To whom it may concern

Mister Radford took one look at the bags under Dash's eyes, did a quick mental calculation on the odds of anyone that sleep-deprived managing to shoplift successfully, and decided the permanent, all-time, no take-backsies mega-ban could be put on hold today.

"Here," he said, tipping an extra shot of java into what was quickly becoming less of a coffee-flavoured milkshake, and more a tall glass of iced caffeine that had been briefly shown a picture of some ice-cream.

"Thanks," said Dash, causing a few bristles on Radford's moustache to turn white from shock.

"Maybe that's what had happened to the kid's hair too," Radford thought. "He caught himself being polite one day and all the colour got bleached right out of him in confusion and fright."

Out loud - but not too loud, because his one-time-only, after-this-the-ban-is-back-in-effect-forever customer didn't look like he could take it, he said "No problem."

There was silence for a moment, as Radford busied himself wiping down the already spotless counter and Dash appeared to sleep with his eyes open.

"Not that it's any of my business," Radford began.

"It's not," said Dash, proving that the exhaustion had not yet permanently damaged his intrinsic rudeness.

Radford felt strangely relieved, though he didn't let his smile show.

"Fair enough," he said. "But if late nights have you feeling a little peaky, I just got some of the new Super Sanity Saver sleep aides in stock."

Dash blinked, slowly.

"Aren't those the sunglasses people wear so they can look at the popcorn god without losing their minds?" he said. "I don't think that's going to help at night."

"Same company," said Radford. "But these are ear plugs. Guaranteed to block the Call of the Void for one hundred nights mini-"

"Sold," said Dash, and actually reached for his wallet.

Ongoing Verse: First Kiss

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Ongoing Verse: Microwave

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Ongoing Verse: The Powers That Be

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The sun was out, but deep in the shadows, it was still cold. Marshall Teller, tucked deep into the furthest recesses of the shade cast by two adjoining buildings that had over the years begun to lean into each other, flexed his fingers and wished he'd thought to bring gloves.

The scrape and rattle of rusted metal on old brick soon pulled his attention away from his cold hands, however.

"You showed up," said Dash X, jumping the last few feet onto the grubby alley floor in order to avoid the fire escape's shaky bottom steps. "Huh."

"So did you."


Ongoing Verse: First Kiss

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Ongoing Verse: Microwave

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"You couldn't have stolen one this big," Marshall countered. "It took the three of us twenty minutes just to carry it down the hall and into the apartment."

"I'd have stolen a sack trolley," said Dash, but without any real conviction. The television, already lovingly ensconced in the corner facing the couch, did look nice.

"You could," Marshall conceded. "Mister Radford really needs to stop displaying them right between the heavy goods aisle and the emergency exit with the broken alarm."

He shook his head.

"But guys, you're missing the point. We don't need to steal, or scavenge, or even go down to Noel's Knick Knack Bric a Brac Emporium and keep opening his collection of mystery crates until we found one that we liked. We can just go and buy one."

They considered this in silence for a long moment.

Simon took a breath, but Marshall cut him off.

"No, we couldn't have gotten an even bigger one. Not unless you wanted to wait for Radford to get it in stock, and that would have meant no TV for a week, maybe even two or three."

Now Dash opened his mouth.

"No, we're not getting one for the bedroom."

Ongoing Verse: Microwave

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Ongoing Verse: First Kiss

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"What's this?" asked Marshall, his eyes narrow with suspicion.

Dash glared.

"It's soup," he said. "If you don't want it, give it back."

Marshall hesitated, then tucked the dented can of beef stew into the pocket at the front of his oversized hoodie.

"No," he said. "It's mine now. Why are you bringing me tins of soup?"

"Your mom said you were sick," said Dash. "I thought soup was a... sick thing."

"Oh," said Marshall. "Thanks."

There was a long silence.

"I'm not actually sick," Marshall whispered, eventually. "I just didn't want to go to class."

Dash grinned at him.


Ongoing Verse: First Kiss

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Ongoing Verse: Teller Family History

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Ongoing Verse: Microwave

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"Bert!" Marshall called, holding up one hand. "Ernie! Wait a minute."

The twins stopped and make a slow half-turn in perfect unison. They both carried reusable shopping bags bearing the World o' Stuff logo, and the bulge of the contents was the only difference between them.

"Marshall!" the first twin said, brightly.

"Teller!" the second twin finished, just as happily.

"How is your summer internship going?" they inquired.

Marshall jogged across the road to meet them, pausing to check for milk trucks before he stepped off the curb.

"Hey guys," he said. "Internship's going great, thanks. Have you got a minute? I need to talk to you about the Future Homemakers Club."

Their smiles widened.

"Are you interested in joining?" one of them asked, beaming with delight at the prospect.

"How wonderful!" said his brother.

"Oh," said Marshall. "No. Thanks, but no. My free time is all booked up right now."

The Wilson twins issued matching regretful sighs.

"Shame," they said as one. "Then what can we do for you?"

Marshall fished a half-completed enrolment form out of his jeans pocket.

"You know that weird kid who sometimes shows up to your class?"

"The head-banger?" asked one.

