Winter Bingo: Card Four, Column Four
Baby’s First Christmas
Prompt: dreaming of a white Christmas
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2," baby Chester era
Notes: This was my last prompt on this card when I originally went through it, and I decided to end on a bit of fluff. Chester's born November 5th, so yes, he wouldn't exactly be truly conscious of his first Christmas. The mention of the snow possibly being vanilla ice cream is a callback to Day Five of "A Week of Secundus Christmas" – every year, Flint makes it snow ice cream all over the town. Victor is very much in favor of this. XD Anyway, onto the sweetness (uh, no pun intended).
“Look, Chester! It’s snowing!”
Chester gurgled in his little bundle of blankets. Victor chuckled. “Yes, I know,” he said, leaning over his son. “You’re not even two months old yet. All you care about is when the next meal is coming.”
“No, I think he cares about more than that,” Alice said, joining them at the window of the nursery. “He also cares about getting his diaper changed on time.”
“Yes, true.” Victor looked out at the white flakes drifting down outside his window. (Actual snow, or vanilla ice cream? Either was acceptable to him.) “Still, he doesn’t know what snow is yet. Or that it’s Christmas tomorrow.” He looked back down at the newborn. “Your first Christmas, and you don’t even know it’s a holiday,” he said teasingly.
Chester reached up a tiny hand to him. “He doesn’t have to know,” Alice said, giving him a finger to grasp. “It’s enough that we know.” She looked over at Victor with a smile. “Our first Christmas as three, not two.”
“Yes, I–” Victor stopped as he saw the tears in her eyes. “Alice? Are you all right?” he asked, immediately concerned.
“I’m fine,” she whispered, blinking rapidly. “I just – for years, I thought I’d never have a family Christmas again.”
Victor nodded slowly. “Well, now you are,” he said, leaning against her. “In fact, you’ll have so many, you’ll probably get sick of them by the time he’s eighteen.”
Alice laughed and kissed his cheek. “I could never. I love you, Victor.”
“I love you too, Alice. Merry Christmas.”
So Long To Sunshine
Prompt: drummer
Time Period: Post-climax of "Secundus," pre-wedding
Notes: This was nearly a very different story. When I first came up with matching the prompt to the idea of rain drumming on a carriage roof, this was originally Victor's funeral. The story was going to be an AU "what-if" about what would have happened if Victor hadn't gone to Secundus. Just because he never ends up surrounded by Mad Science doesn't mean he doesn't go Creative, you see, and away from stabilizing influences like Doc, Marty, and Alice. . . . I couldn't write it in the end and instead switched to doing Lewis's funeral. Poor guy – I'm so sorry you had to die for my plot.
The rain drummed down on the top of the carriage as it pulled up to the cemetery gates. Looking out, Victor wondered if someone with a weather machine had specifically programmed it to match everyone’s mood. Rain really was only appropriate for funerals, after all.
He shook his head and looked at his companions in the cab. “I can’t believe you hadn’t done this already.”
Alice put her hand on his wrist. “He would have wanted you to be there,” she said softly. “It didn’t seem right not to have you.”
“Besides, we never did find his body,” Doc said, voice just as hushed. It was so odd to hear him speak so quietly. Doc was supposed to be loud and boisterous, not soft and subdued. “There was nothing we had to bury. And even if we had, you know we would have tried a couple of times to bring him back. Nothing unusual about holding a funeral this late at all.”
Victor nodded, feeling a chill deep in his heart. No, nothing unusual about the funeral, he supposed. Apart from the fact that there was a funeral at all. “It’s not fair,” he mumbled.
“Not much is in this life,” Alice said, with the voice of someone who knows very well just how unfair the world can be.
Marty opened the door with a deep sigh. “Come on, guys. We shouldn’t keep the others waiting.”
“No, we shouldn’t,” Victor agreed, following him out.
The rest of their friends were already gathered at the spot they’d chosen earlier in the week. Victor looked through watery eyes at the simple gravestone, marking a unfound, unburied body. How could this be happening? How could – why did he have to –
Alice pulled him close, spotting the telltale traces of guilt in his eyes. “Please, Victor. It wasn’t your fault.”
Everyone kept telling him that. Only when she said it did he really believe it. “I’ll try to remember that,” he whispered back, squeezing her tight against him.
Father Gale, seeing everyone was assembled, opened his book. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to say goodbye to the soul of Lewis Lutwidge Carroll. . . .”
Know Your Customer
Prompt: hay
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2"
Notes: Just a funny little piece about a salesman who really should have let Victor get a word in edgewise.
“Er – hello?”
“Hello, sir! Might I trouble you for a moment of your time?”
“Um–”
“Wonderful! Now I see you have a fine stable over there, with a fine horse inside, I’m sure! And a fine horse needs only the finest food! Here I have a sample of–”
“Oh, no thank you, we don’t need anything.”
