in every universe (one shot-s) | JENLISA

like mother like daughter (s)

Finally. Silence.

Lisa feels it. She knows that she is just about to settle into a groove that she hopes sparks some good material. With two kids who have recently taken up the hobby of screaming for seemingly no reason (as adorable as it is in theory, it's loud as fuck), it has become a bit of a chore for Lisa to find peace, but she manages to squeeze in time here and there between her occasional venture into the studio and her attempts to work from home.

As for the work itself, it's easy enough to settle into the rhythm of the song she had been working on for a friend. Mostly as a favor, but with the possibility of invaluable exposure and some money

(And it honestly still takes some getting used to, calling some of the most famous musicians in the world her 'friends', but it's something that Lisa will never take for granted.)

"Manoban!"

The voice rings sharp and clear even though Lisa's expensive noise-cancelling headphones. Not that she would ever call Jennie's voice noise—

"Lisa! Can you come here, please?"

Now that she is listening more intently, Lisa picks up on the nuances of Jennie's voices: it is a specific kind of strained and tense. Strained enough that she flings her headphones off all the way and dutifully puts on her most innocent face before dashing out of their study.

"Jen?" she calls tentatively.

"Kitchen!"

Lisa enters the kitchen to see the foreboding sight of Jennie standing with her arms crossed. There isn't anything immediately amiss and Lisa can't recall if she missed a specific anniversary, so her eyes begin to dart around the kitchen for some clues. She spots groceries and other half-chopped vegetables scattered across their kitchen counter. "Need help with dinner?" she offers, already reaching for the cutting board filled with carrots and onions. She feels a little bad—they usually trade off cooking over the course of a week, but Lisa had been feeling under the weather recently.

Jennie shakes her head. "We need to talk."

Lisa gulps, feeling a sharp spike of fear and uncertainty rush through her at those words. "We do?" she asks quietly.

Jennie softens, catching on to Lisa's unease and discomfort. "It's... well. I don't want to say it's not bad because it isn't, not really." Jennie sighs and rushes out, "But you just..."

Lisa waits, eyebrow raised at the brunette's uncharacteristic pause. "What?" she prompts, more curious now.

"You need to tone down your flirting in front of the kids," Jennie blurts out.

It is honestly the last thing Lisa expects her to say; it is so unexpected that she starts laughing at the sheer relief she feels. She and Jennie are as strong as ever, with two beautiful children to call their own, but every once in a while, Lisa's old insecurities flare up. She is just so relieved that she and Jennie can even have these moments and she treasures all these moments immeasurably.

"It's not funny," the brunette says sharply. "You need to knock it off. Or tone it down until they're not in earshot."

Catching on to exactly how not serious this all is, Lisa feels playfulness rush through her in place of the sinking feeling she previously felt in her gut. "Oh? You think I should stop flirting," she clarifies.

"Yes, Lisa," Jennie says with no small measure of exasperation. "You—"

"It's good for them to see that we like each other," Lisa points out. She finally closes the distance and places her hands on Jennie's hips. "We like each other a lot."

Jennie's stance softens even further and her forehead relaxes before Lisa's eyes. She sighs, reaching out to push gently at the taller's shoulders even as her face tilts closer to Lisa so that their breath begins to mingle. "Yes. I like you and I love you, you absolute dork. But—"

"No buts," Lisa says quickly. She's going to concede anyway if this is something that Jennie feels strongly about, but not before she slips her hand around to the brunette's jean-clad ass, patting at the seat of her pants playfully and getting a good squeeze in. "Maybe just this one," she says with emphasis and a grin.

Jennie blushes. "Shut up," she murmurs with no bite at all. "That's—"

Lisa will never know the rest of Jennie's sentence. At that moment, a clatter rings out from the adjacent living room and the patter of feet interrupts them loudly. Ella and Ruby squeal, Ella darting into the kitchen with Ruby wobbling after her carefully.

It's an adorable sight if Lisa's being honest. She loves how Ruby wants to copy literally everything her older sister does and Ella, like the dutiful older sister she is, happily provides endless opportunities for Ruby to follow in her footsteps of being a hellion.

It's cute until Ella opens her mouth, usually taking after Lisa and Jennie's occasional colorful language (Lisa mostly—obviously).

And as if professionally prepared to throw a wrench into Lisa's innocent act—"Dat ass!" Ella screams, running right up to Jennie and smacking her square on the butt, right where Lisa's hand isn't already covering. She giggles and runs off before she can process exactly what just happened. Ruby follows belatedly, smacking at Jennie's leg as best as she can before babbling in what Lisa assumes to be an imitation of Ella's choice of words. She then giggles and lifts her arms towards them in a request to be carried.

Jennie sighs and pushes Lisa away gently, but not before she raises her eyebrow at her pointedly. Swooping down and reverting into mom mode, Jennie gasps excitedly at their daughter and picks her up. Ruby, Lisa notes, looks absolutely delighted to have followed in her sister's (and Jennie's, she supposes) footsteps.

A quick glance back at Jennie tells Lisa that she's not quite off the hook. From Jennie's expression, she quickly figures out that this must not be the first time. She is thankful that Ruby hasn't quite mastered Jennie's very specific look—it is somehow expectation and disappointment all rolled into one. Lisa isn't really sure what she'll do when she has two sets of the same shade of brown fixated on her with the same intensity. For now, Ruby just peers at her happily, stuffing her hand in her mouth and leaning her head affectionately against Jennie's shoulder.

"Yeah, okay," Lisa says quickly when Jennie continues to fix her with a glare. It's so much easier to stare right at Ruby who has no idea what's going on. Bless her. "I totally understand."

"I'm so glad we had this chat."