Magic of the Kingdom - 9 - Home Again

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Josh Peterson has just scored the job of a lifetime - or at least the best job he can hope for without leaning on his parents for references - as a janitor at The Magic Kingdom, but when fate intervenes and he finds himself alone with the costume of his favorite Pixie Hollow character, his life takes a whole new turn.


By the time Sarah arrived back at her new apartment, complete with a new band-aid where she had donated some blood to Olivia’s sister’s lab, Olivia had just finished thanking a tall man wearing a tool belt. “Everything alright?” she asked as she approached, and Olivia giggled.

“Great. We have something called a ‘ten gigabit fiber hard line’ now.”

“You’re welcome!” Annie called from further inside.

“Whatever that means.” Sarah laughed. “Sorry I’m late. The vampires took enough blood to make me get really dizzy.”

“Oh it’s fine. Jane - the receptionist - texted me that you’d be a little late because Nessa was making sure you ate your entire cookie,” Olivia teased. “Oh I got a quote on the other half of the apartment for you. The landlord said as long as you’re willing to finish the renovations they’ll be willing to let us have it for an extra grand over what we’re paying now - before discounts of course.”

“Wow,” Sarah answered as she came inside. “That’s a little more than I expected. I mean we have to pay to finish the renovations, and I don’t need a mini mansion sized art studio that badly.”

“Too late anyway,” Annie called. She sounded like she was in Sarah’s room. “Mom and Dad already agreed to pay for it. What happened at the doctor’s anyway?”

“They had to take a second blood sample to confirm something,” Sarah said as she walked into her room. Annie was sitting at a newly installed computer gaming table, complete with a braced L-shaped foldaway section, presently holding a new digital art pad on a stand. It even had a cup holder on the side. There was also the matter of the behemoth computer and large monitor. Annie was sitting in a cushy executive computer chair, grinning up at Sarah.

“I didn’t need anything that big Annie.” Sarah sighed. “That looks like it should be in a government facility somewhere calculating Pi.”

“I had to go with a big tower to fit the quad-crossfired R9 290X cards in there,” Annie answered. “Basically what that means is you can run Photoshop while playing two games in 4k resolution at 30fps simultaneously, and it won’t even break a sweat.”

Sarah turned to Olivia, “Leave it to my little sister to make me a computer that could run the United States government.” She giggled a little as she put her arms around Annie from behind the chair.

“Christina is going to scream when she sees this thing,” Olivia laughed.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you wanting a laptop too,” Annie added. “I’m having one custom laser engraved like mine, with the Pixie Hollow gang. I wanted to do just Silvermist, but I was afraid that would give you away.”

“Smart idea.” Olivia giggled. “So did you like Lindsey?”

“Oh God,” Sarah laughed. “The woman’s amazing. She really made me think about things I hadn’t thought about before, like how I went into lifeguarding from competitive swimming.”

“Told you, I even seen her a couple times, shes damn good at her job.” Olivia giggled.

“She said she thought I might have a major hormone imbalance too, which your sister’s lab confirmed. They said that if my t levels were any lower I’d be a natural woman,” Sarah giggled. “So I get to start blockers to just finish the job already.”

“So your body’s producing low test and high estrogen?” Annie asked.

“Well, low both, but they did warn me - both the therapist and the endo actually - that with an absence of T leaving the concentrations of E to grow, I might see subtle changes like bone structure.”

“You already have the hips.”Annie winked. “It’s why all my friends in school used to think you were my sister anyway, and why you walk like a girl.”

“She’s got you there,” Olivia giggled. “Bearing in mind I’ve seen you in a bikini now, so you can’t argue with me.”

“Oh my God. You got her in a bikini?!” Annie squealed. “I’ve never even seen her without a top on. I mean not to sound like a perv or anything,” she quickly added, then laughed. “Just saying.”

Olivia giggled, “Yup, she wears that blue one on the bathroom door swimming after her morning rituals she still needs to teach me.”

