Chapter Text
It had been a long year—well many long years—of straight
competing in whatever idiot challenge was new for the day. Book was tired, exhausted even.
A new chapter in her life started as the challenges came to a close, everything had changed for her entire team. Life had been domestic again, and it was odd, she even got her own room in freesmarts apartment within yoylecity, and a bed which had been so alien to her at this point in her life. Soaking in the comfort of it all, and drifting off to sleep—maybe even shamelessly thinking a little bit about her new boyfriend, Nickel. Well, ‘new’ was a stretch, to be honest they've been seeing each other for awhile behind their respected teams backs due to many different reasons.
Woah bunchers and freesmarters hated each other, that was a fixed factor no matter what. That's probably why it was so odd and unexpected for Book when she found herself falling face first in love with the blabbering buffoon. And Nickel was sure Pin would behead him if she found out he was sneaking around with a freesmart member. Even after the competition ended, she'd still been keeping quiet about going over to where he and his brother had been staying.
As she fell deeper into her exhausted rest, she was interrupted and thrown back into reality.
Book was suddenly woken up by the buzzing of her phone on the nightstand. With half-open eyes, still drowsy, she reached for it. On the screen, she saw that Nickel was calling.
“Nickel? At this hour? Just when I’m trying to take a nap… seriously?”
She sighed and answered. “...Yeah?”
“BOOK! I’m so sorry for waking you, I know you said you didn’t want to be disturbed and all… but this is really important, I need you! Gb and Tb need me right now for something, Coiny’s not home, and my little sister absolutely CANNOT be left alone. Could you please watch her? Like right now—not later—now!”
Nickel babbled in panic. Book stared at her screen in surprise.
“Wait… you have a little sister?! Why didn’t I know that? You’ve never mentioned having a sister! What—”
“No time for questions!” Nickel cut her off. “I’m sorry I never told you, but this is an emergency! Can you do it or not?”
Book let out a deep sigh. Still confused, she replied, “Yeah, I can. But you’d better answer my questions later!”
“THANK YOU! I love you, I promise I'll do that!” Nickel said, clearly relieved.
“Love you too. Will I see you before you go?” Book asked.
“Maybe—when I’m on my way to Gb and Tb. I really have to go now!” Nickel replied quickly.
“Alright then… bye bye.”
After hanging up, Book flopped back onto her bed, stared at the ceiling for a moment, sighed again, and then slowly got up.
Book threw her legs over the side of her bed, blankets being tossed around in the process of her trying to clear her groggy mind from sleep. She barely bothered with her hair, usually keeping it so neat but had no energy to do so.
Tossing on a comfortable sweater and whatever else she could find that would be cute enough to even slightly see Nickel.
opening her bedroom door and making her way ever so quickly to the door, she was stopped by the feeling of familiar eyes staring at the back of her head.
“Book?"
Her gaze turned to spot Icy, sitting at a small table, shoving her face with cereal. Book must've walked right past her. “Icy!—hey, sorry I didn't see you.” She twirled her fingers in a lock of her deep brown hair.
Icy looked at her puzzled, she knew Book — more than she'd like — and she knew that gesture she made when she was anxious. “Hm, what are you doing?" Her voice was flat.
"Errands!..—I-I gotta run errands, pencil asked me to get some stuff for her..”
She once again found herself digging deeper into made up excuses, the past few months she's realized how much she dislikes lying to her friends.
“Pencil asked you to go out for her." Icy looked at her more skeptical. “Well I'm sure you don't have to go out anymore, Pencil just left a bit ago," Book loved Icy as much as she could, like a sister, but sometimes she hated how cold her voice was when she spoke to book. “You okay?"
“Yeah, just—woke up a bit fuzzy," her words blended together a bit as she fumbled to get on her shoes and get out the door. “A walk would be good for me anyway!"
Ice cubes face grew into slight concern, setting down her spoon and opening her mouth to push for more questions. But before she could get any words out, Book dashed out the door.
Icy noted that Book had been sneaking around, as she wasn't really good at lying, at least not to her.
—
Book hurried through the street, her heart pounding lightly in her chest. One of the thousand things she absolutely couldn’t stand was being late — the very thought of it stressed her out. As her pace quickened, she tried to calm herself down. She desperately hoped that Icy had believed her lie. Because if Freesmart, and especially Pencil, ever found out about this whole “situation”… or worse, if they found out about Nickel and her relationship with him, she’d be totally screwed. She didn’t even want to imagine what would happen to her then — and honestly, she didn’t dare think about it for too long.
