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yourlocalstingbeans · 5 days ago

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Preview of a WIP Lumberjanes fic I'm working on:

“You know guys, I don't think we need this badge. Wouldn't it be way cooler if we like, decorated cookies or something?” Mal said.

“First of all, it was a cake decorating badge. There isn't a badge for decorating cookies, Mal.” April said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, well, of course not.” Jo muttered.

April lightly kicked her ankle, then turned back to Mal. “Second, what is going on with you! You've been all weird about this badge since yesterday!”

“I'm not being weird!” Mal insisted. “Maybe you're the one being weird. Ever thought about that?”

Molly glanced skeptically at the both of them as Roanoke grabbed their swim gear from their cabin. They only had around twenty minutes between badges, so Jen had warned them not to lolly-gag, but it would appear that wouldn't be happening.

Ripley dug through the heap of clothes under her bed that had somehow formed in the twenty-four hours since they had arrived at camp, searching for a swim suit. “No, April's right, you definitely seem like you're looking for a reason not to get this badge.” She added.

“I am not!” Mal insisted, throwing a gray shirt and a matching pair of shorts for swimming in over her shoulder.

She'd taken off her flannel and denim vest in preparation for heading to the beach, and was left in just a gray tank top and her ripped jeans. (And Molly was definitely not trying to ignore her toned arms, usually covered by her flannel, or avoid thinking about exactly how she had gained the muscle. She definitely wasn't doing anything of the sort.) Molly dug around in her own bag for the green suit she knew she'd packed, but was having little luck.

April, who was miraculously already changed into a standard swim suit that was colored pink, rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “You're sure there's absolutely nothing wrong?”

Mal nodded. “Yes, I'm fine!” She said, exasperated. “But, y'know, if someone had to hang back for the good of the group…”

“That seems unlikely.” Jo told her, hopping down from her bunk with a cropped purple swim top and blue shorts in hand.

Mal grumbled, evidently unhappy about that. Molly, meanwhile, managed to find the elusive bathing suit, and stood up to look at the group. “We should get going. We only have a little while longer to get to the lake, or we'll be late. Most of us still need to change and everything.”

“It's not a huge deal if we're late.” Ripley shrugged. “We could try to steal a snack from the kitchen before we go!”

“Why would we do that?” Jo asked.

“Because snacks, duh, Jo.” April replied, sliding up to Ripley. “I'm with Rip on this one.”

Molly, Mal, and Jo all glanced at each other with the use of a new nickname, but none of them questioned it. It's not like it couldn't be said that the nickname definitely suited her.

“That seems ill advised, even in the name of snacks.” Jo told them. “Let's just go down to the lake.”

“Fiiinnnee.” They whined, heading out the door.

Jo followed, suspiciously eyeing the pair for the beginning of any shenanigans.

Molly started heading out, but hesitated in the doorway when she realized Mal wasn't following. “You coming, Mal?”

Mal looked up at her. “Oh. Yeah. Sorry.”

She hurried forward, following Molly out the door, but still hung towards the back of the group, quietly walking behind as they took turns changing in the bath house, and then made their way down the path towards the lake. She kept snuffing her shoes against the dirt, and her gaze remained mostly on the floor, as though her head was weighing it down. Even still, she kept glancing about, like she expected something to pop out of the bushes and attack them. Her hands were twitchy at her sides.

After about the fifth time re-adjusting where her hair fell around her face, Molly stopped her. She nudged Mal’s shoulder with her own and looked up with a hesitant smile. “Hey. You okay?”

“What? Yeah, I'm fine, why would you ask?” Mal replied quickly.

“You just seem all mopey.” Molly told her.

“No, I'm not. I'm fine.” Mal said. “I'm fine.”

She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than anyone else.

“It would be okay if you weren't, you know.” Molly offered quietly. “There's nothing wrong with being scared.”

