O is for Oops

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky could imagine Frank making that joke in jest and then really taking a bite out of the wall, to the horror of those around her. It was a pretty funny story. "That's a really good how-I-found-my-power story," she said with a little chuckle. Lots of people had really sad ones or really boring ones, like hers. Floating to the ceiling wasn't really funny. But she supposed Frank's power lent itself to funny stories anyway. She was glad to hear that Frank didn't have a taste for drywall, though. She might question her sanity if she did. She was kind of like a goat, taking nibbles out of everything.

She had to take a moment and be impressed at how well Frank could talk around her mouthful of cookies before taking one out of the container. "Thanks," she said, taking a pretty small bite out of hers. She didn't have a cool eating power, after all. There was a very real possibility that she would choke if she took a bite as big as Frank.

Watching as Frank laid out all the glues, Becky felt a little bit guilty that she'd compared Frank to a five-year-old, even if it was only in her mind. It definitely was bright and an assault on the eyes as well, but it was pretty neat. It really represented Frank's vibrant personality. "Oh, I don't think that being compared to a child is necessarily bad," she said, hoping to make Frank feel a little better and kind of assuage her own guilt. "I mean, being youthful and young-spirited is pretty admirable. Lots of people are too serious all the time. Keeping a childlike and optimistic perspective is really cool." She hoped that didn't sound too cheesy.

She looked over the glues, now arranged neatly on the desk. "Wow, you really do have a lot," she said, picking up one of the bottles of wood glue. "Maybe we should try this first? And maybe super glue. I don't know."

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"Yeah, I know, so many people are all like 'I got my power when my dad beat my mom with my brother' or something," said Frank, wrinkling her nose. She'd had to dance around that subject more than she cared to admit, and it could drag down even on someone like Frank. She looked over at Becky, obviously wanting to ask the girl her own power, but, well, there were just too many things to distract.

Like cookies and being young and all. "just means I'm gonna live longer than the rest of you people," teased Frank. "Jus' kidding! I don't mind it most of the time or whatever. Just wish that the people around her would realize that I'm, like, a girl with needs and crap, but eh," Frank waved a hand, "enough about that, we've got glue!"

And Frank began moving a few of the various glues around as if they were dancing, eventually letting go of the wood glue. "Sounds like a plan to me! I've got the super-duper stuff on hand and --ohhh, this!" she dove into the pile and came out with a strange bottle with a gorilla on the front. "Gorilla glue! This stuff is super awesome! And not just because there's a monkey on the front," Frank pointed, just in case Becky couldn't correctly identify gorillas (which technically weren't monkeys). "It's also like super grippy and stuff. We should use this if the wood glue stuff doesn't work. I'd say start with it, but if your rats all nommy and junk, he or she might be all like 'yum, gorillas!"

Frank paused for a moment, tilting her head. "I wonder if a rat would eat a gorilla given a chance..." which of course meant that the image was going on in Frank's mind, which Becky was missing out on, no doubt to her infinite sadness.

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky really shouldn't have been surprised at Frank's blunt description of most people's power stories, but it surprised her anyway, and she even laughed a little bit. It really wasn't funny that so many people had to find out their powers in such traumatic ways, but it really was funny the way that Frank said it. She thought about telling Frank about her story, but just as soon as the thought appeared in her head, Frank was off talking about being treated like a teenager and glue and different types.

Becky had, of course, seen gorilla glue before, but Frank was so excited to tell her about the monkey and its special properties that it felt mean to interrupt. She just nodded along, caught up in the wave of Frank's voice, which never seemed to stop. She thought that she'd kept up with most of the conversation and tried to make her response mostly intelligible as soon as there was a considerable pause in Frank's speech.

