“I was waiting for you.” I couldn’t help but smile at those words. “It was basically empty downstairs, so I came up here for some company while I worked.” He nodded his head. “I’m not that interesting.” I laughed a little. “Sure you are.” He shook his head, and soon shifted in his chair. “I’ve got nothing worthwhile to talk about, and I've got nothing worthwhile to share.” He finished, frowning. “Well, you’re sharing your company with me though.” I said, smiling. He soon smiled as well. “I guess that counts.” We both laughed, and I went to finish up my basket of things. After another hour or so, I finished it up, and looked to see Alester was just putting Nyx as he sat on his bed with her. I smiled at that, and soon handed him all the stuff I fixed for him. “These are for you.” He took his clothes. “Thanks for fixing them.” I smiled. “You’re welcome. I’ll be back in here after I deliver the other’s… if you want me to come back, that is.” 

He shrugged. “I don’t mind you here. I’m just not… interesting enough to have a worthwhile conversation.” He seemed a little disappointed in himself. I soon was sitting on the edge of where he was, and ran my fingers through his blonde hair. “You’re worthwhile for everything.” He gave off a small laugh, his face flushing red a little. I smiled at him before I said anything. “You’re goofy.” I giggled at his comment. “I know you love me though.” He nodded. “I do love you, and I know you love me too.. I hope..” I frowned, and soon cupped his face with both my hands before narrowing my eyes at him. “I do love you, and I said I'd give you my answer next season. You’ll understand why in the spring, ok?” He placed his hands on mine, and closed his eyes before he said anything. “Yes.” 

Once I stood up, Nyx got up with me. “Nyx, you stay here. I’ll be back with Winston.” Nyx laid back down, and I went to deliver the clothes to people. I knocked on Jeremy’s door, and he soon opened it. “Uh, Jere, you got something..” I pointed to the top of my head. He nodded. “It’s tangled in there, and I can’t get it out. Althea said she had something for it, and now I can’t find her.” I nodded my head. “Want me to go look?” He shook his head, the comb wiggled a little. “No, Penelope and Finnigan are looking.” I nodded my head, and soon frowned. “Well, how about this. If they don’t come back in around… 15 to 20 minutes, go and find me. I’ll help you get it out.” He nodded his head. “Thanks, because this is embarrassing.” I smiled at him. “I know, but if it helps you, you could start a new fashion.” He laughed hard at that. “Oh lord, I don’t think that would be fair.” I sighed. “Well, it’s worth a shot?” We both were laughing now. “Alright, I've got to go back to Alester. But, if they don’t come back in 15 to 20 minutes, come and find me. I’ll take care of it.” He nodded. “Thanks.” I smiled. “No problem.” I went back up the stairs, and knocked on Alester’s door. He opened it, and soon hurriedly pulled me inside. I looked at him confused. “What would you do if I kissed you, like- like, a man would his wife? I- I know we aren’t married, but it was just an idea. I was pondering it for a little before you came back, and I thought that I'd ask. I don-” I placed both my hands on the sides of his face, which made him stop talking. 

“Alester, not yet.” He frowned the best he could with my hands still on the sides of his face. “Awww..” I sighed. “I know, but you’ll understand in greater context. I promise.” He nodded his head a little, and I let go of him. Once his back was turned to me, I couldn’t help but almost squeal. His blue eyes had lit up when he asked the question, a bright cheerful smile was plastered on his face. Then my own face fell, the moment his face did replaying in my head. He was sitting on his bed again, petting Nyx. I rubbed my face a little, thinking. Maybe… I looked over at him again. Nyx lifted her head, and wagged her tail, once she got to see me. She was asleep when all that happened, and I decided I had an idea. I sat on the edge of his bed again, and he turned a little. “Alester..” He gave off a mix of a hum and a small grunt. “Can I give you something?” He frowned a little. “What?” I smiled. “Close your eyes for me.” He closed them, and I placed a kiss on his cheek, and after a few seconds of lingering there, pulled away. He soon fully turned over, a smile spreading across his face. “So, you say that I can’t kiss you, but you can kiss me?” My smile faltered a little. “Well, uhmm.. I didn’t mean it like that? I meant that- like- no kissing on the lips until I give you my answer. Thi-” There was a knock at the door. 

I got up, and opened it. There was Jeremy, still with the comb stuck in his hair. “Uh, they’ve not come back yet.” I nodded. “Geeze, it’s been that long already?” He nodded, the comb bobbing a little. “Alright. Alester, do you want to watch me remove a comb from Jeremy’s hair?” Alester got up, and dusted the non-existent dust off of him. “How’d it get stuck?” Jeremy frowned, and his face flustered a little. “I’m not tellin.” I sighed, and took him and Alester to my room. “Well, here. Sit down on the rug, and I’ll sit on the bed so that it’s easier for me to get it out. I’ll need you back to me though.” He nodded, and sat on the rug while I went to go and grab the oils I had for this. “Want me to tell you a story while I do this?” He nodded his head a little. “It won’t hurt, and I’m not gonna cut your hair unless I necessarily have to.” He nodded his head again. “Mm. Ok, so, my sister- ah- my youngest sister, she got something stuck in her hair too. I forgot what it was.. I think it was a comb as well… um, anyways, she was trying to get it out from her hair, and she tangled it even more..” I paused as I rubbed the oil into his hair, before gently tugging a little at the ends of the comb. 

