#shatteredflower

[totally-not-gay-bird-women]

Doodles of the others!

I love them they're so silly 😭

Eleanor's getting hers soon!

[totally-not-gay-bird-women]

-"Now dat ya mention it, I kept hearing someone goin' in and out of the room las' night. But I was to tired to care, so I went back to sleep until I awoke. Then saw Eleanor, the cat lady gave me a 'talk', but overall, it hasn't even been 12 hours and somebodies snoggin' off." Issar said. "I probably shoulda talked to Mikael, but who am I to talk? I know nothin' bout snogging."-

"Yeah, me neither." Peter said, trying to think back to last night. "You know what? I have no idea where Daniel was all of last night. That has to mean that it was him, right?"

[totally-not-gay-bird-women]

"Well, won't it be ideal just to ask Luna 'bout it?" Jonothan asked, now laying atop the armrest beside Daniel.

"I tried, really! But whenever I try, she just keeps shutting me out!" Daniel complained.

"Hm. Have you perhaps thought about it as Luna trying to protect Mikael?" Jonothan purred. "Or maybe it's just how Luna is. As I experienced with Gui- er, motherly people, they typically have a reason per why they're doing as such. Take culture, for example."

"I mean, yeah, that makes sense..." He said with a sigh. "I'm probably just overthinking it."

"Wouldn't surprise me." Jonothan said, grooming his paw. "You'll be able to work it all out tomorrow. Let's let 'em rest first."

Daniel nodded. "Yeah, you're right..." He looked over at Jonothan with gratitude, though the cat didn't seem to take notice. Daniel smiled faintly.

[totally-not-gay-bird-women]

"Aye kiddo." Someone said after a long while. Daniel didn't even notice the voice was talking to him, until an orange paw brought his book down. "What's got your tail bunched up?"

"Oh, Jonothan." Daniel said, slightly melancholy.

"You seem paler than Phil righ' now! Now, you put that book down and tell me whats goin' on."

Daniel sighed again, putting the book away and looking down at Jonathan. "It's just- Well, you know those new kids?"

Jonothan nodded. "'Course I know 'em, I guided 'em here! Why, what is it about 'em?"

He blushed a little as he thought back on what had happened a few hours ago. "Mikael and I..." He sighed softly. "You better not tell this to anyone else, got it?"

"They won't get a word out of me."

Daniel looked a little hesitant to tell him. "We kind of kissed... I think I like him. I can't stop thinking about him now. And- And the girl, Luna, she keeps thanking me for being there for him, which makes me worried about what his life was like before... And I'm just kind of worried and confused, that's all." He looked around, making sure no one else was listening and was pleased to find it was only him and Jonothan.

[totally-not-gay-bird-women]

Luna nodded, opening the way into the room. Daniel went in, slowly making his way to Mikael. Once there, he placed one flower on the nightstand.

Then, he looked at Mikael. He looked small compared to the bed, and was almost the same color as the white bed sheets. Daniel planted a small kiss on Mikael's cheek before heading to the door.

"Hey Daniel," Luna said, stopping him right outside the door. "Thanks for being their for Mikael when l couldn't."

"What do you-" Daniel tried saying, but Luna shut the door.

Daniel only stared in confusion, not entirely sure how to process what just happened. Should he try to open it? He looked down at the doorknob for a long while before deciding against it.

He thought back on Luna's words. What she said just now and what she'd said before. He wondered what they meant...

He made his way downstairs, his mind wandering to Mikael. He needed to distract himself. He looked around the house for something to do, but everyone was busy doing their own thing now. He sighed, a little discouraged, and grabbed a book on a shelf to read.

[totally-not-gay-bird-women]

Luna laid awake for what seemed like hours. Really, it had only been a few minutes. Eventually, she heard a second pair of snoring join Issar, so she knew Michael finally fell asleep.

