"mike," she smiled widely, skipping over to him as he laid on his bed, his empty food tray on the table.
she shut the door with a kick and jumped on the bed, laying on her stomach as she kicked her legs back and forth happily. "missed me?"
he looked down, putting a hand on her head before stroking her hair gently. "i did, little devil. how have you been today?"
she groaned, rolling over before placing the back of her hand to her forehead. "ugh! the worst!" she bursted angrily with a cute huff. "they weighed me! then they gave me some stupid medicine!" she gagged and turned back to face him. "they're trying to make my friends go away!"
"darling, your puppies and sunshine kittens aren't real," he cupped her cheeks and smiled gently. "but i am,"
she huffed, slamming a fist down to his mattress. "they're real! the puppies and kittens were born outside! i see them during play time walks! they're just shy!"
"okay, little devil," he murmured, gently caressing her skin with a smile. "they're as real as i am," he tapped her nose and leaned forward to kiss her. "come, move closer,"
she crawled upwards and hugged him tightly with a pout as he kissed her forehead, caressing her back. "sad?"
she nodded twice, trying to bury as close as possible. "yes. so very sad. the evils are so loud, mike. they won't stop. i cant make them stop,"
he leaned down, gently caressing her face and her eyes closed in ease. "don't listen to them, el. listen to me,"
she shook her head. "i can't," her voice trembled and she bit down on her lip before lifting her head up a bit. "i just wanna leave this place..."
"we can't and you know that. they see us as criminals, el," he murmured, placing his forehead to hers. "sucks, doesn't it?"
she nodded and reached her hand up to place it over his cheek with a weak smile.
"besides, you really wanna leave here? you get to come over everyday," he smirked and one made it to el's lips too. "the place we met, right?"
he chuckled and nodded, the memory appearing in his mind as he placed his hands on her hips, pulling her up till she straddled him before he leaned in to capture her lips. "the place we met..." he whispered by her lips as her hands buried in his hair, eyes closing as she let herself drown in the moment.
"hm, i love you," he whispered and she instantly brightened, eyes twinkling. "i love you too," she tapped his nose twice before leaning her chin down to his shoulder to hug him.
the door barged open with a bang and a guard shouted at them. "hey! get off! time for checkup,"
el, without turning, raised her hand and gave the guard the middle finger with a grin, giving mike one last kiss. "see you later, alligator!" she grabbed his cheeks and squished him. "gotta run!"
"careful, devil," he whispered with a little mischievous grin when she almost fell jumping off the bed.
she turned, shushing him. "shh! i'm always careful!" she laughed loudly before skipping out of the room, making a face at the guard on the way.
"see you later, my little devil," he called after her as she turned and she instantly rushed back to peek her head in.
"see you!" she exclaimed happily and he couldn't help but smile at how adorable she looked in her hospital gown and socks.
✿
el stared down at the sleeping pup in her arms, gently cradling jello as she kissed her on the nose.
okay, she has opened up to the food names.
"is okay, bb," el whispered when the puppy began to shudder in her sleep, whimpering and shaking.
el pulled her up higher. "it's okay, darling. it's okay," el whispered as jello jolted awake, barking and whimpering as she looked around.
"hey baby girl, it's okay. i'm right here. all the evil gone! i made them go away!" she covered her eyes and then uncovered it like a peekaboo.
jello stood on all fours and then barked, running off to find her sisters as el stood and picked up her phone.
el: hello!!!
el: mike!!
el: mike???
el: mike!!!!! i won't stop till u respond
el: pls do :(
el: u make me sad
el: PLEASE
mike: please stop. i'm doing something important.
el: :(
mike: what do you want
el: wanna talk to u. let's meet!!! i miss u
mike: please fucking stop
el: ok i'll stalk u then. i'll find u bb! u hold on!!!
mike: what the fuck
el dropped her phone and picked up three leashes before whistling happily. "my chipettes! let's go on a walk!"
they barked happily, jumping up and down and that instantly made el smile. "i'm so happy you guys are! come, put the leash on,"
el watched as they circled her feet, itching to be scratched as she placed the colour coordinated collars on them. "good babies! good good good!"
she held the leashes in one hand before she moved to the door to unlock it, pausing when she remembered to let dante know.
see, she wasn't very interested in what dante did for a living.
pretty sure he mentioned it before but el didn't really care.
it was probably something along the lines of owning a business but she'd never know.
she's too focused in her own world sometimes.
with scribbly writing, she noted down a clear and informative message.
doggie woof walk.
and she made sure to add several doodles next to it that included knifes, dogs that looked more like a camel and then some hearts.