"Yeah, I can see how being treated like a child could get really annoying," she agreed, hoping to sound sympathetic. She was lucky that her parents usually treated her pretty maturely, but she knew that not everyone was so lucky. And when you had a playful personality like Frank, she was sure the problem was even worse. "I think the gorilla glue sounds like a good idea. That way we'll be sure that everything stays together even if Applesauce is rough with it," she decided. And he most likely would be. He wasn't a gentle creature, not with his chew blocks. "Although I don't think the glue will remind him of gorillas." She had to think about her answer to Frank's next question. "Um, maybe if it was grilled up? He eats like, hot dogs and chicken pieces, so he'd probably be okay with monkey meat."

This was like the weirdest conversation she'd ever had and it was pretty one-sided.

"Okay, um," Becky started, hoping to get down to the gluing business. "I guess we can start by putting these two big pieces back together and then work with the smaller pieces...?"

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Frank shrugged. "Eh, it's mostly the boys I don't wanna have treat me like that, honest. You'd think they'd be all 'she got the boobs' but eh, they're just stupid," and Frank was still somewhat surprised at the lack of action she'd gotten. She hadn't really slept around too viciously at her last school or anything, but she'd at least had a few partners. Here? Here people just seemed to ignore her or, well, treat her like a kid or something.

And no, the fact that she almost immediately wandered into a conversation about monkeys and glue was not a clue to Frank as to why that might be. Not even in the slightest. "Maybe I'll buy a gorilla and we'll grilla him right up and see," said Frank, then she giggled, rolling her eyes. "Kidding, obviously. Where would we get a grill big enough for a gorilla?"

She'd already started reaching for the toy thing. Despite her enthusiasm and obvious buoyancy, Frank actually handled the thing deftly. Her fingers darted for the glue with obvious practice, and soon she was carefully applying the gorilla glue to the broken edges, humming all the while. She pressed the two pieces together, holding it there.

"This oughta work," Frank said, nodding. She looked up at Becky. "So, like, you just got here and junk, right? I ask because, like, I haven't seen you before and I totes see everyone here because I'm, like, everywhere and junk," Frank nodded solemnly. "And you're getting that 'she's doing all the talking and I'm not sure what to do' look that people get with me for some reason. They get that a lot, actually,' Frank tilted her head, then shrugged. "Anywho, new girl, introduction time. Spill it," she leaned over and managed to poke Becky in the stomach without dropping or even really disturbing the toy.

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky hadn't even thought about that being a problem, but she could see how that would be annoying if you really wanted a boyfriend or something. If boys saw you as a little kid, they wouldn't want to take you to movies or have sex with you or anything. And obviously Frank was lamenting that travesty. "Yeah, boys can be stupid," she agreed, because that was the standard girl-talk response. Frank seemed pretty nice, even if all the energy and childish bounciness was a little strange.

She managed to laugh a little bit about her grill-gorilla joke. That was pretty funny. But there were a lot more problems than just grill size. Like finding a gorilla. And killing the gorilla. Weren't gorillas endangered or something? That would probably be morally wrong and definitely illegal. And then yeah, skinning it and grilling it would be difficult too. Then she realized she was putting even more thought into this imaginary scenario than Frank was and that was ridiculous.

She was also surprised that, despite being clumsy enough to break her rat's toy in the first place, apparently Frank was really as good at crafts as her art supplies implied. She looked like she knew exactly what she was doing with all the little pieces and the glue and Becky was really impressed. But talking about herself? That she wasn't so good at.

"Um. My name is Steinbeck Dunn. And uh. I own a rat?" she decided, trying to think of other interesting things about herself. After all, Frank herself was such an exciting and interesting person that she'd feel pretty lame if she couldn't come up with something kind of cool. "My parents own a bookshop, so I grew up there. And uh. I don't know what else to say really, sorry. I'm kind of boring."

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"They so can," agreed Frank, nodding sagaciously. It came off like Becky had said the truest truth to ever be truthed: boys can be stupid. Frank held the solemnity for all of about three seconds of course, but for those seconds, the world paused to accept the great wisdom that had been uttered, paused, breathed and basked in the knowledge that something wise had been said.

