Elsa and Anna's Mini Reviews: Party Favor Watercolor Paint Set

Whew, we're back! It's been a full month now and I think that ought to be enough time to take a break from blogging. To ease us back into the routine, Anna and I have returned to bring you another product in our Mini Reviews series.

***

"Okay, who's been using my tiny tape?" She accused as She rummaged around in her Yoobi mini supply kit, something you may remember from our first Mini Reviews post.

Bell stood there guiltily on the shelf, trying in vain to hide the roll of tape behind her back, but her wings couldn't stretch out far enough without looking obvious. "Uh... it might have been me."

She scowled at Bell, but didn't seem very surprised that the amateur inventor had taken the tape. "You guys. Ever since you've broken the Code you're not putting my any of my stuff back."

"Sorry." Bell muttered.

"At least I've got more." She reached into the drawer under the desk in her room (which was put there once college started) and pulled out another miniature tape roll, this time clear instead of blue. That didn't go with the rest of the Yoobi kit.

Anna and I had been chilling right beside her, sitting on the desk and playing cards with the ornament sisters, but it was hard for Anna to resist getting involved whenever she saw a second, different, tiny tape.

"Hey, do you have any more where that came from?" Anna asked.

"Oh no, not you, too." She warned.

"No, I mean like... miniature school supplies. We'll put it back if you do. Promise."

She sighed and searched the drawer again. "Well if you promise, I've got this here. Never used it, actually. It was too small. But it looks like it's the perfect size for dolls."

She tossed something our way, and Anna caught it. It was a case that held a set of paints, six colors, and a brush a human could only hold if they pinched it between two fingers.

"It's watercolor. So stains will wash out if it comes to that. But!" She wagged a finger. "You've got to clean up after yourselves. Okay?"
"Not a problem. I'm sure Elsa and I can find something to do with this. And we will clean up everything."
And the rest of that is history.

We started off by setting up a canvas, one we borrowed from Nessa, back when she had more free time for art. We used slices of notecards as a canvas, as that would be more durable than regular paper, and then got a shotglass for paint water.

First of all, the watercolor paint set is quite cute, although not very sturdy. The paints were tiny dry tablets of color, and they came in a thin plastic tray that also had the brush. The plastic can tear very easily and in fact some of the corners were chipping already. But it's not the quality of the container that counts, right?

The tray is then set into a clear box that is of a different plastic than the tray. This kind acts more like glass. The box does not have a fastener to lock it closed, but rather a snap-in and snap-out feature that falls apart very easily if you drop it. (Which we did. Anna can be a little clumsy.)

Next, the brushes. On the far left is the brush that came with the paint set. Next to that, a human-sized brush that was similar enough to the mini one. Then a true watercolor brush, and on the far right, an acrylic brush. I liked how our mini brush had tougher, smoother bristles than the red-orange human brush. In fact, I would argue that ours is better, as the human brush had fraying bristles that didn't like holding the watery paint.

Finally, a color test. For most of the hues, the gradients were rather nice, and you want that with watercolors. However, yellow, pink, and brown were the problems. Yellow is always hard to see on a white background, so I can't exactly blame the paint set for that. But the pink was translucent and not really... pink, per se? At least not what I think of when someone says "pink". The paints we had looked a lot more like a queen pink. This is what Wikipedia says "queen pink" looks like:

*

Kind of a washed-out, lavender-gray pink. But this is how I imagine pink to be:

*

Also from Wikipedia. Maybe I'm being nitpicky, and I probably am, but I was disappointed with our paint palette's pink.

Brown looks a little blotchy, but that also could be the lighting in this picture. Otherwise, all the colors are gorgeous and vibrant. Very good watercolor paints for something created as a party favor.

Yes, this is a party favor! She said that it wasn't more than a dollar bought alone. You can also buy them in bulk on the Party City website using this link here:

https://www.partycity.com/paint-sets-24ct-420502.html?extcmp=pla%7CGoogle&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_vfcBRDJARIsAJafEnHaxyHVuwWFEBYdJvIalG6BM4ClY6E2t-lryyia8LYv721qx8WxwX8aAsL-EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Now we get to the fun part. Nessa wanted to try the paints and create a landscape... and well... that didn't turn out as well as it did in her head. The lighting made everything in Nessa's painting look really faded, but if you try you can make out grass, a sky, pink clouds, and a sun.

We found out that the paints, due to size or the nature of watercolor in general, are better suited to small, cute symbols, like snowflakes and flowers.

Did I mention that the brush is the perfect size for dolls?

Well, that's it for now. I got to say it's good to be back on the blog. Maybe in doing so I can influence Loki to do the same and type up what happened to him over the summer. Maybe.

Happy painting,

Queen Elsa

* Shades of Pink. Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation. Last edited 30 September, 2018. Accessed 7 October, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_pink

Our Human

Welcome back to the blog! If you haven't read the post titled "Out With the Old", go read it right now! This post is more of a sequel to that one, and the events that happen within "Out With the Old" are all too important to ignore. You'll be picking up almost immediately where that one left off with this new post, "Our Human". Hope you enjoy reading both.

***

Around two during the day of She's graduation party, after all of the guests left, cards and gifts were sorted, and thank you notes were begun, She finally returned back to the room She Lived In, or rather, the Room We Lived In. Since the Code of Dolls had been broken only yesterday, every doll She owned had been put into one place on a brand new white wooden shelf. When our human came back we all resumed the act we were used to. Even if it was in vain now, it was instinct.

The day had taken its toll on She: her eyes were glazed over, her dress was tousled by the wind and multiple hugs, and the hair on the top of her head was pressed flat from wearing the sunhat all day. 

She belly flopped onto her bed and began speaking while her face was muffled in the comforter. "God, I'm exhausted."

"But you had fun, right?"

"Yeah, I did," She raised her head and pushed away a lock of hair that was stuck in her mouth. "Olaf?"

"Yep! That's me!" Olaf waved both of his arms like he was trying to catch a friend's attention from across a street in busy traffic.

She smiled sleepily. "You sound exactly like him. And you're not a shy one, either."

"No, he's never been shy." Said a lady-like voice with a intermittent French accent.

"Who said that?"

"Eet iz me, the itty bitty Elsa plush doll beside Olav? You named me Idina."

"Ah, that's right, Idina." She blinked and rolled over into a sitting position.

"Olav and I... we're engaged!" Idina blurted. She couldn't help herself.

"Really?" She asked, probably thinking, I'm too tired for this right now. "Dolls can do that?"

"Yeah, dolls can do a lot of things that humans can. But sometimes we have to find ways to do things ourselves. Look, we have matching bracelets instead of engagement rings!" Olaf proudly flashed his white-and-blue mark of his marriage to be.

"That explains it," She said. "They're nice. And you made them yourselves?"

"No, Elsa and Nessarose made zem." Said Idina.

Well, one thing lead to another and She called me out for making the bracelets, then remembered I had one of my own, too, one different from Olaf and Idina's. I pointed out Steve for making ours, and then She learned that she had two engaged couples in her group of dolls. And then she met the ornament sisters, who Nessa was pleased to introduce her to the Pocket-Sized Avengers, who brought up the Funky Warriors... the introductions seemed endless.
She took to all this new and very much life-changing information quite well. I was certain that some part of her suspected this all along, with the mysterious movements and disappearances and reappearances and costume changes. Her easygoing, yet pleasant demeanor got all of us talking, even the shyer or shiftier ones like Anelle and Magneto. But of course She had a lot of questions.
"So tell me about the Code of Dolls. What does it do for you guys? Why do you have it?"
We didn't really know. All of our lives it was a sort of thing built into us that we had to remain quiet and still around humans. We grew to learn that this behavior never helped nor hurt anybody, so we continued to do it, and dolls began to pass the word around that humans must be protected from our world. At least, that's what we all thought. But Loki had to come around and give us a reason for everything. Apparently, one of the first dolls ever created didn't know the Code and talked and moved as it pleased, living life as a human with the rest of them. Its creator, thinking the doll was infused with some sort of ghost or demon, threw the doll onto a pyre to burn, and then threw salt in with it to keep the bad spirits from coming back. Not exactly your most pleasant bedtime story, but it was intriguing to She.
"That's it? That's why none of you ever talked to me for four years?"
"It's a legitimate concern." Loki said, defending his theory.
"I'm not doubting you! It sounds awful. And a waste. I'd probably just sell you on Ebay with the tagline 'possessed doll'. People love that sort of stuff; you'd be surprised."
I wasn't sure if that made me feel any better, so I chose to forget her response.

