Episode: 4.3

--- Ellie Grey ---

“So, what are we doing now?” she asked skipping next to her sister and Sol.

Sol checked the time on his phone, “Well, since I got myself kicked out of the PTA meeting early… we’ve got about an hour before the older two get out, so what do you two want to do?”

She thought about for a moment before smiling and opening her mouth to-

“No interdimensional adventures.”

-have Sol shoot down her fun idea like the stupid party pooper he was.

She spent a few seconds scowling.

Then she got bored of being upset and started smiling again, as she turned to her sister.

“Luna, what do you want to do?”

Luna paused, standing still as she began to think hard about something in that cool way only her most awesome-est sister could pull off.

“Ice cream.”

She couldn’t help but gasp.

(That’s an awesome idea!!!!!!)

“Ice cream!” she immediately agreed.

“Well-”

She didn’t let Sol finish that sentence before grabbing him in a hug, and giving him the biggest, “Ple~ease!” she could manage.

Sol rolled his eyes, with an amused grin before rubbing the top of her head.

“If you’d let me finish. I was about to say, ‘Well, that shouldn’t be a problem, as long as you don’t mind eating at Bones’s.’”

“Yes, yes, yes!” she couldn’t help but cheer.

“I thought you didn’t have to work today?” Luna asked from behind them, as she began tugging Sol towards uncle Bones.

“I don’t but, honestly, I don’t feel like dealing with too many people after that mess of a PTA meeting.” Sol explained a little awkwardly.

“Ah.” Luna nodded as if she understood perfectly.

She frowned a bit.

Luna may’ve gotten it, but she didn’t. She never could understand why Sol, Sophie, and Luna didn’t get along with people, after all people are awesome!

She glanced back at Sol and Luna.

(Just look at our family, they’re people, and they’re the most awesome-est people I can think of!)

That thought made her frown turn upside down.

In the end it didn’t matter she guessed, they may not be people-people, but they were her, non-people-people, and she’d love them either way.

“Alright, you two know the drill.” Sol stopped them.

She blinked and looked around, before realizing they were at uncle Bones’s. Not that anyone who’d never been there could realize that. Since the entrance looked like a metal door in a random graffiti covered wall.

(How ‘s he supposed to get customers if they don’t know there’s a tavern here?)

“Ellie…” Sol waved a hand in front of her face, causing her to blink once more.

“Huh?”

Sol got a weird look on his face, the one he got whenever Nico accidentally blew something up, the one that was equal parts amused and annoyed…

She couldn’t figure out why he was looking at her that way though…

“Don’t wander off. Stick together. Don’t talk to strangers. And absolutely do not go through any strange doors without you.” Luna listed, answering whatever question she’d missed.

“Right… uh…” Sol looked between her and Luna, “Ellie stay with Luna. Luna watch your sister.”

“I am her keeper.” Luna nodded.

Part of her felt insulted…

(Oh, well…)

She shrugged and let it go as Sol held the door open for them.

For a moment they were in a dark hallway that made her head feel all twisty-turvy, and then a light poured into the hall as pair of green velvet curtains pulled apart. Bringing them into an old tavern from the 1940’s…a ‘speakeasy’ she thinks Sophie called it once.

On the right there were two sets of stairs, one on either side of a large stage with the curtains drawn. Both stairs were blocked by a series of bars up and down bars, keeping anyone from taking the stairs into the dark below.

The left side, like the right, had a set of stairs on either side. Only instead of leading down, they lead up to a second floor she could just barely see a few tables on.

She remembered Sol once let them sit up there when uncle Bones put on one of his musical shows.

Given how there were people dancing between all the tables at the time, she kind of wished he’d let them sit down there too… But watching everyone dance was nice, especially since if she and Luna had danced, Luna would’ve ended up tripping on her dress.

And that was nothing to say about her other siblings.

Those memories made her giggle.

With a light push, Sol lead her and Luna to the left side of the floor. The left wall itself was covered in bottles of all shapes, sizes, and colors, with a long table connecting between the two staircases.

“Oi, Bones!” Sol called as they got near the table.

“I’m coming, just give me a second.” A smooth voice practically sang from behind a cloth covered door on the other side of the counter.

