in search of honey

Rachelle Adrienne Lucas. 22. Intangibility.

[raadlucas]

H E A D C A N O N // THE LUCAS FAMILY

Rachelle has three siblings, Adam, Zachary, and Delilah 'Lila' Lucas. Adam, who is three years his sister's senior, is the oldest and the undeniable favorite of the four. Zachary is one year younger than Rachelle and although he has a tendency to find himself in trouble a great deal, he can do no wrong in his parents' eyes. Lila, the youngest, has just entered her senior year of high school. She and Rachelle are often mistaken for twins, but Lila could not be more different from her older sister. Where Rachelle is soft-spoken and sensitive, Lila is loud, outgoing, and - according to her peers - a bit of a bitch.

[raadlucas]

drive me wild // rachelle & lauren

[laurenlefebvre]

Lauren laughed, understanding the implications behind Rachelle’s question. “Floormates. They all live in my residence building, and they party pretty much every weekend.” She shrugged. “Not that I’m complaining.” 

She starts driving towards the frat house, intending on leaving the car there overnight and walking back to her dorm after the party. Lauren reaches over turns the radio on as they drive. “So, how are things going with you? Like, you don’t have to tell me, but…is everything okay with your parents, and all that?” 

The question is genuine, but there’s still a little part of Lauren that is asking for the sake of the assignment—except this time, she feels genuine guilt for that small hint of an ulterior motive in the question. 

This night is not off to a good start.

[raadlucas]

Rachelle hadn't really expected Lauren to bring up that morning in the lounge. She didn't mind talking about it - least of all with Lauren who had already seen Rachelle at nearly her worst - but she just wasn't used to someone actually caring enough to ask. "Things are hardly ever fine with my parents," she admitted with a small, bitter chuckle. "I'm okay, though. Really. I'm used to it."

The truth was, Rachelle wasn't sure she'd ever be used to her parents' emotional and verbal abusiveness. She couldn't pretend her family life was anywhere near ideal let alone pretend that that fact didn't bother her. No matter how comfortable she felt with Lauren, Rachelle wasn't sure she was ready to go drop that entire load on Lauren. "What about you? How are you doing? Your cut seems to have healed up pretty nicely."

[raadlucas]

drive me wild // rachelle & lauren

[laurenlefebvre]

Lauren had been figuring out a game plan to hunt down another powered one when she got the text from one of the girls on her floor—a party, tonight, at some frat house on campus.

Initially, she’d wanted to make up an excuse; today was just one of those days where she didn’t want to socialize with anyone, but then she realized that she could bring anyone she wanted—and the first person that came to her mind was Rachelle.

She texted her almost immediately after, and couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face when Rachelle accepted her offer just as fast.

Part of her wanted to go because it was Rachelle, and this was another opportunity for Lauren to possibly gain information, and the other part wanted to go because it was Rachelle.

Lauren wasn’t about to lie to herself—the feelings for Rachelle Lucas were definitely there, there was no question, but how Lauren handled it was a different question in itself. There was no rule in the Unspoken Hunter Rulebook about falling for an asset; there was just a rule against actually doing something about it. Rachelle hadn’t shown any signs of being powered or anything, and Lauren was partially hoping that she was just a human, that Anna was wrong; but then again, Anna was almost never wrong.

((Lauren was just banking on the almost part.))

It could be easy—all Lauren would have to do would be to go to her superiors, tell them Rachelle was perfectly normal, and let them let her be on her way.

But what if, later down the line, Rachelle ended up doing something that revealed her potential abilities? She would be dead in an instant at the hands of the hunters, and so would Lauren.

She let all of this go to the back of her mind as she got dressed in a simple black skirt with a beige top, donning her heels and curling her hair. 

Once she got to Rachelle’s dorm, she knocked, and Rachelle opened it; Lauren couldn’t really stop the whoosh of air escaping from her mouth as she looked at her. 

Well, shit. 

Lauren gave Rachelle a half-smile, waving at her. “Hi,” she said, giving Rachelle a once-over with her eyes. “You look incredible. And you’ve got nothing to be worried about,” she said, holding her hand out for Rachelle to take. “I’ll fight off any gross frat boys who try to bug us, and you can make sure none of them spike our drinks. Deal?”

