~Slow Updates~ Little stories: Lives Lived On a Page

Stuck For The Long Run

)• started: Sep. 6 •(

( Warning For Mentioned Child Abuse and overuse of dashes.)

I'm back. Tho I don't even know if ima post this oneshot cuz I have like 7 other unposted oneshots.

Ive had this idea ever since I saw this pic on Pinterest. See above. I think it's safe to say that I did not draw this, nor do I claim credit in any way. I thank the artist of this beautiful artwork, who you can see is  "miyuli" . Also as you can see, it is 4 in the morning (as I write this). Fml.

It's not an exact promt, but then again, I save random pictures I find cuz they give me a vague thought of a plotless plot that I'll forget about soon enough.

For the plot, I pictured an urban fantasy with a huge werewolf family + other fantastical beings, such as witches, shapeshifters, ETC., woven into the lineage through marriage and inter-species funtime, looking to adopt. They come and go like it's a frat house, and there's this one aunt who they see like 4 times a year in person cuz she's always traveling. I'll shut up now.

(I haven't opened this in two years. Sweet. June 13- 2023)

Andrew looked upwards at the obnoxious white and green curtains in the upstairs window. So this is the place. Not bad.

"So, this is the front! Sorry about the grass, I try to keep magic a minimum when it comes to the plants," Elaine said, a hand gently landing on his shoulder. He was proud to say that he didn't flinch. "There was this incident a little over a year ago, but that's a long story."

She lead him down the cobblestone walkway, up the well kept wooden stairs and in front of the door. Andrew picked up on the sounds of children playing upstairs, smelled something that smells delicious sizzling on the stove, a girl gently chiding a kid for busting into her room without knocking. He nearly puked.

He didn't like that Carlos was behind him, that he couldn't see his surroundings well with the light clutter on the porch, and Elaine's hand was still on his shoulder squeezing with a gentleness that surprised him, what with how animated she was at the center, and in the car, and literally every time she so much as breathed.

It was very overwhelming.

The house he was staying in before was loud, sure, but it was a tense loud. The kind that came with fighting, yelling, traffic outside and the occasional sobbing. It wasn't... this, with gentle words and food cooking and shouting across the house for Peira to bring my Nintendo back or I swear to God, I'll—.

Elaine opened the door, and things went quiet. No more yelling, no more chatting. Even the food seemed to go silent. Ooh, suspense.

She led Andrew into the house, which wasn't as messy as he had assumed it'd be. Shoes lined hallway leading to the rest of the place, coats covered the walls, and a little board with names tacked onto it was split into two parts, in and out. Rather smart.

As Carlos closed the door and shuffled the names around on the board, Elaine took off her coat and hung it on an empty hook, then she reached out to Andrew. He stepped away, not knowing what to do.

She just smiled a knowing smile. "Your coat?" She said softly, pointing to the thing in question.

"Oh," he mumbled. Slipping off his black jacket, he handed it to her, eyeing her warily as she hung it on the hook next to hers. "Sorry."

"It's alright, you ready to meet everyone else?" She asked with a calm, gentle smile that screamed pity, before leading him further into the house. The scent of werewolf, human, sprite and many others coated everything, everywhere, making Andrew want to run back to the car that smelled like French Fries and pine-tree-shaped good smellies.

They lead him to the dining room, and there were a few people already seated at the large dining table. A boy letting a little girl read his book, a gaggle of pixies hanging out in the little chandelier with a teen standing on a chair to talk with them, he could smell a 'wolf laying under the table, it was the picture of domestic.

When Andrew walked in, everyone paused and looked at him, staring until a woman walked in to greet them.

"Y'all better grow some eyelids," she drawled, making everyone looking at Andrew snap their eyes back to what they were doing. "Hey Ell, 'Los, Andrew."

She smiled at him, holding out a flour-coated hand for him to shake. Hesitantly, he did so. She had a strong grip.

"Maya! Didn't know you were coming," Carlos said, grinning as he leaned in to hug the woman, Maya. Looking at them side-by-side, they looked almost identical. "Thought you had shift tonight!"

"Had, I wasn't 'bout to let the poor thing get mobbed by excited toddlers, that'd be a worse fate then if Ray was here!" She exclaimed, nodding pointedly at Andrew while gesturing towards the lit up hallway to the left of the dining room.

Then, as if summoned by the force of Andrews hatred towards crowded places, a flood of kids came out of one of the doors in the hallway, practically barreling into the room with cheers of "I WANNA SAY HI FIRST!" or "HEY-LOW AN-ROO!".

Instinctively, Andrew ducked behind Carlos, cowardly peering over his shoulder at the wall of little fuckers trying to disarm him with a social anxiety-induced panic attack so that they could attack his weakest points, like his love for kids books.

Carlos, who was apparently a saint in disguise, shifted over so that Andrew was hidden from the mob, him and Maya keeping the loud little shits at bay long enough for Elaine and the teen from earlier to cart him into the kitchen.

It was a little quieter here, the smell of delicious food and a few potted plants, the sounds from the electronics and cicadas outside, all working together to make the kitchen a safe place of sorts from the chaos of the rest of the house.

He saw the teenager looking at him from the corner of his eye, so he looked back at them, finding concern in their eyes.

"You good dude?" they asked, as Elaine went about closing the baby gate to the kitchen and drawing the long strands of beads closed for as much privacy as possible.

Andrew nodded, looking around a bit, taking in the nice colors of everything, blues, yellows, greens and hints of everything else tying it all together perfectly.

It felt... comfortable.

"Those kids can be a real handful sometimes," Elaine sighed, walked back to the two of them. "How are you doin', Andrew? I hope that didn't freak you out to much." She continued, chuckling softly at the last part as she reached into a cupboard, pulling out a mug with a funny print on it.

"M'fine," he mumbled, looking down at his boots, wanting nothing more than to lay down and sleep. He hadn't been sleeping much at the home.

The teen straightened up a bit, and that's when Andrew noticed that they were elvish, at least six foot, and reaching out a fist.

"Names Fee, they-them, it's great to finally meet you, dude," they said, smiling wide. Andrew slowly returned the fist-bump. Fee seemed nice.

He heard the baby gate open and saw the beads being shifted out of the way for Carlos, who looked at little worse for wear, but otherwise unharmed.

He smiled and waved at Andrew, clapped Fee on the shoulder, and hugged Elaine, who was walking over with a mug of what smelled like juice. He kissed her, muttering an "I love you", before walking out of sight. Ugh, romance.

"Figured you'd be thirsty, though I don't know if you've fed today, so I just got you some Kool-Aid," holding up the mug, Elaine smiled at Andrew. Damn, he really was thirsty. He drank most of it in one gulp.