fandomhigh | Fandom High Graduation Ceremony, Class of 2008, Saturday Afternoon (Part II)

After the last diploma had been handed out, the graduates were sent back to their seats, and Principal Washburn returned to the podium, to give her final speech and end the ceremony.

It was then that the rumbling started.

Odds were, if you asked the average citizen of Fandom to describe the town, they would tell you about the school, and the shops, and the beach and preserve, and all the areas of the island that existed above ground. But what they wouldn't describe was the island's biggest secret - beneath the ground, hidden from all of the town's inhabitants, was a city of ancient machines, designed to keep Fandom connected to every dimension it has ever touched, allowing people to continue to come from all over to live and grow on the island.

Although the existence of the underground city has always been hidden from Fandom's citizens - a safety measure, to ensure that none of Fandom's more power-hungry students or teachers try to use the machines for harmful purposes - it has not been a secret to everyone. During the night, fae and faeries of all sizes and power had come to make their way underground, and seize control of Fandom's machines, determined to have the unparalleled dimensional access for themselves. Although they were followed, the Wild Hunt had never caught its prey, and while the people of the town were occupied with graduation, the faeries struck, beginning to activate the machines.

But what the faeries didn't realize was that not all of the machines controlled access to dimensions. One machine in particular, one of the first to be activated, controlled the access to the city from above ground. As the machine chugged along, a section of the island lowered a few feet underground, allowing access to the city, the machines, and the faeries.

Of course, it just so happened that this section of land was where the platforms had been laid before graduation, and where the graduates had all been seated. As the platforms sank, a clear bubble covered the area where they'd been, allowing the audience to watch, but preventing them from being able to interfere or help. It was up to the graduates to defend themselves, and get rid of the fae.

[~~Wait for the OCD, please!~~ OCD is up! Have fun!]

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Parker put her head in her hands and tried not to groan. "I did not need that audio-visual, Bel. I really really didn't." She shook her head, then looked up and over at Veronica. "So, um, yeah. I'd expect her to, but... she is pretty tiny, so..." Parker kept herself from flailing by imagining pinning Logan to a wall with one thumb. "Oy."

"She's hooking up with Dick to be her baby daddy," Bel gossiped. "Can you believe that?"

"Dick...? Casablancas?" Parker stared at him. "Okay, now you're just making crap up."

"She went to the Prom with him!" Bel insisted. "Ask anyone. I shimmered her here myself."

"Maybe I'm not in the right Fandom," Parker wondered aloud. "Maybe I'm in Bizarro-Fandom, where Logan would get Veronica pregnant and she'd date Dick Casablancas. Hmmm." She paused, looking around. "And there is no way in hell I'd be able to tell the difference, is there?"

Bel shook his head. "Don't ask me to explain it, I'm not sure I get it myself."

"Does Angel know?" Parker asked, frowning. "He's got to know, doesn't he? I mean. Logan wouldn't lie to him about this, and he said they were cool after New Year's."

Bel nodded. "Veronica said that he confessed everything," he said. "I don't know where things stand with them now. I haven't talked to Angel since . . . you know."

Which gave her a whole new tangent to go off on. "Are you kidding me? Tell me you're kidding me. Tell me you've actually talked to him since that fiasco, and he knows you're okay with him." Parker paused, cocking her head. "You are, right?"

Bel shrugged. "Haven't seen him," he said. "He took off out of Fandom and I haven't talked to him since." He was trying very hard to sound like he didn't care and was almost succeeding, almost.

"You doofus." Parker leaned forward to whap him on the arm. "You doofy doofus of a doofster, what, how-- God!" She took a breath. "Not that I care. Much. But. He was in full-brood mode and sure everyone didn't want to talk to him after New Year's. You might consider that, possibly?"

"Hey!" Bel said, rubbing his arm. "Maybe I don't want to talk to him, okay?"

Parker gave him an impatient look, then blew out a breath. "Fine. You don't want to talk to one of your best friends because his evil twin messed with your head. That's fine. Great. But it's been five months, hello! Are you never going to speak to him again ever?"

"He didn't just mess with my head, you don't know what he did," Bel snapped.

"No, I don't," Parker admitted, calming down a little. "And maybe I don't want to know. Or shouldn't know. I know enough of what he did already, and I was there for round one. I can guess." She shook her head. "Fine. Whatever." She gritted her teeth. "It's not like he forgave you for getting taken over by the Source and being a bastard, so, yeah. Do whatever you want, Bel."

"That was different," Bel muttered sulkily.

Let it go, let it go, let it... "Different, how? From where I'm sitting, there's not a lot to choose from here."

"The Source is gone," Bel said. "Angelus is still part of Angel."

Parker opened her mouth, then shut it again, staring at him, thinking. "You knew that. You knew that as well as anyone, you were friends with Angelus first. This can't have been a shock to you, when he got loose."

"No," Bel said. "The shock was finding out what he really thinks of me."

"Angelus? Or Angel?"

"Same difference," Bel said.

"Hardly." Parker gave him an amused look. "Really, Bel. I thought you were smarter than this. I thought you got how important that soul of his was. And by extension, yours." She got to her feet, brushing down her skirt. "If you can't tell the difference, or don't want to know, maybe it's better you never do call him."

"He knows where to find me," Bel said stubbornly. "He doesn't want to talk to me."

"He didn't want to talk to me, either. Like I'd let that stop me." Parker studied him. "He hasn't called anyone. He doesn't think he deserves to. And he won't, ever. He'll just assume you didn't give a damn." She shrugged. "Your loss."

Re: Uh, did we win?

demonbelthazor - 2008-05-04 04:34 (UTC) - Expand

mparkerceo.livejournal.com - 2008-05-04 04:38 (UTC) - Expand

demonbelthazor - 2008-05-04 04:39 (UTC) - Expand