[raadlucas]

"Deal," Rachelle replied with a smile as she took Lauren's hand. Somehow, Lauren's presence always calmed Rachelle down which she was especially grateful for tonight seeing as she more than likely didn't know a majority of the people who would be in attendance at the party.

As she exited her apartment, Rachelle was suddenly hit with a heat wave. She looked down at her hand - which her brain had only just registered as being clasped in Lauren's hand - and her nerves came back full force. Sliding her hand out of the other woman's was an option, but if it was there already and Lauren seemed fine with it, why pull away?

When they reached Lauren's car, she held the door open for Rachelle and Rachelle couldn't help the small frustrated bite she gave her lip when their hands broke contact. "So, how do you know these people? Other classmates? Friends?" Rachelle looked up at Lauren expectantly; internally crossing her fingers that the answer would not be, "Something else...?"

[raadlucas]

drive me wild // rachelle & lauren

The last thing Rachelle had expected to do was make friends with someone just as she was about to graduate. No. Scratch that. The absolute last thing Rachelle had expected to do was to start developing feelings for someone just as she was about to graduate. 

The process of falling had been so easy, too. All Lauren had had to do was pay attention to Rachelle and Rachelle was hooked. It didn't hurt (though, in a way it didn't really help, either) that Lauren seemed to be just as interested in hanging out and being friendly - that was it, it was just a friend being friendly nothing else - as Rachelle was.

When Lauren had invited Rachelle to the party, she knew she was going to definitely be tested. Lauren seemed like the type of girl who would dance like no one was watching and Rachelle wasn't sure she was prepared to be a witness to it (or what Lauren might or might not be wearing). But she went because she needed to prove to herself that she could handle being friends with someone she was so undeniably attracted to.

She was ready at nine, per Lauren's request; having spent nearly two hours changing her clothes and checking and rechecking her make-up before deciding that her appearance was, at the least, passable. When Lauren knocked on the door, Rachelle jumped up from her spot on the couch where she had been quietly (and anxiously) awaiting Lauren's arrival. "Hey," she said with a smile as she opened the door. "I'm..." She sighed. "Nervous, honestly. I haven't been to a party since sophomore year."

[dumpmeinthebayou]

Visit Original Link

[raadlucas]

It's not hard to live like a ghost I just haunt all that I've wanted And leave what I don't I dreamt a trail up to the sky And my brothers built propellers Just to see how far they'd fly

[ghuules-deactivated20200125]

[laurenlefebvre]

give yourself away // lauren & rachelle

[laurenlefebvre]

Confused, Lauren sat there and sipped at her coffee while she waited for Rachelle to get back from whatever it was she was doing.

When she got back with water and a napkin, Lauren raised both of her eyebrows. “Whoa, okay, I should be fine—” 

She winced, eyes shut, as Rachelle continued anyway, moving her hand up to place it on Rachelle’s hand to gently push it away from her face. The napkin had little spots of blood on it (I can’t believe it’s still bleeding), and Lauren looked at the napkin for a moment before moving her gaze to Rachelle.

God, she’s pretty. 

She stayed like that for a little bit, unconsciously biting her lower lip—her heart was racing and she was mostly pinning it on the pain of her eyebrow (which didn’t even hurt that much in the first place). Her eyes flitted down to Rachelle’s lips for the briefest of moments—it could be easy, she could just move forward and—

Lauren, what the hell. She realized what was happening and immediately let go of Rachelle’s hand, moving herself back and averting her eyes to the coffee table in front of them. “Ah, thanks,” she murmured, gingerly touching the wound. “All good.”

Befriend the asset, don’t fall for the asset, you goddamned idiot. Do your job right. 

Lauren looked back at Rachelle.

But maybe it’s too late.

[laurenlefebvre]

give yourself away // lauren & rachelle

[laurenlefebvre]

Lauren laughs nervously, standing to go pour them two cups of coffee and contemplating what she could tell Rachelle. Sure—she could tell her what happened, that she was attacked and that she managed to fight them off with the help of someone else, but that could potentially lead to ‘how did you know how to fight them off?’ or ‘what were you even doing out that late on a wednesday night?’. Lauren doesn’t know the extent of how curious of a person Rachelle is, so she decides to settle for the story that makes her seem like an idiot, rather than the one that makes her sound—well, kind of badass.

