Best of Show (Part 2) by Wasamon

December 24th, 2016, Christmas Eve
Cookie

Aww, Cookie has cute dreams. Boy, I never realized Cookie was this smart until we got to see his thought processes. Aww, thinking of all the ways to be a good pup.

"John, your dog is hungry." The old lady was sitting at the table. Nice lady, but tired lady. Cookie sat next to the nice lady and nuzzled a hand. "Oh, you..." The hand provided ear-skritches. All was good.

It is physically impossible not to pet or give skritches to a cat or dog that sits next to you. And he can tell the difference between his Dad being normal or in a Diedrick's episode.

Aww, he thinks of Debbie as Auntie. The table isn't big enough to hold the tray his food bowls are on! Time to wake up Daniel for walkies. This is so adorable, I hope I don't get a cavity from this part of the story.

Time was something the school-people had tried to teach pup at school. Hard-thinking, hard-knowing. But the funny-monkey show had helped. 'Minute' meant short time, easy-waiting time. Time for the boy to put on pants and sandals.

I wonder what funny-monkey show Cookie is referring to.

The boy needed exercise and proper walkies. Cookie took proper boy-care seriously.

Oh boy, they are taking care of each other.

The big red dog show, Clifford; Cookie has good taste in shows.

Running dates with Fast-Avsel. Baseball fetch dates with Purple-Tanya or Silver-Erica. Lie in the sun and snooze dates with Shisa-kitty. Dates were fun.

Aww, Cookie gets to have fun with so many of the students on campus. Always good to have someone around to hear a phone ringing out of hearing range of others.

Office of the Secretary of Intelligence

Darn, early morning meeting because of Jobe, I would be annoyed too. Belphoebe, Angie 'Freight Train' Murphy, I hope all the drow girls from Gen 1 are here. And the reveal to them Hartford isn't on campus anymore.

"But also, I still have a valid student ID for access. A side benefit of never officially graduating." She chuckled. "As well as a decent bribe to the right person in the dean's office. In any case, here we have it."

Wait, is it because she is a clone that she didn't officially graduate, or didn't something else happen to prevent her from graduating? All That's the Scoop on Campus, it figures there is a gossip site at Whateley.

Madrigal was a third-formula drow, with more lingering elements of her original Puerto Rican ancestry underlying the classical skin tone and silver hair of the archetype.

Third formula, just how many versions of the drow formula has Jobe created by now? Bova is right, codenames that aren't already taken are hard to find. Dang, All That might be the best gossip collector and source Whateley has had in a long time.

The clients were sourcing their own product, and quite happily so. Belphoebe already had young Lisa 'All That' Derflin on her list of Whateley students to contact post-graduation.

With her information-gathering skills and ability to get informants, she will be an asset to any organization she joins.

The fruit of the gossip girl's delegated labors appeared in the form of a Social Quotient page, ranking the freshman boy on personality, friendship links, social cliques, known favors given or owed, and known enemies--of which there were officially none for young Daniel.

Of course, no one wants to hurt the nicest,friendiest, and most generous kid at Whateley; plus, anyone who messes with him delivering his treats will have a veritable army after them. Seattle Plague Bomb of '92, yikes, the kind of threats I expect in a world with superhumans. They know all this from the initial security assessment, and Jobe had her do more digging; does Jobe just not read those reports sometimes?

Trust me, when Daniel opens a restaurant or bakery when he grows up, I would be a regular there if I could. Worrisome part, uh oh.

"Either way fits, Angie dear. It appears that young Mr. Diggins has been on at least one date with a full third of the Whitman freshman class, and a significant number of Dickinson girls as well. There may even have been a fight over his attention, early on in the year. Reports vary, and I suspect he was used as a convenience to further someone else's vendetta. Nevertheless, he appears to remain quite popular and well-liked by them all."

And the others immediately think he is using some kind of power on the girls. Nope, Daniel is sweet, kind, and friendly, and the girls love him for it.

"He does not seem to be targeting fixer-uppers. Again, there is plenty of tea spilled by the girls themselves, and the gist seems to be that he is nice, non-threatening, respectful of boundaries and generally helpful in making his dates feel better about themselves, regardless of their degree of GSD."

