#sketchy because i woke up in a cold sweat to draw him

[extrajigs]

Am making a big sheet of various bugs in Mirum but this man deserves his own post. The Boomerang Slug(actually a snail), spends their life in the trees eatin’ leaves and flinging themselves to the ground to escape danger. To moderate success. 

[pee-pee-poop]

A “Sketchy” Character

Julia has never been the type to hold onto a person. To say the least, she was rather lonely. She didn’t seem to mind that anyway. Never really spoke much as a child and kept to herself and her books, but something about that girl just— made her want to open up. Something, and she could never seem to capture it on paper.

Carmen Sandiego. The Crimson Ghost, La Femme Rogue, as Chase liked to call her, that was the girl she was obsessed with...but another chance encounter like the one on the train would, sadly, never happen again. The percentage of seeing her again were fairly slim to none. So, she’d have to draw. However, drawing is merely a recreation of life, not the real thing. She just wanted to see Carmen again, see those eyes, that hair, those red colors she wore with such confidence. Julia wanted to see those again. She wanted to hear that voice again.

It was another sleepless night. Julia tossed and turned in her bed but no spot was comfortable enough to fall asleep in, so, in a huff, she got dressed. Nothing special, just a jacket and some sweat pants. Grabbing her sketchbook and phone she left, no idea where she was going, but, knowing she wanted to go. She had never worried about the safety of her neighborhood, so she was free to walk whenever she pleased. Finding a nice bench, under a street light, Julia settled in, and started to draw.

Of course, she drew Carmen. She loved drawing Carmen. She had such a nice face it’d be a waste not to when she had it memorized. She was so wrapped up in her own world, remembering features and adding them in, picturing Carmen, it was all just it’s own world. It was her world, Julia’s world. She hadn’t noticed the person sitting next to her, until they finally spoke up.

“Those are some pretty cool drawings you got there!”

Julia had almost jumped out of her skin, she was expecting to be alone tonight. The voice sounded familiar though.

“Uh...thanks...”

she replied, awfully sheepishly. This was why she was never on the front lines like Chase, she was just too shy to confront people. She started drawing again but she could feel the stranger peering over her shoulder.

The stranger seemed comfortable with Julia so they basically just rested against her, allowing their shoulders to meet. Julia was a little weirded out but, she decided against calling out the stranger. Now that they were so close however, Julia finally got around to looking at the stranger. The stranger was wearing a red trench coat. Julia realized who this was, Carmen Sandiego was watching her draw! Julia didn’t know what to think she sorta just- froze. Like a deer in head lights. She wanted to stop drawing and leave but she also wanted to stay, but Chase’d get mad at her if she didn’t take this chance to apprehend Carmen.

Julia’s mind was racing, almost equal to the pace of her heart. It seemed like they were both just about to explode. It also felt like she was going to have a heat stroke, her face was so hot, the cold breeze couldn’t do anything to that heat. She looked back over to Carmen and realized that she was asleep. Out like a light. Probably had been after their “conversation” ended. Now Julia had to do something. She couldn’t leave Carmen here! She might get hurt! But Chase swings by every now and then and knowing him, he’d probably show up once Carmen was there.

Julia decided that the easiest way to transport Carmen would be “bridal style”, she pushed her right arm under Carmen’s legs and her left arm under Carmen’s back. Lifting her up she pushed the cloaked woman closer to her chest, praying that she couldn’t feel the pounding of her heartbeat. She carefully picked up her other things as to not jostle and wake up Carmen. Julia rested her belongings on Carmen’s torso and the two headed out to Julia’s place.

Making it back home safely, Julia put Carmen on her bed, removing her shoes, cloak and fedora. She looked through the cloak’s pockets and found Carmen’s phone. She unlocked it and texted a number that was saved as “Player”, notifying Carmen’s friend of where she was and that she was safe. Julia put the phone back where it belonged in the cloak and just played on her own phone for a while. Julia did really only have the one bed and she wasn’t about to sleep next to Carmen, her body couldn’t handle that.

“Jules..?”

A very soft and very sleepy voice muttered.

“I’m here.”