Luckily we had easier questions to answer after that. I don't think She wanted to ask about how and why Cogsworth died, either because she knew it was a sensitive subject, or Loki had already told her everything. With as big of a crush he has on her, I wouldn't put an outpouring of emotion above him.
"By the way, when are the weddings?"
"Well, Olav and I were thinking of sometime in ze late summer." Idina replied, giving her finance's hand a squeeze.
(At the time this happened it was early June, so that was back when we thought we had all the time in the world for "Ilaf" to get married, but the date I'm writing this is July 25th and we're still unsure of a good time.)
"And Elsa and I want to wait until winter. Probably February."
She nodded. "I like that. It's fitting. And, if you don't mind me asking, are your pets alive?"
Toto barked, and Moana held up Pua in one hand and HeiHei in the other. "Uh-huh."
"That's cool. But... how are you guys alive? Like, how do dolls gain sentience?"
I saw Loki look nervously towards Wanda, but I was used to this kind of secrecy between them and tried not to let it bother me now. "Dunno." Said Wanda.
"Alright, whatever. That doesn't matter too much, I was just curious," She shrugged in such a way that let me know that this did matter a lot. But She brushed it off and changed the subject. "Do you guys want to see some pictures from today?"
Um, yes. Finally with the Code broken we were able to take part in our humans' lives, just like all dolls want to, even if they won't admit to it. She told us to gather around the laptop while her camera was transferring the images there, and pretty soon we were clambering all over our human like She was a living jungle gym. Everybody took part in the fun except for the Funko Pops, who remained on the shelf. Before any pictures were seen She wanted to make sure they were okay.
"Hey, why don't those guys talk?" She asked, pointing at Blake, Heimdall, and Iron Man.
"They can't," Moana said sadly. "They weren't made with mouths."
"Ah, Funko Pops usually aren't. No wonder they look so unpleasant all the time. They've probably got stories screaming inside of them. Moana, can you call them over?"

"They understand English."
"Perfect. They're gonna love what I have in mind."
The Funkos, who previously where only obedient to themselves, came over to She without complaint.
"Listen, I've got a proposition for you."
Blake knew the word "proposition" took him down a road he didn't care to travel down again. He made his hands into "C" shapes and wiggled them away from each-other until they lined up with his shoulders.
"What is it?" Moana translated.
"I've got a idea. I think you guys are really gonna dig this," She said, then reached an arm under her bed, rummaged around a second, then pulled out a red paper folder. Five slightly wrinkled sheets back was a printed out paper with all the letters and numbers of the English alphabet and their Morse code translation to me. She handed the paper to Blake, who She easily picked out as the Funkos' leader. "Here, this is our compromise. You might be able to communicate with all of us in this way, even without mouths."
Blake's eyes hastily scanned each line, then turned to Heimdall and Iron Man for approval. They nodded once in unison at She.
"Great! All you need to do is make some tapping noises in the way they appear on that paper and you can spell out exactly what you want to say. It's gonna take some practice, but it will be worth it. Got it?"
I'd never seen such a fearsome band of dolls so happy. They ran off together with the sheet to search for a quiet place to study. There was no doubt in my mind that by the end of the night they would all know everything.
"That was quite clever of you." Loki said once they left.
"You'd think so, but I know not a letter of Morse code. I'm gonna have to do some studying of my own now."
They exchanged a smile.
"I could help you," Loki offered. "I know Morse code."

Did he really? I wasn't sure. He probably did. This was Loki, after all. But it made me wonder if he was only saying that to spend some more time with She.
"Maybe." She replied, and that was the end of that.
We got to see the pictures and there was definitely more than what was necessary, but humans will do that if it's a big day, which we were assuming this was for She. But that's all it was. Assumption. We didn't have the slightest clue what scholarships or graduation parties or colleges were. It was like they were speaking a whole another language, and for four years we dolls had lived with the knowledge that we could not know everything. But now with She, a giant connection to the humans' world on our side, we could ask her anything.
Nessa read my mind, as she was prone to doing, and tugged on one of She's butterfly sleeves to grab her attention. "Hey, She? What's graduation?"
She stifled a laugh. "What did you call me?"
"She? With a capital S? That's what the humans call you. Isn't that your name?"
"No, it isn't."
"Then what is?"
"You know what? My real name doesn't matter. I like She. It's cute as hell."
So She stayed She, and She didn't like our question. One hand began to choke the other, like She was missing someone else's hand that was usually held and squeezed.
"Um, well, it's like a celebration for finishing your last year of school."
"You're done with school? That's great! Now you'll have more time to do things with us!" Olaf cried.
"I wish I could, Olaf. I wish I could. But I don't. Not really for long because... well... college is like second school," She rolled her eyes. "Just like high school is the second school for middle school. And middle school the second school for elementary school. And don't even get me started on kindergarten and pre-k. I've done twelve years of school. And I'm about to go and do four to five more."
Olaf was disgusted. "That's college?"
"Yeah, but it's like fun school! Or it's supposed to be. College is more catered to your interests. And then after college you're done. You're on your own. Out in the job world with little knowledge of business or the economy or even how to use a pay telephone anymore..." She shook her head. "It's nothing. Just more school. School with longer hours and more work."

Loki stepped forward. "I know what college is. Most students move out to live on campus there. You're not leaving us, are you, She?"
The room became very silent when She wouldn't look any of us, and that's about thirty dolls who She had to purposely avoid. "Not at first," She whispered. "I'm living at home my first year, commuting each day I need to go. But I've already met a couple of friends at the orientation, and I wouldn't mind renting an apartment with them eventually. So yes, eventually I will have to leave."
There was a wave of murmurs and concerns from dolls who had already grown so attached to a human they'd only just met for real, but Loki was devastated. It was obvious that his hopes and dreams had sunk to the lowest of the low with that last line.
"Not at first!" She blurted, trying in desperation to clear things up before we went haywire. "Not at first. I'm staying here a year for certain."
"But we've only just met you..." Loki murmured.
"No, no, I've only just met you. I've got a feeling that some of y'all have been poking into my business for as long as you've been around." She's voice was pointed, but not directed at anybody in particular. In some way She knew that all of us were to blame at one point or another. The ones of us who were definitely guilty: Moana, Magneto, Olaf, Loki, the PSA, and I, all winced, embarrassed.
"Ah, great. Now I've spoiled the mood. Class dismissed, everybody."
"No! But we still want to see some of your pictures!" Nessa begged.
"You know what I want?" Elphaba said, who had been relaxing soundlessly on her back the entire time, facing the paper snowflakes on She's ceiling.
"What?"
"An Instagram account."
"What? How do you know what Instagram is?" She couldn't believe it.
"We've been around the 'net a couple of times," Elphie sighed, twirling a finger in the air. "Or I have. And maybe Elsa."

