《Dreamer's Ten-Tea-Cle Café》Chapter Thirteen - Big Sister Talk
Advertisement
Chapter Thirteen - Big Sister Talk
Crossover: Fluff by RavensDagger
***
“It’s worse than you can imagine,” Emily said.
“It can’t be that bad,” Abigail replied.
Abigail’s friends had both left soon after Emily arrived at Abigail’s table, which of course had all of Emily’s social anxiety alarms ringing their death knells. It was only seeing the Daphne girl give Abigail a peck on the cheek and promising to see her later that calmed Emily down.
Somehow, that was enough to reassure Emily that she wasn’t the reason the other two girls had run off. They’d obviously had other things to do, and Emily’s presence wasn’t enough to scare them away.
“They’re so cute though,” Abigail continued. She was taking frequent sips from a large mug filled with steaming tea. It was one of those more plain teas, not a fruity mess of berries and such like how Emily’s mom liked hers.
Emily followed Abigail’s gaze towards her sisters. The five of them were recently joined by a sixth girl. She was about the same height as Trinity, with a round face covered in little freckles, and big ruddy cheeks. Her hair was the same as Abigail’s though. She looked rather sad, sad and confused, and Emily was proud to see that her sisters were trying to distract her.
Unfortunately that mostly involved making fart noises with their armpits, and arguing about who was cooler, Emily or Abigail.
“Sure, cute,” Emily said. “That’s your sister?”
“Uh, sorta?” Abigail said. “She’s my... kind of like a little sister, I guess. It’s complicated?”
Emily nodded. She understood complicated.
“That’s Dreamer’s clone, really.”
“Huh? Dreamer?”
Abigail blushed. “My, uh, little sister, sorta. She’s... upstairs, I think? Honestly, I really should go see if she’s alright.” Abigail took another long sip of tea in lieu of seeing if things were alright.
Advertisement
Emily took a sip from her coffee in understanding.
So the brown-haired girl back there was Abigail’s sister’s friend, then? That tracked. She was probably disappointed that the other girl wasn’t around. Or something. Emily wasn’t going to dig too deep into any prepubescent drama, for her own sanity’s sake.
“Your sisters seem mostly well-behaved.”
“Yeah, right,” Emily said.
“Really. They’re a bit loud--” Abigail paused to let Teddy finish screaming about finding joy in comradeship. “But I bet they don’t cause any sort of strange trouble.”
“Strange trouble?” Emily asked.
Abigail nodded, then paused. “You know. Weird things.”
“Yes,” Emily agreed. “My sisters only cause normal problems. Perfectly ordinary ones.”
Abigail nodded. “Yes, mine also is like that.”
They both knew they were lying.
Neither of them cared.
“So, any advice on how you manage to wrangle so many brats all at once?” Abigail asked.
Emily considered it. “Mostly I think it comes down to setting boundaries and explaining what is or isn’t too much. They’re young, and rather dumb you know.”
Abigail nodded. “They are.”
“So you can’t expect them to know what is or isn’t okay. You need to outline what’s acceptable and what isn’t, and once that’s done, you must absolutely never let them get away with anything past that line.”
“That sounds harsh.”
Emily nodded. “I know. I hate it, and I’m terrible at it.”
“I don’t know if I’m all that good at telling Dreamer what she can’t do. She always seems to want to do what she thinks is best.”
“My sisters are the same. They’re really sweet, but sometimes what they think is the right thing to do is, ah, a terrible idea.”
Abigail nodded. “Thanks. It’s good advice. I mean, I think I already knew all of that, but I guess hearing it helps a lot.”
Advertisement
“Sometimes things are like that,” Emily agreed. “It’s why school repeats the same lessons sometimes.”
“That makes sense,” Abigail said. “Do you go to school?”
“I do,” Emily said. They started to chat about school, the hardships around that, and then a bunch of inconsequential nonsense in between.
***
The clone, who was Dreamer and yet wasn’t, was confused. “I don’t understand.”
The girl with the bear-ears growled, her little hands balling into a fist. “What is our purpose in life, if not to spread villainy, to do right by our big sisters, and to help our comrades in their times of need?” she asked.
The clone considered this. “My purpose is to give people pamphlets.”
“Sure! But that’s just a short-term goal. Something to do now, to spread the word” The bear-girl placed a hand on the clone’s shoulder. “Today we give pamphlets. Tomorrow, we will seize the means of production!”