Julia replied, a very soft tone to her voice,

“Do you need something?”

“No...well, kinda- I want to know where I am?”

Carmen sat up, and looked around a bit.

“You’re in my house, you fell asleep on that bench, I presume exaughsted from a mission. I took you back here because I was worried about your safety out there.”

“Oh- ok...”

Carmen trailed off seemingly looking for words.

“Wait why would you bring me back to your house if you knew that I am a known thief?”

“It’s not your M.O to steal from homes.”

Julia laughed a bit,

“You’re a sort of Robin Hood type. And- I trust that. And so, I guess I trust you.” Julia shrugged and smiled. For a split moment she thought she could see Carmen blush a little.

They sat in silence for a moment.

“I like your drawings. They’re nice.”

Julia blushed bright red, she didn’t know how to deal with compliments, especially from someone who she adored so much.

“That- Um...Tha-Thank you!”

Julia tumbled over her words, a billion thoughts running through her head, mostly about one page in the book, the heart page. It was just full of Carmen pictures and all of the empty space was filled with hearts. Julia could feel her chest tighten, and those stomach butterflies decided they were mad.

Carmen had picked up the book and flicked through the pages, finding one with a bunny on it, and turning the book around to show Julia.

“I like this one a lot! It’s super realistic! Not that the other pictures aren’t but this one is really good!”

Carmen exclaimed, she seemed to like the drawings, it gave Julia a huge feeling of happiness just to hear that. It was always nice to get a few compliments here and there. Chase never did really appreciate her hobby, but probably because he was jealous.

“Hey-! Um, Why do you wear red everywhere you go? It’s not very inconspicuous, especially for a thief like you. Aren’t you worried that you’ll get caught?”

A desperate attempt to change the subject before Carmen reached the heart page, yes, but Julia was also pretty interested in this new topic as well.

“A good thief never gets caught, no matter what they wear.”

Carmen answered with such confidence that Julia was a bit surprised, but she could feel herself falling for this red woman even more.

A knock was at the door, not a normal knock, sort of a pounding...Julia’s fears were confirmed when he heard Chase’s voice call out something.

“Carmen, you have to hide-! Chase is here!”

Julia whisper-yelled, she knew Carmen couldn’t escape like she normally would, Chase would break down the door before she could even reach for her coat. Before Carmen could resist, Julia pushed her into a nearby closet.

“Now...stay here please.”

Julia smiled, closed the closet door gently and walked over to her front door, to face Chase, ruffling her hair and her clothes to make it appear that she just woke up. Even though Inspector Devineux was not that competent. Julia opened the door and found exactly what she was waiting for, Chase.

“What do you want Inspector?”

Julia groaned, she was an ok actress. Chase pushed past Julia, allowing himself into her home.

“I received a few calls about a suspicious person, carried away a woman in a red trench coat. I’m presuming one of Carmen Sandiego’s accomplices. And if that crimson ghost had to be carried then chances are she’s hurt. She won’t slip between my fingers again.”

“Has she even stolen anything recently? And chances are if she’s hurt then she’ll lie low until she gets better and we’ll lose track of her anyway.”

“Ms. Argent do you know why I came to you first? You constantly defend the girl and you insist her innocence. Even now you’re trying to throw me off of her trail!”

“It’s called common sense Inspector. You constantly come up with wild accusations and hope that something sticks. I would never do anything to try and throw off our investigation! We need to be in this together to catch Carmen! You can’t be suspicious of me, Inspector! We have to trust one another!”

Julia never did like confrontation and it seemed that Chase was ready to back off. Until, they bothe realized that Carmen’s stuff was all still here.

“I will trust you Ms. Argent, after you tell me why Carmen Sandiego’s coat is here.”

“I found it Inspector. I went out because I couldn’t sleep and found the coat, I got worried so I walked around a bit more and went back here, where I fell asleep until you came.”

Julia’s tone was cold, informative, and lying. Lying, lying and lying to cover her tracks. The two were quiet for a moment, Chase seemed to be identifying the truth in her words. Then, the sound of something falling filled the silence. It was somewhat muffled, but Julia was quick to figure out that the thief in her closet was the one behind the noise.