(Long story short, She allowed us to get an account, and we finally got something posted. Isn't that awesome? Basically the main goal of doing this is to hopefully attract more readers back here to the blog, but of course you guys here can follow me, too if you have an account of your own. You can find us here at this username: A_Dolls_Life_For_Me.
Anyways, that spiraled off into a ton of other requests. Dorothy wanted permission to do some baking if She was the only one in the house. ("Only if I get to eat it.") Hawkeye wanted an "Avengers headquarters" that would be set apart from She's bedroom. ("I don't know about that.") Nessa wanted She to get another Disney doll, like Tiana or Belle. ("We'll see.") But I didn't think She was too keen on getting more dolls anytime soon now that She had discovered we were alive.
The next morning, was She's real graduation, and the day after, She's Grandpa, whom She called "Pap" was due to leave on his trip back home. He lived up north, and that's where She's family would visit him on their trips sometimes. But it was a long journey and he had to get an early start.
She was up already, earlier than She was used to, probably working off the energy from the day before. Pap came in to say goodbye to She after She had finished getting ready for the day.
"See you later, kid," he said. His voice was gruff but She was clearly used to the way he spoke when they exchanged hugs. "Are you still coming over in October?"
"I hope so. I'd like to spend my birthday with you again," She frowned and pulled away whenever Pap only hugged her with one arm, with the other behind his back. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, yes," Pap replied. "I just have something to give you here."
Pap held out another doll and at first I could see that She wasn't so grateful, but then She recognized the character in took him happily. It was a middle aged man, with a perpetually confused look on his face, and I would be too, if I were in my pajamas and carrying a bath towel.
"This is your graduation present from your grandma and... well, from me. It's that guy from Hitchhiking around the Galaxy. You told me you liked those books."
"Yeah, it's Arthur Dent! And it's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He's got an excellent paint job. I'll put him right up here with the nutcrackers you gave me."

"You still have those? I gave the first one to you when you were only about five, I think."
"Yeah, it was a special gift. I couldn't give them away. Although this shorter one here was kept in the attic until Christmas."
"Is it Christmas in June?"
"No, I thought it was best to keep him with his brother."
She and I both knew that Pap wouldn't exactly understand. As far as we knew, he was like most humans and the Code of Dolls wasn't even a concept to be thought of. But he nodded anyways.
She and Pap hugged again and said their goodbyes. As soon as he had left and the door was shut, She wanted to know if her new doll was like us.
"I'd better step back and you guys can check if he's alive. I don't want to scare the guy off." She said, but Arthur could hear her so there was no point in saying such a thing.
"Has the Code already been broken with this one?" He asked, his head twirling around from doll to doll. He had an English accent, but one more informal than Loki's or Vision's.
"Yeah, sorry, buddy. You don't get a break like the others did. I'm your human. Call me She,"
Arthur shrugged, figuring that there was no use in pretending like She didn't know anymore. He held out his hand for a shake, and She took it with her pointer finger and smiled. "Welcome home, Arthur."

Learning about our human,

Queen Elsa

Out With the Old

Woah, sorry about that, guys. I didn't post a thing the entire month of June! Amazing how time flies when your human is on summer break. And speaking of our human, I think you'll find this one to be a very life-changing post. We seem to be getting more and more of those recently. Picture yourself at the beginning of this month, when school had finally let out, and a new thing was about to begin.

***

"Have you got all of the things for Goodwill?"

"Yeah... uh... in a minute. I have the bag right here."

The older female human, She's mother, looked doubtful. She poked her head of the doorway of the Room She Lives In and moved on to check on her other daughter, the one She called Sis. She let go of a breath that was either relief or dread. Sometimes feelings like that are hard to tell apart. She sat there on the floor a second, looking into the mysterious bag of things, then proceeded to pick up more things and shove them in there with the others.

"Spring cleaning?" Idina guessed, whispering soft enough for only us dolls to hear.

Elphaba shrugged. She was leaning far enough off the dresser to get a good look at what She was doing behind the other side of the bed we couldn't see. "Looks that way. Useless junk. Stuff we'd never bother with."

I felt Olaf tug on my cape, and with the other hand he motioned very little towards She. "Um... that's not junk."

I followed Olaf's hand and my heart broke- but only for a second. She was going to give her glittery Elsa canvas print to Goodwill, the one that I remember seeing side by side with Steve's on the wall during our first Christmas together. 

"Do you think maybe She has outgrown Frozen?" Olaf squeaked.

"I wouldn't worry, Olaf," said Steve, patting the snowman's back and taking my hand. "She'll have more space in her room now with that gone. Maybe even room for another doll," Steve then turned to me and whispered, "You're not upset about that going, are you?"

"Well, it is only a silly canvas print of me. She didn't really have to keep it for as long as She did. But I am going to miss seeing you and I side by side."

"What, you don't see that already?" Steve brushes his fingers against my palm as he pulls away from my hand gently, and the beads on our engagement bracelets clink together. I blush silently, reminded happily of what happened between us. Yeah. I could let go of the canvas. What we had was definitely better.

She's mother came back into the room, this time with her arms full of plastic grocery bags which contained all sorts of objects we had never even seen. "Your sister's got four bags here."

"I hadn't realized it was a contest." She said, still hiding behind the bed.

"Let me see what you have."

She sheepishly held up the single bag. The canvas was poking out of the top, but not much else was inside.

The older female human frowned. "Come on. I know you can do better than that. Did you check our closet? I want that to look nice so that your Pap can use it next week."

"I know, mom," She grunted. "The closet looks fine."

"What about the rest of your room?" Said "Mom", and she dropped the other bags and began rooting around in the Room She Lives In herself. "Your bookshelf is untidy. You've got things in here from the first grade."

"I wrote those things." She stated firmly.

"Fine. We can put them somewhere else. We've got that safe in the basement for you girls now."

Even though Loki was some distance from Olaf, Steve, and I, I could tell he had gone tense at the mention of locking She's papers and journals away.

"And what is this? Old jewelry that probably no longer fits you. Your sister could have these rings."

"She doesn't wear jewelry."

"Maybe one day she will."

She sighed. "Mom, I can take care of this myself."

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving," Mom picked up the bags again and started on her way, but not before taking a glance at us. She was probably only staring at the cluttered dresser, but I had the itching feeling that she was about to address us.

"You made bracelets for your dolls?" Mom asked.

"I did?" She set the canvas bag down on her bed and hurdled over it to come see what her mother was mentioning. "I don't remember doing such a thing."

"You must have. These two have matching bracelets here."

Everyone held their breaths and remained as still as possible, something we were used to, but for Steve and I, it was a real struggle. We were being singled out. We could even be found out. Oh, I had always known I would be the one to break The Code of Dolls! But I didn't want it to be this way. Not like this, right after Steve and I had gotten engaged so soon.

"They're awfully cute," She remarked calmly, selecting Steve and I and holding us apart in both hands. "I probably made them when I first got them back in 2014. Maybe I didn't find them until recent."

"Wouldn't you remember doing something like that?"

"Maybe not. They're small."

Mom frowned, looking from her daughter, and then at us dolls, and then at the bracelets Steve and I shared. Then she left into the hallway, apparently giving up. "Just have at least one other bag full before noon, alright? And I mean full."

"Okay," She shouted back, then shut her door and sat down on her bed. I suddenly felt like we were very much in trouble. "Now, what's this about? Matching bracelets for Elsa and Steve? Come to think of it, I don't remember dressing you in your Frozen Fever gown. Have you guys been up to something?" She waggled her pointer finger our way, but I knew it was only a jest when her lips curled up slowly into a grin. "Maybe it was the ghosts again. I always knew this house was haunted. Wish I would have known they liked arts and crafts sooner, though."

And just like that, our interrogation was over. She collected the bag and started back up on finding things to give away. 

"Dat was a close one." Idina said.

