exitthewallflower | (no subject)

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aggie

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Aggie, my dearest ward, you have very interesting friends.

I find myself thinking this quite often as I pass the shelf in the living room that houses the gifts that have been left to her. Gifts from friends now gone. I hurt for her, I know they're a reminder of her friends and at the same time... what were they thinking? I know I should be all pro-girls liking whatever they want an experiencing new things but really? Who leaves snakes and lizards to teenage girls?

At least the bank account she inherited from Damon is practical and will go to college (if she's still here, a sobering thought I don't like to dwell on).

The snake raises its head and looks at me. At least I think it's looking at me, it's a little hard to tell. I'm not a snake-whisperer. Sorry, that's just not in my skillset. Fighting, first aid, computers, and detecting, those are things I can do, interpreting snake LOOKS is quite another. There's always something new to learn, I guess, and maybe this is his I'm trying to decide if you fit in my mouth look.

"Aggie?" I call out. "Have you fed the snake recently?"

Just in case. It had belonged to a wizard, after all. You never know.

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"Uh-huh," Aggie calls back from the kitchen. "I fed Morgana yesterday and I'm feeding Smaug today." She's already got the task well in hand as she chops up some fruits and greens. There's also a frozen, wrapped up feeder mouse set off to the side.

Aggie doesn't think she'll ever get used to those.

"I think she just wants attention."

Smaug was a name I definitely ascribed to the lizard, but Morgana was still a mystery. I don't know that I'd name a snake that, but I guess that's why I didn't name it. Not my place to judge, really. I just write the metaphoric checks to feed the things.

"And by attention, you mean..?" I really need to read up on these things more. Aggie assures me she's got it all under control, but I should probably make sure. The cat was one thing, I know cats, I love cats. I don't do reptiles.

Unfortunately, Aggie had never asked Draco why he'd named Morgana as he did, but changing her name hadn't seemed necessary either.

"I...don't know exactly," she admits, looking into the cage and fiddling with the heat lamps. "Can you pet a snake?" Stepping up on a footstool, she lowers a hand into the tank to see what Morgana will do.

I almost tell her to be careful, but then I remember that constrictors aren't really biters, they're squeezers. And we're both (hopefully) too big for him. The cat? Well that's why I made sure the cages lock securely when we got them. I knew that much up front at least.

"I think you can try. I'll have to look these guys up on the internet, she what we have to do to entertain them." Why couldn't her friends have had cats? Or even dogs. I'm not a dog person, but at least those I can fake my way with.

If nothing else, Aggie has been good at biting back, if necessary. She runs two fingers over Morgana's smooth head and laughs softly when she raises up a little, seeming to enjoy the attention.

"All things considered, she's very nice for something who lived with Draco."

"Not the nicest guy, huh?" I don't, as a general rule, count people's names against them, but seriously? What were his parents thinking, naming him Draco? Who does that to a kid. That's like, asking for him to either be bullied or become a bully in self-defense.

Aggie shrugs and keeps petting Morgana, thinking that the alert eyes and raised head are an indication she wants the petting to continue.

"He was snooty and very proud but...I think he was nicer than he thought he could be."

"A lot of the stubborn ones are." I think Damien went through that phase. Before he was more comfortable with Gotham and the rest of us. But Damien's Damien and I'm sure this Draco had his reasons, whatever they were. The fact that Aggie liked him is good enough to feel sad at having missed getting to know him.

With one eye on Aggie and the snake, I head over to the couch and pull over my laptop, searching for and bookmarking a few sites on Reptile ownership to read later. "Who taught you how to care for these guys, anyway? Did their owners teach you?"

"Mmhmm." Draco had struck her as the type who wanted to have a good heart, even if he'd never realized it. Damon, meanwhile, had seemed as bemused by Aggie as she'd been by him. Then there's Kaine and people like him.

She has quite a few curmudgeons in her life.

