My day didn't start off well.

When I woke up and tried to stretch, I was greeted by a horrid sharp pain in my neck. The kind that you get when you sleep funny and then wake up in the morning feeling like someone hammered a nail there.

Okay, well, I can deal with that; it's my off-day.

Then I went downstairs to make us breakfast and lo and behold, I ended up scalding myself with hot water. The last time I got this badly burnt was when I was trying to make truffles.

Damn it - I have no fate with cooking. Even Hope gets scalded less than me, and he's only fourteen.

I hear Hope coming down the stairs after hearing me yelp, asking me if I'm alright.

...Yeah. My day isn't going well.

After a mishap filled morning, I decided to just stay in my room and sort out the paperwork I'd decided to take home to finish up.

I hear the knock on my door, and say "It's not locked."

Next thing I know, I hear the distinctive sound of a camera shutter going off. I turn around and find myself staring at the lens of a DSLR, with none other than Hope behind it.

"Wh...where on earth did you get THAT, and what are you doing??"
"Oh...Cloud lent it to me...and taking pictures of you, obviously."
"What the - let me see that photo you just took."

Hope comes over and hands me the camera.

"I look terrible! How do you delete this?" I attempt to fiddle with the controls to erase the picture, but Hope takes the camera from my hands.

"Not gonna delete it! You look fine!"
"No, I don't! Erase that!"
"Well, I'll delete it if you smile and let me take a proper picture."
"What kind of compromise is that, Hope? I don't feel like smiling. Just erase it!"
"It's a reasonable one, Light! I just want to take a nice picture of you and stuff. It's just one."

Hope looks at the camera, his voice dropping a little.

"I wanna take one with you smiling, because when you smile you get all pretty."

I feel a faint blush spreading on my cheeks. I want to continue being stubborn and say no to him, but I can't really bring myself to.

"Okay, just one. And only one."
"Really?"

A genuine smile crosses my lips.

"Do you want that photo or not? Move fast before I change my mind."

Hope nods happily, raising the camera again.