"Oh, trust ." He groaned, though there was no real irritation in his voice, just fondness. "She was, and still is, painfully slow when it cos to certain.. Things."
He shot Cleora a knowing look. "And trying to hint at things? Useless. It’s like talking to a brick wall."
Cleora snorted, pressing a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter. "Good to know so things never change."
Heiren grinned. "Oh, they definitely wouldn’t change any ti soon."
Cleora paused and looked at him, a soft smile erging in her lips. "But thank you, for putting up with my daughter and loving her the way she is."
Heiren returned Cleora’s soft smile with a warm one of his own.
"No need to thank ." He replied, a tender tone in his voice. "I love your daughter and wouldn’t change her for the world. Quirks, obliviousness, and all."
His gaze drifted towards the photos, affection clear in his eyes. "Besides.. It has never been about putting up with her.. It’s about loving who she is."
Cleora’s breath caught up in her throat— then, without warning, tears spilled over, and a shaky, soft laugh escaped her as she hastily wiped the tears off her cheeks, shaking her head.
"I’m so glad." She managed to utter, voice shaking. "To know my daughter is in good hands.. I was so worried."
She shook her head, smiling through the tears. "But I guess.. I was worrying over nothing."
Heiren hesitated and awkwardly but earnestly, patted her shoulder, making Cleora glance at him with a puzzled gaze.
".. She’s safe with us, mother." He promised.
Cleora sniffed, nodding. "I can see that, child. She’s happy in this house, and that’s all that matters to ."
Cleora sniffled, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand and shaking her head with a smile.
Their conversation was interrupted when the sound of a door opening echoed down the hall, both Cleora and Heiren turned just in ti to see Zaque walking towards them, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
He stopped when he noticed the two of them— Heiren patting Cleora on the shoulder, Cleora swiping at her wet cheeks.
".. Uh." He trailed off lightly. "Did I miss sothing?"
"You didn’t miss anything, dearie." Cleora said softly, voice still warm. "Your friend here just promised that my daughter is in good hands."
She reached out and gave Heiren’s arm a gentle squeeze before glancing at Zaque. "Both of you.. All of them.. She’s safe and loved."
Zaque blinked. ".. Yes, she really is."
He rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze shifting between Cleora and Heiren. "I can promise that, too. We take good care of each other, and Coco especially."
Zaque smiled and before he could voice his questions, another voice cut in—
"What’s going on..?"
The three of them whisked their heads in the direction of the new voice and saw Alhai standing in the hallway, blinking groggily at the sight before him.
Cleora dabbing at her tear-stained cheeks, Zaque looking just as lost as him, and Heiren awkwardly shuffling his feet.
A mont of stunned silence passed before he spoke up again. "Please tell I’m dreaming. Soone, at least, tell this is all just a weirdly lucid dream."
Zaque snorted. "Sorry, Alhai. You’re awake."
"Great." Alhai grumbled, running a hand through his disheveled hair as he made his way over to the stairs. "Instead of just standing there like a bunch of idiots.."
Alhai rolled his eyes at his friends’ dumbfounded expressions and he paused at the foot of the stairs, turning to glance back at the group, his tone dry. "How about we offer sothing to drink to our mother instead?"
Cleora bead. "Oh, that would be lovely!"
Alhai’s smile softened as he looked at Cleora and gestured for her to follow him. "Onto the kitchen we go, mom.."
Cleora moved to do as she was told, but Alhai glanced at the photo in her hand.
"If you would like.." He nodded towards the frad photo of Coco. "You can take that picture of our wife with you. It should be appreciated deeply by soone anyway."
She glanced back at the picture, studying it for a mont before turning back to Alhai with a small smile. "Thank you."
Heiren and Zaque exchanged exasperated looks as Alhai led Cleora down the stairs, probably going to the kitchen as it is where he was saying he will bring her to earlier, shaking their heads at his antics.
"Subtle, Alhai." Heiren muttered.
"Real subtle." Agreed Zaque, rolling his eyes. "Way to be a show-stealer."
Heiren let out a scoff, placing the frad photo he had been holding down on top of a drawer and straightening it slightly.
"She was looking at Coco’s photo when I found her." He explained, glancing at the picture with a soft smile. "So I figured I should explain so things to her."
Zaque raised an eyebrow. "What did you explain?"
"I told her about these pictures.." He traced a finger gently over the fra, his smile growing. "Were taken by Sinclair.. And that I found her unbelievably adorable, so I thought.. I thought, why not fra them?"
Zaque shook his head. "You really fell hard, didn’t you? Hard enough to start blabbering about it to others."
"You’re no better than ." Heiren said flatly, unfazed. "I have seen a couple of her pictures tucked in your room— under your pillow, even."
Zaque flushed with sha as he stuttered. "That— that was one ti! And they’re not under my pillow now!"
Heiren smirked. "Could’ve fooled ."
They stared each other down for a beat, both cracked into quiet laughter, shaking their heads.
So things didn’t need to be said out loud.
They loved Coco, and every photo, every hidden glance— they were just proof of it.
"Co on." Heiren stated with a smile, nodding towards the stairs. "We don’t want Alhai stealing all the cookie points of mother."
Zaque snorted, but fell into step behind him.
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