Freight Train huffed out a frown. "A chaser, then."

"Again, no. As I said, he reportedly respects boundaries, and it would appear that it's the girls who are asking him out, more often than not. There's even a poll ongoing on whether he's actually gay, asexual, or simply a gentleman. The third option is currently in the lead. Several mention that he introduced them to their current boyfriends, even."

The world needs more true gentlemen like Daniel in it.

"Why are we so concerned about this young man today? While it is nice to know some more about him after how Roxie talked my ear off at dinner last night, all this does is make me feel less worried about my daughter spending time with him. Your Highness obviously feels otherwise. Why is that?" The glint in her eye could have pinned a butterfly to a corkboard display.

Madrigal is Roxie's mother, and she has no issues with Daniel. I say let the matter drop, Jobe.

"I know a crush when I see one," said Madrigal.

"Oh, remember how you were whenever T-Bird walked by?" Bova added in.

"No! I mean, yes, but... time out!" A royal breather was in order, and they all gave Her Highness the moment.

Hehe, I love Bova bringing that up, Jobe needs to be reminded of what she was like even just shortly after becoming drow and female herself.

Imprinting, oh boy.

"You said you stripped that out of the drow serum by the third formulation. Axel and I certainly never noticed anything! So why... Jobe..."

"Er, yes?"

"Do you mean to tell me that my daughter may still be cursed to a permanent sexual addiction with the first male she sleeps with? When the entire point of your research at that time was removing that little quirk from the drow genetic profile?"

"I did! And it worked! Roxie shouldn't... oh, but I can't be certain," Her Highness admitted. "Not one hundred percent. She's the first drow in history to reach puberty as a drow, not previously as a human, and we simply do not have all the data points. I do not have all the data points. I do not know, and I hate it! Fine! Are you happy now?"

Oh, good grief. The odds of Daniel sleeping with Roxie are very low unless she initiates it and gets Daniel to go along with her. Good lord, Madrigal went full mama-bear mode with that threat to Jobe. A date to the old market town with Axel and Crumpette to keep an eye on them; I hope they have a good time.

Daniel

Long road trips and none of the kids ever muttered "Are we there yet?"; How did Daniel not realize he was in a cult sooner? GPS gives an estimate as to how long until you arrive at your destination, yet you still want to ask the dreaded question. Doc, please drive safely when others are in the vehicle with you.

And one of the first things he'd learned was that everyone had a different idea what a date even was.

Yeah, it is one reason why dating can be so hard.

"Well, she is a little cutie."

"They all are, doc." He sucked in some air and let it out slow as he thought it over.

And that attitude is one of the many reasons Daniel is so popular. Talk with her, Daniel, I wish you luck. So that is Axel, seems like a good escort for the date.

Roxanne Sharpe

Boy, that is a lot of things for Crumpette not to do until she can play with Cookie at the park. Argggh! Alex, her father, is frustrating. All those worries, this is definitely a date. Daniel and Roxie are so adorable together. Oh, good, Axel isn't doing the intimidating dad bit. A five-hundred-acre tract park, dang. Good, Cookie is escorting Crumpette to the park, and he has training for it. Daniel, take Roxie's arm already.

"Special enough that they had to find a K-9 security specialist to invent it for pup," said Daniel. "What kind of training do you do with Crumpette?"

"We're mostly working on socializing her and getting her used to having more people around," she admitted. "Previous builds on the owlbear model had a tendency to go on murderous rampages at the worst of times, but Crumpette's a good girl!" she hastened to add. "We've been together since she was just barely hatched, almost four years now!"

Aww, only 4 years old, such a big girl. Axel, stop embarrassing your daughter on her date! Grand Wilkins Park, they sure did change this place to make such a huge park.

And Daniel was holding her hand. She wasn't sure when that had happened, but oh! how her heart went pitter-pat when she realized![/quote[] A nice, cute gentleman of a boy who is her age and has a similar interest; Jobe overthought this one. She just has a regular crush.

Office of the Secretary of Intelligence

It figures Jobe would make a pepper that makes the Carolina Reaper look weak in comparison; it has to be to consider it a potential war crime in any civilized country.