She passes a cup to Rachelle and shrugs. “I was just on a run and I tripped badly. On my face. I think it’s starting to heal—I probably should’ve gotten stitches, but—” needles terrify me. "—I just didn’t have the time. Hopefully it doesn’t get infected, or something."

[raadlucas]

Rachelle scoffed incredulously at Lauren's explanation. "You tripped? I'm not making fun of you at all, it's just that I was kind of hoping you had a story about, like, fighting off cat-calling assholes or something." She took a sip of her coffee before continuing, "You know, 'show them up when you can and fuck them -- not literally -- if they still think they’re better than you.' That sort of thing."

It was hard not to look Lauren directly in the eyes (and not just in a courteous I'm looking at you when you're speaking sort of way, but in a God, I could get lost in your eyes am I staring oh shit I'm staring sort of way). The cut was rather long for a fall, but Rachelle wasn't about to question the injuries Lauren had sustained during a trip Rachelle hadn't been around to see. "I'll be right back," she said, putting her cup down on the table as she rose from the couch and crossed the room. When she returned, she had a napkin and a plastic cup of water. She dipped the napkin into the water and reached up to Lauren's brow, dabbing at the part where Lauren had accidentally removed a bit of the scab. "I don't have proper medical supplies or anything, but the least we can do is wipe the blood off your face."

Even after the cut was clean again, Rachelle's hand lingered near Lauren's cheek, her fingers lightly brushing the other woman's skin as she pulled away. "Uh, yeah. Okay. There we go. Much better." Contact as brief as that had never made her so nervous before she met Lauren.

[laurenlefebvre]

give yourself away // lauren & rachelle

[laurenlefebvre]

Lauren frowns, rubbing Rachelle’s back a little before retracting her hand (she’s not even sure if Rachelle is good with personal space—Lauren isn’t, and she has no idea why she’s even doing this in the first place).

She could ask what’s wrong—maybe something that Rachelle says could even pertain to Lauren’s assignment of extracting important information—but that seems evil and cruel, and Lauren decides to just be a friend.

((For now.))

As a friend, Lauren is genuinely concerned for Rachelle’s well-being; she’s known her for all of two weeks, but Rachelle’s open nature has Lauren feeling like she’s known her for longer, as cliche as it may be.

"Cute even when you’re crying," she says lightly, absentmindedly reaching over to tuck a strand of blonde hair behind Rachelle’s ear. Lauren pulls her hand back when she realizes what she’s doing. "Ah, sorry," she says hastily, reaching up and accidentally scratching at the cut on her eyebrow (it’s started to scab a little, and scabs itch). "Ow—I, yeah, sorry. For the comment and the touching thing. Totally not cool of me to do that without asking. But like, are you actually okay? You can talk to me—I’ve just started a pot of coffee over there, if you want me to grab you a cup. We can just sit and talk if you want."

[raadlucas]

Rachelle shook her head slowly, laughing softly as she wiped away the last of the tears from her cheek. "Don't worry about it. I-- thank you. It's just... my mom called and gave me an earful about coming home. She wants me to fly back to DC pretty much right after I graduate, but..." She shrugs and lets out a long sigh, her gaze falling on Lauren without meaning to as she continued. "I like it here."

She winced as Lauren nicked her scab, frowning slightly when she expressed her pain. "Seriously, don't worry about it. I hardly even noticed." (Definitely a lie. Who wouldn't have noticed the close proximity and the softness of Lauren's touch? Shut up, Rachelle.) "We should talk about whatever happened with this," she pointed at the scab, "after you get us that coffee."

[laurenlefebvre]

give yourself away // lauren & rachelle

Lauren wakes up at around 7 in the morning with a killer headache—she raises her fingertips to the cut on her eyebrow, which still hasn’t quite healed over yet.

(She should probably get stitches, but Lauren is terrified of needles—something that she refuses to admit to herself.)

Coffee might help. There probably isn’t even anyone in the lounge at this hour, anyway. 

Lauren gets out of bed and slips on a pair of sweats (even though there might not be anyone out and roaming the halls, she doesn’t really want to be seen in her underwear), smoothing down the t-shirt she had worn to bed the night before and stretching. 

She makes her way over to the residence lounge—there are a few beer bottles strewn on the counter, presumably from the party last night, and she fills up the coffeemaker, a shitty old thing that usually requires a hit or two to start functioning.

