Rick?s eyes twitched in the subtle manner of a man juggling a great many things in his head, as if the ideas and thoughts were so tightly crammed inside his skull they pushed on the backs of his optic nerves like pushy city folk shoving their way into an over crowded subway car. His cheek got into the action, tongue pressed into it, and he even cocked his head a sliver to the side, sending brown tangles hair, overdue for a cut, tumbling off on side. ?You don?t feel any which way, kid?? he asked with a hint of a frown.
What was bothering him was simple; everyone felt someway about tentacles. Most people felt pretty negatively about them. They were, after all, tentacles, and were at best attached to the strange and slimy bodies of deep sea denizens. At worst? Well..
You get things like Bob. Eldritch creatures from the spaces beyond space, the times beyond time, manifesting in the ?real world? in maddening, impossible ways. Rick had seen the monster for what he really was, once, and ..
A second guessing worked into Rick?s head, joining the gordian knot of thoughts, but before he could rethink anything the door down to the basement swung open and a knot of black, kitten-soft fur peeked out.
It?s head was satin shiny and had all the shapes and angles of a cat, with two vast ears that turned and adjusted themselves, radar dishes zoning in on every sound. The eyes were depthless, the nose button cute. It moved on a dozen flexible stalks, which seemed to move and stretch in impossible ways. Barely a foot tall but able to reach the door knob, Bob looked out into the shop, at Ellen, and then finally up at Rick. ?Was that the pizza guy??
Ellen truly didn?t feel anything about tentacles. She didn?t love ?em, she didn?t hate, ?em, wasn?t particularly repulsed or even thrilled about ?em. If Rick pressed and had managed to push for a more detailed explanation Ellen would have simply explained that she viewed tentacles (in relation to most marine life, seeing as she had never met anything like Bob before!) in much the same light as she viewed her our arms and legs, fingers and toes.
She wasn?t blind to his confusion though she found herself confused right along with him. What was he expecting? And why was he asking about tentacles in the first place? Watching the boy-mage intently, who acted far beyond his years, she slowly but surely began to wonder if this had been a good idea after all.
The basement door clicked open and drew her attention, her eyes darting from Rick to inspect ?
?nothing at first.
Then a voice drew her gaze down and several things happened at once. Firstly, Ellen?s brain kicked into overdrive, the gears and the wheels spinning, her synapses firing off so many neurons that briefly it looked as though she convulsed. Her spine straightened, her shoulders drew back, and her lips parted in a soundless gasp. And if she hadn?t caught the edge of a table conveniently behind her, she would have fallen into a heap on the floor.
Unfortunately everything on that table got knocked and scattered, the young girl flinching when something suspiciously sounding like glass shattered and popped, almost like how a light bulb sounds.
That was the first sequence of events.
The second came in a whirlwind. Recovering (if not fully) she blinked and rubbed a hand across her face, taking a second look, followed by a third, a fourth, until ?
?OhmygoshitssocuteIwantone!?
In the end biology wins out - because there is some truth to the basis that all girls love kittens.
The crash of tabled items made Rick cringe, even if it was just a grouping of useless and powerless nick-nacks used to placate and entertain the random customer who came in on a whim. House keys you couldn?t lose, mood rings that shifted through a complicated spectrum of colors, decks of magic cards that always gave their owners a winning hand in poker -- none of really important. But he could already imagine the sounds echoing down the hall and up the stairs opposite the basement. He could already sense Quinn shifting uneasily in the tub, frowning down through the floor. Her imagined disappointing glare weighed on him heavily. If he was lucky, she had the music up.
With a sudden shift in course, the sweeping broom was making a straight line for the fallen mess. If Rick didn?t intervene now, he?d have to fight the broom off with his bare hands, and he wasn?t sure that was a fight he could win. Brooms are vicious beasts. He made introductions while he moved past Ellen.
?Bob, meet Ellen. Ellen, Bob. No, Bob. You know no one will deliver here.? In case Ellen made for the mess herself, Rick cut her off with a polite shake of the head and a subtle nudge towards the eldritch fuzzball giving her a curious eye.
Bob?s whole body ruffled, fur waving from the tips of his ears down to his tentacles tips. Grumpily, ?Riccccck. You said I could go out now. Why can?t I get pizza delivered, too?? The wizard cleaning the mess didn?t seem to interest Bob nearly as much the mess maker. Bob moved closer to her, shuffling around on his innumerable digits. ?Hi, Ellen. I?m Bob. Don?t believe anything Rick told you. I?m the best.? Bob gave her an action pose and waited for her reaction.
