pairing: Lara x Nate + Charlotte Sewell x Elliot Scott
words: ~500
"I thought you were dead!"
Charlotte just laughed and shot his character in the back. "Watch your surroundings next time, man."
Elliot Scott was her best friend, and he was sleeping over at hers that night. They were supposed to sleep, but were instead laying on her bed together, playing a game on their phones. She was winning, much to his chagrin.
But he was a gracious loser and gave her a high five, trying to hold back his frustrated sigh. "Good game. Why do you always win, though?"
She smirked. "Skill, of course. But," she tucked a lock of auburn hair behind her ear, "you're very good at this too. You almost won last time."
He gave her a smile that only accentuated her own. "You're very diplomatic. But no, I'm not good at this game at all. If you want more equal playing ground, we could play chess or something."
She made a face. "Sorry, but I get really bored playing these types of long games. Besides, we should probably get to sleep before Mom and Dad catch us." He suddenly yawned, and she chuckled, throwing him a knowing look.
With a sigh, he moved to the bed that had been set aside for him on the side of hers; and while he was still close, she found herself missing the warmth of his body. Oh.
She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not that the boy she liked was her best friend. It certainly gave her an excuse for wanting to spend time with him, and the way she always smiled around him. She wondered if he suspected what lay beneath, and if he could possibly feel the same.
Her parents probably knew, but they thankfully didn't bring it up.
---
She was awakened the next morning by a hand jostling her shoulder. "Charlotte, are you sleeping?"
She groaned. "Not anymore." She recognised Elliot's excited voice, and it was his face that met her when she opened her eyes. "You have approximately five seconds to tell me why you woke me up, before I go back to sleep."
He chuckled. "You're so grumpy in the morning. But," he squealed, "it's your Dad's birthday!"
She smiled and tried to shake the grogginess off her as she sat up. "You remember? It was almost half a year ago I told you."
"Of course I do, we're best friends! This day is important to you and your family. Plus," he added, "I kinda look up to your Dad. He's cool."
She rolled her eyes. "That's certainly an opinion. I'm afraid I, by the legal contract of teenage daughter, have to disagree with that."
He scoffed, but looked at her fondly. "You're such a dork, Charlotte."
She hoped her feelings wouldn't make him pull away, if she ever gained the courage to confess them.
pairing: Cherie x Mason + Alice and Anastasia Young
words: ~500
"Mom, Dad, hurry up! Elliot and Anton are leaving in fifteen minutes!" Anastasia shouted from the hallway.
Cherie chuckled and turned to Mason. "They sure are good friends with the Scott kids, huh? I'm glad; Maaka is a cool guy."
He raised an eyebrow. "Adam would disagree."
"Adam is an idiot."
He rolled his eyes, but chuckled. "Yeah. Haven't you finished that now, anyway? They're waiting for us."
She smirked at him. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were actually excited for this." Reluctantly, she let go of the present and put it in a drawer. "I'm just trying to get ready for their birthday tomorrow."
"Yeah, yeah. Now let's go before they throw a tantrum."
Anastasia was just eight years old, but by the way she berated them every time something didn't go as she wanted, she sure seemed to believe she was much older. They were lucky that her twin sister, Alice, wasn't like that.
The girls were fully decked out in Halloween clothes, Anastasia as a vampire (the irony) and Alice as a witch. The younger twin gave them a disappointed look when her parents appeared in the hallway. "Why aren't you guys dressed up?"
Mason scoffed. "Look, sweetie, it's a miracle that I'm even--"
Cherie quickly interrupted him before he could say anything else. "There's not a lot of outfits for adults, but I'm sure yours are cool enough for our entire entourage." Alice seemed to accept it, albeit a bit begrudgingly, and skipped on out through the door after Anastasia. The Scott twins were probably waiting outside.
Mason stepped closer to murmur in her ear as they walked out the door, "I would've loved to see you in one of these adult outfits, sweetheart." There was no uncertainity in what he was referring to, and she swatted his arm with a glare.
"Not in front of the kids, you menace!"
He just shrugged. "Pretty sure they didn't hear it." She rolled her eyes, but smiled.
---
Elliot and Anton were both dressed up as werewolves, which Maaka must've found immensely funny judging by the grin on his face. "Hey! Glad you finally came, these guys have absolutely no patience at all."
Alice and Anastasia ran up to them immediately, exchanging some sort of secret handshake with the boys. They all appeared very interested in the others' outfits, Anastasia going so far as to touch Elliot's fake fur ears curiously.
Of course, Mason just had to disturb their fun. "Are we just gonna stand around here, or did you want to go trick-or-treating?" She threw him a glare, but he ignored it.
Alice wasn't as subtle with her disapproval. "Oh c'mon, Dad! We're just catching up!"
He was about to snap back, so Cherie jumped in to save the peace. "Five more minutes, sweetie, but then we really do have to get going." Mason grumbled, but didn't object.
She couldn't help but examine the scene in the meantime, chuckling at the difference between Maaka's enraptured smile as he gazed over the children and her husband's glare at anything and everything (except her and their daughters, which she didn't fail to notice).