"Too close," Magneto muttered. "I can't believe your engagement almost put us all into danger. You should be hiding those."

"It's too late now, She's already seen them," Steve argued. "Besides, Olaf and Idina have kept theirs on for longer than we have and nobody's noticed a thing."

"Well, all dat matters is dat eet iz over."

"It's far from over." Elphaba spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"She still needs to organize her room for her family's visit next week. Do you think her mother will be satisfied with a couple of bits of forgotten trash and a canvas print?" Elphie shook her head grimly. "I don't think so. Pretty soon She's going to look back towards her dresser, and then..." Elphie held up five fingers on her good arm, and then started putting them down quickly. "Next thing you know, we're gone. On to a different home."

Idina fell into her husband-to-be's arms. "Oh, I couldn't dream of dat! Olav, please tell me eet can't be true!"

Olaf's melting coal-black eyes looked for comfort in me, but I didn't have any to give. I'd almost gotten everyone gone. At least a few of us leaving sounded a little better than Loki's horrific tales of saltings and burnings.

Steve became my hero once again with an answer. "Everybody, relax. None of us are going to leave, I guarantee you this. She loves us all individually. She wouldn't dream of letting go of any of us. Not by her own free will."

Magneto wasn't satisfied. "Give her time. She's human like the rest of them."

"The rest of what?" Idina dared to say.

"Not what, who. My humans. My previous owners. I've had too many to count. Before you know it, I'll be going to another one again. Who did I think I was in believing that this could be my forever home?" When Magneto's bitterness turned to sorrow, we knew to let him alone. For now, there was nothing we could do but stay quiet and watch She.

***

The following day, nobody knew what to think. She had filled two bags with things that weren't dolls, so that was that, but the Mom also wasn't taking them to Goodwill until the day before the relatives came to visit. We still had a small chance of leaving our home.

Everybody did their best to distract themselves. Some dolls spent the day reading, some dolls went outdoors to enjoy the heat wave, some dolls enjoyed one of my famous indoor flurries, and some dolls went to go bring Cogsworth some more yellow roses. She's corsage from prom had been made of those, so petals were easy to find, and so was Cogsworth, thanks to She's little sister's placement of him on the shelf in the parlor. It was a peaceful little spot, well deserving of a peaceful little clock.

She had work in the morning and came home to share lunch with her mother around two. We were able to spy on them from the stairs, and at the beginning it was a pleasant mother-daughter sort of experience exclusive to humans, but then it turned sour when Mom brought up the "C" word. College.

"You know, you're going to college soon. Don't you think it's time to get rid of those dolls in your dresser?"

"I don't think so. It's not like I'm playing with them or anything. I know I'm too old for that. I'm just a a collector. That's all."

"If you're not using them, don't you think it's safe to give some away?"

"I'd rather not," She gripped her mug of tea defensively. "They all mean special things to me. I got three of them from our first Disney trip ever. And those nutcrackers were Christmas presents from Pap. And you know why I got Moana."

Mom appeared to suck in a breath. "Yes, but I'm not trying to say that you should throw out those memories. But you have to admit it. Those dolls are clutter. They're taking up too much space in your room, and I don't think a clean freak like Pap will want to see all of those staring at him whenever he's in your room."

"We could always have him sleep in the guest room."

"You know we can't do that. We don't have enough space as it is with your cousins coming, and my sister, and your dad's parents..." Mom blew a piece of hair from her face. "Why don't we just call this whole graduation party thing off?"

She smiled. "Too late. We already sent them the invitations. And rented a freaking cotton candy machine. And then stole the neighbor's table that was going to go in the trash. That was a fun night."

"Yeah, it was!" The Mom agreed, her sternness vanishing. 

"Do you think they'll be wanting it back? For lemonade stands and such?"

"They had better not. We're using that for your photo reel."

And just like that, the conversation was diverted from dolls to stolen tables. Loki seemed pleased that She was a master of distraction. Maybe the two had more in common than I'd thought, but would it protect him when the time eventually came for some of us to go?

That night She's heart was clearly heavy when She came home. She was in her step and her absence of a smile. I was going to wonder what had happened, but I knew all too quickly what was going on. She opened her laptop and typed up a few words, and from the pictures it was obvious that She was looking at results for Disney dolls. 

"Nothing against any of you," She said aloud, as she was apt to doing. "But Mom says that maybe some of you could be worth money online. It will be worth the sacrifice if it'll pay for a single textbook, she says. Well, you know."
Her eyes flicked back and forth from us to the screen, over and over, and the tension was killing us. "Trouble is, I don't know if any of you are worth much," She stuttered and picked up speaking again. "Currency-wise, that is. Still nothing personal."
"This seems very personal!" Magneto hissed.
"Shut up, will you," Elphie pinched him. "We're being analyzed."
Elphie wasn't far from right. One second, she was lounging on her bed in front of the laptop, and the next, she was in front of the dresser, carefully staring at each one of us. I didn't remember her looking so tall, or her shadow being so dark.
She selected Sven first, who was well trained enough by now to be calm and steady around humans, especially in times like these. "I remember getting you. Third day of January. You were seven dollars at a crafting store. I think you're safe, little buddy. If somebody wants you, they can find you easily."
She likely couldn't tell that Sven was happy to be back on the dresser, but he definitely was.
Next, She chose Anna, her fingers gentle on my sister's back and belly, but not on my heart. I had to hold myself back from screaming.

"Now, you were a gift, weren't you, Anna? And then you came from Ebay somewhere. Your hair wasn't in the best shape when I got you, and no offense, but it hasn't gotten any nicer. I'd better keep you here."
Anna was placed back on the side of me where Steve wasn't, and I could see the look on her face that said, "Ugliness saves lives. Can you believe it?"
And I returned her look with one that said, "You're not ugly. Just not perfect. And I sure am glad you're not!"
She skipped over Steve, Loki, Olaf, and I, probably for sentimental reasons. We were the beginning to her first ever real collection of dolls, after all. She picked up Elphaba and Nessa, only to set them down just as quickly. Christmas ornaments weren't in season.
She went to Idina, but when She noticed that she shared a matching bracelet with Olaf, her brow furrowed, and Idina was set back down. She said nothing.
Anelle and Kristoff were the chosen ones.
Anelle was held first, and naturally she went limp like dolls were supposed to, but it wasn't hard to notice that one of her hands were slowly raising upwards to say "stop". I don't think She noticed or cared if She had, but Kristoff's eyes were blazing. "Don't do any more, Anelle. One wrong move and we'll all go out." They said.
She saw Kristoff and picked him up, too, his eyes quickly changing back to normalcy. She considered them, analyzing their paint job, the state of their hair and clothing, and all of their accessories. They were still in excellent shape, all things considered, and probably rare to find in a bundle together. Perhaps they could go for a lot.
Yes, that sounded like a good idea to She. She pursed her lips together and focused her eyes back on the results on her laptop screen.
We didn't know how long it was until She packed Kristoff and Anelle away in the same bag as the canvas, but it felt like forever and yet no time at all. I hated to see the both of them getting disregarded like that. It almost made me hate She again, but it didn't look like She was happy to do it.

