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Katelyn kicked the hardwood floor gently, spinning her chair around in a lazy arc as she waited for Minecraft to boot up. It always takes sooo loooooong opening it through Steam... She mused, annoyed. When she heard a ping from the computer, she stopped spinning and pulled herself up to the computer desk; someone had Steam-IM’d her.

Reborn_In_Fire: Hey kitty
kittycat9lives: hey fire! you ready to play that new map?
Reborn_In_Fire: You better bekieve it! I have teh best music going just for this. I can’t wait.
kittycat9lives: will any of the others be joining us?
Reborn_In_Fire: I don’t know, I’ll ask.

Smiling slightly at his friend’s enthusiasim, Grant clicked out of his chat with Kitty and moused over to open his chat with Rainbow. She wasn’t on.

RainbowdashFTW is currently offline, they will receive your message the next time they log in.

Reborn_In_Fire: Hey dash, you missed the new map on GS. Sorry. Hope you had fun with whatever else you were doing. Chat with you later.

That finished, he moused out and checked Glassesknight’s profile; she wasn’t on either. After sending her the same message as Dash, he shook his head. He messaged Kitty again.

Reborn_In_Fire: GK and dash are both offline. Gonna check on Link and Imp now.
kittycat9lives: Okay.

Grant shrugged, turning over to his chat with Imp. He was on, and he smiled; Imp was probably the best at GS out of all of them. I hope you’re ready to play, Jace. He thought, opening the chat.

Reborn_In_Fire: Oh good you’re on. Kitty and I were about to go check out the new map on GS, wanna join us?
1MP0551BL3: Hmm, let me think. I don’t know? what do you think?
1MP0551BL3: Of course I do, silly. which server?
Reborn_In_Fire: Good!
Reborn_In_Fire: IP: 4633.254.462.45;4435
1MP0551BL3: Okay, sounds good! btw don’t bother pestering link-man, he’s eating dinner.
Reborn_In_Fire: Wow, he’s eating late. Okay, then.
Reborn_In_Fire: See you in-game!
1MP0551BL3: yep. seeya.

Jace grinned, quickly booting up Minecraft. A new map... This is gonna be awesome! I can’t wait to see it. Hopefully there wont be any idiots playing. As minecraft booted up, he reached over to the shelf beside him, picking up his drink. He took a sip, watching the computer screen off-handedly. As the Minecraft client woke up, he set his drink back down, leaning his forarms on the computer desk, excited for the game to load so he could play. His arms rested on various random things, and it wasn’t very comfortable, so he picked his arms back up and laid them, folded, in his lap. We really need to clean the computer desk off... he mused, looking at it. I wonder what Olivia is doing...? She’s offline...

This is the most boring thing I have ever attended. Olivia thought, standing in line to go to the zoo. Seven year olds and their families had a discount today, and her little brother had begged so much, that her parents had crumbled and took them. The only problem was, Olivia didn’t WANT to go. She would’ve much preferred staying inside and chatting with her friends online. But nooooo. She had to watch her little brother run away from her parents, had to help chase him, had to help him feed the poor abused animals. Seriously, would people like it to stay in a tiny cage all day, with strange creatures moving around you all the time, and strange noises all around you? Seriously... Zoos are not good for the animals... She thought with dissatisfaction, shivering a little against the ever-present wind and hugging her jacket closer. Plus, it’s so cold, anything with half a brain will be in the warmest place they can find... Which will not be right outside in their enclosures. Brett is going to be very disappointed. She thought, shuffling up mindlessly as the line moved. Brett was jumping around and chattering at their parents, but she tuned him out, more out of habit than anything. If Sarah had been able to come, that would’ve been so much better. But noooo. She frowned, and remembered something. DIgging her ipod and headphones out of her pocket, she slipped them into her ears, and scrolled through her playlist. She grabbed some Skillet and let it play, shutting down her iPod and putting it back away. That's better, she decided. Looking aead, she found they were almost at the ticket booth. Her eyes widened as the heavenly smell of funnel cakes came drifting toward her on the breeze. Oh. My. Gosh. Why didn’t they TELL me there’d be funnel cakes!? I thought they wouldn’t because it’s so cold! Her eyes widened, and she gaped a little, inhaling the delicious scent. SHe checked her pockets; good, she had remembered her wallet. Grinning, she knew exaclty what she would do when they passed the ticket booth. Her mouth was already watering, and the delicious smell on the breeze was a reminder of what she would soon be able to get.

Meanwhile, Lydia was bored out of her mind.
“Would you like more tea, ma’am?” The waiter asked in a silky voice, and she resisted the mighty urge to roll her eyes.
This is the fifth time in tirty minutes he’s asked! I counted! She thought in frustration, plastering a fake smile on her mouth. She shook her head gently, trying not to let her hair clips fall out. “No thank you, sir.” She replied demurely, stabbing a chunk of potato with her fork.
And why, exactly, did I have to come to this?? She demanded mentally, despite knowing no-one would respond. She gave a quiet sigh, bringing her fork up to her mouth and eating the bite of potato. David’s girlfriend looked at Lydia and muttered something to him. Whatever it was must have been funny, because David laughed and Wanda smirked, glancing sidelong at Lydia. She always looked so glamorous, so perfect... She was surprised her brother had gotten a girlfriend like Wanda. Of course, they shared many interests, such as tormenting Lydia. From when they first met, Wanda had liked laugihng at Lydia’s expense. It just added to her long list of annoyances. Actually, it wouldn’t surprise her to find that the annoyingly persistent waiter was Wanda’s doing. Half the boys in the college were in her hand. If only I could’ve brought my hoodie... Then I could’ve snuck my phone in here and chatted with the others... But noo... It’s not cold enough... Blugh... She discreetly looked past her brother’s head to the wall, where the clock was; thankfully, they appeared to only have another half hour. She was almost done with her dinner, anyway. Good... Then maybe we can get out of here. I’m bored out of my mind.

1MP0551BLE opened a new chatroom

1MP0551BL3: Okay I’m in!
Reborn_In_Fire: So’m I.
kittycat9lives: ditto! lets do this thing!

Katelyn almost danced with excitement as the game loaded. when it loaded, she grinned, typing in a few commands, as usual. “/kit archer” “/join” were typed quickly, and she smiled; She was on team blue, as usual.

kittycat9lives: What colors are you guys? I’m blue.
Reborn_In_Fire: same here.
1MP0551BL3: red. bluh.
kittycat9lives: hahahahahah. you’re dead, Imp. >
1MP0551BL3: orly.
Reborn_In_Fire yesrly.
kittycat9lives: oh, here we go! we’ll see who’s right and who’s wrong now

Moving out on the new map, Katelyn controlled her invisible avatar, quickly climbing a tree. She winced as her avatar stepped on a pressure plate, making a redstone lamp light up below her feet. She jumped her avatar quickly to the next block, and just in time, because an arrow sailed through the air to hit the block behind where her avatar had been standing. That was too close... She thought, manuvering the keys and spacebar to keep climbing the tree. If only you didn’t have to deal with external things like a keyboard and a mouse and a controller... It would be so interesting! Plus, you’d be able to do way more stuff. Like, you know, CLIMB. Seriously some of this stuff should be climbable, but noooo. It would probably be impossible to do something like that though... finally having managed to get her avatar to the top of the tree, she set her in a one-block hole, scrolling until she had her bow in just the next slot over. Watching for any signs of movement below, any hint of a player avatar, she smiled. I love this game.

Jace cursed out loud as he fired an arrow at a block where there should’ve been someone standing, then jumped as he heard the sound of someone hitting his avatar. He double tapped “w”, making his avatar sprint, getting away from the sword-weilding player. He scrolled off the slot with his bow, and disappeared into a hole in the leaves. Okay... This is going to be interesting. I bet that was Re. He watched his health bar recover slowly, hsaking his head. That was too close... He thought uneasily. Turning his avatar, he discovered a place where he could climb it. Wonder what’s up with those vines... Let’s see. Walking his avatar into the vines, he started to climb them, resting at the top. There was a nice little platform, made of leaf blocks, with a few windows out to the spawning area for his team. This is cool.. He thought, walking his avatar about the room/platform. I think I like this map. He decided, before swapping slots over to his bow and walking his avatar to the window, drawing the bow back and watching for any other players.

Would you look at that... Katelyn thought, and grinned, seeing a bow appear in an arpeture across from the one her avatar was in. That person will be easy to hit... I think i’m going for it. She scrolled her selected slot over to the bow, and drew it back, pointing it at the other bow in the window across from hers. She clicked and held, then released, sending the arrow fly. She grinned as she saw the bow move backwards, an arrow sticking out of the invisible body holding it. Take that! She thought, and grinned, drawing back another arrow as the other bow moved back to the window to fire at her.

Grant, after his avatar spawned in, had immediately gotten him away from spawn, and had started searching. Rather quickly, he found someone with a bow, shooting at the phantom that he recognized as kitty. Grinning, he sneaked, walking up behind the bow slowly. Then he clicked, yelling out loud. “Yah!”
Even though it didn’t affect his game at al, he liked yelling at it. The person with the bow turned and ran, and he set off in pursuit, until he heard his phone going off. “Aw, shucks.” He grunted, leaning sideways to grab it from where it was plugged in.
He hit the green “accept” button, seeing it was his uncle, and pulled it off the charger, putting it to his ear. He groaned as, moments later, his avatar died. “Hey uncle Leo. You just made me die in minecraft.” He told him matter-of-factly.
“Well, I’m sorry. I’m calling about something important, though, and something you’ll probably find more interesting than Minecraft.” Uncle Leo replied, and Grant spun about in the chair lazily, wondering what it could be.
“Oh? What’s going down?”
“Did I tell you about my.. Latest project?”
“...No?” Grant reponded, frowning in confusion.
“Oh. Well. It’s a new gaming platform with amazing new immersion technology. They actually originally used it in military trianing, but I was given the go-ahead to relese it to the public. I was wondering if you’d like to play with it.”
Grant just gaped. New immersion tech... Military training... This sounds amazing. “Count me in, but, how am I going to get up there? Unless you plan to send it through the mail...”
“Oh no, I won’t be mailing it. I’ll be paying for plane tickets for you, and if you want, a few more people. There’s some stuff I’ll need to explain with the MoMeSimBand, and it’s hard to do over the phone. So, ask your parents, and see if anyone you know wants to come with you- say, five more people?”
“Yeah... Yeah! Okay, sounds great! I can’t wait to try it out, thanks nuncle! See you soon!”
Grant hung up, grinning like a maniac and hugging his phone to his chest. This... Is going to be.... AMAZING. I have to tell the others about this... Opening the steam chat back up, he found the others ha been bugging him while he was on the phone.

kittycat9lives: Re? where are you? I saw you died.
1MP0551BL3: Kitty, I think you’re the last on your team..
kittycat9lives: aw, screw you.
kittycat9lives: Re, where ARE you?
1MP0551BL3: He IS being awfully quiet.
kittycat9lives: REBORN!! WHERE ARE YOU!?
1MP0551BL3: I think you’re overreacting.
Reborn_In_Fire: You really are.
Reborn_In_Fire: I was talking to my uncle. He called.
kittycat9lives: Your uncle?
kittycat9lives: You have an uncle?
1MP0551BL3: most people do...
Reborn_In_Fire: xD Yes, I have an uncle. He’s also a game designer, and that’s what he was calling about
kittycat9lives: GAME DESIGNER??? WHAAAAAAAAAAT?
Reborn_In_Fire: no need to be so surprised. Yes. He is a game designer.
1MP0551BL3: what was he calling about?
Reborn_In_Fire: He wants me to test out his new device! It’s apparently called the MoMeSimBand. New immersive tech. It sounds awesome.
Reborn_In_Fire: He also told me I could bring some people if I wanted. He’d pay for plane tickets.
kittycat9lives:
kittycat9lives: *Makes kitten eyes*
Reborn_In_Fire: In fact, he told me I could bring five other people!
1MP0551BL3: Hmmm, I wonder who those people might be...
Reborn_In_Fire: It should be obvious. You guys. plus link and GK and dash, of course.
kittycat9lives: Sooo... wait. Plane tickets? What?
Reborn_In_Fire: It’s going to be at my uncle’s house, I’d guess.
kittycat9lives: Sweet! That means we’ll actually all be able to meet for once!
1MP0551BL3: how many was can I say yes? Let’s do this thing.
Reborn_In_Fire: Okay. Whenever everyone is on, I’ll open a group chat, and i’ll give everyone the scoop. Hopefully everyone can come- this will probably be the only time we’ll ever actually meet each other face-to-face.
kittycat9lives: Yeah. hopefully!
kittycat9lives: Awshucks. Mom is telling me to get off.
kittycat9lives: I’ll see you guys later.
1MP0551BL3: bye
Reborn_In_Fire: bye! I hope you can come!
kittycat9lives has left chat.
kittycat9lives is now Offline.

Katelyn sighed, closing down Steam and minecraft, then shutting the laptop. She unplugged her headphones from the laptop, plugging them into her ipod instead. It was an old clunker, but it worked, and it held a charge amazingly well. She stuck it in her hoodie pocket, not bothering starting any music yet, and slid her headphones down to hang around her neck. She left the computer room and walked into the living room, seeing the news on the TV. “Are you going to bed now, Katelyn? It’s late.” Her mom asked, looking away from her crochet.
“Yeah, I think I will turn in. ‘Night.” She replied, turning and climbing the stairs to her room.
She yawned, turning into the hall bathroom and walking to the sink. She picked up her toothbrush from its typical resting place, and turned on the sink to wet it. Finishing that, she picked up the tube of toothpaste, and squirted some on the brush, sighing as she started the nightly ritual. There are so many little rituals like this people do daily... Brushing teeth, eating, sleeping, going to work or school, whatever it may be.... They’re everywhere. Quite interesting, to tell the truth. It might be interesting to study something like that someday. Eh, someone probably already has. Wouldn’t be surprising. She mused, rinsing her brush out and spitting out the foamy toothpaste. She sighed, mentally slapping herself as she picked up her cup, turning the sink back on and filling it up. She took a sip, swishing it around in her mouth and spitting it back out. Another sip, another swish, another spit. Then she just drank the rest, dumping out the very last drops in the sink. Walking down the hall to her room, she went in and closed the door, walking to her bedside table. She turned the lamp on, and sat down on the bed, taking her headphones and hoodie off. She got undressed and then put on her pajamas, putting her headphones back on and grabbing her ipod. She scrolled through it, picked a song, and played it, curling up under her covers and turning the lamp off. That game thing Grant was talking about... That sounds really awesome. I hope mom and dad will let me go, so I can play it... that sounds like so much fun. I wonder what it’ll be like? New immersive technology, Grant said. What does he mean by that, I wonder? Will it be us in the game? Will it be a normal game, and new controls? Agh I don’t know. And I want to! She rolled onto her back, grabbing her ipod and turning it on. She went to Safari, and started reading Homestuck, trying to get her mind off of the new thing Grant had been talking about. However, that was practically impossible. MoMeSimBand, he said. It sounds cool. I wonder what it’s like... I can’t waiiit! Unable to concentrate on what she was reading, she closed Safari, opening her music again she turned that of, too, and put headphnoes and ipod back on her bedside table. She curled up, pulling another blanket over her. So cold... Christmas break is almost here. Oh, what a Cristmas present that would be... being able to meet them for the first time ever... Grant, and Elliott, and Jace, and Olivia, and Lydia... I can’t wait! I hope I can go! She laid there, thinking about Grant’s words, ahd slowly fell asleep.


Finally... On the way home... Olivia thought, turning her music up another click as her brother yelled something at her mom from beside her. Can’t wait until we ARE home. Then I’m going to bed. Because I am just too tired to do anything else. I wish I could get away from my family... Brett’s just acting like he WANTS to get on my nerves or something. Actually, I should listen to that. She thouht, turning her iPod back on and flipping through her songs and bands to find Icon For Hire. Katelyn had really gotten her hooked on this band, and even though it was a harder style than she typically listened to, it was still good. She turned it on and let it play, closing her eyes and leaning her head back on the headrest of her chair, letting the music drown out Brett. They don’t want the truth, they just want the words... Icon For Hire has such interesting themes. Nerves, Pop Culture, Cynics and Critics... they’re just great. I’m glad Katelyn told me about this group. Even though some songs don’t apply to me. Like Sorry About Your Parents. If it was Sorry About Your Brother, though... That would apply. Definitely. Brett is the most annoying thing ever to live.... She mused, looking over at the child in question. He was screaming things about lions eating people’s faces. She turned the music- long since gone on from Nerves to Counting On Hearts- up another click.

Elliott tapped his chopsticks on the edge of the paper container, watching Inception. he leanedd forward on the couch, setting the empty Chinese carry out box on the coffee table. “So, do you like it, Elliott?” His brother, Lionel, asked, grinning at him.
“You kidding? This is great. Dreams... I never thought about that. Really awesome.” Elliott responded, mostly focused on the movie.
“You want some fudge?”
“Sure.”
Lionel passed Elliott the plastic container of peanut butter fudge, and Elliott took it, pulling out a piece and nomming down on it without taking his eyes off the movie. He kept eating fudge and watching the movie, halfway wishing he could do something like that.

Lydia sighed, wrapping her sweater shrug thing around her shoulders more tightly. Glad that’s over... Maybe I can actually relax when I get home. And get out of these infernal shoes. Seriously, how do people spend time in this kind of shoes!? Ever!? Any time!? It defies reality! Gah! And sitting through stuffy dinner conversation like thst... How do people survive doing that often at all without going crazy!? Oh wait, maybe they’re already crazy... That’s likely. Makes sense anyway. Bluh. Dinner parties. Worst idea in the history of mankind. Well, never mind, there are worse. But that’s still pretty bad. I mean seriously, having a party just to have dinner and sit and talk about nothing? LAME. She shook her head, following her mom and dad out. Thankfully, her brother would be staying at college. She’d had more than enough of him that night. She quickly and gladly stepped into the car, hitching her dress up so that she could climb in. She tossed her sweater shrug thing onto the cair beside hers, and grabbed for her hoodie, digging out her phone and headphones. She slipped her earbuds in, plugged her headphones in, and started up some touhou musics. Opening up Steam, she hopped online as her parents started driving home.

RainbowdashFTW is now Online

RainbowdashFTW: Hey Re
Reborn_In_Fire: Hey!
Reborn_In_Fire: How’d it go?
RainbowdashFTW: terribly
RainbowdashFTW has changed their name to Dead_Dashie
Reborn_In_Fire: Wow, that bad?
Dead_Dashie: Yes
Dead_Dashie: That bad
Dead_Dashie: Most definitely that bad
Dead_Dashie: Seriously who came up with the idea of a dinner party anyway
Dead_Dashie: Whoever it was should be strangled or something
Reborn_In_Fire: lol. Good luck with that.
Dead_Dashie: Thank you
Dead_Dashie: I’m on my way home now, thankfully
Dead_Dashie: I just want to get out of this dress and these stupid shoes
Reborn_In_Fire: Is it really that bad?
Dead_Dashie: Always.
Reborn_In_Fire: It must be hard being a girl..
Dead_Dashie: You have no possible idea.
Reborn_In_Fire: .-.
Reborn_In_Fire: This conversation has become very awkward
Dead_Dashie: It has
Dead_Dashie: Give it to Pinkie Pie
Dead_Dashie: She can make some confectionary treat out of it
Dead_Dashie: You know there are all kinds of fanfics about that
Reborn_In_Fire: Yeah..
Reborn_In_Fire: There are
Reborn_In_Fire: A lot
Dead_Dashie: mhm.
Dead_Dashie: Okay, how come our conversations always turn out oddly like this
Reborn_In_Fire: *shrugs* I don’t know.
Dead_Dashie: I don’t know either
Dead_Dashie: meh
Reborn_In_Fire: Meh
Dead_Dashie: *Becomes even deader*
Reborn_In_Fire: *burns Dashie’s body accidentially*
Dead_Dashie: *burns to a crisp*
Dead_Dashie changed their name to Burnt_Dead_Dashie
Reborn_In_Fire: (lol)
Burnt_Dead_Dashie: (:P)
Reborn_In_Fire: NOOOOOOOOOOOO
Reborn_In_Fire: MY POOR PEGASUS FRIEND
Reborn_In_Fire: WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Burnt_Dead_Dashie: *Body crumbles to ashes* Actually, turn around.
Burnt_Dead_Dashie changed their name to Living_Dashie
Living_Dashie: *stands behind you, alive and well and happy*
Reborn_In_Fire: YOU’RE ALIVE *tacklehugs*
Living_Dashie: OW OW OW YOU’RE ON FIRE
Reborn_In_Fire: *extinguishes self* OH I’M SO SORRY!!
Living_Dashie: It’s okay. I can have Twilight heal me!
Reborn_In_Fire: Oh okay!
Living_Dashie: Ah crap.
Living_Dashie: I gtg.
Living_Dashie: We’re home
Living_Dashie: I’ll see you in the morning
Living_Dashie is now Offline
Reborn_In_Fire: NO wait!!
Reborn_In_Fire: crap...
Reborn_In_Fire: I didn’t even get to tell you what my uncle said... ._.

He spun away from the computer, frowning sadly. Dangit! I hope that they can come... I’ve wanted to meet them all for real ever since I met them... And here’s my chance... If they can come. He stood up, logging out of steam, and walked aimlessly out of the computer room. It was kind of late, but he wasn’t tired. He paced, wandering about the quiet house. He decided to get a snack out of restlessness, and made a beeline to the fridge. A rather wobbly beeline, but a beeline nonetheless. He grabbed the handle and opened the fridge, staring inside, and wondering what he wanted to eat. Grabbing a cheese stick, he closed the fridge again, and opened it, tossing the wrapper in the trash can. He pulled on the edge, sticking his fingernail into the soft cheese and pulling it downward, pulling off a long strand of string cheese. He bit into it, realizing with every bite that he was ravenously hungry. When did I eat last? He wondered, finishing his cheese stick in a few bites. He went back to the refrigerator, opening it back up and rummaging around. Plastic containers full of assorted leftovers, bags of produce, baggies of bacon and lunch meats, other meats, a jar of pickles, a bowl full of jellied chicken broth and another of Jell-O... There was a lot of random things in the fridge. It made sense, with his sister being as picky as she was. He sighed, grabbing a green apple and closing the fridge again. Taking a knife from the magnetic knife rack, he walked over to the counter and set knife and apple down, kneeling to rummage around in the cabinet for a cutting board. He dug one out fairly quickly, the hefty peice of flat wood with it’s handle feeling good in his hand. He gave a little half smile, imagining hitting a monster with it. He smiled more, looking at the fridge where there was a picture of him, maybe seven years old, holding a pasta server like a club. His mom had added a caption below it in her neat, elegant handwriting: “Grant is ready for the spaghetti monster apocalypse!” It hadn’t made sense to him then, but it did now, and it made him laugh. Shaking his head, he went back to the cutting board and the apple, and picked up the knife. In two quick slices, he cut the apple in quarters, then picked up one of the quarters. He cut into it sideways, to cut out the core. He always did that, despite his grandma telling him he could cut his finger off that way. He hadn’t yet, and didn’t plan to. After taking the core out of each apple quarter, he cut the quarters in half, then left them, the knife, and the core pieces on the cutting board. Walking over to the cabinet, he pulled down a bowl and walked back, putting the apple peices in it. The pieces of core he tossed in the metal coffee can his parents kept as a slop bucket, for things to put on the compost heap. Putting the knife by the sink, he retired to the couch to eat his apple, picking up the remote in his free hand and turning on Animal Planet. He frowned, and unable to make sense of what was going on, he turned the TV back off, turning the lamp above his head on and picking up his book, settling on the couch with his book and apple. He smiled, stroking the cover. Mistborn. Such a good book. He thought, opening the book to his marker and scanning down the page for where he left off. He began to read, eating his apple, a teen all alone in a circle of light from a floor lamp.

SO glad that’s over... Lydia thought, climbing out of the car and slipping her phone in her hoodie pocket. It was nice talking to Reborn, but she just wanted to get out of her formal clothes into some pajamas, and go to sleep. She was tired. Shrug thing draped over her arm, shoes in the other, she walked barefoot through the house, making a beeline for her room. She went in, got into pajamas as fast as she could get out of the infernal dress, tossed it aside, and crawled into bed. She was asleep in moments.

FINALLY we’re home. I just want to go to bed. Olivia thought, looking out the window as they passed their neighbor’s houses. Why the heck did we go to the zoo so late, anyway? Ugh... They pulled into the driveway, and she lolled her head to lean it on the car door, out of boredom. As they pulled into the garage, she tucked her ipod into her pocket, grabbing her purse from the floor of the van. It was splattered with cotton candy from when Brett had hit her with it, and the purse had taken most of the cotton candy. Of course, her parents had gotten onto him for it. At least she’d ended up getting a funnel cake. She got out of the van, swinging her purse strap over her shoulder and striding inside. Emptying her purse, she tossed it into a laundry basket, shouting over her shoulder at her mom. “Do you think we can put my purse through the washing machine?”
“I don’t know, honey, but we can deal with that in the morning.” her mom replied, and Olivia sighed through her nose. “Okay.” She answered, starting toward the hall, trying to hold onto all of her purse’s contents in one hand.
“I’m going to bed now.” She grumbled, walking down the hall quickly, heading toward her room quickly in hopes of not dropping anything.
Making it to her room and tossing everything onto her bed without dropping anything, she sighed, looking around for anything to put her purse’s contents in. She grabbed a basket, walking back to her bed and grabbing stuff from her purse, dumping it itno the basket. She put the basket on a shelf, and then pulled her ipod out of her pocket, unlocking it and thumbing in her passcode. She stopped her music and tossed headphones and ipod onto her bedside table. Another day over. Another day in which practically nothing happened. Joy. Isn’t my brother just a little “angel”? The “Blessing” on my life? Oh yes. He is so “terrific”, I can’t believe it. Just the “perfect” sibling. Oh yes. Ugh. Little demon.... I hate Brett. I really shouldn’t, since he’s my brother, but... Just... UGH. I wish I had a better brother than that... I really do... Shaking her head, Olivia sat on her bed, unzipping her hoodie and tossing it to the side. She undressed and redressed quickly, shivering in the cold. She took her glasses off, blinking at the sudden blurriness of everything around her. She shook her head, and folded the arms of her glasses down over the lenses, setting them on her bedside table in front of her alarm clock. She got into bed, pulling the covers over her and turning her alarm clock on. She closed her eyes, and slowly drifted to sleep.

Elliott sat back on the couch, scowling at the movie. “Really!? That’s how it ends? You don’t even know if it’s a dream or not...” He growled, standing up and pacing.
Lionel chuckled. “Not satisfied, huh? Was it still a good choice?”
“Yes, but that’s annoying... I HATE cliffhangers.”
“Want some popcorn?”
“....Sure.”
“I’ll go make some, then.” Lionel replied, and stood up.
He walked into the mini-kitchen, and Elliott sat back down, fiddling with one of his brother’s puzzle rings. He scowled feircely at it, as sounds of popping popcorn came from the other room. “This thing,” Elliott said in frustration, “Is impossible.”
“Not really.” Lionel resonded, walking back into the living room.
He gently took it out of Elliott’s hands, and clicked it around in a few moments, handing it back completely and perfectly solved. Smiling at his brother’s confounded look, Lionel went back to the kitchen to get the popcorn and broght it back, setting it on the coffee table in front of Elliott, who still stared at the solved puzzle, confounded. “How.. Did... You do that!?”
“Skill, little brother. Expirence and skill.”
Elliott shook his head. “You’re good at this...”
Lionel smiled, folding himself onto the couch beside Elliott and grabbing a handful of popcorn. “Thanks. Hopefully, you will be one day too.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, eating popcorn, and Lionel glanced at his watch. “Hey, it’s twelve o’ clock, I think i’m going to turn in. You probably should, too. Mom won’t be happy if you’re a zombie when I send you home.”
Elliott nodded. “All right. Goodnight, then.”
Lionel disappeared into the tiny bedroom, and Elliott walked across the apartment’s living room to the futon, and grabbed a fleece blanket. laying down, he pulled the blanket up around him, and fell asleep.

After the others had left, Jace stayed, playing GS until the early hours. He eventually fell asleep, his minecraft avatar becoming one of the many standing and doing nothing clogging up spawn. When he woke up, the computer had also fallen asleep. Sitting up, he groaned, leaning back in the chair and strecthing. Okay... Go to bed before falling asleep on the game next time... bluh.... I feel like a wreck. Closing the laptop, he stood up from his desk, stretching again. He walked to his bed, and winced as his alarm clock went off. Well, no time to sleep, then... Great... Oh wait! It’s the weekend! Good. I AM going to sleep. He slapped the alarm clock, shutting the alarm off as he climbed into bed, not even bothering to change. He fell alseep again in moments.

Grant awoke slowly, realizing he’d fallen asleep in the middle of reading. Wow, was I tired, or did I think that was boring!? Looking back down at the book and reading the last few lines, he shook his head. No. Definitely not boring. Anything but boring. I must’ve been really tired. He shook his head, looking for his bookmark. Finding it in short order, he put it in the book where it belonged, and stood up. He grabbed his bowl and tucked the book under his arm, and took a step forward, not even glancing at the ground. “Mrr-OWW!”
“Agh!”
Grant stumbled as his foot landed on the tail of his cat, Ashley, and she shot up and darted for cover under the coffee table. “Sorry, Ashley.” He apologized, regaining his footing. Shaking his head, he walked to the kitchen, dropping his bowl off beside the sink. Looking at the stove clock, he shook his head; I really shouldn’t have stayed up so late last night... Bluh... How could I have woken up at ten!? He walked back to the laptop, sitting down and just looking at it a few minutes. He folded his arms on the desk and put his head down on top of them. So... Tired... But I really need to tell the others... Ugh... He continued to sit there, slowly drifting off to sleep again, when he heard the desk creak. “Mreow?”
Grant groaned. “Ashley, please go away...”
She obviously didn’t listen, for in the next moment, he felt the press of a tiny paw on his arm. Opening one eye a crack, he glared at the offending paw; a little brown one, with white toes. He shifted his arm experimentally, and winced as Ashley’s claws came out, digging into his arm. “Ow! Ugh...”
“Mew.”
“Oh please... Don’t climb on my head...”
Too late. He felt her clamber to the top of his head, and could easily imagine the picture; feeling her settle down and wrap her tickly fuzzy tail around his ear. “Thank you, Ashley. I really appreciate it,” Grant grumbled.
“Meow.”
“Meow yourself.”
Grant lifted his head- Not an easy task, what with a cat on his head- and unfolded his arms, reaching out and opening the laptop. Ashley jumped off his head, landing on the keyboard and making several applications start up and some quit. “Ashley! What the heck!?” Grant excalimed, gently wrapping his hands around her midsection and lifting her off the keyboard.
“You silly cat.”
He settled her in his lap, opening Steam and checking who was online. A pity link isn’t on. He doesn’t know yet. Same with dashie. I really should’ve told her last night.... Ugh. Oh hey! Look who just logged on. Aren’t I lucky.

After waking up, Lydia made a beeline for the kitchen, intent on making hot chocolate for herself. Grabbing a hot chocolate k-cup from the box of them she’d left on the counter, she put it in the brewer and grabbed her mug. It was from summer vacation one year, when they’d gone to the Grand Canyon. Placing it under the brewer spout, she hit the brew button, and sat back, waiting for her hot chocolate to brew. In moments it was finished, and she took her steaming mug, breathing in the rich scent of chocolate. She walked back to her room, and sat down at her desk, opning the laptop and putting her mug on the coaster nearby. She booted up Steam, and was immediately messged.

Living_Dashie is now Online.
Reborn_In_Fire:
Reborn_In_Fire: You’re online!
Living_Dashie: why yes. yes i am. However did you guess.
Reborn_In_Fire: hmm I don’t know.
Reborn_In_Fire: But
Reborn_In_Fire: I have something I forgot to tell you last night!
Living_Dashie: Okay, tell me, then. *sips hot chocolate*
Reborn_In_Fire :c you have chocolate...
Reborn_In_Fire: But anyway
Reborn_In_Fire: My uncle Leo, who’s a game developer, has a new thing he thought i might want to test out
Reborn_In_Fire: And he’s willing to pay for plane tickets for me and five other people
Reborn_In_Fire: If I knew anyone interested.
Living_Dashie: What is this “Thing” you want to test out?
Reborn_In_Fire: I’m not entirely sure what exactly it does
Reborn_In_Fire: But uncle Leo called it the MoMeSimBand.
Living_Dashie: And what does it do?
Living_Dashie: Does that stand for something?
Reborn_In_Fire: I don’t know if it stands for anything(although it probably does)
Reborn_In_Fire: But it’s some sort of new immersive technology.
Living_Dashie: Sounds like it could be interesting. even, to use the pun...
Living_Dashie: GAME CHANGING.
Reborn_In_Fire: XD
Reborn_In_Fire: that was an amazingly terrible pun.
Living_Dashie has changed their name to Miss Punny.
Miss Punny: why thank you
Miss Punny: as I’m sure you can tell I am the- oh wait
Miss Punny has changed her name to Queen Punny.
Queen Punny: There
Queen Punny: as you can see i am the queen of puns
Queen Punny: is it not so
Reborn_In_Fire: it is...
Reborn_In_Fire: You’re silly xD
Queen Punny: why thank you.
Reborn_In_Fire: sooooo...
Queen Punny: yes.
Reborn_In_Fire: you didn’t even know what i was about to ask...
Queen Punny: yes I did
Queen Punny: you were about to ask if i wanted to test this thing out
Queen Punny: and my answer is yes
Queen Punny: I want to
Reborn_In_Fire: great!
Reborn_In_Fire: That just leaves El to ask.
Reborn_In_Fire: an i’m sure he’ll want to!
Queen_Punny has changed their name to dashieFTW.
dashieFTW: yes i’m sure he will
Reborn_In_Fire: you change your profile name a skjhitot
Reborn_In_Fire: .....
Reborn_In_Fire: ASHLEY
dashieFTW: ...XD
dashieFTW: your cat I assume?
Reborn_In_Fire: fjkehoes
Reborn_In_Fire: GAAA
Reborn_In_Fire is now Offline.
dashieFTW: well then.

“Ashley!” Grant growled, after she had jumped on his desk from his lap. It was fine, until she started walking on the keyboard, and, his hands.
“Bad cat.” He told her, scooping her up and depositing her on the floor.
He turned back around, and just stared at his screen for a moment. Setting his elbows on the laptop beside the trackpad, he allowed his head to flop forward onto his hands, with both of them hitting his forehead. Facepalm 2x combo. Rolling his head onto just one hand to stare at the screen as Ashley leapt back into his lap, he re-opened Steam, waiting for it to boot up. Ashley gazed up at him innocently. “Meow?”
“You are a VERY bad cat. You know that?”
Grant expected no response, and got none. Shortly Steam was back up, and he reopened his chat.

Reborn_In_Fire is now Online.
dashieFTW: what was that all about?
Reborn_In_Fire: Ashley.
Reborn_In_Fire: my cat
Reborn_In_Fire: who likes jumping on my keyboard at the worst possible moments
dashieFTW: sounds like fun.
Reborn_In_Fire: not really...
Reborn_In_Fire: Oh, mom is calling
Reborn_In_Fire: I gotta go eat breakfast
Reborn_In_Fire: I can smell the bacon and eggs...
dashieFTW: lucky.
dashieFTW: okay then go eat
dashieFTW: I’ll do something random
Reborn_In_Fire: Okay c’ya
Reborn_In_Fire is now Offline.

Yes, he definitely could smell it, the delicious wafting scents of frying bacon and eggs. He stood up, closing the laptop, and picked up Ashley before he could step on her, tucking her head under his ear and holding her back in the crook of his arm. She purred, giving his ear a lick. Grant rolled his eyes, smiling a little. “That tickles. Silly Ashleykitty.” Grant said affectionately, rubbing her ears with his free hand.
He walked down the hall, Ashley purring loudly beneath his ear. “Grant?” He heard his mom yell.
“Yes?” He called back, gently stroking Ashley’s fur.
“Breakfast is almost ready! Hurry or i’ll feed yours to Perry!”
That made Grant’s step quicken- Perry was his mom’s big black labrador retriever, and she would feed him Grant’s breakfast, and he would eat it, too. He walked into the kitchen, smiling apologetically to Perry, sitting in the middle of the kitchen. His mom smiled, holding out to him a white ceramic plate with his breakfast on it. Grant smiled back, bending over and gently setting Ashley down on her paws. She almost immediately walked over to Perry and curled up next to him, making Grant smile even more. He straightened up, taking his plate of breakfast from his mom. “Thanks, mom! It looks delicious.” Grant said with a smile, walking to the breakfast nook and setting his plate down. He pulled the chiar out from the table, spun it around, and sat down, leaning his forearms on the back of the chair, in the two scoops that seemed almost made for the very purpose of resting one’s arms in them. That was about the time he realized he forgot a fork. His mom chuckled, as he brought both hands up to his forehead and facepalmed. again. Shaking his head, he stood up, walking over to the silverware drawer. He opened it, and dug through for a fork. Finding one, he took it out, closed the drawer and walked back to the breakfast nook, sitting down again. He looked out the window; it looked like it would rain today. Grabbing one of the strips of bacon, he bit into it, his mind far away, thinknig about his uncle’s words. New immersive technology... It sounds pretty awesome. Nah, awesome isn’t good enough. Its..... Its... He started mindlessly eating his eggs, trying to think of a word that would fully encompass what he thought of the idea. Darn. It’s just... Awesome. That’s really the only thing I can say to that. He thought, still staring out the window as it began to rain. He took another bite of his bacon, fondly remembering days when he would be hopping to go outside and play in mud puddles on days like this. But he didn’t do that anymore, most of the time. He smiled, looking at his little sister as she blew through the kitchen, nattering up a storm at their mom, dressed in a raincoat and boots, perfect for going outside in this weather, as the steady rain turned into a downpour. “Silvia, calm down, or oyu’re not going outside.” their mom said quietly, Silvia’s response being to stand still as a stone.
Grant chuckled. His mom raised an eyebrow in his direction, his only response being to shove the last bite of egg in his mouth and smile. “Oh, but you’re going with her, now that you’re done eating.” She said, and he raised an eyebrow.
“I am?”
“Yes, because i’m not letting Silvia outside without someone to watch her, and I have housework.”
Grant shrugged, standing up and carrying his plate to the sink. “All rgiht then, just let me get dressed, Silvia.” He said, plunking the plate and fork down beside the sink.
He turned, smiled at his little sister who was jumping for joy, then walked down the hall to his room. Closing the door behind him as he walked into his room, he changed quickly, locating both rain boots and rain coat fairly quickly; sometimes it did pay off to keep things organized, in spite of what work it was. He put the coat on while locating socks, and put those and his boots on. Leaving his room, he clomped out to the kitchen, and grinned at Silvia. “You ready?” He asked her, smiling warmly.
“Let’s go!” Silvia squealed, darting ahead of him to the door.
“Have fun, you two. And be careful!” their mom called out after them, as Silvia rushed toward the door and Grant followed at a slightly reduced pace.
“As you wish.” Grant said jokingly, smiling at his mom.
She smiled back, and Grant and Silvia ventured outside into the rain.

Olivia was sleeping peacefully until around six that morning, when something very loud and very heavy jumped on her. “Wakey wakey!” Her brother yelled, shaking her enthusiastically.
Olivia groaned, planting her knee firmly in his stomach, which didn’t faze him one bit. “It’s the weekend, can’t I sleep in?” she growled, glaring at him.
“Mom ‘n dad ‘n me are going shopping, and they wanted me to wake you up before we left so you could decide if you wanteed to go or not!” He chattered excitedly, hopping around on her bed.
“NO, I don’t want to go. I want to enjoy several more hours of blissful silent sleep, because it is the weekend, and I want to sleep IN. Thank you. The door is over there. Please close it behind you when you leave.” She said, rolling over and closing her eyes firmly, laying her cheek on the warm flannel of her pillow.
“Okay, I’ll tell mom!” Brett shouted, jumping off her bed and daarting out the door, slamming it behind him.
Olivia winced, then curled up beneath the warm blankets, trying to get to sleep again. The sun’s not even up yet. My parents are crazy! Ugh... The door opened again, this time allowing her mom to come through. “Are you feeling okay, honey?” She asked, and Olivia rolled her eyes just a little, hidden by the covers.
“Just wanting to sleep in, because it IS the weekend. And I’m not particularly interested in going shopping right now. Because it is six in the freaking morning.” Olivia said, rolling over to look at her mom.
Her mom sighed, straightening up. “Okay, Olivia. We’ll be back around three or so.”
“All right, then. See you later.”
“Call if you need anything.”
“Yes, I know the drill...”
Her mom smiled, and left, gently closing the door behind her. Finally! Maybe now I can get some sleep. That would be nice. She thought, closing her eyes and curling up under the covers. She could distantly hear Brett stomping around in his room just through the wall, but that was easy enough to ignore. She drifted off to sleep, the sounds of her family receding as they left, and the house drifted into silence as she drifted inot sleep.

After Grant had left, Lydia stayed on the laptop, sipping hot chocolate and reading comments on various threads on a random forum; she had so many, it was hard to keep track of all of them. After several minutes spent in silence, she realized she was missing music. Grabbing the nearest pair of headphones, she plugged them in the laptop, opening up a new window and pulling up Youtube. She thought for a moment, then searched for Skillet album Rise. Finding the versoin she wanted quickly, she clicked on it, banishing the silence pressing around her with music. SHe took another sip of her hot chocolate and frowned; it had gone cold. She drank it anyway, finishing the last dregs in a few gulps. Wish someone would get on... She thought with a sigh, continuing her forum browsing.

Elliott woke up to bright light in the form of sunlight, streaming through the window of his brother’s living room. He groaned and rolled over, annoyed. Why didn’t we close the curtains last night? He wondered, closing his eyes. He fell asleep quickly, but was woken barely half an hour later by his brother moving about in the kitchen. “El, you awake?” Lionel called from the kitchen, and Elliott simply groaned loudly in response.
“Good. Come help me make breakfast.”
Elliott groaned again, kicking the nlanket off. He laid on the couch another moment, then stood up and walked to join his brother. He was making pancakes; without a word, Elliott started measuring milk and water and flour, while his brother cracked eggs and started the skillet heating. Lionel pulled a mixing bowl out of the cabinet above them, and set it down on the little counter. Elliott dumped what he’d measured into it, and Lionel added the eggs, turning to get butter out of the refrigerator, leaving Elliott to stir the batter, which he did. Lionel dropped a pat of butter in the skillet, and swiped it around, greasing the skillet well. Elliott dropped batter into the skillet carefully, making sure that the pancakes wouldn’t stick together. Stepping away from the stove for a moment, he dug in a drawer to find a spatula, so that he could flip the pancakes when they were ready, in a few minutes. After those few minutes, Elliott flipped the pancakes, Lionel looking on. “You’re good at this, little brother. Who knows? Maybe I’ll make some sort of chef out of you one of these days,” Lionel said, and smiled.
Elliott smiled back; of course Lionel would think that. After all, he was a chef- or at least, trained for it. His job wasn’t the best, but with time, he might be able to get a better one. Elliott had been lucky to be able to spend time with his brother on one of his off days; Lionel was such a good cook, he didn’t get days off as often as he probably should have. Elliott commandeered the pancake making after a while; and Lionel let him. Once the batter was gone, Elliott went to the fridge and got butter and syrup, while Lionel got plates and forks. They each got a stack of pancakes, and retreated to the couch to eat. Elliott liberally doused his with syrup before digging in, and Lionel merely buttered his and drizzled a bit of syrup on them. “So... What time did mom say she would be by to pick me up?” Elliott asked, shoving another bite of pancake in his mouth.
“Around nine, if I remember correctly. You’ll want to pack when you’re done eating.” Lionel replied, munching contentedly on his pancakes.
“All right, then. Glad you let me come over.” Elliott replied, a bit sad that he would have to leave so soon.
“It’s no problem. Any day I’m off, I’d be glad to have you. Plus, it lets mom have some time to herself.” He said, with a small smile.
“True.” Elliott replied, taking snother bite of his pancakes.
Once he was done eating, he did as Lionel had said, and started packing. When their mom came to pick him up, he was ready. The ride home was short and quiet, mother and son riding in amiable silence. When they got home, Elliott retreated to his room to unpack. After he unpacked, he walked over to his desk, opening his laptop and sitting down. As soon as he logged into Steam, he was messaged by an obviously bored Lydia.

LOZ_link is now Online.
dashieFTW: YAY SOMEONE’S ON
dashieFTW: hi.
LOZ_link: why helo there
LOZ_link: i take it you were bored?
dashieFTW: there’s only so much one can read on the forums without getting sick of people complaining about what game developers do with their games.
dashieFTW: speaking of games, next time he’s on, Grant has something to tell you sbout that.
dashieFTW: just FYI.
LOZ_link: good to know.
LOZ_link: so, how are you today?
dashieFTW: good.
dashieFTW: you?
LOZ_link: good as well, thank you.
dashieFTW: that’s a good thing.
LOZ_link: this is kinda awkward.
LOZ_link: when do you think Grant will be on next?
dashieFTW: it is, and i have no idea.
dashieFTW: :/
LOZ_link: did he tell you where he was going?
dashieFTW: to eat breakfast, but that was a good hour ago.
dashieFTW: he was probably delayed.
LOZ_link: hrm.
LOZ_link: well, while he’s gone I may as well play some.. i’ll leave the laptop on, turned up to full volume, so i can hear it when someone messages me.
LOZ_link: maybe.
dashieFTW: wait, play what?
LOZ_link is now Busy.
LOZ_link: violin
dashieFTW: oh yeah right.
dashieFTW: okay then, have fun!

What could Grant have to tell me about games that Lydia found it important enough to mention? Elliott wondered, standing up and turning the laptop’s volume on max. Walking across his room, he pulled his violin case out, and opened it, pausing as he looked at the two violins laying there. There was his black bodied elecric violin, and the dark reddish brown acoustic. Unstrapping the acoustic, he plucked a string, wincing at the tuning. I’ll have to deal with that later... I’ll take the easy route and go with the electric, then. He thought, strapping the acoustic back in and unstraping the electric, taking its shoulder rest as well. He laid them on his bed, then took out the bow. He tilted it in the light from his window, trying to determine if it needed rosin. Sqinting down its length, he decided it did, and took his rosin cake out, too. Laying those on the bed, he went into the closet in search of some music. He found some quickly, and having collected all his equipment, he started to set up to play. He hooked the amp in his room up to the violin, and put on the shoulder rest. He tightened the bow and rosined it, then set his music on the stand. Lifting his violin to his shoulder, he gently laid the bow on the strings. Then, he began to play, Trans Siberian Orchestra music he knew so well, Faith Noel. Halfway through, his Steam pinged at him, but he ignored it to finish the song. Oce finished, he set the violin down on his bed and walked over to the computer, noticing his chat tab with Grant flashing. He sat down and opened it, interested in what Lydia had said Grant wanted to tell him.

Reborn_In_Fire is now Online.
Reborn_In_Fire: Hey!
Reborn_In_Fire: There’s something i want to tell you about.
Reborn_In_Fire: ....
Reborn_In_Fire: Oh. Lydia told me, you’re playing teh ole viola. Whenever you’re done, then.
LOZ_link: I’m done for now
LOZ_link: waht did you want to talk about?
Reborn_In_Fire: Oh good!
Reborn_In_Fire: My uncle gave me an interesting offer- He develops video games, and has something he thought I’d like to play wiht, and offered to pay for plane tickets for me and five others.
LOZ_link: hmm.
LOZ_link: and what is this thing he thought you might like to play with?
Reborn_In_Fire: He called it the MoMeSimBand.
LOZ_link: that tells me nothing about what it is.
Reborn_In_Fire: I was getting to that!
Reborn_In_Fire: It’s new immersive technology. My uncle said that it was being used to train soldiers.
LOZ_link: hmm.
LOZ_link: count me in then, i guess.
Reborn_In_Fire: Now I just need to talk to... nobody else about it!
Reborn_In_Fire: Great!
LOZ_link: so, then
LOZ_link: how are we going to get these promised plane tickets?
Reborn_In_Fire: ....you know i’m not sure
Reborn_In_Fire: I’ll have to ask my uncle.
LOZ_link: aight
LOZ_link is now Away.

Grant sighed, reaching over his keyboard toward the other side of the desk, where his phone sat. However, instead of touching the rubbery case of his phone, he tocuhed fur, and groaned. “Ashley! Why?”
“Meow.” was her only reply.
Then, she bit his finger.
“OW!” Grant yelled, jerking back.
His chair tilted dangerously, and he flailed his arms a moment, before it fell with a crash. “Ow.” He grumbled, glaring at the cat as she jumped off the desk and then walked over to step on his chest.
“This is all your fault, you know.” He told her, as she sat down and looked at him innocently.
“Is everything all right, Grant?” His mom yelled.
He sighed a little, before yelling back. “I’m fine, just knocked my chair over. Possibly a little bit Ashley’s fault.” A chuckle enamenated from the kitchen, and his mom presumably went back to whatever she was doing, because there was no reply.
He sighed again, pushing the chair back and sitting up, then standing, righting his chair and putting it back where it belonged. He walked around the chair, grabbed his phone, and just stared at Ashley, who was sitting on his chair contentedly, purring. “You, feline, are a little devil cat. I declare it right now for the whole world to hear!” Grant told her, his voice raising as he spoke.
Molly just purred. “Grant, what’re you yelling at?” Silvia asked, popping her head in.
He just pointed at Ashley.
“Oh. Okay! Have fun yelling at Ash’y!” Silvia said, and skipped out, leaving Grant at a loss.
Ashley kept purring, settling down on the chair. Grant just stared at her.
He could have sworn she was smirking.
“Darn cat. You always seem so innocent to the rest of them. They’ll see one day...” He muttered, picking her up and setting her on the floor, then sitting down.
She immediately jumped back in his lap, and purred, kneading his leg. He shook his head, calling Uncle Leo. A few rings on the other end, and then Uncle Leo picked up the phone. “Yes?”
“I know who i want to come with me to test out your MoMeSimBand thing. But, how are they going to get the tickets you said you would get?”
“Simple enough, I can just email it to them, or you can. Either way.”
“Okay... I guess that sounds good. But.... What are we doing in this thing, anyway?”
“It’s hard to explain, but it’s a form of self insertion. Think lucid dreaming, as a video game.”
“How does death, and inventory, and that kind of thing work?”
“Whenever you die in-game, you get booted back to the start of the level, and inventory is controlled by your ‘Band.”
“Oookay.. So then. I’ll talk to people, get everything arranged... Thanks, by the way! Not sure if I said that before, but thanks.”
“you’re welcome, Grant. I hope you have fun when you get here.”
“I hope so too. Well, I’m going to go tell my friends that now. Soo... Wait.”
“What?”
“How long will this be? Since Christmas is Mo- er, tomorrow, and everything..”
“After Christmas, and it’ll be about a week.”
“Okay thanks, my friends will need to know that. I should go tell them now, soo... Bye!”
“Goodbye, Grant.”
Grant hung up, setting his phone beside the laptop. Ashley had long since jumped from his lap to beside the laptop, and when Grant set his phone down, she sat on it. Grant just looked at her. “Really, cat?”
“Meow.”
“I take that as a yes. Unfortunately.”
He shook his head at the cat, then turned to the laptop, to discover it turned off. He threw his hands in the air in dismay, then rested his elbows on the laptop, bringing his hands down into his hands with a resounding smack, Molly looking on, and appearing extremely proud of herself, purring loudly. “You little devil cat, you.” He growled, glaring at her. She then decided his nose was a toy, and swiped at it, leaving a small red mark on his nose. “Ow,” He muttered, batting her away.
Shakng his head, he turned the laptop back on, waiting for it and Steam to boot back up. Ashley jumped from sitting on his phone, to his lap, where she curled up, purring. Grant sighed, looking down at her. “You strange little creature. How can cats have the power to make you mad and then purr, and everything is all better?” He asked her, gently stroking her ears. She didn’t respond, exactly as he’d expected. While Steam booted up, he continued to pet Ashley. It opened, and he immediately jumped into their group’s chat room, eager to share the news. None of the others had been in the chat room at the time, but once he logged in, they jumped in, too.

Reborn_In_Fire is now Online.
dashieFTW: hey, you’re back!
dashieFTW: did you intend to log off, or was it your lovely kitty?
Reborn_In_Fire: Ashley logged me off.
LOZ_link: so what’s the news?
Reborn_In_Fire: Either me or my uncle will be emailing the plane tickets to you guys.
Reborn_In_Fire: It’ll be after Christmas, about a week long.
Reborn_In_Fire: Have you talked to your parents yet?
LOZ_link: nope.
dashieFTW: not yet, but it shouldn’t be a problem.
Reborn_In_Fire: lol okay, i haven’t either, so don’t worry about it. Get it lined up whenever you have a chance to next.
Reborn_In_Fire: I need kitty and olives to log in... and imp.
dashieFTW: they’re probably still asleep.
dashieFTW: anyway i’mma go ask me mom, sooo.... hopefully i’ll be back soon!
dashieFTW: if not, i expect you guys to give me a good funeral.
Reborn_In_Fire: haha, we have your back
LOZ_link: you better beleive it.
LOZ_link: good luck
dashieFTW: thanks!
dashieFTW is now Offline.

Shutting down Steam, she stood up, closing the laptop and grabbing her mug. She left her room, heading back out to the kitchen and dining room area, where her mother sat at the dinner table, reading and eating breakfast. Lydia set her mug next to the K cup brewer, and retreated into the pantry to locate something breakfasty. She got an energy bar of some sort, and took it to the table, sitting down across from her mom and opening her book. “Good morning, mom.” she said, munching on the energy bar.
“Good morning.” Her mom answered, glancing up at her before returning to her magazine.
“Any reason you came out here to eat that?” She continued, turning a page in her magazine.
Lydia took another bite. “Yes, I wanted to talk to you about something.” She started, wondering how to ask.
“All right, then, fire ahead.” Her mom replied, looking up at her for a moment, before returning her attention to her magazine.
“Well, you know my online friends, Grant and Katelyn and them?”
“Yes, what about them?”
Lydia took a deep breath; here it comes. “Well, Grant’s uncle developed or is being allowed to sell a new gaming device, and he thought Grant might want to test it out with some friends. He offered to pay for six plane tickets to Ohio, one for Grant and one for any friends he might want to bring. He asked me, and the others. May I go?”
Her mom sat back, and she sat forward, with bated breath. “When, and for how long?” She asked, and Lydia’s mouth twitched- she would probably say yes.
“After Christmas, and for a week.” Lydia replied.
“May I go?”
Her mom tapped her fingers on the table, considering, and Lydia held her breath. “Yes. As a christmas present.” She said, and Lydia grinned, standing up and closing her book. She practically danced coming around the talbe, and gave her mom a hug. “Thanks! I’ll start packing and stuff. Thank you so much!” She said happily, and stepped back, again almost dancing back to her room, already thinking about what to pack. Laptop and cord is a must have, She decided, pulling her suitcase out. It’ll be cold, and it might snow, which would be awesome, but I need to be ready for it. Nice thick coat, hoodie, pajamas, plenty of shirts and jeans and stuff... Maybe some nicer stuff too, we might go somewhere nice to eat or something. However I’m DEFINITELY not wearing that darned dress again... She thought, glaring at it in distaste. Oh! I should probably tell Grant and the others that I can go. She thought, stepping over to the desk and sitting down, opening it and waiting for everything to boot up.

Reborn_In_Fire: So, you gona ask now, or later?
LOZ_link: later, I think.
LOZ_link: I just got home from my brother’s so I’m a little tired still.
LOZ_link: We watched Inception, which was an awesome movie, but the ending was a little infuriating.
Reborn_In_Fire: I know right!? I didn’t like it much. that part, at least.

A few hours of blissful sleep later, Olivia was woken- again- this time, by a cold and wet nose stuck in her ear. She sat bolt upright, scaring her golden retriever puppy away from her head. “Amber!? I was trying to sleep... Silly dog...” She muttered, then looked at her alarm clock; it was eight o’ clock, only an eh time to be awake. Shaking her head, she stood up, walking over to her desk, where her computer resided. SHe opened it up and turned it on, waiting for it to boot up. Once it did, she opened Steam and joined the group chatroom.

GlassesKnight is now Online.
Reborn_In_Fire: Hey!
Reborn_In_Fire: I needed to talk to you.
GlassesKnight: Okay?
Reborn_In_Fire: Did I tell you about my uncle’s thing?
GlassesKnight: I don’t think so...
GlassesKnight: Or at least if you did i can’t remember...
Reborn_In_Fire: okay then, well, he told me he had something he thought i might like to test out, a new gaming thing.
Reborn_In_Fire: He said he would pay for plane tickets for me and five others i might want to bring
Reborn_In_Fire: So, I’m inviting all you guys
Reborn_In_Fire: It’ll be after Christmas, for a week, up in Ohio. You up to it?
GlassesKnight: definitely.
GlassesKnight: I could use a bit of distance from my brother, although Ohio might not be far enough
dashieFTW is now Online.
dashieFTW: I CAN GOOO!!
Reborn_In_Fire:
dashieFTW: oh hey olives!
GlassesKnight: hey
dashieFTW: anyway just thought i’d hop on here and say that, i’m gonna go pack now, soo.. afkz
dashieFTW is now Away.
Reborn_In_Fire: okay!
LOZ_link: dang it’s just too easy to ignore this chatroom
Reborn_In_Fire: lol it is.
1MP0551BL3 is now Online.
Reborn_In_Fire: wow everyone is logging on right now!
1MP0551B3: nobody has anything better to do that’s why
LOZ_link: all too true
GlassesKnight: indeed.
Reborn_In_Fire: anyway Jay if you were wondering, my uncle offers for us to come after christmas, for a week.
1MP0551BL3: count me in, just let me ask my dad.
Reborn_In_Fire: sweet!
Reborn_In_Fire: We’ll all be able to meet face to face for the first time ever!!!!
LOZ_link: yep
LOZ_link: and
LOZ_link has changed their name to ViolinMan.
ViolinMan: I’m bringing my amp and my electric violin.
ViolinMan: amp also has full distortion
GlassesKnight: OOOOOOOH.
Reborn_In_Fire: this will rock in so many ways! Also, olives, my uncle has a grand piano
GlassesKnight: OH MY FREAKING HOLY MUFFIN PUPPIES I LOVE YOUR UNCLE ALREADY
1MP0551BL3: holy muffin puppies
1MP0551BL3: what
GlassesKnight: I’M SORRY I’M EXCITED DON’T JUDGE MEEEEE
ViolinMan: no kidding.
Reborn_In_Fire: And how much sugary cereal did you have for breakfast?
GlassesKnight: I haven’t had breakfast yet
GlassesKnight: I just woke up and my parents are out with Brett, shopping
GlassesKnight: probably seeing if they can find any last minute things they want to give me for Christmas
ViolinMan: lol, my mom already knows exactly what she’s giving me for christmas, and she’s known at least all month.
Reborn_In_Fire: My mom’s the same way.
1MP0551BL3: My mom came home with several suspicious looking bags last night
1MP0551BL3: she told me to not carry in certain ones
Reborn_In_Fire: lol. sounds fun.
Reborn_In_Fire: ALSO everyone should bring their laptops!
Reborn_In_Fire: WE CAN LAN
GlassesKnight: yesssss
ViolinMan: I call hosting duties
ViolinMan: My laptop exceeds all
1MP0551BL3: I’m sure, mine’s a mac crammed with loads of random stuff, half of which i really probably should delete.
1MP0551BL3: seriously how did I get all these random pictures
1MP055IBL3: and videos
Reborn_In_Fire: *shrug*
Reborn_In_Fire: Aw shucks, I don’t even think i’ve asked my mom.
GlassesKnight: You probably should go do that!
GlassesKinght: ALSO El, how do you know yours is better than mine?
Violinman: Unless yours is an Alienware you got for your birthday about a month ago, that is the newest model, i think not.
1MP0551BL3: ....you’re so lucky.
GlassesKnight: Mines a few years old. but, wasn’t your old one crap?
Violinman: Yes, and my mom ended up spilling water in my old one, so she got me a new one.
Violinman: I’m not complianing.
Reborn_In_Fire: No kidding!
Reborn_In_Fire: Anyway i’ll be back in a bit, gonna ask my mom.
GlassesKnight: Good luck
Reborn_In_Fire: Thanks, although i know she’ll let me go.
Reborn_In_Fire left chat.

Standing up from the laptop and scooping Ashley from his lap to his shoulder in a swift motion, he walked out of his room, walking down the hall to the kitchen, where his mom was making Silvia a sandwich. Lunchtime already? He wondered, walking into the kitchen. He checked the clock- it was already noon. Wow. Time really goes qquickly when you’re chatting... He thought, shaking his head and kneeling to set Ashley down. “Hey, mom.” He said, straightening up as Ashley made a beeline for Silvia, who picked her up and started to pet her.
“Hello, Grant. Decided to surface for lunch?” She replied, raising an eyebrow at him and smiling a little.
He smiled back. “Yeah, I was getting a bit hungry.” He replied, crossing over to the refrigerator and opening the door.
He rummaged around, grabbing the last granny smith apple and the sliced ham- the bread and cheese was already out. “We’re out of apples.” Grant commented, closing the door again.
“Good to know. Write it on the list.” His mom replied, putting Silvia’s sandwich on a plate and handing it to her.
“You going to have a sandwich?” She asked, looking over to Grant as Silvia set Ashley down and took her plate.
“Yeah, since the bread and cheese is already out.” He replied, grabbing a pen and writing granny smith apples on the grocery list.
“Also, Uncle Leo offered to let me play with a new gaming thing, up at his place, and said i could bring some friends, for after Christmas. You mind if I go?” Grant asked offhandedly, putting the apple on the cutting board and taking a paper plate from the cabinet.
His mom raised an eyebrow, thinking about it. He waited, making his sandwich. “Who’s paying for it?” She asked, with a bit of an edge in her vioce, and Grant cursed himself mentally.
“Uncle Leo. He’s paying for six plane tickets for me and anyone i want to bring with me. Almost a Christmas present, because i’m sure he forgot to get anything else. Although I could be wrong...” He said calmly, starting to cut into his apple, sandwich finished.
“Hmm.” She said, considering.
“Well, I suppose. Tell Leo I said hello. Maybe start packing after you finish eating?” She said dryly, and looking over his shoulder at her, Grant could see she was smiling.
Grant smiled back, setting the knife and half-cut apple down, he turned around and hugged his mom. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Be good for your unlce while you’re up there.” She told him, returning the hug.
“I will.” He said, letting go and turning back to the cutting board, to finish cutting his apple, and his mom turned to fix herself a sandwich.
After he finished cutting his apple, he dug a bowl out of the cabitnet to put it in, then carried his sandwich and apple up to his room, setting them besdie his laptop. He sat down, woke his laptop up from going to sleep, and rejoined the Steam chatroom.

Reborn_In_Fire entered chat.
GlassesKnight: welcome back!
LOZ_link: velcome
Reborn_In_Fire: Danke both
Reborn_In_Fire: It’s fine, just as I expected.
1MP0551BL3: that’s a good thing.
Reborn_In_Fire: It is.
Reborn_In_Fire: oh, also, El?
LOZ_link: yes?
Reborn_In_Fire: How’re you going to get your violin through airport security? O_o
LOZ_link: I’m going to put it in my hardshell case and have it as baggage
LOZ_link: I’ve done this before and it was perfectly fine
Reborn_In_Fire: okay then!
GlassesKnight: I hope you’re right, because i wanna hear you play. And a broken violin won’t play well.
LOZ_link: not really, but my case is really good. It’s airline approved. Also where I got my acoustic violin...
1MP0551BL3: didn’t you get that at a Goodwill or something?
LOZ_link: yeah
GlassesKnight: too cooool!
1MP0551BL3: oh hey i hear my dad.
1MP0551BL3: i’m gonna go ask him
1MP0551BL3 left chat.

Jace stood up from his computer, stretching. He could hear the banging of pots and pans from the kitchen, signifying that his dad was awake. He left his room, walking down the hall to the kitchen. “Dad, one of my friends will pay for a plane ticket for me to go to Ohio to play with a new gaming thing. Can i go?” Jace said without preamble.
“Sure, as long as you’re back before school starts.” His dad replied, and Jace nodded.
“It’ll be for a week after Christmas. Then I’ll be back. Before school starts.”
“All right.”
Jace nodded, turning and going back to his room. he sat back down at the computer and opened the chat room again.

1MP0551BL3 entered chat.
1MP0551BL3: he said yes
LOZ_link: that was quick.
1MP0551BL3: yep
Reborn_In_Fire: well. you, me, and lids have asked. El, olives, when will you guys ask?
GlassesKnight: Whenever my parents get home.
GlassesKnight: in other words, anywhere from an hour to five of them.
Reborn_In_Fire: ???
GlassesKnight: They went shopping.
LOZ_link: huh.
GlassesKnight: They might take a while.
1MP0551BL3: well then.

Katelyn woke up late, the silent house testifying to her parent’s absense. She rolled out of bed, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and went downstairs. As she passed it, she noticed the door to her sister Zoey’s room was open, and there was a light on. She poked her head in to find her layig on her bed, reading. “Hey Katelyn.” She said casually, without looking up.
“Hey Zoey.” Katelyn replied.
“Are mom and dad out?”
“Yep. They wouldn’t say where, but I know they’ree going shopping for presents.” She said, looking up from her book and wiggling her eyebrows at Katelyn.
She chuckled. “All right, then. I’ll be at the laptop if you need me.” Katelyn told Zoey, turning away from the door.
“I’m trying to finish this before Christmas. After all, I don’t want to have to finish a book for school when i have new ones to read. So, I’ll be staying right here until I finish it.” Zoey told her, and Katelyn replied with one thing.
“Don’t forget to eat.”
“I won’t!” Zoey said indignantly, and Katelyn smiled.
“Good.” She turned and started toward the other room, where her laptop perpetually resided. Grabbing a breakfast bar from the pantry, she went to her computer and sat down, opening it and starting to eat as she booted Steam up.

kittycat9lives is now Online.
kittycat9lives entered chat.
kittycat9lives: hey errybody
Reborn_In_Fire: daaaaang, i thought you were going to sleep all day.
kittycat9lives: nah, just some of it.
LOZ_link: is lids STILL packing!?
kittycat9lives: she was on? I’m sorry i missed her. wish Zoey’d woken me up...
Reborn_In_Fire: Well, since she’s not on, i’d say yes.
Reborn_In_Fire: Also she’ll probably be ripping her hair out, because she’ll have to repack everything... *laughs*
Reborn_In_Fire: I can’t imagine any of us will pass up this opportuity to sho off Christmas loot
1MP0551BL3: you better beleive it.
GlassesKnight: NOPE!
GlassesKnight: My parents don’t know but i already know some of what i’m getting.
kittycat9lives: oooooh, is olives being a sneaky sneaky bad olives?
Reborn_In_Fire: you know Santa doesn’t like that.
GlassesKnight: I know
GlassesKnight: >.>
GlassesKnight: Guess who’s home...
Reborn_In_Fire: you gonna go ask them?
kittycat9lives: oh hey that reminds me, when my parents get home i need to go ask..
GlassesKnight: You really should.
GlassesKnight: Anyway, gonna go ask, be back soon.
GlassesKnight: hopefully.
Reborn_In_Fire: okay!
GlassesKnight is now Away.
LOZ_link: seeya

There was no mistaking the brother sounds from the other side of the house. Her family was definitely home. She sighed, standing up and setting her headphones aside. She winced as she heard Brett slam the door; then her parents, berating him. She sighed again, walking out of her room. When she made her way into the living room, her parents hurriedly covered up a couple of the bags, and the corner of Olivia’s mouth twitched in a smile. “Hey, you’re home.” She said, leaning on the dinner table.
“Yes, there are still a few bags in the car, can you go get them?” her mom asked, and Olivia nodded, barely restraining a smile.
“Okay.” She replied, walking out to the garage and getting the bags. She carried them back inside and set them down with her mom, noting that the bags her parents had covered up had disappeared, along with her dad. A few moments later he emerged from the bedroom, and she smiled, knowing exactly what had been in those bags. “Mom, there’s something I’d like to ask you about.” Olivia started, leaning on the table again.
“Yes?” She replied, not looking up from sorting groceries.
“One of my online friends, Grant, got an offer from his uncle-” “IS IT FOR FREE CANDY??” “...Don’t interrupt me, Brett! ...Anyway, his uncle offered to fly him and five others up to Ohio, where he lives, so that wecould try out a new gaming device, after Christmas, for about a week until school starts back. Can I go? Everything will be paid for, except maybe if i want food in the airport, which I can buy myself.” She said, and waited, watching her mom sorting groceries.
“Here, put these cans away.” Her mom said, handing her a stack of cans.
“Okay, but.. what do you-” “Ask your dad, it’s okay with me.” “...Okay.” Bemusedly, she did what her mom had told her to do, and took the cans to the pantry to put away.
She noticed that her mom had gotten some more ravioli; she smiled, knowing that she’d have a good supply for after she got home- if she could go, of course. Opening hte pantry door, she stacked the cans inside, each can with the rest of its kind. She smiled a little, hearing her dad come out of the back room. Finishing wiht the cans, she clsoed the cabinet door, and then walked back out into the living room. Her mom was filliing him in on her request, and she stood and waited while she did. When she was done telling, Olivia stepped in the room to sum it up. “May I go?” She requested.
After a moment’s deliberation, her dad nodded. “I suppose so.”
She grinned, giving both parents a hug. “Thank you!” She said, releif in her voice.
“If it’s for a week after Christmas, you’ll be leaving day after tomorrow- you’d better start packing some,” her mom told her.
“Yeah, I will.” Olivia replied, returning to her room. Once there, she made a beeline for her laptop.

GlassesKnight is now Online.
GlassesKnight: I can go!
Reborn_In_Fire: yayz!
LOZ_link: I may as well go ahead and ask my mom.
GlassesKnight: you should do that!
GlassesKnight: i think i might go and start packing.
1MP0551BL3: i might do that too.
LOZ_link: well, I’ll be back in a moment.
LOZ_link is now Away.

Elliott stood up slowly, bending backwards and stretching his back. His stomach growled loudly- how long had it been since breakfast? Too long, he decided, straightening up and walking down to the kitchen. Once there, he went to the freezer, looking for food. He opened the freezer, pulling out a pair of hot pockets. He unwrapped them, pulling the sleeves out, and putting the hot pockets in their sleeves. He set them on the plate, and stuck it in the microwave, setting it to three and a half minutes. Leaning against the counter, he waited for them to cook, listening to the sound of the sewing machine from the craft room. Once it finished cooking, he set the timer for the same length of time and let his hot pockets cool. Walking into the craft room, he waited until his mom paused while turning to speak up. “Mom, I’ve been offered an all expenses paid trip to Ohio to play with a new gaming platform with my online friends, may I go?” He asked, leaning against the door. His mom started on another seam, and finished it before answering.
“When is it?”
“The planes are scheduled to leave the day after tomorrow.”
Another seam.
“I guess it’s all right. A bit short notice though. Did you just now hear about this?”
“Yes. From what Grant said, it sounds like he was just told about it too.”
“Hmm. Well, you should pack.”
“I will. Thanks.”
She started on the next seam, and Elliott left, retrieving his hot pockets from the microwave.