Gonna be Everything I'm Dreaming
Rating: PG.
Disclaimer: Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century and all its sequels belong to Disney – I'm just playing with the characters.
Notes: Thanks to Jess (J.L. Jordan) for the beta reading and the insistence that I had to continue. You're brilliant, Jess!
Rolling over onto her back and groaning as she moved a muscle she really didn't want to think about, the teenaged girl made a face up at the ceiling. "I think I'm dead." Her voice was groggy – even she could tell that – and her legs ached so much she didn't think she'd want to walk for days.
She heard Margie echo her groan from the next bed over, but didn't look over at her. That would require moving. "You aren't the only one. I think my legs are permanently detached from my body." Her voice was oddly hoarse, and Zenon heard her make another whimper.
"Oh, come on! That was fun! Right, Zee?" Dasha, the only bouncy one in the room, let out a quick peal of laughter as Margie groaned again. "It was," she insisted cheerfully. "Come on, don't you love soccer?"
Her cheerfulness, Zenon decided with a glare up at the ceiling, made her want to kill the younger girl. It should have been illegal for anyone to go through that much exercise and not immediately collapse from the pain.
And it was. At least in her mind.
"You hate me." Margie let out another moan. "You hate me and you want me to ruin my shoes. It's all a plot to make sure everyone else has better shoes than me." She sounded almost paranoid, and Zenon had to wonder if the heat from earlier had caused some sort of meltdown among her internal organs. Namely her brain.
Dasha made a squawk of protest and jumped up on the other bed. "I do not. Zenon, tell her I don't." She thought about opening her mouth to reply, but thought better of it as her leg shifted slightly and pain shot through her. If she actually moved her head to say something, she would probably die from the pain.
"Mmph." Zenon nodded in her head after that. There: she had replied, she was a good girl, and could her legs – no, her body – please stop hurting now? It would be stellar major if it did; she had a visit due to the local hospital tomorrow and she didn't want to hobble in there.
They might mistake her for one of their patients and never let her leave. Which was completely not an option, since she had planned it out already and being taken hostage by nurses who desperately wanted to fix her was not mentioned in any of the four versions she had written out.
Or the twenty-two versions she had created in her head since last week. And they said that she never thought ahead for anything! Well, she would show them.
Or she had shown them when she actually did plan things. Zenon was a little unsure on that point, since it seemed like it could go either way quite cheerfully. Probably also dressed in a turtle outfit, since that would be interesting.
Vega Omega, it was official: the heat – and all the running, kicking, and just generally exercising – had fried her brain. She was probably getting ready to have a meltdown major.
But hopefully that could wait until after she had figured out just what was going on with Proto Zoa. After that her brain could fry, have a crisis major, even do cartwheels if it really pleased. Just as long as it didn't start until tomorrow night.
"Fine." Dasha huffed slightly to herself, then dropped down onto her bed and giggled. "You know what I think?" She sounded as mischevious as a thirteen-year old could, and Zenon wondered briefly what had possessed her to want to spend two weeks here. Hadn't she realised that after three days she'd probably be ready to strangle the other girl?
"What?" Zenon saw Margie roll over onto her left side from the corner of her eye. "Do you think that if I play any sport again for the next century I'll die? Because I'd have to agree with you." She gingerly moved her arms so her head was propped up on one of them.
"Noo... I think Zenon likes Proto Zoa! Like, in a crush major way." Dasha sounded undeniably thrilled at herself with that realization, and Zenon didn't have the heart to tell her that she had figured the same thing out months ago. Better to deny it so Dasha could be even happier.
Oh, and so she wouldn't be teased throughout her entire life about a little crush minor that she kinda had for five years or so. That wasn't that long, right?
"I do not!" Moving to sit up and glare at Dasha, Zenon shook her head as quickly as she could. And vega omega, that hurt. That was it, she was never going to move. Ever.
"Yes you do." Margie turned over, albeit slowly, to grin at her. "You do and you're even more hopeless than I thought if you haven't realized it by now." There was a note of glee major in her voice, and Zenon felt herself make a face in Margie's direction before she could even realize what she was doing.
"I do not." Now she sounded even more stubborn, if that were possible. And childish – she couldn't leave out childish. Frowning over at Margie, she actually achieved the strength to move her legs. Even if she was pretty hopeless major at moving beyond a few feet, she could strangle Margie if she needed to.
