Just Off The Key || Lizrei

Chapter 24: Does Anybody Know Where February Went?

Cloud was Liz in dog form. Rei was sure of this. She sat on the couch waiting for her publicist to call, and watched him watch the TV. He was sitting on Liz's lap, wearing Liz's facial expression, and neither he nor Liz noticed Rei staring at them.

Picking them apart. God, it was so amusing.

They had the same bright eyes. Small smile. Fluffy hair. Plus an apparent love for Blue's Clues, which Rei had put on because she hadn't seen it in six years, and because Liz told her Blue was a girl and it was blowing her mind.

Cloud liked to watch people. He'd stopped his endless whining and yapping once he'd settled in, and turned into a quiet little puppy. Instead of leaping onto Liz and Rei in bed and mauling their faces like the other animals, Cloud would paw at their hands and then sit back and wait for some loving.

He loved playing "bowling ball" with Liz in the living room, a game Liz had invented of course. It basically involved repeatedly knocking Cloud down, and then him getting up and frolicking happily around some more.

It was not as violent as it seemed like it would be. Though the last time they'd played, Liz had added plastic bottles to act as bowling pins, and then slammed her head into the wall when she tried to somersault through them.

Rei turned back to the TV and found Steve searching for a clue. She knew it would take him ten minutes to find even though it was right on the table. Bright blue and totally visible. Right on the fucking table. Just look at the table, man. Not the goddamned floor. The table.

Rei had forgotten how frustrating Blue's Clues was. Plus Dora the Explorer and her little psychotic mind games.

Maybe they weren't made for twenty-four year olds.

Liz sang along to the start of a new episode as Rei's phone rang. She twisted to answer it, keeping Liz's feet in her lap and playing with her toes.

"Are you sure about this, Liz?" Rei checked, finger hovering over the answer button.

Liz smiled and nudged Rei in the stomach with her foot. "Yes. Completely. It'll be good, Rei."

Alrighty then. Rei nodded and answered the call.

"Hey, Gaeul."

George hurled himself up onto the coffee table and sat staring into Rei's soul with his piercing yellow eyes so that she couldn't see the TV. She moved her head around and listened to Gaeul talk.

"Hi, Rei. Look, I don't have a lot of time, but I just need to clarify some things with you."

Rei hummed. She stuck her leg out to try to knock George off, but her toes just barely brushed his fur. He was a cunning little fatso.

"Is Liz there? Are you in bed? Oh God, Rei, just call me-"

"What? No!" Rei stopped trying to roll George off the table. "Talk to me. What is it?"

Gaeul was silent for a moment. Liz laughed loudly at something Blue did-which, like, really? Rei rolled her eyes. Gaeul seemed to deem it safe to carry on this conversation.

"Okay, so, for the statement, how much do you want to reveal?"

Rei thought for a moment. Liz didn't exactly have a press-friendly background, so they'd agreed that only her name and confirmation that they were dating would be sufficient.

"I'm not exactly, you know, a Hollywood A-lister, right, so I think just Liz's name is enough." Rei could see Liz watching her out of the corner of her eye. She tickled Liz's feet reassuringly.