…a longer while than he should have felt comfortable with considering the state he had allowed his semi-friend to wonder off in. “I should probably find Felix out there too. He’s high as a fucking kite and I’m supposed to be his ride back.”

“Jesus, of course he is. . . Yeah we should look for him too. The last thing I want is some cop stopping him and realizing he’s taken M-A-R-Y-J-A-N-E. Love Felix, but I think when my mom gave me my piggy bank, she intended it to be broken open when I’m going off to college-- not bailing Felix out of jail.”

When Heidi seemed at a safe distance, Eddie stood up. “How much you wanna bet he’s by the food trucks?” she sighed. They could look for Holly and Violet at the same time, but the girls were sober so locating Felix may have to come first. The two walked through the crowd, Edwina trying to keep up with Bryce’s longer legs. “So, you and Felix hangin’ huh? A boys night out. Some bro shenanigans. True blue homie escapades.” Her words were painfully awkward as she tried (and failed) desperately to crack boy code and seem cool. Edwina might have been friends with Felix longer, but Bryce and Felix were both dudes. Edwina felt a little nervous that maybe Bryce was going to become best friend number one since he could relate to more stuff with Felix. 

“You guys gunna like. . .” She trailed off as she tried to think of things guys liked to do, “Listen to Eminem later?”

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violet-matthews​:

“I do believe in justice,” Vi acknowledged, voice quiet as she let herself mull over the girl’s words. While she was thankful that Edwina was taking the time out of her day to reassure her, Violet was a thousand percent certain that if Norman began to extol the virtues of Moses to her, she was going to shut down. She could fake being interested in water polo, and remain cool with hearing about how Faustina would love some help preparing for the next Chastity Ball, but religion was the one thing that got her tuning out 99 out of 100 times.

Was this somehow her mother’s fault? Had Caroline Matthews taken any bit of interest in religion with her once she’d ditched out on the clearly godless town that was Normal?

Now there was a thought…

“And one percent of that ten percent is reserved now for Violet Matthews, apparently,” she pointed out as she watched Edwina circle the easiest topics to steer conversations to. Somehow, even though she still didn’t know him all that well, Edwina’s breakdown of Norman felt entirely accurate and that 50% God was her personal enemy in the relationship. She might’ve committed much more about him to memory already if he was 50% sweater vest.

“He’s memorized my milkshake order and has now begun completely ordering for me when we spend time together where food is a part of it. He’s also sure to ask after some of my friends by name. And by some of my friends I mean you and Kaz. Since you’re the only two he clearly approves of.”

Relieved at the arrival of the milkshakes, Vi wasted no time in plucking the cherry off of the top of her whipped cream. Having eagerly popped it into her mouth, the sweet taste of vanilla made listening to a condensed Normal family history almost tolerable.

“I don’t love how they’re still taking full credit for getting us out of that famine, by the way,” she started, taking a temporary break from slurping down her shake in order to speak. “But oh, I know he’ll be Mayor someday. It’s been expressed to me that a future alignment of the people who put out the rules and the people who enforce them is ideal. In a way that makes it sound like we’re all doomed to take on the professions of our parents and I’m going to end up the Sheriff instead of a housewife. But there’s very little ‘choose your own destiny’ in his circle, I think. But it’s good that he’s active at school. I can definitely talk to him about all of that. Acapella… rowing.”

She would never be able to mention his participation in SAACK without also dropping in a question regarding the naming process, though, so she avoided mentioning that one by acronym.

SAACK? Really?

“Aristocrats and Court Kings?” she decided to focus on instead. “I’m legitimately hoping that’s a DnD club because otherwise, and I mean it with all the affection that I do have for my town prince of a boyfriend, that’s just so incredibly pretentious. Wait. What does the S stand for?”

When Violet brought up the update to Norman’s interests, Edwina held the pen and scribbled again. “Noted.” she nodded, Norman’s napkin brain having some crossed out sections and revising now to make room for Vi. She slid the diagram to Violet to hold on. “Don’t wipe your mouth with that.”