“Nonsense! You won’t find a finer crop of hay anywhere in this whole city! It’s been modified to grow faster, with more nutrients, then any other hay around! Horses who eat this hay are healthier, faster, and all around better! Go ahead, let me try a sample on your beast!”
“No, you see–”
“Right in here, is he?”
“Yes, but he isn’t–”
“Just trust me! This hay is the finest hay anyone could ever grow and cut! He’ll love it!”
“I assure you he won’t, because–”
“Oh, come on, what’s so wrong with your – your–”
“Yes, you see, butterflies don’t typically eat hay. Now, if you were selling a new and improved form of nectar. . . .”
Ice Princess No More
Prompt: melt
Time Period: Early "Secundus" (before Victor blurts out his feelings)
Notes: This is one of a pair of related prompts about how Alice can look cold on the outside, but Victor's got a knack for finding her warm center. Although I wrote Victor's perspective on it, ice princess, first, that one is in Column Five, so you get Alice's view on things to read first. Examining Victor through Alice's eyes is always rather fun. She never quite gets how he can be the one who makes her go weak at the knees. But she doesn't mind because he's such a sweetheart. :) Just some fluffy goodness, I suppose.
What was it about him that got past all her defenses?
Alice had to wonder this as she looked at the young man in front of her. He wasn’t really anyone special, was he? He was tall, yes, and incredibly thin, but those traits didn’t really mean anything. What mattered was his personality. And when it came to that, well – he was shy, easily startled, and had a tendency to stutter. He seemed constantly surprised by everything around him (of course, one could forgive that – he was new to Secundus). He barely met your eyes while talking, and he always acted like he should apologize for just existing. Alice had thought that would end up getting on her nerves. And to be honest, it did sometimes, just a little.
And yet. . .He was so gentle as well. So polite and unassuming and unprejudiced. He was willing to give anyone a chance to be friends. And Alice could see in him a sort of deeply-buried excitement – a lust for color, for life, that had nearly been crushed into oblivion, but was now slowly reviving in this world of mad science. There was a vitalness to him that she rarely saw in Regular people. And – though it rarely came out – there was something about his smile. . . .
Alice still didn’t know just what it was about him that affected her so strongly. All she knew was, whenever he was around, the ice she’d tried to encase herself in – just seemed to melt.
Long-Lost, Newly-Found
Prompt: aunt
Time Period: Post-"Secundus"
Notes: Yes, Victor has an aunt in my headcanon. Nell's the older of two sisters from a rather poor family. Nell basically disowned them the minute she could, as Elaine says here. Elaine herself works hard as a washerwoman, but she's happy enough with her husband and three kids. And fortunately for Victor, she doesn't seem nearly as prejudiced as her sister. (Also, no idea where Victor is except that it isn't Secundus – maybe he's in London for some sort of entomology thing?)
“Oh! Do excuse me, I didn’t see you there.”
“That’s quite all–”
The woman stopped as she got a good look at Victor’s face. After a moment of intense scrutiny, Victor began to feel uneasy. “Er, m-may I help you?”
“You look familiar. . . .” The woman murmured. “Your last name’s not Van Dort, is it?”
Victor blinked, surprised. “Er, yes.”
“Related to William Van Dort?”
“Yes, I’m his son.” Not that he chooses to acknowledge that anymore. . . .
The woman gasped. “Victor! Goodness, I would have never expected to meet you here! You are tall, aren’t you? Just like the rest of the family. Not that I know much about them. . . .”
“Beg pardon?” Victor said, now completely baffled. “Who are you?”
“I’m your aunt! Elaine Butler – well, Cobbler now. Your mother’s sister – not that she cared to acknowledge my existence in public once she landed her rich husband,” the woman added, scowling. “Nell always had a big head. But she deigned to send the occasional letter and picture our way. I always did want to meet you properly.”
“Oh! Dear me, I’m – I’m glad to meet you,” Victor said, astonished. “Um – how are you?”
“Just fine, dear, and quite happy to see you in the flesh! We should get together and have a proper chat sometime.”
“I’d like that,” Victor replied, though inwardly he was quite nervous. How would his aunt respond to hearing that he was Touched? Was he going to be rejected by yet another family member? Then again, he’d never know unless he took the chance. “How about coffee on Thursday? At that little shop around the corner?”
“Sounds wonderful. I’m quite eager to hear all you’ve been up to. Your name was in the paper a while back – said you were credited with saving Secundus! Was that you, or are there other relatives Nell hasn’t bothered to tell me about?”
Victor couldn’t help a laugh. “That was me.”
“Goodness, you saved an entire city?! Then why did Nell stop mentioning your name in her letters? Was it just because the city was full of mad scientists? I think it’s even more a feat you managed to save Touched.”
“That, Aunt Elaine, is a story best told over a lot of coffee and donuts.”
