r a i n

“It might be a secret to everybody else, but we’ve lived together for quite some time. I think if anyone would know about your Twilight obsession, it would be me,” she pointed out to her brother with a laugh. “Do you now? Of course you’d say that,” Marisol rolled her eyes playfully at him. Her eyebrows raised in surprise at how passionate Elliot seemed to be about preserving the home videos. “I guess you’re right. I can’t exactly promise I’ll ever not be embarrassed by them, but if they mean that much to you I’ll get over my shame,” she added with a smile. Marisol would protest but in the end she knew Elliot was right. Upon mention of Uno once more, her expression changed to a more competitive one, “Absolutely. Kind of weird how Uno doesn’t know their own rules, huh? People have been stacking plus fours for years. And you mentioned Monopoly– I think that would ruin our family too if any of us could be bothered to play it for long enough. That game takes ages to get through.”

"Excuse me!” He exclaimed holding up a finger to the other, “It’s not an obsession, I like it a normal amount and I don’t fantasize about becoming a Cullen and sparkling in the sun, only people who are obsessed do that.” He pointed out as a matter of fact to his sister. “I’m just a sucker for a found family scenario, plus the badly written lines and drama make it enjoyable.” Elliot looked to his sister with a smug grin, “I say it because it’s the truth and you’ve yet to prove me wrong.” He commented with a small shrug of his hands, antagonizing her further. “They mean a lot to me and if you don’t want to inherit them, then I’ll definitely take them into my collection.” Elliot chuckled, “Do you think that’s why they’ve never really played it with us, because they see how badly Uno goes. Why do I think Kristoff would end up storming out the house, cursing in Norwegian as he went?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone sleep with their eyes open,” Finn said. “Imagine though, someone sleeping with their eyes open in front of you and all they did was stare. That seems a little weird.”

“You haven’t? It’s pretty creepy I’m not going to lie, you don’t know what they’re status is and you’re afraid to jostle them.” Elliot explained to the other, kind of glad in a way that he didn’t know how to sleep with his eyes open so he didn’t scare anyone off. “I’ve seen it before, I know how weird it is, trust me.”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking! You need something to accompany it. I think I need the energy too, I haven’t gotten through much of this paper at all.”” Jasmine spoke with agreement, the idea of being behind made her feel nervous but Jasmine wasn’t sure what she had to do and at that point she’d rather not do anything in fear of messing up. “That’s smart! I’ve been trying to at least reword the question into the answer, but after that? Clueless.” 

“They keep saying we need to do these assignments to help us in the real world, I can tell them now that I’m not going to be writing essays about the difference between abilities when I leave this place. Fire is hot and water is wet, I think that’s as in depth as I need to get by.” Elliot complained with a small huff, “And hearing myself say all that goes to prove just how much I need some brain power, because if I write any of that down I think my professor is going to want a word with me at the end of class.” Elliot chuckled, “Well at least we’re both clueless, feels nice to not be the only person lost on this thing.”

“Alright, I guess I gotta give you that,” she sighed with a light shake of her head. “Some movies are just begging to be quoted, much like that series of films,” Marisol agreed. “You’ll win? And how can you be so sure that I won’t?” she challenged, the two often pretty competitive but all in good fun. When Marisol was competitive with anyone else is was much less friendly. “Do you think she does? I might ask her to show them to us only to take them and promptly dispose of them forever so nobody else can see us humiliate ourselves,” Mari added with a laugh, knowing that her mother was the type to save every little thing that had something to do with their growing up. “Hmm good question. I try to use it as a last resort most of the time, trying to exhaust all my other cards until I have no choice. But I think we can both agree that you should totally be allowed to stack the plus fours. I mean what’s the fun in Uno if it’s not a total friendship and family ruiner?”

“Thank you for not making complete mockery of me being a secret Twilight fan, I appreciate it greatly.” Elliot told his sister with a small nod, though he imagined as time moved on she would use it as a quip in some of her conversations to tease him. He would just need to find a guilty pleasure of hers that he could use as his own defense. “Oh I don’t know, I just feel like I have a lot more style than you. That’s all.” He grinned, wondering if the other would take the bite and whether she’d make that face that she always did when she found him frustrating. “You can’t destroy them!” Elliot exclaimed, looking to the other slightly appalled. “Even if they are humiliating, they’re memories, so you can steal but then put them in a safe place for later years to come where we’ll be able to laugh at ourselves without feeling embarrassed.” Elliot let out a small laugh, “Yeah for most families it’s Monopoly, for us it’s Uno. But you can totally stack plus fours, that’s the proper way to play it and I will scour the Uno rules to anyone who disagrees with us.”

“As long as you don’t get caught,” Finn teased. “But yes, I promise to take all the note in class today. Now are you coming with me or…?”

