Margo Hanson (fembotfury) wrote in stromaisleic, @ 2023-03-19 12:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | !time: morning, *thread: complete doc, ☑day: three, ☒dropped: eliot waugh, ☒dropped: margo hanson |
Who: Margo Hanson & Eliot Waugh
What: Margo arrives
Where: one of the beaches
When: Day Three, morning
Warnings: Margo’s mouth
Status: complete gdoc
Margo was grateful to be on her way back to New York via Fillory. The only thing she wanted right now was a long, hot shower. And maybe a few lines of coke. This quest had proven to be more of a challenge than she was expecting, though it certainly paid off in spades. The weight of the axes tied to her belt were proof of that. She had fresh batteries in her iPod, a full skin of water, and plenty of protein bars so her return trek should be easy enough, especially now that she knew how long it should take and should be able to avoid licking her lizard and getting high as fuck again. The faster she got back, the faster they could rescue Eliot from the Monster that hijacked his body and she could have her best friend back.
When she finally stopped for the night, she found a nice spot where she could set up a makeshift camp, figuring she would get a few hours of sleep and then hit the road again. She made sure her lizard was fed and watered and then she curled up to sleep. In the morning, she woke up and stretched. It took a few minutes for her to realize the air was much cooler than it had been the night before. Margo stood and surveyed the area. This was not where she’d fallen asleep, but she had her bag and her lizard still. How had she and her belongings ended up somewhere else?
Her eyes landed on a piece of parchment. After reading it, she let out a huff of exasperation. “Fucking fairies, I swear to god,” she grumbled. Who or what else would do something like this? She shoved everything in her bag, including the communication device, and tried to decide which way she was going to go.
*
Eliot gave Quentin a kiss before he left the house. He needed some air, some time to think. He didn’t like this place. He’d rather be back in Old Fillory than here. At least it was familiar. Here was chaos. Several people were trying to take some type of leadership, but it didn’t seem to be going all that well. He was grateful Quentin had been brought here, but other than that there wasn’t anything comforting or likable about it.
He headed toward the beach hoping no one else would be around. Not that he really thought they would. As he walked he saw a figure in the distance. Perhaps someone else had needed to get away. The closer he got though there was something familiar about the person. Eliot stopped frozen in his tracks. Margo? Could it be? Was he dreaming? Was he actually still asleep? He moved, quickening his pace. “Bambi!” He ran to her and threw his arms around her. “My god, you’re here. You’re really here.” If this was a dream he hoped like hell he wouldn’t wake.
*
It had been so long since Margo heard Eliot call her by his special nickname for her that she momentarily forgot the whole purpose behind her quest. However, when she moved to put her arms around him in return, the axes clanked and reminded her of what she’d been doing. Quickly, she stepped back, and glared up at the man in front of her.
“How do I know you’re really Eliot?” she demanded as she untied one of the axes and held it up in front of her. They hadn’t quite figured out how they were going to use it to excise the monster without killing him, but she would improvise if she had to.
*
Eliot stepped back and stared at her. “What is this you’re wearing? Very unflattering.” Wait. Did Margo take an ax to hold up in front of her like she needed to defend herself against him? “Bambi, it’s really me. You freed me from the monster. Would a fake Eliot tell you how unflattering that thing you’re wearing is? The Physical Kids Cottage, Ibiza, The King and Queen of Fillory. Ovary up!” Surely that would make her realize he was really himself.
“I swear it’s really me.” He looked into her eyes, pleading. “Where did you come from, what’s the last thing you remember? Q and Kady are here.”
*
All of those things were memories that the Monster could have pulled from Eliot’s mind, but the pleading look in his eyes was far too human to be anything but him. She dropped her ax and pulled him into a tight hug. “You fucking idiot,” she said. “I was on a quest to save your ass. Well, on my way back from my quest. I haven’t showered in days and this is supposed to keep the sand out of uncomfortable places which, I assure you, it does not.”
She stepped back and looked at him. “I don’t understand where I am or how you’re you, but it doesn’t matter. Where can I shower and please tell me you have your flask?” A drink or six would be excellent around now.
*
A loud laugh came from Eliot and he squeezed her tightly still not believing she was actually there. “That’s my Bambi.” He knew about the quest she’d been on from his update. “You saved me. You, Q, Julia, all of you.” He kept looking at her when she stepped back. It was really her. He couldn’t wait to tell Quentin and Kady.
“I don’t know how I got here either. None of us do.” He pulled the flask from his coat and handed it to her. “You know it’s always on me.” Eliot made a face. “About that…There are no showers here. There’s no power. There’s not much of anything. All the houses need repair. Basically we’re in a primitive place, darling. Not ideal by any means.” He didn’t like it and he knew she wouldn’t. He could already hear her in his mind.
