New Traditions
Characters; Clio and Garvin. Chile/Kyle, Anna, Ingall, Revan, Nico, Akira, and Bail mentioned.
Prompt; No real prompt, just decided to do something Valentine's themed haha.
Word Count; 3.1K
TWs; I… Honestly don’t know if there are any this time. I mean, I guess past character death? That’s about it though, I’m pretty sure.
This one takes place a week before Valentine’s. I might do one that takes place on Valentine’s too but we’ll see.
Not sure if this is canon or not, since if it is it’s in the ~future~
*~*~*~*
Over the years, Clio had had many different opinions about Valentine’s day. She figured that when she was young, young enough that her parents and brother were all still around, that they had celebrated it together, like a lot of families with young children did. Like some of her fleeting memories of that time suggested they would. She also knew that her older brother, after the death of their parents, hadn’t celebrated on the day of the actual holiday. They had always celebrated the week before, when prices were lower and it was more feasible for them to do so. Those years weren’t as clear as she’d like them to be though, she’d been sick most of the time. Courtesy of her abilities forming, not that either of them had known that back then. But she knew enough, knew that he’d buy as much chocolate as he knew they could afford with the future in mind and they’d spend the day together, him reading her stories or (if she felt well enough for it) going to the near abandoned park and simply strolling, talking. After Kyle died and she had ended up staying with one of his friends, Valentine’s was less celebrated. She hadn’t been very open to celebrating it without her big brother, she hadn’t enjoyed it. The couple she’d been staying with didn’t do what she and Kyle had always done. It had been different, and despite how nice they were, things had always seemed strained. Up until her sickness had just seemed to disappear and in its place came her abilities. Clio couldn’t quite blame them anyways, there had been times where things were strained between her and Chile.
-
Anna’s letter to her asking for help, and everything that had happened when she got there… That year’s Valentine’s hadn’t even been glanced at for the most part, there’d been too much going on. But maybe that was part of what had led to this.
---
Clio had woken up that morning without the upcoming holiday on her mind at all. It was just another day, and really there was still a week before the day of the holiday anyways, so there wasn’t any actual reason for it to be on her mind either. It was early when she’d woken up, and sneaking around a large apartment had almost become second nature. She hadn’t really expected anyone to be up, but she hadn’t been able to fall back asleep and she knew that Ingall and Revan had been filling up the bookshelves recently. She had figured she could read a bit before everyone woke up.
-
So, walking to a bookshelf only to hear someone clear their throat was just a bit… Terrifying? For a split second she tried to figure out who it could be that wouldn’t mean someone had broken in. Ingall had managed to get Revan to sleep last night, on the premise of everyone having to sleep in order to get another chapter read and Nico using their well known puppy dog eyes as the final blow. Ingall wouldn’t be up yet, even if he’d woken up, he’d be waiting for the correct time to start his day. Akira only woke up when food was mentioned or nearby, otherwise they could sleep through anything. Which left Garvin, and… He probably should’ve been her first guess. Vinny was up early most days, after all. Still, she hadn’t guessed him until she had already turned around to see him sitting on the couch.
-
He was smiling, as if he hadn’t known she was up from the moment she closed her door behind her. If anyone was better at sneaking around and keeping track of where people were, it was Garvin and Akira. Maybe Nico, if they used his ability to help her with that for once. Still, she smiled back innocently, like it wasn’t 3 AM. Like they both shouldn’t just be asleep.
-
“What’re you up to, Leo?”
-
Somehow, she hadn’t been expecting him to say anything and she half-snorted in response at first. Then, she relaxed a bit and walked over to the couch, sitting down as she spoke. “I couldn’t sleep, so I was thinking about reading a bit. You?”
-
The smile she was staring at shifted, dropping into a grin. Garvin’s grin. The one he used when he didn’t want to be read. His tone was relaxed, easy, giving her nothing. “Eh, ‘bout the same as you.”
-
Clio nodded, looking for anything that would let her read him. He’d always been difficult to read, stubborn to no end. But he wasn’t wearing the trench coat and he wasn’t wearing his boots. So he wasn’t about to get up and leave anytime soon, at least. She really didn’t want to lose someone else that she considered family. She leaned back into the cushions of the couch and finally responded, “I figure that reading wasn’t part of what you were doing though? I mean, I don’t see any books in your hands, Garvin.” Using his name was odd, he used nicknames for everyone, almost everyone used nicknames for him. But she needed something to help read him, and he wasn’t giving her any good hints.
-
He didn’t react to his name though, just giving a breathy huff of a laugh and smiling. So she relaxed, and he rolled his eyes. “Nah, I was just thinking ‘bout somethin’, Columba.“ And his grin shifted, just a bit, just enough.
-
She made a show of sighing dramatically, shaking her head. “Oh no, and just what were you thinking about?”