Oddly, that filled Zenon with security major.
"Yes, you do." Margie's voice was stern. "You do and you know it, so why are you pretending to have no idea what we're talking about?" A strand of brown hair fell into her face as she spoke, and she brushed it away.
"Yeah!" Dasha bounced up on her bed and looked suspiciously at Zenon. "You aren't shy, since you were about ready to kiss Bronley without even knowing- Oops." She looked up at Margie with a sheepish smile, and the other girl waved a manicured hand at her airily.
"I'm mega smart, Dasha. I know it all already." Zenon looked up in relief – how to explain to Margie that even though he hadn't been her boyfriend at the time, they had still almost kissed?- and Margie laughed. "Zee, you looked pancaked."
Zenon shrugged, refusing to admit how much the idea of possibly losing Margie as a friend would bother her. If it were Neb, she would know it wouldn't have mattered, since it was just guy stuff. But Marg would probably be more offended at the idea of Zenon getting to him before she did than it being any particular guy.
"But-" She abruptly changed the subject "-We aren't talking about Bronley. We're talking about you and Proto Zoa." Hearing another sour note in Margie's voice, Zenon and Dasha both winced. Yeah, there was definitely trouble in paradise. Even Marg wasn't that testy without a reason.
"So why are you lying?" Dasha's inquisitive eyes met Zenon's, and she felt an urge to blush. Something she very quickly killed – she didn't blush. She might look sheepish, she might act silly and jittery and all ridiculous, but she didn't blush.
"I'm not lying. It isn't a crush major – that was for people like Gregory and Orion. This is a..." Frowning, Zenon searched for the right words and then grinned in triumph as she found them. "This is a momentary emotional fling."
Now as long as they didn't ask her why.
"Why?" Dasha jumped up from her bed and flung herself down on Zenon's. Margie did the same, looking for all the galaxy like she had found a juicy piece of gossip and couldn't wait to hear what it was. Actually, that was probably the exact reason.
Gotta love Margie. No matter how rude major she might occasionally be, at least she was predictable.
"Because it's not entirely stellar. Do you know how much older he is than me?" Zenon made a face at the idea – honestly, who could have known he was thirty-one? - and curled up into a small ball, ignoring all the pain moving gave her. "This is so inky," she muttered to herself. "Dasha, do you have anything to make my body stop screaming in pain major every time I move?"
Margie looked over at Zenon from a foot away and nodded. "If you did it'd be fabulo, since I'm closer to dead than I've been since I was abandoned out in the wilderness with Zenon." She rolled over and looked over at Zenon with an amused smile.
"Yeah, well, it was your fault." Zenon smiled to the other girl and then started playing with a loose thread on her lime green pajamas; her hands were bored major. Or she was just antsy at what she was going to do tomorrow.
Probably both.
Margie stayed silent for a moment and then nodded. "Probably." She grinned as she said it, but her smile quickly changed into something resembling horror. "But if either of you dare tell someone I said that, I'll make sure Daddy gets you in trouble major."
Dasha laughed. "You don't scare us, Margie." She bounced on the bed again, making both Zenon and Margie groan. "Okay. Hold on and I'll go see if Mom has anything that can work on your back." She got off the bed and wandered away, kicking piles of dirty clothes and hair things as she went.
"Finally!" Pouncing on Zenon as soon as Dasha had slammed the door behind her, Margie grinned. "So what is going on with you two? There's something, I can see that. Have you kissed?" She nudged Zenon with her arm.
Zenon laughed. Of course this was what would come next. It had been the same with Orion and Sage. It was unavoidable major by now, wasn't it?
Have your friends find out you had a little crush major and have them all demand you for details the next minute. With all the things that had changed since she was thirteen, it wasn't even a shock this had stayed the same. Sadly.
"No!" She sat up, albeit with aching muscles, to throw one of Dasha's orange throw pillows at Margie. "I can't believe you think that we would – except we did once. Kinda." The memory – that had been shoved away to the back of her mind – came rushing to the surface, and she felt herself try to blush. Again.