After it starts to boil the water, she turns and walks over to the couches on the other side of the lounge, only to see someone curled up on one of them—she seems distressed, maybe even like she’s crying, and Lauren is prepared to turn back around—until she recognizes the blonde hair as Rachelle’s.

"Uh, Rachelle?" she says, furrowing a brow and going over to sit next to her. Tentatively, she places a hand on her back and leans over at an attempt to make eye contact with her. "Everything alright?"

[raadlucas]

It shouldn't have surprised Rachelle at all when the call with her mother went south. To be fair, it hadn't actually surprised her all that much, but still, she held on to the tiny shred of hope that maybe this time her mother would stop acting like a conservative politician and more like a mom. There was nothing about the call that was outside of the routine-- Oh, you're graduating? Great, so you'll be back in DC in June and you'll start paying back the tuition money we spent.--but something about the call on this particular day just...

She couldn't stop crying and she wanted to tell herself to stop, that crying was a sign of weakness, but she'd told herself that so many times before and held in so many tears for so long that this time she found it was impossible to bottle anything else up. She had fought to stay here after her brothers graduated and now she was expected to just pack up and forget about the degree she didn't even want, but had worked so hard to earn? None of it made any damn sense and none of it ever did nor, Rachelle figured, would it ever.

A hand on her back shook Rachelle from her thoughts and she prayed that she had not just heard the voice of Lauren of all people because the public crying was embarrassing enough. "Yep," she said quickly, wiping her eyes frantically as she jumped up. "Totally good, thanks. Just tired."

[raadlucas]

introduction to chemistry // rachelle & lauren

[laurenlefebvre]

Lauren hesitated slightly—hopefully before Rachelle could notice. “Ah, I can’t talk too much about it,” she said, shrugging. “It’s a family business. But it’s not very interesting,” she added, figuring out ways to change the subject. 

She usually makes up something stupid with her occupation—I work for one of the bioengineering research labs at Hailgrove, and there’s top-secret engineering things that I can’t tell you about, I work for the mafia (which she might as well be doing), etc…but she isn’t sure how much she wants to lie to Rachelle.

It’s irrational, and stupid, but Rachelle Lucas just seems so innocent, to the point where it feels like lying to her is tainting the person she is, as if hearing lies makes you a liar, yourself.

Hoping that Rachelle doesn’t push the subject, Lauren continues on to a different point of conversation—still related to what they’re talking about, but moving away from Lauren and her life.

"What about you? What do you do?”

[raadlucas]

"It's cool. No worries. I was just curious," Rachelle replied quietly, suddenly (and very irrationally, she noted) embarrassed. She knew it wasn't anything to be embarrassed about--it was just a question and if anything, Rachelle completely understood Lauren not wanting to talk about certain things--but it was so deeply conditioned in her to feel a certain amount of guilt for being too nosy. She was working on it, but like with the nail picking, Rachelle was aware that old habits die hard.

"Me?" She picked at her nails (old habits die really hard) before clasping her hands together and looking up at Lauren. "I'm just a student. Boring as it is. I'm studying Engineering." (Because it's the only subject my parents would let me study.) "I'm technically done with my bachelor's this semester, but I'm not too eager to go home, so... I'll probably stick around and work odd jobs until I can find something to do. Shouldn't be too hard? I hope. The job market is so beyond shitty right now."

"Here you are." Rachelle looked up, slightly startled by the sudden appearance of the waitress. "Thank you," she said with her best smile as the waitress placed the food in front of them. They ate and continued to converse, but the subjects were much lighter as the lunch went on, much to Rachelle's relief. She wasn't used to talking about herself and when she did, she worried that she would say something she shouldn't or say something she'd regret.

Lauren was a strange comfort to Rachelle despite them only having spent so much time together, but she knew better. She knew better than to trust someone she knew so little about so implicitly. If only Lauren didn't make it so easy she might have an easier time taking her own advice.

[raadlucas]

introduction to chemistry // rachelle & lauren

[laurenlefebvre]

Lauren nodded, feeling genuine sympathy for Rachelle—she could already tell that Rachelle isn’t really the ‘I’m the best person in the whole wide world’ kind of girl—actually, Lauren was fairly certain that Rachelle Lucas was the furthest from that.