Edwina took her useable straw out, listening to Violet intently as her hands and moist wipes worked to make sure it was clean of 99.9% bacteria before putting her mouth on it. “That’s sweet though!” Maybe not for someone as independent as the blonde, but for someone as old fashion as Norman and Edwina, it was misogynistically #couplegoals. As someone with anxiety, it was like the restaurant equivalent of having your mom make your doctors’ appointments for you. “He’s trying to show you he listens. I know you don’t really like him that much, but it could be worse. He could be mean to you.” After cleaning her straw more throughly than one would a room in prep for surgery, Edwina finally drank. She crocked her eye up at Violet at the friends comment. “What does he think is wrong with our other friends?” You know, besides having a deep intrigue in the macabre or having two lesbian witches for guardians.

“But they did! We probably be born without them. All the people from Normal would’ve died if it weren’t for Norman’s family.” she praised naively. Edwina was still a little brainwashed, even if she did now know that ACAB (thanks to Kaz). “I don’t think following in our parent’s footsteps is so bad. I mean, I wouldn’t mind just staying home and being a mom. Besides if you became the sheriff then--” She stopped herself when the weight of what she was about to say hit her.

If you became sheriff then you’d probably do a better job than your dad.

Edwina didn’t think it to be rude, but everyone in town knew that Charlie Matthews was definitely no Charlie Swan. “--Then you’d probably do a good job of busting bad guys." Stellar save.

“Yeah, I don’t know much about it since it’s kind of Skull and Bonesish. Kind of a mystery, but Norman name drops a lot of the guys in it. It’s some pretty big names in town.” she explained, scooping the cherry off of her milkshake with a spoon and placing it on Violet’s when she saw just how much the girl liked maraschino cherries. “Oh, the S stands for Society. See look, you’re starting to take an interest in interests! Look at you go girl!” Eddie smiled, leaning over to high five Vi.

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Edwina had been working on her car for God knows how long, but she was hoping to actually get it working by the end of summer with some determination, elbow grease, and money. Especially money. Her dad was already reluctant before to help fund her project due to not wanting his daughter loose on the road, but after everything that had happened she was probably not going to get an allowance until Hell froze over.

Having Jamie around when she tinkered with the car made her think less about just how much time and money was going to have to go into getting it finished though. If Jamie was there then she wouldn’t start bawling her eyes out at the reality of it all.

“Can you hand me the ratchet?” Eddie asked, face buried under the hood before stand back up straight. She blew a strand out hair out of her face, making a mental note to take a shower later to get the car schmutz out of her hair. “I’m thinking about getting a summer job at some place other than my dad’s dealership. Answering phone calls just makes me nervous. Sometimes the people on the phone are so mean. What about you? What are you doing this summer?”

// @devilsward​

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Edwina was excited to have a sleepover with the girls in newspaper club. Hell, she was even excited that Mariana had agreed to come. The plan was simple: go to the carnival with Holly-Eve and Violet, get some food, go back to Eddie’s house and Mariana meet up with them later. However, she didn’t expect to lose the two taller girls in the crowd.

“Holly-Eve?” No answer. “Violet??” Her head whisked around as she searched for them. They were probably looking for her too, but Edwina tended to disappear in crowds due to her stature. She went to take her phone out, but remembered that Holly-Eve had taken her fanny pack to give Edwina less to carry. “Great. Fucking great.”

It was hard to get through the carnival, even with the walking boot she had begged her parents and doctor to let her get, so running around for the female Hardy Boys wasn’t an option. She was just about to start bawling when she bumped right into Bryce. 

“Bryce!” Maybe they still weren’t on the best of terms, but it was better than nothing. “Have you seen Holly-Eve and Violet? They wanted to go on the tea cups, but I get motion sick easily so I--” And like a dog hearing a whistle in the distance, Edwina immediately stopped and began hyper alert of something.

Heidi and her goons were walking by, Heidi sporting the new pixie cut she had to get thanks for Edwina, the truth or dare demon, and a pair of scissors. As if a bomb in the crowd had just gone off, Edwina grabbed Bryce’s shirt and yanked him down to the grass and behind the booth they were at. The grass and dirt touching her knees felt disgusting, but Eddie could try about it later. 