"Vega Omega!" Margie sat straight up on the bed, pushing aside the pillow Zenon had thrown at her as well as the one she had curled herself around. "Zee, are you serious? That's so stellar!" Her face shown with the sort of glee that Zenon was used to only seeing on her friend's face when she had won something – or had gotten the attention of a mega gorgeous guy.
"It wasn't a kiss major. It was just kinda a kiss." Zenon paused after that and wove a strand of hair around her index finger. How was she going to phrase this? "It was just..." Words failed her again – her! Zenon Kar – and she frowned. "It was a deal minor, Marg. Now be quiet about it – I don't want to have Dasha teasing me the entire trip."
Ah. Orders were something she really did love, as long as she was the one giving them.
"Fine." Margie glared; her earlier delight seemed all but gone. "My back is killing me, anyway." Another frown crossing her face, she moved off of Zenon's bed and onto her bed. For a minute there was nothing but complete silence; worry on Zenon's side and who-knew-what on Margie's.
Zenon sighed and gathered up her courage. Apologizing was never something she was good at. "Margie? Marg, I'm sorry. I'm just confused." And that was an understatement major as far as she was concerned. Having a crush was one thing, but the weird feelings she was getting in her stomach – like a giant black hole eating everything up – weren't things she was used to feeling.
At all.
Margie turned over and nodded at Zenon, her brown eyes thoughtful. "It's okay. It does make sense." There was some sort of experience in Margie's voice that seemed like unfamiliar territory to her – since when did Margie become understanding about things like this – and Zenon couldn't help but wonder what she had missed.
Probably something important major.
With a sigh, Zenon rolled over and shut her eyes. Dasha still wasn't back yet with whatever she was going to get, but she needed her sleep. It was better than deliberating over things she had never bothered to think about much before.
Besides, tomorrow was going to be a busy day. She'd get to see just what was going on with Proto Zoa, and maybe she'd even figure out what to do about how she felt towards him.
Maybe.
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"Aunt Judy, Dasha, do you mind if Margie and I go out and shop today? I wanted to get something else for you." Zenon nodded over towards Dasha, who was busy stuffing her face full of cereal. She nodded, though, and received a smile from both Zenon and Margie.
Aunt Judy just blinked, her hand reaching up to rub her eyes. Clad in a cotton robe and with her hair all falling around her, she looked like she would prefer to be still in bed than eating breakfast.
Or staring off into space while Dasha and Zenon ate breakfast.
"Fabulo!" Margie gave them all a giant smile, obviously delighted at the prospect of shopping the entire day away. Which she would be doing – just without Zenon, who had other plans and wasn't above using Margie as an accomplice/alibi.
And Margie wasn't above being used as such as long as she got a new pair of shoes out of the deal, so everyone was happy. Except for maybe Aunt Judy, who wasn't so enthusiastic about being up.
Or Commander Plank, who was going to take them to the biggest mall in the city. Especially since he was unaware major about the entire idea – it was supposed to seem sudden, not an 'I-Planned-This-Five-Days-Ago-So-I-Could- Go-Make-Sure-Proto-Zoa-Is-Okay-Please-Don't-Tell-My-Parents' sort of thing.
Aunt Judy nodded again before lying her head down on the table and yawning. "That works, girls, since Edward had wanted to spend the day with Dasha at the beach." Dasha's smile got wider at Aunt Judy's words, and Zenon stifled a laugh.
Somehow, she could not see Commander Plank at the beach.
Zenon and Margie locked eyes, and they both exchanged grins. She mouthed, "Ahh!" at Zenon, and Zee had to stop herself from giggling again. It was reassuring major to know that she wasn't the only one that couldn't see him at the beach. Would he wear his uniform even there?
A giggle escaped her. "Great!" She beamed at Aunt Judy before turning to Dasha. "Do you mind, Dasha? I just thought of a stellar present for you last night, and I want to get it." Which was true major. She did think of something brilliant, and she did want to get it.
It would just be Margie buying it instead.
Zenon put on one of her angelic faces – the ones that she wore when she was up to something and she didn't want the adults to know about it – and smiled cheerfully as Dasha nodded again. Everything was going according to plan, and she felt like shrieking with delight.
Today she would get to see Proto Zoa.
"We should go, then." Margie grabbed Zenon by her sleeve and pulled her off of her chair, tapping her foot as impatiently. "Oh-" and then she turned to Aunt Judy just like they had rehearsed, "- Do you think Commander Plank would take us?" Her eyes widened in innocence major, and Dasha's head shot up to look at Margie suspiciously.
