Fandom Island and Town

It had been an exhausting year, looking for anything that could help him find home - and Cally. Dolf was beginning to lose the fragile hope he'd gained after Cally's letter last year; he was running out of books, and out of ideas.

He had his nose in another volume about time-travel he'd found lurking somewhere in the back of the library, skimming the pages, trying to find anything that applied to his situation. Nana had wandered further into the store, securing some random can of peaches to play with, but Dolf didn't pay her much attention.

His eyes flicked over the line, and Dr. Simiak perfected this design and went on to the next.

Then he paused.

Went back.

Reread, and Dr. Simiak perfected this design.

"Simiak! He exists!"

Nana gave him a pained look. He ignored it again, but for wildly different reasons this time.

[[ open, no ocd! ]]

Dolf was pulling double - or really, triple - duty at Turtle and Canary today. First and foremost, he was manning the store, which at the moment involved rather a lot of hazardous negotiating with the panda, who had decided to block off the entire cheese aisle in a fit of pique.

Secondly, he was pouring through books on teleportation and time-travel, looking for some kind of technology that might be able to get him back home. He hadn't found anything yet in the past two months, but he remained confident - mostly - that there had to be something.

Thirdly, he was keeping an avid eye on the World Cup speedskating in Heerenveen on his mobile. Look, this was important, okay? Ireen Wust and especially Sven Kramer were staging a comeback, and he absolutely needed to know how well they'd do.

Today's Squishy flavors: Ice, Mobile, Grape Judas.

[[ open, but also on sp! ]]

Nana had been weirdly restless lately, as if something - or someone - was calling to her. Normally Dolf wouldn't oppose anything that got the dog's attention off of... well, him, except that it meant that she spent rather a lot of time suddenly jumping to attention in doorways or barking at windows or...

Well, in this case, running up and down one of the aisles, nearly bowling over the panda and leaving fur all over the floor. Oh, and howling at the eggs. Howling loudly.

"Look, it's not my fault," Dolf tried to explain desperately to Apu. "All I want to do is do research peacefully! But she keeps being crazy."

Apu just sighed.

Today's Squishy flavors: Saint Bernard Fur, Purple'n'Pink, Red.

[[ and no ocd! ]]

If anything was going on in Dolf's home universe at all, he didn't know: he hadn't been able to reach any of them in over a year anyway. But he was listening to the radio broadcast with some trepidation, Nana making big eyes at him from the floor.

Unfortunately, his attempts to discuss strategies with Apu were... not going so well.

"Look," he said, after about twenty minutes, and feeling crushing despair sinking in on him, "I agree that the eurocrisis is bad, but I really wasn't talking about wiping out the euro and replacing it with the guilder again--"

It was going to be a long day.

Today's Squishy flavors: Red, White, Orange Legion.

[[ and no ocd! ]]

Dolf would be lying if he said he couldn't use something of a vacation. Away from the school, and away from Nana, who was going to spend some time at a pet hotel for the week. Not only that, but the extra work meant that he could go on this trip without feeling in the least bit guilty, so it was a win-win as far as he was concerned.

Which still left Sunday's Turtle and Canary shift.

He trudged in loyally as always, dog on his heels and hands in his pockets. Well, one hand. The other hand was busy paging through websites about the project on his phone while he looked thoughtful.

Today's Squishy flavors: Red, Know, Ice.

Dolf was finally getting over his massive embarrassment from last weekend. Strangely enough, Nana was helping: she had spent the past few days lying on his feet and rolling over to demand belly rubs, which was both physically destabilizing and really kind of cute.

In retrospect, that was disturbing, as Dolf had never met a dog he actually liked.

And so it was with a sigh and a mop that Dolf cleaned the store that day, a Saint Bernard trailing on his heels and fur flying around with every step. He'd apologise if your can of soup or your fly swatter wound up coated in thick white fur - Nana was unstoppable when she was shedding.

(Hence the lack of a vacuum cleaner.)

Today's Squishy flavors: Red, Orange, Fluffy Bit.

Today, Dolf was hovering near the cheese aisle. What with the panda bustling through all the time, the integrity of the aisle was starting to look a little... iffy. In the process, he baffled about the abundance of Dutch cheeses (Gouda, of course, but Edam?) and the randomness of the large carton of pink lemonade someone had stuffed between the cheeses.

And then there were the Babybells.

Oh, they looked fine at first sight, but when he picked up a bag of them--

"The Laughing Cow? Really?" Dolf said, frowning. When Apu shrugged, he added an offended, "What, they can't have La vache qui rit like everybody else?"

Apu, sanely, ignored him.

Today's Squishy flavors: Cheese, Cheese, Pink.

Dolf was starting to get used to Nana's constant intrusion into his life. At least the panda was slightly less likely to get near him while there was a giant dog napping in the aisle, though it meant Dolf had to make up for it in cleaning hair off of stuff.

Still, he wasn't going to complain. If he wanted to do that, then there were a lot of different things he could complain about that were worth a lot more-- his list was starting to get pretty long, to say the least.

