Strictly Professional

Chapter 6: Stuffy family life go brrr

A/N you haven't felt true friendship and love until a group of people who don't even know the fandom read your Fic and are suddenly drawing and headcanoning the characters- and now you're getting texts and want to sob in joy

Dawn closed the door behind her, hesitating to leave. If she stayed, she could find out who Nox was, she could see what type of person he was to the public. No, that would be the wrong choice here; they even gave each other fake names so they wouldn't do this. She smiled and headed back to the room. It was nice to know she had some kind of mystery friend out there somewhere.

As she crossed the hallway, she considered just running away to the limo. Everyone would panic, sure, but wouldn't that be better than going back into arguments and scolding? They'd find her eventually though, and in the end that was just delaying the inevitable. She sucked it up and took a few strides over to the door, placing a somewhat shaky hand on the knob and she turned it.

The door creaked open, and the fast paced chatter closed. Dawn shut her eyes tight, afraid to face her family. She stood there for a few seconds; nothing happened. Nobody did or said anything to her. She cracked one eye open, finding that her whole family was silently looking over, almost as if they were waiting for her.

Tsunami opened her mouth to say something, only for Shadow to quickly wrap her mouth with, well, Shadows. She grumbled incoherently in protest, but eventually just crossed her arms and gave up. Dawn was surprised to find herself wishing that someone, anyone, would actually speak up. The silence was deafening and horrid. She cleared her throat.

"Uh, Hi. You guys can say something you know? It's a bit unnerving to be standing here in silence. Given that you guys are usually, well, you know, loud?"

She slowly entered the room, closing the door behind her. She moved over to sit by Outer, who looked down at her in pity and reassurance. She reached over to hold his hand, and he squeezed it reassuringly. Dawn may be seen as delicate by her family, but Outer knew she didn't really even need a bodyguard. He was more of a friend to her, rather than just another employee. Time took a deep breath in and broke the silence.

"First of all, as one of the only people who's believed that you've never been fragile, I'm very proud of you for standing up to everyone and showing them that. They may still think you're weak, but you're doing well and eventually everyone will have to accept that fact."

Time sent such a nasty glare at Tsunami, you could see it though her tinted glasses. Tsunami simply shrank back and glared. If her mouth wasn't covered, she would be yelling like there was nobody else within a hundred mile radius of their room. Time turned back to Dawn and continued.

"I think seeing you walk out made everyone who wasn't Tsunami shut up. Given, you'll have to forgive her, she's still 4 years younger. She may legally be an adult, but she's also only 19 and most people don't finish developing until about 21."

Memory cleared her throat and looked at her sheepishly. Dawn could read the other like an open book, and she felt like she was going to cry again. Not from frustration, but from joy. Her family was actually making attempts to get to thinking that she was strong, or at least seemingly trying.

"Are you guys... trying to convey the message I think you are?"

Shadow nodded, and Regret shot a thumbs up. They were quiet, but showing their support meant a lot to her. Tsunami shrugged and rolled her eyes, but her support was probably never really going to happen. It felt like maybe they weren't the only pair of siblings who were going to be in a relationship and never have support of the other. Memory spoke.