“And so she went to our mother. Mama said to her, ‘Well, if you want it out, stop pulling and yanking at it or you’ll go bald.’ which made my sister worry and fret even more. Mama pulled out the coconut oil that she uses for cooking, lathered it in her hair, and the comb came out. She told her to wash her hair, and then come back and see her. So, after a while, maybe a half an hour or so, she comes back. Our mother looked at her. ‘Now, use a brush. Not a comb like all the other young ladies are using. Brushes are better for your hair anyways.” I paused again, pulling a little at the now halfway out comb. “My sister nodded her head to that, and she uses a brush. Well, a week later, she comes out of her room, sobbing. Our mother was confused. ‘What’s wrong now?’ She asked my sister, and my sister shook her hair. You could see the end of the brush.” I paused again, and they were laughing now. “‘Well,’ my mother exclaimed once my sister showed her. ‘How’d you get that stuck?’ My sister was sobbing harder now, and she cried out ‘Mama, get it out of my hair!’ So, mama’s working at it, and our father comes in. ‘What happened now?’ He asked, and mama shook her head. ‘Well, she got the brush stuck in her hair.’ He sighed. ‘Let’s just cut it with garden sheers.’ Mama laughed hard, and that made my sister really not like our father for a few weeks after Mama got the brush out.” 

I finished my story, and soon handed him the comb. He smiled at me. “Thanks.” I nodded. “Mhm. Us curly headed people need some new brushes or something to help us out.” He laughed again, and nodded. Alester was petting the two bunnies, who had gotten bigger now. “How’d it get stuck though?” Alester asked his question again, and Jeremy made a small scowl before answering. “Because my hair is curly, also because I had applied hair gel to make my hair less frizzy.” He nodded, and soon Jeremy left to do whatever he does. Alester put the bunny in my face a little as I put the stuff I used away. “Isn’t Nox adorable? He’s gotten so fat!” I laughed, and gave Nox a few scratches on the head. “Mm.. that’s what happens when you let Finn feed them.” Alester smiled. “Why don’t you like Finnigan to feed them?” I laughed a little. “Because he feeds them a little too much. But, I love him though, so I let him feed the bunnies.” Alester gave off a small nod, looked at Nox, and frowned a little. “Could I feed them from time to time?” I placed my hand on his forearm. “You can always feed the bunnies. Even when i’m not here to do it. I’ll leave them to you to feed and work with.” He smiled, and placed Nox back in their cage. “Do you wanna go dancing with me? You never did when I asked you during the parties.” 

I fiddled with my hands a little. “Mm… I dunno if I remember.” He heard that playful tone in my voice. “I can teach you again.” He said, taking my hands. I sighed, and tilted my head a little. “Alright, fine.” A bright smile spread across his face. “Let's go.” I was being half dragged, and slightly pushed by him as he took me down stairs. “Alester, you know that I can walk right? I don’t need to be dragged everywhere like a dog his toy.” He turned around a little, and looked at me before opening the door. “We’re here though.” We soon giggled as we went through the door. “Your hand, m’lady?” I sighed, and gave it to him. He was smiling, and soon pulled me closer to him, setting ourselves into position. “What are we dancing today?” He frowned a little, soon spinning me. “I dunno. Whatever I'm doing I guess.” I laughed, soon smiling. He spun me around another time before the door opened. Althea looked at us, and laughed a little. “So, this is where you two went. I just wanna say, thanks for getting that comb outta his hair. I went looking all over for coconut oil because I didn’t want to use olive oil on him.” 

We stopped for a minute, and I went over to her. “Well, you could have asked me. I’ve got stuff for that.” She sighed. “Well, I guess I will start asking you for things.” I nodded a little. “I may not have everything, but you definitely will find a lot of stuff.” She laughed. “Well, anyways, thanks. I’ll leave you two back to dancing.” I nodded, and she left, shutting the door behind her. I walked back over to Alester, and was pulled into dancing with him again. It was a good few hours later of spinning around, which in turn tired us out. We both went to the kitchen, laughing over a simple conversation that we were having. “What would you do if Nyx and Winston had puppies though?” I asked him, and he laughed a little. “Well, they’d come out looking like they saw a few things, but I think they’d be cute and happy.” I was laughing hard by now. “What do you mean by they would have seen a few things? It couldn’t be that bad?” He smiled at me. “Well, because of the different facial structures and all that other stuff.” I raised my eyebrows a little, giving him a quizzical look. 

“What’s that look for, Clemintine?” He asked me, soon pouring two glasses of water. “I think that they’d not look like they saw things.. I might not be a veterinarian, but they seem like their babies would be able to function and look normal. Sort of like how you have the balanced mix of your parents looks, they would have a balanced mix of their parents looks.” He nodded, and handed me a glass. “Thanks.” He nodded again, seeming like he was thinking. After a few minutes, he spoke again. “You know, I’ve got a question.” I looked over at him, and he soon continued. “If you didn’t want to pursue house work like you did, what would you have done?” I set my glass down. “Well, I'd either be a gardener, or a veterinarian…” he nodded his head. “Do you still want to do that?” I shrugged a little. “I haven’t thought about that..” I felt his fingers skim against mine as he grabbed my now empty glass from off the counter. “But, do you want to?” I looked up at him. “Mm.. no. I think,” I paused a minute and moved the odd curl of his hair off of his forehead. “I think, I like where I’m at.” He smiled. “That's good.”