-
Garvin smirked, and she already knew that it was too late to just go back to sleep. “Prices ‘ave been rather low the last few days…”
---
She’d agreed to his idea, of course. And the two of them had snuck out of the apartment together, a wide grin on both their faces. Really, it was mostly nice to see him this excited for something. Clio kind of understood, but for the most part… It was one of those things that made sense to Garvin, and maybe Akira, most.
-
They’d reached their destination easily though, stepping into the store on the other side of the city, on account of Garvin making a point of how it was better to go to a farther one than a close one, with the sun already having raised over the horizon a bit due to the walk. Which meant that at least Ingall would’ve already gotten up. Clio had left a note for them, of course, letting them know that the two had gone out to do something. She had left out just what it was, just to make sure Revan didn’t end up coming out here to stop them.
-
Still, Clio followed Garvin to the first aisle decked out with red and pink, one of the store’s small baskets in her hand, the colors serving as the first reminder that Valentine’s was coming up. She’d almost stopped there, noticing how familiar this was. But she didn’t, because the ginger leading the way looked back down at her. “You wanna make this a game?”
-
She raised an eyebrow towards him, already grinning, “I guess that would depend on the game.”
-
He grinned right back, “Oh, ya know, jus’ if either of us see the other grab somethin’, it has to be put back up.”
-
Clio tried not to laugh, there was no chance she’d be winning but, well. One could always try? “You’re on, Vinny.”
-
And with that, the two had started going through the aisles, fitting as much of the chocolate options into the basket as they possibly could, Clio trying to sneak more into her sweater pockets at every chance she had, and only succeeding about half the time she tried. To her credit, she had caught Garvin once or twice too. Which was honestly better than what she’d been expecting. She had the distinct feeling that she’d missed a lot though, so it probably evened out. Along with the chocolate, at some point they had started adding small stuffed animals into the basket as well.
-
A few times, Clio wondered how much of it was going to be given to the ones they’d left at the apartment. She figured most of it would, given Garvin’s relationship with them and that it was Valentine stuff.
-
When they’d gone through each aisle covered in the holiday’s colors, Garvin stopped and looked over at her, still smiling as though this was one of his greatest ideas. “Ya think we got enough stuff, Dove?”
-
She looked at the basket, at the amount of chocolate and stuffed animals within it, and shifted a few so that they wouldn’t fall out. She grinned, “Well, I don’t think we can fit anything else at least.”
-
He nodded, slow and steady with a slight hum. She waited, looking over the basket and tried not to think too much about how similar this was to the few times Kyle would take her with him on the chocolate run. She didn’t have long anyways, since Garvin nodded again, more to himself than her before grinning towards her.
-
“Alright. I’ma need you to hand over what you got in your pockets, an’ I’m gonna give you Revs’ card.”
-
“You stole Revans’ card?” Truthfully, she probably should’ve expected that. Garvin would’ve told her to put away the basket if he hadn’t. Still, she hadn’t seen him even go near it while they were getting ready to leave… Which, that was probably something else she should be asking. “When did you even grab it?”
-
He laughed, just slightly, just a bit. As if he knew her surprise was unwarranted. He probably did. Still, she watched him roll his eyes before answering. “‘Course I grabbed Specs’ card. I did that ‘fore you were even up, Columba.”
-
She was tempted to ask him just how long he’d been planning this then, if he had already stolen the card before she was even awake. Instead, Clio figured she could ask later. For now, she reached into her pockets to hand over what she had managed to grab without Garvin catching her and took Revans’ card when it was offered to her. For now, she looked at the black vines inked around his knuckles as she took the card and grinned. “So, what’s the plan?”
---
The plan ended up involving her using Revans’ card to pay for everything in the basket while Garvin did what he did best. Mostly, Clio was just glad that he had a meeting spot already figured out for them. And that there weren’t any long lines yet, given how early it still was. Which also meant that there was a chance that they’d get back to the apartment before anyone actually started to worry. One could hope, at least.
-
Setting the basket down and beginning the self checkout process was simple enough, a repetitive motion of scanning and bagging each item. It didn’t take too long, luckily, even with all the stuff they’d grabbed. Which meant it didn’t take long to use Revans’ card either.
-
She wasn’t too sure just where Garvin was by the time she left the store, bags in arms and glancing around to make sure she knew where she was. For the most part, she did. Or, at the very least, she knew enough to know how to get to the meeting place. Which was supposed to be right outside Bails’ pawn shop. Clio was fairly certain that Bail wasn’t actually his name but it was what he introduced himself as when she met him and it was what Garvin called him. Which… That was sort of a tell that it wasn’t actually his name anyways. Not like it mattered much, it was the only name she knew him by.
-
Either way, she started on her path to his pawn shop and hoped that Garvin would get there fine. Though, she didn’t worry too much. After everything, she doubted that he couldn’t handle whatever trouble this outing caused him.