She walked over to Mikael, and pulled the sheets over him. She planted a small kids on his forehead, and went to her own bed. After getting so bored, she started making designs with the shadows.

She did that for a while, until she heard a knock so small, she thought she imagined it. Not wanting to accidentally wake Mikael, who was a very light sleeper, she went over and opened the door to see Daniel.

"Hullo?" She asked. "What do you need at this hour?"

Daniel froze for a moment, not expecting Luna to be there. "Oh- Um, just wanted to see if Mikael was still awake..." He leaned over to the side to subtly check inside the room.

"He's sleeping." Luna said, before Daniel could check.

"...Right." He sighed softly. "Well... I just wanted to drop by to give him this..." He opened his palm to reveal two glass flowers. "I took the shards from the one that got dropped and made two. I was hoping to give one to him..."

[totally-not-gay-bird-women]

Mikael, meanwhile, was reading one of his favorite books he found in the library. It was called To Kill a Mockingbird. Unfortunately, the library couldn't have been updated to even the 1970s, so good old classics it was.

"Hey, what you reading?" Luna asked. Mikael peeked over Issar's sleeping body, seeing Luna hadn't fell back asleep.

"At dræbe en sangfugl." Mikael said coldy.

"Sangfugl. That's a form of spottefugl, right? Danish for mockingbird?" Luna asked. For someone so far away, she sure knows her languages.

"Aye." After that, Mikael put the book down, deciding to try and go to bed after all.

This just made Luna more concerned.

Back downstairs, Daniel was poking his food with his fork, not particularly hungry. His mind kept drifting to Mikael and what he may be doing.

"Not hungry?" Guinevere asked, taking a bite of her meal.

Daniel shook his head. "Just... distracted." He mumbled.

"You thinking about those new kids?" Iris asked from across the table.

Daniel's face turned a little red so he sipped his drink to cover it. "Um.. Yeah, sure."

She narrowed her eyes and smiled knowingly, but only shrugged. Guinevere however looked a little concerned. Mostly because he'd barely taken a bite out of his meal, when he was usually one of the first to finish.

"Do you feel sick at all?"

Daniel shook his head. "No, I'm good." He sighed softly and began eating, hoping to draw attention away from himself. And slowly, conversation amongst the other children resumed. Maybe I can finish my food before sneaking back up...

[totally-not-gay-bird-women]

Mikael nodded, still in shock himself. He was about to bring Daniel back in, when someone yelled "Dinners ready!"

"Oh, sorry Mikael," Daniel started. "I need to go eat. Philip gets mad if we don't come on time."

Michael nodded understandingly. He pulled Daniel in for a quick peck before going upstairs with a book. Daniel turned red again, wondering how he was going to hide this at dinner.

Meanwhile, when Mikael got back to the room, Luna was waiting for him. Michael hummed, wondering why she was awake.

"Well, just making sure you were OK. I'm glad you finally found someone you trust." Luna said, smiling.

This hurt Mikael more than he thought it would. He trusted Luna with his life, that's why he made it through his loop collapsing. However, he just nodded, looking to the floor. He went over to his bed, and started reading.

Phillip helped Guinevere set out some plates and looked around to make sure everyone was seated.

"Alright, everyone here?" He quickly counted heads and smiled when he was sure no one was missing. "Perfect! Since Ms. Sparrow hasn't returned yet, we'll just carry out the rest of the evening as usual."

"Ms. Flamingo has offered to reset the loop for us if Ms. Sparrow doesn't return in time, so no one needs to worry about that, alright?" Guinevere reassured, taking a seat between Phillip and Daniel. "Alright, you can all start!"

Almost immediately, the children started eating their meal and chatting amongst themselves. Daniel could pick up little pieces of the conversations. Some were discussing the new arrivals, some were hoping Ms. Sparrow would come back soon and some wondered what Ms. Flamingo was up to. He couldn't pick up much else, as he was mostly distracted. He glanced at the stairs, wondering what Mikael was up to right now.