Suddenly, She's little sister burst through the door. "Dinner!"
She didn't look up, as this was routine. "Mm." That was her "okay".
"Sis" came in through the doorway, uninvited, and lifted the grocery bag. "What's in here?"
"Will you stop being so nosy all the time?" She groaned.
"Dolls?" Sis was surprised.
"Yeah. Mom says I have to downsize."
Sis looked into the bag with both fear and concern and I got a prickling on the back of my neck. What did she know? "Do you want to get rid of them?"
She sighed, not able to look up from her laptop. "No, not really. But they cost a pretty penny online. And college is expensive."
"But you have a job."
"It isn't enough."
"Scholarships?"
She sighed. "Haven't won any of them yet."
Sis left the room wordlessly and we thought that was that, the conversation was over, but then she returned with a handful of dolls and dumped them softly in front of She. It was the Funky Warriors! All three of them; Blake, Heimdall, and Iron Man.
"What are these?"
"Mom told me to keep these until you finished all of your scholarships."
"Oh," She remembered. "But you see, the goal is to get rid of these dolls. This is the opposite of what I'm trying to do right now."
Sis shrugged. "Not my problem."
"Thanks?"
"Don't get rid of your dolls."
"What?"
"Just don't." Sis said, and before She could respond, Sis was already out of the room and going down to dinner.

***

For the rest of the week, without so much as a word to us dolls, She spent her time on a special project out in the garage. We only assumed that it was something to do with her graduation party. Moana, naturally, had befriended the Funky Warriors as she would any other doll. I would say some of the rest of us could not do the same so quickly. We still hadn't forgotten our war with them, and how it lead up to Cogsworth's death. I thought it would be a good idea to have a sort of welcoming party for them, to shake off everybody's stigmas, but that would have to be at another time when we weren't so nervous. Anelle and Kristoff were still off-kilter, hardly able to leave the dresser after that.

The day before She's big graduation party, her mysterious plan was revealed. It was a side shelf with multiple divisions, lacquered in white and glossy clear. 

It took a little help to get it up on the wall, but as soon as it was, the dresser was cleared off and all of us were sorted into a new place to sit. Napoleon, Benny, Dorothy, and Bell were brought up from downstairs and became a part the dolls of the Room She Lives In. Blake, Heimdall, and Iron Man were propped on top of the shelf with Benny and Napoleon. Olaf, Idina, Steve, Moana, and her pets got put into the farthest left corner, with Dorothy, Bell, Toto, Anna and I in the next closest one. Sven, Magneto, Nessa, Elphie, Kristoff, and Anna were beside us, and down on the other side something really big happened. Every single one of the Pocket-Sized Avengers, including one I had never seen, had their very own lineup, complete with all their gear and ready for battle. I seemed like everybody had their place with room to spare! I saw Anelle and Kristoff relax for the first time in days, knowing that now She had heeded Sis's advice. Nobody would be going away anytime soon. 

But would it be enough for the older human?
She invited Mom into the room to see the new setup.

"Is that the old shelf from the basement?"

"Yeah," She folded her arms proudly. "I spruced it up a bit and now all my dolls fit up there."

"Weren't you going to try to sell one of them?"

"Yeah, but look! I can't take any of them away now. They all fit too perfectly."

Mom sighed. "I suppose."

She was able to keep her distracted before anything else was said. "I'm sure I'll get a check or two during the party to go towards the college fund. Now see how clean my dresser is now, mom?"

Well, that worked. I felt assured that Mom would leave She and her dolls alone from now on. But She's sister was a different story. Minutes after Mom left, Sis came in.

"I heard you got a new shelf."

"Can't you knock?" She stressed.

She's sister didn't hear that. "Now I want a shelf."

"What would you put on it?" She asked.

"I don't know. I just want a shelf."

"Mmhm," She laughed, but then recognized something was off. "What, you're not going to pick any of them up and bat them around like you used to?"

"Nah thanks. I don't like they way they look."

"What?"

"You don't think they stare at you? Like, at night, when it's dark and you're alone?"

"No, not really..." She said, getting suspicious.

"Not even a little?"

"Are you okay?"

"You sound confused."
"Because I am! What is going on?"
"You don't know?"
"No!"
Sis rolled her eyes and came back beside She. "Oh my gosh!" Sis stared at the shelf, and we tried our best not to stare back, but it looked like she still got the creeps. Sis cupped her hand over She's ear and whispered something, but of course the whispering did no good because we dolls could hear every word.

"They're alive. All of them. I don't know for how long, but back in March I began spying on them. That's how I found out. And then one of them went silent. I don't know why."
"Them?" She cried out.
"Shhhh! They can hear you! They hear every word you speak! They're like tiny plastic humans. They have their own society and they do stuff when we leave the house. Why do you think four of them have bracelets that you can't remember making, or putting on their wrists? Your dolls did that themselves. Your dolls are alive."
Sis got up, leaving She speechless, and flashed us a cautious look before slipping out through the doorway.
The silence left in the room was the sound that could end worlds.
I couldn't help myself. I envisioned the saltings and burnings, and the goodbyes that were never heard or never said. But how could She? We'd only gotten a brand new shelf a minute ago! Could life really change that fast?
Loki flashed me a grim look from his place on the PSA side of the shelf, and I passed that look onto Olaf. My earliest friends here. One day we knew this would all come to an end. In the beginning, we feared each day would be our last to keep the Code of Dolls intact. I used to have nightmares in which I was the one to break it, and I can't imagine anybody else not sharing that paranoia at least once.
It was an awful fate, but it was one we'd have to accept very soon once She had mulled everything over.
She cleared her throat and shifted her weight into a straighter sitting position. We stiffened and braced for impact. Her eyes darted this way and that for a couple seconds, then stilled to a set place on the floor, and finally looked up and scanned across the shelf with new perspective.
A croaking laugh bubbled its way out of her throat, one that sent shivers down my spine. But when She rolled over onto the bed, clutching her stomach with laughter, we grew more confused then terrified.
She recovered and sat up again, wheezed and wiped away a tear, then said her first words to us now with the four-year secret revealed.
"Well, shit."

***

The next day was She's party. She wore royal blue, with a sunhat and sandals. We watched her applying makeup in the mirror in her room, just as She regularly would have when getting ready. It seemed not much had changed since yesterday's discovery of our little world, but we weren't about to mess with that.

"Should I tell her that She looks wonderful?" Loki asked nervously.

"I wouldn't risk it," said the PSA's Captain America, Chris. "Hold back on your feelings for now."

Thor didn't take too kindly to Chris's advice. "Nobody should have to do that! How dare you say such a thing!" He then knocked Chris's miniature shield from his grip with an equally miniature hammer. It clattered to the floor of the shelf.

She turned around, her brow furrowed. "You guys can talk, you know. In fact, I'd rather you do that than find out my sister's a schizophrenic."

"Say what you feel, brother." Thor encouraged him.

"Um...okay," Loki stammered. "I think you look very pretty!" He called out louder but it sounded more like a cough than a compliment.

"What was that?" She asked, her mascara wand out like weapon.

"I think you look very pretty?"

She giggled and set the mascara down on the now-empty dresser. "Loki?"

He raised a timid hand. "Hi."

"You know, most any girl in the world would die for a real life Loki in her bedroom," She joked. "But you've been here for years and never said a word. Why not?"

"We dolls must live under a code," Loki began, slowly gaining confidence, the blush not leaving his cheeks. "Funnily enough, it is called the Code of Dolls."

"Original name," She remarked. "How many of you can talk?"

A few members of the PSA were bold enough to raise their hands, and Olaf, too, but it still felt too unreal. 

"I don't mean to call anybody out, but we all can," said Loki. "All of us but Cogsworth. But he is downstairs. We don't like to see him because... well... I killed him." Loki hung his head in remorse.

"Surely not intentionally if none of you ever tried to kill me!" She forced a laugh, trying to make light of the situation until she figured out Loki was serious. "Where is he? Cogsworth?"

"Downstairs on that bookshelf with all the pictures on it. Your sister put him there. We're not entirely sure why, but I've got an idea that she had implanted a device in Cogsworth to peek into our world, and then when we tried removing the device, it terminated all of him."

She held out her cupped hands and nodded for Loki to step into them. "Yeah, she did mention something like that. I've got a couple minutes before the party. Could you take me to him?"

