Home Sweet Home [Imo and Mr. Marynard]

[Mr. Maynard]

Ash opened the door to his home and was greeted by the scent of... Whatever his Grandmother had cooking on the stove. He and his grandmother had a mutual agreement of a 'Don't ask, Don't tell' policy when it came to what she cooked. To him, food was food but it still didn't mean knowing what it was helped it go down easier. "I'm home." He called out.

Placing his ax in it's usual spot, against the wall by the door, he started to peel off the layers of his work clothes. He hung up his coat and shoved his worn out gloves in his back pants pocket. When no one responded, he figured Grandma must have taken Bela out somewhere. Or she left and Bela was still here hiding for him to come and find her like she sometimes did. "Bells?"

He kicked off his boots and made his way down the hallway. Their home wasn't big at all. A basic layout; a tiny the living room that was only separated from the kitchen by a rail of wood he had made himself. He thought it added character to the house, plus he was bored and that's just what he did when he was bored. If you went straight after you walked in the door, you'd go into a narrow hallway. You had two doors to your right, a door to your left, and one at the very end of the hall. First door on the right was his room, then Bela's. Grandma's was at the end of the hallways, and the bathroom was the only door on the left. The rooms on the right weren't big since Ash basically split it into two. It was just one decent size room, and since he felt he and Bells needed separate rooms, he just added a wall and a door. It took a lot of time and a lot of trading and extra hours at work, but it was well worth it.

"Bela. Are you here?" He opened her bedroom door and peered inside. She wasn't there. "Huh." He shrugged his shoulder. "Guess, I'll just have to eat this cookie then." He said, hoping it would draw her out. He did have something for her, he wouldn't lie about it. He made a stop today after getting his pay and picked her up a little something at the bakery. It wasn't much, and it sure didn't happen often, but he tried to reward her as much as he could because it just felt like words weren't enough at times.

When she didn't come out from hiding he knew she wasn't there. He made his way to stove and put on a kettle so he could boil some water. He needed it. His hands were sore and swollen from the work load today.

[imo]

Bela had seen Ashford, her big brother, walked on the street in front of grandma’s house and she got so excited! When Ash was at work and grandma was home, grandma didn’t play any games. young women don’t play that type of game, honey
That’s what Grandma Ester had told her but when Bells asked what kind of games she could play, she didn’t understand any of them. What was fun about laughing at a man’s not funny joke?
No. Bela liked it better when Ashford came home. Then she could play hide and seek.
Bela loved to play hide and seek. She had so many hiding places and she was real good too. Her big brother didn’t always find her.
And sometimes she remembered not to give herself away when he brought her a snack.
Like today;
As soon as Bela saw Ashford coming, she hid in the pantry closet in the kitchen and waited. She was very patient but she did have to hold her mouth closed because she wanted to laugh. Ash didn’t know where she was!
She was so good at hiding! Even when Izza was alive, Bela was still the best hider. The mutts didn’t find her that day.
Bells waited quietly as Ash walked around the house, calling her name. Nope. not even for the treat would she give away her hiding spot. It was the best one!
But when Big Brother came into the kitchen, Bela had to be super still! She didn’t want him to find her, but she did!
It was always fun when Ash caught her and it really got boring when he didn’t.
Despite all the patience Bela had about hiding, the moment she knew Ashford gave up finding her, she was instantly bored. So, this is why, when her brother turned on the stove and started boiling water, Bela jumped out of the pantry and shouted. “BOO!! I got you!!!”
She laughed, thoroughly enjoying her game.

[Mr. Maynard]

Ash had just blown out the match he used to light the stove when Bela jumped out and scared the hell out of him. "Whoa!" He shouted as he whirled around. His hand un-clenched the moment he knew it was her and went to his chest. "I thought you were gone!" All the adrenaline he got from the fright made him a little light headed, which made him laugh.

He looked over her happily glowing face, clearly pleased with herself. He looked behind her and saw the pantry door wide open. "I knew I should've checked there!" He lied. He had no freakin' idea where she was. Sometimes she was really good at hiding, a little too good. She would be in some of the most obvious places and that he wouldn't even think twice to checking there. "Best two out of three?" He offered playfully. He enjoyed coming home from work only to be greeted by her cheerful smile. "I brought you a little something..." He looked to the little cloth covered treat on the counter.

[imo]

Bela grinned, so proud of herself, and giggled in delight. She had gotten her big brother, made him jump!
“I give you a heart’tack?” She laughed a lot more. “you’re like grandma Ester!” Their grandmother always jumped when Bela revealed herself. she always cluched her chest and looked so scared for a moment before she sighed with relief.
’you gimme a heart’tack, darling girl.’ She always said and Bells always thought it was funny because hse didn’t really know what a heart’tack was. ’ya scared me white as treebark.’
Grandma always had funny things to say.
“Again??” She asked excitedly, she always loved to hide, but she was easily distracted by his gift. When Ashford unwrapped it Bela gasped. Inside his dirty napkin was a little bird, carved from wood. “Oh wow, it’s so pretty!”
Bells picked it out of the napkin carefully and held it up so she could get the best look at it she could.
The little bird was about as small as her little toe and carved with such detail. It was smooth and pretty and perfect and she loved nothing more, ever. “Did you make it for me?” she asked, all wide eyed at her brother. Bell looked as the bird in the palm of her hands and stared at it like nothing else in the world existed.
She was so enamored by the little carving she didn’t even realize that it was one a string, that it was actually a pendant on a string.
Grandma always said Ashford shoulda been a carpenter.

[Mr. Maynard]

Ashford smirked at her when she said he acted like grandma Ester. He could see it sometimes. His grandmother and him were so alike at times that they clashed, and other times they were so different that they clashed. Mainly it was all about Bela. They didn't agree sometimes on how to get her independent, but they both had one main goal; To get her independent.

"Again, later." He told her as he watched her eye her gift excitedly. "Promise." He knew if he promised, she'd know he was telling the truth. He never went back on his promises to her. Ever. "Look inside!" He said, getting a little impatient because he was excited about her seeing what he had made her. When she opened it, he wasn't sure she was going to like it. It wasn't something you could really play with. It was just something simple that she could wear around when she went to go do errands or just around the house. Or something to keep those restless hands something to fiddle with. Something to give her a little comfort, hopefully.

"Like it?" He asked as he touched the little crafted bird with his finger. "Yes, I did." He started crafting it a few weeks ago. It was just a simple thing, it gave him something to do, and a neat little present for his baby sis. He really enjoyed making little trinkets, especially if they had some kind of meaning. "You like to sing. It's a little Mockingjay." He loved it when she sung. It meant she was happy, and she was a beautiful singer.