Some quirk of drow physiochemistry made it delectable to the ladies of the court and absolutely no one else.

Oh, there might be a very small number of people out there who would like it. Ms. Alvarez has to wear a gas mask to deliver the sandwich with the sauce on it; never mind, I don't think even Sydney Scoville Jr. from the Grrlpower webcomic could handle that.

Belphoebe has Violet spying on Daniel and Roxie's date, darn it!

"Good. I don't know him from Adam, but damn, Roxie looks so adorable and happy running around with him right now."

That she did. As Belphoebe watched on the screen, Roxie slipped on a patch of grass and nearly fell down completely, but for the young Mr. Diggins to catch her and help her back to her feet in as gentlemanly a manner as any ever done. "Thankfully," she said, "orders are to observe but not to interfere for now."

They are just so adorable on their date. Madrigal gave the order to watch them on their date. I guess she thinks something might come up that her husband can't handle. Any mother in Mama Bear mode is scary; one who is a drow is terrifying.

Back in the park

The metal plate was a collab between Marcus in Poe and one of the freshman devisors, a girl named Vicky in Dickinson.

Boy, Cookie is spoiled by the kids at Whateley. That snuggyball is something else. The old market, just the two of them. Roxie has it bad for Daniel and wants some alone time with him away from her father and Crumpette. Oh boy, Daniel tries to get Axel to bail him out, but no such luck. Hehe, Roxie's blush is adorable. A tug of war between Cookie and Crumpette, who will win, and will that rope hold out against both of them for long?

Daniel offers Roxie his arm, and she is on Cloud 9 right now. The old market sure is an interesting place to see. Ack! Bills, down here, you don't want to get pickpocketed or mugged, Daniel. Rats, a lot of places around there prefer coinage, I wonder why. Boy, this older man sure knows what to say to get Roxie to blush. Spanish, and just how many types of the French language are there? Leathercraft, including coin purses, I would love to see his wares.

So that is what Karedonian dollars have on them. I like it better than past rulers or presidents, at least for some of them.

She added one-, five, ten-, and fifty-cent coins from her own purse. "These all have names, and depending on who's buying and selling, they might not all be in the same language. From smallest to largest, in English, we have nails, screws, nuts, rivets, cogs, gears, and doodads."

With Jobe's father as their original ruler, it figures the money has names like this. Wait a minute; Roxie called him Reymundo at the start, now Reynaldo; which is his actual name? Calling him Roxie's boyfriend, I would have swatted him.

The Whateley store is huge; I wonder if they have any "You are here" maps throughout the store.

"I told you, it's the market sales," said Roxie. "Once a year, the three days before Christmas, everyone does the present shopping. It's a little slow now that we're almost to the end and it all shuts down at nightfall, but... well, there's still something for everybody!"

Sounds like fun and gives business to locals.

Grabbing him by the hand, the drow girl led him straight into the holiday chaos--past fruit stands, brass bands, colored sands, clapping hands, and folding fans. Past fried meat, shaped sweets, padded seats and shoes to fit any feet. There were toy blocks, knit socks, folding boxes and alarm clocks.

Nice rhyming scheme throughout, fun read. A yellow glass flower for Debbie; that is a nice gift. Okay, I got confused for a moment when Roxie asked if Daniel had Santa Claus up north, because that doesn't look like Santa Claus.

"Pretty much. So, one year, they dumped a ton of propaganda leaflets across the island--it was a lot smaller back then, so it wasn't as much as you'd think--and it was telling all the children of San Lucído, now Karedonia, that Santa Claus wouldn't be coming to give presents that year because Gizmatic was being a very naughty boy. Like we needed the USian Santa Claus!" she scoffed. "But His Majesty got into one of his little moods about it, and he decided to make a counter-proclamation against the USian meddlers, saying that he'd negotiated a new holiday gift-bringer just for the children of Karedonia."

Only Gizmatic would counter U.S.A. propaganda by coming up with something like this. Carol, the Ancient Yuletide Troll; it fits the theme at least. Even a system for how Carol determines who should get what type of gifts. Gifts until you hit 15, good deal. Oh no! Daniel, don't ask Mr. Carlyle what to get Roxie for Christmas! Ask Debbie.

