Bubbles (joyandlaughter) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-04-09 22:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, bubbles, cindy cendrillon (cinderella) |
Who: Bubbles & Cindy
What: Meeting Bigby the cat & some conversations
Where: Cindy & Garrus' place
When: Recent
Rating/Warnings: Pretty low? Talk of vampire things and people losing their heads and fighting aliens
Status: complete when posted
Bubbles had been dealing with a lot at once. Aliens had attacked and then there’d been the issue of Blossom moving out. She was getting better at accepting that. She guessed when you were twenty, you might want to move out to live with your boyfriend. She considered that thought for a moment before pushing it to the back of her mind. She would probably have done the same thing. She just didn’t do that well with change. It was a sad sort of change, too. She knew she’d miss her sister. She’d just have to remember to be happier about it than she was sad.
Today was a chance to distract herself from all of that and visit with a friend and said friend’s cat. She sat near her cat, waiting patiently for them to come over. “I’ve never seen a cat in a bowtie before,” she mentioned, laughing a little as she spoke. To the cat, she said, “You look very handsome in your bowtie. I hope we can be friends.” Of course that last part was very much said in cat-speak.
Bigby, yes, he was a very dapper gent. Though he’d never seen anyone come visit his humans (well, one human started looking different but he was still Property of Bigby) who could talk to him before. He meowed curiously, rrreow, rreow, rrreow, and decided to jump up into Bubbles’ lap. So he could claim this human too.
“Garrus found him one year when it was literally the end of the world,” Cindy chuckled. As it tended to be around here - they had a few apocalypses in the OC, and weathered them all. “He was abandoned, I guess, but he followed Garrus and wouldn’t leave him alone. So of course we had to take him in.” Her husband was also notorious for having a disdain for cats - but he managed to put up with Bigby, maybe even liked the little guy a little.
The same little guy who was making biscuits in Bubbles’ lap, kneading with his paws. “Do you want anything, by the way?” Cindy asked. “Something to drink? I could make tofu milkshakes?” Hey, those were good, don’t judge.
Bubbles smiled, suppressing the urge to clap excitedly as she scratched behind his ears. On the inside, she was sure there was a smaller version of herself jumping up and down and clapping her hands in delight when it came to having Bigby climb into her lap.
Yay!
“Well, he’s pretty wonderful.” Most animals were surprised when humans talked back. It made her feel even more happy about it. She was someone special!
Yay again!
“I’m glad you guys brought him home and kept him. He likes you both.” She didn’t mind too much about the kneading. It wasn’t the first time. She worked with animals a lot, so sometimes she had to deal with much worse than kneading. Kneading wasn’t all that bad.
“Oh! I’d definitely like to try a tofu milkshake! I’ve never had one before!” She didn’t doubt that it would be good. Most vegetarians seemed to know how to make good alternatives to animal products. And she trusted Cindy’s taste. In the meantime she could introduce herself and get to know Bigby a little more. “Hello there! I’m Bubbles. I’m a friend of Cindy.” Talking to animals was THE BEST!
“Aw, well, we like him too,” Cindy cooed at her furbaby, giving Bigby a scritch beneath the chin as she got up to head to the kitchen. He did that squinty-eyed look of pleasure thing, purring like a motorboat in Bubbles’ lap. Kneading meant a positive, happy cat - so he was definitely in a good mood, and ready to talk back. Mostly he wanted to tell Bubbles what in the house was his - meaning, everything. He’d put his scent on it all, and sometimes he brought his humans offerings in the form of dead mice and birds on the back doorstep. Occasionally, he switched it up and brought them the most amazing gift of dish sponges.
Bibgy had gone into the neighbor’s houses through open windows, and stole their sponges too. He was very sneaky. Be impressed, human.
In the kitchen (where she still had a view of the living room), Cindy began whipping up those milkshakes - she threw silken tofu, almond milk, honey, bananas, and berries into a blender. Really, the tofu was just a clever way to add protein and for the consistency since it took on the flavor of whatever it was with. She didn’t understand why more people didn’t like tofu. “You’ve been okay since the, uh...alien thing?” she wanted to know. “I hope you got out there to kick some ass during the debacle.”