"off we go!" el dragged the dogs out and shut the door before leading them into the elevator, brining them downstairs before she began to skip down the street.
she turned to the side to gaze them. "whoever needs a poopie or a pee pee, go now,"
they barked at her, jumping up and down as el gasped and pointed a finger. "banana! on the grass!"
she gave the best puppy eyes and el covered her face instantly as her heart melted. "oh my goodness! you're too adorable! please go quickly or else i would attack you in kisses!"
she unveiled her hands and then she smiled once more. "good babies. let's continue,"
they barked, one jumping, one circling and one trying to get el's attention by nudging her feet.
"hello, my darling espresso," she said before giggling at the name. "espresso... that's funny,"
the giggles that escaped made espresso's tail wag more and el bent to cup her cheeks and to give her the biggest rub. "you are so so loved. i need you to know that,"
the puppy stared right into her eyes and then licked her nose.
a laugh escaped el and she straightened up before continuing their walk.
"we gotta go find my boyfriend," el bent and tapped them on the nose one by one. "but he doesn't know that yet. me finding him and him being my boyfriend,"
the dogs barked as if they knew what she was saying and el nodded proudly. "that's right."
she looked down at her phone. "chicago is so tiny, little pups. i already found him! aren't i magical!?"
they barked loudly and el bounced up and down in excitement. "i'm magical! i'm magical!" she put the phone up to her ear and then hummed.
"yes, piccolo?" dante picked up and el instantly brightened up. "hi dante... i missed you,"
"you did? you never call me at this time of day. is something wrong?"
"nope! just wanted to say that i'm really happy. i'm with the doggies,"
"you are?" she could hear his smile through the phone. "they're good company, aren't they?"
"yes!" she squealed. "anyways... i left you a note back home but.... but... wanted to call you."
"where are you headed? need me to pick you up later?"
she shook her head even though he couldn't see. "i'm okay. i'm going to follow,"
"stalk him again? really, el? he's made it clear, i don't want you to hurt yourself," she heard someone call for him in the distance and el frowned a little.
"i won't. do you need to work?"
"you're more important to me than any business deal, el. be home by 6, im making dinner,"
she pulled the phone away and glared before blowing a raspberry. "you're not in charge of me!"
"yes, i am. because i'm your guardian, i'm your brother." he told her before answering someone on the other line. "so el, be home, please."
she paused before whispering. "okay... i will. but remember blaze doesn't want onions with his pasta,"
he paused too. "okay, el. i know."
she began to smile. "love youuu, byeee!" she hung up before putting her phone away.
"banana, jello, espresso, assemble!" she saluted and they all barked at their names in response, circling her feet for attention.
✿
"missed me!?" el jumped, in attempt to scare mike in the corner of the building. "look at my doggies!"
his eyes widened and he looked down. "you got fucking dogs?"
"no! dante got me them from the pound 'cuz they were gon' get killed if not. they had bad owners too," she pouted before looking down. "but now they're mine!"
he looked at her in utter confusion. "he got you dogs? after saying no to a raccoon, he gave you three ginormous dogs,"
"they're puppies!" she stomped a feet on the ground.
"they're huge,"
"but they're puppies! they're 5 months!" she exclaimed and followed him as he began to walk. "they were so sad and then i made them better! you can't even smell the sad anymore,"
"you can't smell sadne—"
"yes, you can! i can!" she exclaimed before huffing gently. "i wanted you to meet them..."
he paused in his footsteps, turning around to see the slight sadness appearing over her face. "what are their names?"
she instantly brightened up. "they're my chipettes! brittany, eleanor and jennette but dante calls them espresso, jello and banana." she giggled and then bent to give the puppies a pet.
"they're sisters. give them some love, mike," she whispered and he slowly bent and gave the three rottweilers a pet.
he smiled weakly. "cute."
"i know! they have the cutest looks in their eyes! the freaking eyes! look at them," el told him instantly and then pointed. "they had the sweetest, purest souls."