“Scared of what? The water? What kind of a loser would be afraid of water? That would be pathetic is what that would be.” Mal replied, seemingly nervous, gradually getting louder as she spoke until she attracted the attention of the rest of Roanoke.

Molly frowned. That definitely was not reassuring.

“Mal. None of us would judge you if you were afraid.” Jo said slowly.

“No, I'm not afraid at all.” Mal told her.

“Well, then you won't have a problem getting in the water with the rest of us, right?” April said.

Mal glanced between all four other members of Roanoke, shoulders bunched up to her ears. “Ugh! Okay, yeah, fine, I'm afraid of water!” She exclaimed. “I am very, very, afraid of water. Is that what you wanted?”

Everyone blinked.

“Water?” Molly asked.

Sure, that added up what with Mal's behavior about going to the lake, but she'd never met a person afraid of water.

“Yes, water! You can laugh now.” She grumbled, crossing her arms tight and glaring at the floor. “It's stupid and I'm a coward, but I'm afraid of water.”

“Aw, Mal, none of us think that!” Ripley assured her, with her usual Ripley Enthusiasm. “It's okay to be scared!”

“Yeah, why didn't you say anything before?” April asked. “We could've just done a different badge together! It really wasn't a big deal!”

“But it's embarrassing!” Mal insisted. “I'm scared of water! Who's even like that? It's pathetic. I didn't want you guys to think of me like that, and I didn't wanna spoil the fun, so I wasn't gonna say anything.”

“We wouldn't want you to not be having fun if you didn't wanna do something the rest of us did.” Jo told her. “It's no big deal.”

“Yeah, you should've said something earlier.” Molly told her. “We aren't gonna judge you for being afraid of something, even if it's an… unusual fear. You're our friend.” She smiled.

Mal smiled back, a little hesitant. “Okay. Thanks guys. I'm sorry.”

“Don't worry about it.” April said. “I just feel bad that it's too late to change the badge now.”

Molly hummed in thought for a moment, then grabbed Bubbles from her head. “Hey, why don't you sit on the beach and watch Bubbles for me? You two can bond, far away from the water, and the rest of us will get the badge.”

She offered Bubbles up to an apprehensive Mal, who slowly took him in her grasp. She held him right in his middle, causing his bottom half to sag in her arms. “Hi, Bubbles.”

He chittered at her, then wiggled his way out of her hands and onto her head, causing Molly to laugh. Mal did not appear thrilled.

“He doesn't have rabies, I told you.” Molly said.

“Mmhmm.” Mal replied, thoroughly unconvinced.

“It's fine. He's a good raccoon, I promise.”

“Well, he's not a river monster, so I guess I'll take it.” Mal sighed.

“River monsters aren't real, Mal.” Ripley said factually.

“That you know of!” April ominously added, jumping towards Ripley as if to scare her.

“Aw, c'mon, don’t joke about that!” Mal whined. “They might hear you!”

Molly laughed, even though it's clear she wasn't kidding. It was just… cute, she supposed, in a way. As worried as she was about Mal being near a river while also being afraid of water, her banter with April and Ripley was amusing nonetheless.

As they arrived at the lake and explained to Jen that Mal would be sitting this one out, which she allowed despite her clear apprehension, the remaining four members of Roanoke were left to get in the water. Mal had settled carefully on the very far end of the beach where no water could possibly find her, and Bubbles had followed suit, sitting comfortably beside her as she eyed him warily. “Okay scouts!” Jen smiled. “Who's gonna be the first in?”

Ripley, clearly ahead of the game, came running up behind Jen and through the group of Roanokes, who managed to miraculously get out of the way in time. “Cannon ball!!” Ripley shouted as she jumped off the end of the dock into the river with a big splash.

Jo, April, and Molly peered over the end of the dock with wide eyed expressions of shock. Ripley surfaced, swishing her sopping hair out of her eyes. “It's cold.”