“Oh, wow, I didn’t even notice it. I guess I was distracted by,” she paused and put her cheek to the massive PC tower, “Sweet, sweet technology.” She giggled as she got up from Sarah’s chair. “Anyway I’ll get out of you guys’ way. I’m almost done with that surprise. I just need to paint and glaze them.”

Sarah put her arms around Annie and pulled her close, kissing her on the forehead. “Tell Mommy and Daddy I said thanks. I feel guilty that they had to pick up the tab on my studio now on top of paying for my therapy though.”

Annie shrugged as she hugged Sarah back. “If it’s what you want - the studio or being a girl - then that’s what matters. Personally I liked you before, but I like you more like this. You’re less closed off,” she teased. “You guys have fun. My ride should be downstairs.”

Sarah laughed and turned to Olivia, “Thanks for ratting me out on the bikini thing.”

“My pleasure,” Olivia giggled out. “We’re planning a Pixie water park day. So you’re going to have to get used to that thing.”

“Who’s we?” Sarah laughed.

“Oh, Periwinkle, Tinkerbell, Iridessa, and the rest of the girls.” Olivia winked.

“Oh, I guess I can think about it,” Sarah answered, adding, “But only if you do too, Miss body conscious. You’ve got a figure I’d die for... Almost.” She giggled.

Olivia ran to the couch and tossed a couch pillow at Sarah, “Why you!”

“Why me?” Sarah answered in her best Mad Hatter impersonation, “Because!” She ran over to Olivia and tickled her. “You know I meant I’d almost die for your figure, not that you almost have a figure I’d die for!” she giggled out over Olivia’s laughter.

“You did?” Olivia asked in her bright, cheerful Tinkerbell voice. “Well I guess that’s okay then!”

“How did Dessa do today?” Sarah asked as she flopped down on the sofa, pulling Olivia down with her.

“Much better. She almost lost it once, but after that, she was awesome. We had her take pictures with this really large crowd of birthday goers.” Olivia said. “She handled it, but after is when she almost lost her pixie dust. Oh, and Vanessa’s roommate was really open and welcoming if you were wondering about that too.”

“Yeah, I was actually because if she wasn’t, I was going to offer a room in the new studio for her.” Sarah giggled.

“I think Vanessa was just worried because Starla’s one of those people who literally has a phobia of change. Like she was telling me how she freaked out once when she changed the shower curtains.”

“Wow.” Sarah shook her head. “I don’t mind change. I mean if not for change - and taking a crazy chance, I wouldn’t be here now, with an amazing job.”

Olivia giggled. “Yeah, that was a pretty big risk in retrospect. I’m glad you did though. You’re a natural born actress. Oh, not to change the subject, but I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve got a pot roast and garlic potatoes in the oven. I figured anything we don’t eat we can make sandwiches out of later.”

“You’re a woman after my own heart,” Sarah giggled as Olivia stood to head for the kitchen.

“Should be ready in a couple of hours,” Olivia called back.

“Hey, is it me or is just about everyone at the park is pretty awesome?” Sarah said as she followed Olivia into the kitchen. “I haven't met everyone yet, but it doesn’t seem to matter about anything. Everyone makes you feel like family.”

“Even the security people are amazing,” Olivia agreed. “And Gennine is like the greatest boss I could ever ask for.”

“Except that one guy, when I was there my first day, before I went to work, he was kinda rude.” Sarah shrugged. “But I haven't seen him since I started.”

“Really?” Olivia sounded genuinely surprised. “If you have a name, tell Gennine pronto. Doesn’t matter if you’re an employee or a guest, that kind of crap toward others reflects badly on us all.”

“I don't really remember. I mean he wasn't really rude rude, he was just kinda you know.” Sarah shrugged.

“Well, if you wouldn’t want him acting that way toward a guest then it should still be reported,” Olivia answered. “I understand you don’t want to get him in trouble, but this isn’t like high school sweetie. If someone’s being paid to do a job, and they’re half-assing it, then they need to be shuffled for someone who will do it better.”