Evidently the complete and total innocence was too much. They had thought it might be, but Zenon had decided they might as well go for it anyway.
"Sure. Go ahead and tell him." Aunt Judy didn't even look up from the table; to all extents and purposes she was ready to sleep.
"Okay." Margie nodded and went off to tell him – bossiness always had been one of her strong points – while Zenon stayed behind and gave Dasha a quick hug. "It's nothing bad, I promise," she whispered into her ear. "You'll see when we get back."
Dasha smiled up at her and hugged her back. "I know," she murmured quietly when she let go. "I'm not stupid major, Zee." She rolled her eyes after she said it, bravado and smugness pouring out of her. Whether she was thirteen officially or not, the attitude had already taken hold of her.
"Have fun at the beach." Zenon gave her a big smile before nudging Aunt Judy with her elbow. "And you need to get some more sleep. Go back to bed." Her aunt just nodded before closing her eyes again. After a moment, a snore escaped her lips.
"Ready, Zenon?" Margie practically skipped into the room, a grumpy looking Commander Plank trailing after here. "He wants us to leave now, so let's go." Her eyes were sparkling and she had a firm grip on her purse – shopping was less a fun pastime and more of a religious experience major for Marg.
"Sure." A strand of blonde hair fell into her eyes and she pushed it back before grabbing Margie's wrist and pulling her out the door. "No – wait." She detached herself and picked her bag up from a chair before waving at Dasha as Margie pulled her out of the door.
And here they entered stage two of her brilliant major plan: get her and Margie to the mall. Then get her off on her real destination – the Galaxy Hospital. Where the mega famous rock star, Proto Zoa, was staying until he was given a clean bill of health.
(Or at least that's what Zenon had decided, since the accident was near here and since that's where he had been when he had broken his arm last year.)
"Ready, girls?" Commander Plank gave them a somewhat sleepy smile, and Margie and Zenon looked at each other. Where they ready? Was she ready?
Yeah, Zenon decided with a fervent nod. She was definitely ready.
Rating: PG.
Disclaimer: Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century and all its sequels belong to Disney – I'm just playing with the characters.
Notes: Thanks to Jess (J.L. Jordan) for the beta reading and the insistence that I had to continue. You're brilliant, Jess!
Rolling over onto her back and groaning as she moved a muscle she really didn't want to think about, the teenaged girl made a face up at the ceiling. "I think I'm dead." Her voice was groggy – even she could tell that – and her legs ached so much she didn't think she'd want to walk for days.
She heard Margie echo her groan from the next bed over, but didn't look over at her. That would require moving. "You aren't the only one. I think my legs are permanently detached from my body." Her voice was oddly hoarse, and Zenon heard her make another whimper.
"Oh, come on! That was fun! Right, Zee?" Dasha, the only bouncy one in the room, let out a quick peal of laughter as Margie groaned again. "It was," she insisted cheerfully. "Come on, don't you love soccer?"
Her cheerfulness, Zenon decided with a glare up at the ceiling, made her want to kill the younger girl. It should have been illegal for anyone to go through that much exercise and not immediately collapse from the pain.
And it was. At least in her mind.
"You hate me." Margie let out another moan. "You hate me and you want me to ruin my shoes. It's all a plot to make sure everyone else has better shoes than me." She sounded almost paranoid, and Zenon had to wonder if the heat from earlier had caused some sort of meltdown among her internal organs. Namely her brain.
Dasha made a squawk of protest and jumped up on the other bed. "I do not. Zenon, tell her I don't." She thought about opening her mouth to reply, but thought better of it as her leg shifted slightly and pain shot through her. If she actually moved her head to say something, she would probably die from the pain.
"Mmph." Zenon nodded in her head after that. There: she had replied, she was a good girl, and could her legs – no, her body – please stop hurting now? It would be stellar major if it did; she had a visit due to the local hospital tomorrow and she didn't want to hobble in there.
They might mistake her for one of their patients and never let her leave. Which was completely not an option, since she had planned it out already and being taken hostage by nurses who desperately wanted to fix her was not mentioned in any of the four versions she had written out.