“Okay.” Jen said slowly. “Thank you Ripley, for your enthusiasm. The rest of you can hop in too.”

April jumped in without need of further convincing, and Jo was close behind, though she at least stopped to get ankle-deep on the ladder before jumping. Molly was the only one to carefully lower herself into the water as was probably intended for them to do. Though, she discovered, Ripley was right, it was freezing. She kind of wished she had jumped in, since she would've adjusted quicker that way.

“Alright girls, I can see you're all clearly familiar with treading water, which is a fantastic start.” Jen told them, standing at the edge of the dock with her best camp-counselor smile.

They continued with the swimming lesson from there, though Molly wasn't particularly engaged in any part of it. Her mother made her do competitive swimming for a year, and she'd already learned these basics, even if she hadn't excelled. (Molly had done swimming in addition to soccer, volleyball, softball, lacrosse, and tennis in other years, along with football, but she hadn't made it through the full season of that because she kept crying every time they made her tackle someone, which her mom was not happy about, but she was like eight, so it was mostly fine.) Due to this, two things happened. One, Jen repeatedly called on her to demonstrate, which she did not like. Clearly her prior knowledge was being recognized and Molly was not thrilled about being put in the spotlight, especially since April and Jo had taken lessons and they both knew the majority of this stuff too, even if they had less practice than Molly had been given. Second, her attention wandered frequently. As Jen explained concepts Molly still had mostly retained in her muscle memory, her mind began to wander. Frequently, she found it wandering over to the shore, where Mal and Bubbles were watching. She hoped Mal was okay. She seemed pretty freaked out earlier when they were walking over here. But it looked like her and Bubbles were having a good time, so that was a win! Right?

“You okay?” April asked, glancing between Molly and the shoreline.

“What? Yeah, why wouldn't I be?” Molly answered, snapping her gaze back over to April.

“Well, you keep glancing over at the shore like you're expecting something.” April explained.

Molly shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure Mal was okay. And Bubbles. I feel bad for her, since she can't get in, you know? And, Bubbles can be a handful and all so, I just thought…” Molly trailed off, not really sure why she needed to justify this so thoroughly to April.

“Mmhmm.” April hummed. “Well, alright, if you say so.”

When they were done, Molly immediately went to check on the pair, her worry demanding to be satiated. She found Mal lying on her back with Bubbles mimicking this on her stomach, both with eyes closed.

“What happened to the rabies you were so worried about?” Molly asked, something between a smirk and an amused grin appearing on her face.

“There was bonding. We bonded. We're bros now.” Mal answered, not opening her eyes.

“Oh yeah?” Molly chuckled.

Bubbles chittered, as if to answer with an enthusiastic yes, which only encouraged her giggling fit.

Mal sat up, picking up Bubbles to make sure he didn't fall. “She's not taking me seriously, buddy, can you believe that?”

Bubbles responded in kind, and if raccoons could disappointedly shake their heads, he would've been.

Molly glanced back over at the dock, where Jen was handing out badges as the Roanokes hopped out of the water and began to dry off. They had all earned the badge they'd come for, which they all took a rightful sense of pride in.

“I got my badge.” Molly told her, holding it up so Mal could see.

“Oh that's cool.” Mal smiled. “Was the water nice? As much as water can be.” She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at it.

“It was fine.” Molly shrugged. “You're sure you don't even want to go near it?”

“Maybe I could like, walk up to the shore.” Mal stood up. “I dunno.”

She glanced at her feet, shuffling them anxiously on the sand.

“C'mon, it'll be fun.” Molly told her.

Mal glanced between the water and Molly. “You sure there aren't any river monsters in there?” Mal said.

“Yes, I'm sure.” Molly told her.

Mal hesitantly got up, placing Bubbles back in his rightful spot atop Molly's head, and began walking with her down towards the shore.

“Why are you so afraid of water anyway?” She asked, watching Mal watch the water as they approached.