“SH.” she snapped, her palm covering his face as she tried to hear the girls walking away. They could hear Heidi’s best friend giggling loudly as the group continued to incoherently babble about something (probably bleacher blowjobs or Fourth of July plans). “Heidi is going to fucking kill me if she sees me. You have to walk with me while I find Holly-Eve and Vi or else they’re going to find my corpse in the Sticks tomorrow. C’mon, Bryce, she won’t dare fucking with you! Please?”

// @bryce-evans​

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Organizing files might have been a pain in the ass, but at least it was better than the days where Sheriff Matthews ordered Harvey to babysit. It was a relatively slow day (which was a pleasant surprise considering someone was dead or vanished every week), but when the carnival rolled around everything weird in Normal seemed to be taking a hiatus. Officers Lockstock and Barrel had been musing over doughnuts and coffee how nice it was to not have the phones ringing off the hook for once. Just when it seemed like Harvey might even be able to get the work done early and go home, Officer Barrel opened the door to the filing room. 

“Vance, you’ve got a kid here requesting your services.” he feigned serious before the other officer behind him broke with laughter. Officer Barrel was now unsuccessfully holding in snickers as he motioned Harvey to go see what was out there waiting for him.

Behind the main desk in the office stood Edwina. She was crying, but that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. What was weird was that she had her pink bicycle at her hip.

“Harvey, I have an emergency.” The girl’s eyes were swelling like she had just witnessed some kind of freak accident, if not much worse. “I can’t ride my bike.” Well, this constituted as ‘much worse’ in her world. “Harvey, I’m still in this cast for another month and I've been waiting all winter to go riding and show off the really nice ribbons I put on the handles. I’m cooped up in my house. I couldn’t take it anymore so I sat on the seat and just slowy pushed myself all the way here. It wasn’t the same, in fact I lost balance and tipped over twice. I just need to live vicariously through someone. Everyone else is busy and cops are supposed to help people!” she begged, still ignoring the fact that Harvey was not a real cop. An earth shattering lesson in police brutality from Kaz and Jamie had her not entirely trusting the police department’s oath to protect and serve, but if anyone was going to give benefit of the doubt then it’d be here. “If I can’t have bike riding this summer then I’m going to go into my senior year grumpy and miserable and then sooner or later I’m going to start doing depressed teenager things like listening to My Chemical Romance or join the drama club.”

// @juniordeputyvance​

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felixsantiagox‌:

“It’s because I’m their precious and only baby boy, Eds, and they have the money to fix it.” Was it a shitty thing to say – pretentious and elitist as fuck – yes, but it was the truth all the same, wasn’t it? From the time he was a young boy, he’d been spoiled from parents who both cared to an extent, and yet … didn’t. Now, truly, was no different. “And hey! That was only one time, and I was like, 13. Cut me a break. If anything, you encouraged me!” Well, maybe not so much. That was around the time he’d started getting into hard-time alcohol, after all. There were plenty of things he’d done in the early stages that weren’t considered all that stellar. He’d far matured since then, of course, and measured out the perfect balance of a perpetual drunk or high state that was safe ( ish ) and kept the spirits away.

He noticed his friend’s reaction to his drug of choice, but brushed it off as though it were nothing. He’d dealt with it long enough at this point, and as much as he loved the girl to bits, there was no way he was giving his much needed vices up. Besides, he was always as respectful as he could be with her around. Or close enough to it that he could be. Grabbing his lighter, Felix clicked it on and lit up the end of the blunt and took a deep, needed drag before turning his head and blowing the smoke behind him and as far from Edwina as possible. “I’d say that’d have to be an exaggeration, but knowing your fam as well as I do …” he trailed off with a wince. He was amazed she was able to hang out with him as often as she did, given his reputation. “Hey, good on your Ma. I mean, not having you in the Scooby Gang? What would be the point of me being there?” Most of the group thought he was a joke, anyway. Then again, with everything happening in Normal and what they’d all seen ( and his backburner want for answers for himself ), was there really an escape from him now? Though the thought of anything slipping on his end terrified him to his core.