Accepting the words, Sol nodded before motioning for the tall chairs in front of the counter. She tried getting on the chest high seat herself, but after a moment of struggling, Sol tapped her shoulder.

“You want a hand there, sunshine?”

She shook her head furiously, “No, I’ve got this.”

After another minute, she knew she didn’t actually have it.

(That doesn’t mean I should quit trying though!)

Eventually she managed to get her stomach on to the seat, which technically meant she was on the seat.

(Now I just have to figure out how to sit up, without falling off…)

“Just pick her up before she hurts herself.”

She glared at Luna, who was already sitting in her chair, before pouting as Sol picked her up by the sides and plopped her in the seat next to her sister.

After taking his own seat on the other side of Luna, Sol gave a glance to the door behind the counter, “Bones, do you need a hand?”

“Nah, nah, just took me a minute.” Bones answered, pushing aside the cloth curtain with his pale bony hands, before freezing as he caught sight of them with his one glowing green eye.

After a moment, Bones shook his head before tipping his hat back and giving them a skeletal grin. “Well, if it ain’t my favorite set of twins: lil’ Ellie, and lil’ Luna! How are you two doing this fine evenin’?”

“We’re doing good, uncle Bones.” She told him excitedly, while Luna just nodded in agreement.

“Uh, huh, and what brings you two to my home this lovely day?”

“Sol said we could get ice cream if we came here!” She told him even more excitedly, while Luna nodded in as excited a manner as she could manage.

“Well… it ain’t usually on my menu,” Bones admitted, before leaning in close, “but I suppose I can make an exception for two cute lil’ things such as yourselves.”

Bones crossed his arms on the counter before glancing between her and Luna. “So, tell me, what ‘ll the little misses be havin’?”

“Ooh, ooh,” she waved her arm in the air trying to get uncle Bones attention from less than two feet away.

“Yes, miss Ellie?”

“Vanilla!” she cheered.

Bones nodded with another skeletal grin, before snapping his fingers twice, his eye glowing just a little brighter as he did.

On the first snap a bowl appeared in front of her.

On the second it filled with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, with a little spoon.

As soon as the frozen treat appeared, she dove into the ice cream, eating as much as she could, while idly paying half-attention to Luna and Sol.

“Chocolate. Triple scoop.” Luna ordered, as excited as her sweet tooth could manage.

“Single scoop.” Sol stated.

Luna turned towards Sol with a light glare. “…Triple scoop.”

“Single scoop.” Sol smirked.

“Triple scoop.” Luna argued, glaring into Sol’s eyes in that weird way she did every now and then, until, after enough time for Ellie to finish half her ice cream, Luna finally wilted, “Double scoop?”

Sol gave a chuckle before making a motion with his hands to Bones, who gave his own rattling laugh at their argument before snapping his fingers twice to the same result as her own order, only with two chocolate scoops instead.

“So, anything new with your little crew?” Bones asked as they dug into their ice cream.

“Ooh, I found this cool tooth!” she began excitedly, “I thought it was a dragon tooth, but Luna said it wasn’t…” she continued a little disappointed, before cheering up, “Oh, but Sol said he’d give it back to whoever it belonged to, so they can give it to the tooth fairy!”

“He did, did he?” Bones glanced towards Sol, a bit of laughter rattling in his voice.

“Shouldn’t be too hard, they got it while raiding that Scaleian guy.”

“Did they knock the tooth out of someone’s mouth?” Bones asked, completely ignoring the fact that they broke the rules like the cool uncle he was.

“Nah, we found it in Scaleian’s room, he’s always got all that cool weird stuff, so I thought it was a dragon tooth…”

“Still, you two shouldn’t be stealing things, even if it’s from the bad guys.” Sol told them, with a frown.

Bones gave a bitter chuckle, “Pretty sure most heroes do just that nowadays.”

“It’s not just nowadays…” Sol grumbled under his breath.

As she finished her ice cream, she tuned out the somewhat depressing conversation between the two adults. After a moment, she eventually she noticed Luna had also finished her ice cream, and had begun tugging on Sol’s shirt in increasing frustration.

“What’s up, kiddo?”

Luna stared at him for a moment before plainly stating, “I have to use the bathroom.”

