An outdoor sleepover with a mute necromancer.

Linking minds and sharing dreams with an infuriatingly enigmatic comatose Phoenix.

Chauffeured home by a cowgirl, convention-hosting internet star whilst also being proposed first-class V.I.P access to the aforementioned convention.

Reprimanded by an irate detective Succubus at my own home for inviting another internet star as a temporary tenant/entertainment and not bothering to keep a closer eye on him and his antics.

Inquired by my very own Elf-Knight so brazenly and achingly awkwardly as to whether or not I desire the loving affection of the opposite sex.

Show literally anybody else this topsy-turvy chain of events, and you'll earn yourself a sympathizer, patting you comfortingly on the back as they go with a tender smile, "Crazy week, huh?"

Week?

Didn't even get a chance to chew on some morning toast yet...

Pretty sure I just lived an entire month's worth of activities in the span of a single morning.

From doing absolutely jack shit for the whole damn week, to living an entire lifetime in a matter of hours...

Well, I can't really stand on a high pedestal and whine away 'woe, is me,' this time - I pretty much begged for this, after all.

And I'm sure that come a few hours later, I'll be down on my knees, begging again once more.

By the time nine o'clock came and went, things went back to our regular schedule boring forecast.

Ash didn't stay for long... after a change of clothes, and her hair damp and moist - she knocked on my door and proclaimed she needed to go out.

"Again?" I looked at the time on my phone, my jaw slack and wide. "So soon?"

She walked over, breakfast in a silver tray, and placed the fine-smelling cuisine down atop my lap.

"She insists I must."

"How? She ain't even here."

"I... am unsure how," Ash said, pulling back a lock of hair sticking to her face. "I just know that she does."

And with that statement bordering the cryptic and the foreboding, off she went... never to be heard again, 'least not till evening.

Two things came to mind watching her go.

One: Sera and I are gonna need to have a talk about whose Knight is whose. Feels as if she's already got her part of the deal while I ended up with the short end of the stick. That's gonna need some rectifying.

Two: I seriously gotta get Ash that phone...

Speaking of phones, I was back to swiping and refreshing - my newsfeed once again coming up empty.

More theories about the Sludge. A fundraiser for victims most affected... and that's it.

Jay continues on his streak of dead silence.

So... what now? Ash has taken care of breakfast, giving Adalia the chance to sleep in till late afternoon - and the rowdy rough entertainment machine has worn himself down to the bone, and was now snoring blissfully away in the guestroom as well.

Welp, can never go wrong watching random videos over breakfast in bed, and I know just what to watch.

Saw a pretty interesting video on my feed. Some guy decided to stay in a random stranger's home for twenty-four hours.

Should be a nice way to kill ten minutes.

Pressed play, watched three minutes through, paused, and tried to not fling my phone to the wall.

The second-hand embarrassment I got was worse than any of Irene's training. Thought maybe I can get some solace in the comment section - yes, I am a fool... I know.

For what it's worth, it was still a rather pretty entertaining read. Reading outsiders' comments on my daily was... enlightening to put it one way.

Everyone had something to say about everything... everything except for me that is.

One side, you got people gushing over the quiet timid little lady on the couch. On the other, voices aplenty stood by the irresistible allure of Amanda.

Scrolling even deeper unearthed a dedicated following for the white-haired Elf-looking girl that appeared later in the video.

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If only you knew 'LordEdge420', if only you knew...

I got tossed to the curb - everybody was too busy preoccupied with arguing among themselves over who's best girl.

Which... sounds about right.

Hold it - wait, there was one comment regarding me...

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Oh, okay...

Sure.

My plate was left with only bits and crumbs, thought that'd be my cue to get up from my bed.

Then something unexpected happened which I should really start expecting more of to happen nowadays.

My phone went a-buzzing.

A text message from a contact name that I have not seen for ages too long.

Lil' Sis Sammy

This was a surprise.

I didn't even think, I just tapped. The video shrunk, and the message expanded...

Our chat history... wasn't exactly the most expansive.

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That was the first time we conversed after I left for the city, and it was still visible up there without me even lifting a finger to look for it.

Absolute nothing after that.

Until now.

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Four words after four months. Yeah, that's Samantha, alright.

Was bemused at first as to how she knew, and then not a moment after, an image popped up beneath her message, and all was made clear.

A screenshot of me grumpy-faced by my doorway... only one place she could have gotten that photo from.

I readied my thumbs.

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Got a reply back almost instantaneously.

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Proud of you, Sammy. Got a smile on my reply shooting a text back.

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Hasn't changed one bit, this girl... always the one to dig the knife deeper in with relish.

Not sure where she got her cruel streak from. Good guess and my only guess - I wager Mom.

Speaking of which...

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Her reply took a while... a full minute. I counted. When it did indeed come, it came rapid-fire.

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From what I can surmise reading her words, things back home had somewhat mellowed out.

But just to be sure...

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Two minutes this time.

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She knew what I meant by that, and I think I know what she meant by that.

We definitely both had the same thing on the mind. But whereas I would want nothing more but to address it, Samatha just flat out doesn't want to talk about it.

It was like this unspeakable cursed taboo, a deep-rooted family secret that no one is to ever mention.

Mom already said, Sammy wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

Needed to respect that. I'll keep to my boundaries.

Shame though, from what Mom said before, sounds like she's been through an adventure of her own trying to tame her own abilities.

Would have loved to hear that story. Unfortunately, my questions had to be relegated to the more vanilla side of life.

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Her replies went back to being instantaneous.

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I obliged.

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Got my nerves steeled and hammered, my defenses fortified to their firmest. Words of sticks and stones can never possibly hurt me now.

But I didn't get words next... Sammy sent more screenshots. Each from a different portion of the video.

I blinked, suddenly finding myself staring at three different faces on my phone screen.

Adalia, Amanda and Ash looked back at me from the display.

> Sammy wrote.

I feigned confusion, >

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My thumbs were practically moving on their own now, >

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Owie... that hurtie. I'm telling mommy.

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I muttered as I wrote, >

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Got just the perfect comeback for that, but like I said - boundaries. I let her have it.

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What the hell does that even mean?

> She continued to type out. >

I started to type... then stopped. Come to think of it, I wanted some outside perspective, didn't I? What's a better change than now.

Erased my sentence whole, and started a brand new one.

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Instant reply. >

I smirked, typed, >

Can't believe I'm actually asking my sister just who among my companions she ships me more with - this was like the most convoluted version of 'She loves me, she loves me not'... guess the morning wasn't done continuing to baffle me...

Why don't I just start picking on petals instead?

Three minutes, nothing. Four minutes, still nothing. At five, I was beginning to get concern. How much thought is she really putting into this?

My display flickered off remaining on idle for so long... but just as I was about to shoot another text disregarding the whole thing, Sammy finally replied.

Photo again.

The last few seconds of the video - midnight at the park. I know that scene there, I lived that scene. Tyler was filming me go, disappearing into the night amongst the trees and bushes. I remembered seeing the last of them before the foliage shrouded them completely - I remembered seeing Ash, the look of worry on her face.

This was another angle of that night of that moment, of that expression.

The way she stared, the tenderness in her gaze... her hand on her chest, clutched into a fist. It was just a photo, a single static image... but somehow it just resonated deeply with emotion. Her emotion.

That night, her face was showing with more that just worry...

> Sammy texted. >

Outsider perspective...

What a dangerous perspective...