Bubbles tried not to laugh too much as she listened to Bigby talk about how everything that was in the house was his. It was always interesting to hear how certain animals felt about things. Cats did seem similar in believing everything in their place of residence belonged to them. Horses swore more than she could ever explain. Dogs generally seemed to want attention and to play. But now she knew the difference between Lulu wanting to go to the bathroom and just for a walk. Which might have been cheating, since she understood what she was saying.
“It seems you are very busy. You must be very clever to be able to get into other houses and steal their sponges.” Though, she didn’t see the appeal of sponges. Perhaps there was something about them. Perhaps because people seemed to use them. Animals could be very observant. She still wondered what fish were like. And dolphins. She wasn’t sure she was able to think about talking to sharks or squids or octopi, though. It just sounded scary.
Bubbles looked up when Cindy spoke and nodded. “I have been. It was kind of scary, though. But laserbeams are useful. It was like being in my dreams, except not as ‘everything’s going to be all right and the sun always shines’.” She knew her dreams were unusual in that way. There was a lot of happiness and fighting bad guys and winning. Except for that time they got trapped in boxes or that time they had to kiss boys on the cheek to defeat them since apparently there was no other way. She would have preferred someone instigate a color-off. She’d definitely have won. She was a very good colorer. Or whatever the word was. “Super strength helps, too. Were you out there?”
Sponges, oven mitts, dryer lint, pancakes, socks - who the hell knew why cats took what they did, bringing the generous offering to their human like it was The Best Thing Ever. To Bigby, it made perfect sense why he’d take sponges - because, that’s why. Just because.
Cats were weird. Talking to them for extended periods of time likely caused a headache.
He didn’t exactly want to move, and looked at Cindy as if she were interrupting a meeting of esteemed first-world leaders when she came back into the room carrying two cold glasses of delicious tofu milkshake. “Bigby, shoo,” she half-heartedly told the cat, but of course he didn’t listen. Figures. Later he’d get distracted with something he needed to run to the windowsill for, most likely.
“But yeah, I was definitely out there,” she said as she settled on the sofa. “Out there in my calibrated pumpkin carriage of war - fairytale princesses can kill some big damn aliens too. It was actually kind of fun, but I’m glad it’s over now. We can relax a little.” Slurrrrrrp she went on her delicious drink. “How are your sisters?”
Bubbles didn’t mind if he wanted to stay. It was easier to multitask petting and something else with cats. Well, sort of. But Lulu was just too excitable to try to give her pets and eat or drink at the same time. She imagined it might be a little easier to pet a cat and drink a milkshake. If not, she’d deal with that then.
“You have a calibrated pumpkin carriage of war?” She probably shouldn’t have been that surprised with what else she knew about Cindy, but she was. She also wanted to see said pumpkin carriage of war. She didn’t have anything like that. She couldn’t even fly yet. It was upsetting. Blossom and Buttercup could fly and she...could punch things super hard and shoot laserbeams from her eyes. Yes both of those things were useful, but imagine if she could do all three? “That’s enough aliens for one time,” Bubbles agreed, taking a sip of her milkshake. It was actually much better than anticipated.
“They’re good. Blossom’s moving out of the house and in with her boyfriend. I’m trying not to cry about it too much because that’s not how people are supposed to react. She’s happy, which is good, I just haven’t adjusted to the idea completely.” She shrugged. “And Buttercup...is trying to figure out what to do with her life since she can’t be a pro fighter with super strength.”
Aw. Cindy smiled sympathetically, as she tucked her legs up underneath her so arrange her rather compact self on the couch cushion. “You can react however you feel like,” she assured. “It’s okay to be sad about Blossom moving out. Ultimately I’m sure you’re happy for her too, but of course you’ll miss her. It’s true though, changes take some time to adjust to.”
