take me to church (emily prentiss)

3. eight

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"oh, darling, all of the city lights never shine as bright as your eyes." - car's outside, james arthur

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Liv sat on the sofa in Jace's house with a blanket tugged over her lap. She was wearing a Disney princess hoodie that Jace borrowed to her, and Jace was wearing a matching one. Zara was kitted out in a Cinderella nightgown, eyes focused on Legally Blonde playing on the TV as Jace and Liv painted her nails.

Liv and Zara had already painted Jace's nails glittery pink, and then Zara and Jace had painted Liv's nails a sparkly blue. Zara's nails would be a shimmery purple.

"I love Jennifer Coolidge," Zara said, blowing on the nails on her left hand. "She just gets it, y'know?"

"Totally," Jace and Liv agreed.

There were a few minutes of silence as they kept watching.

"Does the bend and snap really have a eighty three percent success rate?" Zara asked.

"For Elle Woods, yeah. For me, no," Jace said. "I lack some of the facilities to make it effective."

"Aunt Liv?" Zara said, looking at Liv. "You have boobs. Does it work?"

"I've honestly never tried," Liv said.

"Is that because you're a total babe without moves?" Zara asked. "Aunt Mar and aunt Cece were talking about it."

"That is why, yeah," Liv laughed, screwing the cap back onto the nail varnish. "All done. Let them dry, yeah?"

"Yeah," Zara echoed, blowing on her nails.

There were a few more minutes of silence.

"I think I need a best friend, like how Elle has Bruiser," Zara said.

"I'm not getting you a dog," Jace said.

"I didn't ask for a dog, dad," Zara pointed out. "It was a simile."

"Okay, smarty pants," Liv laughed. "Maybe we can make our vocal register a little bit less on the sassy scale."

"I want a cat," Zara said. "Please," she added, giving Liv an innocent smile. "You love cats, aunt Liv. Back me up here."

"They're a lot easier to have as pets than dogs when you're a surgeon," Liv said, turning her eyes back to the movie. "But I do not live here, so I will keep my opinion to myself."

"What if I promise to take care of it all by myself?" Zara asked. "I make my own breakfast every morning, dad. I'll remember to feed a cat."

"You make your own breakfast because you wake up early to sneak poptarts without me telling you off for having too much sugar before eight am," Jace said. "That's to be sneaky, not 'cause you're responsible."

"I still do it, though. Every day, without fail," Zara said. "I'm reliable, if nothing else."

Liv snorted, stifling it into a cough as Jace turned to glare at her.

"You are not helping," Jace said.

"I literally didn't say a word," Liv held her hands up.

Her phone vibrated against her hip and she pulled it out of her sweatpants pockets, smiling when she saw Emily was calling her.

"Excuse me," Liv said, climbing off the couch to head out into the backyard.

"Is that your swagger friend, aunt Liv?" Zara said. "Or is it aunt Delilah?"