The mention of the demon had a harsh shiver going through his bones. “Please, don’t remind me of that.” The awful hissing for him to ‘say what he saw’ present on loop in his recent nightmares. “Oh, shit, my Tamagotchis are long dead. And my Nintendogs at that,” he laughed with a dual second puff mixed with a sip of his siked coco. The continued discussion of demons was twisting up his chest, and made him feel short of breath. “Eddie. Eds, hey,” he tried to soothe as he reached across the table to grasp at his rambling friend’s hand. “Chill. Come on. I brought you over here to forget the dark shit for a bit, yeah? Let’s do that.”

The question of his well being had him reassuring her with a silly snort. Well practiced by now. “Me? Oh, shit, I’m fine. I mean, handling everything as well as I can be considering the circumstances.” And there it was. That niggling guilt. The guilt that came with not telling his best friend the deepest and darkest of his secret. But, there were reason for that. There always had been.  

Edwina might not be as rich as Felix, but they were in somewhat of the same tax bracket and both had been spoiled only children. Edwina didn’t even walk until she was almost two because her parents refused to let her feet touch the floor. Therefore, she understood first world problems as well as she understood how cars worked, but that didn’t mean she thought Felix should use dollar bills to sop up his messes. “I’m not saying they should ban you from microwaves, but maybe teach you a little more responsibility.” It was kind of wishful thinking, and Eddie would admit that. She knew his parents and although they weren’t putting hands on him, they both sucked in their own way. “I encouraged you??” she repeated, voice going up an octave, “I said I was hungry and told you not to use the stove when your parents weren’t there!! I was being cautious! I didn’t think it’d still end up with you finding a way to house a kitchen fire!” Though, she did watch him put it in the microwave. She tried insisting that it wouldn’t work, but Felix’s insistence was louder than her yelling.

“My dad means well, I just wish he trusted that I know how to pick friends.” Felix, Jamie, and Holly-Eve had yet to let her down. She just wished he could see people past what people seemed to be and maybe he’d understand why she hung around the people she did. “Yeah, if I wasn’t there who would fix the computers?” As Edwina continued to scream into the void on his rooftop, something about the skunk smell suddenly seemed enticing. Officer Lockstock had already been to their school to give them the “Just Say No” talk, but Felix had been smoking for years and he still had yet to turn into the have his skin and teeth fall off like the police officer said would happen. She stared at the blunt before her eyes drew back up to look at  him. “Do you. . . inhale it like when you’re trying to take the helium out of a balloon?” The closest thing to smoking she had done before was when her mom burned cookies in the kitchen and Edwina had breathes in the fumes. “Does it burn?”

She pinched her mouth tightly at his reaction. “Sorry, Felix.” she apologized, “Okay. . . yeah you’re right I don’t want to think about that stuff for right now." The mention of demons was already gut wrenching, but dead Nintendogs really brought her over the edge. Edwina rapidly blinked back the tears trying to spill over her bottom lash line. “God, it took you so fucking long to teach your nintendog how to play frisbee.” she choked, flicking the tears away with her finger. “That poor lab.”

The nonchalantness could only half fool her. “I mean, I know you’re never fine, but are you Felix fine?” It was a depressing take, but it was true. There was regular person okay and then there was as okay as her best friend could probably be with a history of parental neglect and tendency to turn trauma into jokes. “I know it’s your right to not tell me everything--” And she didn’t exactly want to hear everything (boys could be so damn gross sometimes), “but I just want to make sure you’re alright. Ya know cause like I’d be a pretty shitty best friend if I couldn’t.”

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hollys-eve‌:

Cleaning up the remains of her living room was a terrifying process. Her parents were at the dump currently, dropping off the furniture that couldn’t be salvaged before they went to a few shops in town in hopes of finding replacements. Which left Holly to sweep up and dust off anything that could make it. She was grateful to have Edwina here by her side, mostly because she knew how to clean better than anyone else. 