And hell, if it were Cindy, she’d probably be a pro fighter anyway - with super strength. But that was cheating, wasn’t it? Alas. And fighting professionally also didn’t seem to be like something that was good for longevity, in terms of careers. “Plus, I’m sure Buttercup will figure out a new path - maybe she can teach or something? Or still be involved in that field, even if she’s not going to fight herself. It’d be kind of a switch to go from pro fighter to accountant,” she grinned crookedly. “She could always apply to work where I work too - we have a few field teams, who actually could use super strength when weird stuff happens. I can put in a good word for her if you think it would help?”
If she told Natasha to check into someone to see if they’d be a good fit for the Agency, the redhead would. She had her ways.
“Oh, and yeah, I totally have a pumpkin carriage of war. It was how Garrus and I met, actually - well, he was the one who helped me fit it with blasters and stuff. Our first project together.” Cindy sighed in fond memory - that seemed so long ago. “I keep it in Trabuco Canyon. I’ll show it off you for sometime.”
Bubbles nodded. “We’ve never been apart for that long. Even sleepovers only happened if we all were invited. I mean, we didn’t really meet each other until a little before the Professor adopted us. We’ve been together ever since, though. And I guess I have had sleepovers without them recently.” Since they were twenty and her sleepovers were either with Anna or Stefan. “She’s happy and that’s good. I am trying to think about that more.”
As for Buttercup… Bubbles’ face lit up a little. “You think that she might be able to? She was going to look into college and maybe do physical therapy, but for sports players and stuff. But I think she might like to do something with fighting more. She can even fly! I can’t fly yet, but Blossom and Buttercup can!” She smiled widely as she considered it and telling Buttercup. “I can text her about it later and...well, should I tell her to talk to anyone in particular?” She was excited about giving her sister a job that might be a better fit for her than anything else. She liked to punch things. It would be good for her to get the chance to do that still and not get in trouble for it. Potentially.
“Really? That’s a fun story.” She smiled a little. “I met Stefan in the park because he was feeling left out of Valentine’s Day stuff with his friends who said they were having a girls only party. I invited him to come and do paint balloons and darts.” It was very cheesy and very romcom, but it was also true to who Bubbles was as a person. “But yay! I can’t wait to see it!”
Cindy sipped on her milkshake some more, poking at it with the straw. So good. She couldn’t bake worth shit but she knew a few recipes for other things - both meals and snacks - so she wouldn’t starve. Who knew why baking tripped her up so badly. Maybe it was psychological.
“I can get in touch with our HR director, to see what field teams have openings. Just let me know when to poke Natasha, if Buttercup is interested,” Cindy offered. She made a mental note to keep this whole thing on her radar - finding the girl a job was something she didn’t mind doing, since she considered it a favor for Bubbles. And Bubbles was a close friend. “So your first date with Stefan was balloon darts?”
That was so very Bubbles. It was cute.
“Are you guys like...serious now? Thinking of moving in together too, that sort of thing?”
Bubbles stuck to buying things. She could manage simple things, but the more complex confused her. Maybe she’d have to try to get better at it. It couldn’t be that hard. She wondered if laserbeam eyes could be used to cook food. She’d probably have to get better at that before it was something she tried.
“I’ll definitely let you know! Absolutely!” She made a mental note to text her sister the moment she was home or at least in the car. Absently, she continued to pet Bigby until he eventually wandered off. Once he had, she moved a little. “Yes! It was a lot of fun. He has it hanging up in his room now. It’s a nice memento!” She really liked that he’d wanted to.
She felt her face heat up and she smoothed down the skirt of her dress. “Well, we haven’t really talked about it, I guess? We do have a puppy together, so I guess we’re pretty serious?” She remembered the time between their first couple of dates when she’d initially freaked out about his being a vampire and the fact that he ate animals. She’d been frightened then, but she’d stopped being frightened since then. “And we have been together for more than a year. Which is a very long time.”
Oh, yes, Bigby had taken off like a bat out of hell - something outside commanded his attention, so he’d raced to the windowsill, jumped up, and was now diligently watching the important goings-on. Likely it was a squirrel.
