Would you like your backpack shaved or shredded? [Alfred]

[Maëlle Williams]

600 words Alfred F. Jones RIP backpack how bout we just sing forever?

Maëlle remembered the day Alfred brought home the thing. She still didn’t understand how Alfred, a 20 year old conman that had roots in practically everyone’s pocket, bought it. It was hideous, childish, and for someone who wanted to blend in, a stupid way to get noticed. She could feel the stares the one time he wore it to the grocery store, and it took a lot of concentration to not let her tail creep between her legs at the attention. He was quite possibly the only person in Arcadia.. no, Russia, that had the stupid item. Why the hell did Alfred have to buy a novelty burger patterned backpack? She simply couldn’t stand it. That was when Maëlle began scheming to get rid of it. And not simply hide it in a well-thought out place. No, Maëlle knew better. For Alfred’s sake, that backpack had to be destroyed. So she waited, planning and calculating the opportune moment to strike. Alfred had to be away for some time, and not take the bloody thing with him. She couldn’t get rid of it when he was home, or else she’d be caught, scolded, and it would be put away before she could truly shred it. Her time to act came when Alfred needed to be in semi-formal attire, and the backpack just couldn’t come along. She watched him as he buttoned up his shirt, waiting in anticipation for him to leave. She knew the backpack was propped beside his bed and still had thing in it, but she’d just be careful to only shed the container, not its contents. It seemed like hours before Alfred finally bid her farewell and clicked the thick wooden door shut after himself. Maëlle waited until she could no longer hear the click of his footsteps on the hall floors before dashing up into the loft, grabbing a mouthful of the canvas material and charging downstairs. She settled on the floor, nosing the zippers open until the bag was open fully. Circling the bag, Maëlle latched onto the bottom, giving it a firm shake. The contents, papers and a few writing utensils, receipts, and anything and everything else, scattered across the floor in a cascade. After a good few tosses of her head, the backpack was empty. Maëlle then moved to the main phase of her mission; shred it. She began by shaking it back and forth, stepping on it with her paws she pulled and tugged, tearing holes in the material with her teeth. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a lot of time to mess around, and the shades were drawn, so she allowed her orangey fur to grow and expand, thickening into a plush white and grey coat. Amber eyes latched onto their prey, a wolf hunting a meal. With her empowered form of a canine, she tore the backpack nearly in half with a single jerk of her neck. Maëlle didn’t linger in her wolf form for long, only enough to get the tears going before she reverted back to her domestic dog appearance. She wouldn’t stop. No, not until the backpack was dead and shredded into teeny tiny piec- Maëlle coughed, unintentionally swallowing part of the zipper. Shaking her head back and forth briefly, she willed the plastic to go down okay before resuming her meal. It was hours before Alfred returned, but Maëlle only noticed his approach when she heard his key scraping in the lock. Suddenly, guilt and fear rushed to her mind, and she panicked. She dashed up the loft, squirrelling herself under the bed as he opened the door.

♫

[Alfred F. Jones]

it's a

revolution

Word count: 587

Tags: Maëlle Williams

Notes: HERE YOU GO

It was possibly one of the best things Alfred had purchased since he'd arrived in Archadia.

Sure, there was the loft. A gorgeous loft, that Alfred loved immensely, complete with his beautiful flat screen tv and copies of every single Marvel movie that he'd gotten in English from someone on the black market. He'd even painstakingly replaced his collector's edition of Captain America: The Winter Soldier after it'd been mercilessly snapped in half by a certain person in a mask. Alfred now kept it securely hidden. It made it much more of a hassle to retrieve when he wanted to watch it (which was often), but in Alfred's opinion, it was worth it.

He'd seen the backpack hanging inside a shop and immediately fell in love. Why, exactly, Alfred needed a backpack that looked like a burger, he wasn't entirely sure. It wasn't like he was a student. Backpacks hadn't been part of his life in, what, five years now? No, less than that, he'd had a backpack for at least part of the time he'd been on the streets. But close enough.

Perhaps it was odd, to be so enamored by what was admittedly a very childish backpack, but Alfred couldn't help himself. He was only twenty after all. Hardly an adult, and really, had Alfred ever really become an adult? Besides, Alfred had reasoned, he deserved to have a little something for himself. It wasn't unreasonably priced either. Why not?

So he bought the backpack.

He'd taken it with him at every chance he got. Which was mainly groceries. Alfred had been highly amused when he'd carried his burger supplies out in the backpack. It just made him ridiculously happy, in the most basic sense. Who was he to deny himself such a simple pleasure? Besides, people just wrote him off as some weird, silly college kid. Which was fine by Alfred.

Sadly, even Alfred knew he couldn't exactly carry the backpack into a con. So when it came time for Alfred to actually earn his keep, he left the backpack behind and put on an actual suit for once.

It'd been a successful con. Alfred whistled as he opened the door, feeling rather happy with himself. He was still rather amazed at how terrible most security systems were...you'd have thought that people would have figured out how to protect their assets by now. All the better for Alfred though.

Sometimes he wondered what having an actual, legitimate job would feel like. Boring, Alfred imagined. He could never sit at a desk for eight hours a day, not just for anything at least.

As Alfred opened the door to his home though, he noticed something was off. Where was the overly excited, eagerly affectionate dog he had come to know and love? Usually she was at the door the moment his footsteps echoed in the hall, tail wagging at a hundred miles a minute. Yet today she was nowhere to be seen.

"My?" Alfred called, a hint of worry in his voice. Subconsciously, he glanced behind the door. Nothing. It didn't make him feel any better though. "My, where are you?"

Alfred stepped on something and nearly tripped as it slid against the floor. A receipt? Confusion settled over Alfred. Wait a second...

The trail of evidence was scattered all around his living room. Receipts, papers, pencils...and pieces of a very familiar-looking canvas fabric.

Alfred's eyebrow twitched.

"Maëlle," Alfred called again, a tinge of anger in his voice this time. "Get out here right now."

i suppose

by Worldie for Leia