The Knights house had never been a particularly cleanly place to begin with. Maggie believed clutter was decor, Lizzie couldn’t care less, and Holly had been raised by the two of them. Really, their living room has been a firefighters nightmare. They’d said it was amazing it hadn’t gone up in smoke before.

No one really blamed Holly for the evening. The cops had looked at her a tad suspiciously but sitting amongst the flames stuck in a catatonic state had been enough reason to keep them from pointing fingers. Neither of her parents were too upset either. Except for Lizzie, who was still bemoaning the loss of her imported rugs while Maggie hovered around Holly and every time she wheezed came running over with some herbal peppermint tea.

“He’s an interesting guy,” Holly said as she scooped up a few bits of an old book. Crime and Punishment. How fitting. “Mom told me about him and he’s eccentric but who isn’t in this town. I guess I’m mostly just nervous about what he’s going to tell me. It’s not like I can admit I think I’m having prophetic vision of the future.”

She paused and took a deep breath, willing to admit the thing she’d been worried about for so wrong. “Do you think I’m crazy? That these aren’t real? That maybe I am just going absolutely bonkers from stress? It’s just, they always feel so lifelike.”

“Interesting is good though!” she exclaimed before dusting some soot off of Holly’s nose with a paper towel. Holly’s complexion was so pale compared to the ash that it looked liked house spiders were crawling on her every time they floating off the damaged decor they were tossing out. “And you’re interesting. Maybe you two get along and you find someone with a professional perspective on how to help with all the stress you’re under. Or maybe he tells you you’re fine and Lizzie says you don’t have to see him ever again?” Edwina picked up one of Maggie’s crystal balls, still in perfect condition. When Holly-Eve wasn’t looking, Eds chucked it into her black plastic trash bag. She didn’t need Holly having any more decorative reminders about being some sort of oracle. Sorry, Maggie. 

“Of course I don’t think you’re crazy.” Sad, anxious, insomniac-- Yes. Crazy? No. “Look, I know we have some conflicting beliefs but in my world, miracles are supposed to be real and not magic. I’ve been having some really fucking crazy confession sessions at church because of all this. If I didn’t believe you, then I quite honestly would not be putting my mortal soul on the line to help you break into school files.” Or maybe she would have. “I’m not entirely sure what’s real anymore. All I know is that you’re one of the most real things in my life-- including your dreams.”

[screamqvccn]

violet-matthews‌:

“The way I see it, I’m doing you a favor.” @screamqvccn​

It was probably bad that after a certain point in dating, Vi had just started to selectively listen to her boyfriend. It wasn’t anything against him, really. Just… how much religion info dumping could her brain handle? Really? Add on info on a capella, talk of finding recipes for the Normal family chef to spice up the summer menu, and more information about rowing than she would likely ever need, and it was probably understandable that sometimes she nodded along and let her face react while her mind was anywhere but there.

So she wasn’t exactly killing it on the girlfriend front. With the whole summer in front of them, however, and no end to their relationship in sight, Violet knew that she really needed to start putting in the work. She couldn’t just ask Norman to repeat everything he’d ever said, but there was definitely one person she knew who had at least some insight into topics that the male would be likely to revisit.

So she’d asked Edwina to meet her at Marie’s, figuring they could grab milkshakes and then stay firmly in one place out of respect for Edwina’s still cast-protected leg. No trying to get a sneak peek at the carnival, no taking a walk. Just a friendly stationary chat between pals.

Edwina had arrived right on time, and after a quick re-debrief of her situation in the first empty booth they’d come across, Vi had offered a milkshake in return for the girl’s Norman-specific services. A milkshake that had been politely turned down in what seemed to be a show of friendship, but could definitely also be an ‘and I will call upon you to return this favor at another time’. Hard to tell.

Still, Violet found herself insisting that the girl just let her do as she’d planned, her refusal to acknowledge the girl’s brush-off coming instantly.

“Yes, but even so, you’re allowed to accept a milkshake. Those aren’t exclusive to non-favors,” Vi pointed out. “Besides, I think we could each use all the sugar we can get for this. I mean, things didn’t stick before, so anything new that can be done to make sure they stick this time around, right?”