John Carlyle

Heh, intel from Roxie's father, good call.

"Fair trade, data for data," he replied. "Because my Roxie's just mailed to ask me the same thing about him." Another bing sounded. "Hm, wait... Okay, she's also worried she might've made him upset or something, talking about Santa Claus?"

Dang, poor Roxie is so nervous on her first date. A notebook for journaling or scrapbooking, good call. A hair ornament with bright colors for Roxie, Axel knows his daughter. Aww, Cookie and Crumpette napping together after play, I want to see art of this!

Oh god.

It was a view of a hospital room, one meant for long stays. A young child, maybe six years old, sat in bed with wires and tubes attached. Brown hair was cropped short, and there was frightfully little in her between the skin and the bones. Axel was leaning in to hug her from one side, while a handsome brown-haired woman--he presumed it to be Roxie's mother--hugged from the other side.[/quoite] 5 months, and the autoimmune disease did that to a little girl; I wish medical science were more advanced and governments cared more about it than the military. Any repair job to make money to afford her treatments; I hate that the U.S.A. reduces people to this.

A breakdown over the best pastrami he had ever had; you can never tell what will make you break down and cry in frustration. The owner of the deli called his niece about him; it is a relative of Jobe's, it has to be.

"Yeah, his niece. Turns out, of all the delis I could've wandered into that morning, I chose Uncle Ralph's. That's Ralph Wilkins, Karedonian ambassador to the United Nations, brother to His Majesty, and uncle to Her Royal Highness, Jobe Ann Wilkins. And Her Highness needed test subjects, only she was having trouble recruiting them. Certain rules and restrictions and international treaties applied."

Dang, Ralph has moved up in the world.

"We were on the phone for a while, me on my fourth beer by that point, and with Madrigal linked in to do most of the serious talking with Her Highness. Next thing I knew, we were in a research lab up in New Hampshire for a month. Experimental treatments for urgent medical necessity's apparently a proven loophole in the rules. Then Madrigal's parents sued for custody, citing medical endangerment, and we had to flee the country. Been down here ever since, ain't talked to my in-laws in just as long. Oh, and as a bookend, here's the photo from Christmas Oh-Eight."

Okay, Madrigal's parents disgust me; they tried to stop what would save Roxie's life and tried to steal her child from her.

"Third formulation," said Axel. "She was one of the first to get it, after the data from Roxie's treatment helped Her Highness refine things. For our assistance, the two of us were short-listed, if we decided to opt in. Madrigal didn't want Roxie to grow up thinking she was too different--yanno, being the only kid in a new school looking like that--so she said yes immediately. Me? I'm officially waiting for Her Highness to create either a male version of the drow or an equivalent male fantasy species of equal status." The man snorted. "Not holding my breath on that, to be honest. So I guess it's more until I've got a medical necessity of my own or Roxie graduates high school, whichever comes first."

Good reason to delay, I hope Jobe can be convinced to make an equivalent male fantasy species of equal status serum. Ah, the drow treatment can't reverse the aging process. Oh, so this trip was also to help out Daniel once John and Cody are gone.

Daniel

Roxie's turn in the bathroom, while Daniel is alone outside. Oh no, the granny with the glass flowers and another with ornaments, both giggling when Daniel approaches.

It was a shooting star, with a bowed four-point shape laid over another four-point shape to make a glittery asterisk in goldish, with streams of silverish racing behind it.

That is some hair clip. Asking if it is for the lady, oh boy, he says yes. She let him buy it for $10 since it is for Roxie; they really care for her. And the wrapping on the house; they really want Roxie to be happy.

Crap, who is this group of possible thugs? Pay up, thugs trying to extort money out of him. Nice showmanship, and you got the grannies on your side. Time for a wrestling match. Dang, that Mongolian wrestling club has done wonders for Daniel; he took that guy down like it was nothing. Takes him down a second time, no wonder Daniel wasn't worried.

"Aw, don't gotta be like that. Just a sec." Daniel stepped back over to the ornaments stall and retrieved his bag from the granny. After a show of rummaging, he pulled out a boortsog, a Mongolian fried donut with a dash of sugar on top. "Merry Christmas."