?You know why.? Rick frowned. He?d moved past the table and was trying to disenchant the broom, which swept at his feet angrily like a buzzing bee. The wizard seemed to be losing the battle by small margins. ?Ellen. Since I?m going to have to clean up this mess, why don?t you do me a favor??
Ellen would have cheerfully (if sheepishly) answered if it hadn?t been for one thing.
Bob captivated her; there was no better way to say it. Slowly dropping to her knees and hunching down in some strange mock-bow she held out a tentative hand to the kitten-creature, her smile a slow one but growing, like a sunrise blushing across a sky still studded with stars. It somehow made her look younger than her sixteen years and chased away a lingering darkness ? a shadow ? that Ellen strove daily to shake.
Bob did something for her that no one else had been able to yet.
He gave her a measure of her childhood back.
The events prior to her arrival in Rhy?din remained murky and obscured by a mind that wrestled with night terrors, cloaking the true horror and keeping it well hidden. But the nightmares still came, playing out snippets and reels of what transpired that night, which seems so long ago now.
Ellen knew enough from her hazy memories and those night terrors that she could never, ever go home again. She knew enough to know what she had lost in those woods, on that night, which seems so long ago now.
But Bob did something for her and she was so fixated on the creature that Rick almost became static noise for her. A buzz in the background, a presence she felt but one that didn?t infringe on her attention. So strangely besotted she didn?t bother apologizing for knocking the table, something wholly uncharacteristic of the girl.
Maybe it?s his kitten guise or maybe it was the magic that imbued the whole town. Maybe it was just a quality of Bob that inspired in Ellen a memory of happier times; times spent in high haylofts with a new litter of mewing, furry faced animals blinding feeding from their mother. Squirming bodies and tiny tails, weakly moving with new life.
Sometimes things like this happen, a chance meeting, ripe with an endless stream of possibilities. And Ellen, in this chance moment, decided she felt just fine about tentacles and didn?t feel the slightest put off by them.
Of course it could have just all been the kitten guise...
?I?m Ellen!? she quickly supplied, her teeth flashing straight and white in that smile that wouldn?t quit. ?Nice to meet you Bob ? um,? she paused, her eyes shyly flicking between the ground beneath the writhing of Bob?s tentacles and his adorable, kitten-face.
?May I pet you?? she drawled slowly, a touch unsure.
Sadly though the spell she had found herself under was momentarily broken by words spoken in small undertones of frustration (the broom did appear to be especially furious over the mess), those blue-blue eyes darting up and over to the beleaguered boy-wizard.
Oh, oh yeah!
?I?m sure sorry Mr. Rick, I should have picked all that ?? she eyed the broom and scooted an inch or five to the left, finding it may be a danger to be any nearer.
?A favor? Well sure, I suppose I could.? Said softly, her eyes peeling away from that angry broom to watch Rick, curiously.
?I really am sorry for the mess??
Rick and Bob operated entirely on different tracks, though simultaneously. While Rick went through the various words of power that should have sent the broom falling to the ground, lifeless, Bob moved closer to Ellen with subtle hops and slight shifts of tentacle, attempting to maintain his heroic posture. Bob tucked his head into her hand when he was finally in range, as if to say, ?This is where the pets go.? The demicreature?s wide eyes looked up at hers, reflecting his deeply curious (and mischievous) nature. Beneath her touch, he was both soft fuzz and gentle rubber, more octopus than cat, and seemingly devoid of bones. In truth, he was devoid of substance, too, but the human mind had a wonderful way of coping with it, and Bob had learned long ago that people found the empty space he occupied to feel warm and furry, akin to a baby?s hair and just as comforting. He even smelled nice, but that was probably as much due to the copious amount of candy he consumed as it was about the way the brain substituted things for his general non-realness.
Between wrestling with the cleaning agent and trying not to step on what had been left on the floor, Rick said with all reassurance, ?It?s not that big a deal, Ellen. Really. Most people?s reactions to Bob are not nearly this clean. But, since you said you?d help, what I?d really like..?
Bob finished the wizard?s sentence, much to Rick?s annoyance. ?Take me out to pizza?? Oh. Puppy dog eyes. Puhlllllllleaaaze?, they said. With sugar on top. Finally breaking from his pose, Bob even added in a little wiggle and conjoined his many tentacles in pairs of praying hands. If it didn?t work, he was going to have to throw in a lip tremble and sniffle, but usually he didn?t have to go that fair.