“Ah, um…” Sol glanced off towards where the women’s restroom was, or rather the restroom Sophie or Nico always took them to when they had to go while visiting Bones’s.

With a nervous laugh, Sol turned back to Bones. “Uh, is Brigette-”

“Nope.” Bones cut off in blunt amusement.

Sol scratched the back of his head, before sighing in frustration as Luna began tugging on his arm again.

“Just let the girls go together.” Bones suggested, “I mean it’s not like anyone is willing, let alone stupid, enough to hurt a kid in my club.”

“You never know…”

“Quit being a helicopter mom.” Bones complained, his skeletal fingers clacking on the counter. “I mean how old are they?”

“Oh, we’re uh…” she started to answer, before blinking as she realized she didn’t know how old they really were. So, with that in mind she turned to one of the smartest people she knew, “Uh, how old are we?”

“Older than eight.” Luna answered plainly, still tugging on Sol’s shirt in growing aggravation.

Sol looked between her and Luna before finally sighing. “Fine… But Ellie you stay with your sister, got it?” She nodded, hopping off her seat as Sol helped Luna off of hers. “And if anyone gives you any trouble, just yell, and we’ll be there in a heartbeat, okay?”

“Okay.” She gave a determined nod. (If we come across anyone, I can’t beat up we’ll call for help.)

Sol looked like he wanted to say something else, but Luna had already grabbed her hand and was dragging her towards the bathroom, at a speed that made her question if Luna was using magic to make them move faster.

As Luna dragged her through the bathroom door and finally let go of her hand, she couldn’t help but glance around the large room. With white marble walls, and a bunch of fancy decorations, that while she couldn’t name, she knew there was an extreme difference between this room and the rest of Bones’s place.

(Bones’s restrooms are always so fancy.)

She wasn’t sure if that was aunt Brigette’s work, or Bones’s since he’d always been an artsy person as far as she could remember.

But none of this mattered to her sister, as she speed walked past her and to the nearest bathroom stall, only to freeze with her hand on the stall door, before turning to watch Ellie out of the corner of her eyes.

It was after nearly a minute of staring at her that Luna finally pointed a finger at the ground and said, “Wait, here.”

“Okay.” She nodded, after all it wasn’t like she was going to leave her best-est sister behind.

Luna watched her for another moment, before once more pointing at the ground and more firmly saying, “Wait, here.”

She frowned at that. “I know.”

Still Luna stared at her with a near unblinking gaze, that was almost as judgmental as uncle Alister’s, before nodding, and going into the stall.

Stretching her arms above her head, she walked over to one of the bathroom walls, leaning against it in that ‘cool girl’ way Sophie always did when she was focused.

A moment later she began tilting back and forth on her heels, and balls of her feet.

(Bored…)

A moment after that she began pacing.

(Bored, bored, bored…)

And a moment after that she began staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

(I’m so very bored…)

She peeked under the bathroom stall, “Luna, you done yet?”

Her sister responded by throwing a spare roll of toilet paper at her.

Standing up, she huffed, while crossing her arms.

“Fine.” (I’ll just go hang out with Sol then!)

With that thought in mind she made her way to the bathroom door and left.

She was halfway back to Sol and Bones who were in the middle of a conversation when she was distracted by a number of cheers to her left.

(Hm?)

Deciding that Bones and Sol were both busy, she made the decision to find out what had everyone so excited, and if it seemed like fun drag Sol and Luna over too.

As she got closer, she was able to make out two men sitting at a table surrounded by their friends. One an extremely large and muscular man with orange hair, and the other a leaner man in leather. But both were holding their hands together and seemingly struggling against each other as their arms slowly tilted back and forth.

It took her moment to realize what they were doing, but when she did, she was sure her eyes were sparkling.

(Arm wrestling!)

She used to love arm wrestling. At least until everyone quit playing the game with her for some odd reason. Sol said it had something to do with the doctor’s orders, or something…

(At least Nico still plays with me sometimes…)

Though they often said they couldn’t afford too many arm replacements.

(Whatever that means…)

Turning her attention back to the game, she watched as the large man, smashed the man in leather’s arm into the table, earning cheers from all around them, as a woman in a leather vest walked up and kissed him on the cheek.