Prompt: dreaming of a white Christmas
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2," baby Chester era
Notes: This was my last prompt on this card when I originally went through it, and I decided to end on a bit of fluff. Chester's born November 5th, so yes, he wouldn't exactly be truly conscious of his first Christmas. The mention of the snow possibly being vanilla ice cream is a callback to Day Five of "A Week of Secundus Christmas" – every year, Flint makes it snow ice cream all over the town. Victor is very much in favor of this. XD Anyway, onto the sweetness (uh, no pun intended).
“Look, Chester! It’s snowing!”
Chester gurgled in his little bundle of blankets. Victor chuckled. “Yes, I know,” he said, leaning over his son. “You’re not even two months old yet. All you care about is when the next meal is coming.”
“No, I think he cares about more than that,” Alice said, joining them at the window of the nursery. “He also cares about getting his diaper changed on time.”
“Yes, true.” Victor looked out at the white flakes drifting down outside his window. (Actual snow, or vanilla ice cream? Either was acceptable to him.) “Still, he doesn’t know what snow is yet. Or that it’s Christmas tomorrow.” He looked back down at the newborn. “Your first Christmas, and you don’t even know it’s a holiday,” he said teasingly.
Chester reached up a tiny hand to him. “He doesn’t have to know,” Alice said, giving him a finger to grasp. “It’s enough that we know.” She looked over at Victor with a smile. “Our first Christmas as three, not two.”
“Yes, I–” Victor stopped as he saw the tears in her eyes. “Alice? Are you all right?” he asked, immediately concerned.
“I’m fine,” she whispered, blinking rapidly. “I just – for years, I thought I’d never have a family Christmas again.”
Victor nodded slowly. “Well, now you are,” he said, leaning against her. “In fact, you’ll have so many, you’ll probably get sick of them by the time he’s eighteen.”
Alice laughed and kissed his cheek. “I could never. I love you, Victor.”
“I love you too, Alice. Merry Christmas.”
So Long To Sunshine
Prompt: drummer
Time Period: Post-climax of "Secundus," pre-wedding
Notes: This was nearly a very different story. When I first came up with matching the prompt to the idea of rain drumming on a carriage roof, this was originally Victor's funeral. The story was going to be an AU "what-if" about what would have happened if Victor hadn't gone to Secundus. Just because he never ends up surrounded by Mad Science doesn't mean he doesn't go Creative, you see, and away from stabilizing influences like Doc, Marty, and Alice. . . . I couldn't write it in the end and instead switched to doing Lewis's funeral. Poor guy – I'm so sorry you had to die for my plot.
The rain drummed down on the top of the carriage as it pulled up to the cemetery gates. Looking out, Victor wondered if someone with a weather machine had specifically programmed it to match everyone’s mood. Rain really was only appropriate for funerals, after all.
He shook his head and looked at his companions in the cab. “I can’t believe you hadn’t done this already.”
Alice put her hand on his wrist. “He would have wanted you to be there,” she said softly. “It didn’t seem right not to have you.”
“Besides, we never did find his body,” Doc said, voice just as hushed. It was so odd to hear him speak so quietly. Doc was supposed to be loud and boisterous, not soft and subdued. “There was nothing we had to bury. And even if we had, you know we would have tried a couple of times to bring him back. Nothing unusual about holding a funeral this late at all.”
Victor nodded, feeling a chill deep in his heart. No, nothing unusual about the funeral, he supposed. Apart from the fact that there was a funeral at all. “It’s not fair,” he mumbled.
“Not much is in this life,” Alice said, with the voice of someone who knows very well just how unfair the world can be.
Marty opened the door with a deep sigh. “Come on, guys. We shouldn’t keep the others waiting.”
“No, we shouldn’t,” Victor agreed, following him out.
The rest of their friends were already gathered at the spot they’d chosen earlier in the week. Victor looked through watery eyes at the simple gravestone, marking a unfound, unburied body. How could this be happening? How could – why did he have to –
Alice pulled him close, spotting the telltale traces of guilt in his eyes. “Please, Victor. It wasn’t your fault.”
Everyone kept telling him that. Only when she said it did he really believe it. “I’ll try to remember that,” he whispered back, squeezing her tight against him.
Father Gale, seeing everyone was assembled, opened his book. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to say goodbye to the soul of Lewis Lutwidge Carroll. . . .”
Know Your Customer
Prompt: hay
Time Period: Post-"Secundus 2"
Notes: Just a funny little piece about a salesman who really should have let Victor get a word in edgewise.
“Er – hello?”
“Hello, sir! Might I trouble you for a moment of your time?”
“Um–”
“Wonderful! Now I see you have a fine stable over there, with a fine horse inside, I’m sure! And a fine horse needs only the finest food! Here I have a sample of–”
“Oh, no thank you, we don’t need anything.”
