Kori snorted a laugh. “Bran is not pretty enough for drag, so that would most definitely be all kinds of scary.” Well, maybe they could work with his face, but the rest of him, not so much. Not that he would ever let any of them manipulate him into a dress or makeup. Unless it was Mari. He still hadn’t mastered how to avoid the dress-up thing with her, which was kind of cute when she thought about it. “And we’d have Mari tell him he had to wear it.”
Okay, so maybe there had been so giggling on both their parts, but she wasn’t going to give Leah the satisfaction of knowing that her mental image was that close to reality. “I’m so glad we’re funny to you,” she said instead, her tone affectionately dry, if that was even a thing. She didn’t sound annoyed, so at least she knew it wouldn’t start something with Leah. Not that they’d been prone to that lately. Things had been good for a while now, even given how Kori had behaved through her mourning.
She’d forgotten about Infected Awareness for a minute. But now that Leah had mentioned it again, it would be the perfect opportunity. “And making sure I have Regan on board first, so I have more allies in getting Bran to do it.” Because she knew that Leah would be on her side, but getting Regan too would just add to it. That meant actually speaking to Regan though, which was something she hadn’t done very much of.
It was probably a childish case of avoidance, but she didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t bring up everything she was working so hard to move past and heal from.
Kori swallowed her laughter at Leah’s correction. “If the rest of us are lucky she’ll do something charming and ridiculous, like ask the two of you to wear crowns or something,” she mused. It was cute how much Mari liked celebrating birthdays, and Kori was thankful and grateful for every day that the rest of them had with her, as sentimental as it was. “Or birthday sashes.” Now she was just getting some enjoyment out of the possibilities.
“Oh yes, soooooo oooooooold,” she drew out the words and crossed her eyes for effect. “We’ll be fitting the both of you for your canes in the next few years.” Whether or not Leah was being serious about the ugliest present thing Kori couldn’t really be sure, but she might give Kaija a warning, just in case.
Settling her features back into a normal expression, she got a little serious. “It’s a good thing you don’t mind surprise baby showers,” she stated. “I wouldn’t want to be receiving an ugly present on my next birthday.”