In which it's quiet - for now....

"Perfect. Very Katniss Everdeen." John-John is so happy to have something besides yarn to work on for a change. "Speaking of whom, have you ever considered going back to brunette?"

"Do you think I should?" Fawn looked at him. I don't think she was expecting to have a personal stylist waiting for her here, but that's John-John for you. He loves nothing more than making people (and dolls) think they're beautiful.

"The blonde is lovely - don't get me wrong - but I loved the way brunette brought out your complexion in those pictures you showed me. I'd keep the length and basic style, though. Maybe just a little more of a wave, not much. If it doesn't work we can always switch it back." He smiled. "That's what I like about working on yarn and BJDs. No catastrophes, no drama. You can always re-wig if the worst happens. Not like trying to fix some poor Barbie who comes to you in tears after a buzzcut. Sometimes you can reroot, sometimes you can't."

"Have you ever done faceups?" (For those who aren't familiar with BJDs, those beautiful faces are all hand-painted, either at the factory or after they arrive at their new home. It's called just that - a faceup. See, I'm learning...)

"Not really, I'm licensed - I had to learn basic faceups and makeup as part of my training - but I haven't really done much since." He looked around as Shel came in. "I do remember an emergency case that came in once, though. A poor Bratz doll whose person had done some Kabuki/KISS style experimenting with nail polish and then used remover to take it off. Of course the poor doll's entire face came off with it. It was a good thing she couldn't see what had happened. They waited until last to redo her eyes - that way, by the time she saw herself again, she was almost back to normal."

"Were they able to fix it?" Fawn said.

"Perfectly. They even gave her the violet eyes she'd always dreamed of. She looked even better by the time they got through with her. And her poor little person was so grateful. She hadn't meant any harm, of course. She just didn't know how dangerous acetone is. But it all turned out all right."

"What was the place you attended again?" Maddy said.

"Académie des Stylistes de Poupée New York." You should have heard how weird that sounded with him trying to do a French accent over his Mancunian one. "I wanted to learn how to work with all dolls, even though I specialize in contemporaries. My roommate had completed the basic course and had come back to get a license to work specifically on Jumeaus. She was just amazing with what she could do. There wasn't much she couldn't fix. I really learned a lot from her. We still talk all the time. She's over in France now."

"And I thought you Hittys traveled a lot," Fawn said to me.

"Some of us do, some not so much," I said.

"Were you scared about having to leave the Wylde Kingdom?" Shel said all at once. "I mean, after what happened the first time..."

"Shel!" Sometimes I don't know about him. "I'm not sure that's any of your business."

"It's okay," Fawn said gently. "And no, I wasn't. I knew Wendy wasn't going to just send me anywhere. I knew that she'd find the right place for me."

"Hello, everyone. You must be Fawn. Caroline told me you'd arrived."

Yes, in case you were wondering, my fella is still very much around. :) He's been up at Miskatonic the past week. He was supposed to come back sooner, but "Pax" got in the way. Darn winter....

"You're John Ashton Smith?" she said.

He nodded. "I was supposed to be back Friday, but that didn't happen. We just finally got dug out enough up in Arkham for me to...

 ....uh, hello?"

What can I say? Chicks dig him.

"Dinah, you know better. Wait until you're invited," Fawn scolded gently.

He laughed. "Dr. Armitage asked me to ask you if it would be all right for him to contact you. He's rather interested in getting your perspective on something that's come up regarding the Dr. West situation."

"The professor at Miskatonic?" It's a good thing she'd read this blog before she came here. because trying to explain some of this stuff....

He nodded. "You're familiar with the Fae, having spent so much time with pixies. He doesn't really have an expert regarding the Light and Dark Courts."

"He's welcome to, of course, but I don't see how I could help him very much."

"Well, the thing is - you remember that Dr. West vanished right around Halloween?"

"Not really. But that was when we had to pack up and get out, too. The Unseelie had found out about us and we had to run."

John looked concerned. "Dr. Armitage thinks that Dr. West may have had their help."

Fawn shook her head. "They might have taken him for their own reasons, but if this Dr. West tries to use them for his own ends, he's in for a very ugly surprise. You don't want to mess with them. They might let him think he's gotten the better of them, but only because they're setting him up."

"Would he be able to turn them on us or something?" Shel said nervously."

"Not unless they decide to for whatever reason, but they really wouldn't have a reason," she said. "He's the one who's going to be in a lot of trouble."

"You don't think that he tipped them off about the Wylde Kingdom, do you?" John-John said.

"No. And hey wouldn't have listened to him if he had. They really don't think much of humans, in any form. I don't know what happened with that."

"Should we be worried?" Shel said.

"Only if we somehow get caught in the middle," she said. "But you're familiar with the Old Ones, right? Cthulhu and company?"

John (my fella) nodded.

"The only thing the Unseelie really fear is the Old Ones. The many realms of this earth are one thing, but the Old Ones come from the realms outside earth. The Unseelie can't touch them. And the Old Ones don't appreciate their attempts as messing with them." She smiled. more or less. "You do learn some things living with pixies, you know."

Hmmm. Food for thought. And I think I'm off to find that butterfly wing charm, now....