"Like I said before," she said, "I don’t believe that anyone is actually average. And I totally understand constantly feeling like you have to, like, prove yourself to people who you really shouldn’t need to prove yourself to.” Lauren wasn’t exactly sure why she was saying any of this—if Anna or Adam heard what she was saying to Rachelle right now, they would likely have her killed on the spot—but she justified it with the more I open up to her, the more she will open up to me. "My job requires a lot of physicality sometimes, and it also involves a lot of men sneering at me—but the best thing to do is to just show them up when you can, and fuck them if they still think they’re better than you. Not actually fuck them, of course," she adds jokingly.

"Anyway, I’m glad that isn’t what you believe anymore. At least, that’s what I’m assuming is happening right now. You’re way too good to let yourself and who you are be dictated by gross men, yeah?"

[raadlucas]

"Yeah, I've sort of given up trying to show others I'm capable," Rachelle admitted. "I do it for myself now. And, I think it's probably better that way." She bit her bottom lip and looked away, suddenly aware of just how personal this conversation was getting. "I appreciate that..." she replied quietly. "Thanks."

The waitress came by then and after they'd ordered their food, Rachelle realized she no longer had the menu to hide behind. "Yeah, fucking them wouldn't... it wouldn't be the first thing to cross my mind, anyway," she confessed with a small laugh. "But I get your point." She looked down at her hands, willing herself not to pick at her nails. It was a habit she realized she shared with her cousin; a habit she had quit months ago and did not intend to pick up again.

"If you don't mind me asking," she began as she attempted to change the subject, "what is your job?" Rachelle thought about mentioning that she was currently unemployed because her parents had threatened to pull her college tuition if she didn't 'stay focused on school', but decided against it. This was their first meeting outside of class, Lauren didn't need to be burdened with Rachelle's troubles even if Rachelle was already almost completely certain she could trust Lauren with anything.

[raadlucas]

introduction to chemistry // rachelle & lauren

[laurenlefebvre]

Lauren laughed, shaking her head a little. “I’m also fluent in Italian, but Italian isn’t as useful as French is in North America—but I don’t want you to think that I know how to speak those languages out of some random will. I was sort of born into it. My mom is part French, part African, and my dad is Italian.” She shrugged. “My mom’s family is very French, and my dad’s family is very Italian, so I would have to change languages at every single family dinner or outing.”

She nodded when Rachelle talked about her own family, running the tip of her finger along the rim of her glass, listening intently to everything she had to say about her schooling and her brothers. This is the important stuff. 

This was a lot easier than Lauren thought it would be—conversation was flowing easily, despite the fact that Lucas didn’t seem like she wanted to talk too much about herself—but Lauren was mostly pinning that on the fact that, as Rachelle had said, people didn’t ask her about her life all that much.

Rachelle Lucas was quietly endearing, easygoing, and pretty. Lauren tilted her head slightly to the right as she watched Rachelle, wondering how on earth girls like her could possibly get a target put on their backs by people like Adam Ashkirk and Anna Novotny.

She had an answer prepared for Rachelle’s question—actually, Lauren was fairly certain that she had answers prepared for any question Rachelle Lucas may have for Lauren. While the server placed their food in front of them, she began to say the lines she had rehearsed well to Rachelle.

"I’m here to get my master’s degree in bioengineering, so I’m going to be here for a while," she said, flashing Rachelle another smile. "How I got here is kind of similar to the way you got here—my parents are all, ah, affiliated with Hailgrove, whether they went here themselves, or worked for the university.” She leaned back against her chair. “I’m not complaining, though. I like it here. It’s exciting; I’ve meet a lot of intriguing personalities, pretty much every month I stay here. Such as yourself.”

[raadlucas]

Rachelle threw her head back and groaned. When she finally looked back at Lauren, her expression was blank. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me," she said with a sigh. "French and Italian? Who are you?" She gives a small laugh and shakes her head before apologizing and pretending to inspect her menu. "I mean, that's just... you know. Insanely cool."

She listened to Lauren, but couldn't help rolling her eyes at the other girl's final comment. "Me? Intriguing? Intriguingly average, maybe." Rachelle shrugged, taking a sip of her water as she tried to think of something else to say. "Well, stereotypically enough for a girl from DC, my parents are pretty politically active. I grew up around a lot of old angry white men telling me 'you can't do this' and 'you can't do that' because 'you're a girl and girl's are weak'. And, I kind of believed it? For a while, at least."

