no running in the halls!

[moonstrualcycle]

[hot off the presses, this one, horrendous new clothes and all. wherever it is in the DR's apartment building that Lea's chosen to roost, that's where Isa's getting yeeted catapulted, quite literally. at least it had the decency to drop her outside the apartment, right? enjoy the distinct sound of someone colliding hard with the wall next to the door and crumpling into a groaning mess on the floor. there's sand on her shoes, and a familiar frisbee came with her, dropped a short distance from where she landed. knock knock, Lea.]

Comments

[cinderlea]

It definitely was not my fault.

[ It probably was. Knocking herself on her ass with a frisbee bouncing to the face or something. ]

C'mon, it's behind the wall.

[moonstrualcycle]

[not worth it to argue that it was totally Lea's fault because she was a dumbass back then; she's too sleepy.]

So did this place have this color scheme when you found it or did you actually bother to personalize it?

[cinderlea]

You're kidding, right? No, it's the coolest— go sit on the bed, I'll show you.

[ Suddenly she has enough renewed energy to dart over to the wall that separates her bedroom from the living room. Her bed is large, with a thinner blanket but a mountain of soft pillows that have spilled out onto the floor on most of two sides of it. It's in dark red tones, with black sheets. It's a mess, and the short nightstand next to it is also messy, with her phone, a couple books, a lamp, and at least two glasses of varying degrees of emptiness. There's an open bag of chips, but at least she had the decency to put it on the floor next to the bed, so there aren't chip crumbs in the sheets. ]

[moonstrualcycle]

[oh my god you dork. she'll sit on the bed, but only after compulsively gathering half the pillows and arranging them to her liking. she's frowning at the nightstand though, and also appreciating the sheets which will look great under both of us i mean what.]

Whatever it is, you're a dweeb.

[cinderlea]

Sure, but what does that say about you.

[ Isa, Friend of Dweebs. That's what. Lea makes a big (but silent) show of waiting while she arranges the pillows, which were in a totally fine and comfortable nest even if over half of them were on the floor, thank you. Then she reaches for the lightswitch, but, oho, there are two of them, and one of them seems to be a set of dials. It kind of looks like a thermostat for an AC, but when she turns it it makes several low clicking noises and the colorful part of the bed changes hues. The black sheets stay black, but the red tones shift through oranges, then yellows, and slower into greens that start at lime and then end in a rich emerald. ]

[moonstrualcycle]

[parts of the bed changing color make her jump slightly, and then she levels that same flat look at Lea before getting on with settling down.]

It says you're still a dweeb, even though that is pretty cool.

[cinderlea]

[ This renewed energy is not conducive to napping. She's going to be that annoying sleepover partner who keeps trying to talk when you're falling asleep. She turns the dial until it's the closest shade to what she remembers Isa's favorite color being, unless it's something like neon orange or something in which case you're getting tone down thx. Then she hops over to the bed and folds her legs under her. ]

Admit it. It's the coolest.

[moonstrualcycle]

[that's okay, Isa probably developed the ability to make vague affirmative noises while actually being asleep purely as a response to Lea being like that. but gosh. this isn't a smile, it's just a trick of the light.]

Nah, the coolest would be if your kitchen produced hot food on demand with no effort.

[cinderlea]

[ She opens her mouth, snaps it shut, then tries again and just shrugs one shoulder as she flops onto her side. ]

That's fine. Some of the kitchens around this place do that.

[moonstrualcycle]

[Lea's gettin' lazily thwacked with a pillow. wiggling will not be tolerated, much, so you'd better get settled.]

Again, I have to question how you're still such a stick if that's the case.

[cinderlea]

[ Oof. She catches the pillow, but looks unfazed. Everyone knows she flops all over the place while she's sleeping, also. ]

Good genes? Magically created food equals magically created calories? I've got theories.

[moonstrualcycle]

[she squints dubiously at Lea as she gets settled herself.]

...you're sure this isn't weird? Like, it is weird, but.

[uncomfortably so, she means. between her own hangups about the last twoish weeks having felt like she was intruding on quality time with the kiddos, and the fact that this isn't quite the correct Lea, she's feeling really hesitant about a lot of this. won't stop her from latching on and becoming dead weight to keep Lea from moving around so much, though.]

[cinderlea]

[ She stops, watching Isa's face carefully, then awkwardly looks to the ceiling. ]

It's probably weirder for you. You went through it all, but I'm not caught up yet.

[ She doesn't want to say things like "I'm not your Lea" or "I'm not that Lea", because what if it makes Isa separate the two? Friend vs clone of friend? ]

But I can tell everything happened, just like you said. Know it'll happen when I go back. I think it's something to look forward to.

[ She looks back to Isa, then turns and moves closer along the bed, face closer so Isa can't super easily avoid looking at her and miss how serious she is about this. ]

But I've been missing you for years.