Or the twenty-two versions she had created in her head since last week. And they said that she never thought ahead for anything! Well, she would show them.
Or she had shown them when she actually did plan things. Zenon was a little unsure on that point, since it seemed like it could go either way quite cheerfully. Probably also dressed in a turtle outfit, since that would be interesting.
Vega Omega, it was official: the heat – and all the running, kicking, and just generally exercising – had fried her brain. She was probably getting ready to have a meltdown major.
But hopefully that could wait until after she had figured out just what was going on with Proto Zoa. After that her brain could fry, have a crisis major, even do cartwheels if it really pleased. Just as long as it didn't start until tomorrow night.
"Fine." Dasha huffed slightly to herself, then dropped down onto her bed and giggled. "You know what I think?" She sounded as mischevious as a thirteen-year old could, and Zenon wondered briefly what had possessed her to want to spend two weeks here. Hadn't she realised that after three days she'd probably be ready to strangle the other girl?
"What?" Zenon saw Margie roll over onto her left side from the corner of her eye. "Do you think that if I play any sport again for the next century I'll die? Because I'd have to agree with you." She gingerly moved her arms so her head was propped up on one of them.
"Noo... I think Zenon likes Proto Zoa! Like, in a crush major way." Dasha sounded undeniably thrilled at herself with that realization, and Zenon didn't have the heart to tell her that she had figured the same thing out months ago. Better to deny it so Dasha could be even happier.
Oh, and so she wouldn't be teased throughout her entire life about a little crush minor that she kinda had for five years or so. That wasn't that long, right?
"I do not!" Moving to sit up and glare at Dasha, Zenon shook her head as quickly as she could. And vega omega, that hurt. That was it, she was never going to move. Ever.
"Yes you do." Margie turned over, albeit slowly, to grin at her. "You do and you're even more hopeless than I thought if you haven't realized it by now." There was a note of glee major in her voice, and Zenon felt herself make a face in Margie's direction before she could even realize what she was doing.
"I do not." Now she sounded even more stubborn, if that were possible. And childish – she couldn't leave out childish. Frowning over at Margie, she actually achieved the strength to move her legs. Even if she was pretty hopeless major at moving beyond a few feet, she could strangle Margie if she needed to.
Oddly, that filled Zenon with security major.
"Yes, you do." Margie's voice was stern. "You do and you know it, so why are you pretending to have no idea what we're talking about?" A strand of brown hair fell into her face as she spoke, and she brushed it away.
"Yeah!" Dasha bounced up on her bed and looked suspiciously at Zenon. "You aren't shy, since you were about ready to kiss Bronley without even knowing- Oops." She looked up at Margie with a sheepish smile, and the other girl waved a manicured hand at her airily.
"I'm mega smart, Dasha. I know it all already." Zenon looked up in relief – how to explain to Margie that even though he hadn't been her boyfriend at the time, they had still almost kissed?- and Margie laughed. "Zee, you looked pancaked."
Zenon shrugged, refusing to admit how much the idea of possibly losing Margie as a friend would bother her. If it were Neb, she would know it wouldn't have mattered, since it was just guy stuff. But Marg would probably be more offended at the idea of Zenon getting to him before she did than it being any particular guy.
"But-" She abruptly changed the subject "-We aren't talking about Bronley. We're talking about you and Proto Zoa." Hearing another sour note in Margie's voice, Zenon and Dasha both winced. Yeah, there was definitely trouble in paradise. Even Marg wasn't that testy without a reason.
"So why are you lying?" Dasha's inquisitive eyes met Zenon's, and she felt an urge to blush. Something she very quickly killed – she didn't blush. She might look sheepish, she might act silly and jittery and all ridiculous, but she didn't blush.
"I'm not lying. It isn't a crush major – that was for people like Gregory and Orion. This is a..." Frowning, Zenon searched for the right words and then grinned in triumph as she found them. "This is a momentary emotional fling."
Now as long as they didn't ask her why.
"Why?" Dasha jumped up from her bed and flung herself down on Zenon's. Margie did the same, looking for all the galaxy like she had found a juicy piece of gossip and couldn't wait to hear what it was. Actually, that was probably the exact reason.
Gotta love Margie. No matter how rude major she might occasionally be, at least she was predictable.
