100 Drabbles of 2012 #71-80
71) a Mayan temple (or Mayan-temple-themed waterslide), with a pool containing sharks
Time Period: Not too long before "Secundus 2"
Notes: Dunno where this one comes from, but it amuses me. Sexism in Secundus, especially to one Alice Liddell, never ends well. If you're wondering what it has to do with the prompt, I imagine the guy as obliviously going down the waterslide of doom, more or less.
“Well, it’s about time!”
Victor and Alice looked up at the stranger, surprised. “What?”
“About time you started doing womanly things!” the man continued, nodding at Alice. “I never approved of having a woman protecting our city. That’s man’s work. Now that you’re going to have a baby, you can devote yourself to motherhood and housewifery, like a proper girl.”
Alice’s eyes narrowed. “Really.”
“Oh yes,” the man said, oblivious to the danger. “Women are not meant--”
Victor managed to keep Alice from beating up the man too badly – and to ignore the part of him that wanted to join in.
72) a silhouetted figure diving into a lake
Time Period: Post-"Secundus," pre-wedding
Notes: Oh, this one was inspired by fond memories of last year's drabble 94) Author's Choice: stretch. The idea of Alice asking him to stop being all flexible around her amused me deeply. XD It's mildly risque, but nothing that should do more than raise an eyebrow or two.
“Urgh – you can’t do that!”
Victor looked over at Alice, surprised. “Can’t do what?”
“You can’t do – the way you stretched yourself out before diving into the lake – Victor, do you know what that does to me?”
Victor blinked. “Um – no?”
Alice poked him, cheeks burning. God damn him for being so handsome! And so oblivious to same! “You cannot keep reminding me how bloody flexible you are. Otherwise I’m going to – suffice it to say, our wedding night won’t be all that special afterward.”
Victor’s eyes went wide. “W-wedding n-night?”
It was only then that Alice remembered Victor hadn’t actually proposed yet.
73) a rusted truck sitting in a desert
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2," teenage kids era
Notes: Another drabble focusing on a kid we don't see often – Doc's third son Isaac. I got it into my head that, while Jules shares his Dad's love of all science, Isaac is really into the mechanical side of things. Especially motorized vehicles. I can see him opening up a "motorized carriage" repair shop when he's older.
“How’s it coming?”
Isaac straightened up and grinned at his father. “Great! I’ve almost gotten the engine back in working order.”
“Good.” Doc let his eyes travel over the rusted body of the vehicle. “Though what about the rest of it?”
“Ah, yes, the body. I admit, I don’t think it’s salvageable, but I’m hoping there’s useable scrap metal under all that rust. With the bits I’ve already collected, I could weld a new chassis together.”
“Really? You think you can Frankenstein up a car?”
“Well, yeah!” Isaac playfully nudged him. “What, did you not believe I was your child?”
74) a woman's lips holding a melting ice cube
Time Period: Summer post-"Secundus"
Notes: I actually came up with this one as a way to set up the "16) popsicle" prompt, since figuring out how to do that gave me trouble. (You've likely already read that, given it's prompt 16.) Sucking on an ice cube to cool off is something I've done before on hot days. I imagine Doc made their ice box so it can make its own ice cubes – a smaller version of the contraption he has in Part III.
“What are you sucking on?”
Alice poked the little chunk of ice into her cheek with her tongue. “Ice cube,” she said, voice slightly muffled.
“Oh.” Victor tilted his head curiously. “Does it really cool you off?”
“Try one and see. There’s more in the ice box.”
Victor went to investigate. A few minutes later, he was back, sucking on his own piece of ice. “Oooh – this is very nice,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
“Isn’t it?” Alice started to lean back herself, then noticed Victor looking thoughtful. “What?”
“I was just thinking. . .is it possible to – flavor these?”
75) a purple octopus in an underwater scene
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2," teenage kids era
Notes: More kid-based fic – I wanted to do something featuring Marty's son Douglas. Douglas is a bit nerdy – my "canon" version of him is a comic book fan – so I decided to do something with a goofy penny dreadful. And then Lorina came in, and it became a slightly-fluffy piece about their friendship. (Which eventually turns into romance.)
“Okay, what are you reading? I can’t make heads or tails out of this cover.”
Douglas looked up at Lorina. “It’s ‘The Adventures of The Octoman.’ Really cheap penny dreadful about an octopus superhero.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“And you’re reading it.”
Douglas laughed. “What can I say – I’ve got a soft spot for the really bad dreadfuls.”
Lorina shook her head, smiling. “You are such a weirdo.”
“Hey, you’re the one who has a pet sentient Venus flytrap.”
“Yes, and Audrey would make a much better superhero than your Octoman.”
“I dunno. Octoman did just defeat a villain with calamari throwing stars. . . .”