“Oh I know, If I ever saw him again, I'd ask him what was up first, and try to get to the bottom of it, then if that didn’t work report it.” Sarah nodded.

Olivia giggled. “Oh, well nevermind then. Sorry, I’m so used to coaching new actors. I had to give this speech to Vidia this morning because a security guard hassled her for being in an employee only area, you know, where she belonged.” Olivia winked.

“Isn’t that just them doing their job though?” Sarah asked. “The girls are new so I'd expect that, even toward me.”

“Well,” Olivia trailed off, shaking her head. “This went a little beyond that. Don’t repeat this okay? There’s an official report going up the chain, so we can’t talk about it yet. But there were f-bombs involved.”

“Really? I hope Morgan didn’t drop any.” Sarah shook her head.

Olivia stifled a giggle. “No. She was the subject of them, as in ‘Who the fuck are you and what the fuck are you doing back here’ variety. Morgan showed her pass, and the guy backed off.”

“Ouch.” Sarah laughed.

“She was a little shaken up by it. And honestly, the guy could’ve just been having a bad day. If that’s the case nothing might happen, or he might get shuffled to night shift for awhile, or something. They’ll work with him to deal with it. But that’s why I was a little on edge when you said that. I thought it was the same guy. But if it wasn’t that bad then it probably wasn’t,” she added.

“Oh this guy wasn’t that bad, he was just a little off.” Sarah laughed.

Olivia giggled a little. “I’m sorry. I get paranoid sometimes. Even with all the background checks they do, sometimes weirdos slip through the cracks you know? With so many kids visiting every day, I’d rather be too cautious. But I don’t go on witch hunts or anything either,” she quickly added. “None of us do. We just try and look out for each other, and make sure problems are healed before they get too bad.”

“I know.” Sarah giggled and hugged Olivia from behind. “You can stop apologizing. I don’t think you’re crazy,” she teased.

“Good, because sometimes I wonder,” Olivia laughed as she leaned back into Sarah a bit. “I really like you. I don’t want to scare you off being all neurotic or anything.”

“I already knew you were neurotic. That’s what happens to be my favorite qualities about you.” Sarah teased and giggled.

Olivia laughed. “Oh God, really? I guess it does help when I’m playing Tinkerbell though,” she teased back, shaking her head.

“That smells really good.” Sarah said as she let go of Olivia, heading toward her room.

“Sure, sniff and run,” Olivia called after her. “I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”

~oOo~

Sarah sat down at her new computer and stared at it. After several seconds she finally called her sister. There was a login prompt staring back at her, and she had no idea what to do with it, and by now Annie had long gone. “How do I log in?”

Annie paused for a second before answering. “You shouldn’t need to? Oh gosh unless I left the administrative profile running...”

“It’s asking me to login.” Sarah giggled.

“Oh! Oh sorry,” Annie laughed. “God I’m a blonde today. I blame the paint fumes. Anyway just enter Sarah as the user, and you can password lock it later if you want.”

“Thanks Annie.” Sarah said as it logged in for her. Her familiar start menu sat in the bottom left corner, though the sleek new appearance of Aero would take some adjustment. Annie had set up all the icons she would need right on her desktop though.

“Oh Sarah?” Annie spoke up at that. “I took the liberty of installing a program called Classic Start Menu. It basically restores your old Start Menu style you like so much. I use it too because it’s just more productive than the newer crap,” she giggled out.

“Looks good.” Sarah laughed, “Give mommy a hug for me,” she giggled as they hung up. “God I hate computers.” she giggled to herself as she loaded up one of her comics that her sister saved from her old computer and began to “ink” it in using her digital art pad.

“Hey, Olivia?” Sarah called.

“Hmmm?” Olivia asked as she appeared in the doorway. “Oh wow! That’s really good!”

“Thanks,” Sarah giggled out as she moved to the side for Olivia to see the big monitor better. “I wanted to ask you about this actually. I heard working for Disney basically means you sign over the rights to anything you create?”

