Omake 24: Jade-colored Cuddles (C)
"You can never have too many books or too many hugs." – Gina House
Omake 24: Jade-colored Cuddles
Emerald wasn't sure how to react to this entire situation.
Waking up in a warm pillow that was currently hugging her, her red-eyed gaze was quick to pick up what was the pillow and her mind even quicker to remind her what happened the night before. It had been a long day yesterday. Cinder had been busy with her training, Sienna was going to spend most of the day at work as the White Fang Leader, Nora was having a sleepover at Blake's house and the mint-haired girl had decided to spend some time with her father. The word still felt odd to pronounce without feeling too awkward about it despite how long she had been in this family. In a very bizarre way, she preferred the company of Sienna more than John. Mostly because she was considered women more approachable and kinder than many men. So it was kind of a surprise when she ended up holed up in the house and decided to sit down and help her father with some of the paperwork. Spoiler alert, it wasn't a pleasant job and she could see why he would be so tired during the evenings. She could hardly imagine having to be burdened by that kind of burden on a daily basis, but she was still entertained by it in small quantities. John mentioned it was because she was still young and so she didn't have the 'attention span' to handle that kind of business without growing too bored or incredibly frustrated about it. The reasoning made sense, but Emerald still put an effort to help as much as she could.
To prove a point to… herself mostly.
She was no lazybug, and she definitely wanted to know how the paperwork really was after hearing many people bemoaning about it for so long. The girl now had a rightful and healthy amount of hatred towards those towers of documents after just sparing a day dealing with those. It was quite frustrating as her father had said, but she could tell that she now had a growing bond with him through the renewed respect he had for him. If John was willing and able to endure and break through this kind of work, and keep a calm behavior after that, then he was no man but a saint. And that was further expanded when the afternoon came and she ended up feeling a bit withdrawn by the sudden amount of stress she put her mind through. Tired and a bit bored, the girl left the kitchen as she was done eating a few sandwiches for dinner, and she turned up to check the living room, right where a sleeping John was taking a few hours to rest. She paused, a pout on her face. Emerald had made plans to take the couch for herself, having experienced to the fullest the notion that the couch was absurdly the best place to nap in this place but it would seem great minds think alike.
Maybe it was her tiredness, or maybe she just wanted to finally make use of her daughter's privilege to still get some sleep despite the current circumstances but… the girl ultimately went for quite the 'extreme solution' by merely setting herself to sleep over the young man. Getting in the proper position to not disturb the slumber of her father, the girl sighed in relief as she finalized her plan and got herself stuck in quite the pleasant position. What she didn't expect was for that late evening rest to actually become a full-fledged deep sleep that lasted until the morning of the next day. She woke up slowly, but she definitely heard someone giggling from the side. After taking just a moment to recollect her thoughts, Emerald's gaze was swift to catch the origin of the amused noise and she paused at the sight of a Scroll being used to take a picture of the scene. A grinning Nora delivering a swift 'good morning', an action followed by a deeply amused Sienna as she stared at the sight while holding in her arms a sleeping toddler. The only one that was the furthest from amused was… Cinder.
The angered look on her face surprised Cinder as it definitely felt anomalous compared to usual. Normally, Emerald would be either submissive at that glare, or outright mortified. Their relationship was rather defined by now, so that was meant to be the common response to that. Yet in that moment, driven by sleepiness and warmth, her first response was perhaps what aggravated the eldest sibling up a notch or two. She cuddled closer to the still sleeping father and almost adopted a stern look aimed at those angry eyes aimed at her. In something that could only be considered 'feline' in nature, Emerald took a stand to actually protect her perch, something that she was really going to regret in the future, but that right now felt more than enough important to commit to. It was a hill worth dying for. For cuddling's sake!
Nora giggled harder, she had to then go to the bathroom with how hard she was laughing and how her bladder was having trouble holding this much at the pure entertainment happening in front of her. Sienna shook her head at the antagonistic response, while Cinder knew that the sight before her proved something. Even someone as innocuous as Emerald was a worthy opponent that sought to deprive her of a planned cuddling session with her father. The hugs, the much-deserved naps- all stolen by that mint-haired cheeky gremlin latching on her daddy- her father's body for simple nuzzling!
THE NERVE OF THAT BRAT!