Loki smiled a little through the pain. He had probably been waiting all of his time here to address She face-to-face, and his wish was finally coming true.

When She left with Loki, Anna touched my hand. "Do you think She means us harm?"

"With a reaction like that? Never."

"So we'll be fine, here, forever?"

"Let's hope so. Or at least until we expire!"

Nessa broke in to our conversation. "Enough talk about death and despair for today. It's She's party! Don't you just love parties? She won't mind if we spy on it through the window, will She?"

"Definitely not."

"Come on, then! I can hear the people coming into the backyard!"
Nessa led most of the group to the window where they climbed the lowered blinds strings up to the sill, but some stayed behind, feeling both overwhelmed and relieved. I could hear the Funkos above me trying to tap out a message on the shelf while Benny and Napoleon bickered on whether to go meet their new roommates. Hawkeye was grumbling something to the Avengers while Thor sat criss-cross on the ground of the shelf, scratching his head and whistling as he thought about She and his brother. Beside me, Dorothy and Bell sighed happily, and Toto curled up in his owner's lap for a lazy Saturday nap. With Anna gone, there was a place between me and them that could be filled, a space perfect for Steve.
"Elsa? Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," I replied. "Why don't you come over?"
"Can I?" Steve asked.
I raised my eyebrows, testing him. "Can you?"
"I can try." Steve shrugged. The divisions of the new shelf were like walls and not easily passed through. But if Steve swung down and used it like one long monkey bar, he could do it.
"What do you think of this new setup?" I asked once he was situated.

"I'm not as close to you as I'd like to be, but it's not a bad shelf at all. For someone with little to no experience in woodworking."
"Oh, you could do better?"
"Maybe. Zayn taught me how to carve while I was in the attic with him."
"And what did you make?"
"A lot of smaller pieces of wood." Steve smiled.
"Impressive," I chuckled, grabbing onto his hand. "You know it's going to get really noisy really soon."
"Because of She's party?"
"Because of all of She's dolls in one place."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"It's not. Just different."
Steve nuzzled my forehead with his, something Moana called a hongi. It was their version of a kiss, a non-romantic one, but still endearing. She said that when two people share a hongi they are really sharing the breath of life. "You'll certainly have a lot of adventures to blog about pretty soon."
I secretly hoped Steve would be right. It was just like those comedic human shows, will too many people of different personalities trying to live in one house together. Thinking about it made me feel claustrophobic, but also excited. "You think so?"
"I know so."

Breaking the Code of Dolls,

Queen Elsa

Pocket Sized-Avengers: Rhyme or Reason

Loki here, back writing for the PSA (Pocket-Sized Avengers) again. Elsa wanted me to let you all know that she now has a Gmail account, unknownelsablog@gmail.com, which all of the writers be using collectively for this blog, so feel free to leave to send her a message on anything now. Aside from that announcement, she has little else to say since her and I are not exactly on speaking terms at the moment, and understandably so. I'd missed Steve's proposal to her, and now the two of them are engaged without me even taking notice until it was too late. I suppose this post is meant to make up for that fault in some small way, as it might be able to explain why I had been absent on April 21st... and why I'd been missing so much of my old friends' lives, and whether or not I would continue to do so.

***

April 22nd, 2018.
The quest to find James Rhodes- AKA Rhodey- AKA War Machine, still persisted with the Pocket-Sized Avengers.
Then we also had the infinity stones to keep a watch out for, even though I doubted such a thing could exist in the world of dolls.
I'd not gotten the chance for a break all month.
And most unfortunate, I had to miss Steve and Elsa's engagement day for this nonsense. I was beginning to think that I was going too far with the Pocket-Sized Avengers, but at the same time, I was becoming more and more involved in it. My appreciation as part of the team, and maybe even becoming a figurehead of it, was getting more and more obvious by the day. I hadn't felt this sense of importance since, well... since my finding day back in Disneyworld.
The dolls outside of the PSA had avoided me since "Stelsa"'s engagement, and probably for the best. Part of me hoped that it was because they were too busy celebrating, food, parties, music, and all that, but the other part of me knew better. I wasn't welcome there anymore. At least not for a while, not until they forgot about my misdemeanor.
In the meantime, Hawkeye had issued an order for some of us to spend the day outside- our last resort, since we'd been looking for the stones everywhere else in the house. So whom Tony called "NatureMan Chris" was in charge for the day, while Hawkeye and Wanda stayed inside to "hold down the fort".
It was a lovely day, although sleepy. The clouds were thick, fluffy sheets of whitish gray that somehow magnified the sun's brightness while still leaving the grass and trees cold and shadowy. Such is April.

"This will be nice," Chris stepped out into the sunlight, his eyes nearly shut with how fiercely he was squinting. "See? I feel better already. Just a little change of scenery and some fresh air..."
But it was hard to concentrate on your alleged second-in-command's words whenever your brother was in a particularly touchy mood and standing far too close to your ear while murmuring incoherently.
"Can I help you?" I whispered, ticked.
Thor scowled and shifted Mjolnir from hand to hand. "I don't like it here. Something feels funny."
"Well, too bad. Hawkeye wanted us outside."
"Come on, Loki. Don't you feel it, too? Something's off."
"Something's always off when you're one of us, need I remind you of that." I retorted, but whenever I sucked in another breath I made sure to pause to sense if Thor was correct. I hate to admit now that he held some truth then, that familiar ache had returned within me again, a sense of loneliness needing to be filled.
"The homing device," I whispered. "But why is it telling me something now?"
"Exactly," said Thor, probably pleased that he wasn't absolutely insane. "I have a feeling, brother, that the one we've been searching for is nearby."
I had never known the "homing device" senses to activate by being near a doll of a different species, but there was no excuse for War Machine to be outside. "Are you sure? Because I..."
"Can I help you?" A voice echoed, along with the rustling of a nearby shrub. All at once, Chris drew his shield, Tony readied to fire, and Vision, confused and somewhat lost for what to do, crept behind Chris for shelter.
For a moment I thought I would have to fight, too, until I remembered I'd forgotten the doll who lived solely outside.
"Good morning, Westley."

Sure enough, the infamous garden gnome Westley stepped out from underneath the back deck and stood before the Avengers, not minding their drawn weapons in the slightest. He casually leaned his weight onto the shovel that never left his side and surveyed each one of them with no emotion. The mask over his nose and mouth helped with that. While I grown familiar with reading Hawkeye's expressions, whenever he had them, that was, Westley's face was one I had never been able to learn. I had only ever met Westley maybe once or twice, and I had very little opinion of him. He was obsessed with plants, and that was all I knew, so it was very difficult to begin a conversation that wasn't awkward... or entirely about plants.
Thor pointed Mjolnir at Westley in a not-so-discreet sort of way and spoke to me again. "You know this man?"
"He's a ninja garden gnome. It's difficult not to notice him, much less know him."
Westley couldn't deny that. "Maybe you haven't seen me around because I'm the best ninja there is. Maybe you haven't seen me because I'm always hiding." He said, but I couldn't detect if his tone was sarcastic or genuine.
He abruptly changed the subject, realizing that his last comment wasn't about to lead anyone anywhere. "Who are you and why are you out here?"
"Um, hello," Chris gave a small wave, unsure if Westley could see someone an eighth of his size. "I'm Chris, and these are the Pocket-Sized Avengers. Well, a few of them. The rest are..." he shrugged. "Who-knows-where. Hey, that reminds me. Speaking of which, we've been on the hunt for one of our teammates for a while now. Have you seen somebody, about our heights? Gray metallic armor? Red chest light? Probably can fly?"
Westley blinked, speechless, and then turned his shovel-cane away from his elbow, standing straight and walking back to the deck. "You mean him?" He pointed the shovel, and we all craned our necks to see who we'd been looking for since January crawl headfirst out of a small wooden birdhouse with peeling red paint.
"Finally come to fetch me, huh?" He said, somewhat bitterly and somewhat humorously.
"Why didn't he come to fetch us?" Thor griped under his breath.
"Relax. He's probably been through a lot without us." I assured him.