The clone nodded, it seemed like the right thing to do, even though... even though the thought was wrong.
Her goal, her purpose, was to give people pamphlets. What was existence but a fleeting thing, the passage of time between the handing of folded paper to strangers?
This message, about seizing things, that was like... like if her purpose in life was to take pamphlets instead. It was wrong.
And yet, it felt so very, very tempting.
“Alright girls,” the one the others called the Boss said. “We need to head back home. Put everything away for poor Abigail, and say bye to your new friend for now.”
The bear girl nodded, then pat the clone on the back. “Don’t worry, comrade, you’ll figure it out.”
But as the clone watched the children go, all of them holding onto one of the precious pamphlets she was destined to hand out, she wondered if she really would figure it all out one day.
***
Advertisement
The Prince of Cats
To stay alive, Jawad must succeed where all others have failed: he must catch the Prince of Cats. More legend than man, the Prince is draped in rumours. He can steal the silver teeth from your mouth in the blink of a smile. He is a ghost to walls and vaults, he laughs at locks, and Jawad must capture him before powerful people lose their patience and send the young rogue to the scaffold.Ever the opportunist, Jawad begins his hunt while carrying out his own schemes. He pits the factions of the city against each other, lining his own pockets in the process and using the Prince as a scapegoat. This is made easy as nobody knows when or where the Prince will strike, or even why.As plots collide, Jawad finds himself pressured from all sides. Aristocrats, cutthroats, and the Prince himself is breathing down his neck. Unless Jawad wants a knife in his back or an appointment with the executioner, he must answer three questions: Who is the Prince of Cats, what is his true purpose, and how can he be stopped? The Prince of Cats is set in the same world as my other fiction, The Eagle's Flight, but the two stories are not connected. The full story has been uploaded. Information and a map of the city can be found here. There is also an interactive storybook app inspired by The Prince of Cats. The full story can be played for free. Download for Android or for iPhone.
8 72Grimson: Blue Future
20 years has pass since the first appearance of the infamous Grimson, whom disappear and never to be heard again since, why? where might they be? Whatever the answer might be, it won't change the fact that a new storm will blow, bringing the breeze of a new era.
8 255End Boss
I am Varon of the Ravan family. The successor to one of the 5 great families that support the empire. I am a duke. And I am this story’s end boss. But I am also Ragnarok the great evil dragon, the Serpent king. I held power, title, glory and wealth and a easy life but I have given it up to be with her. My beloved. The red witch. The one who’s hated by all but me. She’s whose condemned by god. But today I will free her from her cage. I have prepared for every possible hindrance. I can’t afford to lose. My crimes are long. I will break her lock. I’ve lead and started wars from the shadows. I have imprisoned the souls of many and now my legions burn this empire. I have thrown this world into chaos. I am ready today the hero dies. So to break her free I shall slay the god that holds her. Even if the world dies in the process. I will get here back. For I am the evil dragon and she my evil goddess. And I will have her back. I hear her call. I miss her voice that just yesterday I could hear. The one called hero will not slay me for I know. I know I am this story’s end boss. How do I know this I am this story’s end. Because I am also a man from earth. And the ending to this story. I shall change it. See long dead is the man from earth. Long dead is the argonaut noble human. Long dead is the powerful dragon. Now there's only me Varon. A lonely man named Varon. But today I will be with her again. I am the end boss. But this time I shall slay the hero. I am Varon. At first I was simply Varon then Ragnarok memory’s came. Then the whispers that haunted me became her voice. Then the memory’s from earth came and with them so did a chance. A chance to be with her. A chance for victory. A chance for the end boss to win. It is time. Let’s begin the story. Can I best the other bosses?Can I defeat the coming hero? Am I allowed a happy ending after all that I have done? (Don’t remember where the cover photo came from but I think its from a manga.)
8 368The Diamonds
When two human's named Abigail and Ron find out that they are actually alien creatures called: Diamonds their life gets turned upside down. Everything they thought they knew about themselves was a lie! Now they have to figure out who they really are all over again. The journey to them becomes nothing but one big nightmare after another. But unfortunately it's not a dream. It's for real and there's no waking up from reality no matter how bad it seems.
8 81The Ending They Should've Gotten - Monty and Winston
What if Monty didn't die? And what if he and Winston got a happy ending?
8 111Ahs preferences imagines
(Mainly Evan Peters characters) I take requests and update as regularly as I can!
8 113