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they're both very quiet when they feel little, so they both have developed this little "language" that only the other understands. It consists of whines, mumbles and hand signs.

ohh, they're like the presidents of babble country, always always babbling to each other, it makes no sense to the others.

they're both very gentle with each other and usually gravitate towards the other due to that gentleness, especially when one of them is feeling littler than usual.

both super duper clingy when little, nat is also very protective of lottie and is often found holding her hand or sleeve if lottie is having a hard time with touch.

they don't play in the traditional sense, they just really like being together, for example while eating, doing different activities under a shared blanket and such.

they both really admire each other and are often found in the other's clothes and accessories, leaving them looking like they live in the others closet.

this makes them both having quite different aesthetics makes this so much more fun! lottie absolutely adores nats rings even if she doesn't wear them when little.

nats called a bunch of her dinosaur figurines after people she loves, with lottie it's no different.

they love music! that's their own special activity they've made up "for only them" to do, Nat has a bunch of music and Van usually turns her cd up for them both, this could entertain them forever. (don't u dare tell them other people also listen to music as a bonding activity/nsrs)

nat is the only one that is allowed to curl up and cuddle with lotties special blanket, she usually never lets anyone touch it, but nats an exception.

“Misty? You up here?” Nat’s voice rang up the attic stairs, distracting Misty from the stuffed cat she was holding a stethoscope to. Nats head popped into Misty’s bedroom door not a moment later, smiling at the sight of Misty and Mel sprawled over what appeared to be a complex animal surgery. Nat smiled a little at the sight, shaking her head with amusement at their antics. “I was about to get Lottie up from her nap if you felt like being my little helper this afternoon?” Misty’s face immediately lit up with joy.

“Can I? Can I?” She asked, bouncing a little on her knees, and wiggling her fingers happily.

“Only if Mel doesn’t mind you leaving the game?” Misty turned her head to Mel quickly, face filled with hope. Mel looked up from the stuffed elephant she’d been cradling.

“Oh- yeah, ‘course.” She shrugged. “I was wan’ing to go help Bubby with the garden ‘for it gets to dark anyway.”

With Melissa off to go find Van, Misty and Nat headed down to Lottie’s room.

Lottie’s bedroom was dark except the flower string lights hanging by her crib, even the curtains were drawn so tightly that not even a slither crept in. Her cassette player was whirring her lullaby tape soothingly from the corner of the room, filling the room with soft melodies. Lottie was awake, sitting up in her crib. It wasn’t hard at all to tell she’d only just woken up - her pacifier was hanging off the collar of her onesie, her hair was tangled from sleep and her blankie was draped over her shoulder. “Hi baby,” Nat cooed as she entered the room. Lottie hummed happily, reaching out to Nat. Misty followed close behind, aweing a little at Lottie. “Misty, do you think you can lower the bars for me?” Nat asked. Misty nodded eagerly and unlatched the clip so Nat could lift Lottie out of the bed. “Good work kiddo. Wanna grab the lights next?”

Lottie quickly wrapped herself around Nat, nuzzling her face into the older girl’s neck. Nat bounced Lottie a little as they crossed to the change table. She lay her down gently, happy when Lottie helped out by readjusting herself easily. Misty was right by her side then, fingers tapping on the side of the change table excitedly. Whilst Nat started changing Lottie out of her sleep onesie, Misty climbed up onto the little stool so she could look over Lottie.

Lottie beamed up at her, eyes wide and smiley as she reached upwards and her hands gently cupped Misty’s face. Misty giggled a little at this, “silly Lot,” she smiled. Lottie squeaked happily, wriggling a little until Nat placed a hand on her stomach to still her. Lottie then moved on to twirling Misty’s curly hair around her finger before letting it spring back up. Misty’s face lit up immediately, eyes widening as she looked up at Nat.

“Misty’s hair is so pretty, isn’t it, Lot?” Lottie nodded happily. As Nat finally managed to wriggle Lottie out of her onesie and moved onto changing her diaper, the smaller girl began whining in protest. She was quickly distracted however, by Misty blowing raspberries above her.

With Misty to help it wasn’t long at all until Lottie was clean and dressed in her pink plaid dress. “Ok, snack time. Lot, are you walking?” Nat asked as she handed Lottie her blankie and helped her down from the change table. Lottie whined a little at this, face screwing up like she might start crying.

“I’ll hold your hand, it’s ok Lottie,” Misty promised - offering a hand out to Lottie. She took it happily and Misty helped stop her from wobbling too much as they moved downstairs. Nat got them both settled on the couch, Lottie settling herself right next to Misty and reaching up to play with her hair again.

“I’m going to grab some puffs, can you watch her for me?” Misty nodded eagerly.

“I got her.”

When Nat returned with a bowl of banana star puffs for Lottie (and Misty), handed them to Misty who beamed at the responsibility. For a while Nat fed Lottie the puffs, supervising how Misty carefully held Lottie and tickled her to get her laughing whenever there wasn’t food in her mouth. “I’m going to go get the laundry folded, are you still ok with Lottie?” Nat asked - she wouldn’t usually put the responsibility on a little, but Misty seemed so honoured that she knew it didn’t feel like a chore to her.