"Because it's not entirely stellar. Do you know how much older he is than me?" Zenon made a face at the idea – honestly, who could have known he was thirty-one? - and curled up into a small ball, ignoring all the pain moving gave her. "This is so inky," she muttered to herself. "Dasha, do you have anything to make my body stop screaming in pain major every time I move?"
Margie looked over at Zenon from a foot away and nodded. "If you did it'd be fabulo, since I'm closer to dead than I've been since I was abandoned out in the wilderness with Zenon." She rolled over and looked over at Zenon with an amused smile.
"Yeah, well, it was your fault." Zenon smiled to the other girl and then started playing with a loose thread on her lime green pajamas; her hands were bored major. Or she was just antsy at what she was going to do tomorrow.
Probably both.
Margie stayed silent for a moment and then nodded. "Probably." She grinned as she said it, but her smile quickly changed into something resembling horror. "But if either of you dare tell someone I said that, I'll make sure Daddy gets you in trouble major."
Dasha laughed. "You don't scare us, Margie." She bounced on the bed again, making both Zenon and Margie groan. "Okay. Hold on and I'll go see if Mom has anything that can work on your back." She got off the bed and wandered away, kicking piles of dirty clothes and hair things as she went.
"Finally!" Pouncing on Zenon as soon as Dasha had slammed the door behind her, Margie grinned. "So what is going on with you two? There's something, I can see that. Have you kissed?" She nudged Zenon with her arm.
Zenon laughed. Of course this was what would come next. It had been the same with Orion and Sage. It was unavoidable major by now, wasn't it?
Have your friends find out you had a little crush major and have them all demand you for details the next minute. With all the things that had changed since she was thirteen, it wasn't even a shock this had stayed the same. Sadly.
"No!" She sat up, albeit with aching muscles, to throw one of Dasha's orange throw pillows at Margie. "I can't believe you think that we would – except we did once. Kinda." The memory – that had been shoved away to the back of her mind – came rushing to the surface, and she felt herself try to blush. Again.
"Vega Omega!" Margie sat straight up on the bed, pushing aside the pillow Zenon had thrown at her as well as the one she had curled herself around. "Zee, are you serious? That's so stellar!" Her face shown with the sort of glee that Zenon was used to only seeing on her friend's face when she had won something – or had gotten the attention of a mega gorgeous guy.
"It wasn't a kiss major. It was just kinda a kiss." Zenon paused after that and wove a strand of hair around her index finger. How was she going to phrase this? "It was just..." Words failed her again – her! Zenon Kar – and she frowned. "It was a deal minor, Marg. Now be quiet about it – I don't want to have Dasha teasing me the entire trip."
Ah. Orders were something she really did love, as long as she was the one giving them.
"Fine." Margie glared; her earlier delight seemed all but gone. "My back is killing me, anyway." Another frown crossing her face, she moved off of Zenon's bed and onto her bed. For a minute there was nothing but complete silence; worry on Zenon's side and who-knew-what on Margie's.
Zenon sighed and gathered up her courage. Apologizing was never something she was good at. "Margie? Marg, I'm sorry. I'm just confused." And that was an understatement major as far as she was concerned. Having a crush was one thing, but the weird feelings she was getting in her stomach – like a giant black hole eating everything up – weren't things she was used to feeling.
At all.
Margie turned over and nodded at Zenon, her brown eyes thoughtful. "It's okay. It does make sense." There was some sort of experience in Margie's voice that seemed like unfamiliar territory to her – since when did Margie become understanding about things like this – and Zenon couldn't help but wonder what she had missed.
Probably something important major.
With a sigh, Zenon rolled over and shut her eyes. Dasha still wasn't back yet with whatever she was going to get, but she needed her sleep. It was better than deliberating over things she had never bothered to think about much before.
Besides, tomorrow was going to be a busy day. She'd get to see just what was going on with Proto Zoa, and maybe she'd even figure out what to do about how she felt towards him.
Maybe.
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"Aunt Judy, Dasha, do you mind if Margie and I go out and shop today? I wanted to get something else for you." Zenon nodded over towards Dasha, who was busy stuffing her face full of cereal. She nodded, though, and received a smile from both Zenon and Margie.
Aunt Judy just blinked, her hand reaching up to rub her eyes. Clad in a cotton robe and with her hair all falling around her, she looked like she would prefer to be still in bed than eating breakfast.