[moonstrualcycle]

[oof. give her a sec, her brain just fizzed out, between the proximity and that last bit. she wasn't ready for that, and is figuring that this Lea (because of course she's thinking like that, after all the self-censoring she already had to do) isn't ready for the level of shy, cautious affection they were working towards back home. or maybe she was perceiving that the wrong way and was the only one being skittish about it. Lea would know better than Isa, tbh, because Isa is made of overthinking things.

she finally sighs a little and shifts close enough to rest her forehead against Lea's. that should be fine.]

It's absolutely weirder for me, that's why I asked. I worked so hard to keep you at arm's length over most of the last decade, while also being angry that you were letting me do it, and. The fact that you were willing to just pick up where we left off is... not something I really deserve but thank you, I guess. I missed you for years too.

[cinderlea]

[ Okay, it might be a little awkward now, but not weird. Physical touch is a way Lea expresses affection, and she hasn't had much of it in... a long time. She refuses to call it weird. This is Isa, this is her best friend, this is something she wanted but never thought would actually happen and now it's here. Isa is herself again. It's just... unfamiliar, and familiar, at the same time.

It's a little weird. But she shrugs, closing her eyes instead of thinking more on it. The Axel way. ]

I'd argue with you about almost all of that, but you'd never give in.

[ Smugly: ]

But you don't have to tell me you missed me. I already knew.

[moonstrualcycle]

[ B( just for that, Lea's getting a gentle goose in the ribs, as both retaliation and a way to break up the awkwardness.]

I might give in if you weren't insufferable about it.

[look, i'm rolling onto my back and closing my eyes and settling down to sleep, you dweebus, you should too.]

[cinderlea]

[ There's more yelp-laughter and she bats at Isa's hand with one arm, tucking the other one under her pillow. ]

Hey, knock it off, I'm trying to sleep.

[ Obviously!! Should we timeskip and let them have an actual nap. ]

[moonstrualcycle]

[ye. it'd be easy to get in a slappy fight, but they're both supposedly adults, so forget it. Isa makes a noise that probably translates to "no u", but then does actually settle down, because she IS tired. it's 50/50 who'll sleep longer, right now.]

[cinderlea]

[ Normally it would absolutely be Lea, but realistically, she was the one who was asleep before Isa showed up, so she's probably the one to wake up faster. If Isa can make it through Lea's slow attachment over the course of their nap (she ends up with an arm over her, at least), then Lea will wake up first, and when she does... she won't move. At first, it's because she thinks she's dreaming, but then she's so still it's almost like she isn't breathing, trying too hard not to wake the other person.

What if she just stares at Isa's sleeping face for a while? ]

[moonstrualcycle]

[das creepy, AND gay. no, she'll be lucky if she can find Isa's face to stare at, since Isa at some point arranged herself half on top of Lea (to stop the moving around), with an arm wrapped around her and her face pushed against Lea's neck. she's out cold, and dead weight, and will remain so for a little while longer, because it's tiring, dying yet again and being reformed and then actually sticking around long enough to deal with getting used to a heart again. emotions are tiring, too.]

[cinderlea]

[ Well so much for face-staring, but that definitely puts more emphasis on how and why she's so still. She doesn't want to risk waking her up, and she's also in the sleep version of a headlock.

But... that's fine. She's not complaining. If it's more than an hour she'll start to get up, probably, but right now... she can stay like this for a while. ]

[moonstrualcycle]

[it'll only be like half an hour, if that, before she stirs, sighing a little and loosening her grip on Lea but not doing anything that awake people do. she was having an unpleasant dream, but kicked herself out of it, and doesn't want to move further in case this is a dream also.]

[cinderlea]

[ She's kind of relieved Isa isn't a dream herself (probably) but she's also wishing she would stay like this a little longer, since once she's awake she'll probably get up immediately. Since she's stirring but not moving, maybe Lea can get away with gently stretching her arm across her more? ]

[moonstrualcycle]

[if there hasn't been at least one tired cuddle puddle with Lea and the kids since Isa returned, i'll eat my shoe. she's never been as physically affectionate as Lea, but it's hard to resist when surrounded by people who care about her and who she cares about.

more arm is good and fine, but she does make a grumbly noise. without moving into or away from it it's probably hard to tell what the noise is about, though. (it's over being awake and Lea moving at all.)]

[cinderlea]

[ It almost certainly has. Chances are good that Lea back home would just grumble back at her and then become a human attachment, as this one might be inclined, but... she doesn't yet, and instead curls her arm tighter around Isa's shoulders. Not much, barely enough to be felt more, but enough that she can feel certain that this is real.

Lea's still going through stages of accepting this, but she feels more clear-headed and less panicked than she did before her nap. ]