But today he was going to focus on small favors, like keeping the panda at bay, and finding out that they actually had some fair trade coffee coming in. Stocking the aisles with it made him smile just a little bit, even if Nana spent most of that time drooling on his leg.

Today's Squishy Flavors: Fudge, Prose, Grape Judas.

Dolf... was not a dog person.

He was pretty much the opposite, in fact. He'd been bitten by a dog once and he'd never really cared for them since. He certainly couldn't picture himself as owning a dog.

Which made having ownership of Nana fairly surreal, if a decent distraction from his worries about Cally.

It was even worse considering the state of him right now, though at least four hooves meant he was somewhat stable.

"Sit," he ordered.

Nana stared back at him, drooling.

"Zit?" he tried.

She wagged her tail.

"Lie down?"

She shoved her flank into him so hard he nearly tripped and bumped into the counter.

"...Okay then."

No more Wild West for Fandom, Dolf supposed. He didn't exactly mind very much - he'd never been that interested in cowboys (he preferred knights) and the spiders hadn't really made the situation any better.

Still, it was a bit warm here (again) and so far, Dolf had been unable to discern which old city they were at. He certainly didn't recognise any landmarks from his history books, no matter how much he tried. Which was often: today, he was probably spending more time right outside the shop, staring up at the city's skyline, than he did inside behind the counter.

Which was only partly about avoiding the panda.

... Mostly.

... Okay, he was avoiding the panda. Hush.

"Suzanne! Suzanne!" Dolf crowed as he swept up the store that day. His hair was a mess and he'd been fighting earworms for over a day now, and he'd finally just given up. "Suzanne, ik ben stapelgek op jooooou!"

He had absolutely no clue where it came from. Or why the store had been renamed.

Or why his football jersey currently read VAN BASTEN instead of SNEIJDER.

But keeping the songs in was turning out to be terrible for his health, so he just went along with it. "Carriere maken! Totdat de bom valt!"

Today's Squishy Flavours: Doe Maar, De Dijk, Het Goede Doel.

[[ open! ]]

Work and newbie weekend had sort of distracted Dolf from his brooding for just a little while, but it couldn't last forever. While the morning passed by easily enough, by afternoon Dolf was starting to feel down again, his thoughts dwelling back to his friend.

It made him fidgety.

Eventually, Apu gave in and let him fidget with the radio, too, which kept him busy for as long as it took him to find a frequency for the Wereldomroep. Maybe hearing the news in his own language would be soothing somehow, or at least occupy his mind with something else.

Except Fandom couldn't do anything right today, apparently: the Wereldomroep presenter managed to get about three words out before the frequency was commandeered by Omroep Brabant, the station for the province of Brabant.

Which wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the songs - or rather, song - they kept playing on repeat. "Dan denk ik aan Brabant, want daar brandt nog licht!"

Not only was it incredibly earwormy, but it made Dolf homesick, which would explain why he spent the rest of the afternoon sulking on the desk while Guus Meeuwis kept crowing on about missing Brabant.

[[ open! * 'then I think of Brabant, because the lights are still burning there.' oh, that song. ]]

It had been weeks since Dolf had been able to put in a decent shift at work - the weekend where he'd been shut inside the dorms had been a particularly memorable one. "It's quiet today," Dolf said, with a kind of determined cheerfulness as he picked peeps out of his hair.

Apu gave him an equally determinedly cheerful look back as he picked jelly beans out of his glass. Dolf gave him the thumbs up.

"I wonder where they're coming from," he added later, as he poked through the shelves for some tissues to wipe the chocolate stains out of his trousers. "Who is making these things? Do any of them say 'made in China'? Because I've read about what happens in China. They have these sweatshops, and--"

Apu shrugged. Then bleated.

Dolf pulled away from the shelf in confusion, then paused. And paused a little longer. And paused some more.

"...Hi," he told the small crowd of doe-eyed lambs. "Uh, sorry, we don't sell grass."

[[ open! ]]

Well, Dolf was in better spirits than last week, but that wasn't really that hard. He was chatting animatedly with Apu near the front most of the time, pointing out that maybe, just maybe, they could do with stocking a few more Fair Trade products... It wouldn't cost them that much more, and it would be better for the environment. And for the farmers. And so on.

Apu just nodded wearily, and completely failed to tell Dolf about the gremlin he'd seen sneaking around the stock rom.

Surely the boy would figure that one out himself eventually...

Today's Squishy Flavors: Songbird, Crow, Red.

Had Jason spent any time on the forums that Dolf spent his time on, he'd have rued the day he got Dolf this phone.

But that was probably unlikely, so he could remain blissfully unaware of the havoc he'd caused.

Dolf? On the phone, in the middle of a flamewar on Twitter about UN military intervention in Libya. It wasn't like it was exactly going to change anything, but you wouldn't be able to tell from the way he was, ah, applying himself to it.

As a result, he wasn't paying too much attention to the shop. He was way too busy jabbing the little letter keys on his smartphone. Eat dirt, right wing loonies!

Today's Squishy Flavours: Empty, GeenStijl, Red. And Apu? Facepalming.