“That looks like fun…” she told herself, before walking over to the table.

After a few steps she couldn’t help but pause with a frown as she remembered something super important.

(What about Sol’s rules…)

She glanced away from the crowd and over towards Sol and Bones; where the two were still talking about something as they waited on her and Luna.

(Well, they’re right there, so I’m not wandering off.)

(And they’re at uncle Bones’s so they’re not strangers to him.)

(And none of them look like strange doors either!)

Satisfied that she wasn't breaking any rules she smiled before nodding at the two wrestlers and walking up to the table. And once she was close enough that she knew they could hear her, she asked them, “Is it alright if I try?”

The large man and several of the spectators turned to her, before looking around the room. “Uh, whose kid is this?”

The woman in a leather vest leaned down to get a better look at her. “Hey, there sweetie, what are you doing here?”

“Me and my sister are visiting uncle Bones’s for ice cream.” She answered, before blinking, “Oh, but she’s in the bathroom right now.”

“Pfft, uncle Bones…” one of the men laughed, earning a chuckle from several others.

The woman glared back at the men, before turning a much softer expression on her. “Should you really be wandering off without your sister?”

“But she was taking so lo~ong…” she whined.

The woman gave a snort of amusement.

“Either way, she’ll be out in a bit… Can I play while I wait?” she asked, hoping the lady would answer in the affirmative now that she’d answered their questions.

“Oh, you think you can arm wrestle me?” The large man at the table gave a laugh. “Aren’t you a little small for that, kid?”

“Uh-uh, I’m really strong!” she argued while flexing her arms, something that got a laugh out of several of the spectators.

“If the little kid wants to play let her.” the woman told the large man, before giving a half-hearted glare, “Just don’t hurt her.”

The man put his hands up defensively, “Hey, I know my own strength.”

“So, I can play?” she smiled, bouncing on her feet.

“Yeah, go ahead and take a seat.” The man nodded, with a gesture to the space across from him.

Nodding back, she ran over to the chair that was meant for someone twice her size, before clambering onto it. It took her a moment, and she had to sit on her legs, but finally she was able to put her arm on the table and grasp the hand of the guy ten times her size.

The guy who judged the last match walked over and put his hands over both of theirs.

“Alright,” the judge smiled looking between them, “I want a good, clean, arm wrestling match here got it?”

The man nodded with his own smile, and she gave a determined nod of her own.

The judge looked between them, and she glared at the man, as best she could; because that’s what you’re supposed to do in a duel. The crowd around them gave a few laughs of (excitement) at the (duel of warriors) in front of them.

“And go!” the judge shouted releasing their hands.

As the man let go of their hands, she shut her eyes tight, and twisted her arm with all of her mighty-might.

There was this weird cracking sound, as the man gave his own yell of effort. It was one of those strange sounds she often heard when she hugged Sol or one of her uncles and their backs started making on these weird noises. They often told her they needed a minute after that and then spent that minute laying on the floor for some reason she never could figure out.

She took a peek between her shut eyes to see what happened. Everyone around the table were staring at her with wide eyes and open mouths. She glanced towards the man who large man she’d been arm wrestling with and saw tears in his eyes as he stared at the place where the back of his hand met the now cracked table.

It took her a moment to realize what she was looking at and when she did, she raised both hands above her head and cheered, “Ye~es!!!”

“Ellie, what are you doing?”

Her cheer went mute, as she slowly turned towards Luna’s questioning face.

“Nothing.” She lied.

Her sister was not impressed.

(Darn…)

Luna looked between the various people around her, her eyes spending just a moment longer on the guy she was arm wrestling, before falling back on her.

“You had your fun; Sol is likely waiting for us, come on.” Luna told her sticking her hand out.

“Oh, right!” she nodded, before hopping off the and taking her sister’s hand.

“Sol?” one of the men at the table asked in a quiet voice.

“We’re his daughters.” Luna explained simply.

Luna started to turn, but before they could wander off too far, she turned back to the man with tears in his eyes, before patting his arm on these weird red and white things, he’d gotten from his Deviation.

“Don’t worry you’ll win next time.” She encouraged him, even as he began tearing up at her act of kindness.