LJNT

Carefree Days

"And so I was like, well, no, I'm not lying to you, I'm Lyra-Ng! Haha! Get it!"

Lyra couldnt help but laugh at her own little pun. Pyrrha just shook her head, amused at how easily Lyra managed to crack herself up.

"That one was...not good."

"I don't g-get it," Nico mumbled under her breath. "Lyra-Ng...that's j-just your name..."

"Well, it's only half of my last name," Lyra corrected before narrowing her golden eyes. "But come on, how do you not get it! Lyra-Ng, like lying! See? Now do you get it??"

"Ooh...Yeah, no, that was still terrible," Tanya agreed with Pyrrha. Tanya was awfully calm for someone who had just disowned their partner. "You can do better."

"I'm surprised you didn't want to try," Lyra shrugged. "But I thought it was fine, what's wrong with the joke??"

"If someone has to explain the joke, then it's probably pretty terrible," Pyrrha laughed, a shining gleam in her wide, emerald eyes. "I can't believe the year is almost over. It flew by so fast!"

"Yes, it is hard to believe it is over..." Janelle shrugged. She was in no particular hurry to go back home to her birth family. "...I...Do not wish to go back."

"Oh yeah, you're right," Tanya nodded before a smile grew on her face. "But I'll get to see Grandpapa!!" Her smile quickly turned upside down. "...But I won't get to see you guys anymore! I'm going to miss you all so much, I don't think I can do it!!"

"Oh, come on, Tanya. You'll be fine!" Lyra chuckled. "It's not even that long."

"It will feel like it. I certainly do not wish to head back toward my incredibly insensitive family," Janelle sighed loudly as she fiddled with the hem of her dress. "How am I supposed to spend time with the people who raised me so wrong?"

"Exactly!! How am I supposed to be apart from you guys!!" Tanya wailed loudly, much to Lyra's amusement. Nico's ears drooped.

"W-Wait, w-we're not staying o-over the summer?" Nico asked. Much to her dismay, everyone replied with some variation of "no". Nico subconsciously pulled her hood over her ears. "N-No...I-I d-don't wanna go back..."

"Oh yeah...Where are you even going to go?" Lyra asked. She didn't want to be intrusive, but she couldn't help but voice her curiosity.

"I-I-I'll h-have to go w-with I-Ironwood," Nico mumbled, a disappointed look in her red eyes.

"Well, at least you'll have your friend," Lyra said encouragingly, remembering Penny from the dance. "That's one thing to be excited about! I mean, obviously we're better, but you'll have to settle-"

"Lyra doesn't mean that," Pyrrha interrupted her sister before Lyra could say anything else incriminating. Pyrrha sighed. "You'll have a wonderful time with your friend, I'm sure."

"Yeah! ...And uh, what's wrong with General Ironwood?" Tanya questioned. "He works with my parents! He's pretty cool whenever he talks to me!"

"General Ironwood is a respectable leader of Atlas," Janelle said, her brow raised doubtfully. "What could you be possibly be referencing?"

"H-He treats m-me l-like I-I'm dangerous..L-Like an experiment," Nico mumbled. "J-Just like everyone else..."

"...No, not true. We don't think you're dangerous," Lyra placed a hand on her partner's shoulder, and for the first time, Nico didn't flinch away. By the end of the year, she had just grown used it to it by now. Lyra smiled. "Yup! You're like...a harmless little kitten!"

"H-H-Hey! I-I'm not a k-kitten!" Nico's cheeks flushed red, making the others laugh.

"Yeah! Your ears are fluffy like theirs, and they like to lay around and be alone!" Tanya said with a grin. "Yup, you're just like one! You just need a little spool of yarn-"

"What-no! I-I'm deadly! I-If I w-wasn't, w-why would I b-be h-here!"

"I do not think you had a choice," Janelle muttered, a bemused look in her amber eyes.

"E-Exactly!"

"True, but without your swords, you're adorable!" Lyra cooed, and Nico indignantly moved Lyra's hand off of her before turning away to sulk. Lyra chuckled. "Oh, come on, Nico. We're just teasing."

"...I'm n-not a kitten."

"Okay, okay. You've upgraded to a cat. A fussy, grumpy cat."

"T-That's not w-what I meant!!"

As they bickered back and forth, they forgot about their troubles. They forgot about the Grimm outside, their parents awaiting them, Ironwood, and the outside forces that lurked unknown.

For just this moment, they could be just as carefree as any other normal teenagers.