Tink: A Strange Fairytale 12

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Good news, anyone who's read Tink over on Crystal Hall, there is new material here. Some of it's been posted already but I added on new parts, so be sure to read this.
And thanks to Elrod who helped me out a bit with Shine, really appreciated.
Finally, this is fanfiction, and Whateley, most characters and the setting was not created by me. I'm just playing in their sandbox.
Enjoy.

Thursday Night, September 14th, 2007

Teri was quietly talking into the special microphone on her computer, writing an English essay while Serena was doing her own homework listening to music that was just barely audible with the headphones, when there was a knock on the door. Hitting a button to stop the mic she watched as Serena jumped up to open the door. Mrs. Savage walked in smiling pleasantly.

“Hello girls, I hope I'm not interrupting anything,” she said.

“Just homework, so please take all the time you want,” Teri answered.

“I don't think so,” the housemother chuckled. “I'm actually here to ask you both for a big favour. We're going to get a new girl in the next week or two, she's a sophomore, so she'd normally be upstairs, but she has had a bad time. Considering your personality and your similar ages, Teri, we think you'd make a good roommate for her. Of course this mean we'll have to separate you two, and Serena you'll have your own dorm until we get a new student.”

“Oh no, I'd have a whole dorm room just to myself, with no snoring roommate! How will I survive!” Serena said, putting a wrist to her forehead in despair.

Teri threw a small pillow at her roommate. “As long as she isn't horribly sarcastic and farts after eating anything spicy I'm in.”

“I don't fart!”

“Hah! I'd have bought a gas mask after chili night if I could find one in my size.”

“Girls,” Mrs. Savage warned. “Teri if you can come with me, I'd like to talk with you about Miriam for a few minutes. And thank you both, I really appreciate this.”

Teri flew alongside Mrs. Savage to the housemothers apartment. Sitting down on the couch, the large former Marine Drill Instructor smiled at the diminutive little troublemaker. “Teri, what I'm going to tell you is confidential, can I trust you not to spread this around?”

Teri gave a salute. “My lips are sealed.”

“Miriam is the girl who manifested on live tv during American Idol, and-”

“Who?”

“You didn't see it? It was all over the news, and stopped the season finale.”

She rolled her eyes in thought. “Um, no. I'm pretty sure I manifested a few days before that, and then there was no tv for a few weeks. That must have been pretty cool.”

“It was rather spectacular,” the housemother admitted. “However, it wasn't an easy manifestation for her, and she is suffering from MATD. She can create light constructs and the light is permanently surrounding her.”

“Oh, she has her own light show! That will save a lot on electricity!”

“Teri, focus,” Mrs. Savage said. “She has not taken the changes well, and has tried to commit suicide several times. She has only recently gotten out of the hospital.”

Teri sat up straighter, and looked more serious than anyone at Whateley had ever seen before. “Is she going to be ok?”

“We don't know. I'm going to keep an extra close eye on her, and she is going to have daily counseling sessions. I hope you'll help, reminding her to come see me every morning and evening if she forgets, and walking with her to the counseling. I've seen you around the other girls, and I think that you can handle the extra challenges better than almost anyone else.”

“Wow, I don't know what to say. I've never had to do anything like this before, but I'll do what I can to make sure she doesn't do anything, like, well, that. But, um...” she looked at her feet, “why me? Most people think I'm nuts.”

Mrs. Savage reached out and patted Teri's leg with one finger. “You're different, but not nuts. I've watched your antics fairly closely and as long as we keep you away from the sugar, I don't think you're any different than most teenagers. You just wear your heart on your sleeve, and sometimes ignore that little voice of reason everyone has. But out of all of my girls, you're the best one to show everyone the love of life no matter what comes your way. I don't want you pushing Miriam, but let her know that her life isn't over.”

“Ok. I won't let you or Miriam down!”

“As long as you try, you never will,” Mrs. Savage assured her.

“This looks like it could be a really tough job, do you think, maybe, possibly, I could get out of detention?” she asked hopefully.

“Let's see when Miriam gets here. Thing are still up in the air, so your detention could be over by the time she arrives. But if it isn't, I'll look into stopping it early.”

“Yay! Happy Dance!” Teri shouted and began dancing on the cushion.

Mrs. Savage picked Teri up by her shirt. “Come on, you have homework to do. If you need any help with Miriam or want to talk about things, remember my door is always open.”

“All right, back to the grindstone,” Teri sighed.

**

Friday, September 15th

Teri flew down the tunnel, giggling quietly. She was carrying a lunch box, and had a small bag with her essentials. Today one of the essentials was a small bottle of green face paint and a tiny green dress.

She reached the door she wanted and knocked on it before flying inside. “Hi Mobius. I brought you some lunch.”

