yellow lights

“oh please, dad, what’s the point in denying it ?? look at me, i’m gonna need new trousers or some shit soon, because i can’t imagine myself fitting in this for much longer,” she mumbled cynically. she was sitting on the bed, surrounded by different kinds of cheeses  ( a craving ) and a stack of crackers. she patted the one free spot on the bed. “c’mon then, we can share,” she offered, “but you better don’t touch my cheddar because i will not be nice if you do. the other cheeses are all yours, though.”

“it doesn’t matter if you are, okay? we can easily get you new clothes if you need it,” he spoke gently, trying to soften his angsty teen’s mood. sebastian smiled, walking over and plopping on the bed next to her. “i wouldn’t dare take your cheddar away as long as you actually i can have the manchego,” he chuckled. his eyes peered over to what she was writing, wondering if she’d actually allow him to read a piece. “what award-winning, beautiful work of art have you written today?”

“Now this just feels like a challenge for me to come up with the most absurd thing I can,” Melanie grinned. Melanie’s heartbreak felt personal, it felt like the kind that no-one could understand but she also knew that people immediately tried to put themselves in her shoes, tried to imagine what it would feel like. “I hope so,” she shrugged, “I mean, they all turned up, so that’s a start.”

“and i’d welcome it with open arms, mel. it will be a challenge i look forward to,” he smirked. “actually showing up is definitely a start,” he nodded in agreement. “the next task is to get them to express their feelings about the situation, which is a battle in itself.”

SCOUT: it's my own fault for having an off-kilter sense of humor, i know.

SCOUT: and everyone else's fault for just not being as smart as i am ! wow who would've ever thought i'd say that?

SEBASTIAN: Oh, stop it. You're very smart, Girl Scout.

“they’re just angry… which, like, i don’t blame them. i’m angry too. but i don’t think they hate her.” she told him. then she nodded, “i appreciate it. i’m glad you guys are here, this vacation may be unbearable otherwise.” she laughed, “well, they wouldn’t be doing their jobs if they weren’t pains in the ass.” she knew all too well about that side of parenthood 

“you’re suppressing your anger very well... have you been smoking more often now?” he laughed. “seriously, xavier has been talking about wanting to set you up with someone. let us be your fairy godparents.” sebastian really wanted to help his friend as much as he could, knowing she’d do the same for him. plus, cindy was hot. it wouldn’t be hard task at all. “let’s just hope they don’t grow up to resent us like we did to our parents,” he joked, raising his glass.

“you’re saying that because you’re my dad and have to tell me that i’m amazing.” sahara retorted, rolling her eyes again. she smiled at the kiss to her head before laughing. “you and dad have to push them into getting jobs, not me.” she quipped, raising her hands up in mock surrender. “stop, now you’re being all sappy. do you want me to get all emotional?”” 

SCOUT: it's not like funny like ha ha

SCOUT: it's good word play!!

SCOUT: and it would highlight the horrors of baby seal slaughter but like nobody is smart enough to get my word play so

SEBASTIAN: You're just too clever for anyone.

SCOUT: bc it got clubbed to death :(

SEBASTIAN: Okay, we need to talk about this.

SCOUT: good morning!!!! i just came up with this hilarious joke:

SCOUT: a baby seal walks into a club

SCOUT: get it?

SEBASTIAN: Honey, what does this mean?

“you came here to get away from us? to get away from me?” he pressed a hand to his heart, pushed into his chest as his spine bent, a perfect image of a man about to have a heart attack. dang, he should have been an actor. “yeah but dad, me-time is obviously better when you’ve got your own delightful and only slightly-drunk sam.” he paused and then look his head, lips pursed together as he realized his mistake. “yeah, that didn’t sound good. that sounded really not good. i’m going to up my status from slightly to kinda.”

the national guard? she wasn’t too familiar with the american functions of the national guard, and france only just very recently rebooted their program after the attacks on paris. but if they worked the same way, then she kind of understood what it meant—she wasn’t a political genius but she followed and dealt with enough of it to know her way around a government or two. “that seems like—” oh, what was the word? surpuissance, but it had too many translations… “overkill? i think that’s the word.” america had been making much of the world rather nervous lately, and she could imagine being a citizen of the country would be much worse. “i’m sorry. but, now that you’ve read up on it, you should put it away. there isn’t anything you can do from here, right? and everyone deserves a break.”

“There’s still time,” Xavier teased, knowing full well Sebastian wouldn’t get tired of him. Xavier also was incredibly proud of their marriage. “You won’t have to let go of them,” he reminded Sebastian. “We’ll always be their dads.” Xavier snorted a laugh. “Sahara is growing up into quite the rock star, isn’t she? Someday she’ll be glad for all that footage to look back on,” he winked playfully. “I know I will appreciate having that footage to look back on.” Like it or not, their kids were growing up. And he wanted to have pictures and videos for when they went out on their own. 

“Anything?” she joked, “I’ll make sure to remember that,” she grinned. Melanie really appreciated Seb, he was exactly what she needed, he told the truth and he was always there for her. She nodded when he spoke about her girls, “sometimes it feels like I lost all four of my girls, not just one,” she admitted.

“i swear on my life, i am not joking. i mean anything,” he reiterated. sebastian sighed as she continued to talk about her new family dynamic, immediately making him think about if that happened to his own family. he couldn’t even imagine how he’d be in her shoes. a low sigh escaped his lips as he looked at her with sympathetic eyes. “i’m sure they’ll come around eventually. i mean, they have to, right?”

“i think there was a lot of angry words aimed at maggie and then, of course, slandering celeste. maggie thinks they hate her.” cindy let out a breath, shaking her head, “yeah, maybe family group therapy? i don’t even know, it’s a lot to take in right now. i just thought i was going to have to deal with the awkwardness of seeing my ex-wife- not all the other stuff.” she grinned then, “well, it is your job to embarrass them. the family time is good! the best thing about this place.” 

“well, do they?” he asked bluntly, pursing his lips. “you’re always more than welcome to hang out with xavier and i if you ever want to get your mind off of this truly unfortunate situation,” he smiled kindly at her. “oh, i hear you there. i’m just waiting for them to be a pain in my ass because it’s always bound to happen while we’re here.

“ i’m not exaggerating. it really was hideous. ” tony propped her chin up in her hand, leaning against the bar. “ i’m just very anti-sequins. i think we should make 2018 the death of the sequin. they’re so fuckin’ tacky. ”  

“some sucker is going to hack your cloud expecting to find all your cool ass designs and be disappointed to find all these videos of my music, you mean.” sahara responded with an eyeroll. “see, if you did that i would find a way to turn this into a career to pay my own way. that’s gotta happen eventually, right? can’t have my dad still payin’ my phone bill when i’m like thirty.” she teased.