76) strings of multi-colored shells dangling
Time Period: Waaaaay post-"Secundus 2"
Notes: I wasn't sure what to do with this one for a while – until I came up with an interesting idea for the last drabble, and that theme spread to this one. The Emma in this story is Chester's daughter, and thus Victor and Alice's granddaughter.
She also happens to be fifty or so in this drabble. A sprightly fifty to be sure, but. . .
Yes, basically, I wanted to show one of Victor and Alice's grandkids all grown up – and how life continues even after our main characters are gone.
“Abigail! Don’t play with those, you’ll break them!”
Emma scooped up the cat before it could start batting again at the shells dangling from their strings. “That was a present, after all,” she informed the feline. “A gift from my grandparents. They wouldn’t appreciate you clawing it up.”
The cat just stared at her blankly. “Yes, I know, you don’t understand a word I’m saying. But I still don’t intend to let you play with Grandma Alice and Grandpa Victor’s wind chime.” She sighed, sadness suddenly filling her. “Even if neither of them are here to see you do it.”
77) a pile of luggage set up before a large map
Time Period: Right after the first chapter of "Secundus 2" (where they receive their wedding invites)
Notes: I'm not sure what inspired this one – maybe I had the map of Hill Valley on the train station in Part III on my mind. But writing Victor's enthusiasm over seeing his friends again was fun.
“Let me see if I can find it.”
“Marty said Hill Valley was a really small town,” Alice said. “It might not even warrant a place on the map yet.”
“If it’s called a town, it should – aha! Here it is!” Victor pointed it out to her. “This is where we’re going.”
“Yes, that tells me so much,” Alice joked. “You’re just too excited to see your friends again.”
“I can’t help it. Doc and Marty are the people responsible for me coming to Secundus. Without them. . . .” He placed a hand on her belly. “A lot of things would be different.”
78) a green beverage (mojito? Limeade?) at the beach
Time Period: Pre-"Secundus"
Notes: The other of two drabbles inspired by my interest in the "Bioshock" series. Originally, the drink was going to explicitly be ADAM, but I wasn't sure what color ADAM actually was (you really only "see" it when the Little Sisters are sucking blood out of people). So I went with a generic drink that possibly has ADAM's addictive properties. Fortunately for the average person the street, it doesn't matter to Alice if a monster happens to be human-shaped – she'll take care of it just the same. (If the guy had been honest about it, though, she would have left him alone – that would have constituted fair warning to people. You CAN do experiments like this in Secundus as long as you're open about what you're doing, and the possible side effects.)
The liquid had a sickly green glow to it, visible even in the bright sunshine of the day. Alice eyed it suspiciously. “Free?”
“Free!” The smiling vendor held up the glass. “It’s refreshing, and good for what ails you! All natural too!”
“Yes, but so is arsenic, I believe.” Alice frowned hard. “You’re not running some sort of unstated experiment on innocent people, are you?”
“No! I’m just–” The man faltered under her glare. “Okay, so I m-may be wondering how addictive it really is–”
A few minutes later, man and drink found themselves unceremoniously dumped inside the police station.
79) a hammock hanging from a palm tree
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2," adult children/grandchildren era
Notes: I wasn't sure what to do with this one for a while, but eventually this came. I think it's an amusing exchange between Chester and his mother – and I think anyone who either has a child with kids of their own, or is that child and has talked to their parents about raising kids, can relate to it. The hammock is the same one from last year's fic 51) hammock – yes, Victor kept it even after his little "incident."
On days like today, Chester was very glad his father had given him their old hammock. He collapsed into it, letting the breeze rock him. Oh, he’d needed this. . .
A shadow fell over him. “Allison said I could find you out here.”
“Oh, hi Mum,” Chester said, sitting up. “I’m sorry, I forgot about our dinner. . . .”
“It’s all right. I’ve been told you’ve had a rather exhausting day.”
Chester groaned. “Chasing Walter everywhere, having Emma lose a shoe in the mud, both of them refusing to eat lunch. . .you don’t know the half of it!”
Moments later: “Mother, stop laughing.”
80) a mermaid lounging underwater
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2," young children era
Notes: This one was inspired by the fact that Alice really was supposed to have a mermaid form in "Alice: Madness Returns" – she'd use it to swim around in the Deluded Depths. They cut it after they couldn't make the swimming sections fun. I don't know why it turned so dark – maybe Hans Christian Andersen insisted?
She had to get him to the surface. Alice held Victor close and swam with all her might – but somehow, she couldn’t reach the top of the water. It always seemed just out of reach. Frightened, she thrashed her tail harder, but she was still stuck – and Victor was going to drown –
She woke to find herself trapped under the covers. She thrashed her way free, then yanked a startled Victor close. “Are you all right?” he whispered, stroking her hair.