“Nonsense! You won’t find a finer crop of hay anywhere in this whole city! It’s been modified to grow faster, with more nutrients, then any other hay around! Horses who eat this hay are healthier, faster, and all around better! Go ahead, let me try a sample on your beast!”
“No, you see–”
“Right in here, is he?”
“Yes, but he isn’t–”
“Just trust me! This hay is the finest hay anyone could ever grow and cut! He’ll love it!”
“I assure you he won’t, because–”
“Oh, come on, what’s so wrong with your – your–”
“Yes, you see, butterflies don’t typically eat hay. Now, if you were selling a new and improved form of nectar. . . .”
Ice Princess No More
Prompt: melt
Time Period: Early "Secundus" (before Victor blurts out his feelings)
Notes: This is one of a pair of related prompts about how Alice can look cold on the outside, but Victor's got a knack for finding her warm center. Although I wrote Victor's perspective on it, ice princess, first, that one is in Column Five, so you get Alice's view on things to read first. Examining Victor through Alice's eyes is always rather fun. She never quite gets how he can be the one who makes her go weak at the knees. But she doesn't mind because he's such a sweetheart. :) Just some fluffy goodness, I suppose.
What was it about him that got past all her defenses?
Alice had to wonder this as she looked at the young man in front of her. He wasn’t really anyone special, was he? He was tall, yes, and incredibly thin, but those traits didn’t really mean anything. What mattered was his personality. And when it came to that, well – he was shy, easily startled, and had a tendency to stutter. He seemed constantly surprised by everything around him (of course, one could forgive that – he was new to Secundus). He barely met your eyes while talking, and he always acted like he should apologize for just existing. Alice had thought that would end up getting on her nerves. And to be honest, it did sometimes, just a little.
And yet. . .He was so gentle as well. So polite and unassuming and unprejudiced. He was willing to give anyone a chance to be friends. And Alice could see in him a sort of deeply-buried excitement – a lust for color, for life, that had nearly been crushed into oblivion, but was now slowly reviving in this world of mad science. There was a vitalness to him that she rarely saw in Regular people. And – though it rarely came out – there was something about his smile. . . .
Alice still didn’t know just what it was about him that affected her so strongly. All she knew was, whenever he was around, the ice she’d tried to encase herself in – just seemed to melt.
Long-Lost, Newly-Found
Prompt: aunt
Time Period: Post-"Secundus"
Notes: Yes, Victor has an aunt in my headcanon. Nell's the older of two sisters from a rather poor family. Nell basically disowned them the minute she could, as Elaine says here. Elaine herself works hard as a washerwoman, but she's happy enough with her husband and three kids. And fortunately for Victor, she doesn't seem nearly as prejudiced as her sister. (Also, no idea where Victor is except that it isn't Secundus – maybe he's in London for some sort of entomology thing?)
“Oh! Do excuse me, I didn’t see you there.”
“That’s quite all–”
The woman stopped as she got a good look at Victor’s face. After a moment of intense scrutiny, Victor began to feel uneasy. “Er, m-may I help you?”
“You look familiar. . . .” The woman murmured. “Your last name’s not Van Dort, is it?”
Victor blinked, surprised. “Er, yes.”
“Related to William Van Dort?”
“Yes, I’m his son.” Not that he chooses to acknowledge that anymore. . . .
The woman gasped. “Victor! Goodness, I would have never expected to meet you here! You are tall, aren’t you? Just like the rest of the family. Not that I know much about them. . . .”
“Beg pardon?” Victor said, now completely baffled. “Who are you?”
“I’m your aunt! Elaine Butler – well, Cobbler now. Your mother’s sister – not that she cared to acknowledge my existence in public once she landed her rich husband,” the woman added, scowling. “Nell always had a big head. But she deigned to send the occasional letter and picture our way. I always did want to meet you properly.”
“Oh! Dear me, I’m – I’m glad to meet you,” Victor said, astonished. “Um – how are you?”
“Just fine, dear, and quite happy to see you in the flesh! We should get together and have a proper chat sometime.”
“I’d like that,” Victor replied, though inwardly he was quite nervous. How would his aunt respond to hearing that he was Touched? Was he going to be rejected by yet another family member? Then again, he’d never know unless he took the chance. “How about coffee on Thursday? At that little shop around the corner?”
“Sounds wonderful. I’m quite eager to hear all you’ve been up to. Your name was in the paper a while back – said you were credited with saving Secundus! Was that you, or are there other relatives Nell hasn’t bothered to tell me about?”
Victor couldn’t help a laugh. “That was me.”
“Goodness, you saved an entire city?! Then why did Nell stop mentioning your name in her letters? Was it just because the city was full of mad scientists? I think it’s even more a feat you managed to save Touched.”
“That, Aunt Elaine, is a story best told over a lot of coffee and donuts.”