The pear shaped devisor spun his chair around in surprise. “Lunch? Oh it's lunchtime already. Thanks, no ones ever brought me lunch before.”

“You've been really helpful, I thought you deserved a treat, and I recently came into some money,” she told him with a big grin. “I don't know what you like, so I got you a burger and some condiments on the side, fries and three kinds of pop.”

“That's great. And I have your pouches and satchel ready. They were a little harder than I thought they'd be, but after the first one it was clear sailing.” Carefully he pulled out a small envelope and handed it over.

Climbing into it, Teri squealed in delight, as her entire arm disappeared into the satchel, and she shoved her other arm into one of the pouches up to her elbow. Quickly putting the pouches onto her belt, and the satchel around her neck where it wouldn't be battered by her wings, she hopped out of the envelope smiling wide enough to show all of her teeth.

“THEY'RE PERFECT!” she squealed, flying up to kiss his nose. “I'll transfer the rest of the money this afternoon, ok?”

“Yeah sure,” he said, rubbing his nose.

She quickly transferred most of her things into her new satchel. It was a tight fit getting her MID into the opening, and it was totally packed by the time she was done, but it wouldn't usually be that full, so she was quite happy with it.

“Ok, I've got to go. Thanks again. Bye bye!” she said, flying off.

**

“Teri,” Mrs. Ryan said, as she walked around the class looking at the costumes the students were designing on the computer, “why do you have a dead bird in here?”

Teri, who was sitting alone with a large cardinal, as Page and everyone else had decided to sit elsewhere that day looked up at the old teacher. “I'm designing a bird costume, I decided I should see how a bird looks up close. Pretty smart, isn't it?”

“Where exactly did you get the bird? It's not very sanitary using a dead animal like this.”

“It was healthy half an hour ago. And it was really fast, it took me five minutes to catch the thing,” she replied, stretching a wing and mentally making her wings look similar.

“From now on, no dead animals are allowed in class. You can use your computer to get the dimensionss and pictures of song birds.”

Teri nodded happily. “Gotcha. Got a question for you. Can you make Kevra look like feathers?”

**

A green fairy waited by the vault like door, waiting for her chance to strike. She knew her prey was out, but he'd be back soon. She cackled silently, rubbing her hands in anticipation.

Finally the boy appeared, wearing faded blue jeans, a patched up shirt and a straw hat. He typed in a complicated code, and put his eye up to a scanner. The door slowly opened on silent hinges. The fairy flew in just before the door slammed shut, twisting sideways, her hair almost getting caught by the door.

Flying to the top of the tallest shelf, the fairy stifled a giggle, watching the devisor work. He seemed obsessed with his work, putting grain into a small vat, sniffing some sour smelling mush in another, fiddling with a heating system, and generally ignoring the world around him. The fairy started to wonder if he'd ever actually taste the stuff.

Finally he twisted a knob, and pretty amber coloured liquid came out of a small metal vat filling a small glass. She got up into a crouch, her wings spread behind her.

He closed his eyes, sniffing the alcohol, then tipped it back and slowly drank it.

The green fairy dived down, landing silently on some copper tubing just in front of him.

He opened his eyes, giving the glass a thoughtful look. Then he saw her, and his eyes got wide.

“I'm the green fairy!” she said seductively. Raising her hands above her head, sticking her ample chest out, and nearly falling out of her dress, she sang, “The hills are alive, with the sound of music!”

Taking to the air, she flew to the devisor, placing a hand on his nose, leaving a bit of glitter behind. Flying back to the tube, she ran her hands down her body, shaking her booty and breasts. Reaching behind her back, she sprang forward, showering the boy with glitter, causing him to close his eyes.

Flying back to her hiding spot, she watched him blink and stare at his drink in wonder. Looking back at where she had appeared, he slowly held the drink up, shaking his head. "Dayum this is a good batch!"

Shaking his head again he headed for the door, saying something about calling some guy called Easterbrook. She barely made it out before the vault slammed shut. Flying away as fast as she could, Teri waited until she was back in her room before she burst out laughing. This was going to be so much fun.

**

“Hey Clover, how come you can have a dog when no one else can have a pet?” Teri, who was still a little green after a bath, asked her unwilling maid who was currently dusting the furniture.

“Buttons isn't a pet, he's a familiar,” she said, stepping over the dog who was sitting on a cloth and walking along the floor with his front legs to get it clean.

“What's the difference?”

“A familiar is magical, he helps me cast spells and lots of stuff. If he couldn't be near me we'd hate it, and Ms. Grimes said it could lead to bad stuff.” She bent down to kiss the dog on the head. “I couldn't leave you at home, Buttons, no way, no how.”