Gruffly, ?Yes. Take Bob out. Sistite vos inflamma aut faciam!? The broom dropped, finally, and Rick slumped at the shoulders with relief. On cue, the lights flickered and the record player skipped, and everyone for half a block felt the hair on their arms stand up on end and began worrying about arson. The teenager kicked the broom a few feet away from him and felt better when it rebounded heavily off a shelf. Muttering, ?Stupid broom.?
Rick took a second to compose himself before he began picking things up and setting them on the table. ?Anyway. Bob can use a chaperone and I can use the break, so really, you?d be doing us two favors.? He was neglecting to point out that it was, in his mind, as close to a job interview as he was ever going to give. An afternoon with Bob was like being thrown into the deep end of a shark tank. Either Ellen would sink or swim. So far, she seemed to be doing markedly well. He watched her while he arranged the magic trove back into the organization Quinn had left it in days before.
?I?ll pay!? Bob added. Poor girl was getting it from both sides. ?We can stop by the candy store on the way back!? And with that, Bob?s eyes managed to go wider, as he hadn?t realized the possibility of stopping by it until after he?d said it. The only thing keeping him from throwing himself onto Ellen?s shoulder right then and there and leading her out onto the street was that she hadn?t agreed to it yet. He started to wiggle in place, excitedly.
?Pizza?? she echoed back in the form of a question, the slash of her dark eyebrows taking a lift as she watched with interest the battle of wills between -- master and what ...exactly?
Gently, her fingers flexed and curled around the small head of the demi-creature, her delight knowing no bounds. ?Yeah, yeah,? quick to toss in, the girl making a minute shift on her knees as she brought her other hand to impulsively scoop Bob into her palms.
Almost tenderly she lifted him, carefully depositing him on the curve of a skinny shoulder. ?I won?t keep him out long, Rick-sir,? she murmured as she got to her feet, dusting her jeans off with a nonchalance that was completely faked.
Outwardly she looked calm and collected; those blue-blue eyes placid and her lips curving into the slightest of smiles. She even primly folded her hands in front of her at her waist, watching the boy-wizard while he worked to restore order to his shop.
But, really?
Ellen had to use all her willpower not to jump and shout with excitement. She felt exhilarated and jittery with the sweet, sweet taste of victory. That morning she had set out to secure a job and a (at least somewhat) steady form of income. Shop after shop she had poked her head in and thus far, most had pleasantly turned her away. And those who hadn?t turned her away ? --
Well, needless to say she hadn?t bothered to return to ?those? places.
Places where even the window panes outside looked like leering eyes.
So, to have finally (possibly!) scored a job and something like Bob, too? Well, well, well. This wasn?t exactly a ?dream come true? but it wasn?t too shabby, considering what her circumstances are now.
Nodding to Rick as she tripped happily out the door, that slight barely-there-smile grew to near maniac proportions. She could have a life again, a life. It was such a small, small start, miniscule in truth. But it was a start and she felt in danger of losing her head, feeling as though it wanted to spin right off the stock of her neck.
She could have a life.
And a job! (Maybe). And a pet! (Well, not really ?)
?Bob, I might regret this,? she began conversationally to the creature on her shoulder, ?but lead the way.?
Of course, knowing that the demi-creature was going to pay for her lunch might have been what sold her in the end.
Rick smiled at them, thought it was a strained line rather than a bright curve. Not for the first time today, he was reconsidering sending someone out alone with the monster in the basement, but truth be told it looked like the girl needed a job and some friends. If he was going to supply her with either, she was going to need to be able to handle Bob. That was just the way of things.
?Be safe, you two.? He gave Bob a pointed look.
?Yeah yeah yeah, Rick. I got this, man. It?s cool!? Bob waggled all of his many tentacles, thin and fuzzy against Ellen?s shoulders and neck. Some of them curled gently around the girl so that he could pull his weight up onto her shoulder where he balanced himself surprisingly well. Other tentacles pointed her out the door enthusiastically. ?Come, my girl! Adventure awaits!? Adventure and pizza! And Candy! Bob shivered in delight as they went out the front door and into the streets full of new hopes and possibilities.
Bob thought he was going to like this girl, and so did Rick.
(( Thanks to Ordinary for this wonderful scene! Tune in next time for more adventures of Ellen and Bob in the case of, "How Much Pizza Can One Bob Eat?" ))