"If I sit in the back, near a corner, pretty sure I’ll not get caught. Though in times like this I really wish I had nailed the art of sleeping with your eyes open. No matter how creepy it can look, I imagine it’d come in useful.” Elliot pondered for a moment before pulling on his shoes. “Yes, yes- I’m coming, stop being inpatient this early in the morning.”

“Perhaps you don’t want to sound like a creep and that’s valid, but your confession proves you haven’t exactly been studying either and in some way that comforts me,” she admitted with a laugh. “I’m not sure how much time has passed but neither of us seem very focused,” Winnie added. “I won’t say no to a break, but I do hope we’ll get something done when we come back from it. I don’t know about you but I need to pass… even if it’s by the skin of my teeth. Should we grab food or something?”

“Well I’m glad the comfort of the situation outweighs the creepiness of it all.” He chuckled, smiling at the other because he just found the other drawing a lot more interesting in whatever was in front of him that he was supposed to be learning. “I blame it on the topic we’re supposed to be learning, it’s hardly gripping and I’m pretty sure I zoned out in class too. So I really have no idea what we’re supposed to be learning.” He confessed, because there were just somethings that the university taught that didn’t interest him at all. “I think I’d get a verbal berating from my parents if I didn’t pass, well-... if I didn’t pass without trying. But I can imagine the weight for you is heavier... with being a princess and all.” He spoke with a small wave of his hand. “But food sounds great, I always do better when I’ve had something to eat. Especially if it’s chocolate.”

Jasmine laughed as she nodded in agreement. Despite it only having been a little under an hour since they had started studying, all of the words had started to blend in with each other as Jasmine’s eyes started to get tired. “Do you think we need a food break to go along with our drinks?” She suggested, anything for a few more minutes of not focusing on the work. At this point, Jasmine had so much to do that she was starting to feel a tad overwhelmed and would rather just not do it. “Me neither. It all just looks like words, is it too late to realise I didn’t understand anything in those classes?” 

“Of course, drinks without food just seems like a waste if you ask me. Also food is proven to give energy and we’re going to need a lot of that to continue with all of this.” He told the other, sweeping his hand over the amount of books in front of them. “That and food means we spend more time away from this table.” He added. “Maybe, I’m trying to just write down what they wrote but put my own flair on it and hope for the best. It’s worked before, who says it won’t work again.”

Fionnuala let out a small laugh at the other comments but ultimately nodded. “Yes, I guess we can make that deal. Now, come on!”

“And you have to take all the notes in the classes we share together so I can nap at my desk, adding that to our deal because I think it’s going to be needed.” Elliot pointed out to the other, especially when he had a dance practice later in the evening so it’s not like he could even go back to his room and crash after a day of classes on top of a hike.

“What do you mean it’s the worst subject?” Silas asked, surprised, though it wasn’t abnormal for someone to hate mathematics. “You can pretty much figure anything out with mathematics.”

“I mean that out of all the subjects that one can study, I find Math to be the absolute worst. Me and numbers don’t really mesh well together, unless it’s me counting beats, but even then it’s not exactly big brain stuff.” He told the other with a shrug listening to the other, “Well then I guess I’ll just have to accept the fact that I might not be able to figure everything out in the world, I think I’m okay with that though.”

“Alright, I won’t,” she laughed, giving him a shove after hearing his Jasper impression, “Oh my god, how long have you been sitting on that one? I feel like you’ve just been dying to quote that,” Mari continued with the teasing. “Are you really going to go there? We’re seriously going to end up having a dance battle one of these days. I’m rather surprised it hasn’t happened already,” she shook her head with another laugh. “You’re right, you most definitely do not. It’s bad enough as it is in an actual game of Uno, but in real life it’s really on another level,” she played along lightheartedly.

“Look as terrible as those movies are, it’s always fun to quote and I will take every opportunity I can to do it. And that is one of the best lines, so as for the length of time I’ve been waiting to use it, probably a month or two, ever since I re watched them.” Elliot told his sister with a grin, he guessed as much as he mocked those movies they had became a bit of a guilty pleasure for him, secretly enjoying them more then he should and making fun of them to make up for that fact. “And when that day comes I’ll be prepared and I will win, just telling you this now so you can be prepared to face humiliation. Also, pretty sure we got in one at Christmas once when we were younger, Elena probably still has the videos.” He still found it hard to name his adoptive parents Mom and Dad given his circumstances, he was just glad that they didn’t seem to mind that he called them by their names. “If you’re really pissed do you pull out the pick up four card? Or is that just reserved for people who you end up cutting ties with at the end of the conversation?”