“Not really true. You have to be careful of what you do, like you’re not allowed to use disney characters, and stuff, but I think you’ll be safe.” Olivia shrugged. “Something you really should ask Gennine. I’m not really creative enough to have run into it,” she giggled a bit.

“Oh, good idea. It’s probably just an asset protection clause, like that lawsuit with the Bratz dolls awhile back.”

“Oh! I love Bratz!” Olivia bubbled. “I still have mine in their original boxes because I didn’t have the heart to throw them away. But I’m one of those girls who slept with a huge net full of stuffed animals above her bed.”

“Annie has the whole line of Monster High,” Sarah giggled. “Nothing against Barbie or anything, but I prefer Bratz and Monster High too. Oh, and those cute Ever After High dolls, but that’s a given.”

Olivia grinned. “Who did you vote for Thronecoming Queen?”

“Raven Queen,” Sarah answered without missing a beat. Olivia giggled.

“Me too! I just really wanted to see her win after all the drama over her trying to be herself.”

“Good lord,” Sarah giggled out. “I don’t want to think about how much this thing cost Annie to set up.”

“It even has a blu ray burner,” Olivia said, pointing to the front panel. “But just think of the wonderful art you’ll be able to create. I bet I can use my camera to digitize your paintings once you get the studio set up as well.”

“Oh, you’re a photographer?” Sarah asked. Olivia grinned.

“Am I a photographer... I’ll show you my camera after dinner. It’s the only thing I own - besides the piano - that’s probably close to as expensive as this beast of yours,” she teased before going back to check on her roast.

An hour or so later, she poked her head in to let Sarah know dinner was ready.

“Have I told you that I’m falling in love with you.” Sarah giggled as she sat down to eat dinner with Olivia.

“You say that now,” Olivia teased. “You haven’t met my family yet. God willing you won’t,” she added dryly. “To tell the truth I was afraid I came on too strong the other night with that crack about wanting to make you mine when I saw you,” Olivia giggled out.

“Whatever.” Sarah giggled. “I’m just glad someone likes me for me.”

“You’re smart, funny, adorable, amazing with kids, sweet, caring, and an artist. What’s not to like?” Olivia answered, taking a sip of her lemon honey iced tea.

“Same could be said about you?” Sarah answered.

“Oh, yeah,” Olivia balked. “Neurotic, obsessive-compulsive Pixie seeks like-minded roommate to drive crazy over dishes.”

“Great with kids, and adorable.” Sarah added. “You forgot to add those in.”

“That’s true,” Olivia giggled. “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t love entertaining kids. But it’s not like I need money, so I figured, might as well do what I love.”

“Same here, but I do want to try it on my own, you know? I hate when my parents push stuff on me. I mean I’m kinda mad at them for renting that other side even.” Sarah sighed. “But how do you tell them no? it’s so hard.”

Olivia nodded. “I know. I gave up a long time ago. My parents are what people call old money. Like, really old. Old country old,” Olivia said sheepishly.

“Oh, I’m dating an English princess?” Sarah teased, echoing Olivia’s previous ‘indian princess’ crack. Olivia out her tongue.

“I’ll give you English. I’ll have you know I’m German nobility.”

Sarah laughed. “So is the current,” she used finger quotes, “‘English’ royal family.”

Olivia snorted, laughing as she rolled up her paper napkin and tossed it at Sarah. “I’m serious though. I’m about one death in the family short of some kind of bullshit title I didn’t earn. It’s embarrassing. I think that’s why I like Tink. She’s a laborer, not afraid to get down and dirty.”

“My dad is like best friends with a bunch of really famous people.” Sarah sighed, “When I was little I thought Mick Jagger was my dad. Nobody bothered to correct it until I was seven. They thought it was cute.”

“Ouch,” Olivia answered. “No wonder you’re so... strained with them.”

