"!!!!!!!!!!" would be what Zen was saying right now if Zen knew how to pronounce exclamation marks which was kinda a life goal cause exclamation marks were just an Emotion that couldn't really be expressed with anything except themselves but Themselves were kinda Hard To Express except if they were texting which they were most of the time but sometimes they had to make sounds with their mouth! Like right now!!! The actual sound they made was like "aaaaaaaaaaa" but lowercase because AAAAAAAAAAA would sound like scared or surprised which they weren't they were just Regular Happy but in a bigger way than usual.
Cause this whole thing was way way Way bigger than usual, cause they'd just spent a whole day riding roller coasters and water slides and eating funnel cake and dancing with their favorite person in the whole world and now they were at their hotel room and it was Actually Literally Physically so big? Zen hadn't been on a lot of vacations and when they had they'd mostly slept on the pull-out couch while Mom and Auntie took the bed in cramped rooms where the bathtub always had a ring in it and this pretty much felt like a mansion by comparison and also in general, it was so sparkly and spotless and the bed was so big that if Zen spread their whole body across it Lyra would still have plenty of room even though that didn't mean all that much since Zen was little.
None of this was how Zen had expected this weekend to go!
They'd been planning on going on the DC trip like pretty much everyone was cause they'd all be graduating soon and there were so so so many people they wanted to spend time with while Time was still a thing they had! They couldn't count everyone but they could try, Yuka and Myles and Nick and Kayla and Declyn and Sakurako and Mercy and Blaise and Tristan and Lorenzo and they could keep counting but they were out of fingers so they'd need toes and it was hard to count toes when your shoes were on. Except Lyra wasn't going which meant they couldn't go. Everyone else was important and they loved them all very much but Lyra wasn't going. Lyra was sad and hurting and would be all alone and it'd be Zen's fault for leaving them there if they went because they knew and since they knew they had to help so they told Mom not to put down the money for the trip after all.
It wasn't until the senior trip had already started that Mom had come and been all "hey Zen we used the money we were gonna use for your senior trip and some of what we saved for a graduation present to send you and Lyra to Dollywood" and Zen had been like ":O" and Lyra had also been like ":O" and now they were here for two days and one night and tomorrow night Auntie would come pick them both up but that was in the future and not right now because right now was Right Now where Zen was sweaty and full of fried food and grinning ear to ear because the whole world was wonderful.
"I can't believe we have a whole nother day here!!" They collapsed onto the fancy chair next to the fancy window in the fancy room and it felt the way the word Luxury sounded. "I kinda wanna go back? I think we can go back like I think these tickets let us leave and come back I think it's open for another couple of hours and we could ride the Wild Eagle again?? Or we could—"
Suddenly they were very super aware that they'd been running around for like eight straight hours in 90-degree weather and that they didn't actually wanna get up from this chair right now thank you very much.
"Orrrr we can hang out in the air conditioning and watch Yuru Camp!!"
They didn't say "please let's do that one I take back the stuff I was saying before because I forget sometimes my body has Human Limits" but they thought that was probably kinda implied.
Bubble Pop!
june 8th @ 7 PM @ Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa good times only no sadness allowed!!!!!
Bubble Pop!
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
Lyra was utterly drenched from head to toe.
They really weren’t sure how much of it was sweat and how much of it was water. It was definitely both! They were certain of that! But, like, what percentage of their clothes was soaked in regular ol’ water and which percentage was soaked in gross sticky sweat? They couldn’t say exactly.
And, wow, holy crap, they were totally exhausted, too! They didn’t walk a huge amount normally, didn’t really do much exercise full-stop, so traipsing about all over the place had really done a number on them, and also really hadn’t helped with the whole ‘coated in sweat’ thing. Their legs ached, and they could feel a stitch in their side, and Jesus Actual Christ their feet were killing them right now.
But it was all worth it, every second of it, because they’d spent the entire day with Zen, just the two of them together, and they still had a whole day to do even more.
They hadn’t wanted to go on the school trip to Washington. Not one bit. It kinda sucked major ass because the actual DC part sounded really interesting, and they woulda loved to explore the city! Just… by themselves. Maybe with their family, in a pinch. But not after having been crammed on a bus with a whole bunch of other people, incidents at Swiftball and at prom and at that total nightmare with Paloma and Lori at the Chinese place still fresh on their mind. And certainly not with the trip serving as a looming reminder that high school was almost Done and they’d never see most of their friends again most likely, and the last thing they’d get out of it would be them stuck in a room with three other people who’d misgender the hell out of them, and…
Well, the way they had been feeling on the week before the trip, they were pretty sure that woulda shattered them.
So they’d stayed home instead! And they’d kinda resigned themselves to just being a little sad and a little bleh and mostly just empty for a week. But then Zen, like the wonderful angel they were, had swooped in and informed them that they were both going to Dollywood together, and Lyra had absolutely jumped at the chance and their entire mood had done a 180, because they got to spend a whole 48 hours and some with the person they loved more than anyone or anything in the entire universe.
And it had been just as wonderful as they’d predicted. They had been on rollercoasters and water slides and eaten a whole bunch of deep fried and unhealthy and delicious food and then gone on more rollercoasters, and felt really green and sick for a while. And Zen had kinda laughed but not at them and they hadn’t made fun of them and then they’d gone to get Lyra some water until they felt better. And then they’d gone to eat more fried chicken and funnel cakes and stuff! And Lyra didn’t feel gross or disgusting for indulging in it like they normally would have, because Zen was there!
And Zen smiled the entire time, and that made Lyra smile and blush and for their heart to flutter even when they were off the rollercoasters and stuff.
But even so, they were unfathomably glad to get to their hotel room and the air conditioning it provided.
“God, please,” Lyra said, grinning ear to ear as they kicked their shoes off, Heelys landing somewhere near the bathroom door. “I think I was, like, this close-”
They held their thumb and index finger together, the two almost touching.
“-to melting out there. And you’ve been telling me I gotta watch Yuru Camp and I wanna watch it with you!”
Lyra giggled as they wandered over to the bed, taking their glasses off and putting them on the nightstand, before flopping forwards, face first onto the mattress. They let out a long, content sigh, and started to make sheet-angels with their arms.
“Dibs on this side of the bed!” they said, voice muffled.
They really weren’t sure how much of it was sweat and how much of it was water. It was definitely both! They were certain of that! But, like, what percentage of their clothes was soaked in regular ol’ water and which percentage was soaked in gross sticky sweat? They couldn’t say exactly.
And, wow, holy crap, they were totally exhausted, too! They didn’t walk a huge amount normally, didn’t really do much exercise full-stop, so traipsing about all over the place had really done a number on them, and also really hadn’t helped with the whole ‘coated in sweat’ thing. Their legs ached, and they could feel a stitch in their side, and Jesus Actual Christ their feet were killing them right now.
But it was all worth it, every second of it, because they’d spent the entire day with Zen, just the two of them together, and they still had a whole day to do even more.