“Stay positive, Book. Don’t overthink it! You’re just babysitting this one time — what could possibly go wrong?”
she told herself in her head, though her stomach twisted into a knot with every step she took closer to her destination.
Her stress bubbled up to a vile feeling deep in her throat, tense and lost in her thoughts as she quickened her pace.
“There you are!"
Her muscles softened at the sound of a familiar voice, her stress releasing as he interlocked their arms into a deep hug. As Book's nose dug into his mess of curly hair, she couldn't say he smelt exactly good at all, but he smelled like her boyfriend. If that made any sense.
“Sorry that it took me so long to get here." She let go to look at his soft face, trying to decode any and all rambling that spewed from his mouth.
“Youre good!—you're perfect! Thank you Book, but I really gotta get going, you know how ol’ jiggle boy is with me being late!” He giggled with a full grin, revealing a bit of that tooth gap Book loved so much. "OH RIGHT! PENNY!” his eyes widened and he snapped his fingers.
"Yeah uh- how come ive never met her?" She hoped her question as it came out sounded more passive and less of an interrogation.
“Just… uh y'know, yatta yattaa… never got the chance to—uhm I think Coiny wrote down some basic rules for her but I don't usually follow them so don't bother!” Nickel wrapped his hands around Book's head, messing up her hair as he shoved a kiss onto her cheek a little too aggressively. "Gotta run, thank you again!"
Book blinked as the door shut behind Nickel, his haphazard exit leaving a whirlwind of confusion in his wake.
“…Okay, cool,” she muttered under her breath, still slightly dazed from the abrupt kiss and even more abrupt handoff.
★
The house was quiet. Suspiciously quiet, considering there was supposed to be a child here. She cautiously stepped inside, her eyes scanning the room for any signs of life. The place looked like a half-cleaned disaster zone — scattered toys, and a suspiciously lopsided pile of blankets on the couch.
“…Hello?” Book called out, unsure how to talk to a kid. Did she raise her voice? Stay calm? Would yelling spook them? Or was that just dogs?
Before she could spiral too far into her own thoughts, the pile of blankets twitched.
Book flinched.
Then, slowly, a small figure sat up from beneath them — blinking wide eyes that sparkled with a dangerous kind of energy. Messy, light brown, wavy hair strands flopped into her face as she squinted at Book.
"You’re not Nickel."
“Nope,” Book said carefully, trying not to sound too weird. “I’m Book. I’m, uh… a friend of Nickel’s. I’m here to watch you for a bit while he’s out.”
Penny stared at her with narrowed, calculating suspicion.
“You his girlfriend?” she asked bluntly.
Book nearly choked. “Wha—I—uh… How did—?”
Penny just shrugged and flopped backwards into the cushions. “You smell like him. Also you’ve got his hair grease on your cheek. Gross.” She joked about the last part pointing up at Book.
Book’s hand flew to her face. “Seriously?! Ew!”
Penny cackled, pleased with herself.
Okay. So she was one of those kids. Sharp, too smart for her own good, probably zero filter.
Great.
Book took a deep breath. “Okay, listen. I don't know what Nickel usually lets you do, but...”
“I wanna go to the park,” Penny said immediately, already hopping off the couch and digging around for her Velcro sneakers.
“The park?” Book blinked. “I was thinking maybe I just… I don’t know, read you a story or something?”
Penny froze. Then gave her a look so offended it could’ve curdled milk.
“I’m not a baby.”
Book winced. “Right. Okay. Noted.”
“Park,” Penny said again, now with the confidence and authority of a tiny dictator. “We can get slushies on the way. Nickel always gets two, one for me and one for him I guess. But I should get half of yours because I deserve more slushies! You better not be a slushie hog.”
Book rubbed her temples. “I’ve been here for five minutes and you’re already giving me rules..”
Penny was already halfway into her sneakers when Book spoke up, hesitating.
“Wait....are you even… allowed to go outside?”
Penny paused, one shoe half-fastened. “Nickel lets me.”
Obvious lie.
“Yeah, but Nickel also thinks cold pizza counts as a vegetable,” Book muttered, pinching her nosebridge. She peeked through the blinds, paranoia creeping in. If anyone from her friendgroup/alliance saw this—if Pencil saw this—she would be toast. Fried, publicly. Probably.
“Look,” she said carefully, “maybe the park’s not the best idea. People might see us.”
Penny tilted her head. “So?”
“So,” Book said, lowering her voice, “your brother’s, eh. Friends?— and my friends aren’t exactly on picnic terms.”
Penny blinked. “Ohhh. Forbidden alliance. Cool.”
“That’s… not what I meant.”
Penny zipped up her jacket anyway. “Guess we’ll just have to wear disguises.”
Book sighed. “You’re seven.”
“Exactly. No one suspects seven year olds.”
Book couldn't help but crack a smile. Penny certainly had charm, or at least as much as a seven year old could have, which she assumed she got from Coiny.
Still as amusing as she was, there was no way she could go out right now, especially while freesmart was lurking.
“Hey, I have an idea." She couched down to Penny's level, trying her best to fix the situation with her little knowledge of kids. “Uhm— so you want slushies?"
Penny looked at her like she insulted her mother. “Duh, didn't I say that already?” She reached up to pat her small hand on Book's forehead. “Are you slow?"
That was unexpected, to say the least. Who knew such a sweet looking girl could be so rude, although she did live with two buffoons, Book thought. “Hey, c'mon what if we just make our own, right here where it's safe.”
There was a bit of a long silence, enough for Book to begin worrying, clenching her teeth shut as she thought of other ways to go about this. But her thoughts were soon broken by the loud sound of a coat zipper, as Penny began to take off her coat. "Hmm, okay!”
Book let out a quiet sigh of relief watching Penny light up with enthusiasm, it was the first time since she got here she'd seen this stubborn girl smile at her. Progress, she thought.
"Really?— I mean, okay slushie making it is!" She stood up and clapped her hands together. “Do you have any idea how to..uh.. make them or do I have to do everything” Book half joked already knowing she would.
She was sitting directly on the floor somehow struggling to take off her light up velcro shoes. Penny, the expert, scrunched her face in thought. “Well, I know there's ice in em’...and uhm sugar—oh and the blue stuff!”
“You like the blue ones?"
“Only the blue ones!"
Already this little curly headed girl was troubled, and Book had no experience with children, well, outside of animals but they were different..right?
While Book was pacing and thinking about options, planning and what actual ingredients they might have here, if any.
Meanwhile Penny already made her way to a rather small kitchen, pulling drawers open and gathering handfuls of spoons, plastic cups, and what Book was fairly sure was expired syrup. It was clear to see she had more energy than Book could ever wish to keep up with.
Tying her hair up into a ponytail, Book recited a recipe in her mind. Ice, syrup, sugar.. food coloring? Most of these she doubted Nickel would own, but pin often came by to bake something for the boys so, maybe she would be surprised.
Penny was digging in a drawer, completely upsupervised. “We need something to crush the ice!" She hollered, snapping Book back into reality. This short little girl had picked up a giant glass bowl and held it over her head. “Look!"
Book rushed to Penny and hovered over her cautiously. "Please do not throw that—" Grabbing the bowl and setting it on the counter.
Penny pouted, crossing her arms and muttering, seemingly insulted. “I wasn't gunna.."
Book softened her tone, crouching a little to meet Penny's eyes. “I know, I know.. I just don't want either of us getting hurt, okay?” She offered a small smile. “We’ll find a safer way to crush the ice, promise!”
There was the slightest huff of disappointment as Penny shrugged, kicking her heel against the floor.
“Okay, I guess... but only ‘cause you said it nicely.”
She glanced up at Book, then quickly looked away. “You sound like Nickel when he’s trying not to freak out.”
Book's lips curled, cracking a smile at that sweet comment. “He can be something else sometimes." She remarked, thinking back fondly to moments she has heard Nickel panic like that.
Her eyes scanned the room looking for a blender of some kind, before bending back down to meet Penny. “How about, you gather the sugar and food coloring, while I get the ice.” She spoke ever so softly like it was a secret mission they had to embark on.
Penny's eyes glimmered, and she nodded, skittering over to the counter top to climb up onto it. Meanwhile, Book searched for a blender.
