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Summer vacation elapses, and sees their storefront doing one heck of a business in the Avalon with the help of their griffin employee. There is a suggestion box for new spells they should invent, some of which have to be long-term projects but others of which are converted into new product fairly promptly.
School starts up again. Darren and Bella are both skipping straight into twelfth grade. (Bella looked into just starting college early, but while she does technically have the sort of resume that can lead to that kind of thing, she can't exactly write an essay about how she saved the life of another person and this caused her to have Moral Character, let alone about how she started a small business - so skipping one grade it is.)
They apply to colleges. They both get into University of Washington and get sufficient scholarships to accommodate both going there.
Summer ensues again.
One afternoon, Bella is over at Darren's, and has fallen asleep - in purring fullform - across his lap on the couch.
shesepankh
castmyown
"Okay."
He hugs her. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do. I'll even pull another daring rescue again, if you need me to."
He hugs her. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do. I'll even pull another daring rescue again, if you need me to."
shesepankh
"Any chance of a third one of these?" asks Bella when she has finished her second sandwich.
castmyown
"Yes, Savannah opted out of sandwiches."
A third sandwich is produced, and Bella-ward it goes.
A third sandwich is produced, and Bella-ward it goes.
castmyown
"We do!" agrees Darren with a yelp. Cell phone, cell phone -
Then he dials Charlie's number and offers the phone to Bella. "You first."
shesepankh
"Thanks -" And when Charlie has picked up. "Dad - it's me - I'm in one piece - Darren and Savannah saved the day, we're going to fly home soon."
shesepankh
"Three or four hours," Bella reports. "If it looks like it's going to take longer I'll call again, okay? Okay. I'll see you soon, Dad."
End of call.
End of call.
castmyown
He takes it, and calls his dad.
"Hey, dad. Got Bella, she's all right - Savannah and I are fine. Nope, no clue. They're - um. They're all dead, we don't know who hired them, though. Yeah, yeah I'm all right. ... Yes, please. Love you, too. We'll be back in about - fourish hours? I think? Mhm, heading straight home. Yeah, we did. First thing. Bye, dad, see you in a bit."
"Hey, dad. Got Bella, she's all right - Savannah and I are fine. Nope, no clue. They're - um. They're all dead, we don't know who hired them, though. Yeah, yeah I'm all right. ... Yes, please. Love you, too. We'll be back in about - fourish hours? I think? Mhm, heading straight home. Yeah, we did. First thing. Bye, dad, see you in a bit."
castmyown
"Called your dad, let him know you were all right. I mean, technically it was after we made sure you were all right, and let Savannah loot and eat some hearts, but uh - yeah. First thing we did when we remembered we had the cellphone."
shesepankh
"First phone-related thing," Bella nods. She peers back into the warehouse to see if the lights are on yet.
castmyown
Darren, too, though more for the sake of hovering protectively over his girlfriend rather than looking for the plumbing.
shesepankh
Eventually Bella finds a spigot in a cubicle-walled space that contains a little dishwasher and a hose and a bucket and other things that one might expect to find near a water source in a warehouse. She locates a bunch of rags.
"Hose each other down, wipe off any stubborn blood with the rags, air-dry on the way home?" she suggests. "Lucky it's summer."
"Hose each other down, wipe off any stubborn blood with the rags, air-dry on the way home?" she suggests. "Lucky it's summer."
morethanimaginary
"Me, first, I am - I feel like a crazy person, I'm just covered in blood."
Savannah is indeed covered in blood. It's kind of icky.
Savannah is indeed covered in blood. It's kind of icky.