They hadn’t wanted to go on the school trip to Washington. Not one bit. It kinda sucked major ass because the actual DC part sounded really interesting, and they woulda loved to explore the city! Just… by themselves. Maybe with their family, in a pinch. But not after having been crammed on a bus with a whole bunch of other people, incidents at Swiftball and at prom and at that total nightmare with Paloma and Lori at the Chinese place still fresh on their mind. And certainly not with the trip serving as a looming reminder that high school was almost Done and they’d never see most of their friends again most likely, and the last thing they’d get out of it would be them stuck in a room with three other people who’d misgender the hell out of them, and…
Well, the way they had been feeling on the week before the trip, they were pretty sure that woulda shattered them.
So they’d stayed home instead! And they’d kinda resigned themselves to just being a little sad and a little bleh and mostly just empty for a week. But then Zen, like the wonderful angel they were, had swooped in and informed them that they were both going to Dollywood together, and Lyra had absolutely jumped at the chance and their entire mood had done a 180, because they got to spend a whole 48 hours and some with the person they loved more than anyone or anything in the entire universe.
And it had been just as wonderful as they’d predicted. They had been on rollercoasters and water slides and eaten a whole bunch of deep fried and unhealthy and delicious food and then gone on more rollercoasters, and felt really green and sick for a while. And Zen had kinda laughed but not at them and they hadn’t made fun of them and then they’d gone to get Lyra some water until they felt better. And then they’d gone to eat more fried chicken and funnel cakes and stuff! And Lyra didn’t feel gross or disgusting for indulging in it like they normally would have, because Zen was there!
And Zen smiled the entire time, and that made Lyra smile and blush and for their heart to flutter even when they were off the rollercoasters and stuff.
But even so, they were unfathomably glad to get to their hotel room and the air conditioning it provided.
“God, please,” Lyra said, grinning ear to ear as they kicked their shoes off, Heelys landing somewhere near the bathroom door. “I think I was, like, this close-”
They held their thumb and index finger together, the two almost touching.
“-to melting out there. And you’ve been telling me I gotta watch Yuru Camp and I wanna watch it with you!”
Lyra giggled as they wandered over to the bed, taking their glasses off and putting them on the nightstand, before flopping forwards, face first onto the mattress. They let out a long, content sigh, and started to make sheet-angels with their arms.
“Dibs on this side of the bed!” they said, voice muffled.
"bryony and alba would definitely join the terrorists quote me on this put this quote in signatures put it in history books" - Cicada Days, 2017
It was a good thing about being inside, the not-melting thing, even though Zen was pretty sure they wouldn't melt anyway cause they were pretty sure the melting point for human people was pretty high actually, hotter than Its Summer And We're Sweaty, but they didn't really wanna look that up in case they ended up on some kinda watch list even though they didn't actually wanna melt any human people cause its not like their phone could really tell the difference! They thought probably if someone was looking for Hot Body Disposal Tips they'd be a little more careful about their search habits but probably people made mistakes like that sometimes! Wow this was a dark thing to be thinking about all of the sudden it was time to backtrack here maybe!!
Anyway there would be no melting because air conditioning and it was cold now and also Mom had said they could use room service if they wanted because Zen had seen room service on TV like lots of times and they Had to try it even though they were both super stuffed with food right now but probably in a few hours they could get dinner and also cookies because Zen wanted cookies they had decided just now. But also there was apparently a buffet in the hotel so maybe they could do that???
They had so many options but kinda they wanted to not do that one because they were in this room now with Lyra and that seemed like the right place to be.
"Aw, that's the lucky side!!" they called out cheerfully to Lyra. "S'okay, though, you can have the luck! I shall defeat you with skill alone!! In something, I dunno what we're competing in yet, I'll figure that out later!"
They hadn't really thought that much about the one-bed thing. Mom had asked if one bed was okay cause it was cheaper and Zen had said Yeah!!! because they weren't paying attention and also this was already so nice they didn't want her to have to spend More money, and the bed was super massive so it maybe wasn't a big deal, really, but looking at it and Lyra and thinking about that kinda made their heart do some big doki-dokis, as opposed to the normal doki-dokis that it did because it was a heart and they didn't stop doing that unless you were dead, which they had strong feelings about continuing not to be!
Sleep was a long way away, though. The sun wasn't even down yet! They stretched, dragging themselves out of their chair. First order of business was dealing with this whole Sweat Situation because it was pretty out of control even though they'd compromised their whole aesthetic and worn something super simple—short sleeve white button-up, black poofy shorts. Heck, they wore sandals, even! And they were still all sticky. Big blech all around.
They unbuttoned the blouse quickly, flinging it across the room at their open suitcase and missing completely. Oh well!
"S'a bunch of shows we could watch! Or games? There's games also. But Yuru Camp's 12 episodes so we can like marathon the whole thing if we want to maybe?? Unless you get bored halfway through which is also okay cause theres all the other stuff we can do, also???"
They stepped out of their shorts and tossed those too. They totally missed the suitcase but they hit the Exact same spot as the blouse so that was sort of a success??? Maybe??????????????
Anyway there would be no melting because air conditioning and it was cold now and also Mom had said they could use room service if they wanted because Zen had seen room service on TV like lots of times and they Had to try it even though they were both super stuffed with food right now but probably in a few hours they could get dinner and also cookies because Zen wanted cookies they had decided just now. But also there was apparently a buffet in the hotel so maybe they could do that???
They had so many options but kinda they wanted to not do that one because they were in this room now with Lyra and that seemed like the right place to be.
"Aw, that's the lucky side!!" they called out cheerfully to Lyra. "S'okay, though, you can have the luck! I shall defeat you with skill alone!! In something, I dunno what we're competing in yet, I'll figure that out later!"
They hadn't really thought that much about the one-bed thing. Mom had asked if one bed was okay cause it was cheaper and Zen had said Yeah!!! because they weren't paying attention and also this was already so nice they didn't want her to have to spend More money, and the bed was super massive so it maybe wasn't a big deal, really, but looking at it and Lyra and thinking about that kinda made their heart do some big doki-dokis, as opposed to the normal doki-dokis that it did because it was a heart and they didn't stop doing that unless you were dead, which they had strong feelings about continuing not to be!
Sleep was a long way away, though. The sun wasn't even down yet! They stretched, dragging themselves out of their chair. First order of business was dealing with this whole Sweat Situation because it was pretty out of control even though they'd compromised their whole aesthetic and worn something super simple—short sleeve white button-up, black poofy shorts. Heck, they wore sandals, even! And they were still all sticky. Big blech all around.
They unbuttoned the blouse quickly, flinging it across the room at their open suitcase and missing completely. Oh well!
"S'a bunch of shows we could watch! Or games? There's games also. But Yuru Camp's 12 episodes so we can like marathon the whole thing if we want to maybe?? Unless you get bored halfway through which is also okay cause theres all the other stuff we can do, also???"
They stepped out of their shorts and tossed those too. They totally missed the suitcase but they hit the Exact same spot as the blouse so that was sort of a success??? Maybe??????????????
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
…
NB???: LYRA DOYLE - DECEASED
...