“Well, there was this time when I was like six and I almost drowned.” Mal replied casually.

Molly blinked. “You… you what?”

“Yeah, we were up at like a lake or something and the adults were up by the house and I walked down to the dock by myself and fell in. Luckily, someone saw and my mom came running, but I couldn't swim and the water was really deep. I thought I was going to die.” Mal explained.

“That seems like a good reason to be afraid of water.” Molly mumbled, then asked in a louder voice, “So did you ever learn to swim?”

“Well, after the incident, my mom wanted me to learn so it wouldn't happen again, but I kept kicking and screaming every time someone tried to get me in the water so she gave up trying and I haven't been in a body of water since.” Mal replied.

They came up just in front of where the waves stopped on the shore. Mal eyes it with uncertainty, and Molly stood just next to her, offering probably nothing more than moral support. “Hey, this isn't so bad.” Mal said.

A particularly large wave came up, soaking both of their feet. Mal jumped instantly, grabbing Molly's hand in her fright. Molly gave a reassuring squeeze, wondering if Mal realized she'd done that, or if she'd even meant to.

“Nevermind. The murder river is very very bad and it's trying to murder me.” Mal said, making an expression not dissimilar to a soaked cat that was extremely not fond of baths.

Molly tried not to laugh. “I'll keep you safe.”

Mal’s eyes softened as she brought them up to meet Molly's gaze, and she had a sweet sort of smile on her face. Before she could think on this, Molly asked, “Do you wanna head back up to shore?”

Mal looked very much like she wanted to say yes, but before she could, April walked up behind them and scooped up Mal bridal-style into her arms, effectively severing the hand holding her and Molly were doing, however accidental it may or may not have been.

“Into the water we go to face our fears!” April proclaimed dramatically.

“No no no! April!” Mal screeched, flailing in her arms.

April did not answer, she only continued wading further into the water.

“April, if you drop me, I swear to Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, I will end you.” Mal threatened, though it didn't bear much weight when she was currently being restrained by a girl half her size.

She continued to flail and yell, and Molly watched, covering her laughter behind a hand. As much as she took Mal's fear seriously, she had to admit it was endearing in some strange way. It was another of Mal's qualities that made her who she was, and that was a person Molly liked very much, silly fears or no. She didn't understand the soft emotion filling her at the sight, even if it came coupled with worry that something bad would happen, but she found herself unable to resent it either. It was welcome, whatever it was.

Mal noticed her amusement from over April's shoulder, and her expression softened, and she momentarily seemed to forget that she was currently being suspended over a body of water by April. Molly wouldn't know it, but Mal had decided that as terrifying as the water was, this whole ordeal was almost worth it to see Molly laugh.

“How are you even this strong, what the he-”

“Ah ah! Watch your mouth, there's kids around.” April scolded.

Mal’s face fell, glancing to Ripley, the child in question.

“Okay, April, why don't you stop torturing Mal now?” Molly suggested. “Please?”

April's face formed an exaggerated pout. “But that's not fun!” She complained.

“Nope, I'm with Molly, put her down on dry land please.” Jo added, walking up behind Molly.

“I agree with all of that!” Mal added.

“Ugh, fine!” April groaned, though even Molly could tell she wasn't truly upset.

Once Mal had both feet firmly on dry land, far away from an incoming attacks from the river, she stumbled over to Molly, throwing a hand around the other girl's shoulders. “Please never let her do that again.”

Molly chuckled again, and April rolled her eyes.

“It wasn't like I was gonna drop you.” She said.

#lumberjanes #molly lumberjanes #mal lumberjanes #mally #roanokes #not sure this scene is gonna stay in the final project #but the scene with april picking up mal popped into my head and was too funny to resist #this is very self indulgent if you couldn't tell #mal and bubbles being bros is also one of those scenes that just needed to be in existence #thank you if you read the whole thing haha #is any of this in character? maybe!

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