Although Edwina would usually be excited to talk about religion, Violet just so happened to seek her out at a turbulent time. Being face to face with a demon and prayers not working to save you really puts a bump in your relationship with the Big Guy. Not only that, but she had finally come to terms with that she might be attracted to women. Years of sermons about how man should only lie with women made Edwina think perhaps she wasn’t God’s star child anymore. 

Still, any existential crisis she was having had to be put on hold. Violet needed her and, by extension, Norman needed her as well. The last thing she wanted was for Violet to look bad and for Norman to have his feelings hurt that things he said had slithered out her ears.

“You don’t have to buy me a milkshake, Vi.” she explained, twisting the cross on her neck between her fingers. “It’s what friends do!” The blonde was insistent though, and Edwina had always been one to fall to peer pressure (especially if it involved a birthday shake). “Okay, I concede.” Edwina took her white napkin and waved it like a flag of surrender.

“I don’t think I really need to give you a thousands of years of biblical history lesson for you to be able to talk to Norman about it.” she began with, hoping it was ease some of the stress that Edwina could clearly see clouding the girl. “If you believe in being moral and goodness then you’ll be fine to carry a conversation. Like if he starts talking about Moses liberating Egypt you can be like ‘oh yeah, one time I saved the newspaper office from smelling like toe jam by volunteering to take Kaz’s shoes out in the hall. Doing difficult tasks that are good rock.” Perhaps both things were on different scales, but she got the picture. “I mean, you believe in justice. Same concepts as that.”

Edwina took her napkin and grabbed a pen from her fanny pack. The tip of her tongue poked out as she scribbled intently. “Norman’s brain is kind of like this--” Edwina held up her drawing of Norman’s profile with his brain full of writing. “You have 50% God, 20% Family and politics, 10% friends, 10% sweater vests, and 10% left for other things like dogs, acapella, and my mom’s baking.” She circled Family & politics and friends for her. “I think you’ll go crazy if you only ever talk to him about God so I think we’ll lay down his family history and his friends because they bleeds into his hobbies.”

Thankfully, their milkshakes arrived in time because Violet was about to need it. “So you have his great great great great great great--” she paused, counting on her fingers before resuming, “Great great grandfather who made the town. All the Normals are super proud of that. Ya know, we have the whole famine that hit the town when everyone first settled here and then Norman Normal the First was able to learn how to properly grow on the land from neighboring settlements and Native Americans still standing ground in the area. He gets elected as mayor, and then leading just kind of ran through the Normal bloodline. I mean, I don’t think we’ve ever voted a non Normal into office. Norman is going to be running around like the Mayor too one day. He’s president of so many things at Alberione.” Edwina took a break to take a swig of her own drink. “I digress though. Anyway, that brings me to his friends. Norman is student body president, captain of rowing, head tenor of his acapella group, and Duke of SAACK. Stands for like. . . Alberione Aristocrats and Court Kings I think? He doesn’t talk about it too much since they’re supposed to be all secretive, but all his best friends are in it. It’s kinda like the nexus of his social life.”

[screamqvccn]

☎

NAME: Junior Deputy Harvey Vance 🚓

RINGTONE: Every Breath You Take by The Police

PICTURE:

[screamqvccn]

Send your muse’s thoughts about mine on anon

And my muse will react

[screamqvccn]

☎

NAME: Mariana Diaz ⚠️⚠️(PICK UP YOUR PHONE 🧛‍♀️)⚠️⚠️

RINGTONE: Super Freak by Rick James

PICTURE:

[screamqvccn]

☎

NAME: Jamie Ward 🐱💕🖤

RINGTONE: True Colors (Cover) by All Time Low

PICTURE:

[screamqvccn]

☎

NAME: Holly-Eve Knights 😪☕💖💖💖

RINGTONE: Just Like Heaven by The Cure

PICTURE:

[screamqvccn]

☎

NAME: Vi Matthews 🔫 (pew pew)

RINGTONE: Here by Alessia Cara

PICTURE: