Wow, it's been a while since I've used FF.
Anyway... Good morning boys and girls and everyone in-between! So, story time: one morning I had Evanescence's Tourniquet running in my head for some reason and it really fucked with a half asleep dream. And this was basically the result? Obviously more polished though. The first two chapters are both more set up and character interaction between the cousins before shit really hits the fan. But then we get to the fun bit... rubs hands together.
Gentle morning rays hit the eyelids of a tiny sleeping squid. With a soft whine, the small form shifted down, under the protection of her soft sheets. Her mother had not woken her prior to the sun getting high enough in the sky to get into her room; therefore today was not an important day. It was a good thing, too. She felt like she hadn't caught any sleep at all. In fact, she probably hadn't gotten to sleep until it was almost sunrise. The remnants of a harsh illness still ate at her despite her parents attempting to make her comfortable enough to sleep at least most of the night. Even if it was a day that they would normally do some sort of activity, it seemed that she was being allowed to rest some more.
It was with this in mind that she curled a little tighter into herself, waited for a weak cough to pass, and allowed the warm embrace of darkness to swallow her again.
"Marie! Wake up!"
The peace was not to last, it seemed. A body much the size of her own bounced up onto the bed, landing on top of the sleepy child resting there. She gasped as the weight aided by velocity knocked into her and drove the wind from her body. Her sheets were ripped from her body, exposing her skin to the freezing outside air and her eyes to the sun.
Despite her assailant's desperate shaking and calls, Marie didn't move for some time, trying to get over the many factors that left her moaning in pain.
Why, oh why, Marie lamented through the pain of being landed upon, were those joyful golden eyes staring at her with such expectation on a day like today?
"Callie," she eventually grunted. The older squid went silent immediately, eagerly awaiting what else would come from the mouth of her best friend. "Get. Off. Of me."
Callie laughed sheepishly. "Oh, sorry!" She slipped off the bed, rapidly changing between her bright pink squid form and bipedal kid form for a couple of moments as she literally vibrated in excitement. The funny little quirk never failed to make Marie smile despite any situation that would normally make her frown, which was usually a rude awakening like today. When Marie sat up and tested her hurt limbs, feeling another small cough force its way through her sore throat, Callie stopped her swift transformations and tried to tug her cousin off of the bed. Marie was still coming to terms with the world around her and offered little resistance, although her body was weak from sleep and illness and she ended up nearly falling face first onto the ground instead of securely planting her feet.
Moaning, Marie tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes the best she could while being dragged down the stairs. Their parents were sitting at the table, having a pleasant sounding conversation, but paused when they saw their children.
Marie's mother bit back a laugh. "Callie… I told you to not disturb her!" Despite the stern words, she couldn't help but giggle a little at the sheer energy of her sister's offspring.
"But Aunty, I wanted to play with her!" Callie protested, tugging Marie just a little further.
"Honey," the older cousin's father gently chided, "do you remember what we told you on the way here? She had a long night."
Callie looked back to her yawning cousin sadly. "But…"
"No buts," the mother of the oldest said with a soft but still strict voice as the younger's father retrieved his child.
Marie went limp in his arms almost immediately but moaned when he started climbing the stairs. "No… I wanna…" She trailed off sleepily, but the message was across.
The plea was enough for her dad to take pity on her, even though they all knew she wasn't going to be awake long enough for it to matter. He hugged her close in understanding, swaying for a moment before changing destinations. He sat down on the couch instead, using one hand to wrap a blanket around her shoulders before he kissed her forehead and returned his hand to her back, pressing firmly and lovingly. This added just enough pressure to be a comfort and successfully lull his precious squid to sleep.
The next awakening was far gentler than the previous. Her consciousness decided at random when to stir, and that, as it seemed, was the middle of the night. She shifted a little and whined when she realized that she was hungry. Incredibly so.
Of course, that's what happens when you can't stomach dinner and never got any breakfast.
Something draped across her stomach shifted and a voice next to her ear moaned. "Marie? You alright?"
The sound of her older cousin's concern was nice. She wasn't alone at least, though that did mean that she would be keeping another awake while she suffered. Last night, she had pretended to fall asleep so that her parents could go to bed; she had just enough will amidst the sickness-induced haze to feel bad about their ruined sleep schedules and subsequently pretend to be fine until they left the room. But Callie sleeping next to her…
Ultimately, she wasn't going to put much thought into it. She was tired and hungry.
"You want some dinner?" Callie offered. The sound of this perked Marie right up, and she nodded eagerly. Callie smiled broadly. "You slept right through lunch. Aunty said she didn't have the heart to wake you after last night. The adults were going to have dinner while I took a nap with you and then finally wake you up."
Marie blinked and looked around. It wasn't night after all, it just looked like it because there were curtains over the windows, the door was shut, and the light was off. She grunted a little and pushed herself into a seated position, yawning and stretching.
Callie, always a bundle of never-ending energy, jumped up and said, "I'll go tell the adults!" And then she was gone.
Left in the darkness and now silence, a part of Marie called for her to lie back down and to pass out again. Her stomach would not allow if this, though, and soon she was stumbling into the dining room while Callie was mid-story.
"Ah, speak of the devilfish," one of the fathers said. Who exactly it was, Marie wasn't sure; she was blinded from light and too tired to try and tell the difference in the voice. She just knew it was too deep to be either of the mothers.
Strong arms scooped up the stumbling squid and a gentle voice, her mother, she vaguely realized, asked, "Hungry, love?"
Marie hummed an affirmative and nuzzled her face into the crook of her mom's shoulder in a vain attempt to block out the light. A couple of minutes pass in a haze and the next thing she knew, she was sitting in her father's lap while her mother gently coaxed soup into her mouth. A content look grew on her face now that both rest and sustenance existed in normal proportions within her body.
"How are you feeling, dear?" Her uncle asked, crouching to look her in the eye.
"Better," she murmured. She moved a little in a half stretch and glanced this way and that. "Where's Callie?"
"Outside with your Aunt Dara. You want to go and say hi to them?"
Marie nodded and was dutifully carried out the back door.
Callie, at that moment, was being taught to throw a Frisbee. The three adults and one four-year old came out just in time to see her fling the disk straight into a bush.
"More wrist, less arm!" Dara told her as she ran to get the wayward disk.
Callie had a small pout on her face as she leaned over to get her Frisbee, a look that vanished at the sight of her cousin. She abandoned the disk and made for the small group. "Marie!" She stopped at her uncle's feet and began that funny little quick transformation dance until her cousin was placed on the ground, at which point she tackled her into a hug.
Marie yelped and toppled over onto her father's feet. She had anticipated a hug, but could never remember how much strength Callie held in her small form until she used it. She found herself looking up at the adults while Callie rambled about this or that. One smile and a gentle shove to get her older cousin off assured the grownups that she was more or less fine, and pretty soon she was learning to throw a Frisbee as well.
Too bad she was abysmal at it. It was the first time in about a week that she had been well enough to get out and do something, though, so she was more than happy regardless. By the time that her mother called off the activities, she could almost get it flying in a vaguely straight line, although it was nothing compared to their parents' easy, accurate tosses.
She and Callie were put to bed together soon after. The pink squid crashed hard, something Marie assumed she did every day since their frequent sleepovers always ended like this. The gentle snores of her cousin were something of a lullaby for the younger child, and she happily allowed it to sing her to sleep.
Fun fact: this was originally a short ~500 word segment that was more melded onto chapter 2, but then I got on an expansion kick. It's still short and could be melded into the second one, but eh.
Currently I have up to chapter 6 more or less set in stone, but beyond that no guarantees, yeah? This is, first and foremost, a whim that got out of control.