[raadlucas]

introduction to chemistry // rachelle & lauren

[laurenlefebvre]

"You can just tell me whatever as we go along. That was a tough question, sorry," Lauren said, chuckling lightly. 

She continued walking, and held the door open to the diner for Rachelle (who said chivalry was dead?). “Everyone’s got some kind of interesting story. I have a firm belief that everyone has something cool about their lives. No way there isn’t. Even the most boring person in the world has the title of ‘being the most boring person in the world’ as their title, so that makes them interesting, doesn’t it?”

Lauren is stretching a little for conversation, but she thinks she’s doing pretty damn well, considering that they’ve only just met. “And what makes you think I’m so interesting?” She teases, thanking the waiter who seats them at a booth. “I mean, I guess I’ve had my fair share of weird experiences, like that one time I found this weird animal in the trunk of my car, but I mean, nothing too far-fetched, y’know?” The waiter sets glasses of water in front of them, and Lauren quietly thanks him again. “Okay, how about this one: how’d you end up at Hailgrove?”

[raadlucas]

"No, no. It's totally fine," Rachelle insisted. "I just-- no one really asks me those kinds of questions, so I don't really know how to answer." 

She entered the diner, giving a smile and small nod in thanks for Lauren holding the door. Rachelle didn't even know how to respond to Lauren. She was the type of girl who seemed so... put together. The type who floated through life, letting things just happen as they may. In some ways, she reminded Rachelle of her cousin Dev, but Lauren was different. Her charm was a badge she wore with pride and she at least seemed to have a genuine interest in the lives of others. She had a certain something that was completely magnetizing. A certain... what did the French call it? Je ne sais quoi. I don't know what.

"I mean, you're fluent in French, for one thing. I don't know about other people, but I happen to think that's extremely interesting," Rachelle replied, trying her best to keep her tone as strictly matter-of-fact as possible. "Followed my brothers," she admitted, with a quick raising of her eyebrows. "It was either this or... nothing, really. Once my brothers got in, it was pretty much guaranteed that I would follow." She shrugged. "Not that I had a choice," she added in a quick, low mumble. She sat up again, eager to turn the question back on Lauren. "What about you? How'd you end up here?" 

[raadlucas]

introduction to chemistry // rachelle & lauren

[laurenlefebvre]

"Yeah, I’m starving," Lauren says, packing up her things and slinging her bag over her shoulder, winking at some sophomore kid who is staring at her, open-mouthed, because they’re done so fast. 

Once they get out into the hallway, Lauren starts to lead them toward the nearest diner, figuring out a course of action for the day. She could probably easily get Lucas to start talking about the basics of her life—where she was born, her hobbies, et cetera, all by today—maybe even in the next few hours—but a part of her is slightly intrigued by Rachelle’s character. She was expecting her to be a lot more timid, definitely not as cute and flustered as she was, and being friendly and outgoing towards Rachelle wasn’t nearly as difficult as she thought it would be.

Might as well spend more time with this one, she thinks to herself, Not like Novotny gave me a time constraint. 

She grins over at Rachelle, reaching over to briefly place a hand on the small of her back. “So, I’m about to ask you the most generic question a person who has just met another person could ask said person. Tell me about yourself, Rachelle Lucas.”

[raadlucas]

Rachelle's eyes darted down towards the hand that had suddenly made its way to her back, but she surprised even herself when she did not flinch or move away. "That really is the most generic question you could possibly ask," she comments with a small laugh. "Umm, well, I'm from DC, I have two older brothers, and..." she paused, taking a moment to try and read the expression on Lauren's face.

"I mean, there's not a whole lot to my story, to be honest," she said, tucking a bit of loose hair behind her ear as she looked away. "My life isn't all that interesting. You, though, you must have like a million interesting stories to tell."

[meganfrasier-blog]

Ugh, I totally feel you on that one.

I’m pretty much about to give up entirely. Education is overrated, right?

[raadlucas]

It certainly feels that way.

I just wish I could adopt that attitude sans the inevitable guilt.

[laurenlefebvre]

We’re almost at the end. Just imagine an unlimited supply of ice cream waiting for you for when you’re done with finals.

My treat.

[raadlucas]

Unlimited ice cream? Your treat? That's just about all the motivation I need.