listen, @sentientmasstransit i saw your tags on the beautiful drawing of ellie with shimmer and then this just. came over me. and wouldn't budge the whole day. so here it is, hopefully i didn't commit any horse crimes.
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living with ellie means joel has come to expect a lot of things when he gets his morning cup of coffee ranging from his girl asleep at the table to the time she had decided that six am was the perfect time to learn how to change a light bulb on her own, but being face to face with a horse is not one of them.
the coffee machine is happily gurgling away in the background, which means ellie must have already passed through and felt generous enough to turn it on for him, though she is nowhere to be seen now. joel recognizes it, which is something, and shimmer lets out a relaxed huff when he steps around her to grab a mug. he was not going to do this without caffeine.
during the five minutes it takes him to wait for the coffee to stop spluttering into the glass pot and burn his throat with half a cup that he hastily drinks down, the house continues to stay quiet, shimmer apparently happy to just doze next to the counters.
eventually, he calls out for her.
"ellie, why is shimmer in my kitchen?"
no response.
despite remnants sleep still clinging to him, joel feels the familiar anxiety squeeze his chest and speed up his heart, and he is about to go looking for her when she comes blustering down the stairs, backpack in hand.
"oh. hi, didn't hear you get up."
she glides around shimmer and puts her between them, going to grab two apples from the fruit bowl next to the fridge, and while he knows she has school, he is not about to let this one slide.
"ellie, there's a horse in my kitchen."
"yeah, i know. i put it there."
there is not enough coffee in the entire state of wyoming to get him through her teenage years intact. joel pinches the bridge of his nose and forces himself to take probably his deepest breath in the last month before looking back up at ellie, who is joyfully rocking back and forth on her feet without an ounce of guilt.
"i know i never said so, but i thought it was obvious that we do not bring our horses inside the house."
how she managed to fucking do that in the first place without waking him is a miracle he can figure out later, for now he just wants answers and to get shimmer back outside before she eats his granola. ellie shrugs her shoulders, one hand buried in her fur and gently carding through it.
"she was lonely, i haven't had much time lately with all the stupid homework they give us, and she missed me. so i brought her here last night and we slept in the living room. there's no rule against that."
joel desperately fights the smile hat is determined to settle on his face and fails, the corners of his lips ticking up just enough for ellie to notice, and he gracefully accepts the resignation settling into his bones when her face lights up with triumph. he knows how much ellie loves that horse, hell, he has had to peel her off the bottom of her box more times than he can count when she fell asleep reading, leaning against her legs, and the bond they have formed impresses even most of the regular stable workers. still. he could do without shimmer blocking half the kitchen and scratching their floors.
"just. get her out of here, please. and next time just put her in the backyard, new rule. no horses inside the house."
ellie's eyes gleam with something dangerous, and he quickly continues.
"no animals whatsoever."
her smile falls, but the sigh she lets out is humorous, and he helps her onto shimmer's bare back when it becomes obvious that she won't just act normal for once in her life and lead the horse outside. of course she has to ride it out through the front door. ellie bends down and joel presses a kiss to her cheek to send her off, and, really, how she manages to get through the door frame without getting stuck is beyond him.
joel settles back into his horse-free kitchen and refills his cup to the brim. he is going to have to talk to maria about some horse-related ground rules or next time shimmer might great him face to face first thing in the morning. knowing ellie, if there is anyone who could get a horse up the stairs, it's her.
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soon it'll be dawn again
transcript under the cut ⏬
page 01
Fig: no way? - you're still up?
Riz: Wh– yes?
Riz: Why'd I not be.
page 02
Fig: I me~~ean - that took.
Fig: whole day.
Riz: Yeah?
Fig: 'm beat.
Riz: you should sleep.
page 03
Fig: nah. my guy's still up
Fig: I wanna hang out.
page 04
Riz: That's really nice.
Fig: Hah! - Nobody ever expects an Archdevil rockstar to be nice.
Riz: … yeah. - 's just budget work tho. (the stuff I'm working on) - I've heard it's boring.
page 05
Fig: yeah, but you do it…
Riz: It keeps things going, right? - Nothing happens if nobody sits down and - does the thing.
Fig: That's right… - though. Yeah.
page 06
Fig: sometimes it's someone else who - doesn't want the same thing to happen.
Riz: … - mm.
page 07
Riz (off screen): …It took me a long time to get that not everyone likes doing what I do. - 's probably because you guys are so nice– - or. - kind.
Riz (off screen): to anyone too, not just. - the people you /love/.
page 08
Riz: that's not how it is elsewhere. - The world's– not. hostile. - but 's not like it's kind.
Riz: So I'm doing as much as I can now…
page 09
Fig: Hey.
Riz: ?
Fig: Go dig some dirt with me.
page 10
Riz: [blank speech bubble] - oh you meant like - actual dirt. (not incriminating information)
Fig: o yea.
Fig: there's clay in the backyard soil. - sometimes when I'm sun deficient or something I go touch dirt for a bit.
page 11
Fig: here u go
page 12
Riz: uh
Fig: now we make a thing! - 'm pretty good at freehanding a bowl.
Fig: I'll show u
page 13
Fig: just– yep, flatten that out as evenly as u can, then–! - actually ur nails'd be so good at cutting out the strip. [larger than usual space] wait. - wait. wait u can carve patterns with them! we HAVE to try
Riz: uh - What. do I carve?
Fig: anything!!!
page 14
Fig: and– yep just seal the inside uh. seam?
Fig: yep that works - okay time's up! all contestant hands up
Riz: [blank speech bubble] - okay - wh. what's next?
Fig: haha - watch this.
(sound effect text): FWOO—MP
page 15
Riz: WH– DON'T JUST DO THAT???
Fig: Now it's fired!
Riz: THAT WAS NOT SAFE
Fig: (actually it's just dry. if u add water rn it'll dissolve)
Fig: ok catch!
Riz: [blank speech bubble] - careful!!
Fig: dw no need haha
page 16
Riz (thought bubble): oh - it's warm…
Fig: now I want you to throw this.
page 17
Fig: u gotta do it - c'mon
page 18
Riz: wh– - It's like 3AM right now
Fig: oh it's not /fired/ fired it's not gonna make a loud noise
Riz: And then just? leave a pile out here?
Fig: pour water over it & it'll be gone I told u
Riz: but
page 19
Fig (off screen): RIz.
page 20
Fig: I've done all this before.
Fig: Can you trust that at least?
page 21
Riz: no, I– - I do. - I trust you.
page 23
Riz: okay what happens now
(sound effect text): glob
page 24
Fig: we do it again!
page 25
Riz: wh. [larger than usual space] What do you mean. (this clay's too wet also)
Fig: see! you're already learning
Fig: [blank speech bubble] - there are flows that are futile to fight. - The world changes.
Fig: Things change.
page 26
Fig: I've learned my lessons with "forevers". - But - as an artist
Fig: I can give you one thing: - You can always do it again.
page 27
Fig: most of everything depends on the rest of the world, - but this. - making new. - that's yours as long as you want it.
page 28
Fig: So?
page 29
Riz: Yeah. - Yeah! - let's make another one.
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