fandomtownies | Luke's Diner, Friday, 12/19

Ella was at the diner early that day, in a peculiarly thoughtful mood. Classes were over for the year, and she'd be home for her break soon.

She stood at the counter, wiping it again and again as her thoughts enveloped her.

The baby who Ella had once been yelped, frightened by the strange new woman holding her. "Noisy little thing, isn't she?," the fairy Lucinda commented as she bounced the swaddled child in her arms. Then, as Ella's mother and Mandy held their breath, she added, "Well, I'll make it pleasant for the people around her. Ella, you will have a beautiful singing voice."

Instantly the baby's cry turned into a lovely aria. "Is that all, Lucinda?" Mandy asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I suppose it will do," Lucinda said airily and with a look of deep satisfaction, handing the baby back to her mother. "I'm off! Thank you so for having me."

And then she vanished, as the baby kept singing.

"...a beautiful voice?" Lady Eleanor said, incredulous. "Oh, that's useful."

Mandy gave her a killing look. "It could be much worse. I heard Lady Frances's baby up in Jenn got the gift of obedience the other week, can you imagine?"

Both women shuddered.

For the next 14 years, Ella grew much as she had with the curse in place, never knowing what she had been spared. She played, walked in the woods, grew to love Mandy, and learned to ride and to speak every language anyone would teach her. And, because a singing voice wasn't much help against illness or life's other slings and arrows, her mother still died, and her father still promptly became involved with a woman who was only too happy to ship Ella off to finishing school. At the school, she was the star of singing classes, but little use at dancing or embroidery, or the thousand other worthless components of being a lady. When her new stepsisters went home, she was ready to go with them.

Through it all, she wrote letters to Prince Charmant, whom she had become friends with after her mother's loss. She scrawled silly letters, serious letters, letters that recounted her trials and triumphs to him. She fell deeply in love with him, and, when he came to see her after her return from school, she was not surprised by his request.

"Marry me when I'm done with my duties in Ayorthia," the prince implored. "I know we are young, but that just means we've more of life to experience together."

And Ella, unconstrained by any curse, was only too happy to sing out her answer that she would.

When Ella came to again, she realized she'd been wiping the counter for so long that it was almost wearing thin. She shook off her own silliness and went to fix a mug of tea.

Specials
New England Clam Chowder
Chicken Caesar Salad
Peppermint Cheesecake

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Go for it.

She's in an interesting mood.

"Is Old England Clam Chowder particularly different from New England Clam Chowder?" Viki wondered, with a bob of her head hello. "Unless, of course, we are talking about expiry dates and in that case, as this is a place of business, I would guess that New England might be the better way to go, would you not agree?"

A considering pause.

"And hello, and all of that, if you feel the need."

"Hello and all of that," Ella said, taking a slightly longer moment than normal to follow what Viki was saying. "They're both regions in this world, I think. I'm still learning my geography. But the soup is good! It has potatoes in it, and cream."

"I will try it then, if you do not mind," Viki decided, resting her chin in one hand. "I have not even tried to learn the geography, I will confess. Have you been well?"

"It's not been the easiest few weeks," Ella admitted. "But I'm to go home tomorrow, and I'll stay there for all of break, so that's something. And you?"

"I expect I will continue on with everyday life," she said, as if considering it for the first time. "I will confess to not much paying attention to breaks or holidays and the like. I went to a play last night, and it was well enough, I suppose, and the bread everywhere added to it most entertainingly."

Viki glanced sideways at her. "Things are, in general, less effecting if you do not dwell on them." Her attempt at comfort. Sort of.

"There was bread in the play?" Ella was intrigued. "And no, you're right. I'm not thinking about it."

She turned to give the order for soup to the cooks. "It was for the best, anyhow."

"All of the bread that appeared around town also afflicted the play," she explained. "They did quite well despite it. Things seldom are, in feeling, for the best, don't you think? Heads and feelings do not mix well, despite being well stuck with each other and even if you do not think, being down is quite likely to happen anyways. You should do something fun, I think, if you do not mind me saying."

"My roommate tried to feed me ice cream," Ella said. "I don't know, I thought it was better to work and keep busy than to force something fun. But going home will be a treat for me, and the change of scenery is the best thing."

"It's unfortunate," she added, "that your head cannot tell your heart what to do."

"Well, it can," she mused. "But the heart is stubborn and determined not to listen to counsel from any but itself. And I suppose that is true as well, not forcing things, but perhaps merely indulge in what you like to do ordinarily more? If you like walks, say, perhaps take an extra long one, and the such like."

"That's ... actually good advice," Ella said, trying not to show her surprise. "I have been working on my languages, and spending time with my bird."

Well. That was fun to her.

"Perhaps I'll sneak in a ride tomorrow before leaving."

Viki grinned a bit. "Even nonsense is occasionally right," she noted, amused. "And I will hope that it is a nice day for riding then, as it would be less than kind if it were not."

"Ah, if it's nice enough for a horse, it's nice enough for me," Ella claimed. "I have a warm cloak. Do you ride at all?"

"Not recently," she said, considering that, "though I have before when it was considered better to ride to a place rather than simply blink there. I do not think I am bad at it, though I would not claim to be particularly good at it either."

"I just like horses," Ella said geekily. "They're such kind animals, but strong, too."

"But," she added, "I don't have the option of blinking places."

Viki laughed. "Most do not, admittedly, and horses are quite lovely in and of themselves. Have you always cared for horses then?"

"As long as I can remember, anyhow," Ella nodded, going back to retrieve Viki's soup.

"Long for some, and not so long for others then," she said lightly, mainly to herself as she played with a napkin.

Still covered with posters for the play.

Probably Ella's last diner shift. Woe.

Awwww, roomie. ♥

Luke's Diner, Friday, 12/19

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