Finishing School!

Well, I did it!  I finished online college!  And it feels... really anti-climatic.  I always wanted to graduate with the friends I'd made around me.  Throw my cap in the air.  That sort of thing.  Instead I'm getting a mailed diploma, and I'm not even sure what to do with it.  What's the point of having a degree when you can get anything you want by saying hi?
Certainly doesn't help that Iris still isn't being herself.  I'll admit, I really miss the goofy, devil-may-care Iris that would do anything just for the fun of it.  I'm starting to wish she'd never even heard of Sonic Boom.  Seems to me he hasn't done anything but hurt her.

Not all that glitters is gold.
Ruby

Getting Nervous

Sooo... um, Iris hasn't been online.  In forever.  And I'm starting to get nervous about this.  I mean, I get that she no longer feels the need to obsess over finding Void, for which I'm grateful, and that she no longer wants to obsess over Sonic Boom, which is also a plus, but... I dunno, it was like the Internet was her happy place.  And now she's abandoned it.  She's even gone so far as to look for a job.  Like, an actual, go-to-work-and-get-a-salary kind of job.  And I'm starting to worry. 
I get that she was upset about what happened with the supers, but I didn't think it would get this bad.
Help?

Not all that glitters is gold.
Ruby

Halloween

Ha, THAT was interesting.  Halloween for a super who can't talk without spewing gems.  I felt bad about it, but there was no way I was going to open that door to trick or treaters (luckily for me, Iris actually WENT trick-or-treating, so she had no say in the matter).  I just turned off all the lights and pretended no one was home.
Of course, I didn't stop to think about punk teens that would try to sneak into dark houses.  It nearly gave me a heart attack when I heard someone climbing through the window.  I thought the Queen had found where I live.
So you can't judge me for what I did next. 
I didn't have any real weapons on hand, so I took a leaf out of Iris'  book and just grabbed the nearest thing I could find.  Which happened to be a rather large pillow.  Feeling oh-so-confident with my new weapon, I hid behind a corner, and when the intruders came by, I jumped out and started hitting them.
"Oh, HEY!  What are you..."
"STOP THAT!"
An order I promptly obeyed once I realized it was coming from a pair adolescent voices.  The Queen can change her appearance, but not that of others. 
"What do you think you're doing?" I growled.  I wasn't too worried about them seeing the gems.  It was still dark, and I wasn't turning on lights.  That would only reveal the gems scattered all over the floor.
There was silence, until a boy's voice said, "We thought no one was home."
"And you always break in to empty homes?"
"I told him it was a bad idea!" a girl's voice cried.
"Well, I'll tell you what's a good idea."  I was really ticked.  "Get out.  And don't come back."
"We're sorry," the girl said softly.
"Out."
I made them go out the front door, and I watched them until they went down another street.  Then I went and found a baseball bat until Iris came home.
I hate Halloween.

Not all that glitters is gold.
Ruby

Settling Down

I'm happy to say it's been a fairly uninteresting week (except for Iris' conspiracy theory about disappearing heroes).  Nothing unexpected has happened, and it feels amazing!  No crazy kidnappings, no surprise roommates, not even an unexpected thunderstorm!  For once life is peaceful.
Ivy and Cecy came over yesterday.  They wanted to meet Iris.  Cecily definitely likes her, and I think Ivy does too.  At least, she didn't roll her eyes when they met, which is always a good sign with Ivy.  We ended up playing bingo with gemstones (hey, I have to do something with them!).  I think we've quasi-decided to do this once a week, but I'm not holding my breath.  Ivy and Cecy have always had pretty busy schedules.

Not all that glitters is gold.
Ruby

So Just Who Is Iris Clearwater?

Well, much as I hate to admit it, having Iris as a roommate has been a lot of fun.  Though it does have its mishaps.  One of her lightening sneezes took out our internet, and we've only just gotten it fixed.  I got rid of anything citrusy I may have had after that.
It did occur to me that some of you might not know who Iris is, so I thought I'd explain a little.  Of course, it would be easier to just hop on over to her blog, http://www.irisclearwater.blogspot.com/, but if you're too lazy to do that, I'll just explain here.
Iris is a super who makes it rain every time she blinks.  Yes, EVERY time.  It makes life interesting.  And her weakness is that she's allergic to citrus smells, and she makes lightening every time she sneezes.  Hence getting rid of all my citrus hand lotion (not that I cared, it wasn't really my favorite scent).  To make a long story short (again, you'll want to check out her blog for that), she got on the bad side of a super villain in her area known as Evil Evil, and needed somewhere new.  Which is why she showed up on my doorstep.
Well, that's Iris in a nutshell.  And I can tell you this, she doesn't like to give you a dull moment.