[[ open! ]]

It was so weird to be back on Fandom again after a week in the sun. The places where Dolf had gotten sunburnt still hurt, and his skin itched in the places where the pain had finally faded. Still, he was a man of no small work ethic, so he was going to come into work anyway.

Sun be damned.

And lo, so Sunday found him standing behind the counter with his phone, browsing the internet for football scores whenever everything was quiet. "Drie - één*?" he sighed. "Now Bayern starts losing games? Van Gaal!"

If he thought switching into English to voice his complaints would somehow garner Apu's sympathy, he was sadly, and horribly, wrong.

Today's squishy flavours: Football, Cola, Red.

* three - one?!

Apu was relieved. Rather than come in and start rambling about revolutions and unions, today, Dolf had quietly taken his seat behind the counter, piece of paper in hand, and started writing.

Of course, that was a relief to Apu for about as long as it took him to realise that meant that Dolf wasn't going to be cleaning the store in solidarity with the workers today. With a sigh, he picked up his broom and got to work.

Dolf didn't notice. He was busy trying to figure out how to establish parallels between Fandom and Middle Eastern dictatorships right now. Writing for the paper was turning out to be harder than he had anticipated, but he was planning to do it well. Dammit.

Dolf had a date.

A date. A date. A... ...he hadn't gotten nervous when he'd spoken to Cally earlier this week, but that had been normal. At the reserves. Which was normal. Unlike this, with him wearing... his best sweater (he didn't exactly have many) and jeans, dithering outside of the restaurant about ten minutes early because he was afraid he'd miss her or something.

But. Thai food. Nice girl that he could talk to. That... would end well, right? And it wasn't like they hadn't been talking for ages before anyway, and...

He really needed to stop thinking, or he was going to drive himself insane.

[[ dolf is here for one, but taste of thai is open as always ]]

"Good afternoon!"

Dolf was sounding pretty chirpy today, though whether that was a case of genuine cheer or Trying Too Hard was a case of Eye of the Beholder. "Welcome back if you have been with us before, and just welcome if you haven't. If you haven't, we're the Magic Reserves and Support Services - I'm the head of Support Services, because I don't know any magic." Yeah. "We're happy to have you all here, though. It is a new semester, so new people, and new troubles. And a lot of new introductions, too."
Let it never be said he wasn't Genre Savvy.

"So tell us about yourselves and what you can do. I'll start," he added. "I'm Dolf Wega, I'm Dutch, I speak a few languages, like German--" both the medieval and the current variety, "French, and I'm learning Italian, I know first-aid and how to make sure everyone has enough food and drink and all that. I have been Support Services leader since the start of the last semester, and I spent some time in the 13th century."

One of these things was not like the others.

Raven had had another bad dream last night, this time a shapeless, nameless feeling of terror and despair, and the hint of black circles under her eyes might indicate her troubled sleep. Otherwise, she tried to keep her face and voice pleasant and welcoming. "I am Raven," she said. "I was born in a place called Azarath, though my mother is of Earth. I am the liaison between the Magical and Support Reserves, for my gifts fall into both. I am an empath and a healer -- if you are ever hurt, I am able to take that injury into myself and heal your own body."

Tara had a slightly anxious crease in her brow as Raven spoke. It wasn't hard to see things were not right with her friend, but she wasn't sure how to ask about it. "Hi, I'm Tara Maclay," she said, after a moment, "and I'm a witch, so, uh, I'm on the Magic side of the reserves. In my world, magic is a learned skill, and the kind of magic I do makes me a Wiccan. I know locating spells, shielding, some basic work with charms, a little telekinesis ... and I work at the Magic Box on Thursdays, so come find me there if you ever want a tour of the store or anything."

Karla also sent a sharp glance Raven's way but turned back with a smile towards everyone else once it was her turn for introductions. "My name is Karla and I'm also a witch, though my powers extend to Healing as well. In my world, magic is an innate skill of my people. I am primarily a Healer--of bodies, of minds, of hearts and the land, but basic Craft lets me do lots of other things, too, like shielding and calling in and vanishing items. I've been a co-leader of the Magic Reserves since last summer."

"So now it's your turn," Dolf finished up. "And have some cookies." He was too cool for more exclamation marks. ... Or possibly a little embarrassed, it was hard to tell.

It was still pretty cold, but still Dolf was slogging through the remains of the powdered-sugar snow again, to the park: this time to check out if there was thick ice on the pond yet, even if he wasn't able to afford skates at the moment. He clomped around the park on his Jason-granted shoes, staring at the ground.

Which kept him from noticing the danger from above.

The first cookie struck him firmly across the back of his head, and he spun around madly. "Wat--?" he exclaimed, and then a second one hit him in the shoulder. He spun over again, but there was nothing.

By the time the third hit him, he was crouching on the ground looking for the object. He picked it up and held it up for himself, a little wary now for oncoming violence from above. But he knew this one. Knew this quite well, in fact.

He smiled. Then he grinned. Then he started stuffing his pockets. He'd have to get some plastic bags and fill them before this came to an end; he'd be able to share them with Cally tomorrow night, at Saint Nicholas Eve. This was brilliant.

[[ open! ]]