𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓕𝓵𝓪𝓶𝓮

SEVEN

Whoosh- the howling of the wind tears through the night swallowing up any other noise in the house.

"Stupid storm! Arktivice, can you help me get this stupid door closed!", I say through gritted teeth, barely managing to close the stupid door.

"I'm coming!", she yells, trying to get her voice to carry over the wind. Turning into a sphinx, she leaps across the length of the wide greeting area in a single bound. Climbing back onto her hind legs, she grasps part of the door in her paw, and uses the other which is placed on the door frame, to keep herself steady. With a final grunt, she slams the door on the wind, and the howling of it dulls down to a slight roar. With the door closed, Arktivice returns to her normal shape. Her now much smaller body spent from the transformations of the day, nearly falls backwards but at the last second lands hard in my arms. I guess being 3 times your own size for even a minute or two can really have a toll on your strength.

"Ugh, my head hurts.", Arktivice says, a weak smile forming on her lips. Lips so perfect I could just ki-. Alina, quit blushing and daydreaming.

"Am I gonna need to carry you, young woman?", I reply with one arched eyebrow and a small friendly smile. I can still feel the fiery blush on my cheeks. She looks at me, probably calculating how much energy would be needed to get all the way upstairs to a bedroom, and then to flop on the bed. With a soft sigh she nods and I scoop her up and carry her. Up the stairs, around the corner, and into a black-ish room, with stars and constellations painted everywhere. An astronomers dream room. I turn the light on, carefully so I don't bump her head and lightly lay her down on the comforter that like almost everything else in the room, has the whole solar system on it. Crashes of thunder boom outside of the room, and the pinging of rain on the window seem to make the room come alive. Shadows dance across the walls and then disappear like ghosts on a foggy morning. The motion of the shadows, with their drifting in and then snapping out of visibility, has Arktivice a little on the alert side of her usual calm.

"Arktivice, I have a question?", I say, trying to distract her from the constant lightning strikes surrounding every inch of the clearing.

"Yes?" She asks with a weak but getting stronger voice.

"Do you have a nickname I can call you?" At this she grins mischievously, and she replies, with utmost seriousness, "Arktivice the Great, that shall do." Now I'm laughing, and she joins in immediately, and we don't even stop when lightning strikes turn the black walls white.

"What are you guys laughing about?" A curious Sierra asks, staring at us like we're crazy.

"Arktivice the Great!", I exclaim, barely getting the words out before laughter replaced my ability to speak. My words cause AV, Arkti-Vice, to laugh harder. Sierra starts to giggle with confusion and utter incredulity, which also quickly turns to a hysterical laughing. Eventually it all dies down to a bit of giggling, allowing me to explain what happened.

"Sierra, I'll explain, Arktivice over here replied to my question of what to call her, and she replied with-", I giggle a little harder, "- Arktivice the Great, of all things! I thought she was gonna say something like Arkti, or Ark, or something short. The other thing is, she said it like so seriously there was no way I couldn't laugh!"

"Oh, I see.", Sierra says with a highly amused tone.

"But seriously,-" I say, turning to Arktivice, "-what should I call you?"

"Alright I'll be serious." She says with fake disappointment, "My nickname is AV, but if you ever do want to call me Arktivice the Great, that would be welcomed as well." Rolling my eyes I punch her, extra lightly on her arm, and smile with a tiny blush that I don't let fully form.