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to read ‘The Little Mermaid’ to the children for a while.”
Time Period: Not too long before "Secundus 2"
Notes: Dunno where this one comes from, but it amuses me. Sexism in Secundus, especially to one Alice Liddell, never ends well. If you're wondering what it has to do with the prompt, I imagine the guy as obliviously going down the waterslide of doom, more or less.
“Well, it’s about time!”
Victor and Alice looked up at the stranger, surprised. “What?”
“About time you started doing womanly things!” the man continued, nodding at Alice. “I never approved of having a woman protecting our city. That’s man’s work. Now that you’re going to have a baby, you can devote yourself to motherhood and housewifery, like a proper girl.”
Alice’s eyes narrowed. “Really.”
“Oh yes,” the man said, oblivious to the danger. “Women are not meant--”
Victor managed to keep Alice from beating up the man too badly – and to ignore the part of him that wanted to join in.
72) a silhouetted figure diving into a lake
Time Period: Post-"Secundus," pre-wedding
Notes: Oh, this one was inspired by fond memories of last year's drabble 94) Author's Choice: stretch. The idea of Alice asking him to stop being all flexible around her amused me deeply. XD It's mildly risque, but nothing that should do more than raise an eyebrow or two.
“Urgh – you can’t do that!”
Victor looked over at Alice, surprised. “Can’t do what?”
“You can’t do – the way you stretched yourself out before diving into the lake – Victor, do you know what that does to me?”
Victor blinked. “Um – no?”
Alice poked him, cheeks burning. God damn him for being so handsome! And so oblivious to same! “You cannot keep reminding me how bloody flexible you are. Otherwise I’m going to – suffice it to say, our wedding night won’t be all that special afterward.”
Victor’s eyes went wide. “W-wedding n-night?”
It was only then that Alice remembered Victor hadn’t actually proposed yet.
73) a rusted truck sitting in a desert
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2," teenage kids era
Notes: Another drabble focusing on a kid we don't see often – Doc's third son Isaac. I got it into my head that, while Jules shares his Dad's love of all science, Isaac is really into the mechanical side of things. Especially motorized vehicles. I can see him opening up a "motorized carriage" repair shop when he's older.
“How’s it coming?”
Isaac straightened up and grinned at his father. “Great! I’ve almost gotten the engine back in working order.”
“Good.” Doc let his eyes travel over the rusted body of the vehicle. “Though what about the rest of it?”
“Ah, yes, the body. I admit, I don’t think it’s salvageable, but I’m hoping there’s useable scrap metal under all that rust. With the bits I’ve already collected, I could weld a new chassis together.”
“Really? You think you can Frankenstein up a car?”
“Well, yeah!” Isaac playfully nudged him. “What, did you not believe I was your child?”
74) a woman's lips holding a melting ice cube
Time Period: Summer post-"Secundus"
Notes: I actually came up with this one as a way to set up the "16) popsicle" prompt, since figuring out how to do that gave me trouble. (You've likely already read that, given it's prompt 16.) Sucking on an ice cube to cool off is something I've done before on hot days. I imagine Doc made their ice box so it can make its own ice cubes – a smaller version of the contraption he has in Part III.
“What are you sucking on?”
Alice poked the little chunk of ice into her cheek with her tongue. “Ice cube,” she said, voice slightly muffled.
“Oh.” Victor tilted his head curiously. “Does it really cool you off?”
“Try one and see. There’s more in the ice box.”
Victor went to investigate. A few minutes later, he was back, sucking on his own piece of ice. “Oooh – this is very nice,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
“Isn’t it?” Alice started to lean back herself, then noticed Victor looking thoughtful. “What?”
“I was just thinking. . .is it possible to – flavor these?”
75) a purple octopus in an underwater scene
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2," teenage kids era
Notes: More kid-based fic – I wanted to do something featuring Marty's son Douglas. Douglas is a bit nerdy – my "canon" version of him is a comic book fan – so I decided to do something with a goofy penny dreadful. And then Lorina came in, and it became a slightly-fluffy piece about their friendship. (Which eventually turns into romance.)
“Okay, what are you reading? I can’t make heads or tails out of this cover.”
Douglas looked up at Lorina. “It’s ‘The Adventures of The Octoman.’ Really cheap penny dreadful about an octopus superhero.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“And you’re reading it.”
Douglas laughed. “What can I say – I’ve got a soft spot for the really bad dreadfuls.”
Lorina shook her head, smiling. “You are such a weirdo.”
“Hey, you’re the one who has a pet sentient Venus flytrap.”
“Yes, and Audrey would make a much better superhero than your Octoman.”
“I dunno. Octoman did just defeat a villain with calamari throwing stars. . . .”