"Rather, I think we've been through a lot without him."
Tony propelled himself forward to meet up with our missing teammate. "Rhodey! Where've you been? We've been searching for you for months! And then we find you hanging out in a birdhouse."
Although there were no visible emotions on the Iron Man-style helmet, there was enough said with his body language through a slow shrug.
"You know, you're not the one with the bird name, buddy. And first of all, how dare you."
Westley stepped in. I was fairly certain that at least half of team was still intimidated by his height and ninja mask. "How dare he what?"
"Like I said. Since January. Searching and stressing for like, what, four months, now?" He turned behind him to confirm with Chris, who clearly had not been keeping track. "Right, four months, Cap? Ah, whatever. You're no help at all."
Rhodey stretched his arms out on either side of him, but it wasn't for a hug. "I'm here now, Stark. No need to worry."
"You sound like you don't even care we've been through hell the past four months. We had somebody die at our hands, and meanwhile, you're chilling out in a birdhouse with Dread Pirate Roberts over here."
Westley raised an eyebrow, suddenly realizing the origins of the name She'd given him.
"Good to see you, too, Stark," Rhodey stated sarcastically. "Now let me get a look at these guys behind you. Let me see... some friendly and familiar faces. Except... why is he here?"
I could have kept my eyes closed the entire conversation and I still would have known he was pointing at me. I risked looking up, only to confirm my senses that his narrowed red eyes were boring right through me, making me feel a mixture of intimidation and aggression.
"He's one of us," Tony said in a voice that didn't ask for questions. "Meanwhile, you've chilling out in a birdhouse for the past four months with no rhyme or reason."
"You're never going to let me live that down, are you, Stark?" Rhodey slapped Tony's shoulder, Tony glared his way, and just like that, they were natural roughened allies all over again.

"Not likely." Tony responded. "Now let me give you a couple of updates..." Tony met Westley's eyes and knew to lower his voice. "We're on a quest for the infinity stones."
Rhodey retracted in shock. "You're kidding me, Stark."
"Nope. And we've made tons of progress without you. Haven't we, Cap?" Tony seized Chris's arm and twisted his robotic hand around Chris's shoulder.
"Tons." Chris confirmed through clenched teeth.
Rhodey placed his hand on his hips, debating whether or not to trust them. "Hm. Not likely."
There was a little banter from that, and anyone not Tony, Chris, and War Machine became isolated, not wishing to intrude on an argument where they had no place but to make things worse. Meanwhile, Vision got distracted and started following a mayfly through the yard, and Thor straight-up surrendered and sat down in the grass, standing his chin on his fists in thought.
"We did it." He sighed.
"We did," I agreed, sitting with him and picking through the grass. I was looking for the perfect blade, because I remember the oldest male human of the house once tried teaching She how to make a whistling, honking noise through it. She was never able to learn it herself, but in the fantasies of my mind, I could be the one who knew how to do it best and impress She. "Aren't you happy about that?"
"It was sort of... anticlimactic."
"That's a big word for you,"
Thor sneered, but it was barely threatening.
"On the bright side, now we can look for those crucially important gemstones that don't exist."
Thor lifted his chin. "What, you do not believe they do?"
"It's not a matter of belief, Thor, it's fact. The infinity stones simply don't exist. We're dolls, not fictional comic book characters."
Surprisingly, Thor only stared at me for a bit before shrugging and resuming his moping position again. I wasn't satisfied with his nonchalant response.
"Do you know something that I don't?" I asked.
"I probably know lots of things that you don't."

I shook my head. "No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"Can't."
"Can!"
"Thor-"
"Yes I can and that's final."
"Can't."
Thor raised his voice from a mutter to a roar. "What did I just say about this being final?"
"You're dense."
"And you're stubborn!"
"As are you."
But then he smiled and slapped a two-ton arm around my back. "I miss this. Having a brother."
"You miss this?" I asked, acting as if he were delusional. He still wasn't my brother, whether he liked it or not.
"Of course I do. We never got to do this in the movies."
"This isn't the movies," I said, trying to direct it back to the infinity stones. "Speaking of which..."
"I know what you're going to say. 'The infinity stones do not exist here', correct?"
"Yes."
"Well, perhaps they don't. But that is what we are going to find out. Understand?"
"I am not some child that needs to be talked down to," I shook my head until I was facing away from Thor, too disgusted to see his smug and stubborn face. "Whatever. We've got Rhodey now. You shouldn't be needing me anymore."
"Loki, wait!" Thor commanded, but he could do very little to stop me and would likely always remain that way. I stood from the grass and went along my way, back into the house without even the smallest glance over my shoulder.
Before I turned the corner from the kitchen into the parlor I heard Wanda's voice calling out in her typical gruff voice. "I see you found Rocket-Man."

"We did," I stressed, approaching the sound. "But where were you?"
"Disinterested."
"Last I checked, that wasn't a place to be."
"Well maybe you gotta check more frequently."
I found Wanda standing, leaning against the banister at the bottom of the stairs with her arms crossed and her eyes narrowed, but she was simpering my way, so at least I wasn't in trouble with her, too. She was likely just waiting around for our daily walk.
It had become a habit of ours to meander around the house when our duties with the PSA were done for the day, just to let off some steam and forget about everything and everyone else.
"So! A little birdie told me that She's taking you to go see Infinity War. Without me."
This was true. Although She had no idea of it, it had become our tradition- Magneto, Elphaba, Nessarose, and I- to sneak into the pouch of her backpack or purse whenever She was going to see the latest Marvel movie. I had already watched as many trailers as I could, the PSA happily or nervously commentating over my shoulder, and I already had a prediction on how the movie was going to go, making me the expert.
"I'm sorry, do you want to come?" I asked, taking on Wanda's same playful tone.
"Um, yes! I know nothing. No-thing. I got some theories, though. Wanna hear 'em?"
"Shoot."
Wanda went on and on and we walked together up the stairs and away from the noise outside, and at the end of her spiel, she took a breath and said, "Are any of those correct?"
I shrugged mischievously. "Now, I can't say for sure-"
"Of course you can't," She grumbled. "Can you at least tell me who all's in it?"
"Everybody," I confessed. "Except for Ant-Man, Wasp, and Hawkeye."
"What a bunch of pansies."
"Agreed. I'm sure it will be a great film, though. A fantastic movie. Well worth the wait."
"Uh-huh. Stop your bragging, elf-man."
"And the Scarlet Witch in the movie is-"

"A one-note 'Vision's girlfriend', I'll bet."
"She has her good points, though. It appears that in one part she decimates an entire alien ship, if not two of them. She's immensely powerful in all sorts of ways, but they hardly use her because she's concerned for Vision's sake half the time."
"Sounds heinous," Wanda commented. "We should go see it."
"You mean together?" I asked, startled.
Wanda's lids lowered halfway over her bright green eyes. "No, I think we should each see it separately, on the same day at the same time, but in different rooms alone."
"I get it."
"So you're not completely dull. I'm surprised," Wanda smirks and stands on the tip of her toes to lift my helmet and grind her knuckles on my head. "Wow. Dude, your hair's really soft. Double surprise."
I found the gall to ask, although I had a hunch I would already know the answer, "Why do you hate your character?"
Wanda stopped. "What?"
I didn't repeat myself, knowing full well that she'd heard me.
"Hate's a strong word there, dude. I don't hate her. She's fine. But emphasis on fine. Okay?"
"Is it her one-note 'Vision's girlfriend' quality?"
"No, not even that," Wanda sighed, looking ashamed. "From the first moment I was made, I'm pretty sure that I gained consciousness, looked at all the other Scarlet Witch dolls around me, realizing who I was, and uttered my first words. Want to know what well they were? 'Well, shit'. That's what they were."
"But why?"
"Because..." Wanda appeared sadder than I'd ever seen her. These thoughts and memories were destroying her from the inside out. "Because I didn't want to be one of them. I wanted to be a Steve Rodgers. Or a Tony Stark. Or hell, even you. I want to be like you. When I took my first breath, I knew I was trapped in this body forever. And there was no way of escaping. And trust me, I tried. With the little resources I had, I tried. But there's a sad truth to it all... I'll never be one of the guys."