Hey so, uh! Fun fact about Zen! They had a real frequent habit of just… stripping their clothes off around people they were super duper ultra comfortable with! It happened a lot! Like, whenever it was too hot and humid, or when they’d spilled something down their super cute and fancy clothes and needed to borrow one of Lyra’s spare t-shirts, or on the rare occasion they were both getting ready for the same party together, then whoops! All of a sudden, all of the clothes that had been on Zen’s body a moment ago would be all in a heap on the floor. So it wasn’t a particularly rare occurrence in Lyra’s life!
And every single time it happened, their face went bright red, and they stopped and dropped whatever they were doing at the time, as their heart went absolutely fucking bonkers inside of their chest.
Could anyone really blame them? Lyra didn’t think so, because fun fact number two about Zen: the amount of times they had worn a bra could be counted on zero hands! It was very hard to find somewhere to look, and Lyra suddenly wished they’d kept their face shoved into the mattress rather than looking up to reply to Zen, because they’d been staring Right at their chest for about ten seconds now.
Somehow an even deeper shade of crimson than before, Lyra desperately tried to look at the only part of Zen that was wearing any piece of clothing, except that didn’t help one teeny tiny bit because they were just wearing a pair of brightly coloured boxer briefs, and they had just turned around so their butt was facing Lyra. So they decided to shove their face back into the bed again, except they very quickly realised that that’d look both Weird and Super Suspicious.
Instead, they lifted their head back up, still blushing furiously, and looked just over Zen’s shoulder at a spot on the wall, just above the TV. There was a little black mark there! Wow! Life was fragile and beautiful.
…
Oh right, they were supposed to reply to Zen, weren’t they? Most of what they’d said had kinda… turned into radio static before it could reach Lyra’s ears. They were pretty sure they got the overall gist of it! They just… had to make a few educated guesses to fill in the blanks.
“Y-Yeah that, uh… yeah! Yuru Camp! Like, we could, uh, order food or something, and… and watch that! And stuff!”
Lyra laughed nervously, and kinda shifted slightly on the bed, and as they did so, they felt themselves roll onto a patch of sweat, letting out an involuntary noise of disgust.
“Guess I should, uh… get changed too. Don’t wanna, uh, cover the lucky side with sweat and stuff!”
They giggled nervously again, the thought of getting changed suddenly incredibly exhilarating and absolutely terrifying.
NB???: LYRA DOYLE - DECEASED
...
Hey so, uh! Fun fact about Zen! They had a real frequent habit of just… stripping their clothes off around people they were super duper ultra comfortable with! It happened a lot! Like, whenever it was too hot and humid, or when they’d spilled something down their super cute and fancy clothes and needed to borrow one of Lyra’s spare t-shirts, or on the rare occasion they were both getting ready for the same party together, then whoops! All of a sudden, all of the clothes that had been on Zen’s body a moment ago would be all in a heap on the floor. So it wasn’t a particularly rare occurrence in Lyra’s life!
And every single time it happened, their face went bright red, and they stopped and dropped whatever they were doing at the time, as their heart went absolutely fucking bonkers inside of their chest.
Could anyone really blame them? Lyra didn’t think so, because fun fact number two about Zen: the amount of times they had worn a bra could be counted on zero hands! It was very hard to find somewhere to look, and Lyra suddenly wished they’d kept their face shoved into the mattress rather than looking up to reply to Zen, because they’d been staring Right at their chest for about ten seconds now.
Somehow an even deeper shade of crimson than before, Lyra desperately tried to look at the only part of Zen that was wearing any piece of clothing, except that didn’t help one teeny tiny bit because they were just wearing a pair of brightly coloured boxer briefs, and they had just turned around so their butt was facing Lyra. So they decided to shove their face back into the bed again, except they very quickly realised that that’d look both Weird and Super Suspicious.
Instead, they lifted their head back up, still blushing furiously, and looked just over Zen’s shoulder at a spot on the wall, just above the TV. There was a little black mark there! Wow! Life was fragile and beautiful.
…
Oh right, they were supposed to reply to Zen, weren’t they? Most of what they’d said had kinda… turned into radio static before it could reach Lyra’s ears. They were pretty sure they got the overall gist of it! They just… had to make a few educated guesses to fill in the blanks.
“Y-Yeah that, uh… yeah! Yuru Camp! Like, we could, uh, order food or something, and… and watch that! And stuff!”
Lyra laughed nervously, and kinda shifted slightly on the bed, and as they did so, they felt themselves roll onto a patch of sweat, letting out an involuntary noise of disgust.
“Guess I should, uh… get changed too. Don’t wanna, uh, cover the lucky side with sweat and stuff!”
They giggled nervously again, the thought of getting changed suddenly incredibly exhilarating and absolutely terrifying.
"bryony and alba would definitely join the terrorists quote me on this put this quote in signatures put it in history books" - Cicada Days, 2017
Okay now the very serious important question was: should they or should they not Shower? Well they should in general probably cause they were sweaty and you should shower every day probably unless your skin got super dry and Mom was like "oh its because you run the water too hot" but if you dont run the water hot then the shower is a Bad Time so you decide to shower every other day for a while until your skin isn't being weird but besides that. But also it was cold now, cause of the air conditioner, and it was cold standing here mostly-naked and sweaty and it would be colder after a shower and that would be okay if they were gonna crawl into bed right after and stay there but it was still early and they still might go get dinner or at least room service and they'd have to get out of bed for that and they'd be cold! And that would be terrible!!
They decided they could just kinda towel off the sweat for now and shower before bed which was maybe not the most hygienic choice ever but they checked and they didn't smell so it was fine!
Oh whoops they missed all the things Lyra said. Something about changing?
"Sounds good to me gimme JUST a sec I gotta-" They grabbed this old t-shirt with Winry on it they'd had since they were like 12 but it used to be much bigger on them and it was always Pajamas when Zen bothered with pajamas which was not often but probably they were supposed to wear something, for the time being, especially cause they were getting room service. The boxer briefs they were wearing covered their butt and that was good enough probably.
"Okay! I gotta show you something!!"
They had done a thing which was very sneaky and secret of them and had also taken a pretty big chunk of the personal spending money they'd brought to Dollywood with them but it was worth it!! They hadn't had much time since they'd spent as little time as possible apart all day but Zen asked Lyra to wait with their food at a food place while they """"went to the bathroom"""" which was actually them running over to this cool little shop thing that made custom airbrushed t-shirts! They couldn't really wait around for it to finish but since they were staying at the hotel they could just give them the hotel info and it would be delivered and that was super cool and maybe in the future everything would be like that? You'd just be like hi I live at house 752 and they'd be like okay ur stuff will be there in ten minutes? That would be rad?
Anyway the package had been sitting next to the door when they got here and Zen had ignored it and just kinda hoped Lyra didn't notice it and they probably had but whatever!
"I have... a present!!"
They swung open the door to their room and a cleaning lady walking by did a double take at them and they took the package and closed the door and handed it to Lyra.
"Tada!!!!"
They decided they could just kinda towel off the sweat for now and shower before bed which was maybe not the most hygienic choice ever but they checked and they didn't smell so it was fine!
Oh whoops they missed all the things Lyra said. Something about changing?
"Sounds good to me gimme JUST a sec I gotta-" They grabbed this old t-shirt with Winry on it they'd had since they were like 12 but it used to be much bigger on them and it was always Pajamas when Zen bothered with pajamas which was not often but probably they were supposed to wear something, for the time being, especially cause they were getting room service. The boxer briefs they were wearing covered their butt and that was good enough probably.
"Okay! I gotta show you something!!"
They had done a thing which was very sneaky and secret of them and had also taken a pretty big chunk of the personal spending money they'd brought to Dollywood with them but it was worth it!! They hadn't had much time since they'd spent as little time as possible apart all day but Zen asked Lyra to wait with their food at a food place while they """"went to the bathroom"""" which was actually them running over to this cool little shop thing that made custom airbrushed t-shirts! They couldn't really wait around for it to finish but since they were staying at the hotel they could just give them the hotel info and it would be delivered and that was super cool and maybe in the future everything would be like that? You'd just be like hi I live at house 752 and they'd be like okay ur stuff will be there in ten minutes? That would be rad?
Anyway the package had been sitting next to the door when they got here and Zen had ignored it and just kinda hoped Lyra didn't notice it and they probably had but whatever!
"I have... a present!!"
They swung open the door to their room and a cleaning lady walking by did a double take at them and they took the package and closed the door and handed it to Lyra.
"Tada!!!!"
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
Lyra pushed themselves up against the headboard, sitting cross-legged and staring curiously at Zen as they bounced over to the hotel room’s door. They had, like, absolutely no idea what Zen possibly had in mind to show them! Especially if it required them to go out the front door! For a moment, they wondered if Zen was gonna run off to the pool and jump into it in their boxer briefs and t-shirt and wanted them to come with, which… absolutely wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility for Zen!
But then Zen closed the door and came back with a neatly wrapped package just about leaping from their hands, and Lyra’s eyes went as wide as saucers and they gasped in surprise.
“Oh my gosh!”
Their gaze flicked from the package to Zen’s face at lightning speed, and they were on the verge of asking whether it was for them before they realised that was a really silly question. No, Zen had bought something for themselves, and gave it to Lyra just to give back to them. Silly!
For another moment, they felt a pang in their heart, and they were about to insist that Zen take it back, that they couldn’t accept a gift when they hadn’t gotten anything themselves for Zen, and when Zen was already doing such a wonderful thing with this trip to Dollywood. But then they blinked, and grinned so so wide at Zen, because, hey, surely it’d be even ruder to reject a gift that someone had worked so hard to get, right? All this meant was that they’d have to get Zen something just as good in return! The best kind of revenge!
“Should I open this right now?”
Another silly question! Lyra could see from the look in Zen’s eyes that they were just as eager for Lyra to open it, so they eagerly started unwrapping the present. It was super duper tempting to just rip the packaging open, but it had always felt kinda rude to do that in Lyra’s mind, so they peeled off the tape as fast as they could. There was a bundle of neatly folded white fabric inside, and as Lyra picked it up, it unfurled, and their eyes somehow grew even wider.
They were holding a bright white t-shirt, with a whole bunch of airbrushed hearts all over it, and a tiny little puppy for Lyra because Lyra loved dogs, and a tiny little kitten for Zen because Zen loved cats! And then they turned it around and there were even more hearts printed all over, and tomorrow’s date in bubbly print, and they looked up at Zen again and they could feel tiny pinpricks of tears in the corners of their eyes.
“Oh, Zen, oh my gosh, this is so lovely, like, just look at it!!! Look at it, look at the little puppy, I love it so much, I love you, Zen!!!”
They flung their arms around Zen, hugging them tightly, giggling as they did so.
“Should I try it on now? I wanna see how it looks on me!”
But then Zen closed the door and came back with a neatly wrapped package just about leaping from their hands, and Lyra’s eyes went as wide as saucers and they gasped in surprise.
“Oh my gosh!”
Their gaze flicked from the package to Zen’s face at lightning speed, and they were on the verge of asking whether it was for them before they realised that was a really silly question. No, Zen had bought something for themselves, and gave it to Lyra just to give back to them. Silly!
For another moment, they felt a pang in their heart, and they were about to insist that Zen take it back, that they couldn’t accept a gift when they hadn’t gotten anything themselves for Zen, and when Zen was already doing such a wonderful thing with this trip to Dollywood. But then they blinked, and grinned so so wide at Zen, because, hey, surely it’d be even ruder to reject a gift that someone had worked so hard to get, right? All this meant was that they’d have to get Zen something just as good in return! The best kind of revenge!
“Should I open this right now?”
Another silly question! Lyra could see from the look in Zen’s eyes that they were just as eager for Lyra to open it, so they eagerly started unwrapping the present. It was super duper tempting to just rip the packaging open, but it had always felt kinda rude to do that in Lyra’s mind, so they peeled off the tape as fast as they could. There was a bundle of neatly folded white fabric inside, and as Lyra picked it up, it unfurled, and their eyes somehow grew even wider.
They were holding a bright white t-shirt, with a whole bunch of airbrushed hearts all over it, and a tiny little puppy for Lyra because Lyra loved dogs, and a tiny little kitten for Zen because Zen loved cats! And then they turned it around and there were even more hearts printed all over, and tomorrow’s date in bubbly print, and they looked up at Zen again and they could feel tiny pinpricks of tears in the corners of their eyes.
“Oh, Zen, oh my gosh, this is so lovely, like, just look at it!!! Look at it, look at the little puppy, I love it so much, I love you, Zen!!!”
They flung their arms around Zen, hugging them tightly, giggling as they did so.
“Should I try it on now? I wanna see how it looks on me!”
"bryony and alba would definitely join the terrorists quote me on this put this quote in signatures put it in history books" - Cicada Days, 2017
No I just want you to stare at it forever I actually got a magic thingy spraypainted on so if you stare at it hard enough it'll turn into a portal to another dimension and we can both go inside and probably like meet magical butterflies and unicorns and stuff, Zen thought about saying because it would be funny but they thought it might sound kinda mean and sarcastic and they didn't want to be that so instead they just said "Yes!!!"
Then they kinda just stared at Lyra for a few seconds before they remembered that probably they didn't wanna get stared at while changing shirts even though it wasn't a big deal really but Zen probably shouldn't try to decide for Lyra what was a big deal and what wasn't so they pulled themselves up on the bed (it was tall!!) and grabbed their phone from the side table, turning their attention to That for the moment.
They had messages!!!
They glanced up and Lyra and hey woops maybe they saw some stuff but hey it wasn't a big deal to Them and Lyra didn't notice so it was fine!!!!!!!!
They looked up again and aaaaaaaaaaa
"It's perfect!!" Zen beamed from ear to ear and bounced off the bed to give Lyra the Biggest, Most Big Hug, which was redundant but sometimes things just had to be that way.
Then they kinda just stared at Lyra for a few seconds before they remembered that probably they didn't wanna get stared at while changing shirts even though it wasn't a big deal really but Zen probably shouldn't try to decide for Lyra what was a big deal and what wasn't so they pulled themselves up on the bed (it was tall!!) and grabbed their phone from the side table, turning their attention to That for the moment.
They had messages!!!
They glanced up and Lyra and hey woops maybe they saw some stuff but hey it wasn't a big deal to Them and Lyra didn't notice so it was fine!!!!!!!!
They looked up again and aaaaaaaaaaa
making my way downtown walking fast faces pass and im homebound "It's perfect!!" Zen beamed from ear to ear and bounced off the bed to give Lyra the Biggest, Most Big Hug, which was redundant but sometimes things just had to be that way.
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
“Okey!”
Lyra giggled again as they and Zen swapped places. They slipped off the bed and landed gracefully (hahaha no not really) on the floor, clutching the t-shirt to their chest like it’d shatter if they dropped it. They took a few steps away from the bed before letting the shirt unfurl in front of them, giggling and bouncing on their heels as they looked over just how gosh dang cute the whole thing was! The puppy looked just like the one they’d seen that one time and that they’d ended up crying over Discord to Zen about because it was the most perfect precious thing in the entire universe. And it looked like the perfect size too! Zen really did know them so super duper well!
…
They let out a tiny, soundless sigh, their heart sinking and their buoyant mood falling a little. Ah, yes. The worst part about every morning and evening. Sometimes, when they came downstairs to breakfast, their dad would ask whether they’d gotten dressed in the dark, and Lyra would force themselves to laugh, and hide the fact that sometimes they did, or did it with their eyes closed, or at the very least do it as quickly as they could, pulling on a bra or their binder and then a top in the blink of an eye.
Lyra spun around to glance at Zen; thankfully, they were preoccupied with their phone. They sighed again as they continued their spin, facing away from the bed. The perfect size, huh? No, that didn’t describe anything about Lyra. Zen was the perfect size. Everything about them was just perfectly formed and shaped and what Lyra pretty much aspired to be.
Ugh. Might as well rip this bandaid off before Zen looked up from their phone. Then they’d asked why Lyra hadn’t changed, and Lyra would either have to lie (ra, hee hee), or tell the truth, and THAT’D be a whole thing that might ruin the entire trip, so, whoops, off went their “Hera Did Nothing Wrong” t-shirt, puddling onto the floor, and on went the gift t-shirt!
Just in time for Zen to look up and beam in delight and bounce over and fling their own arms around Lyra, giving them the biggest softest most lovely hug in the universe! Well. Not the most lovely in a technical sense. They were both super sweaty and kinda stinky! But. Zen had said it had looked perfect, and their eyes had gone all wide and starry, and Lyra really was starting to feel fine and good and like they really did look cute and lovely in their precious gift t-shirt.
“It’s so cute!!!” Lyra beamed just as brightly, hugging Zen close. “I know I’ve said it before but it’s so cute and lovely and good and I’m gonna wear it every single day forever and ever and ever and never take it off! Except for showers.”
They giggled again, before they glanced at the phone clutched in Zen’s hand.
“Ooh, who were you texting? Or were you just playing that, uh, ‘gotcha’ game you mentioned?”
Lyra giggled again as they and Zen swapped places. They slipped off the bed and landed gracefully (hahaha no not really) on the floor, clutching the t-shirt to their chest like it’d shatter if they dropped it. They took a few steps away from the bed before letting the shirt unfurl in front of them, giggling and bouncing on their heels as they looked over just how gosh dang cute the whole thing was! The puppy looked just like the one they’d seen that one time and that they’d ended up crying over Discord to Zen about because it was the most perfect precious thing in the entire universe. And it looked like the perfect size too! Zen really did know them so super duper well!
…
They let out a tiny, soundless sigh, their heart sinking and their buoyant mood falling a little. Ah, yes. The worst part about every morning and evening. Sometimes, when they came downstairs to breakfast, their dad would ask whether they’d gotten dressed in the dark, and Lyra would force themselves to laugh, and hide the fact that sometimes they did, or did it with their eyes closed, or at the very least do it as quickly as they could, pulling on a bra or their binder and then a top in the blink of an eye.
Lyra spun around to glance at Zen; thankfully, they were preoccupied with their phone. They sighed again as they continued their spin, facing away from the bed. The perfect size, huh? No, that didn’t describe anything about Lyra. Zen was the perfect size. Everything about them was just perfectly formed and shaped and what Lyra pretty much aspired to be.
Ugh. Might as well rip this bandaid off before Zen looked up from their phone. Then they’d asked why Lyra hadn’t changed, and Lyra would either have to lie (ra, hee hee), or tell the truth, and THAT’D be a whole thing that might ruin the entire trip, so, whoops, off went their “Hera Did Nothing Wrong” t-shirt, puddling onto the floor, and on went the gift t-shirt!
Just in time for Zen to look up and beam in delight and bounce over and fling their own arms around Lyra, giving them the biggest softest most lovely hug in the universe! Well. Not the most lovely in a technical sense. They were both super sweaty and kinda stinky! But. Zen had said it had looked perfect, and their eyes had gone all wide and starry, and Lyra really was starting to feel fine and good and like they really did look cute and lovely in their precious gift t-shirt.
“It’s so cute!!!” Lyra beamed just as brightly, hugging Zen close. “I know I’ve said it before but it’s so cute and lovely and good and I’m gonna wear it every single day forever and ever and ever and never take it off! Except for showers.”
They giggled again, before they glanced at the phone clutched in Zen’s hand.
“Ooh, who were you texting? Or were you just playing that, uh, ‘gotcha’ game you mentioned?”
"bryony and alba would definitely join the terrorists quote me on this put this quote in signatures put it in history books" - Cicada Days, 2017
"No trust me you'd know if I was cause I wouldn't be looking away and also there would be music and stuff but I promised myself no Bandori while I'm on vacation!"
That was true, cause gacha games were Evil Mind Control Devices and if Zen let themself get too into them when company was around they'd go all brain warp-y and Lyra would probably be Concerned and maybe call an ambulance or something and that seemed like a lot of trouble to get into for an objectively dumb phone game that was important to them anyways. There was an event going on but there was always an event going on and they'd have time after vacation to catch up in it anyway!! Priorities had to be prioritized!! Best friends came before video games always!!!
Anyways Lyra looked for reals super super adorable in the shirt but they looked super super adorable in everything so that wasn't really like a surprise at all but still, the shirt was Special, which meant the moment was also Special, and it was. There was one thing they couldn't Tell Lyra yet which was why they'd put tomorrow's date on the back of the shirt but that was gonna have to be a secret for a little bit longer because if they told them today then it would have to be today's date on the shirt and they'd have to get a new shirt and they didn't even remember where the shirt booth was so that was probably a no-go. Also money and stuff! So they had to stay zipper-lipped. Which was hard. Zen was bad at secrets especially ones that were theirs cause it wasn't like anything bad would happen if they Did say something, right? Right. But still! The shirt! Had to be accurate!! This was all very important.
Their phone buzzed in their hand and reminded them that Lyra had kinda asked who they were texting hadn't they.
"Oh! It's just Yuka," Zen said, beaming. "Telling me bout DC and stuff. Y'know it was the triplets' birthday last weekend? And I totally haven't gotten Yuka a present yet so I gotta think of something before they get home—maybe I should get Yuki and Yuko something to be polite and stuff, it's kinda rude only giving one gift maybe, I dunno—"
Buzz buzz.
"Whoops, uh, just a second!"
They were blushing maybe? Like they felt warmer than they should've, it was kinda hard to tell, it wasn't like actual embarrassment blushing cause they didn't do actual embarrassment so much as "good memories of a year ago" blushing even though they were memories they maybe shouldn't be remembering in front of Lyra???? Could, uh, could Lyra read the screen? Just now? They weren't sure. Probably best to move right along then!!!
"Can we get a selfie?" Zen asked, looking back to Lyra and their super adorable shirt. "I wanna show off a little!"
That was true, cause gacha games were Evil Mind Control Devices and if Zen let themself get too into them when company was around they'd go all brain warp-y and Lyra would probably be Concerned and maybe call an ambulance or something and that seemed like a lot of trouble to get into for an objectively dumb phone game that was important to them anyways. There was an event going on but there was always an event going on and they'd have time after vacation to catch up in it anyway!! Priorities had to be prioritized!! Best friends came before video games always!!!
Anyways Lyra looked for reals super super adorable in the shirt but they looked super super adorable in everything so that wasn't really like a surprise at all but still, the shirt was Special, which meant the moment was also Special, and it was. There was one thing they couldn't Tell Lyra yet which was why they'd put tomorrow's date on the back of the shirt but that was gonna have to be a secret for a little bit longer because if they told them today then it would have to be today's date on the shirt and they'd have to get a new shirt and they didn't even remember where the shirt booth was so that was probably a no-go. Also money and stuff! So they had to stay zipper-lipped. Which was hard. Zen was bad at secrets especially ones that were theirs cause it wasn't like anything bad would happen if they Did say something, right? Right. But still! The shirt! Had to be accurate!! This was all very important.
Their phone buzzed in their hand and reminded them that Lyra had kinda asked who they were texting hadn't they.
"Oh! It's just Yuka," Zen said, beaming. "Telling me bout DC and stuff. Y'know it was the triplets' birthday last weekend? And I totally haven't gotten Yuka a present yet so I gotta think of something before they get home—maybe I should get Yuki and Yuko something to be polite and stuff, it's kinda rude only giving one gift maybe, I dunno—"
Buzz buzz.
"Whoops, uh, just a second!"
They were blushing maybe? Like they felt warmer than they should've, it was kinda hard to tell, it wasn't like actual embarrassment blushing cause they didn't do actual embarrassment so much as "good memories of a year ago" blushing even though they were memories they maybe shouldn't be remembering in front of Lyra???? Could, uh, could Lyra read the screen? Just now? They weren't sure. Probably best to move right along then!!!
"Can we get a selfie?" Zen asked, looking back to Lyra and their super adorable shirt. "I wanna show off a little!"
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
They beamed at Zen as they spoke, at length, and they were kinda bouncing on the balls of their feet, and they were pretty sure their smile was a really dopey, sappy one right now. Zen had started talking about their Super Zero G… Gamzee? Super Zero Gamzees on Vacation Policy, and they’d gotten so distracted talking about that, that they phone had buzz buzzed again, and so then they’d gone on to say that it was Yuka on the other end of the conversation, and then they’d started talking about the trip, and the other members of the triplets, and about buying presents for all of them, and, well…
Technically. in the boring dictionary sense of the word, Zen was totally and absolutely rambling. But did it really count as such when Lyra would happily absorb each and every word that they spoke? When everything that came out of their mouth was utterly fascinating and important to them?
Hmm. Yep! They definitely had a super dopey grin on their face now!
But Zen’s phone had just buzzed again, although that was possibly a good thing because if Lyra had opened their mouth now they’d probably have said something really dorky, even too dorky for them! Or something like “iswbfiwvuavsduj”. Or maybe perhaps something they didn’t know the rest of them was quite ready for them to say!
So instead they just nodded a bunch. And waited. And, well, they were standing in juuust the right place to look over Zen’s shoulder as they were typing, so they weren’t really peeking, right? They just happened to be in the exact right spot to naturally Look, and…
…
Oh.
Immediately, they reminded themselves that they had absolutely no right to be disappointed. Reminded themselves that they knew all of this already; maybe not about Yuka, not about every partner Zen had ever had (although Gosh knows that Lyra knew plenty of them, Zen’s loose lips could sink an armada), but that there had been multiple, multiple partners. It was just who Zen was, and it wasn’t that that Lyra was upset about, not really, and certainly not who Zen had been with because that would just be kinda shitty, to hate them for this.
It was just that Lyra was sure that anything they wanted to be for Zen, Zen had already experienced dozens of times over.
They forced the smile back onto their face, though, when Zen turned back round to look at them and ask for a selfie, and there was some hint, more than a hint, honestly, of honesty because they loved selfies with Zen because they always pulled silly faces and messed around and giggled and got super close.
“Heck yeah! I wanna show this off too! Make sure you get all of it in the shot!”
They just hoped Zen didn’t notice the scaffolding propping the corners of their smile up.
Technically. in the boring dictionary sense of the word, Zen was totally and absolutely rambling. But did it really count as such when Lyra would happily absorb each and every word that they spoke? When everything that came out of their mouth was utterly fascinating and important to them?
Hmm. Yep! They definitely had a super dopey grin on their face now!
But Zen’s phone had just buzzed again, although that was possibly a good thing because if Lyra had opened their mouth now they’d probably have said something really dorky, even too dorky for them! Or something like “iswbfiwvuavsduj”. Or maybe perhaps something they didn’t know the rest of them was quite ready for them to say!
So instead they just nodded a bunch. And waited. And, well, they were standing in juuust the right place to look over Zen’s shoulder as they were typing, so they weren’t really peeking, right? They just happened to be in the exact right spot to naturally Look, and…
…
Oh.
Immediately, they reminded themselves that they had absolutely no right to be disappointed. Reminded themselves that they knew all of this already; maybe not about Yuka, not about every partner Zen had ever had (although Gosh knows that Lyra knew plenty of them, Zen’s loose lips could sink an armada), but that there had been multiple, multiple partners. It was just who Zen was, and it wasn’t that that Lyra was upset about, not really, and certainly not who Zen had been with because that would just be kinda shitty, to hate them for this.
It was just that Lyra was sure that anything they wanted to be for Zen, Zen had already experienced dozens of times over.
They forced the smile back onto their face, though, when Zen turned back round to look at them and ask for a selfie, and there was some hint, more than a hint, honestly, of honesty because they loved selfies with Zen because they always pulled silly faces and messed around and giggled and got super close.
“Heck yeah! I wanna show this off too! Make sure you get all of it in the shot!”
They just hoped Zen didn’t notice the scaffolding propping the corners of their smile up.
"bryony and alba would definitely join the terrorists quote me on this put this quote in signatures put it in history books" - Cicada Days, 2017
Snap! (crackle, pop?????) went the camera, and there was a picture of Zen and also the most beautiful lovely perfect person in the whole whole world wearing a lovely perfect shirt that would get lovelier Tomorrow when it Obtained Meaning and it was the best picture and they'd keep it forever, because the cool thing about phones was, you could send pictures to people, and still have the picture yourself!! The digital age was Truly Amazing.
"Thank you!!!" for the picture, they didn't really need to add probably, but they gave Lyra a kiss on the cheek in a fit of !!! because that was where they were at right now before going back to their phone to send Yuka the photo.
They looked up at Lyra and they were still there cause why wouldn't they be!! But also they felt kind bad, about standing here, texting, when Lyra was showing off their cute shirt and also existing, but then they'd feel bad about messaging Yuka when they were big bored on a big boring trip. Friendship was truly a difficult thing! But Lyra had the distinct advantage of being right here and looking at them with those big green eyes of theirs which was hard to—
"Are you okay?"
They got distracted, just for a second, by something in the back of those eyes. They always saw it even when Lyra didn't want them to. The phone buzzed in their hands but they didn't look.
"Did I do something bad?"
They shrunk, just a little.
"Thank you!!!" for the picture, they didn't really need to add probably, but they gave Lyra a kiss on the cheek in a fit of !!! because that was where they were at right now before going back to their phone to send Yuka the photo.
They looked up at Lyra and they were still there cause why wouldn't they be!! But also they felt kind bad, about standing here, texting, when Lyra was showing off their cute shirt and also existing, but then they'd feel bad about messaging Yuka when they were big bored on a big boring trip. Friendship was truly a difficult thing! But Lyra had the distinct advantage of being right here and looking at them with those big green eyes of theirs which was hard to—
"Are you okay?"
They got distracted, just for a second, by something in the back of those eyes. They always saw it even when Lyra didn't want them to. The phone buzzed in their hands but they didn't look.
"Did I do something bad?"
They shrunk, just a little.
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
They were always so good at that.
It was like Zen knew exactly what Lyra as feeling, every single thought that went through their mind, everything they didn’t even know they themselves knew. It was impossible to hide their feelings and emotions from them; as soon as Zen saw a glint in their eye, a flicker across their face, they were honed in, and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was something upsetting Lyra, or that they were hiding a secret, or anything else they were trying to bury deep inside.
Well. It was impossible to hide everything but one thing from them. Sometimes it felt like a matter of if, not when, they’d find out. But for now, it was still buried deep within themselves.
Although. Hmm. With the way Lyra’s emotions were going haywire right now, they couldn’t guarantee that everything wouldn’t overflow and spill out over the carpet and make a big emotional mess anyway. Because looking at Zen, looking at them suddenly appear even smaller, anxious afraid, was enough to make Lyra’s heart shatter and crumble into a million billion pieces.
But. Um.
They had also. Y’know. Just gone and. Well.
They’d kissed them and their heart had immediately reformed and started bounding around their chest and mach speed!!!
It had just been a kiss on the cheek, almost certainly nothing more than a friendly kiss between best friendly friend friends, but! Still! It had felt like lightning had struck the side of their face, and they could still feel the warmth of Zen’s lips pressed to their cheek and God they wanted that every single day and asidbibffwfwe
But.
Zen was still standing there, looking sad, looking like they were about to collapse in on themselves, and Lyra forced their heart to freeze, to remain still in their chest, because this needed to be their priority right now, more than anything else in the universe.
“Oh! No! No no no, no you didn’t!!!”
Lyra waved their hands rapidly, shaking their head ‘no’ as fast as they could. And in the end, it was easy to say what they were saying. Because Zen hadn’t done anything wrong. They weren’t responsible for Lyra’s emotions, they hadn’t personally handed them all of these feelings. They were Zen. And they were being Zen. And maybe it was all right for Lyra to be saddened by it, disappointed that they couldn’t be the one sending texts like that to them.
But it wasn’t all right for them to take that out on Zen. Especially not now, not on their special trip together.
“Sorry, sorry, I just, like, y’know how your brain is super rude and brings up memories when you don’t want it to? Constantly? It just kinda brought up something my dad said last week that made me upset, and I started thinking about it and I felt really bad and sad and… um… gross and stuff…”
And maybe that hadn’t been what they’d been thinking about just now. But they had been looking down at their body, suddenly feeling like their shirt was tightening around their stomach and hips, and thinking of every morning when the first thing their dad had told them had been that they needed to move to a bigger size of clothing.
So it hadn’t been the truth. But it hadn’t been that far from it either.
It was like Zen knew exactly what Lyra as feeling, every single thought that went through their mind, everything they didn’t even know they themselves knew. It was impossible to hide their feelings and emotions from them; as soon as Zen saw a glint in their eye, a flicker across their face, they were honed in, and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was something upsetting Lyra, or that they were hiding a secret, or anything else they were trying to bury deep inside.
Well. It was impossible to hide everything but one thing from them. Sometimes it felt like a matter of if, not when, they’d find out. But for now, it was still buried deep within themselves.
Although. Hmm. With the way Lyra’s emotions were going haywire right now, they couldn’t guarantee that everything wouldn’t overflow and spill out over the carpet and make a big emotional mess anyway. Because looking at Zen, looking at them suddenly appear even smaller, anxious afraid, was enough to make Lyra’s heart shatter and crumble into a million billion pieces.
But. Um.
They had also. Y’know. Just gone and. Well.
They’d kissed them and their heart had immediately reformed and started bounding around their chest and mach speed!!!
It had just been a kiss on the cheek, almost certainly nothing more than a friendly kiss between best friendly friend friends, but! Still! It had felt like lightning had struck the side of their face, and they could still feel the warmth of Zen’s lips pressed to their cheek and God they wanted that every single day and asidbibffwfwe
But.
Zen was still standing there, looking sad, looking like they were about to collapse in on themselves, and Lyra forced their heart to freeze, to remain still in their chest, because this needed to be their priority right now, more than anything else in the universe.
“Oh! No! No no no, no you didn’t!!!”
Lyra waved their hands rapidly, shaking their head ‘no’ as fast as they could. And in the end, it was easy to say what they were saying. Because Zen hadn’t done anything wrong. They weren’t responsible for Lyra’s emotions, they hadn’t personally handed them all of these feelings. They were Zen. And they were being Zen. And maybe it was all right for Lyra to be saddened by it, disappointed that they couldn’t be the one sending texts like that to them.
But it wasn’t all right for them to take that out on Zen. Especially not now, not on their special trip together.
“Sorry, sorry, I just, like, y’know how your brain is super rude and brings up memories when you don’t want it to? Constantly? It just kinda brought up something my dad said last week that made me upset, and I started thinking about it and I felt really bad and sad and… um… gross and stuff…”
And maybe that hadn’t been what they’d been thinking about just now. But they had been looking down at their body, suddenly feeling like their shirt was tightening around their stomach and hips, and thinking of every morning when the first thing their dad had told them had been that they needed to move to a bigger size of clothing.