"yes," he murmured. "i can tell," he straightened up and el smiled happily before taking a step closer to him. "i have a proposal,"
his brows narrowed so she continued. "i propose you and me have an afternoon together with the puppies, because i want to help jog your memory. don't you wanna remember what happened all those years ago?"
"i do but it's irrelevant. i live in the present, not the past,"
she frowned, bottom lip quivering. "don't you want to know? how happy we were?"
he eyed her, looking at her closely as she looked up with glassy eyes.
"i won't deny i never thought—"
"okay good! let's start! mission get mikes memory back is in motion!" she grabbed onto his hand and dragged him across the street without looking.
"what the fuck! watch the cars!"
"watching!" she exclaimed and then looked down at the pups. "is okay, baby chipettes, this is a perfectly safe man,"
mike looked down and watched as one of them clawed on his thighs, begging to be held.
"you're huge,"
"they're not huge! i can easily hold them!" el bent and grabbed them but only managed to hold one and a half.
"see, they're huge," mike bent and managed to grab two. "and you're weak,"
"ha! now you held them, we have to hold them all the way to the restaurant!" el grabbed the remaining one which was jello and then giggled before she began to walk.
"did i just get tricked?" he asked, just as espresso licked his cheek.
he frowned but bit back a smile when the puppy stared right at him with sad and innocence in her eyes.
seeing el was a few steps forward, he whispered. "you guys are pretty pure," he placed a kiss on the top of their noses and their tails instantly began to wag.
✿
"okay so, how shall we jog the memory? oh! we should do things we used to so i don't tell you but you experience it again and so it'll link it to the old memories without me mentioning the old memories so then you can have your new memories and your old—"
"el," mike cut her off. "you're not making any fucking sense,"
"oh sorry," she whispered. "i think a little different," she quiet down before continuing. "basically we do it, i don't say it. saying it — as per my research through wiki, says it will make you make new memories. it'll make it worse. if we do it, it's the present and it'll make a connection, you know,"
he eyed her in confusion once again. "when i'm with you, all i get is confusion. you're like an alien from outer space,"
"you're the alien," she shot back with a huff. "i speak earth language,"
he couldn't help but let out a chuckle and he shook his head. "from the stories you've told me from the past," he looked down at his rolex and checked the time. "two hours... we met in a fucking mental hospital. what activities could we have done in a place like that?"
"i didn't tell you any stories!" she exclaimed and crossed her arms angrily. "i never mentioned it!"
"right, right," he nodded along. "all you said was," he cleared his throat and mimicked her. "we met at— oh, can't say that. your room was next to mine but then— oh, oops, cant say that either. but you did love to— wait, can't say that. um, we had friends, we have four— can i say that? that was you, el."
she gasped inaudibly, looking over at him wide eyed. "that was not— i was not— okay, fine. maybe... i just get excited and then i remember,"
she made several noises. "rewind, rewind! back to our little plan," she beeped and then tapped banana on the nose. "beep boop. okay, so... um," she tapped her chin. "i got it! where's your house?"
he chocked on his spit. "excuse me?"
she blinked innocently. "your house? i mean, our activities were all in a little room. it was mostly of us watching movies and making trouble." she explained like it made perfect sense.
"you're not entering my home."
"i said house, not home,"
"what the fuck difference is there?"
"home is a feeling. safe spot. house is where you live," she explained. "i have a house but no home. do you have a home, house or both?"
"um, both? bottom line, you're not entering. it's my space." he told her firmly and she pouted sadly, looking down at the puppies laid on the ground that was begging to be sat on the booth.
"stop making that sad face,"
"i can't control it! i just get sad!" she exclaimed before continuing to give them some rubs. "oh! you can come to my house! i'm sure dante wouldn't mind,"
"your house?"
she nodded. "that's what i said. stop repeating my words," she rolled her eyes dramatically and then blew a raspberry. "it's settle. we will leave..." she looked down. "now,"
he looked over and pointed at her plate of food. "you haven't finished your food,"
she looked down and tilted her head. "what food?"
he pointed directly at it, touching it even.
"i don't see food, i didn't order any," she stood up and then gently tugged the leash to tell them that they were leaving. "good girls," el murmured and walked out as mike watched her.
"so i'm paying the fucking bill?"
"i'll pay you back soon!"
a irritated sigh escaped his lips and he rolled his eyes before standing, going to the cashier to pay for their meal.