Giggles and gorillas soon replaced it, which was only fitting, really. Not soon after that, Becky was adding more to her introduction, and Frank was watching her with rapt interest, her eyes wide, her attention somehow managing to actually be focused on the other girl. she blinked a few times, which almost made her look like an owl, though possibly more specifically a cartoon owl.

"C'mon, that's probably not true,' said Frank, reaching over to gently push Becky. "Most people who, like, are all 'my life is boring' just got started, or they're like super creative and stuff. Your name is all cool and stuff, so trust me," she pointed at herself, "that means you're cool. Steinbeck Dunn," she drawled it in a heavy Scottish/Welsh accent, nodding and pulling her hands up as if they were a gun, "rat owner, book reader, and super awesome mutant," Frank tossed her hair then giggled. "Plus, like, if you're really bored, you can just hang out with me a while. I'm almost never boring. Even when I was, like, trapped in a cell while SPECTRE was all poking at my friends and stuff I wasn't boring. We can totes do stuff: go shopping," she ticked it off, "talk about boys some more, talk about your rat... oh, have you ever tried to train him? That could be cool! oh, oh, oh," she reached over to pat Becky with each word, "what have you always wanted to do but haven't yet? And have you, like, tried diving in the lake here? Or maybe checking out the cabin where there was a shootout? Or maybe trying to dig under the school?"

It was hard to say whether Frank had done any of this...or just thought really, really hard about it.

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky was glad that she'd come off like she knew what she was talking about. Frank seemed to take her comment really seriously and she sort of wished that she'd said something more profound. Something worthy of a longer pause. But oh well. She was soon lost in the tide of Frank again. It was like it was impossible to escape. She paused for a minute and Becky caught her breath and then she was back to listening to Frank talk about something, always trying to catch up to their topic of conversation.

Still, she thought she understood what she was talking about now. Although she didn't know how cool she was. She blushed a little bit as Frank did an impression of her as some sort of gun wielding Scottish lady? Well, at least that would make her sort of interesting. She mentioned her kidnapping again and Becky wondered if she should maybe ask about it, but that would be too invasive. She thought that maybe Frank just didn't have a brain-to-mouth filter. It sounded like she was just saying everything that popped into her head anyway.

"All those things sound fun," Becky replied once she was pretty sure all the things had been listed. She stayed put while Frank prodded her and rubbed her arms a little bit, almost like she was cold, even though she wasn't. Just a nervous gesture. Going shopping and talking about boys were all normal girl activities. Apparently Frank made friends quickly because it sounded like that was what they were now. "He knows a few tricks, but I'm sure he'd like to meet you sometime. And, um, I've never done any of that. Why would you want to dig under the school?" she asked, honestly curious. She knew she would probably get a really crazy Frank-eque answer, but it would kind of be entertaining anyway.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"They are!" agreed Frank, nodding. She was obviously convinced of it, regardless of the feasibility or her own personal experience in such things. She squirmed again, before reaching over to gently tap the toy. It seemed to hold together well enough, but there was a slight wiggle that told Frank they'd need at least a few more moments or whatever.

"I'll totes meet him sometime," said Frank, nodding and sitting back. "I'm betting that if he likes this, he'd totally be awesome. And there are loads of reasons to dig under the school. You could be looking for the underpants gnomes, since everyone knows they live underground and all. Could be trying to get a secret path into the school, because we all so need that. You could also be trying to get into the boys' dorm or something. Or into the kitchens after they lock you out just because you accidentally blew up a cake or two. Seriously, you blow up one cake and get frosting in weird places and poof, suddenly banned!"

Frank waved her hand before lowering them, sighing. She reached and tapped the toy again. "We should totally test this thing, I'm thinking. Maybe get anything else glued and stuff, ya think?" she looked back at Becky, blinking, still as smiley as ever.

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky watched her tap the toe with interest. It looked like it was holding together pretty well and Becky was relieved. She knew that Applesauce would be horribly upset if she came back with no toy, or a broken one. He liked his things and he liked them a certain way in certain places. And he would not appreciate a deviation from his usual toys. She sort of wanted to take it away as a lesson -- if you spread your toys around, you don't get them back -- but she knew that he probably wouldn't understand cause and effect that well. And there was no reason to be needlessly cruel to the poor little guy.