So it hadn’t been the truth. But it hadn’t been that far from it either.
"bryony and alba would definitely join the terrorists quote me on this put this quote in signatures put it in history books" - Cicada Days, 2017
And then Zen grew again!
Not literally. Like, with the shrinking... metaphor? Simile??? They didn't know words. It would be nice if they grew literally though cause Lyra was so big and it wasn't fair cause Zen wanted to pick them up and swing them around like all the time but they Couldn't because they were Little!!! They could try anyway maybe but if they failed they might both fall down and get hurt but that would probably be kinda funny if they didn't get too hurt so like maybe worth trying anyway!!!!! Sometimes things were just Like That.
Anyways what they really meant was they felt Better cause Lyra said it wasn't their fault but also because they were sad in a weird way? Like not in a bad way where they were Happy that Lyra was Sad, that would be terrible, but they felt like they wanted to be Strong and Cool and Big for Lyra's sake! Cause if they were happy then Lyra could be happier too, maybe? It felt like the right way to be.
"I understand, I think," Zen said, smiling. They kinda did except not really cause their parents didn't really say mean things and also they didn't have a dad! But they understood feeling bad about a thing someone said, in a more general kinda way. Lyra was really red for some reason but if Zen said anything about that they'd probably get More red which would be really cute but maybe a distraction from the situation at hand.
"A little, anyways. Maybe not enough but maybe hopefully enough? I wanna help."
They took their hands which was hopefully an okay thing to do?? They had to put their phone down on the bed to do it but they'd get back to Yuka in a minute!
"I have something to say and the stuff I say is cool and important at least some of the time so—!"
Their smile extended into a big goofy grin.
"I say you look beautiful!"
Not literally. Like, with the shrinking... metaphor? Simile??? They didn't know words. It would be nice if they grew literally though cause Lyra was so big and it wasn't fair cause Zen wanted to pick them up and swing them around like all the time but they Couldn't because they were Little!!! They could try anyway maybe but if they failed they might both fall down and get hurt but that would probably be kinda funny if they didn't get too hurt so like maybe worth trying anyway!!!!! Sometimes things were just Like That.
Anyways what they really meant was they felt Better cause Lyra said it wasn't their fault but also because they were sad in a weird way? Like not in a bad way where they were Happy that Lyra was Sad, that would be terrible, but they felt like they wanted to be Strong and Cool and Big for Lyra's sake! Cause if they were happy then Lyra could be happier too, maybe? It felt like the right way to be.
"I understand, I think," Zen said, smiling. They kinda did except not really cause their parents didn't really say mean things and also they didn't have a dad! But they understood feeling bad about a thing someone said, in a more general kinda way. Lyra was really red for some reason but if Zen said anything about that they'd probably get More red which would be really cute but maybe a distraction from the situation at hand.
"A little, anyways. Maybe not enough but maybe hopefully enough? I wanna help."
They took their hands which was hopefully an okay thing to do?? They had to put their phone down on the bed to do it but they'd get back to Yuka in a minute!
"I have something to say and the stuff I say is cool and important at least some of the time so—!"
Their smile extended into a big goofy grin.
"I say you look beautiful!"
"Well, Fenris, the King of Gossip. We meet again."
Zen failed miserably!
Not at the making Lyra feel better part, absolutely not that at all! Even just a little smile, or giggle, or little tilt of the head, or gesture with their hands, or little bouncy walk, that was enough to perk Lyra right up instantly. So telling Lyra that they understood, and that they were gonna do super everything they could to help? That would definitely make their little heart feel all warm, and effortlessly bring a smile to their face.
And it felt even better to smile, because Zen kept telling them that whenever they smiled, and whenever they were happy, it made them happy too! And they had felt so awful, seeing Zen suddenly so small, so sad looking, so it gave them even more reason to smile for them! They could never force one; well, they could, but they knew Zen would see right through it. The two of them just formed a perfect circle, one smile powering up the other.
So, no, it wasn’t the making Lyra happy part Zen failed at!
It was 100%, totally and completely the ‘don’t make Lyra turn even more redder’ part!
Because, like? They’d just taken hold of their hands (gosh their hands were always so soft and gentle and small yet deliberate), and they’d looked right into their eyes, and smiled from ear to ear, and called them beautiful? Um??? What was Lyra supposed to do other than blush an even brighter scarlet, and blink and stammer and stutter as the heat rose in their face?
“Ajhcvssvfur.”
Oh, they had. They had actually said that this time, hadn’t they?
“I, uh!”
They cleared their throat, trying to ignore the fact their voice had come out super DUPER squeaky and high pitched just now.
“M-Me too!”
Wait. No.
“I mean, uh, you… you too!”
No, fuck, that sucked too!!!
“I mean, um… um!”
Lyra took a deep deep breath, and squeezed Zen’s hands, and nodded to try and hype themselves up.
“You look super super pretty and beautiful always, and, and super cute as well!! And, um, you always smell super nice too!”
They paused.
“Well, um, maybe not, um, now because, you know, it’s super hot outside and sweaty and stuff…”
Not at the making Lyra feel better part, absolutely not that at all! Even just a little smile, or giggle, or little tilt of the head, or gesture with their hands, or little bouncy walk, that was enough to perk Lyra right up instantly. So telling Lyra that they understood, and that they were gonna do super everything they could to help? That would definitely make their little heart feel all warm, and effortlessly bring a smile to their face.
And it felt even better to smile, because Zen kept telling them that whenever they smiled, and whenever they were happy, it made them happy too! And they had felt so awful, seeing Zen suddenly so small, so sad looking, so it gave them even more reason to smile for them! They could never force one; well, they could, but they knew Zen would see right through it. The two of them just formed a perfect circle, one smile powering up the other.
So, no, it wasn’t the making Lyra happy part Zen failed at!
It was 100%, totally and completely the ‘don’t make Lyra turn even more redder’ part!
Because, like? They’d just taken hold of their hands (gosh their hands were always so soft and gentle and small yet deliberate), and they’d looked right into their eyes, and smiled from ear to ear, and called them beautiful? Um??? What was Lyra supposed to do other than blush an even brighter scarlet, and blink and stammer and stutter as the heat rose in their face?
“Ajhcvssvfur.”
Oh, they had. They had actually said that this time, hadn’t they?
“I, uh!”
They cleared their throat, trying to ignore the fact their voice had come out super DUPER squeaky and high pitched just now.
“M-Me too!”
Wait. No.
“I mean, uh, you… you too!”
No, fuck, that sucked too!!!
“I mean, um… um!”
Lyra took a deep deep breath, and squeezed Zen’s hands, and nodded to try and hype themselves up.
“You look super super pretty and beautiful always, and, and super cute as well!! And, um, you always smell super nice too!”
They paused.
“Well, um, maybe not, um, now because, you know, it’s super hot outside and sweaty and stuff…”
"bryony and alba would definitely join the terrorists quote me on this put this quote in signatures put it in history books" - Cicada Days, 2017