This Is the Safest Place I've Ever Known

26

A/N: Hi, hello. So sorry for the wait for such a short chapter. I am struggling with the motivation to write. This is more of a small interlude than it is any real development.

Hopefully you'll enjoy anyway. :)

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Dinah and Ally talked quietly the next morning. Lauren whined at the disturbance and burrowed further under the blankets. She ended up in the middle of the bed leaning against someone.

"Hey, where'd my little lion go?" Dinah asked from outside the blankets. "She was just here."

Lauren frowned at the question. Surely Dinah knew she was still there, right? The woman herself was still in bed. Lauren realized she had curled up against her when she shifted under the blankets. Dinah had to know she wasn't really missing.

"Do we need to send a search party for a missing baby?" she heard Ally ask. The older woman seemed a little hesitant at the end of her question.

Lauren whined slightly and gave a light kick to Dinah's leg.

Dinah laughed as Lauren felt gentle taps on top of the blankets she was under. "Nope, found her. I knew something was up with the suspicious lump in the middle of the bed."

Dinah poked Lauren in her side, and she squirmed a bit at the touch, a small laugh escaping her. She didn't know Dinah knew about that ticklish spot.

She wiggled back up to appear out of the blankets. "Not a baby," she whined petulantly. She curled into a ball defensively as Dinah suddenly started to poke her on both sides.

"Is someone ticklish?" Dinah asked mischievously before she grabbed the girl.

"Stop, stop, stop," she begged as she squirmed to get away and tried not to giggle. "Stop. It tickles. Stop. Stop!" she screeched, a little breathless as she continued to try and get away from Dinah's attack.

Finally, she managed to break out of the hold restraining her, and she scampered off the bed and to hide behind Ally, falling to the floor panting and trying to contain her laughter. Once she had regained her breath, she stood and gave as intimidating of a glare as she could toward Dinah.

Ally laughed softly and put a hand to Lauren's hip and nudged her backward as the girl stuck her tongue out at the other blonde. "I think that's enough excitement for now," she stated to de-escalate the situation. "I really don't think we need an all out war first thing in the morning."

"Oh, so later then?" Dinah asked, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "Noted."

"No!" Lauren screeched and then ran out of the room. She would be avoiding Dinah at all costs that day.

Ally looked at the younger woman and shook her head exasperatedly. "You know she's going to hide from you all day now, right?"

Dinah waved her arm flippantly. "Nah, I'll just grab her blanket and Nala then sit in the recliner at some point. She'll sit with me in a flash." She sat up enough she could lean on her elbow. "So, are you on the "Lauren is a baby' train, too, now?"

Ally rolled her eyes and sat on the bed. "Not exactly. However, I thought about it," she said a little reluctantly, like what she was about to say pained her. "As much as I hate to admit it, maybe you have a point. Lauren did ask to see what it was like being a Little, and maybe holding back so much doesn't help."

"You and Normani are so mean to me. Why can't you ever admit that sometimes I can be smart?" Dinah grumbled, a small pout forming on her face.

Ally shook her head and leaned over to kiss the younger woman. "It's so much more fun to tease you," she murmured before she rolled off the bed so Dinah couldn't push her. "I better go make sure Normani and Camila haven't destroyed the rest of the house. Also, I'm pretty sure it's forecasted to rain all weekend, so I'm not sure what plans to make for the weekend."