fortress • daniel seavey

ix - paracosm

paracosm: a detailed, prolonged, imaginary word created by a child which includes human, animal or alien creatures.

when i arrive home with the pizzas stacked high in my hands, i get some cheers from the boys.
"pizza! finally!" zach says, and jumps off the couch, taking them from my hands and setting them on the table. we each take our pizza's and sit down, everyone completely stuffing their faces. i laugh at the boys completely pigging out, sauce all over their cheeks.
"oh, by the way, isla is coming over to stay the night here tomorrow, is that good with everyone?" jack says, and the boys nod.
"yes! i love isla. just her? why not the rest of your family?" i ask.
"they were gonna stay but none of them could make it, but isla really wanted to go so she's still coming." he says, and i nod, biting my pizza.
"what time?" i ask.
"around 3pm." he replies and i nod.

timeskip to roughly 2:45pm the next day

jack, daniel, jonah and i are sitting on the couch together chatting when the doorbell rings. i squeal and get up, running to the door. i open it and standing there is jack's father and isla with an adorable little coat on and a backpack clinging to her shoulders. she smiles when she sees me.
"isla!" i squeal and she giggles as i grab her into a hug. "hey, mr avery! i'm leo, the boys' roommate. nice to meet you." i say to jack's father with a smile on my face. he returns it and jack gives him a quick hug and they start talking. meanwhile i bring isla into the sitting room and sit her on my lap. the boys say hi and after a while jack's dad is gone and we're alone with isla.

"oh god, i don't know how to care for a kid! what do they eat?" jack panics and i start laughing.
"where's corbyn and zachie?" isla asks.
"in bed!" i say and she looks at me in shock.
"it's like 3 o clock!" she squeaks, giggling. "can we go wake them up, leo?" "of course we can!"

a few hours later

i sit down on the couch beside daniel and sigh, tired after a day of playing with isla. i love her, but she's very full of energy!
"you tired?" daniel asks and i nod, putting my head on his shoulder for a second.
"you're so good with her, you know." he says, and i look at him.
"isla?"
"yea!"
"oh.. i didn't realise. i love kids, though."
he smiles and we both watch isla kneeling beside the coffee table, drawing on a piece of paper with some crayons i bought her, creating a little paracosm around her.
"isla, what time do you go to bed, lovey?" i ask, getting off the couch to kneel beside her.
"uh.. not now, anyway." she says with a cheeky grin that she tries to hide.
"alright... you can stay up for a while, don't tell your mommy though! me and jack will be in trouble." i say and she nods.
"will you play with me? we have to defeat those zombies over there!" she says, pointing forward to the kitchen.
"well, of course! let's save the world, little isla."

daniels pov

i watch leo and isla get up and isla runs to the kitchen, leo following in pursuit. isla picks up a little fake gun and hands a fake bow with a quiver of arrows to leo. isla shoots the imaginary creatures as leo tries her hardest to imagine what isla is imagining, and shoots her bow in the same general direction isla is shooting. i start imagining leonie with her future kids, and how amazing of a mother she'd be. maybe she's so good with kids because she's still half kid inside, who knows when it comes to leo paul. but all i know is that every day i see her im falling more in love with her.

leo's pov

"time for bed isla, babes." i say, and she nods. it's like 11pm and all i know is the poor kid is wrecked tired. what makes it worse is it's currently a thunderstorm outside and the wind is howling and the lightening flashes outside the window every so often. i love thunderstorms but i remember jack told me once that isla hates them. we walk up the stairs together and into the spare room. she's already in her pyjamas so she climbs into the bed. i tuck her in and we say goodnight. i give her a kiss on the forehead and walk out, down stairs to the boys. i sip on the steaming hot-chocolate jonah made for everyone and cuddle into the couch, 2 blankets around me. we all chat quietly, sipping our hot-chocolate and once everyone's done and i washed the dishes with corbyn and zach's help, we head to bed.

