[Log] Eli & Larkin

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

Eli climbed a little farther up into his favorite tree before peering through the leaves. The seven-year-old let out a sigh of relief at the empty field in front of him. Good, she hadn't followed. If Larkin tried to kiss him one more time today, he was sure he was gonna to turn into a toad. Or a bug. Or- His face wrinkled up in disgust. Maybe I'll have to marry her. Ew, yuck. Cooties were bad enough.

He'd just hide up here for a little while, until he was sure she'd gotten distracted by something else.

Comments

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

Jalen smirked, dumping the second grilled cheese on it's plate before starting on Larkin's.

"More pictures for Eli's scrapbook. He and Larkin are getting married, you know."

"I AM NOT GONNA MARRY HER!"

Eli's holler almost echoed. Jalen shrugged. "That's what he thinks. I don't suppose you want to break it to him?"

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

Song threw a cold sandwich together out of cheese, alfalfa sprouts, and (much to Larkin's delight and vindication) tuna fish.
"Oh, how lovely. I think we should hold the ceremony in the courtyard. There are already plenty of flowers there and enough room for everyone. What do you think, children?" she asked primly.

Larkin was beaming. "I think it sounds like a wonnerful idea!" She shook Eli's makeshift leash emphatically.

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

"I think I'm gonna die." Eli moaned, laying his head down on the table again. "I'm never gonna get to be a great Mage or nothin' 'cause I'll be dead from Larkin cooties."

Lanie giggled, sliding off her chair to fetch her sandwich. She grabbed Eli's plate while she was at it and ran back, tapping him on the head with it.

"Sit up an' eat, or I'll marry you guys myself!"

Eli was sitting up in an instant, cramming the sandwich into his mouth one-handed. "Mmm, if's goov, das."

Jalen stared at him in mild disbelief. "Remember to chew, okay?"

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

"Thanks for handling lunch, Jay," Song chirped as she swept out of the room with her own meal, ruffling her daughter's hair on her way.

"Yeah, don't choke to deaf, Eli," Larkin said seriously. "I don't think I can marry a dead person, cuz Mama said not to tell Aunt Lilith to marry the pirate. Said it'd make her sad, so I guess she's not s'posed to."

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

"We've been over this, don't call me that!" Jalen griped. What was it with the nicknames? All right, so maybe he didn't mind a couple his wife had given him...though the Warrior Tuna one really needed to go. He finished Larkin's grilled cheese & tuna fish sandwich, then carried it over to her.

"One really weird sandwich for my son's future wife." He grinned as Eli rolled his eyes at him, mouth still full.

"I can trust the three of you to eat and not choke or throw things at each other while I go check on something, right?"

Lanie nodded emphatically. "We'll be good, daddy!"

Jalen hesitated a moment, considering, then headed out of the room. He'd just be a couple minutes, and they weren't toddlers.

As soon as he was gone, Eli swallowed his mouthful of cheese and stuck out his tongue.

"I won't! And you're lucky you even get to talk about the pirate. I asked mom if I could ask aunt Song about him and she had fits."

"'Cause Calum was a naughty boy, that's why." Lanie replied, breaking her sandwich into smaller bits. "He shoulda had a mommy to spank him, maybe then he wouldn'ta been so mean."

was that an intentional Hook reference?

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

Larkin took a large bite of her sandwich and exaggerated the act of chewing and swallowing for Eli's benefit.

"You could just ask me about the pirate. Mama tells me all the stories. Or you could hide under my bed an' I'll ask her to tell it again. Then you can hear it too. And I don't get spanked and I'm not mean. And he musta had a mommy cuz everyone has a mommy unless she goes away or dies." A piece of tuna had fallen to her plate. She picked it up and stuck it in her mouth where it belonged.

Nope. Wasn't even thinking about that movie.

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

Eli's only response was to stick out his tongue again before taking another bite of his sandwich while he halfheartedly yanked at the blanket on his wrist. Trapped forever.

Lanie, however, was leaning forward, eyes wide. "Can we really hear about him? You won't tell us somethin' then go and tell on us, right?"

"She won't say anythin' about you." Eli mumbled around his sandwich. "She likes you. She'll just get me grounded so she can glue herself on me again. Like now!" He waved his bound arm in frustration.

I'm now seeing that scene with the kids in "school", only Calum instead of Hook.

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

"I won't! Unless you run away again. Come on, don't you wanna know? It's a really good story, and my dad's the main characater!"

She paused to chomp rapidly on another bite.

"Besides... I saw a really weird bug under my bed."

*snicker*

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

"Bug?" She hadn't caught his interest, noooo. "What bug? What's it look like? How many legs does it have? Is it still there?"

Lanie frowned and threw a piece of her sandwich at him. "Shush! I wanna hear about the pirate!"