“Do you think it’s too soon for us to take a break?” Jasmine asked the other, closing the book she had been studying without waiting for the other to answer- she had been rereading the same paragraph for the last twenty minutes and had been looking for any excuse to grab a quick break. “I’ve been thinking about getting a cup of tea, would you want one?” 

“I think I might need to go for something stronger if I actually want to make it to the end of this assignment.” Elliot groaned, trying to stop himself from hitting his head off the desk in front of him. “Yeah, coffee is definitely going to be to needed to make it to the end in one piece. I mean, I’m not even sure what I’ve wrote so far makes any sense.”

“Oh uh– yeah it’s just a few doodles, no big deal,” Winnie shrugged lightly after being called out. She had several books open around her but the one she was supposed to be writing notes in was instead filled with various little sketches. “I’m still studying, I swear,” she added quickly as if the other would care, despite that statement being totally false.

“I’d say I believe you but I’m not quite sure, not to sound like a creep or anything but I’ve been watching you ‘doodle’ for the last five minutes.” Elliot pointed out, leaning back in his chair and paying little attention to his own books out in front of him. “I mean, we’ve been doing his for what, an hour-... or has it only been twenty minutes?” He asked, looking to his phone with a small frown. “Anyways, I personally think we deserve a break.”

“Your thoughts are so loud that I can hear them through noise-cancelling headphones,” Thea sighed as she took off them off and laid them at the nape of her neck. “You either need to talk about it or think about something else way less intense because I am getting a headache sitting 6 feet away.”

Elliot had been in his own little world, his pen clicking at a steady rhythm off the edge of his notebook as he stared off into space, it was only the others words that had him blinking back to reality. “What?” He commented slightly dazed for a moment before registering what she said, “Oh, sorry- big test. Not a lot of knowledge on the subject and too much coffee.” He chuckled a little, feeling rather embarrassed about causing disruption without even knowing it. “I can try to think of something less intense, but something tells me it might just circle back to his- I could.. I should probably move.”

“Hey, hey, break it up, you two!” Lunara called out to two students that had been fighting with one another in the dining hall as she stood in the middle of them to stop them from fighting. “Is there a problem here or do you two want to talk about it like civil adults for once?”

“I was the one trying to be civil.” Elliot commented, holding up in his hands as he was suffering from a terrible case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. “It wasn’t me trying to start a fist fight, I was trying to defuse one and the guy he was wailing on ran and apparently I was his new victim.” Elliot explained, “I didn’t even throw one punch, only dodged them and tried to talk him down.”

“That–… is also a good idea,” Maggie replied with a quirk of her brow, realising it was probably going to be a much easier habit to get into than changing her messiness. “Well, I’m glad we’re not having that conversation.” Maggie chuckled softly, “But to answer your question, one… doesn’t,” she began but quickly added, “But, I have a potion that makes it a bit less worse. And especially with a black t-shirt, it will be barely noticeable. I promise.” 

“Okay- wait, one doesn’t?” Elliot asked the other, one brow raised in slight alarm. “Why on earth would someone make a paint that you’re unable to get out of clothing? That just doesn’t make sense.” He complained, not necessarily to her, but just voicing his opinions out in the open. “Okay, back to you keeping your paintbrushes in your direction, maybe when you’re using oil paints you should paint in a less public area to avoid this. Otherwise you’ll paint the wrong person and they’ll be pissed. But yeah, I’ll take that potion.” 

“You can always sleep after the hike,” Fionnuala suggested. “And I am not going to go away, you’re stuck with me. Downside of being my friend.”

“If I slept after the hike then I would miss classes and I’m pretty sure that won’t bode well with my professors.” Elliot pointed out to the other, letting out a long sigh, followed by a loud groan into his pillow before throwing his legs over the side of the bed. “Alright, fine, you win. If I’m tired for the rest of the day though you have to buy me as much coffee as I want. Deal?”

“Okay Edward Cullen, pack it up,” Marisol teased. “Hey I never said that. We’ve both been dancing our whole lives and we’re family so it’d be unfair to compare. Especially because I feel like it’d turn into a vicious competition,” she added with a laugh. “Oh I did. And I’ll do it again if I have to. You got a problem with that, bro?” Mari challenged jokingly.

“Ew, don’t make me the creepy, sparkly, vampire in all of this.” Elliot commented scrunching up his nose as the other spoke, “If I had to be a member of that family I’d want to be Jasper if only to say the line-... ‘battle scars’” He imitated in a dreadful southern accent. “That sounds like the words of someone who’s feeling a little bit threatened.” Elliot teased the other with a small wiggle of his eyebrows. “But you’re right, it would turn into a blood bath of West Side Story scale proportions and I didn’t bring the right shoes for that.” Elliot simply laughed at the others threat and chuckled, “I’ll be sure not to cross you in future, don’t want you using Uno to threaten me again.” He added, holding his hands up in his defense.