i walk into my room and change into my pyjamas, which are short grey shorts and a yellow top. i keep the door open incase isla wakes up and needs one of us and i and climb into bed, my back facing the wall. i listen to the rumble of the thunder rolling over the skies, and soon i'm asleep.

an hour later

i wake up to the sound of footprints padding along the landing. i check the time and it's about 1am. i get out of bed to see why someone's up so late. i peek my head out the door to see isla on the landing. she sees me and i walk over to her.
"isla? what's up baby?" i say, kneeling beside her.
"i can't sleep leo." she says with a frown and i nod.
"okay, well let's go back to your room because it's really late now. i'll try help you get to sleep, alright?"
she nods and we both quietly walk to the spare room. i sit on the bed with my back facing the door, and i hold my arms out to her. she clambers into them and lays her head in my chest.
"will you sing to me? jack sometimes sang to me when i couldn't sleep," she says quietly.
"oh goodness lovey, i'm not the best singer but i'll give it a go- if you don't laugh at me." i say and she giggles and nods.
i start to sing the calmest and most soothing song i know, which is technicolor beat by oh wonder (a/n: which is the song in the media, listen to it, i swear you'll like it, it's such a calming songggg).

"lay down your slow
come settle down, settle down
let loose your glow
come settle down, settle down
and I feel life for the very first time
love in my arms, and the sun in my eyes
i feel safe in the 5am light
you carry my fears as the heavens set fire
jump into the heat, spinning on our feet
in a technicolour beat, you and me
caught up in a dream, in a technicolour beat" i softly sing the first three verses.

daniels pov

it's about 1:30am in the morning, and i hear something coming from isla's room, and i wonder if she can't sleep so i decide to go check on her. i get out of bed and walk to islas room. the door is wide open, and i see leo sitting on the bed with isla cuddling into her. leo is singing. that's not something leo does regularly, in fact i've never heard her sing before. she always says she's an awful singer. i stand in the doorway and listen. it's the most infatuating thing i've ever heard, like a hundreds of symphonies to my ears. i can't help but keep listening, standing there in the doorway. she doesn't see me or notice my presence since she has her back to me.
"jump into the heat, spinning on our feet
in a technicolour beat, you and me
caught up in a dream, in a technicolour beat, beat.
give me one drop, I can feel you
make me lose control
we'll be walking, on the water
when we're moving in a technicolour beat
moving in a technicolour beat," she softly sings. i could listen to her forever.

jack's pov
it's really late and the thunder is still going. i have a gut instinct isla can't sleep so i get up and go walk to her room. when i step out of my door i see daniel standing outside isla's room.
"daniel?" i whisper. he turns to me and puts a finger to his mouth, telling me to be quiet. i walk to him and stand in the doorway with him. i see leo sitting on isla's bed, isla asleep on her lap. leo's singing. i look a daniel with a shocked expression- we both know leo never sings. she doesn't notice we're there, still. she's really good, like really good, despite her having to sing quietly. i'm guessing isla asked her to sing because she couldn't sleep, she does the same thing to me and when anyone sings quietly to her when she's tired she immediately falls asleep.
i look over to see daniel staring at leo, completely infatuated by her. i know him well enough to know something's been going on with him for a while, now i think i finally know what it is. love.
i grab his arm gently and pull him away from the room. "dude. you really like her, don't you." i say, and he looks at me.
"what?"
"leo! you like her. i can tell." i say.
"no! i just.. yea. i do. don't tell anyone, please?" he asks and i nod.
"of course i wont! but come on, i'm pretty sure she likes you too, you should ask her out sometime!"
"why do you think she likes me?"
i just wink and walk back to my room. he quietly calls after me in annoyance and i ignore him, smirking as i close my bedroom door.

–♔–
i love this damn chapter
150 reads thank youuuu x)
and PLEASE listen to that song in the media, you need tooooo hey my cats at my window yay it's like 4am fun oK bye ly bby wait what i think i'm high bYE
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