Gathering up all the ingredients, Book was ready to start getting to work. When all of a sudden little hands grabbed onto the counter, trying to get her attention.
Penny was standing on her tippy toes, waiting for Book to notice so she could say something that was apparently important.
“Wait! Wait wait! I need to get my secret weapon before we can start!"
Book stood there while rolling up her sleeves, a little puzzled as she watched Penny dash out of the room, and listened as she heard quick little footsteps heading upstairs to rummage through her old toys.
“You alright up there?" She hollered in concern. "The ice is going to melt!”
After a minute or so Penny raced back downstairs, almost tripping on the steps as she triumphantly held in her hand, a sparkly, blue, fairy princess wand. “Got it!! We gotta make sure it's perfect."
Book blinked, unsure whether to laugh or be worried. “Uhm.. sure if thats how you want to roll..”
Book watched as Penny held the sparkly wand high like it was sacred, her expression pure determination.
“That’s your secret weapon, huh?” Book asked, gently amused.
Penny nodded seriously. “Only way to make it taste right.” she said, tapping the wand against her palm.
“Well then,” Book said, kneeling slightly to Penny’s level, “I wouldn’t want to mess up a magical recipe. Go on. Do your thing.”
With a swirl and a dramatic flick, Penny pointed the wand at the blender like she was casting a powerful spell.
Book smiled, hit the button, and the blender came to life. The loud whirring filled the kitchen, and Penny let out a delighted gasp. Her wand waved in time with the noise, and her eyes lit up.
She demanded a few times that they add more blue syrup, and Book had to talk her down to only a few drops.
Once the mixture was smooth enough, Book poured it carefully into two mismatched plastic cups and handed one over.
“Alright, expert,” she said, “time to taste test, this is either going to be great or a total disaster.
Penny took a long sip through her straw, smacked her lips, and grinned wide. “Whoa. That’s really good! You actually made it blue enough!”
“Of course I did,” Book said with a proud smile. “Blue is clearly serious business.”
“you get it!” She smiled smugly, waving her blue stained hands like she was a proud artist.
Penny leaned on the counter, swinging her legs and sipping from her slushie. “Nickel usually lets me pick the flavor but he always tries to sneak in the weird ones like orange. Gross.”
Book laughed gently. “Orange has its place. Just not in a Penny-approved slushie, huh?”
“Exactly,” Penny said, already halfway through her cup. She looked up at Book thoughtfully, like she was trying to piece something together. “You know… you’re kinda different than I thought.”
Book raised a brow. “Different how?”
“I dunno. I thought you’d be all… quiet or boring. But you’re actually cool.”
Book blinked, then let out a surprised little laugh. “Thanks, I think? I’m not always great with kids, so I was kinda nervous.”
“You don’t seem nervous,” Penny said simply.
Book softened. “That’s probably because you make it easy.”
Penny scrunched her nose, but clearly didn’t hate the compliment. “Nickel’s always smiling after he talks to you. Even when he pretends he’s not.”
Book looked down at her cup, a little bashful. “Well, I smile after I talk to him too.”
Penny smirked. “Ew.”
“Hey,” Book chuckled, nudging her lightly. “You brought it up.”
They sat together in a calm silence for a moment, the air in the kitchen warm and sweet from the syrup. Then, of course, Penny piped up again.
“So, can we make pancakes next? Like, the tiny ones with way too many sprinkles?”
Book blinked. “Now?”
Penny nodded like it was obvious. “Slushies were the appetizer.”
Book sighed, dramatic but smiling. “You’re lucky I’m trying to impress you.”
“you haven't won me over just yet.” Penny mumbled through muffled words as she was determined to stain her whole face blue. “I'm gonna tell Coiny about this, he’d be so proud I made something all by myself.”
"All by yourself?” Book snickered, stuffing her face with slushie.
“Well, you helped, I guess.” She stated flatly, putting her attention back to the bottom of her plastic cup.
Book chuckled softly, resting her chin in her hand. “Well, I’m just happy I got to be your ‘assistant’ today. You’ve clearly got the magic touch.”
“Also— slow down you're gonna get a brain freeze.”
After a few second
s of silence, Penny began to squeal as the brain freeze caught up with her. “Oww"
After things calmed down, and Book rinsed off their dishes — knowing full well no one else would do them — she sat back down with Penny on the couch.
“Now can we go to the park?”
★