Guy stared at it for a second, trying to figure it out. The simple baked good was as nice as Daniel could magic up, and easier to take than another round of embarrassment. A first bite was hesitant, but the next was appreciative.

"Got some for your friends, too." More boortsog got pulled out and passed around. He made sure the grannies got some, too. "Merry Christmas" got repeated a few times.

Boy, even when someone tries to mug him, he is still nice to them after taking them down. And I want a boortsog myself now. Chewed out in Spanish, Roxie could have been a normal girl, and I would have still shrank away from her; that is intimidating.

Office of the Secretary of Intelligence

Belphoebe is watching their date and getting intel from Violet, a teen romantic comedy fits it to a T.

"You tell 'em, Roxie! Nice to see she's getting more of a spine. Her would-be boyfriend's got some moves, though. Don't tell me Tolman's teaching something besides the usual aikido crap."

Yeah, they need to expand the type of fighting styles they teach at Whateley.

"Mongolian."

"...seriously?" Freight Train sipped her coffee and took another look at the footage.

"Seriously, Angie dear. I'll forward you some footage from the Parents Day exhibition match, if you like."

Yeah, Mongolian wrestling is one of the few forms of wrestling I find interesting. Angie is 6'4.8", dang.

Belphy set up the circumstances for that fight, sneaky.

"Okay, so the kid's got good situational awareness. He had the number on those punks immediately, confirmed against the shop ladies, rightly figured those ladies for friendly neutral, and then arranged the entire sitch to his advantage." An appreciative chuckle followed. "Someone's been paying attention in school. But here... heh, which job, indeed. Belphy, are you vetting this kid for future recruitment prospects?"

"What if I am?" said Belphoebe. "In the end, it's a security check for Jobe Ann, further reassurance for Madrigal, and potentially an esoteric yet versatile utility power in our employ. Those power wonks at Whateley are more idiot than savant. They have yet to scrape the metaphorical icing off what the boy can do, if what I'm seeing is accurate. Best to see how he is, what he is, and perhaps get him and Roxie together as a matched set."

Wait, does she suspect that Daniel might be able to manifest more than just food items with his power? Ouch, just how many protests that turn violent do they have to deal with in a month on average?

Roxanne Sharpe

Aww, Roxie, Daniel wouldn't think you are awful for something you say in the heat of the moment after someone threatened him. Aww, such a cute word for frustration, fewmets. Roxie, it is a date; you are starting to overthink things. High-pitched bleating, and Roxie wants to take Daniel to see the source. Did they use an old building to set up a live nativity with animals? Yup.

The pen area was slightly separated, probably to keep the kid goats from chewing on Baby Jesus. There were three of the little ones, spotted black and white with little horns on their heads, as well as a pair of lambs and a half-grown piglet. A bucket full of hay was kept just out of reach of prehensile lips. She and Daniel took the obvious hint from all the bleating and gave treats to the well-fed little starvelings.

Aww, these poor babies need checking up on more often.

Daniel, the bio-labs include Pet Shop. Do you really want her to create anything for a nativity scene? Oh, it is the church, and yes, this is basically a petting zoo.

"Um, yeah. We were in the area... Daniel, this is Padre Ramón. He's the pastor here at Iglesia de Santa Monica."

Nice little church.

Privately, she wondered if some of the churchfolk were disappointed that she and Mom didn't spontaneously combust at the vestibule.

Ugh, being a drow does not make them "forsaken by God" or any other such rubbish. That old granny should know not to judge others like that. Ouch! No cushions, except if you brought your own.

Oh god. This hits Daniel hard, a reminder of what he lost after he manifested.

"Since my eyes changed color an' my parents had to smuggle me outta the community cuz they knew what'd happen if they didn't... Ain't hardly heard from 'em since then," he said. "Miz Debbie gets letters from Mom sometimes, but it ain't the same." A sniffle. "Thought I was dealin' with it pretty well. Eatin' a lotta donuts to keep my spirits up. But it's just... just hard, y'know? Losin' your family, but they're still out there?"

He has been so brave this whole time, acting happy and friendly, with all that pain bottled up. He needs to see a counselor about this to help him, so he can better open up to others about what happened.

