…a Terrible Hunger For Knowing Things, For Knowing Everything.

Goosebumps, 1.09 “Night of the Living Dummy, Part 2” (2023)

You know what I need? I need someone to translate five pages of archaic Latin. Obviously, that’s not gonna happen anytime soon.

a closed starter for @dusktildcwn

darcy was keeping to herself, having already said the wrong thing multiple times that morning.

in times of crisis, she always reverted to the facts. and the facts were that the chance of finding a missing girl two weeks later were minimal. the first 72 hours were crucial. less than 2% of missing children were found after a week.

the person she'd shared such statistics with had not been appreciative of her reality check, having wandered away from her long ago. and she'd been on her own since, left to regret her actions for over ten minutes as she sipped her now lukewarm cup of coffee.

luckily, it wasn't long before someone else moved to the sidelines.

given the choice between keeping quiet while continuing to ruminate and socializing, nine times out of ten, darcy would pick the former. however, there was a task to be accomplished. a missing girl to help (however unrealistic that may or may not be). it didn't come without a moment of deliberation, but approximately one minute and twenty-seven seconds after the blonde appeared nearby, darcy made her way over.

"hi," she half-waved as she paused in front of the girl. the only stranger in the room. at the very least, darcy knew how to begin the conversation.

"i don't believe we've met. i'm darcy warren." she made sure to purposely drop the doctor before her name, the prefix unnecessary in non-scholarly rooms. she still extended her hand for a shake, though. "are you new to town?"

KEVIN CAN F**K HIMSELF | 1.03 We’re Selling Washing Machines

Kennedy McMann as Nancy Drew ↳ 3×09 The Voices in the Frost

fact: crushes were stupid.

also a fact: darcy'd had one, once. it was long ago, with multiple degrees secured between when it had ended and the present. it was over, a finite end.

except... she hadn't actually been in a room with scott bishop since she'd graduated from coolsville high at sixteen years old. and even just standing there, vaguely in his presence, there were certain indicators that she wasn't as immune to romantic feelings as she'd believed.

how did that work? barely knowing someone and yet feeling drawn to them anyway? once upon a time, darcy'd developed feelings because he'd been nice to her at a time when others were very much not, a small act of kindness meaning so much that it broke through her defenses. did she know anything about him other than what was reported in the school paper? no! and yet, the feeling of butterflies in her stomach continued during the handful of times they spoke.

but why? and why were the butterflies beginning to flutter their wings yet again (eight years later), when there was zero grounds for the action? it made no sense! darcy was a woman of science, but not of neuroscience or psychology. love (or even just like) was a mystery to her.

which was why seemed so uncertain when, at his clap, she moved to sit in a chair near him. she was at the community center with one goal in mind - finding out what happened to charlotte blackwood - and she would not be derailed from her mission. but deep down, she was fighting to speak up, having traveled back in time to her senior year of high school.

"yes, let's," she started carefully, not bothering to take a moment to say hello first. why was scott there? why did he care? it was time for the q&a portion of the morning. "how do you know charlotte?" present tense. she could be optimistic!

where: the coolsville community center who: scott bishop and open

Scott had woken up that morning for the first time in a while with a sense of invigoration. For the first time in a couple of weeks (hell, a couple of years), he felt good about the day. It offered something that wasn't the same monotonous thing. As he made his breakfast, dished up a plate for his younger brother (who knew fourteen year old boys could eat so much), he was buzzing. It would be too much to say he was excited, especially in the climate of the last two weeks with Charlotte missing but Scott couldn't help it. He'd even brought snacks.

Those same snacks were laid out in the middle of a lone table in the community centre, only touched by him. Wasn't hard to do when there was hardly anyone in the room. He had been the second person to arrive, glad to know he'd gotten the right place at least. A few other people had trickled in since but the group seemed to be milling about in silence. The awkwardness just wasn't something Scott could deal with.

Giving a loud clap to get everyone's attention, he leaned back in his chair. "Should we get this show on the road?" he asked before really noticing how many empty chairs there were. Maybe not.

#About me 

SCOOBY-DOO (2002) dir. Raja Gosnell

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) dir. Susan Johnson

she hadn't meant to hang on scott's every word, but darcy really didn't know how to deal with the mess of emotions she was feeling simply sitting there - overwhelming curiosity duking it out with a fear of being disappointed, the valid concern that her expectations might not meet reality.

so she did what she always did and listened. intently. nodding along at the appropriate times, making mental notes for the future. he spoke of charlotte's connection to his brother in the past tense, when darcy had been so careful to speak of her in the present. why? otherwise, his works were fairly unremarkable. he cared for his brother, that much was clear. and as an only child she found it admirable. but that was all.

hm.

she was ready to move on to her next question, a focus on tenses, when she was caught off guard by the volley of her own question right back at her. for a moment, she said nothing. and then she spoke entirely too much.

"oh, i don't," she admitted.

darcy had never spoken to charlotte blackwood, wouldn't have even been able to remember what she looked like had it not been for the missing posters lining the streets - and she had an eidetic memory. but that didn't mean she didn't have a personal investment in the case at hand.

"i know him," she acknowledged then, gesturing to where nate had been standing just moments before. "oh." since she was gesturing to an empty part of the room, she made sure to clarify so she would not be misunderstood. "nate. we went to school together." obviously. "college. sort of. and i know his parents. i work for his parents. there is a stunning lack of opportunities for someone with a doctorate in environmental engineering, so energy it was."

As Darcy slipped into the chair, he glanced over and shot her a smile before surveilling the rest of the group. At least she was responsive, that was something. He wouldn't expect anything else, despite how little he truly knew of her. It was starting to occur to him that although the group agreed to come together to work towards a common goal, they weren't a team. Far from it, actually. That would have to change, if they all managed to get through their first meeting.

At the question, he turned towards Darcy, smiling quizzically at her pointedness. It was definitely a tactic, no bullshitting around, no fluff. Getting straight to the point. He liked it, but it was definitely going to take some getting used to. "She would babysit my brother sometimes. When I was away at school and my mom worked late, Charlotte would come over and look after him." It was partially one of the reasons Scott decided to move back into his childhood home when he came back. His mom worked too hard and what kind of son would he be if he didn't help take a load off her, especially as a free baby sitter. He wasn't going to mention that though, it wasn't very macho to admit you still lived with your mother as a grown man. Nevermind the circumstances. "He loved hanging out with her, mainly because I think she'd let him watch the scary movies he wasn't allowed to watch." Scott paused for a second, thinking of how sad his brother had been recently. "It's really hit him hard."

There were unvoiced thoughts he had of Charlotte, not things he would say out loud to a group of basically strangers.

Okay, maybe strangers was a bit of a stretch. He knew a few of the faces sitting around him, was even close with a couple. Darcy fell into the first camp. If he truly thought about it, she was like him in some ways. Both were expected to set out and do big things with their lives. Only she had actually achieved it. He may have been a little jealous but he didn't know her well enough to really let that thought fester. All he really knew of her was what Bea had relayed and that was enough for him. She was a friend, even though he was sure they'd never had a deeper conversation than how are you.

No time like the present to learn something new about her, though. "What about you? How'd you know her?"