She blinked at Frank a few times as she explained the reasons to dig underneath the school. She doubted that any secret tunnel they built underneath the school could possibly amount to anything. How could they possibly dig up to the surface through the floor of the school? How would they find exactly where the boys' dorms were on the floor plan? It would be impossible. But then Frank was talking about a weird exploding cake incident and it really wasn't worth pointing out the logistical flaws. She bet Frank already knew them and was just ignoring them because it was more fun that way or something.

"Um, yeah," she agreed, deciding to ignore her blown-up cake story, as interesting as it was, and focus on the matter at hand. "Maybe we can go to my room and give it to Applesauce and see if it holds up to his roughhousing? It would give you an opportunity to meet him, too. But if you'd rather not, she can just bang it on things to sort of replicate what he might do to it."

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Frank didn't even slow down as she saw Becky looking all confused, likely thinking about all the logical holes in everything Frank said. Frank did, after all, operate mostly on a strange version of logic that only loosely resembled most of what the rest of the world worked with. It made things more fun that way.

"Awesome!" she chirped as Becky finished, clapping her hands together and nodding. "We can give it to your critter, then prod him a little, see if we can get him to work it over and junk," Frank smiled at that, obviously thrilled at the idea of not only getting to see Applesauce, which sounded amazing in and of itself, but also in encouraging him to attack the toy. She gave it another pat before scooping up a few tubes of glue, just in case.

"Right, so off we go! Oh, wait," Frank darted over to dig around under her bed, producing a few things of candy. She ripped one open with her teeth without looking, then peered inside. "Ah, gummy frogs. You want some?" she asked, before popping one in her mouth and chewing. "You know, for the road," Frank looked over at the toy, then at the Becky, nodding several times, acting almost as if the sugar had already hit her bloodstream.

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky was glad that Frank seemed to be on board with her plan. She hoped that she'd be okay with Applesauce. Not that he needed her to be extremely gently, but he just couldn't be flung around like an inanimate object. She'd be sure to keep a watchful over him when he met her. She also didn't want Frank getting bit if she pinched him or picked him up wrong. "Trust me, he'll be happy to see his toy back," she said, nodding. Applesauce loved that thing. And anyway, he sniffed and chewed at anything new she put in his cage.

Becky started heading toward the door, but Frank's voice stopped her. Oh no. If this was Frank normally, what would she be like with sugar in her system? It seemed like a dangerous game to be playing. She thought about refusing politely, but the gummy frogs did look pretty good. "Yeah, um, that'd be awesome, thanks," she said, holding out her hand for one of the frogs.

As soon as that was done, she gave Frank a smile and lead her out of her dorm and towards her own. It wasn't too far, really, and hopefully Carter wouldn't be in. She didn't want to disturb her with her new, hyper friend. Luckily, when she opened the door, it seemed to be deserted. "Alright, his cage is next to my bed," she said, trying not to feel self-conscious about letting Frank inside. After all, Frank had let her into her room without any embarrassment. And Becky's was a good bit neater.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"Awesomesauce!" said Frank, grinning at the obvious fun to be had with words there. "Meeting Applesauce will definitely be awesomesauce for sure," she said, nodding several times, still grinning like a maniac. She ate a few more of the frogs, making sure that Becky got a few. that required shaking the package into the waiting hand, which Frank did with obvious practice.

Then there was the popping up and gathering things and stuff. Frank had stuffed the bag of treats into her pocket, which left a trail of frogs as she walked. It lead all the way from Frank's room to Becky's, a trail that Frank would likely follow back like a slightly more sugared up version of Gretel.