**

Teri thought about that all through the evening, and well into her detention, where she had to ride herd on India and another little girl called Abby who had become best of friends and were playing with a frisbee just outside Hawthorne. A couple of trees were uprooted by India when she ran through them trying to catch the frisbee, which Abby being a furry catlike eight year old could throw almost anywhere doing tricks that made Teri feel dizzy.

“Is this really such a good idea?” she asked the girl who she still thought of as Trinity, but was apparently called Mac, and was also doing detention in Hawthorne.

“They haven't killed anyone yet.”

“Good enough for me,” Teri said as a tree shattered. “Hey India! Stop hitting so many trees, there are squirrels in them!”

The big sasquatch like girl didn't answer, but she did start looking around a little more.

“Girls,” Louis said, appearing behind them.

“Fubar!” Teri shouted, zipping up to kiss his nose.

He jerked back a little, “Um, I don't think it's proper for you to be kissing me, Teri.”

“Ok, I'll keep flying through you than. It's a fun way to freak out the mundanes.”

He sighed, and ignored her. “Mackenzie, we need some floors mopped. Teri, dusting. Slab can look after the two girls while you're away.”

“Ok!” she shouted, glad that someone else had to do the mopping.

“Yeah, sure,” Mac said, looking very pale.

Heading into the cottage, Mac leaned in close to her. “How did you surprise him?” she asked.

“What?”

“Louis. You actually surprised him, I didn't think that was possible.”

“Oh, that's easy to do,” Teri said. “Just don't think.”

“Don't think?”

“Yeah. He has to read your thoughts to know what you're going to do, so if you don't think about anything, he can't read them. I'm surprised more people don't do.”

“Oh.”

They went off to do their chores, Mac deep in thought and Teri humming happily to herself.

**

Louis popped up behind Teri, “You can go home now, Teri.”

“Thanks, Louis. Can I ask you a question?” she asked.

“Yes, but no you cannot get a pet, and since you don't have any magic you can't get a familiar,” he said.

She gave him her best pout and puppy dog eyes. “Why not?”

“Because pets aren't allowed.”

“What about service animals?” Teri asked.

“If,” he stressed, “you have a service animal, you could keep it. But you don't have one.”

“Shoot, that's not fair,” she said, hitting her fist. “If I wanted to get a service animal, who should I talk to?”

Louis gave her a very big smile. “That's easy, Ms. Hartford. She's in administration.”

“Ok, thanks! Gotta fly, I need to get ready for a party! See you tomorrow!” she shouted and flew out the window.

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Comments

looks like...

.... Tink is going to be taking on some responsibility and helping a new girl adjust to life at Whateley. She has some new holdouts as well it seems. Nice to see her still able to be her normal free spirited self as well. Nice work on this chapter!

Thanks

Domoviye's picture

Why they're giving her more responsibility will be explained in the next arc, there is a sensible reason beyond her being so bloody cheerful.
And she hasn't gotten her good holdout yet, when you get to see the fairy claws and wand in action it's going to be fun, much like a hurricane is fun.

Ho hum...

The insanity never stops with Teri, does it?!

Killing a bird to study for costume inspiration, winding up Shine, and soon a meeting with Hardass. I somehow get the impression Amelia won't forget that meeting in a hurry (and may feel the need to buy some of Shine's liquor to help her recover from meeting the manic pixie girl) :)

Still, if/when she calms down, Teri could eventually prove useful to the IT department, as due to her small stature she'd be ideally suited to laying down new cable runs, checking for physical breaches in cables and spotting equipment where no equipment should be...


As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

The bird wasn't for

Domoviye's picture

The bird wasn't for inspiration, it was to make sure it was as realistic as possible. There's a difference.
And today was a fairly normal day for her, she went the extra mile in class, and had a bit of fairly innocent fun at someone elses expense rather than her own for a change.
I've got the meetings with Hardass pretty well planned. It's memorable for everyone who's there or nearby. It gets a little crazy by Tuesday or Wednesday.
IT would be a good job for her, but I don't think it will keep her attention long enough. It's rather boring work, and she's a people person.

Cable runs

Checking for breaks probably would be a regular thing, so as you say not exactly the sort of thing Teri would go in for. However, there may be the occasional one-off job (e.g. cable to a new extension, replacing a hard-to-reach Wi-Fi access point) she'd be the ideal size to do, but of course for her to be interested, such jobs would have to (a) be rare, and (b) have some decent incentives. For more regular work, I'd imagine the IT department would ask a certain Poe "devisor"...


As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!

She likes being helpful. Pay

Domoviye's picture

She likes being helpful. Pay her enough or explain how important it is and she'll do it.