“What was that?”

Chase asked, startled a bit.

“Something just fell don’t worry. Now go home and get some rest. We have a big day ahead of ourselves tomorrow. With the Sandiego spotting and all.”

Chase nodded, and the two exchanged goodbyes and Chase left.

As soon as he was gone Julia raced over to the closet and opened the door to find a box on the floor full of spilled art stuff, but no Carmen. Her worry grew and she stepped into the closet a bit further.

“Carmen? Are you ok? I heard something fall...”

Julia trailed off when her foot hit something, it felt like a person so she backed up slightly and kneeled down and sure enough, it was Carmen, asleep on the floor. Julia sighed and smiled. She nudged the woman on her floor to wake up.

“Mmmnrrg”

Carmen groaned in retaliation, but opened her eyes a bit.

“Jules!”

Exclaimed a tired, yet, happy Carmen.

“Yep! How’ve you been, dear?”

Julia replied, saying “dear” was a force of habit and she hadn’t really realized she’d said it. Carmen didn’t seem to mind it though, but Julia could’ve sworn she’d seen Carmen blush that time.

“Im ok, that box didn’t hit me I just got tired.”

“I’m glad it didn’t.”

The closet door clicked shut, yet they hadn’t noticed.

“Well, let’s get out of here...it’s a bit cramped.”

Julia got up and tried to open the door, but it was locked. She forgot that the closet door locked when it was closed. She fiddled with the knob for a second before giving up and thinking about a different way out.

Carmen has always liked Jules. She was nice and always defended her when Chase was around. It seemed that just recently she’d started developing feelings for her. Actually, she liked Jules back when they first met on the train. And under the belief that she was just being cautious, thought about Jules a lot. A lot more than a cautious thief would. When she skimmed through Jules’s sketchbook it seemed that she felt the same way about her.

Hearing Jules swear under her breath about the closet door being locked made Carmen feel happy for some strange reason. She had to fight to keep from smiling like an idiot.

Julia sat down against a wall, facing Carmen. She waved Carmen over and the girl did as she was asked, and sat down next to Julia. They talked a bit more before Carmen seemed to be getting cold. Julia hadn’t noticed the drop in temperature since she was wearing the jacket but she knew that Carmen could. Julia got up and looked around the closet a bit, and eventually found an old, pretty uncomfortable, heated blanket that still worked. Julia turned and draped the blanket over Carmen, and turned the heating pad on.

“You looked like you were getting cold so I got you this. It’s a bit uncomfortable I know but it’ll heat you up really fast!”

Julia was, understandably, nervous. She sat down next to Carmen again and fiddled with her fingers, cracking her knuckles every now and then. Carmen shuffled closer to Julia, and rested on her.

“The door’s locked huh..?”

Carmen asked, Julia was shaking with excitement that she couldn’t think straight, all she could reply with was a nod. Carmen sighed.

“We’re gonna be her for a while...”

Carmen looked at Jules, seeing her all flustered like that was cute. Adorable even. Like a little bunny rabbit, that’s why she liked that rabbit drawing. It reminded Carmen of how much she adored Jules. She rested her head on Jule’s shoulder and closed her eyes, just soaking it all in.

Julia practically couldn’t breathe. Mostly so she wouldn’t disturb the girl using her as a pillow but also because she was just way too happy. After a minute Julia calmed down and rested her head on top of Carmen’s.

It felt like time had stopped in those few moments in the closet. They had kissed. It seemed as if neither knew how it happened, why was clear, they loved each other. It was a short kiss but it brought them so much closer together.

The night had died and the morning had been born, but Carmen was no where in sight, and the closet was open. Julia got up and went to her bed, she found a note, written in red pen.

“Dear Jules,

Be careful when closing that closet door, I might not be there to save you again!

-With love,

Carmen Sandiego.

P.S- Call me!”

A heart is drawn at the bottom of the page.

“The Crimson Ghost strikes again.”

(The End)

I am @poutygriffin and this is just my writing blog. Feel free to ask for me to write a little something for you! I just really liked the idea of this happening and so I went for it lol. Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed making it!