Instant Family (SWSH Fanfic)

Right Now?? Seriously?

Nessa could feel Marnie's presence directly behind her as she scooped up her phone, pausing for a moment to look at the screen. She swallowed hard and tapped her thumb on the green icon that glowed below it. She pressed the cold screen to her ear, turning around to sit on Marnie's bed, crossing her legs.

It creaked loudly.

"Heyyyyy baby!" Nessa's voice wavered as Marnie rolled her eyes in front of her and mimed with her hands, she mouthed 'whipped much?' which made Nessa sneer back at her. Sonia's voice crackled slightly on the other end.

"Hey hun, just checking in! I haven't heard from you in a while... is everything okay over there?"

Nessa glanced around at the messy room, then dragged her eyes up Marnie's slender and disheveled figure. Her voice was high-pitched as she mimed a so-so with her free hand, "Mehhhhh, I guess?"

Nessa could tell Marnie could hear Sonia letting out a small laugh from the other line because her face immediately lost all emotion and she held up two middle fingers as she glared into her eyes. Nessa shivered a bit.

"So... talked to Gloria today... it was sort of weird, you know?" She could make out the jingle of keys in the background as well as the sound of a door shutting.

Her eyebrow raised, "Oh really?" She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, tilting her head to rest on the palm that held her phone, "What does that mean?"

"You know? I'll tell you when you get home, okay babe? I'm actually sort of in the middle of working through this new idea I had..."

Nessa felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth as she looked dreamily at the floor. She kicked aside a stray pillow, her voice became significantly warmer, "New idea, huh? What's that big brain of yours working on this time lady love?"

Marnie walked from her desk and back to the floor with a notepad in hand, sitting lazily in front of Nessa and looking up at her, sighing loudly. Nessa perked her head up and narrowed her eyes, putting her finger to her lips to shush her. Marnie stuck her tongue out at her indignantly.

Nessa paused and stared at her piercing. Sonia's words started to blur together as she began to space out.

"...So I've got Hop working on logistics and operations while I get in contact with some people to get things started. Aside from figuring out infrastructure or a facility, I think I'll have this whole focus group thing worked out by the beginning of summer! I've already started on the paperwork to get Magnolia Labs turned into an incorporation so we can annex this and anything that might come from it as a separate entity more or less from the real science we're doing. Still, I think we can make some good cash off of this!"

"Totally... Like, what? Wait, so you're gonna do what now with infrastructure and annexing and stuff?"

Ew that came out way dumber than normal, shit—

Nessa's eye was caught by Marnie's hand, scribbling madly into the notepad in her lap. He hair cascaded in shining, jet-black locks down her shoulders, her bangs obscuring part of her face. Sonia's voice suddenly faded back into reality, making her sit up to snap her out of her daze.

"... you know silly, like a focus group!"

OH SHIT THERE WERE PROBABLY SO MANY SENTENCES THAT PRECEDED THAT. UM. OKAY NESSIE, DON'T FUCK THIS UP—

"Oh my gosh baby! You're so smart, that's such a good idea! That totally makes sense too!"

Marnie was about to hold up her notepad but instead cradled it to her chest and cringed with Nessa at every fake word that came from her mouth. Nessa's eyes widened, her eyebrows raised, her smile became a grimace as she ended her statement, shrugging her shoulders nervously at Marnie. Marnie put the notebook down in her lap and held out her hands, mockingly giving Nessa a golf clap for her valiant efforts in haphazardly following the conversation with Sonia. Nessa's shoulders slumped as she rolled her eyes, Marnie held the notebook up and waved it a bit. Her handwriting was messy and in all caps,