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The next day, Zane was the first one awake of the core team. This didn’t surprise them, as they were never much of a heavy sleeper. However, as soon as their feet hit the floorboards, they realized they were running off of second winds. They were still mentally tired, but somehow they seemed to have more physical energy than usual.
“Maybe I should make breakfast for everyone.”
They tiptoed out of the spare bedroom and into the kitchen. As they opened the fridge to see what was on offer, an arm reached into the back of the fridge to grab a grape flavored glucose solution.
“Nya?” They whispered as they shut the fridge. “If you’re not feeling well, I could have grabbed that for you.”
“It’s fine.”
She shot the drink back and pulled her phone out of her hoodie’s pocket.
“It worked. Perfect.”
“Hypo?”
“Yeah… I was sleeping just fine until that, too.”
“Bummer.”
She threw the drink away, only to be greeted by a beeping from her phone.
“Fuck. My OmniPod expires in an hour.”
“On it.”
Zane pulled out a vial of insulin from the fridge as Nya looked through one of the drawers. In her hands lay all of the essential supplies: the new OmniPod, a vial for the insulin, and a couple of alcohol swabs to clean both the old site and the new site.
“I’ve been using my arms a lot. …let me try putting it on my outer thigh this time.”
Her PDM beeped, prompting her to rip off the old device. Zane loaded the vial with about 100 units of insulin, just in case 80 didn’t cut it.
“Thanks, honey. Ok, it’s ready.”
Nya moved to sit on the counter and rolled up her shorts, allowing Zane to easily access the spot on her outer thigh. As they placed the OmniPod, she squeezed her thigh.
“It doesn’t hurt as much when I do this.”
“Does the old site itch?”
“Mildly, but the alcohol swab helped a lot.”
The pod clicked into place, and Nya jumped down from the counter.
“How many days do you have left on your DexCom, Zane?”
“6.”
“Ok. Just thought I’d ask.”
Zane nodded and opened the fridge again to put the insulin vial away. As they did, they found 2 cans of cinnamon rolls and a package of turkey bacon.
“How about this for breakfast?”
“Ugh, I’ve been craving those cinnamon rolls since last night. That should have been a sign.”
They both chuckled, but decided that would be the best course of action. Zane pre-heated the oven and began to line up the cinnamon rolls onto parchment lined baking trays, and Nya opened the package of turkey bacon.
“It’s too quiet in here. Hold on.”
Before starting to cook the bacon, she pulled out her phone and pulled up her Spotify account.
“Oh yeah! No Obligation just came out! …over a month ago. Whatever.”
“The very song we named our band after? The one that was leaked?”
“Not leaked. They played it on the Saviors tour.”
“...oh.”
Heavier punk rock began to fill the empty silence, and what was supposed to be a calm morning soon erupted into a controlled chaos.
“I DON’T GOT NO OBLIGATION, JUST BRUSH OFF ALL EXPECTATION!”
Nya finally began to fry off the turkey bacon, but not before Zane set the cinnamon rolls into the oven.
“Oh, this one should be your song.”
Zane nodded along, both agreeing and jamming along to the song.
“I like it better when it’s all in my head, the doctors know I’ve got money to spend. And no, it’s not you, it’s me I’ve been talking to~”
Nya finished frying the bacon off and set that off to the side to cool. As the album switched over from “All In My Head” to “Lose Yourself”, they looked at each other with the same idea.
“Duet?”
“Duet. Doomsday set list?”
“I wouldn’t be opposed.”
“WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO NOW (Hey hey)? WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO NOW (Hey hey, hey hey)?”
They jammed out to that, and before they knew it, “Too Many Things” started up.
“TOO MANY THINGS, TOO, TOO MANY THINGS! OH, IT RINGS IN MY HEAD! TOO MANY THINGS, TOO, TOO MANY THINGS! COVERING THE WORDS I LEFT UNSAID!”
“Another duet?”
“I could see that.”
They continued jamming out, and the song soon switched to one called “Once Upon a Time”.
“This is a “you” song.” Nya blurted out as she pulled the cinnamon rolls out to check on them.
“These need a few minutes more. But I don’t know. This could be both of us.”
“Try it out.”
Zane nodded and moved closer to Nya’s phone so they could pay attention to the lyrics.
“I guess that I’m sorry I can’t take it away. I guess they didn’t train me to always take the blame. I’m good at being angry- No, this is for you, Nya.”
“It’s calmer than what I normally play.”
“Read the lyrics.”
Nya moved away from the oven so the cinnamon rolls could actually finish baking. The song switched once again, this time to a track all in Spanish called “Yo Me Estreso” featuring the accordion work of Weird Al Yankovic.
“Duet, for sure.” Nya blurted out.
Instead of singing, however, they decided to take a little dance break. They decided to do an… interpretive version of a tango, with Nya taking every opportunity she could to dip and twirl Zane around like the porcelain ballerina figures in old jewelry music boxes.
“Yo me estreso por nada (ah), Tengo demasiada ansiedad (ah-ah-eh). Pienso que la gente está enojada conmigo (ah), Cuando no están (ah-ah-eh). Mi cabeza me atormenta (ah)-”
“Ahem.”
The music didn’t pause, but their focus shifted. Wu chuckled as they looked over at him, phone in hand and badly trying to hide his own chuckling.
“Having a good time?”
Zane backed away, blushing a bright cerulean as they made their way back to the oven. Nya was also surprised, but let the song play out as she grabbed her phone.
“How long have you been standing here?”
“Not very long. But I did hear you start up this album.”
Zane set the cinnamon rolls on the counter, letting them cool off for a second as they mixed the frosting together.
“Listen, I’m not mad at either of you. Trust me, I’ve seen some gay ass shit in my time in this realm. But that? That was easily the top 5 of gayest shit I’ve ever seen.”
“SENSEI!”
Zane ignored the comment, opting to just dollop bits of frosting onto the cinnamon rolls. Wu just nodded and moved next to them, grabbing fruit from the fruit bowl to cut up and have as a side option.
“Let me plate, at least.”
Nya grabbed 6 plates, 1 for each member that planned to eat this breakfast. She laid out 2 slices of bacon on each plate, while Zane divided out cinnamon rolls and Wu poured out chunks of cut up fruit as the perfect sides.
Kai was the first to wake up. He grabbed a plate and searched through the fridge for an instant Frappuchino.
“Thanks.”
He sat at the table as Jay ran into the kitchen.
“Cinnamon rolls AND turkey bacon? Did I win the lottery?”
“Maybe.”
“SICK!”
Jay left, allowing Lloyd to walk in peacefully. He was definitely the heaviest sleeper of the bunch, only groggily bumping into Zane once he was sure it was quiet.
“Morning, Mom…”
“Good morning, Lloyd. Would you like some hot chocolate as well?”
“Sure…”
He took his plate and followed Jay to the dining room, and Zane got right to work on making a cup of hot chocolate.
“Whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles.”
Nya took her plate, and Cole finally made his way to the kitchen.
“Getting the band back together?”
“Not quite yet.”
Cole just kissed Zane’s cheek and grabbed his plate. Wu and Zane followed out shortly after, Wu with a plate and Zane with Lloyd’s mug of cocoa.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you!”
As everyone settled down and began to eat, Zane found their school bag and pulled out their laptop. Once they settled into a troublesome assignment, Nya got up and sighed to herself.
“I’ll be right back.”
Not only did she set her plate in the sink, but she also made sure to grab a cinnamon roll flavored protein shake from the fridge before coming back into the dining room.
“Here. So you don’t feel left out.”
“Thank you…?”
Zane sipped at the shake as they continued their assignment, leaving Nya at ease. As she left, Zane finished up their assignment and finally settled into finishing the shake.
“At least that’s out of the way.”
They soon found another assignment to start, finding peace in their morning with the rest of the crew.