An invite for Christmas with Roxie and her parents, he needs all the Christmas cheer he can get. Everyone over for Christmas dinner, you just know Debbie is going to insist on helping make the meal. John and Axel are taking Cookie and Crumpette to the menagerie for lunch. Boy, time sure flew. Eating on the monorail, now that is an experience. Karedonia sure is an interesting place. Wave Beach Heights, sounds nice.

"She is!" Oh, she squeaked a little too hard at that. "She's the best! I mean, the best for me, of course. She's always there for me, and even Her Highness says Mom's one of if not the nicest drow on the island, so she's always helping to host foreign visitors, and..."

And Daniel is reminded he can't see his mom as long as she lives in that cult commune.

"Yeah..." The look didn't quite go away, but it got tinted with something else. "She lied herself halfway to a seat in Hell, as the Reverend would say, just to make sure I got out before anyone discovered I was a mutant."

"...yanno, I'm not liking this Reverend of yours very much."

Smart girl, bigots tend not to be very likable.

Hehe, Daniel got Roxie to blush again.

Her cheeks were a simmering purple. She could feel it. "What'd you get from your mom?"

"Dunno." Daniel settled back into his seat to ponder. "Maybe just tryin' to see the best in people? Give everyone a fair shake?"

"No wonder everyone likes you," she murmured.

"What was that?"

"Nothing! Oh, look, there's the northern marches!"

Aww, don't be so shy, Roxie. The northern marches, isn't that where Jobe is going to release the Jackalopes?

"Not that... er, haitch-ay-eh-tee-apostrophe-em," Roxie spelled out. "Humans Against the Ethical Treatment of Monsters. Protesting the kennel show again this year. Ugh," she groaned again. "I do not know why Her Highness puts up with them."

I wish Jobre could just bar them from travel to the island.

"The quiet part," she told him. "The thing that's in their charter but they don't say out loud, is that HAET'M has a really broad definition of 'monster'. By the text, it's 'any unnatural alteration or expression of God's genetic plan.' Basically, that'd include any of the altered folk in Karedonia, like the merrows or the orcs or the drow, not to mention any animen visiting from their island, and all of mutantkind as well. They're too smart to mention it while they're protesting the big, obviously dangerous things, but what was the saying about giving someone an inch?"

It figures, humans who think mutants are monsters. Yes, avoid the bigots and see the Tree. I want to know what the Tree is, beyond what its name suggests.

Daniel

Oh, good, all safe plants and no mobile, or carnivorous plants that would target humans.

Roxie knew the place like the back of her hand, of course, and she led him on a cheerfully guided tour of the different biome zones, where they saw the bioluminescent signal cacti of a frigid desert, followed by a boardwalk over a swamp full of giant flytraps. There was a lack of giant flies; Roxie said they let those loose after hours, so the plants could feed without the park visitors getting fed on by the bugs. Through a forest of flautist bamboo, a constant breeze made tuneless melodies through natural holes in the cane, while a cavern full of mushrooms silently glowed in a hundred psychedelic shades.

This is definitely a place made by Jobe. The royal snozzberry patch, I wonder what they look like. Whoa, handy baskets for fruit gathering.

Of course, the first thing Cookie does is tackle Daniel and lick his face from both sides. Roxie begging with those eyes; her father never stood a chance. That is some Tree and some display to send it off rocketing like that.

"This is a regular thing?" asked Daniel.

"Just for the past few years," she told him. "Their Highnesses came up with it as a joint project. Yanno, to show they can get along, at least for the holidays? Did you like it?"

A joint project between Gizmatic and Jobe, no wonder it is so impressive.

Ack! Excited Roxie at giving a present, next time brace yourself, Daniel. She loves the hair clip, and Daniel loves the notebook; these two are just too adorable together.

But for the moment, under the ongoing lightshow that was the Imperial Christmas Tree of Karedonia, they could sit together, wedged between a giant pupper and an equally large birbo who were slowly pushing the two of them into each other's laps with all the subtlety of a trash compactor.

And Daniel didn't mind at all. It wasn't the holiday he was expecting, but with this new friend who was a girl who was determined to maybe be a girlfriend, he could let himself feel happy.

Hehe, I love Cookie and Crumpette playing matchmaker.