InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Damn the man, save the Empire."

Gael Cardenas (shorething) wrote in heureuxlake,
@ 2024-05-24 12:37:00

Entry tags:

Δ complete, Δ threads, → gael cardenas, → serafina cardenas, ∞ 2000: 05

RP: Selkie Siblings
Who: Serafina & Gael Cardenas.
What: Talking about boys. Potentially being called an idiot.
When: Friday 24th May, afternoon.
Where: Cardenas garden.
Warnings: None yet.
Completion Status: Complete.

For the third or fourth time since breakfast, Gael's fingers strayed towards his phone, only for him to redirect towards the folder of recipes he'd collected during the summer before college. Usually, after a big party like last night, he'd have been relishing the peace and quiet of a day to himself. Even puttering vaguely around the archive would've been a pleasant enough way to refuel. He tried to tell himself it was the lack of alcohol, or that despite the crowds he'd mostly stuck to one-on-one conversations, but he wasn't really very convincing. Whatever (whoever) the reason, energy bubbled under the surface, needing somewhere to go. Neither the phone nor the folder of recipes really seemed like the right outlet, if only because both made Gael feel more like a 16-year-old than the supposedly more mature 24 years he'd actually attained. Remembering what he'd talked about with Astrid, Gael decided to take full advantage of being home and squeeze in a swim before he had to return to the lighthouse.

Rather than head upstairs for his sealskin, he just grabbed the pair of swimming trunks he kept in his work bag and changed in the downstairs bathroom. The weather was pleasant, sun just enough to warm Gael's chest as he stepped outside, deliberately leaving his phone on the kitchen counter. Maybe if he didn't take it back to work with him, he'd be more able to focus on literally anything else. He was about to head down to the lake when he heard what was definitely a human murmur coming from behind the big bush that absorbed most of the garden's sunlight. "Mama?" He peeped around the border and found not Maria Cardenas, but Sefie, either asleep or very close to it stretched out on a sunlounger.

He'd have left her to it, except that his call must've roused her, because she turned her face towards him and blinked her eyes open. "Sorry," he offered, grinning. "I didn't know it was you or I'd have let you sleep." As promised, Sefie had definitely been a little worse for wear when Gael had driven her home last night, she probably needed the rest.

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sera_fina
2024-05-24 01:57 pm UTC (link)

Serafina had absolutely loved Ram's party, but given she had to be up to get the early train into the city for a study session she had maybe loved the cocktails a little too much. And the decision not to take any opportunity to duck out early. Her morning had been characterised by a large coffee and difficulty focussing on exactly which language she should be using when the answer wasn't English. Then she had decided that all plans for using the library in the afternoon should go and instead she took the train back home, calling at one of the cafes downtown for takeout lunch.

Lunch had been lovely and her decision to sit and revise in the sun seemed like an excellent one. She had ditched her dress in favour of an oversized t-shirt that slipped off her shoulder regularly and a blanket in case she got cold. She decanted herself and her papers to the sun trap by the bush, using the lounger that often resided there. And then had promptly started to drift in and out of a doze for the next hour or more. Eventually the pull of sleep was too much. Her legs and feet had been curled under the blanket for a while and she eventually let herself drift off, the book she had been holding thudding slightly over the edge of the lounger. The murmur of protest she made was vague.

The voice however startled her back awake and she blinked blearily as Gael came around the corner. She gave a complaining half growl in her throat, nothing like a wolf might give, just a slightly grumpy Selkie in human form. She forced her drooping eyes to open a bit more and eyed him. "Thanks for the lift home. Pretty sure I didn't say that." Then she stretched in a very non posed way, trying to rouse herself and pulling weird faces in the process.

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shorething
2024-05-24 03:10 pm UTC (link)

Gael waved away the thanks, coming the rest of the way around the corner and spotting Sefie's dropped book. "You're welcome. Just don't get too used to the chauffeur service, I may actually want to drink at the next one." Maybe not, considering how well the not drinking had gone, because Gael really wouldn't have changed a minute of it. He picked up the book, perching on the bit of the sunlounger that Sefie's legs weren't currently occupying and holding it in his lap to give back to her before he left.

Despite her sleepiness, he didn't want to go. He needed to tell someone, and his options were pretty limited. "I, uh." He stopped, not sure just blurting out 'I have a date' was the best plan. Especially when last Sefie had heard, she was still waiting for Gael to move on to anger at Marcos. This was a bit more 'moving on' than she might be prepared for. "Actually, I have thanks to pass on to you too, for encouraging me to go."