She burst into Becky's room and started moving around, looking all about. "Wow, your room's all neat and stuff," said Frank, nodding. "then again, most people's rooms are all neat and junk, or at least neater than mine. I don't, like, try to make a mess though: it just kinda happens. Oh, oh, that's him!?" Frank pointed with a finger, somehow managing it, before scurrying forward, practically dashing toward the cage. "he looks adorable!" She cooed, irregardless of how adorable a rat Applesauce actually happened to be. Frank grinned down at him, wiggling a few fingers.

"We should totes get his treat thingy ready, see if he can handle it and all," she said, turning back to Becky and nodding. A few more gummy frogs fell free with the gesture, as if waiting for Frank to move to make a break for it.

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky thought about mentioning her escaping gummy frogs to her, but she was pretty sure that Frank probably already knew and just didn't care. Because it was kind of hard to miss when gummy frogs were falling out of your pocket every time you moved. Becky was just grateful Frank had decided to share with her before all the gummy frogs ended up on the ground and covered in dirt and dust.

As soon as Frank went over to the cage, Becky followed right behind, just in case she tried anything funny with her poor Applesauce. He was a pretty large sized guy, since he was almost a year and a half old. He was a hooded rat, which Becky thought made him look even cuter. Applesauce looked mildly alarmed by Frank's presence, but he was too curious not to investigate her. "That's him," she agreed with a nod, even though it was pretty obvious. since there were no other rats in the room. "Thanks. We can set the toy on the ground and let him come out of his cage to see it, if you like."

Becky reached over to open the door to his cage. "He won't run away very far when I'm watching him, so don't worry. He doesn't move that fast," she promised. At least Frank wasn't one of those girls who saw a rat and screamed and jumped onto the nearest high surface. "He'll probably also steal one of your gummies. He eats anything."

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"He's adorable!" said Frank, though "said" is probably understating it. She practically declared it as if she were talking about someone's small child, her eyes shining with almost instantaneous affection for the creature. And yes, she did realize she was repeating herself: good things were worth saying a few times, after all.

This didn't mean that Frank hadn't heard Becky and didn't move out of her way. She helped get the toy on the ground, making sure to adjust it and give it a few tentative pats. When it still held, Frank nodded, turning to give Becky the "okay" sign, which from Frank looked like a hand extended in a ring, a wink, and a mouthed "okay," thus leaving absolutely no doubt as to what the sign was intended to mean in the slightest. She moved a little back, then moved a little forward, adjusting to try and get to a position where she could look real close at the rat without bothering him.

"Seriously? That's cool! I don't mind at all. I could even, like, set one or two out for him or something," talking about the frogs reminded Frank that she had them, and she fisted a handful of them now, chewing with great vigor. When she kept talking again, it was somehow with very, very little disturbance in her words: "He seems like a really cool pet. I mean, just look at him! He's so flipping cute! Plus he's got an awesome name, plus he actually plays with his toys, plus he eats gummy frogs," Frank had of course been ticking all these off on her fingers, and she nodded as she finished. "Yep, you've done just awesome with this guy! For serial."

[Steinbeck Dunn]

Becky smiled at Frank's excitement. She was obviously very excited about everything but she couldn't help but be kind of happy that she was excited about Applesauce. Because he was a really awesome rat, even if he occasionally escaped and made things hard for Becky. She let the cage door fall down as soon as Frank gave the okay. She hoped that the toy would hold, because she always felt mean about taking them away from him when they broke. And he could be really sad about this toy being broken forever.

Becky stepped back a little bit so that Applesauce would know that it was okay to come out. By the look on his face, he'd probably already smelled the gummy frogs in the air and was on the hunt. It would be pretty disappointing if all he did was spend time eating a gummy frog, but she doubted anything would disappoint Frank. She looked up at Frank with a small smile while Applesauce crawled out and sniffed at his new toy. It was like he could tell that it was different. Fickle beast.

"Thanks," she said with a shy smile. "I'm really glad I got to bring him to school with me. It would have been awful leaving him behind, even though I know my parents would take good care of him. I think he likes the adventure of living here, though." He started gnawing on the toy. "Looks like he still likes it!"