"Lemme go," Mari grunts, trying to wiggle out of Lottie's hold. She plants her hands on her wrists and pushes, making Lottie wince.

"Hey, Mar," she says firmly, trying to catch Mari's eyes. "Look at me."

Mari stops struggling long enough to glance over, lips turned down in a fierce pout.

"Nat's sleeping, honey," Lottie continues. "I don't want you running in there and waking her up."

The girl goes lax in her hold, twisting so she can hold Lottie's shoulders, looking up at her with a furrowed brow.

"She's sleepin'?"

"Yes," Lottie nods, "and we don't want to wake the baby, do we?"

Mari shakes her head urgently. She pauses for a long moment, emotions warring on her face as she chews on her lip.

"I wanted to have music time with Nat," she admits, sounding disappointed. "She said we could."

Lottie hums, gently nudging Mari to walk down the hallway with her so they weren't have their conversation directly outside Nat's room.

"I'm sure she'd be happy to do music time with you when she's feeling a little older," she tries to reason.

'I wanted it today," Mari retorts stubbornly. She pulls away from Lottie to march into her own room. Lottie trails behind her, leaning on the doorframe as she watches Mari dig through a pile of things on her beanbag chair. After a moment, she unearths what she had been searching for and straightens, turning to display it proudly to Lottie. It's a flat parcel, clumsily wrapped in construction paper that Mari had obviously doodled all over in decoration, complete with a card taped to the front that read To Nat.

"Aw, Mar," Lottie coos. "You got Nat a gift?"

Mari nods emphatically. She's holding the parcel delicately, like she's concerned it'll fall apart at any second.

"I picked a record for us," she explains softly. "'Cause Nat took me to the doctor and made sure I didn't cry."

"That's so sweet of you, honey," Lottie murmurs. "Nat's going to be really happy about that."

Mari flushes, ducking her head.

"I just wanted to give it today," she says, turning to place the gift gently on her bedside table. She sounds incredibly put-out and it makes Lottie's heart pang a little.

"Tell you what, Mar," Lottie offers, "why don't you help me out with Nat today? That way you can still spend some time with her."

Mari perks up a bit, stepping closer.

"Can we still listen to music?"

Lottie turns the request over in her head a few times.

"We'll have to see," she finally decides. She isn't exactly sure how to work Nat's record player—not that it looks particularly complicated, but her music collection is one of Nat's most treasured things and she doesn't want to mess with it without her express permission.

"I can ask Misty to do it for us," Mari tries, nodding. "She knows how and she's always super careful with it and Nat said she's allowed."

"Is Misty home today?" Lottie asks.

Mari shrugs. "Think so. I dunno."

"We'll have to see, then," she repeats, holding an arm out for Mari. "Let's go have a snack while we wait for Nat to wake up, okay?"

...

Mari's a whirling ball of energy until Lottie decides Nat's probably been asleep for long enough. She calms some as they head upstairs, but Lottie still makes her wait outside the door while she wakes Nat so that they don't overwhelm her right out of her sleep.

Nat's balled up in one corner of her bed, back pressed against the wall and Lottie sits on the edge of the mattress, placing a gentle hand on Nat's calf.

She starts talking, quietly at first and gradually rising to her normal tone as she rambles about nothing, waiting for Nat to recognize her voice. When the girl shifts, face scrunching as she starts to wake up, Lottie moves her hand up to her back, rubbing in wide circles.

"Hey, sleepyhead," she greets when Nat's eyes finally land on her. "Good nap?"

She doesn't expect a reply, reaching forward to help guide Nat upright. Her face is still sleep-scrunched adorably and she waits for Nat to get her bearings a little more, letting her lean heavily against her side, before she beckons Mari into the room.

"Hi, Nat," Mari murmurs, movements much more contained than before as she crouches by the bed. Nat's mouth curves into a small smile and Mari looks up at Lottie with unbridled excitement.

"Someone's happy to see you," Lottie says, unable to keep her own smile from spreading across her face.

"It's 'cause I'm your favorite, huh, Nat?" Mari asks, reaching up to the tip of Nat's nose gently. Nat makes a small sound as her face contorts and Mari shrugs. "That was probably a yes."

"Maybe," Lottie chuckles. "But I'll bet Nat doesn't have favorites."

Nat's head falls against her shoulder and she raises a brow at Mari.

"See? She agrees with me."

"That doesn't mean anything," Mari groans, but she's smiling, offering up a hand for Nat to grasp at.

They sit quietly for a while before Mari starts to get restless and Lottie realizes she should probably check if Nat needs changed.

"Why don't you go find Misty and ask her your question? We'll meet you," she instructs, relieved when Mari obeys without complaint.

Nat's dry, which adds a pit stop to their trip down to the kitchen for some milk, because Lottie's not actually sure if Nat had had anything yet that day. By the time she's gotten everything sorted, she realizes she has no idea where Misty and Mari are.