Eli picked the piece out of his hair where it landed, sighing.

"Okay, I won't run away again. Just tell her already."

Did you get my message earlier? If not, sign on aim for a sec

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

Larkin smiled benignly. She had him now.
"I think it was a beetle. It was blue and shiny with pokey things on its head. You can see it tonight if you hide under my bed and listen to the story. Then we can tell Lanie together."

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

The voice in the back of Eli's head was whispering that this sounded a little too good to be true: Getting to study a brand new bug and hear about an evil pirate. But he was too entranced by the prospect to really listen.

"Okay!"

"Heeey." Lanie began to pout. "How come I can't hide under the bed and listen too?"

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

Larkin chewed on her lip, leaving a speck of cheese behind which must have been stuck on her upper teeth. "I guess you can hide too, Lanie. But you have to be really quiet. Also you have to give me half your dessert."

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

"I will, cross my heart and hope not to get it eaten by a Heartless!"

She gestured across her chest, then beamed at Eli. "We're gonna hear about the pirate!"

"Yeah, yeah." Eli sighed, pushing his plate out of the way to pick at the knot. He was beginning to think he'd been scammed.

"It'd better be a good story, Larkin, or I'll stick the bug down your shirt." He wouldn't really, but that was what boys threatened girls with, right?

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

"I will, cross my heart and hope not to get it eaten by a Heartless!"

She gestured across her chest, then beamed at Eli. "We're gonna hear about the pirate!"

"Yeah, yeah." Eli sighed, pushing his plate out of the way to pick at the knot. He was beginning to think he'd been scammed.

"It'd better be a good story, Larkin, or I'll stick the bug down your shirt." He wouldn't really, but that was what boys threatened girls with, right?

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

"I told you! It's a great story!"
She nibbled the rest of her sandwich, somehow finishing it very rapidly despite taking tiny bites. Then she cleaned her plate by licking it.

"Time for dessert!"

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

"Since daddy's not back, I'll get it!"

Lanie bounded off her chair and over to the fridge. She yanked the door open and stuck her head in, peering at the shelves.

"Hey, we've got cherry pie!" She tugged it out of the fridge, kicked the door shut with her foot, then carried it back over to the table.

Eli made a face. He hated anything cherry flavored. Besides...

"How're you gonna cut it? We've not allowed to touch knives. I'll go get dad or mom or somebody." He slid out of his chair and promptly remembered his leash. "Aw, man."

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

Larkin grinned and made a show of standing up and giving Eli's leash some slack. "Eeeeliii... If I untie you an' let you get a grown-up, you have to come back. No running away, 'kay?"

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

He tried not to twitch. He wasn't sure he could find somewhere really good to hide in the fifteen seconds it would take Larkin to realize he'd ditched. Lanie was smiling at him from where she stood by the pie.

"...Okay. I'll just get somebody and come right back, promise."

"Or you hafta kiss her!" Lanie burst out, giggling.

He just stared his sister. Great, just what he needed.

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

"Wait, you haveta pinky promise first." She held up her hand expectantly, sticking out her little finger. She was determined to take all precautions against him escaping.

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

"Geeze, fine." He stuck out his hand and wrapped his pinky around hers, shaking it.

"I absolutely pinky-swear promise that I won't run off or hide if you untie me."

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

Larkin pulled back her hand and placed it on her hip, satisfied. "Good. Now go! We need pie!"

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

"Free!" Eli turned to flee, then realized that she hadn't untied him. His fingers scrabbled at the knot until it was loose, then he yanked his wrist free and darted out of the room.

Lanie sighed, moving back to her seat. "If he doesn't come back, I'll help hold him down so you can give him a big smooch, okay?"

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

Grinning, Larkin sat back down and eyed the pie speculatively. "'Kay. Then we should tie him to his chair and make him eat cherry pie as punishment. My mama says tying people to chairs is a good way to keep them out of trouble."

[2muddysneakers.livejournal.com]

Lanie giggled. "She should know!" She stuck a finger into the pie before pulling it out and licking it off.

"Elena Megan, we don't stick our fingers into pies that other people are going to eat."

Amy came into the room, followed by a smirking Eli who promptly dropped himself back in his chair.

"Look, I'm back. No kiss!"

Amy grinned a bit before getting a knife to cut the pie. "Eli, will you get some clean plates, please? The small ones."

Eli slid out of his chair to fetch them, then dumped one each in front of the girls. "Cherry pie, yuck. You guys're weird."

[larkinciel.livejournal.com]

"Guess that means I get all yer dessert," Larkin said happily. "That's the same as a kiss."
Where she'd come up with that concept was anyone's guess, but then her definition of boyfriend was someone to share kisses and dessert with, so the equation wasn't really that complicated.