Close your eyes
“Agent?” Laurence, better known as Newt, asks, resting her chin on her hands, looking up at her older sister, Agent After. The older woman hums in response, not looking up from her book. It was late, admittedly too late for an eight year old to be up. Alas, Newt had too much energy to sleep and Agent had to little to fight her on it.
“Can I listen to poems tonight?”
Agent sighed. Newt had heard the poetry segment once before, and since then she’d asked every night. She checks the broken digital clock across the room and looks back down at Newt. She was already up this late and didn’t seem to be going down soon. Agent rolls her eyes playfully.
“Go get the radio.”
Newt beams, “Thank you!” Agent chuckles slightly as she hurries off. She can’t be too annoyed at her. She’d probably do the exact same thing if she had it when she was Newt’s age. Besides, it’s art! Wasn’t she supposed to encourage that?
Newt brings the dinky little radio back and sits next to her sister. Agent fiddles with the knobs for a bit before the smooth voice of Cherri Cola comes through. The younger girl listens, resting her head on Agent’s chest like she used to do when they were younger.
Agent can’t pretend she doesn’t miss those days. Sure, they have it a lot better now, a (mostly) safe base, a vehicle, they’re real killjoys! She just wishes she stayed younger for longer. The zones are scary. You could get killed in a million ways if you’re not careful. Newt’s gonna want to start going with her on claps and missions. There’s no use in denying it, but Agent just wants her to be safe. Newt jumps at every chance to go out. Pretty soon, she’ll start going by herself. Newt is virtually all Agent has. She’s equally dependent on her sister - her baby sister - she Newt is her. She just wants her to be safe.
“I think…” Agent starts after the segment ends, “I think we should go to Chow Mein’s tomorrow.” Newt perks up and rubs her eyes, making Agent laugh.
“You weren’t falling asleep, were you?” Agent smirks.
“Uh, no…!” The younger one blushes. “What do we need there?” Newt asks excitedly.
“Oh, just some water, maybe a new jacket.” Newt looks like she’s gonna explode. Newt gets Agent’s old clothes, and she’s made it very clear that she likes Agent’s current jacket. Neither of them are very tall, and they wear somewhat similar sizes, making potential modifications easier.
“But,” Agent continues, “We can only go if you go to bed right now.” Newt groans.
“A few more minutes, please?” Newt pleads
Agent shakes her head, “You have had several more minutes. Go to sleep.” She kisses Newt’s head. “I love you, kid.”
Newt reluctantly gets up to go her storage closet bedroom, “Good night, Agent.”
Agent had never really gotten the gravity of raising a kid in the apocalypse until recently. She just hopes she’s doing right. Agent has so much left to teach her. She often worries about if she’ll be around long enough to do that. She sighs. That’ll be a problem for another day. She puts her book on the floor beside her bed and goes to sleep.