Or staring off into space while Dasha and Zenon ate breakfast.
"Fabulo!" Margie gave them all a giant smile, obviously delighted at the prospect of shopping the entire day away. Which she would be doing – just without Zenon, who had other plans and wasn't above using Margie as an accomplice/alibi.
And Margie wasn't above being used as such as long as she got a new pair of shoes out of the deal, so everyone was happy. Except for maybe Aunt Judy, who wasn't so enthusiastic about being up.
Or Commander Plank, who was going to take them to the biggest mall in the city. Especially since he was unaware major about the entire idea – it was supposed to seem sudden, not an 'I-Planned-This-Five-Days-Ago-So-I-Could- Go-Make-Sure-Proto-Zoa-Is-Okay-Please-Don't-Tell-My-Parents' sort of thing.
Aunt Judy nodded again before lying her head down on the table and yawning. "That works, girls, since Edward had wanted to spend the day with Dasha at the beach." Dasha's smile got wider at Aunt Judy's words, and Zenon stifled a laugh.
Somehow, she could not see Commander Plank at the beach.
Zenon and Margie locked eyes, and they both exchanged grins. She mouthed, "Ahh!" at Zenon, and Zee had to stop herself from giggling again. It was reassuring major to know that she wasn't the only one that couldn't see him at the beach. Would he wear his uniform even there?
A giggle escaped her. "Great!" She beamed at Aunt Judy before turning to Dasha. "Do you mind, Dasha? I just thought of a stellar present for you last night, and I want to get it." Which was true major. She did think of something brilliant, and she did want to get it.
It would just be Margie buying it instead.
Zenon put on one of her angelic faces – the ones that she wore when she was up to something and she didn't want the adults to know about it – and smiled cheerfully as Dasha nodded again. Everything was going according to plan, and she felt like shrieking with delight.
Today she would get to see Proto Zoa.
"We should go, then." Margie grabbed Zenon by her sleeve and pulled her off of her chair, tapping her foot as impatiently. "Oh-" and then she turned to Aunt Judy just like they had rehearsed, "- Do you think Commander Plank would take us?" Her eyes widened in innocence major, and Dasha's head shot up to look at Margie suspiciously.
Evidently the complete and total innocence was too much. They had thought it might be, but Zenon had decided they might as well go for it anyway.
"Sure. Go ahead and tell him." Aunt Judy didn't even look up from the table; to all extents and purposes she was ready to sleep.
"Okay." Margie nodded and went off to tell him – bossiness always had been one of her strong points – while Zenon stayed behind and gave Dasha a quick hug. "It's nothing bad, I promise," she whispered into her ear. "You'll see when we get back."
Dasha smiled up at her and hugged her back. "I know," she murmured quietly when she let go. "I'm not stupid major, Zee." She rolled her eyes after she said it, bravado and smugness pouring out of her. Whether she was thirteen officially or not, the attitude had already taken hold of her.
"Have fun at the beach." Zenon gave her a big smile before nudging Aunt Judy with her elbow. "And you need to get some more sleep. Go back to bed." Her aunt just nodded before closing her eyes again. After a moment, a snore escaped her lips.
"Ready, Zenon?" Margie practically skipped into the room, a grumpy looking Commander Plank trailing after here. "He wants us to leave now, so let's go." Her eyes were sparkling and she had a firm grip on her purse – shopping was less a fun pastime and more of a religious experience major for Marg.
"Sure." A strand of blonde hair fell into her eyes and she pushed it back before grabbing Margie's wrist and pulling her out the door. "No – wait." She detached herself and picked her bag up from a chair before waving at Dasha as Margie pulled her out of the door.
And here they entered stage two of her brilliant major plan: get her and Margie to the mall. Then get her off on her real destination – the Galaxy Hospital. Where the mega famous rock star, Proto Zoa, was staying until he was given a clean bill of health.
(Or at least that's what Zenon had decided, since the accident was near here and since that's where he had been when he had broken his arm last year.)
"Ready, girls?" Commander Plank gave them a somewhat sleepy smile, and Margie and Zenon looked at each other. Where they ready? Was she ready?
Yeah, Zenon decided with a fervent nod. She was definitely ready.