Eddie
◇ She swallowed a knot, nervous and pervasive, that had formed in her throat. Even now, Vi made her nervous – in a good way.

□ The intermission between Christmas and New Year's Eve had blended into itself, Wednesdays confused for Sundays and so forth. In those days Margo had been mostly working, studying, and caring for her reptiles, a regimented life like the one she loved to lead, but now it was time for festivities. Dressed casually, she had her trademark military brat fit on, except with a heavy flannel under her open-faced coat to apparently make up for the lack of shut zipper, and she stood outside Vi's dorm tapping the heavy steel toe of her combat boot against the linoleum floor of the second floor dormitory.

▪︎ She could hear Vi moving around, yet no sign after a few moments. She took the chance to fish out her pack of tobacco and papers; forever a creature of habit and vice.
Robert
: ̗̀➛✯ Violetta was actually a bit nervous, if she *Had* To speak the truth. It was a jittery feel to spend her first christmas and new years away from home. To video call her family was definitely something, more than some at the cradle get but... It still didn't feel the same.
Her little sister was growing already, she's scared to miss all that. With a shake of her head, Vi huffed as she took one final look in the mirror. Augh, was she trying too hard with this look? The jacket felt like she was overdoing it... But it was a bit late to straight up change- her makeup was fine, no complaints there but... Mmm.

: ̗̀➛✯ She accepts her fate, jumping a foot in the air when the knock rings out. Fluffing up her hair one final time, Vi dashes to the door and fiddles with the knob.
Finnicky little thing for the nervous girl, there's about 30 seconds of frantic shimmying of the lock and handle before it swings open. She had been trying to open it backwards, it's a push door.
How *Embarrassing.*

: ̗̀➛✯ "Margo!" She quietly calls out to the girl afront her, quickly taking the gal into a hug and a light kiss on the cheek.
Eddie
◆ "Heya, Vi." Margo warmly spoke back, a jubilant note underlying her voice. She sounded happy. "Sounds like someone's happy to hear that knock."

□ Letting herself be pulled down to Vi's height, she felt the familiar warm tingle of affection pulsing in her chest like dodgy luncheon meat. Lips pressed against her soft cheek and she grinned a genuine grin, taking her chance afterwards to plant a few soft kisses along Vi's cheek and chin with her cracked yet soft lips. Rising back to her full height, she wrapped Vi in a hug and took her with her, effectively lifting the shorter girl right off the ground into a hug for a few seconds before letting go.

▪︎ Ah, the wonders of young love.

◆ "Also, I heard the lock jiggling for, like... 30 seconds? Were ya having trouble with it?"
Robert
: ̗̀➛✯ Vi huffed in Margo's scent, sending a weird and unexpected fizzle of catharsis down her spine.
Kisses that trailed down her jaw and cheek left Vi leaning in towards the taller girl's face with pure content.
A small squeak/squeal escapes her throat as shes lifted into the air, drowned out by Margo's shoulder.

: ̗̀➛✯ But alas, soon she's lowered to the floor.

: ̗̀➛✯ "Uhhhh maybe. Maybe not. No. Yes." Vi sputters out, embarrassed by the fact she will Not be becoming a locksmith any time soon.
"Doesn't matter. You excited?"
Eddie
◆ "Pfft." Margo exhaled with a laugh. "You totally took thirty seconds on that door. Dork."

□ Now standing with her left arm around Vi's waist and her right hand gently patting Vi's back, she could have been drawn in forever, doomed to starve and dry out. She could have, and it would have been easy, given the texturally agreeable jacket she wore, or the plain pants, or the vaguely floral scent of her in general. Instead, though, she took a step to the side and draped her left arm around her girlfriend's waist a little more naturally, also putting all her weight on one hip for a few moments and humming.

▪︎ She had a question to chew on.

◆ "Yeah, I'd say so. I got earplugs just in case it's a little *Too* Loud, but... I'm a drummer. And autistic. My ears are *Shot.*" She chuckled. "But I'm looking forward to the fireworks show. Hopefully it's worthwhile; God knows I'm gonna be let down if this is my first year away from Brooklyn and all we get is a wet fart of a show."
Robert
: ̗̀➛✯ "Woww, bullying a disabled person? That's so classy"
Ok Vi you can't use that for everything. She giggled quietly, feeling the position shift to something much easier to walk with, Margo's arm curtained around her waist. Her love wore the same 3 outfits, so to see a minor change (woah, new flannel variation?) in her partner's arsenal of fashion was definitely an excitement for the night, too.