Wanda knelt, pulling her knees to her chest in a substitute hug and burying her face in the hideaway.
"You wanted to be a boy." I whispered.
"No, not just a boy. A man. And at first I couldn't explain why. But then I figured out. All on my own, without any of the other Wandas and before I'd even met any of the PSA... I figured it out. That's why Hawkeye took me under his wing. You thought it was because of my powers, didn't you? That's how he treated everyone else. But I was the first recruit, so I was his exception. And it's a big secret, what the two of us know. I really shouldn't tell you," Wanda lifted her head, and I saw the places in her eyes where tears wanted to be. "But I'm going to anyway. Come closer. No one else must hear this."
I relaxed onto the ground and scooted over until her hands cupped my head and her lips touched my ear.
"I was a man. At one point. And again and again, I was a man. Men all the way down. Throughout all the lives I've lived, I've never once been a woman. You see, us dolls are a different breed. The humans who know we're alive always question it, and we're never able to give a legitimate answer. Well, I have that answer. We're souls. Lost souls who could have made it out of someone and never made it anywhere. There are only so many souls to go around, you know. I've concluded that I've been male dolls since the beginning, but in my most recent life I must have done something horrible. Something so completely awful that would warrant a great punishment. And since I've been men all the way down, it's likely I developed a fear of women. And then, because of that, I became one in this life. Me being who I am is punishment. Indefinite, unchangeable punishment."
I was nearly shaken speechless. Dolls came to life by the possession of lost souls. We inhabit multiple dolls, leading multiple lives, before the one we currently enjoy. Wanda has dysphoria.
"Wanda... I'm so sorry..."
She held up the flat of her hand. "Don't apologize. I've heard enough of those from myself."
"Then what can I do?"
"Treat me like you would anyone else. It would be better if you forgot everything I've said, because I don't want your actions to change now that I've shared with you my deepest, darkest secret. The PSA are the only dolls I know who didn't see me as the token girl. Because I'm not a girl. Not really," she smiled sadly. "And your friends, too. The one in your humans' room. They seem nice enough, but I haven't really gotten to know them. And yesterday was giant blue lady's engagement and we missed that. I'm sure you really wanted to go, and believe me, I did too, but I didn't feel like I could. We were getting so close to Rhodey. But now that we've found him... I think we should pay the happy couple a visit."

Oh, no. "I couldn't do that. Not after what I did. They won't want to see my face for weeks. It's better to wait this out until their emotions simmer down."
Wanda picked herself up and held out both of her hands to lift me from the ground. "Or you could man up like I did and say you're sorry."
I groaned because I knew Wanda was right. I snatched both of her hands and she hoisted me to my feet without so much as a strain. Now I knew where that uncharacteristic grip of strength came from. "Alright, alright. Are you coming in with me as backup?"
"Of course. It was my idea. And I put the burden of knowledge onto you. This here is payback now. It's only fair."
Right. It was only fair, wasn't it? I walked with Wanda side-by-side to the place we assumed Steve and Elsa would be- celebrating with the other dolls upstairs in the Room She Lives In. On the outside, my pace was brisk and steady, cool and calculated, but on the inside I was being torn apart. The years I'd done of secret research, a few sleepness nights scattered here and there for good measure, where all done in vain. I had been trying to find the meaning of life, the reason why most dolls were sentient, and all it took was a few minutes on the floor with a person who didn't have to read or search for anything. They already knew, and had known all along.
"Wanda... are you... still alright with me calling you Wanda?"
Wanda was incredulous. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, because... you know."
"Yeah, no. I'm fine with it now. I was much worse back in the warehouse, believe me. I've come to accept the fact that I will never be wholly satisfied, but being a woman has its advantages at times, you know?" She flicked her long brown hair over her shoulder and shot me a wink. "We got that little charmspeak thing. And Hawkeye's a fun one to play with. And aside from that, I'm smaller, so it's easier to get away with stuff."
"Getting away with stuff? Like what you used to do in your past life?"
"Nah, dude. The stuff I'm doing now is much nicer. Because before I was who I am now, I was a murderer!" Wanda threw her head back and cackled, taking great delight in how I stepped to the side cautiously. "I'm just kidding. I don't know. This is soul stuff is only a hunch, but I know it's right."

We made it to the front of the Room She Lives In, and I held my breath as Wanda gestured with her eyes for me to jump up onto the doorknob.
"Come on, dude. Don't make me use my wibbly-wobbly hexes on you. 'Cause I like showing these off." Wanda twisted her fingers around each-other, and little wisps of pink and white appeared between her hands.
"Don't touch me with those," I said. "I'll do this on my own."
I did what she had wordlessly asked, and the door fell open as my metaphorical heart did. The room was completely empty except for the taller Frozen sisters, Elsa and Anna, and it appeared they were right in the middle of girl talk as Elsa showed off her engagement bracelet. It was surprisingly well-crafted for Steve, a doll who wasn't well-versed in jewelry arts, and the red and blue beads glinted pleasantly in the sunlight that came in from the window.
"Whaddup, y'all. The party's here. The apology party," Wanda followed that with a train noise, then immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, that was lame."
"What are you doing here?" Elsa asked, a strange iciness in her voice. Anna grabbed her arm in a protective way- yet I wasn't sure if Anna was trying to protect Elsa- or me.
"The elf-man feels sorry for his wrongdoings. He's come to vocalize that," Wanda nudged me forward, clearly enjoying seeing me uncomfortable. "Right?"
"Yes, I have," I swallowed, then bent my head downwards a little in a motion like you might do for a majesty. "Elsa... I missed your engagement. And for that I have no excuse. I'm really sorry. Allow me to make this up to you."
Her dark red lips pressed themselves together in disapproval until they were nothing more than a wrinkled line.
"What could you possibly do to make this up to me?"
"I don't know. But let me do something."
Elsa lifted her chin to offset the pain in her voice. "What could you do?"
I was struck with an idea, a concept far better than any physical gift. "Perhaps we can come to an arrangement," I suggested. "The Pocket-Sized Avengers get me for half of the week, and everyone else gets me for the second half. That way they would each have their own times with me, I get to be where things important when they're important, and nobody gets hurt."

Anna seemed excited, but Elsa chewed on this for a minute, then looked down at me with a face of almost pity. "But Loki... you'll be exhausted."
"That's okay. He likes being busy." Wanda covered for me. In reality, Elsa had no idea how much free time I really had, and how little of it I was spending with my first family.
Elsa's brow furrowed, and she looked at her hands and then twisted the bracelet. "Well... I suppose..."
Anna nearly jumped for joy. "Yes! I knew you couldn't stay mad at each-other forever."
Elsa smiled with her mouth closed, a small one, with eyes that wouldn't see her sister nor me, but I knew that everything would be alright between us again. And if they weren't, I would strive to make it that way.
"Now! Show them your bracelet. Tell them how Steve proposed!" Anna squealed, inviting Wanda and I up to the dresser and presenting Elsa's right wrist forward. "I just love happy endings."

-Loki