Sarah nodded. “But enough about that. I want to hear you play that gorgeous piano.”

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Comments

Had a rough week

Zoe Taylor's picture

I had a really rough week from which I'm still recovering, but I just wanted to comment that I'll get to PM's when I can :-)

~* Queen of Sweetness *~

Become a Patron for early access ♥

A soft episode?

Hope Eternal Reigns's picture

Thanks I quite enjoyed this one, no major action, just a 'getting to know each-other' time at home.

Thanks for sharing your story with all of us.

with love,

Hope

Once in a while I bare my soul, more often my soles bear me.

Sorry to hear you had a rough

Sorry to hear you had a rough week at work. Hoping everything will look much better and brighter for you in the coming weeks. Really like this chapter of the story, as we are given a little more insight into Olivia and even Sarah. Hey, being a German "Princess" or "Baroness" or what ever title she gets, is not a bad thing in and of itself; lots of people get titles and old money they did not work for, yet Olivia seems to have her head on right, as she wants to earn her own way regardless. Hugs, Janice Lynn

Thanks for the sharing the

Thanks for the sharing the new update :) Hope your feel better soon.

I am so enjoying this story

so adorable, cute, funny, and gives me all kinds warm feels reading it

DogSig.png

Like how the story is evolving

The story is evolving quite well. I like how the characters are being developed and the way they are portrayed.

Well the nvidia fans are going to blow a fuse

Oh, she really needs VPN service, water cooling for the quads, assume the monitor has been calibrated and I don't know if I would use 290X for the artistic workload she might use. A high end FirePro card would be better while saving the crossfire pair for gaming.

If she has a 10GigE line then she can probably work from home and pipe out stuff. A NAS would be nice to back up all her work too.

Still, that is like 10-15K of equipment at a guess, if you one opts for the Firepro cards and 32GB of RAM, and the processor. Oh and a TB of SSD.

OTOH

How about just a fully loaded MacPro? ^_^

Annie's a gamer geek

Zoe Taylor's picture

Annie's a total gamer geek, so when she built Sarah's computer, she was thinking like a gamer rather than trying to build an artist workstation, unfortunately for Sarah, who really isn't a big gamer type.

For gaming purposes this would be a monster Windows 10 rig, with the way DirectX12 will basically treat any multi-GPU system as a single GPU regardless of brand/type. As a workstation? I completely agree. Those four cards are really wasted on Sarah.

Her production laptop will be somewhat more reasonable to her needs ironically, because Annie is having it custom built by someone else rather than putting it together herself, so they know it's meant for an artist's mobile workstation, and will be set up closer to that end.

Although at the same time, I'm not actually sure if it will be as powerful since I haven't actually looked at what workstation laptops can do in years. I'll have to bug Ashly (the computer guru) about that one now. :-)

~* Queen of Sweetness *~

Become a Patron for early access ♥

Glad you agree

I am still amazed she can: a) Get 10GigE service at all, provider-wise, b) Get the building to allow wiring up on the top floor, yet, a dedicated line for said service.

I would not be surprised this is a business-class service which will cost more per month then what Sarah is paying for 'rent'.

rereading this story again

rereading this story again because it was so good the first time,
I did think of one idea for pixie holllow, since Sarah is an artist your could set up an area where she or other artists could draw pictures or charicatures of guests

Art

I wonder if that will come up in her Art if it will cause problems. How is she going hide herself in the swimsuit.

hugs :)
Michelle SidheElf Amaianna

Sarah's family...

TheCropredyKid's picture

...make me think of Phineas and Ferb's.

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Sarah turned to Olivia, “Leave it to my little sister to make me a computer that could run the United States government.

A smartphone {even a low-end one like Sarah's old one} contains more computing power than NASA used on the entire Apollo program.

 
 
 
x

Cup Holder

"It even had a cup holder on the side." Why not just use the one that comes with the computer? Its even self-stowing. Punch the little button and whir, out it comes. Push it a second time and it disappears! ;-)


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin