I ate my bit of scone as the girls chatted with Miss Ayana and leaned against Kensey. It felt weird, Kensey held my hand as I tried to get a better view out of Quince's pocket. She'd gotten this jacket for the pocket on the front just so she could show off Kensey as she walked around, but with Kensey being a full three inches taller than me, I kept sliding down into the pocket where I couldn't peek out. I wrapped my arms over the lip of the pocket and hung there, looking around at the mall around us. My arms would go to sleep soon, but for now at least, I could see.
"You sure do wiggle a lot more than Kensey does..." Quince said, glancing down at me
"I want to see, it's hard to keep my head out of the pocket." I complained
"Well you should have thought about that before being so short." she said
I sighed and dropped back down into the pocket, sitting at Kensey's feet. It wasn't that interesting, just the same mall I'd been to dozens of times before, just this time everything loomed around me and people pointed and whispered about me slightly more. Quince's pocket wasn't as cozy as Marissa's; while Marissa usually wore softer clothes, Quince seemed to like the shiny, attention grabbing ones. The jacket in question was made of some kind of plastic or latex, and was glossy all over. It was red with black highlights and yellow under the arms, and it looked like it belonged on a fashion model, not a girl casually walking around her local mall. I wished I'd have brought my tablet, at least then I wouldn't just be stuck down at the bottom of a pocket with nothing to do.
Kensey ducked inside the pocket with me, and poked my shoulder "Hey, you ok?" she asked
"I'm just getting a little tired of not being able to see what's going on when I'm in public, or like, being hidden in people's clothes." I said "I know I was never very flashy before, but I want to be able to be noticed as a person and not just as a pet, I guess."
"Oh, yeah..." she sat down and curled her knees up to give us more room "I'm still coming to terms with that myself... I'm one of, what? A percent of a percent of the population who's a class B? The people here are staring at me, but I can't even blame them, I'm probably the only class B they'll ever see."
"Mm... It's just- our community is so small, I've been spending more time on AntMound recently, and it feels like the same names keep coming up in the comments of every post or article I look at, it's isolating, and not being able to be physically seen by people even when I'm spending time at the mall with friends just makes me feel so..."
"Small?" she asked with a slight smile
I slumped "Yeah, I guess. I love being around Marissa because I feel like I'm her whole focus, like, I'm taking up space in her mind all the time. I don't feel small, I feel normal, even if she's in charge, she values me."
"I think that's important, but it's unrealistic for most people to have that." Kensey said "If most people had a partner who thought about them that much I'd assume they were being love bombed."
"I don't think she's doing that..." I said "She's too mean to me to be love bombing me, but even when she's mean, I'm still like, her focus. It's a safe sort of loved feeling, even when she's hurting me a little."
"I almost feel jealous of you, hearing you describe it like that." she sighed, leaning over on me "I just hope Quince cares about me even a fraction as much. Just... hopefully she's not as mean. I don't want to be hurt at all."
"You two know I can hear you, right?" Quince asked, fishing her hand into the pocket and pulling us out, smushing us together as she lifted us up
"I'm not going to 'hurt' you, Kay. I just want you to be all cute and sweet for me."
"I am cute and sweet!" she said, untangling her limbs from mine "Aren't I?"
"Yeah, you are, but like, we're at the mall, talk about what you want to buy, or like, judge people based on what they're wearing, not politics or philosophy or whatever."
"Well..." Kensey said "Not to get too, um, 'un-cute', but talking about wants and what we need to be happy is technically philosophy, and when you think about it, judging people because of their outfits is political, because we're reinforcing the social classes based on what the masses can afford to buy."
Quince slowed to a stop and frowned at Kensey and me in her hands "...I really don't want to think that way. Who cares if I'm reinforcing the social classes? I just want to point at someone wearing a flannel and patterned sweats and laugh, is that too much to ask?"
A woman walking past who'd obviously inspired Quince's example turned and gave her a dirty look.
"No, not you, I meant it in a political sense!" Quince told her as she walked off, and looked back to us "Ugh, see? That, that's why we come to the mall, to find people like that who are so obviously below us they're legal, viable targets to make fun of. It's not political at all."
"Seeing people as less than you is pretty political." I said "What about us, do you see us as less than you?"
"Uh, yeah?" she said, turning towards the food court "I own one of you and the other I've seen sprawled on the locker room floor covered in beans and weenies. I'd say I'm pretty far above you."
"You're the one who put the beans and weenies on me." I pointed out "That doesn't make you better, it just makes you mean."
"Ok, so I'm mean. You like mean, right?" she asked, getting in line for Chinese food
"It's not about if I like people who are mean, it's about ranking people based on perceived value." I said "I don't think size or bank accounts can accurately inform us to a person's valu- ow!"
I glared at Kensey "Stop that, why'd you do that?"
"Do you like me more now?" she asked innocently, pinching me again "I'm being mean to you..."
"Ow! Stop it, no!" I said, trying to scoot away from her. Unfortunately Quince's hands were too small, and I ended up rolling back on top of her again "We're on the same side, dumbass."
"Whatever, I just want to get home, I've been going since I got compressed, and I really want to crash." she said
"That's not true, you spent all Friday night on Amber's couch." Quince said "And Sunday we just had that party for my dad's partner, we had like, all morning to chill."
"Friday I was dying of stomach pains, I was throwing up every few minutes." Kensey reminded her "And I think having to be around that many giants from mid afternoon until almost midnight more than counters the couple hours we spent playing dress-up."
"Well- oh, yes, may I get a water and an order of..." Quince squinted at the menu as the worker frowned at her "Uhh... Amber, what's good?"
"What?" I asked "I'm Korean, not Chinese..."
"Ugh, no, I meant because you're poor and you probably ate at low quality places like this a lot." she said, rolling her eyes
I glared up at her "Figure it out..."
"Fiiine..." she said "I'll have the walnut shrimp then, god."
"Anyway..." Kensey said as Quince went to the other end of the counter to wait "I was just saying I was looking forward to getting home and crashing for a bit."
"Yeah, and I don't have class tomorrow morning because the teacher has jury duty, so I'll be watching videos and drinking seltzer until I fall asleep in my recliner..." Quince said, smiling at the thought
"I'd really like to get sleep though, especially if we're going to be going to school together later in the day." Kensey said "Being passed around and shown off all day was really exhausting."
"You can go to sleep whenever." Quince said, dropping us into her pocket so she could grab the food "I'll just close your lid."
I pushed Kensey's shoulder off my face "How will the sleeping arrangements work?"
"I figured you'd just share Kensey's bed." Quince sat down and pulled us back out, setting us on the table next to her tray "Unless Kensey has some hangups about sharing a bed with a lesbian."
"I- uh..." Kensey looked at me "...I guess not? I wouldn't have thought of it if you hadn't said something..."
"I'm not a creep or something..." I said, my feelings hurt "I can sleep on the floor if it's a problem."
"No, it's fine." Kensey said "I'm cool with it, you're like, tiny, I'll barely notice you're there."
"I vo'e she hash to slee' on the floor." Quince said though a mouthful of nuts and seafood
"No one is sleeping on the floor, damnit." Kensey sighed "I'm too old for her and she's taken, it's not an issue."
"Yeah, stop making it weird." I said "Henri and I slept in the same bed for years whenever-"
I stopped "Oh. Uh, well that was on her, not me."
"Way to help your case there, shrimp." Quince said sarcastically, punctuating the word 'shrimp' by stabbing a shrimp as big as me and biting it in half.
"...As sickening as it is to see you eat, I'm kinda getting hungry. Don't forget to get me some meals." I said, watching her try and pile honey-covered walnuts on another piece of shrimp
"What the fuck?" she said "I'm literally just eating, what's sicking about it?"
"No no, I get what she means actually." Kensey said "It's like, you see a giant eat something, and they take a bite, and you're hit with a wave of 'oh, fuck, they could do that to me, and these things eat meat...'. It's like that one old movie with the dinosaurs? On the island?"
"It is!" I said "Gosh, I was watching Marissa eat recently, and it reminded me of something but I didn't know what, it's totally that!"
"So... I eat like a dinosaur?" Quince asked, setting down her fork. She looked uncomfortable, and once again I felt a sense of power at making her insecure. It seemed she had some kind of hang-ups about looking scary or gross to class Bs, I'd have to see if I could use that again...
"It's all giants, really." Kensey said "It's just scary to be casually hanging out with someone who could chomp you in half like a gingerbread man while they're eating."
"I- I have to eat though, I need my protein for tennis, and I get hungry a lot..." Quince said "I don't know how to fix this..."
I looked at her with surprise, she was actually, legitimately upset about this. She looked at her half-eaten shrimp and made a face, dabbing at her face with a napkin.
"It's ok..." Kensey said "I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings, I just was making an observation. It doesn't bother me, you can finish eating."
"Yeah, it's not a you thing, it's ok." I said, nodding reluctantly. "Sorry we made you uncomfortable."
Quince looked at us with a nervous look, but picked her fork back up to eat again, but she held her napkin in front of her mouth when she took a bite.
"I think after I'm done we'll head to the health food store then go home..." she said "I want to just not think about stuff."
"That sounds good to me..." Kensey said quietly.
Quince watched us closely for the rest of her meal, an almost sad look on her face, and she barely spoke to us for the rest of the shopping trip, opting to give nods or gentle 'mh hm's when we tried to engage with her. I hoped I hadn't hurt her and Kensey's relationship somehow, but with her being quieter than I'd ever seen her, there was no way to tell.
~~~
We sat on Kensey's bed watching a movie about some old guy who was re-living his teen years after a weird accident. It was ok, not the greatest movie of all time, but it was watchable. I slurped my noodles and kicked my feet out, it was a nice evening. Quince was on the other side of the room from us watching... something that sounded loud and dramatic, but I couldn't make out what was going on from here. Kensey was eating a roast of some kind, and we had made plans to split a 'pint' of ice cream once we finished our meals.
It was turning out to be a good night, I'd chatted with Marissa a little and she was settled into rehab already, doing crafts and making friends. Kensey had been in rehab herself, and was even able to give her some tips to make her short stay a little better. If you'd told me I'd end up being good friends with a lady in her mid thirties a few weeks ago, I'd have been pretty confused, but she was a nice person, and I really liked spending time with her.
I drained the broth from my ramen, and sighed contentedly, full of warm and cozy in the blanket. I could fall asleep right now if I wanted, but the main character had just re-enrolled in high school and I was interested to see how things played out for him. I leaned against Kensey, her upper arm big enough to me to use as a pillow, and tightened the blanket around me. I hoped we could do this more often, she was still much bigger than me, but in a 'big sister' way, not a 'I'm a giant' way. I heard footsteps sound out through the room, and the lid to the desk slid open, Quince peeking down at us almost nervously.
"Uh, I know it's- uh, hey I wanted to like, hang out, is that ok?" she asked
I was impressed with her for asking, I'd expected her to have just grabbed us whenever she wanted to play with us. This was great to see, but I did wonder if it was because of our comments earlier or if she honestly was starting to respect us... I glanced at Kensey, who paused the movie and shrugged.
"Yeah, I'm ok with that. Me and Amber were gonna get some ice cream later, so you might have to bring us back over for that once we're all digested from dinner, if that's ok." she said
"Ok, no, that's not a problem." she said "I was just watching stuff and I was thinking about you two over here hanging out, and, uh, I guess I wanted to hang out too?"
"We can hang out." I said "I guess we'll sit in your lap while you watch videos?"
"Or- I don't know, I have four recliners, you can share a different one if you prefer." she said, looking over her shoulder
"I don't mind sitting in your lap, it's ok." Kensey said, putting down her empty plate "Here, we're ready whenever you are."
Quince carefully picked us up, one in each hand and brought us over to one of the recliners, a pile of corn puffs, chocolates, and seltzer cans in the one next to it. I noticed Quince's hands didn't smell like corn puffs, they smelled like... vanilla shea butter? She'd washed her hands and lotion-ed up before coming to see us. She placed us on the recliner next to her, got into hers, crossed her legs, and made a 'tent' with the blanket, tucking it under her knees and butt to make a wide, springy area for us and moved us into it. She cracked open a can and set it in the cupholder of the armrest and turned the giant TV back on.
"I'm not going to have a lot." she said, pointing to the can "Just like, two or three, I'm not going to get tipsy or anything, I promise."
"That's good..." I said "I know bad stuff tends to happen when people get drunk around me."
"Yeah, yeah, no, I won't get drunk." she said, looking at Kensey "I just wanted to spend time with you guys. What do you like to watch?"
"Like, on the internet?" Kensey asked "I mostly watch compilations of cat videos and sometimes people talking about current events."
"I like the videos about class Bs." I said "But like, you have to be careful, some of the content creators are horrible to their class Bs, and no one even notices for some reason."
"Horrible how?" Kensey asked
"Like, making them run obstacle courses, or play with animals, or like, making them do trendy challenges like eat way too spicy foods, or like- they make videos about how not to treat class Bs, but they use their own class Bs in the example sections of what not to do? Messed up stuff."
"...I like the videos of people doing stuff like filling a swimming pool with slime, or playing pranks on their friends." Quince said
"I'm down for whatever, really." Kensey said, laying back against Quince's knee
"You guys can pick." I said "I'll watch anything."
"Ok, um... How about..." Quince picked a video from a class B creator I knew, and we settled in as he did a 'room tour' of his class B's room. He'd 'tricked out' the whole place with rock climbing walls, ziplines, swimming pools, and more. The class B in question looked overwhelmed and out of his element, but was doing his best to do reaction faces and look excited at each new 'upgrade'. We watched in silence for a while before Quince turned it down, and her hands came to wrap around us softly.
"Should I be... doing that?" she asked "I don't think my parents would like me taking one of the guest rooms to make into a one tenth scale theme park, but I can section off part of my room and set up like, a pool and stuff..."
"I don't need all that..." Kensey said "I have a hot tub and a nice apartment, I bet that guy doesn't even use all the stuff his guardian built him, it's just for clicks."
"Well- I just feel like I need to be doing more." Quince said, sounding frustrated
"As long as you treat us with respect and stuff, that's all we ask, really." I said "You're doing ok so far."
"No, look, you and Marissa? That's my only basis for a relationship like this, and I'm not even coming close to that. Like, I know I'll be able to afford a giant house like yours eventually and give Kensey a mansion, but..." Quince said "I can't give her the relationship and safety Marissa gives you."
"You can!" Kensey said "You just need to be someone who's safe to be around, and I'll feel safe! you're working on it"
"It's not that simple." Quince said flumping back into the seat "I want you to be all cute and fun for me, and you're so, so perfect and sweet and pretty, and like, in return, I'm... I thought I could do it, I thought I could just be myself and have a tiny lil baby person to take care of and play with, but just being around you makes me all... I don't know..."
"Like, responsible?" I asked
"No, not like that, like..." Quince's face twisted "I feel disgusting being around you guys. I feel like making you guys be around me is like torture or something for you. I'm scary when I eat, my hands smell like cheese or bread or whatever I touch, I have body hair everywhere, all my flaws stand out to you, I'm supposed to be taking care of you but every time I try to be silly or tease you like I do everyone else, the mood shifts and I feel like an asshole because I'm flexing my power or privilege or something and that's scary to you. I just feel so, so gross, and you guys keep referring to class As as 'giants' and that just makes me feel even worse and I'm already insecure about my height, and-"
She pressed her hands into her face and shivered "This isn't how it was supposed to be, I was supposed to feel special and cute and have a little friend with me all the time, not feel like a monster..."
"You're not a monster, Quince..." Kensey said "I'm sorry, I didn't know saying those things would hurt your feelings, you seemed so indomitable, and I guess I didn't consider how telling you that stuff would make you feel."
"I'm 'indomitable' when it's the girls, they're trying to hurt me, to make me insecure. It rolls off like water." Quince explained "With you, it's like... I actually care about how you see me, and I feel like you see me like some gross creature keeping you prisoner..."
"I know the size difference is... a big deal." I said "It makes class As much scarier, yeah, and sure we can see lots of details and stuff, but we're not judging you for it. If anything it reminds me how I look under a microscope, having cheese hands or not waxing your forearms isn't a flaw, it's just humanity, unfiltered, up close."
"I really don't see you as a monster..." Kensey said "When you put me in that pencil case, yeah, ok, I saw you as a monster. But since then? I see you as like, a mix between a weird aunt and a little sister. You've really grown a lot in the past few days, I'm honestly impressed."
Quince took a careful breath, one she probably thought hid how close to tears she was and nodded "I didn't realize how much I cared for your opinion until I really, actually hung out with you at the Camden mall. Seeing you pick stuff out and get excited about the hot tub and be all cute about your new clothes, and seeing how much Amber cared for Marissa, just- head over heels, fuck, I just wanted you to actually want to be around me."
"You started to value her, instead of valuing owning her." I said
"...I guess that's a good way to put it." Quince agreed
"Well... I appreciate you caring about me, Q." Kensey said "I won't call you a giant anymore, and please know that I'm not grossed out by you, and I'll get used to you eating, it's not gross, it just reminds me how small I am. You're doing good, and we're getting along really well, there's no problems on my end, ok?"
"...Ok." Quince said "I just kinda feel like shit about it all, and I know I shouldn't, I've been hurting people around me since I was in middle school with no remorse, but like, fuck. I just wanted you so bad, and I wanted you to like me, and I had all these thoughts about what it'd be like, and... fuck, I don't know."
"You honestly should feel more remorse than you do about hurting people..." I said "This is normal, caring about what people think about you is normal."
"So I've heard..." Quince said "I can't believe I'm actually sitting here thinking about what you of all people think of me..."
"Maybe it's the start of a new arc for you guys?" I said "Growing up and all that. Marissa is starting to relax more these days, drunken fights not withstanding, you're starting to think about other people, Tracy is just following you two, maybe... you guys just let off of your grip on everyone and let yourselves mature?"
"Yeah, that would work, up until Darcy comes back from her vacation." Quince said, rolling her eyes.
"...Yeah, that- hm." I said sadly
"Who's Darcy?" Kensey asked "You guys have mentioned her a couple times, I'm guessing she's a part of your friend group?"
"She's... more like Marissa's rival." Quince explained "Except she's over the whole rivalry thing, and Marissa won't drop it, so she can't drop it, and they just end up being super cold and petty to each other. She's good though, her family is in the government, like, all of them are in the government somewhere. She's kinda a pothead, and she likes coke a little too much for my tastes, but she's a lot of fun if you want to do something stupid and get away with it."
"She's the main reason the rest of the girls never got in trouble for being terrible people." I said "She's not the worst one to deal with directly, more like... she's the threat over your head. If you go to the teachers, your house might get foreclosed on after the bank starts ignoring the payments, if you try to fight back too hard, your mom might get pulled over and falsely jailed for drunk driving, if you dare to actually try and do something to her... well, Marissa has admitted to having access to hitmen, and I'm pretty sure Darcy put her in contact with them."
"That's... I really don't want to meet her, do I?" Kensey asked "She sounds like a cross between a mobster and a politician..."
"So... a politician?" I joked "Yeah, stay away from her. I'll probably have to see her fairly regularly because she's Marissa's best friend, but..."
"Hey, I'm Marissa's best friend!" Quince protested "They hate each other!"
"Well, I think I'm actually her best friend." I said "but like, she spends more time with Darcy than you, usually."
"That's only because she's trying to get an edge on her, not because she actually cares about her..." Quince muttered
"So now you care what Marissa thinks of you too?" I asked "Wow, you really are changing!"
"No, I'm just-" a knock on the door interrupted Quince and she turned to the entrance to her room "Come in?" she called out, confused
Miss Ayana walked in with a tray of scones and a couple mugs of tea in her hand "Do you mind if I join you sweetie? I wanted to get to know our new housemate a little more."
"Uh, we're just watching videos..." Quince said, sounding like she did mind, but didn't know how to say it
"What kinds of videos?" Ayana asked, carefully sitting in the seat next to Quince and handing her one of the mugs
"This guy made a kind of theme park or something in his house for his class B." Kensey said, pointing "Look, it even has a water slide that's six feet long! That's like, um... I think almost a hundred feet relative to the class B's size?"
"That doesn't sound safe..." Ayana said, frowning
"It's not." I said "the class B experiences relative speeds of over three hundred miles an hour. The slide ends in a three foot long foam pool with a crashpad at the other side"
"And that's legal?" she asked, sipping her tea
"You'd be surprised what's legal when it comes to class Bs, mom." Quince said
Miss Ayana gave her a look "Legality doesn't mean something's ok, Q."
"I know, I know!" she said, rolling her eyes "I wasn't planning on building a water slide for Kensey anyway."
She sipped her own tea and frowned "Is this the honey gingerbread? I thought that was a winter tea."
"Well, I like it, so it's an anytime tea." Ayana said matter of factly
"I like it too, it goes well with the scones..." Quince said
"Would you like a bit of scone, Amber? I know you liked it last time. They're a little stale, hence the tea, but I can share my tea as well if you like?" Ayana offered "Kensey, I know you have a sensitive stomach, but if you'd like to risk it, you can have some too!"
"Oh, thank you Miss Ayana, but I'm having ice cream with Kensey in a little bit." I said "I appreciate the offer though!"
Ayana gave me a smile and settled back into her seat, watching the two of us in Quince's lap "So what were all of you doing in here? Just watching the videos?"
"Ugh, Jesus, mom, it's like having a boy over. Yes, we were just watching the videos, having a girl talk, nothing bad." Quince said, shaking her head
"Well, with the things I've caught you doing in your room with people, do you blame me for being a little suspicious?" Ayana asked
"Oooh, what sorts of things?" Kensey asked "Dish!"
"Well, one time she'd had her friends over for a sleepover..."she started
"Mom, no!" Quince said, shaking her head, but Ayana kept talking anyway
"It was her turn to host, and they were playing that punishment game they'd made, based on one of Quince's shows? And I open the door because I smelled pot, and I find Quince of all people, laying on the floor, stripped down to her bra and covered in lit candles. The little kind you put in jack-o-lanterns?" she laughed
"Darcy made eye contact with me and lit a joint off of Quince's ribcage, daring me to say something. I just backed out slowly and closed the door behind me. I know better than to risk my husband's practice over a little weed."
"It was part of the game..." Quince said "You never go back on a bet..."
"The next day, I saw them in the pool, and Quince had little rings all over her front where the metal tins of the candles had burned her..." Ayana sighed "If Darcy didn't have a black eye too, I'd have probably talked to her parents over the whole thing."
"The black eye was from a handless cartwheel she failed." Quince said "And the candles were a Marissa thing, Darcy just thought it was funny to use me as a lighter..."
"You lot sure live interesting lives..." Kensey said, looking at Quince and smiling "In my days we just hung out behind the video store and drank wine coolers."
"I miss wine coolers..." Ayana sighed "They were... not good, but they had a flavor the modern stuff just doesn't have, I would pay so much for a six pack..."
"Mm, they really were something else." Kensey agreed "The buzz off of them was different than the seltzers they sell now, it was more dipsy, more cozy, somehow. I also really liked the red wine with the train on it? That was so, so good... got you drunk as hell super fast."
"You know why, right?" Miss Ayana said, smirking "They put brandy in it, it wasn't pure wine. I need to find some of that again, re-live my youth..."
"This is the problem with old people." I said to Quince "Put them in any situation for too long, and they'll start gushing about how good it was to be our age..."
"They can gush all they want, when my mom was my age, she already had me, and I'm not ready for that." Quince said, shaking her head
"You were a terror and a half..." Ayana shook her head "But I wouldn't trade you for the world."
"That's sweet of you..." Kensey said "I never wanted kids, I... wanted to live for myself, but sometimes I still got the urge. I don't think I'd have made a good mother though."
"You still could!" Ayana said "You could find a nice man, you never know!"
"I know." I said "The odds of two people compressed at different rates having a kid together is around point zero two percent if the woman is ovulating. The odds of two people being compressed at the exact same rate? It's almost infinitesimally small. The odds of a compressed person surviving giving birth? About twenty percent."
The conversation stopped there for a moment while everyone processed what I'd said.
"So... you'll pretty much never have kids?" Quince asked me "That's... good to know at least."
"I guess." I said "Not that it matters, I'd basically be a single mom even if I did find a way to have a kid, it's not like Marissa can help care for a baby the size of her fingernail."
"So... did you want to be a mom?" Kensey asked me
"I wanted to be able to choose I guess." I said "I'm not too worried about it, if anything, I'll convince Marissa to have a kid, and we'll raise it together."
"I'm sorry about that, it sucks to think about that..." Quince said "I'd never seen a compressed baby before, I didn't think about why."
"They exist from natural compression, just like compressed kids exist." I said "But it's illegal to document them outside a lab because of safety concerns, and it's illegal for anyone to buy a class B under the age of fifteen unless they're directly related, and even then, any class Bs under the age of ten need to be kept in a group home until the age of ten."
"Holy shit, so these kids that compress, they just get shoved in a box and left there until their parents come get them?" Kensey asked, shocked
"Uh, I think the group homes are nice?" I said, unsure "I just know they're state owned and run."
"How do you know all this, Amber?" Miss Ayana asked me "Did you take a class on it?"
"It's all on the app we class Bs use for social media." I said "I just picked it up reading stuff on there I guess, and in videos."
"It's weird to think about lil baybees having babies." Quince said, petting me "I'm kinda glad it's not a common problem..."
"Quince, Amber and Kensey are grown women." Ayana said firmly "Please don't call them 'babies'."
"She just means I'm small and cute and she's taking care of me." Kensey said "Quince is working hard to respect me and provide a safe, fulfilling environment for me, right?"
"I guess, yeah." she said, petting Kensey too "I just like thinking of you as little sweeties, I know you're like, an adult or whatever, but it's weird to have the person I'm taking care of be older than me."
"I think it's good for you to have her around." Ayana said "She seems like a very respectable lady, and you could learn a thing or two from her I bet!"
"Mom, you're making it weird..." Quince said, making a face "I buy her cute clothes and she rides in my pocket, she doesn't teach me stuff."
Ayana pursed her lips, but nodded "Ok, I understand. I just want to see Kensey live her life as comfortably as possible, we have the means to provide for her after all."
"I'm very happy with my situation, Ayana." Kensey assured her "I miss my cats, and I'll miss my dad and my group meetings, but we're starting a new group meeting tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll make more friends there!"
"Ohhh damnit..." Quince groaned "I did agree to go to that... And Henri is gonna be there..."
"A group meeting?" Ayana asked "For what?"
"It's a meeting for people've been compressed, and for their guardians." I told her "I've been, it's nice. Good crowd of people too."
"That sounds so helpful!" Miss Ayana said, her face lighting up "Quince, I'm so proud of you for taking this initiative!"
"...Thanks..." Quince grumbled, but she looked pleased with herself. She put her hands around us and gave us a light 'hug'
"Can we go get that ice cream now?" I asked "I'm feeling snackish."
"Ooh, yeah, and we should watch a movie, videos are fine, but I prefer movies." Kensey said "I know one about a couple who are trying to see if fate wants them to get together, but they keep missing the signs, it's one of my favorites..."
"Alright, let's get the ice cream..." Quince said, picking us up "Mom, are you going to watch the movie with us?"
Miss Ayana smiled "Of course! I love romances!"
I knew she was trying to help and guide Quince into being more aware and careful with Kensey, but I could tell Quince wasn't having any of it. She'd already come to the conclusions she needed to on her own, and no one likes to be told something they were already planning on doing, especially by their mother. I just hoped this wouldn't throw a wrench into our plans to get Quince to treat Kensey more like a person...
~~~