-
The walk was a little long, Clio wouldn’t lie about that. It made sense, of course. Still though, just like with the distance from the apartment to the store they had gone to, she didn’t quite understand why they had to be so far apart. Well, she did. They were less likely to be caught or found or anything along those lines. But she also doubted that they needed to be this far apart. Couldn’t a few blocks be good enough? Just this once? She ended up needing to take a few breaks on her way there, put simply. Which she tried to blame solely on the fact that she was having to carry bags too.
-
She managed to reach the pawn shop anyways, speeding up a bit as soon as it was in view. She was definitely going to have Garvin carry some of the bags. There was no way she was going to be the only one carrying bags on the way back to the apartment.
-
Clio was almost there when she spotted Garvin already there, leaning up against the side of the building. And, of course, a few seconds after that, it was obvious that he’d seen her too. She picked up her pace a bit more, watching as he pushed off the wall to meet her halfway.
-
She smiled to match his grin, “How’d you get here before me? Did you run the whole way?”
-
He laughed a bit at that, which was honestly expected. “I didn’t run that much, Leo.” His grin shifted, and as he glanced away she tried to follow his gaze before he looked back. “I jus’ know some shortcuts.”
-
Rolling her eyes, Clio looked at him for a moment. “Right, okay. You still have everything?”
-
Garvin raised an eyebrow, a hand going up to his chest as if she had wounded him by just asking, his bright grinning smirk betraying the idea. “Really, Columba? You think I’d lose anythin’ to a small chase? That was my idea? After everythin’? An’ here I was, thinking you trusted me.” Was everyone in her family dramatic?
-
Not that Garvin was part of her family, of course! He wasn’t. Not actually. Sure, he was like family to her, but he wasn’t actually family. And it also wasn’t like she could even bring any of it up to him anyways. She was pretty sure he’d actually run off if she did.
-
Still, Clio shook her head at him. “No, no, I do trust you. Just figured I’d ask.” She paused, and then held out a bag to him. “Though, since this all was your idea, you can help carry the bags. I am not walking all the way back and being the only one with the bags.”
-
He held his hands up in mock surrender before taking the offered bags, “Yeah, yeah, sure, I can help.”
-
She nodded, and then shifted a bit. “How long had you been planning this anyways? You know, since you mentioned having grabbed Revans’ card before I was even awake earlier.”
-
His grin wasn’t very promising, and neither was him pushing her to start walking, but he did answer. “Eh, just a few days, Dove.”
---
It took longer than she would like to admit for her to realize that they’d stopped heading towards the apartment. To be fair though, the two had been talking. And any conversation with Garvin could end up being distracting. It was even something he’d proudly brought up in the past before.
-
Clio still thought that maybe she should’ve been able to notice that sooner. She stopped walking when she did, at least, causing Garvin to stop too to look at her.
-
“You good, Leo?”
-
She stared at him, unsure if maybe he hadn’t noticed either, “Where are we going, Vin? I don’t think the apartment is this way.”
-
He didn’t look around as if they were lost though, instead shrugging as he spoke. Almost slowly, like he’d been counting on her not noticing, “There’s this spot nearby, is all. But we can go an’ head back if ya want.”
-
She weighed her options for a moment, and then smiled. “How about we go and grab everyone else first?”
---
That ended up being exactly what they did. They’d gone back to the apartment and Garvin had cut right through the lectures Revan had started to give them. And from there it wasn’t hard to drag everyone out. They’d managed to convince Ingall to bring along a book even.
-
The spot turned out to be a nice clearing in the nearby forest, with wildflowers already peeking out with the start of spring. Garvin claimed that she had found it while they were out, and Clio let him have that lie. If only because she was fairly certain that no one was in the mood for that sort of confrontation.
-
And just spending time with all of them out in nature, with Ingall reading that promised chapter, chocolate being passed around, and conversation drifting between each of them… Clio saw the similarities, and the differences, and decided that maybe she could get used to it. It wasn’t the same as what she and Kyle did, it wasn’t the same as what her parents did, but it was similar. And it was different. And that was nice. It meant they couldn’t just replace what she had lost. It meant that things, both good and bad, could change, would change, and had changed. It meant that things were starting to look up for them all, after everything that they’d had to deal with. And, well…
-
She wouldn’t have it any other way either. Not if it meant there’d be a chance she wouldn’t have met those around her at that moment. They were all just as much her family as her parents and older brother. Even if she couldn’t tell them that, it was still true. And, well, maybe someday she could. When she wasn’t so sure that it’d cause almost all of them to leave in a panic. She just hoped that day actually comes. All of them were stubborn in how they thought, but she could always hope. And sometimes, if not most of the time, it was the best she had that she could do.
-
Settling back where she was sitting, listening to Ingall read, she was content enough as she was anyways to worry too much about the future. As long as this could become a new tradition of hers, she was fine letting it all go for now.
Spring 
Night Weather: 
Clear Moon: 