“That is a long time,” Cindy agreed, grinning a bit. Especially when you were young and in college, supposed to be sowing wild oats. But it wasn’t like Bubbles had many wild oats to sow in the first place. “And he’s...a vampire?”
She was pretty sure Bubbles had mentioned that before, when they initially met at the farmer's market around the holidays. Stefan had been human then but that obviously didn’t last. “I imagine that can put some strain on a relationship,” she added thoughtfully. “But if you two are happy, you make it work despite all the obstacles.”
She nodded at the question. “It was kind of scary at first. I mean...we’d only been on a few dates and then he told me and then he mentioned that he fed only on animals...and I guess I sort of got upset and left.” She frowned at that, fingers toying with her hair. “But it was just so surprising and all I could think about was innocent animals being killed...but Blossom said I might want to consider that it could have been people, which was true. It could have been people. He could have killed people. Not that I think he would want to kill them. He’s kind of one of those vampires that feels bad about that sort of thing.”
She considered things for a moment. “He told me to take vervain. It keeps him from being able to feed on me. Or it would hurt him if he did. It was weird at first, but we sort of went slow because he didn’t want to do anything to hurt me and I didn’t want to push him too much.” She stared down at her dress for a moment. “He’s um...apparently they call them Rippers? They kind of go crazy and people lose their heads? Literally.” Her nose scrunched up. “Which is why he feeds on animals. Basically. And why I take anti-vampire plants and eat it or drink it. But he really is a good person. It just happens he’s also a vampire. We just try not to talk about him eating animals.”
She was quiet for a moment before she said, “There’s also the fact that he’s going to live forever and I can’t be a vampire because I’ll cry if I ever have to kill anything ever. So that complicates things a little.”
Cindy couldn’t imagine living forever. That was both a blessing and a curse - but ultimately, as the years passed on and on, it would begin to seem more and more like a curse. What else could it be, having to watch loved ones age and then pass on while you remained behind?
“It does complicate things a little,” she agreed. “But...sometimes there’s no exact solution for a problem.” And Bubbles shouldn’t have to compromise who she was - geez, picturing as her a vampire? Does not compute. “Sometimes you just have to make the most of what you have.”
She reached over and gave the girl’s shoulder a squeeze - really, she hadn’t meant for this to be a debbie downer kind of conversation. “I’m sure he has you to thank for helping to not be a Ripper too. He loves you, and wouldn’t want to ruin things with you.”
Bubbles really couldn’t live forever. She and Stefan hadn’t really talked about it, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to do it. Maybe it was something they’d have to talk about. A conversation that was pretty serious. She had a feeling that he knew that about her because she’d already cried about the fact he killed animals.
“Yeah. I think the saddest thing is that I know he wishes he was human. But he’s not.” Not that she was. “But I do have super strength on my side, so if I need to use it, I’m good to go.” She offered Cindy a small smile. “And I hope that I am. Lexi does a lot of the heavy lifting if he falls off the wagon. That’s only happened once since I’ve known him...I think. Nothing happened to me, though. Lexi’s pretty good at keeping him in line.”
“He’s got you for now - and it’s better to have that love and know what it’s like, than to be alone because he’d be afraid to get close to anyone,” Cindy pointed out. Not all stories were ‘happily ever after,’ and she dreamed of a grittier sort of fairytale world where ‘happily ever after...for the moment’ was a lot more standard. That seemed to be more true to life.
She patted Bubbles on the knee. “Alright, come on - let’s go outside and you can show me how far your laser eyes have come?” Hey, she needed some tree branch pruning anyway - why not kill two birds with one stone?
Bubbles’ smile got a little wider and she nodded, standing up. “I’ve been practicing! I haven’t exploded anything by accident recently. I mean, sometimes it still happens if I’m really mad or aliens are attacking, but otherwise, it’s usually okay?” Okay, so she wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t like talking to animals. It had taken a long while to get used to the super strength, too. Sometimes she still forgot it was an actual thing and she’d end up picking things up without thinking about it and off they went across the room. So far no one had gotten hurt, though. “I bet it will be awesome!”