"Where do you think, hm?" She asks Nat, giving her a little bounce. Her arms are getting a little tired, but Nat's holding onto her tightly enough that she's not sure she'd let her go if she tried, so she ignores it. "Let's try the study. Misty's got that exam coming up, so I'll bet she's doing work."

Her hunch turns out to be correct and she can hear their voices floating down the hallway before she sees them and Nat wiggles excitedly in her arms.

As she enters the study, she sees Mari leaning over Misty's shoulder, peering at the huge textbook she has open on the desk in front of her.

"—quite simple, actually, but it's not the prettiest thing in the world and I'm not entirely sure you should be looking at this, now that I think of it," Misty is saying. She gently nudges Mari back, flipping the textbook shut and Lottie opts not to question whatever it is that they'd been looking at. "Oh, hey, Lottie. Hi, Nat."

Her voice gets much softer over the second greeting and Lottie can't hold back a snort.

"Someone's got favorites."

"Yep," Misty chirps, standing up from her chair. Lottie's about seventy percent sure she's joking. Maybe sixty. "What's up?"

"Can we listen to music?" Mari asks, bouncing on the spot. Her and Misty were never especially close, but they both loved listening to music with Nat and it had brought them together a little more.

Misty hums, face twisting in consideration.

''Let's not use Nat's things without her permission, Mari," she begins, getting an immediate groan of protest. She holds up her finger. "But, I have a stereo in my room. I know it's not the same thing, but do you think we could try that?"

Mari huffs, crossing her arms, but Lottie can tell she's considering the idea seriously. Misty shifts from foot to foot as she waits for Mari to come to a decision, adjusting her glasses. After a tense few moments, Mari uncrosses her arms and looks at Misty.

"Can I pick the music?"

"Well, I—" Misty cuts herself off, shaking her head a little. "Of course you can."

Mari whoops excitedly, jolting forward with her arms up like she's about to throw them around Misty before she freezes awkwardly. Misty bites her lip, holding out one arm and Mari leans into it, giving her a quick squeeze before pulling away and bouncing out of the room happily. It's the most awkwardly sweet thing Lottie's seen all day and she smiles sincerely at Misty.

"You better beat her up there or she might rip apart your CD collection," she warns playfully. Misty seems to take the warning seriously and she bolts out of the room in a way that makes Nat giggle wildly.

Lottie follows a little slower, relieved when she reaches Misty's room and there's a beanbag set out thoughtfully for her to sink onto with Nat on her lap. Mari and Misty are knelt by a shelf containing a few rows of CDs. Van had built it for Misty in an early-on attempt to extend an olive branch and Misty had kept it around despite it not matching the rest of the furniture in her room.

"You have a lot of the same music as Nat," Mari observes quietly, almost reverent as she scans the CDs on the shelf. Misty's smile is small, almost private.

"Yeah," she says. "Nat's got music."

Mari glances over her shoulder at where Lottie sits with Nat, who's mouthing distractedly at the hem of her sleeve, leaning against Lottie's chest. She leans forward to speak to Misty quietly.

"I got her new music," she tells the blonde eagerly.

"What did you get?"

"It's a secret," Mari replies, a little apologetic.

Misty smiles. "Well, I'm sure she'll love it, Mar."

Mari nods, brightening with Misty's approval. She reaches out and pokes at one of the CDs. Misty pulls it out, flashing the black and white cover at Lottie.

"Nice pick," Misty congratulates, sliding the disc out of the case to slip into the stereo.

She twists the volume dial and Lottie watches fondly as she and Mari both sprawl out on their backs on the floor. When the opening notes of the first song play, Nat wiggles a little in her lap, babbling quietly.

"You like this one, baby?"

"The eighth track is her favorite right now," Misty pipes up from the floor.

"Are we listening to this whole thing?" Lottie asks, a little incredulous. She didn't think Mari's attention span was quite that expansive, but Misty nods.

"Yup! Now hush, just listen."

Lottie clamps her mouth shut before she can snap back, realizing that Nat too is pawing at her shoulder to get her to be quiet. She settles back against the beanbag, letting Nat shift until she finds a comfy spot on her chest, head coming to rest just over her heart. Lottie lets her eyes slide shut as she listens, drawing shapes over Nat's back in time with the music. She cracks her eyes open every now and then to make sure Nat hasn't drifted off, because another nap might make it hard to get to sleep at bedtime, but the girl is wide-eyed every time she peeks, seemingly listening intently. She babbles happily at a few moments and Mari sits up to inform Lottie that they're parts that big Nat always comments on.

When the track that Misty identified as Nat's favorite comes on, she sits up off Lottie's chest a little to listen, swaying slightly as she does. Lottie watches with a fond smile on her face, glancing over at Mari and Misty. Mari has her eyes closed, but her mouth is split with a huge grin as she listens, feet tapping against the floor. Misty's face is impassive, but her whole body is lax, shoulders loose of the tension she usually carries around.

"You're a little music magician, huh?" She murmurs to Nat once she settles back against Lottie's chest. She puts a hand through Nat's hair a few times, getting a hum in response.