"Charlie told me a bit about Smaug when I got him. The rest I just looked up or asked at the pet store. Have you ever had one of these?"

"Me, God, no. I had a cat when I was little and my roommate had one before I left here. But no lizards." Thank heavens. I don't even want to know what JJ would have done with those. I never even really asked what he did with the cat. Mom knew, but then she knew way before the rest of us about him.

God, I miss her. I"m still angry, but I do miss her.

"I'm much happier looking after our furry behemoth than those guys. No offence."

Goblin, apparently aware that he's being complimented, flops down on Barbara's feet. He expands the whole length of his body until he resembles a small, fluffy rug.

"I think they're nice to watch but...I sort of hope no more friends leave me their pets." More to the point, she hopes that no more of her friends are going to leave at all.

"Yeah, I might have to put a moratorium on that, too. I think three is quite enough, don't you, Goblin?" Kneeling down, I give the cat the attention he so obviously wants. Poor guy, must drive him nuts to have these lizards behind glass. If he had his way, he'd probably hunt them and leave the carcasses on the bathroom floor for them.

"Those lids are tight enough right? The locks are solid?" If not, I should probably fix that pronto.

"Yes," Aggie promises, scooting back and standing with Barbara too. "I put a spell on the edges." Or what amounts to a spell for her. Mostly Aggie just points and lets herself have what she wants.

"Did I tell you, by the way. Flavia asked if I wanted to join the Girl Scouts with her."

"Girl Scouts? What's that?" I think I can guess. Some kind of organization for girls, obviously, sounds vaguely outdoorsy since I don't think they're going with the more military definition of scouting. I mean, I HOPE.

And it occurs to me that I completely missed the part about the spells. Guess I'm getting used to having regular magic in my life, that spelling a pet cage is less exciting than a girls' club of sorts.

"It's an after school club. You do stuff for merit badges, like learn first aid or swimming or go camping," Aggie explains, thinking she has the idea right. She'd mostly thought of it as something for the elementary school kids but Flavia's only a little bit younger and she's involved.

"I bet I could bring more thin mints."

"If those are some kind of candy or cookie, that sounds awesome. And I'm totally okay with you doing that so long as I can meet whoever's in charge. I'm guessing there are some kind of forms I have to fill out, some fees to pay?" I'm actually really glad that Aggie's getting into these kinds of things. Slumber parties and scouting things. I remember when I first met her and she told me about what had happened to her in her home and I see her now and I just....

"I'm really proud of you, buy the way. I don't think I say that enough, but Agatha Prenderghast, you have come a long way and that's something amazing. Where I come from, a kid like you would probably have an equal chance at becoming a super-villain as a scout. You done good, kid." Reaching out, I ruffle her hair a bit, wondering if a big hug would be too cheesy. 'Cause I kinda want to hug the kid.

"I'll find out," Aggie says, not that she plans to let Barbara pick up the tab as much. She may not even quite be fourteen yet, but she knows that the money she's inherited will can help them out and still have more than enough left over.

She laughs a little when Barbara ruffles her hair and hugs her a little. "I already got the super-villain thng out of my system.

Wrapping my arms around Aggie, I kiss the top of her head which is getting pretty hard now that she's grown so much. "And we're all glad for that. Now you're just the most awesome witch I've ever met." I pause. "With a very strange collection of pets."

Aggie sighs happily, squeezing back into the hug. "Well, it's like the play says. Eye of newt and toe of frog, and so on," she suggests, looking up at Barbara with a pert smile.

"Only we're not dismembering these guys. I have to draw a line at animal dismemberment in my home." Which might be the strangest things I've ever said out loud, even in mock-seriousness. Welcome to your current life, Barbara Gordon, it's gonna be surreal.

Aggie nods, glad that Barbara's taken her for the joke. "People entrusted them to me. So I'm going to take care of them."

It's that simple to her, the kind of loyalty she's learned here.

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