Anna was feeling a little sick from forcing herself to eat. Absently, she pushed the food around on her plate, eyes downcast. When Salene entered the extra cafe, Anna felt her eyes shift in that direction. She was slowly making her way to their tables at the back. When she announced that it was bedtime for Willow and Flower, Anna felt a stab of jealously. For so long, it'd been Anna that helped put them to bed. Usually Ryan was around too. But as Salene explained, Ryan was too tired. This worried Anna more. How could he be too tired to make sure they were all ok? Anna listened to her fork scrape across the top of the plate.
When Flower through herself at Salene, Anna couldn't help but look down and away. Perhaps Flower and Willow didn't need her in that compacity anymore. It wasn't so much that Anna minded, but she'd miss it. The food on her plate was looking more and more unappetizing. Sighing, Anna pushed the plate away from her. Concentrating so hard on the table top and telling herself that it was all ok, Anna almost missed Jack asking about going up to the roof.
She stared blankly for a second, completely confused. The stars and the roof? Her mind was empty. It took her a moment to figure out what he was talking about. As she remembered, her mind flashed over the moment and through everything else. She found her cheeks coloring just as Jack's were. "I'd still like to go see the stars. Would you like that Tatty?" She asked, turning her gaze to him. "Remember, I asked you earlier if you wanted to." Anna fidgeted, eagar to get out of the cafe. "If you don't want to, I could take you down our room... make sure you get to bed alright? But its...up to you." Anna said, leaving the choice up to him. If he wanted to bed, she was going to make sure to tuck him in. At least Salene had left him alone. Besides, he was like the little brother she'd never had. Anna had to watch out for him, especially if Ryan wasn't going to be coming down tonight.
Flower watched first Salene then Willow leave before sitting up in her chair and heading over to the table where Anna was. As she stood, she felt the weight of her exhaustion on her shoulders, and in her head, it took all of her strength to drag her tired body across the room. Navigating around Jack, Flower flung her arms around Anna, hugging her awkwardly. "Salene says I have to go to bed now. Are you going to bed now?" She gazed at Tatty who looked confuddled, then to Jack before yawning, "What're you talking about anyway?"
Anna was barely paying attention to conversation going on next to her. Tatty still hadn't answered her, and for once, she didn't really know how to interpet the look on his face. It was mere minutes before Willow came walking over, and Anna glanced up. Willow had been crying, there were tear tracks on her cheeks and her eyes were red and puffy. Anna felt terrible. She should've been paying more attention, making sure Willow was ok, not telling her to eat. Willow snapped out a goodnight, before spinning around and leave. It left Anna with her mouth open, staring at Willow's retreating back. Now what? She wondered to herself. As she was about to stand, Flower came over and hugged her.
"Well, it is getting late and we've had a busy day." Anna murmured quietly to Flower, giving her a soft smile. "I think I'll be up for a little while longer. Do you want me to walk you down to bed?" Anna asked, hoping Flower would agree. At least Flower didn't seem terribly upset about anything. If they went downstairs, it would also allow for Tatty to decide if he wanted to go to bed too. "We were just talking about stars." Anna said.
Everything happened so quickly, Anna was talking to Tatty about the roof, Jack was eating his food and simply observing, then Salene was running off, Willow said a rather terse goodnight, and now Flower was almost in Anna's lap. "Wow, well things don't happen slowly with you guys does it," he asked simply through a slight chuckle, not even realizing what he might be implying with Anna. He meant it innocently, and he wasn't even considering that it could be taken the wrong way.
"Yeah we were talking about going to look at the stars. I'd invite you to come but you know, if Sal wants you to go to bed, you best do what she asks. Maybe later this week we can plan a late night for you kids, we can all go up and stargaze," he offered nicely before eating more food. Looking to Tatty, Jack gave him the same kind smile he'd been giving him, "So how bout it Tatty? You going to come with us or go to bed?"
Flower yawned deeply, covering her mouth as her eyes squished shut and tears formed, her nose wrinkling as the yawn ended. Her eyelids lazed half shut, "No, I want Mommy to tuck us in tonight. Daddy told her he could cause he was too tired, and I don't want to make her feel bad, ok?" Flower was used to having Anna tuck her in, of course, Anna was the big sister Flower had always longed for. But now, now she had that Mommy, and she wanted to be sure to do everything that would mean keeping her Mommy. "Maybe tomorrow night it can be your turn," Flower hugged Anna a bit closer, leaning her head in to rest against Anna's shoulder.
The talk of the stars interested her, she'd like to stay up, but she couldn't stop yawning. "How come Tatty gets to stay up but I gotsa go to bed?" Flower got out between yawns, giving him a slightly sleepy annoyed look. Letting go of Anna, Flower walked around Jack and up to Tatty. "Alright, but you better have fun, cause I wanna go and I can't, so if you go, wish on a star for me," she leaned in and whispered her wish to him, covering her mouth so Anna and Jack couldn't see, leaning back and nodding at him. "Kay?" she leaned in and gave Tatty a kiss on the cheek and waved goodnight to Jack before bouncing off downstairs.
Tatty smiled at Flower's request, his eyes going a bit wide as she kissed his cheek, making a face at her quickly retreating self and wiping he kiss off as if it were highly contagious or something. Flaring his nostrils and looking at Anna with crossed eyes he simply shook his head and got back to finishing his dinner. He'd have to think about this, he was rather tired, and Tatty wanted nothing more than to crawl under his covers and hide away the day, but if Anna wasn't going to be there, he wouldn't feel safe. Right now, he was feeling quite clingy, and wherever she was going he wanted to be. Besides, he'd promised Flower he'd wish on a star, though, he didn't know how to do that exactly.
His eyes darted from Jack to Anna, indicating that he didn't feel comfortable saying anything in front of him right now, and he looked at his plate as Jack looked to him. Simply nodding, Tatty indicated that he would indeed go look at stars with them, he'd just have to be sure to catch Anna on the way there to ask her how he wished on a star. Finishing the last bite of his food, Tatty leaned back and looked at Anna, suddenly nervous about their plans and doing everything wrong.
Anna nodded numbly as Flower said she wanted Salene to tuck her in. She didn't want Anna any longer. Biting her lip and staring at the table, Anna murmured a quiet goodnight as Flower scurried around the table to Tatty. She glanced up at Tatty, watching his eyes move between herself and Jack. With sigh of defeat, Anna stood and brushed the invisible crumbs from her lap. Everyone at the table seemed done eating. "I'll take your plates up." She offered quietly, gathering Tatty's and then Jack's. Setting her's on top, she turned and picked up Flower and Willow's plates. Walking them back, she set them on the counter and just stood, trying to breath.
Her head was starting to hurt and she just wished she could get the rest of the day without anymore emtional rollercoasters. She hoped that Tatty was alright with going to the roof, because she didn't want to force him. Shaking her head, Anna turned and walked back into extra cafe with a fake grin plastered on her face. "So, all thats set. Is it dark enough to go up yet?" She asked Jack, trying to not let him see how excited she was to get into the fresh air again. The mall was feeling a little small again.
The commotion breaking out in the Mall made Jack turn his attention away from Anna for a moment, his mouth hanging open in confusion and disbelief. He heard the name Tai-San, and his face clouded over with annoyance. Whatever she was trying to prove with whatever she was doing, Jack wasn't interested. "I, I don't know, if it's dark enough, but I say we head up. I mean, it's after dinner, the stars should be coming out now. It used to be a lot easier to see them before the power was cut back on, but, but it's still pretty clear now. I just, you know, hope clouds haven't moved in or anything. Oh, you know, it'll be really easy to check, we can just head out into the carpark," he motioned over his shoulder with his thumb and shrugged.
He wanted to get Anna out of here, but he wanted to get Tatty away from whatever was happening next. Jack could tell he couldn't handle stress too well and they'd all been through a lot today, the last thing Jack wanted to happen was have Tatty go all vacant again. Yeah, he was selfish, it really had more to do with the fact that Anna would stay with him, but honestly, he did worry about the boy. Anyone who could turn their eyes off like that, it was creepy, and the last thing he needed was more drama. "Shall we then?"
Tatty jumped as a scream broke through the silence of sitting here with Jack, waiting for Anna to return, standing straight up and looking with wild eyes at Anna as she came in and asked about heading out now. He moved towards her and pressed his chest against her arm, hugging her arm quickly, a whisper passing over his lips, "What's wrong? What's going on?"
Jack began talking casually about the roof and the stars, and Tatty looked at him with wide eyes, hadn't he heard the scream? Didn't he care about what was happening? What if someone was coming to rough up Tatty again? What if Ryan had found something scarier out and was about to go crazy again? What if Lottie was on her way to cause trouble? Tatty's mouth had gone dry, he wanted out of here, he wanted to run far away, to never look back.
Looking at Anna, Tatty felt like he couldn't breathe, what were they going to do? Were they just going to go out and look at stars? When so much was going crazy? Actually, on second thought, that sounded like the best plan ever. Yes, away from here, out of the way, where no one could come and find them and rough him up. "Let's go," he whispered to her, swallowing down hard, trying to get his dry throat to stop hurting suddenly.
When Flower through herself at Salene, Anna couldn't help but look down and away. Perhaps Flower and Willow didn't need her in that compacity anymore. It wasn't so much that Anna minded, but she'd miss it. The food on her plate was looking more and more unappetizing. Sighing, Anna pushed the plate away from her. Concentrating so hard on the table top and telling herself that it was all ok, Anna almost missed Jack asking about going up to the roof.
She stared blankly for a second, completely confused. The stars and the roof? Her mind was empty. It took her a moment to figure out what he was talking about. As she remembered, her mind flashed over the moment and through everything else. She found her cheeks coloring just as Jack's were. "I'd still like to go see the stars. Would you like that Tatty?" She asked, turning her gaze to him. "Remember, I asked you earlier if you wanted to." Anna fidgeted, eagar to get out of the cafe. "If you don't want to, I could take you down our room... make sure you get to bed alright? But its...up to you." Anna said, leaving the choice up to him. If he wanted to bed, she was going to make sure to tuck him in. At least Salene had left him alone. Besides, he was like the little brother she'd never had. Anna had to watch out for him, especially if Ryan wasn't going to be coming down tonight.
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"Well, it is getting late and we've had a busy day." Anna murmured quietly to Flower, giving her a soft smile. "I think I'll be up for a little while longer. Do you want me to walk you down to bed?" Anna asked, hoping Flower would agree. At least Flower didn't seem terribly upset about anything. If they went downstairs, it would also allow for Tatty to decide if he wanted to go to bed too. "We were just talking about stars." Anna said.
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"Yeah we were talking about going to look at the stars. I'd invite you to come but you know, if Sal wants you to go to bed, you best do what she asks. Maybe later this week we can plan a late night for you kids, we can all go up and stargaze," he offered nicely before eating more food. Looking to Tatty, Jack gave him the same kind smile he'd been giving him, "So how bout it Tatty? You going to come with us or go to bed?"
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The talk of the stars interested her, she'd like to stay up, but she couldn't stop yawning. "How come Tatty gets to stay up but I gotsa go to bed?" Flower got out between yawns, giving him a slightly sleepy annoyed look. Letting go of Anna, Flower walked around Jack and up to Tatty. "Alright, but you better have fun, cause I wanna go and I can't, so if you go, wish on a star for me," she leaned in and whispered her wish to him, covering her mouth so Anna and Jack couldn't see, leaning back and nodding at him. "Kay?" she leaned in and gave Tatty a kiss on the cheek and waved goodnight to Jack before bouncing off downstairs.
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His eyes darted from Jack to Anna, indicating that he didn't feel comfortable saying anything in front of him right now, and he looked at his plate as Jack looked to him. Simply nodding, Tatty indicated that he would indeed go look at stars with them, he'd just have to be sure to catch Anna on the way there to ask her how he wished on a star. Finishing the last bite of his food, Tatty leaned back and looked at Anna, suddenly nervous about their plans and doing everything wrong.
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Her head was starting to hurt and she just wished she could get the rest of the day without anymore emtional rollercoasters. She hoped that Tatty was alright with going to the roof, because she didn't want to force him. Shaking her head, Anna turned and walked back into extra cafe with a fake grin plastered on her face. "So, all thats set. Is it dark enough to go up yet?" She asked Jack, trying to not let him see how excited she was to get into the fresh air again. The mall was feeling a little small again.
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He wanted to get Anna out of here, but he wanted to get Tatty away from whatever was happening next. Jack could tell he couldn't handle stress too well and they'd all been through a lot today, the last thing Jack wanted to happen was have Tatty go all vacant again. Yeah, he was selfish, it really had more to do with the fact that Anna would stay with him, but honestly, he did worry about the boy. Anyone who could turn their eyes off like that, it was creepy, and the last thing he needed was more drama. "Shall we then?"
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Jack began talking casually about the roof and the stars, and Tatty looked at him with wide eyes, hadn't he heard the scream? Didn't he care about what was happening? What if someone was coming to rough up Tatty again? What if Ryan had found something scarier out and was about to go crazy again? What if Lottie was on her way to cause trouble? Tatty's mouth had gone dry, he wanted out of here, he wanted to run far away, to never look back.
Looking at Anna, Tatty felt like he couldn't breathe, what were they going to do? Were they just going to go out and look at stars? When so much was going crazy? Actually, on second thought, that sounded like the best plan ever. Yes, away from here, out of the way, where no one could come and find them and rough him up. "Let's go," he whispered to her, swallowing down hard, trying to get his dry throat to stop hurting suddenly.
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