: ̗̀➛✯ "If i play violin for you will you play drums for me?" Vi questioned quietly as they began to walk, she expected the fireworks to be loud, and she expected them to fuck her up had she not brang protection. She could have sworn she had put some earplugs in her pocket! What a genius she is.
She lets out a short snicker, grinning incessantly.
"*You're* A wet fart, hehe..." Woah get roasted margo. How is she gonna recover from that one.

: ̗̀➛✯ As vi locks the door behind her and begins along the way, a pair of earplugs lay neglected on her drawers. Whoops.
Eddie
◆ "What are you gonna do, huh? Write a callout post on Twitter?" Margo teased back, gently poking her finger against Vi's cheek. "Grade A goof. But for real, we should probably get going. No telling whether they're gonna jump the gun or not."

□ Realistically speaking, the chances of the Cradle's pyrotechnic crew somehow bungling the timing on the fireworks display was exceptionally low. Margo was at least somewhat aware of this. Mostly she just wanted an excuse to whisk Vi off to the roof to ring in the new year together, so once her girlfriend locked the door to her room she took a few steps, trailing her hand up Vi's back, down her arm, and softly grasping her larger hand into the spaces between her girlfriend's spindly fingers.

▪︎ And so she led them down the hall.

◆ "Totally would." Margo casually spoke. She seemed almost excited at the mere prospect of being able to show off on the Cradle's one less-than-stellar drumset to her wonderful girlfriend. "Maybe we could even jam together a little. Though, I think you'd need to play it more like a, erm... Fiddle. Yeah. A fiddle." She continued, a touch embarrassed she'd stumbled that hard while speaking about something so simple. "Also... Me? A wet fart? Fat chance. I am the *Shit,* Thank you very much. As if I'd be the fart..."

▪︎ What a totally dorky couple.

Hold up, making this a little better
Robert
: ̗̀➛✯ "You know what? Yes, maybe I will." She teased, eyebrows furrowing in mock offense at the notion of being poked.

: ̗̀➛✯ Tingles chased the trail Margo's hand led with a second or two delay, leaving a lingering sense on the surface of her skin. Part of this led her wanting to go back into her room and just... Lounge around like idiots like they usually do, maybe play animal crossing or mutually infodump but, well, what is there to say? It's their first new year, had to make it special one way or another.
The fireworks were soon, her hand clasps onto Margo, her fingers locking into place around her girlfriend's

: ̗̀➛✯ "Jam out... How very homoerotic, hehe, we could try though... I've never done much outside of gentle classic- let alone like a fiddle." She giggled quietly, trying her best not to make it obvious she noticed the dorkishly abnormal delay of 'fiddle'.

: ̗̀➛✯ She broke out into another chuckle, gently swinging their interlocked hands as they began to walk
"Ah, my mistake, senator of shit." Boom. Plan backfired Margo she really got you there...

: ̗̀➛✯ im so normal abt them
Eddie
◆ "Hey." Margo retorted with a dash of swagger and a throaty tone. "As a senator of Shitsville I can and *Will* Scatter all of Soup and Spoon's crap in your rug. Better have your vacuum ready."

□ Maybe she was a little goofy, but that was okay. She was simply being herself, feeling herself, trying her best to not let the words get utterly tangled in her mouth. She found these little moments rather sweet, nonstop jokey banter between two otherwise oft-quiet gals, and as the pair walked and chatted she tapped her thumb against the back of Vi's hand. Tapping, tracing circles, adjusting how she held onto her girlfriend's hand... Eventually letting go at the elevator due to sweat. 

▪︎ An apology was thusly uttered.

◆ "Anyways, think it's probably better to take the elevator up to the third floor. Way up's closer to the elevator than the stairwell, and honestly...? I'm already shit tired. I might actually stop by my room for a Monster... I keep a couple on hand now for when my sleep schedule gets totally thrown to the side." She spoke as the light on the elevator sank all the way to the ground level, then began to rise again. "And that means you get to see Sadie's new skin. He just got done shedding, he's grown so big and so damn cute... Did I tell you he crapped in my hair the other day?"
Robert
: ̗̀➛✯ "Augh, no fair, they're such a pain to clean up after sometimes..." Vi whined in jest, drooping her head on Margo's shoulder as they walked. Soft fabric touched at Vi's cheek, the flannel that Margo bore seemed to well loved and worn out with such, broken in flannels were such a gentle joy...

: ̗̀➛✯ And so they walked, a quiet noise of distaste reverberating from Vi's lips when Margo's clammy hands detached from her own.
The elevator cometh, and the two pile inside of the life saving machine, Vi listening to Margo with an attentive gaze.

: ̗̀➛✯ "Mhm, energy drinks just taste like battery acid, not sure how you do it." Quietly, a short chuckle intertwined with a wheeze escaped her lips at the news of sadie. It was exciting about the news of a new skin but... The hair note elicited a giggle

: ̗̀➛✯ "All over your luscious locks, I wouldn't allow that."
Eddie
◆ "I just tough it out." Margo casually spoke, wrapping her arm around Vi's waist and flicking her fingernail against one of the belt loops of her pants. "They taste kinda shitty, but they keep me up something goddamn fierce, so... It's worth it. Kinda like cold medicine: tastes like shit, does wonders."

□ As the door slid closed and her finger absentmindedly flicked against Vi's waist, Margo pressed the button up to the third floor and plopped herself right next to her. "Yeah, babe, like... I was laying on the couch, watching Columbo, and I had Sadie and Lapis out. Lapis was, er... Actually not sure where he was. Probably on the coffee table? But Sadie was slithering all over me, and of course I don't mind it at first because he's a lovely little guy, but... Then I smell it. I knew immediately what happened because snake shit *Stinks.*" She almost sounded annoyed at the reminder of the smell. "Like. I sat up slowly, picked Sadie up, and *Immediately* Put his ass in gay baby jail. Took me a while to wash out all the smell... Royal pain in the ass."

▪︎ "Your chinchillas ever do that?" Margo looked down at Vi, tapping her foot. *Slow elevator,* She thought. "Because I've been shit on a lot by my reptiles. They kinda just... Go when they need to, and sometimes I just end up in the crossfire. But do chinchillas do that? Or do the damn things have at least a little decorum?"
Robert
: ̗̀➛✯ "I don't mind the white monster, but the rest are gross; don't get me started on redbull..." Vi complains quietly, silently noting to herself how surprisingly profound the cold medicine comparison was. She placed her outermost hand on Margo's arm, mostly just so she was doing something with it, theres truly nothing worse than looking stiff on a date.

: ̗̀➛✯ Violetta had already forgotten how this line of conversation had even began, and to be honest, a couple months ago she would be wuite grossed out by it but... Something about the world's most awkward conversations played off in comfort were what made Margo all the more sort of enthralling. Appropriately timed snickers released from the chasm of her throat.
It was hard to form words through the sounds, but she can always find a way.

: ̗̀➛✯ "Augh, i would have- hehe- never forgiven him!- On a dead mouse diet I can only imagine how gross that is." She half shudders, just imagining the scent was enough for her. How lucky she was to not own reptiles sometimes... Usually the reasonings would be the stress of maintaining the constant type of heat and whatnot, but now? Now she had a whole other reason to not have a scaled friend to bless her room.

: ̗̀➛✯ "Soup and Spoon are okay with it, not quite so inconvenient I don't think- I'm so glad I got convinced out of getting a pet bird of all things... As cute as a parrot would be-"
Eddie
◆ "Yeah, Red Bull tastes like curdled piss." Margo remarked with a chuckle. "But I've never actually *Had* The white Monster... Just the original can, whatever flavour you wanna assign to it. Shit tastes like the sound of the word *Uranium,* And that might sound weird, but. I'm not *Wrong.*"

□ With a telltale *Ding* The elevator doors slid open, beckoning the pair in with its empty interior, ripe for whatever goofy stuff they might've been able to get up to. Strolling in, she waited until Vi had joined her before pressing the shut button – the *Shutton* – and once again draping an arm around Vi. "Yeah, it wasn't pretty." She casually spoke. "But that's just part and parcel. It's one of the many weird quirks about reptiles, y'know? Like... They also don't sweat at all. They're dry all the time, and it's honestly kinda funky, even after years of owning and caring for 'em." She continued, knees buckling lightly as the elevator lurched to action. "But shit in my hair or not, I wouldn't trade 'em away for the world. I love my boys."

□ "Anyways... Gotcha. Then again... Actually, scratch that. I doubt we wanna talk about animal shit all of tonight, huh?" She remarked with an amused tone. "Anyways. How's your day been?"
Robert
: ̗̀➛✯ "Curdled piss... Thats an expression" She snickered
"The original sucks, I don't think anyone actually enjoys it- you should try the white or pink ones." She enthused, gazing on as the elevator doors slid open. Hobbling in alongside Margo, she was that little bit giddy to be attending fireworks with her *Girlfriend...*
Constantine would never, fuck that guy.

: ̗̀➛✯ Vi stared at the two of them in the elevator's slightly smudged mirror, the corners of her mouth lifting up into a smile almost against her will. Shamelessly, she side hugged Margo without a word to elaborate. She loves her girlfriend, she loves new years, why was she only just realising how goddamned beautiful it was to love?

: ̗̀➛✯ "Yeah actually, I... Never actively noticed that but- they *Are* Very dry. I guess in the wild it would be to stop sand from getting stuck to them? Weird guess, but sand *Is* Uncomfortable. That or to preserve water." She shrugged, not yet allowing Margo an escape from her embrace as the elevator's ascent began.

: ̗̀➛✯ Vi hummed, how had her day been? The age old question! Though she wasn't so certain on an answer.
"It's been... A day- homework and animal crossing, you know how it is... Gave my sons a little extra food today for new years... Not that they have any concept of it. Called my mother- my baby sister is learning to walk really well these days." She almost looks a little sad for a hot moment there near the end- if only she could meet the little goober.

: ̗̀➛✯"Anything exciting on your end?
Eddie
◆ "White one's good? Neat." Margo commented as Vi joined her in the elevator. "Then again it's not hard to beat the original. Goddamn sludge... But sludge that keeps me awake something fierce. I'll live."

□ Also looking into the mirror, her gaze was fixed on a pimple along her jawline. Who had gave it the right to defile her fine chiseled jaw – itself a survivor of the hormone-induced far redistribution that'd taken a significant portion of her previous physique with it. She was snapped out of her thoughts by Vi wrapping her in a side hug, and she returned the favour with her free arm, tapping her fingers against the curve of her girlfriend's waist.

▪︎ The elevator continued to slowly lurch upwards. She wished it could have lasted forever.

◆ "That'd make sense." She gently nodded, her voice a touch softer than usual. "It's kinda funky how they evolved towards dust. Natural selection heard *Ashes to ashes, dust to dust* And went to fuckin' town on the little guys." She continued. "Anyways, that sounds kinda nice. Bittersweet, gotta be, to only be hearing about her growing up, but at least you won't be here forever. Silver linings, babe."

◆ "As for me...? I've been up since 4:30. Ate a lemon, hung out with Cosmo for a bit, went for a run. It's been mostly the same as usual." She casually spoke as the elevator dinged and came to a stop. "But I did work. It was nice. Slow. Mostly I just deep cleaned a bunch of enclosures while Dammig hung out in my hair. Her and Cosmo are the same, y'know? Goddamn same."
Robert
: ̗̀➛✯ She should take a picture of her and Margo at some point that night, that's what couples do, right? Violetta had a lot of thoughts about the new year ahead, and a lot of thoughts about how wonderful Margo looked right now; she barely noticed the pimple, in fact, the only thing dragging any attention to it was how potent Margo's awareness of it was.
"Babe... Babe you look fine.." She alerted through a snicker. The hug came to a close due to how inconvenient it was to hug with her cane accidentally bumping Margo's leg in Vi's shaky grip.

: ̗̀➛✯ "Indeed, their dust baths are a damn pain to clear up but... Augh, anything for my ugly little babies." Vi mused, suddenly all too aware of her oversight... She forgot to give them a goodbye kiss! She doesn't voice this concern, knowing the fluoride stare she'll recieve when she returns to her dorm will be enough.

: ̗̀➛✯ "You're right, but it may be a little weird... Assuming I leave through age instead of graduating then I'd meet her when she's 3- she'd be semi sentient at that point... Weird as fuck..." She shudders, tapping her finger against the cane in hand- Vi idly listened to Margo's recollection of her day, which elicited a small hum of acknowledgement at all appropriate points.

: ̗̀➛✯ "You're way too attached to that gecko, it must be awful to force the self control to not just take the baby home..." Vi snickered, having heard more about dammig in the past week than anything else.
Sounded like a solid lizard, in fairness to Margo
Eddie
◆ "You still got time to be her cool older sister, I'd say." Margo hummed back. "But yeah, gotcha. It's weird knowing that by the time you see her again she'll be eating bugs and throwing tantrums and walking around, huh?"

□ As the conversation veered towards siblings and the elevator stopped, Margo's mind veered back towards her family. She didn't have any *Young* Siblings, yet she understood how Vi felt just from the way she sorrowfully spoke of all she was missing at home. 

• "But, seriously, I feel it. I have to clean all three of my sons' enclosures once a week or so, and even now it's... Basically going wrist deep in lizard shit and piss." She spoke as she stepped out of the elevator and extended her arm so she wouldn't have to leave go of Vi's hand. "It's nasty work, but it's gotta be done. Otherwise they'd be living in their own shit and piss and I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Is shit like that for you too? Like. Losing sleep over your pets. I lose that shit sometimes."

◆ "Also, yeah... It takes a lot of willpower to leave her behind. But I guess it's easier knowing she's always gonna be at the shop. She's actually apparently pretty good for business, if Elias is to be believed." Margo hummed as the pair lingered around the elevator, hand in hand, plainly chatting. "But, like. When I'm out of here and I have an apartment in town I'm 100% adopting her. It's really just the lack of space that's keeping me from taking her home..."
Robert
: ̗̀➛✯ "Yeah... I am a cool older sister." Vi declared; after all, this wasn't her first rodeo in younger siblings! That said, she doesn't like her russian sister out of a bitter jealousy- which she needs to work on, because one sided beefing with a 14 year old is seriously not a good look.
"Apparently she's quite a quiet baby but... That usually changes, i was a super loud baby but a quiet kid so... Super quiet baby equals super loud kid?" The mental gymnastics is astronomical, her theorising filling up space in the conversation

: ̗̀➛✯ "Is our conversation always going to come back to this?" Vi giggled at Margo's mention of cleaning out enclosures- she'll say this much, thank fuck her chinchillas weren't terrible to clean out. Could be leagues worse it seems...
"Not with soup and spoon, I know they're fine because I can hear them and such. But when I was a kid uh, I'd visit my mother for christmas and my birthday, and I used to stress so much about how this stray cat that I used to feed was doing in my absence."
There wasn't a lot of good to recall from her childhood, sure, but... The memory of that uptight calico made the corners of her mouth lift into a wry smile.

: ̗̀➛✯ "Awh, Dammig is like a little mascot, aha" She chuckled, imagining the gecko on some sort of merchandise- maybe she should custom print a shirt for margo one of these days... That would be a funny surprise...
"Exciting, does Dammig recognise you or..?"
Eddie
◆ "There's the spirit, babe. Also... Maybe you're right. I was a loud baby, though, and that never changed. The loud part; i'm not exactly a baby anymore."

□ A light smile across her chiseled feminine features, Margo nodded along as Vi spoke. She could have listened forever, in all honesty, and never grown tired of hearing her girlfriend's voice, but conversations weren't just one way. The difference between speaking to the wind and speaking to a person was pretty distinct.

◆ "Sorry, kind of habit to go back to talking about my sons and the pain I go through to keep them comfortable." She chuckled. "But that aside, that's sweet. I'm sure that cat appreciated you... Stray cats don't exactly have an easy life. I actually had Cosmo's enclosure by my window back home for a while, and I only stopped because I'd left my window open a crack and this fuckin' stray cat was trying to get in so it could snatch Cosmo up as a snack. Kinda shows how desperate those cats get."

▪︎ "Anyways, gimme a sec. Or you can just come in. Whatever suits ya."

□ Popping the door to her dorm open, the smell of fresh-cut citrus, strong tobacco, and herbal tea flowed out from the doorway like miasma, an invisible haze that was almost intoxicating in its exotic strength. Margo seemed totally unaffected by it though, and she strolled in casually before kneeling down by her mini fridge and popping it open. Digging through it she produced a can of Monster, black and green, and she stood up afterwards and turned to face Vi wherever she happened to be.

◆ "She does. I see it every morning when I clock in, actually. She notices me and immediately runs to the edge of her enclosure and stares at me until I pick her up." She fondly spoke. "Kinda like Cosmo, except he's a little lazier so he gives me like. A fuckin' fluoride stare until I pick him up, like he's... Doing now."

▪︎ She pointed to Cosmo's enclosure, and there was the fellow. Staring intently, yet lazing in the sun. What a charming man.
Robert
YYEA ill get a response to you in a bit im jus watching puss in boots w my family real quick :3