"No, the-"

"The girl out of time?" asked the other.

"No, I mean-"

"The two dozen moray eels stuffed into a skin suit?"

"No- wait, what?"

"Quite the knack with soufflés," one of the twins informed him, while the other nodded enthusiastically.

Marshall tried to absorb this, then shook his head.

"No. It's... you know Dash? Grey hair, talks like this," he added, dropping his voice to a cartoonish growl.

The twins nodded, their faces expectant.

"Well," Marshall said, holding out the printed sheet. "He forgot to fill in his enrolment form. And pay his class fees. I just wanted to drop it off and settle up."

One twin held up one hand in a "stop" gesture. His brother shook his head.

"No payment needed," they said. "Any friend of Marshall Teller's is a friend of ours."

Marshall blinked.

"Seriously?" he said.

"We owe you," they informed him, round faces radiating sincerity.

Marshall thought about this.

"Does Dash know he gets his lessons for free?" he asked.

"No," said the twins.

"He seemed to enjoy getting away without paying," said one.

"We didn't want to spoil his fun," said the other.

"Our little secret," they said, winking. "You'll keep it, right?"

Marshall nodded.

Ongoing Verse: First Kiss

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Ongoing Verse: Microwave

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Ongoing Verse: Janet

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Written for Day 4 of the 2018 Eerie, Indiana advent calendar challenge. The prompt for this one was "amnesia", submitted by eviinsanemonkey:

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( Read the rest of the First Kiss series here )

( Read the rest of the Christmas series here )

( Read the rest of the Microwave verse here )

"This is going too far," said Marshall.

Dash nodded.

"I knew this town was messed up," he said, "But this crosses the line."

"It's evil," Marshall agreed.

The cactus cat mewled pitifully, four green and spiny claws peddling the air as it rolled on it's back, prickly belly exposed to the rich golden light of a Saturday afternoon in summer. It's eyes were cloudy milk-white and fixed pleadingly on Simon's own. Already Simon's hands were scratched and bleeding, clusters of black needles embedded in the soft skin of his palms. Tentatively he reached for the purring, squirming creature who writhed at his feet.

"Simon!" said Marshall. "Just leave it alone already!"

"But he's so cute," Simon protested. "And look at him! He's desperate for cuddles!"

"Yeah, well, you're going to be desperate for fingers if you keep petting it," said Dash.

Simon reluctantly returned his wounded hands to the pockets of his hand me down flannel jacket. His eyes were huge and wet and it was only partly due to the tattered and oozing state of his fingertips.

"Maybe I could wear mittens," he said, as though a prickly desert cat-beast could be made safe with something as mundane as wool.

Dash sighed and started pulling his coat on.

"You're leaving?" asked Marshall, not quite able to hide his disappointment.

"Yes," said Dash. "Radford keeps suits of armour at the back of the World o' Stuff. Those medieval knights were tiny - there's bound to be a set of chain mail oven gloves that'll fit you, Shrimpenstein."

Simon brightened.

"Wow!" he said. "That's really nice. Thanks, Dash."

"Whatever," said Dash. "It's near a security camera blind spot."

"Oh," said Simon, his shoulders sagging. He looked down at the cat, his expression torn.

"No it isn't," said Mars.

"Shut up," said Dash.

( Read the rest of the Trusted Associates verse here )

( Read the rest of the First Kiss series here )

( Read the rest of the Microwave verse here )

Written for Day 9 of the 31_days October challenge. The prompt was "in front of the fireplace"

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( Read the rest of the First Kiss series here )

So, I was trying to get a head start on some of my prompts for the Advent Calendar challenge, but the story kind of got away from me.

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Written for Day 27 of the 31_days October challenge. The prompt was: "Take a shot"

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Written for Day 15 of the 31_days challenge. The prompt was: "You know ‘fan’ comes from ‘fanatic’, right?"

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Written for the 31_days October challenge

Day/Theme: 3 / Down the rabbit hole
Series: Eerie, Indiana
Character/Pairing: Mars, Dash, Simon, Marilyn, Edgar
Rating: PG

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All Eerie, Indiana Fanfiction Masterposts

Eerie, Indiana fanfiction at Archive of Our Own

Better Weird than Dead, an Eerie, Indiana FicFest at eerie_indiana

Eerie, Indiana fanfiction at Fanfiction.net

Eerie, Indiana crossovers at Fanfiction.net

Stand-Alones

"My name is Marshall Teller, I may have made the biggest mistake of my life and I'm afraid I may live to regret it" by froodle

Eerie, Indiana Crossovers

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All Eerie, Indiana Ongoing Verse works by Froodle

Ongoing Verse: Andrea/Marisea

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Ongoing Verse: CAT

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Ongoing Verse: Cheese

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Ongoing Verse: The Children

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Ongoing Verse: Christmas

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Ongoing Verse: Easter Weekend

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Ongoing Verse: Euclid

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Ongoing Verse: First Kiss

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Ongoing Verse: Harvest

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Ongoing Verse: Holmes Brothers

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Ongoing Verse: Janet

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Ongoing Verse: Leprechaun

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Ongoing Verse: Lost

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