I never thought of Fubar

I never thought of Fubar being cruel, but deliberately sending someone to Hardass, that's above and beyond.

It's a prank

Domoviye's picture

He know she won't eat Teri, probably.
And Teri won't drive her insane, probably.
It's a two for one prank extravaganza.

I swear

one of these days I am actually factually gonna split my gut open laughing at Teri's antics. Of course having a truly bizarre sense of humor, which none of my friends or family get, and having the male version of her name I can definitely get into her mindset. Keep on keeping on and we your fans will keep on enjoying the antics of Tink the wonder fairy.

I am a Proud mostly Native American woman. I am bi-polar. I am married, and mother to three boys. I hope we can be friends.

In no way do I accept any

Domoviye's picture

In no way do I accept any responsibility for damages that occur while reading this story. If you want to try, I'll warn you now, I have no money.

I have ideas for everything up to the Winter/Spring term depending on how I lay it out.

a new roommate

Tink really is the best choice for the girl

DogSig.png

Actually

Domoviye's picture

she's a risk.
Putting someone who's suicidal with someone who is really cheery and active, when her problems are arguably worse could backfire horribly. So the staff is going to watch things VERY closely, and if it looks like it's bad, they're ready to transfer Miriam to Serena's dorm in about 5 minutes flat.
They think it's a worthwhile risk to help two students, but they're not taking chances.

If anyone remembers Robbie

If anyone remembers Robbie the Robot from the Lost in Space series, he was always saying "Danger, Will Robinson, danger". I kind of foresee this also being the mantra Tink needs to adopt when she finally meets up with Miriam. I say this because, you are placing two very dissimilar people together. On the surface and face of it, it sounds like a good plan; however, Tink is a high energentic mindset, and super outgoing person, while Miriam, if I am reading correctly has attempted suicide already, or maybe even more than one time. This places her in the category of a depressed mindset and a "downer" when it comes to life and other people. Rather like oil and water not mixing.
Tinks "over the top" attitude, could actually place Miriam further into a depressive state and THAT could easily cause her to try and harm herself or even others, just on the basis of "I have nothing to offer live, like Tink does." "Tink is some much better than me, because she is always happy and I can't even begin to feel loved, or be happy" and more similar things like that.

You are correct.

Domoviye's picture

You are correct.
I've actually given this a fair bit of thought, and with bits of Teri's personality that have been shown, I think it can work. But like I said in another comment, they will be watching very closely and ready to move one or the other very quickly.

Another robot ref:

Podracer's picture

Fireball XL5 "Out of controol!" "Out of controol!" Ok, this is just the impression Tink trails behind her like a fizzing glitter trail, and maybe she can't plan very well, but she surely can plot. If she takes an interest in something. Anyhow it will be interesting to see how she takes to Miriam. Tink is no stranger to trauma and hurt, though long before Whateley.

"Reach for the sun."

That's the key

Domoviye's picture

Getting her to focus. Which is why they told her early, to get her plotting and planning. If she seems to be cracking or not caring they can change the rooming arrangements before the two meet.

Tink

Tas's picture

Awesome as usual haha

Have we met this Miriam in another story somewhere?

-Tas

In Crystal Hall I posted a

Domoviye's picture

In Crystal Hall I posted a page from Miriam's diary on getting to Whateley, but she hasn't appeared in any stories. Although she's been mentioned twice in Shattered Glass.

Still my favorite

Jamie Lee's picture

Tink has an infectious spirit, though it can be a bit much to take when it's been a rather bad day. But how can a person continue to be "down" when Tink is around? Unless, that is, they want to be.

I always get a laugh out of the things Tink does or many of the situations she gets into and out of.

Because Tink has such an infectious spirit, she may be the perfect person to help Miriam. And because she honestly cares about others, she may be the only one who can discover why Miriam finds it necessary to try and take her life.

It'll be hard to wait for more chapters to be posted.

Others have feelings too.

She's legitimately annoying

Domoviye's picture

I made her that while funny in small doses having to be around her for long could get really annoying. And some people just really don't like people who are always chirpy, happy and talkative. I don't want everyone loving her and thinking she's awesome. I'd rather have her friends thinking she's nice but far from perfect, her acquaintances getting a chuckle but following her more to see what's going to go wrong next, and some people just thinking she's an oblivious ditz who's frequently annoying. All of my characters have flaws, Teri's flaw is this. she can be very overpowering and off putting unless she specifically tones it down.
But as a character she's really fun to read and write.
Thanks.

Just add sugar.

Just add sugar.

Just when I thought I was

Just when I thought I was done with Whateley stories, along comes this one. Very entertaining so far.

Welcome

Domoviye's picture

glad I could keep you addicted.