Not all that glitters is gold.
Ruby

New Roommate

Sooo... guess who decided to make herself my new roommate?  Yep, you guessed it!  Iris Clearwater.  If you want the reasons behind her surprise move, you can check it out here: http://www.irisclearwater.blogspot.com/
I have to admit, having a roommate again is pretty nice... even if she did show up on my door without letting me know.  She's a lot of fun.  Even filled the fridge with Dove chocolates for me! :D  Though I suspect she used some of my gems to do it. 
Aaaaand she's calling for me.  Some mini-disaster involving unpacking, I suppose, so I'll tell you more later!

Not all that glitters is gold.
Ruby

What Happened Part 2

When I woke up, I was tied to a chair in a warehouse.  Or, I guess it was more a side room off of the warehouse.  It was one of Decartes’.  I could hear the animals in the other room.  I was alone.

                I tried to escape, but I think Decartes must have gotten magically enhanced rope from Rumplestiltskin.  I suppose he offered to use me to help fund his evil plans once he gets out of prison.  I was stuck.

                I have no idea how long I was left there.  It felt like hours.  Eventually the door opened, and Decartes and the Queen stepped through.  For those of you who don’t know who the Queen is, she’s a supervillain who can change her appearance at will, though usually she’s a tall blonde with blue eyes.  She was the one at the duck pond, the one who was flirting with Decartes.  If nothing else, she must have been a brilliant actress, because it was obvious when the two of them walked in they hated each other.  They moved to polar opposite ends of the room and glared at each other the entire time they were there.  I don’t know how they managed to put their differences aside long enough to work together.

                Decartes didn’t waste any time.  He pulled out a gun and told me to start talking.  I didn’t want to, but what choice did I have?  I blabbered about anything I could: weather, politics, I even told them how much I wanted to watch when Snow White and the Seven Supers kicked their butts.  As long as I kept talking they were happy.  Soon I had a pile of gems around my chair as high as my knees, and my voice was going out.  Finally they let me stop, but they were back the next day.

                By the third day I was talking in a whisper, and I was just repeating the same things over and over again.  I was sure my voice would go out completely in a few minutes, and I was terrified of what they would do.

                That’s when the door blew in.

                Seriously.  A gust of wind strong enough to rival a tornado, a flurry of snow, and Snow White stormed through the door (literally).  Behind her I could see Prince Charming, Beast, Gretal, the Mermaid, and Cinderella.  Snow went straight for the Queen, Charming right beside her, and the Beast charged Decartes.  The Mermaid followed him.  Cinderella took something from her Charm Bracelet, what looked like a bejeweled pair of scissors, and cut through the ropes.  After the others had subdued the villains, Gretal temporarily paralyzed their powers.  I nearly asked if she could do the same for me, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make a sound. 

                I tried to stand, but my knees were a little wobbly.  Charming ended up supporting me on the way out.  They had a helicopter waiting outside.  They were all very gentle, of course.  Snow White especially.  I almost felt like I knew her somehow.  They took me to a secret wing of the hospital.  Apparently they have a wing for supers, so the civilians don’t find out who they are.  I was only there for about half an hour.  The doctors gave me a few prescriptions to help my throat heal, and then Snow and Charming took me home.  I don’t know how they knew where I live, but I suppose whatever hacker they have on their team did their homework.

                I wanted to sleep, but I ended up staying awake for most of the night.  When I finally fell asleep I had nightmares I was back in Decartes’ warehouse, and when I woke up, Ivy and Ceci were there.  When they heard the news they’d come back to find me.  I feel so bad that I cut their honeymoons short.

                They had to leave eventually, of course, but first Ivy gave me a new phone.  It has an app that supposedly records a conversation and puts it straight into my blog.  I assume she thought it would be helpful if I was ever kidnapped again.  I suppose I could test it now.

                “Testing… testing… hey cool, it wor-“

                BANG  “Hello!”

                “WAAAUUUGGGGHHH!!!!”  Crash, thump “Who are you?!”

                “It’s me, it’s… aaahhhhh….”

                “… What are you doing?”

                “Are you… wearing citrus… aaaaaahhhh… hand lotion?”

                “… Yeeees…”

                “Oh, that… explains… ACHOOO!!”

                CRASH

                “Did your sneeze just cause that lightening?!”

                Sniff “Yep!”

                “… Iris?”

Not all that glitters is gold.

 Ruby