76) strings of multi-colored shells dangling
Time Period: Waaaaay post-"Secundus 2"
Notes: I wasn't sure what to do with this one for a while – until I came up with an interesting idea for the last drabble, and that theme spread to this one. The Emma in this story is Chester's daughter, and thus Victor and Alice's granddaughter.
She also happens to be fifty or so in this drabble. A sprightly fifty to be sure, but. . .
Yes, basically, I wanted to show one of Victor and Alice's grandkids all grown up – and how life continues even after our main characters are gone.
“Abigail! Don’t play with those, you’ll break them!”
Emma scooped up the cat before it could start batting again at the shells dangling from their strings. “That was a present, after all,” she informed the feline. “A gift from my grandparents. They wouldn’t appreciate you clawing it up.”
The cat just stared at her blankly. “Yes, I know, you don’t understand a word I’m saying. But I still don’t intend to let you play with Grandma Alice and Grandpa Victor’s wind chime.” She sighed, sadness suddenly filling her. “Even if neither of them are here to see you do it.”
77) a pile of luggage set up before a large map
Time Period: Right after the first chapter of "Secundus 2" (where they receive their wedding invites)
Notes: I'm not sure what inspired this one – maybe I had the map of Hill Valley on the train station in Part III on my mind. But writing Victor's enthusiasm over seeing his friends again was fun.
“Let me see if I can find it.”
“Marty said Hill Valley was a really small town,” Alice said. “It might not even warrant a place on the map yet.”
“If it’s called a town, it should – aha! Here it is!” Victor pointed it out to her. “This is where we’re going.”
“Yes, that tells me so much,” Alice joked. “You’re just too excited to see your friends again.”
“I can’t help it. Doc and Marty are the people responsible for me coming to Secundus. Without them. . . .” He placed a hand on her belly. “A lot of things would be different.”
78) a green beverage (mojito? Limeade?) at the beach
Time Period: Pre-"Secundus"
Notes: The other of two drabbles inspired by my interest in the "Bioshock" series. Originally, the drink was going to explicitly be ADAM, but I wasn't sure what color ADAM actually was (you really only "see" it when the Little Sisters are sucking blood out of people). So I went with a generic drink that possibly has ADAM's addictive properties. Fortunately for the average person the street, it doesn't matter to Alice if a monster happens to be human-shaped – she'll take care of it just the same. (If the guy had been honest about it, though, she would have left him alone – that would have constituted fair warning to people. You CAN do experiments like this in Secundus as long as you're open about what you're doing, and the possible side effects.)
The liquid had a sickly green glow to it, visible even in the bright sunshine of the day. Alice eyed it suspiciously. “Free?”
“Free!” The smiling vendor held up the glass. “It’s refreshing, and good for what ails you! All natural too!”
“Yes, but so is arsenic, I believe.” Alice frowned hard. “You’re not running some sort of unstated experiment on innocent people, are you?”
“No! I’m just–” The man faltered under her glare. “Okay, so I m-may be wondering how addictive it really is–”
A few minutes later, man and drink found themselves unceremoniously dumped inside the police station.
79) a hammock hanging from a palm tree
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2," adult children/grandchildren era
Notes: I wasn't sure what to do with this one for a while, but eventually this came. I think it's an amusing exchange between Chester and his mother – and I think anyone who either has a child with kids of their own, or is that child and has talked to their parents about raising kids, can relate to it. The hammock is the same one from last year's fic 51) hammock – yes, Victor kept it even after his little "incident."
On days like today, Chester was very glad his father had given him their old hammock. He collapsed into it, letting the breeze rock him. Oh, he’d needed this. . .
A shadow fell over him. “Allison said I could find you out here.”
“Oh, hi Mum,” Chester said, sitting up. “I’m sorry, I forgot about our dinner. . . .”
“It’s all right. I’ve been told you’ve had a rather exhausting day.”
Chester groaned. “Chasing Walter everywhere, having Emma lose a shoe in the mud, both of them refusing to eat lunch. . .you don’t know the half of it!”
Moments later: “Mother, stop laughing.”
80) a mermaid lounging underwater
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2," young children era
Notes: This one was inspired by the fact that Alice really was supposed to have a mermaid form in "Alice: Madness Returns" – she'd use it to swim around in the Deluded Depths. They cut it after they couldn't make the swimming sections fun. I don't know why it turned so dark – maybe Hans Christian Andersen insisted?
She had to get him to the surface. Alice held Victor close and swam with all her might – but somehow, she couldn’t reach the top of the water. It always seemed just out of reach. Frightened, she thrashed her tail harder, but she was still stuck – and Victor was going to drown –
She woke to find herself trapped under the covers. She thrashed her way free, then yanked a startled Victor close. “Are you all right?” he whispered, stroking her hair.
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to read ‘The Little Mermaid’ to the children for a while.”