*
“So we’re somehow somewhere worse than Fillory,” Margo groused as she accepted the flask and twisted off the lid so she could take a very long drink. As she put the lid back on, she let out a frustrated sigh. “”Fuck, El. Are we ever going to catch a break?” The past few years had been non-stop drama and she was tired of it. “We desperately need a trip to Ibiza.” She wanted to lay on a beach in a tiny bikini, snort her body weight in coke, and have a lot of kinky sex. Was that too much to ask?
Apparently it was. She bent down and picked up her ax, tying it back on her belt. “So we’ve got Quentin and Kady,” she said. “No Josh? Julia? Shit, I’d even take Penny-23 at this point.” And that guy was kind of a dick.
*
“This place makes Fillory look like paradise. At least we have magic to help us.” He scoffed and shook his head. “No, we’re never going to get a break.” It didn’t feel like it. Anytime he felt a little settled it seemed the universe decided it was time to turn everything upside down. “No Josh, Julia or Penny.” Or Alice. “I’m happy with who we have here. Especially you and Q.” They were his best friends. “Q and I are together. A couple.” He smiled because it wasn’t something he thought would ever happen after they’d returned from Old Fillory. “We were in another world called Vallo before we were pulled here. It was modern and so much better than this place.”
Eliot turned and started walking back to the town. Village? Whatever it was. “There are houses here, but you have to clean them up. This place was abandoned at some point. Everything has to be made from scratch. Crops, food, repairs, all of it. There’s an empty house next to Q and I. We’ll even help you clean it up. Or whatever house you chose. Either way it’s rustic and primitive. No spas, shops or restaurants''.
*
Despite the circumstances, Margo grinned when he said that he and Quentin were a couple. “About fucking time,” she said. “As long as the empty house next to you doesn’t have walls so thin that I have to listen to you two go at it without me, I’ll stay there.” The rest of it sounded awful, but they’d get through it. They always did.
Before she could say anything else, her bag moved and she remembered that she still had her lizard. Maybe they could use his sweat or whatever to make some drugs and trade them for shit. Margo opened the flap and lifted him out, setting him on the ground so he could find some bugs or whatever to eat.
“How long have you been here?” she asked. “And how long were you in that other place? How long after I got back from my quest did we save you?”
*
Eliot grinned. Margo knew their history was complicated and they'd fought their feelings because well, okay, maybe Eliot had because he was scared. Not anymore though. "Bambi!" He laughed and playfully swatted his arm. "The houses aren't that close." He shook his head, grinning. He loved her and how she always spoke her mind.
"You're carrying around a lizard? Should I even ask?" He took the flask from her and drank deeply. "I've been here three days. Three days that feel like a hundred. I was in Vallo about a year and a half. Q was there about six or seven months." He wasn't even going to try and explain about the other Q because really, it didn't matter now. "It wasn't long after you returned that you all saved me. I was in the hospital for a while." He wouldn't tell her how Quentin had died saving him, saving magic, saving everything. He didn't like thinking about it.
*
“Part of my quest,” Margo said, waving off the question. “My birthright animal from Fillory. It’s a whole thing. Don’t lick him unless you want to trip your balls off.” Which he might want to do considering what they were dealing with here.
She snatched back the flask because this was all giving her a headache. “Are there other people here?” she asked. “Please don’t tell me we have to deal with fucking Todd on top of a lack of running water.”
*
“Sounds about like a Fillory thing.” He quirked an eyebrow at her saying licking the lizard would make him trip off his ass. “You’re going to have to let me borrow that lizard sometime. This place demands tripping my balls off. Very handy. Don’t tell anyone else.”
“There’s a lot of other people here. It’s all a bit chaotic, but some are trying to get things organized.” So far he would say things were going okay, but he had so many questions himself and no one to really ask. “Todd isn’t here though. Which may be good because he would just ‘Todd’ everything up.”
*
Margo was relieved to hear they didn’t have to deal with Todd. “The other people, are they from Brakebills? Or Fillory? Or… some other fucking place?” Even though she knew it was likely fruitless, she was going to try and figure out some kind of logic for this place.
“And don’t worry, you can borrow the lizard as long as I have use of your flask,” she said.
*
“The other people are from all over. Not Fillory or Brakebills. At least not that anyone has said other than our family that’s here.” More friendly faces he knew would be nice. Hell, maybe even Tick despite the scheming little shit that he was. “You know you can use my flask anytime. As much as I’d like to have lizard trip right now, that will have to wait. There’s too much shit going on and too much to do.” As they walked the town came into view and the house he and Quentin had chosen. “Q’s going to be so excited to see you. No squeezing his ass no matter how tempting it may be,” he teased.
*
“Well that’s just rude,” Margo said. “We usually share everything, El.” She was kidding. Mostly. “I’m glad you’re here though. We can get through anything together.” Margo wasn’t looking forward to this whole thing, but at least she wasn’t alone.
*