He shakes his head, looking around the hallway and thinking of a plan. He looks back up to Silver. “Tell him I’ll buy him a pet, but he can’t keep those in the house.”
Cage giggles. “I’m joking. Hey, how do you think he ice cream will taste?”
Silver half sighed, half groaned, and crawled back to Gabriel. "I'm trying Gabe." She whispered so Ben wouldn't hear. "I don't think he knows what the word 'shed' means in English."
"Nasty." Miki replied without hesitation. "Greasy and nasty."
Cage tries not to laugh, but ends up snorting and laughing so hard his eyes water. “It will be though!”
Gabriel stares, blinking and petting a raccoon.
Can I not keep them?
I can’t put them back outside.
Silver stretched out on the floor and stared at the ceiling, thinking, and patted his leg consolingly.
"I have like $200 dollars saved. I wonder if that's enough to buy a shed."
"Seriously! Greasy ice cream! Why did we think that was gonna be a good idea??"
Gabriel bites his lip, showing his pointy canines. “No. Don’t spend your money on… me.”
Cage continues laughing, covering his mouth and wheezing.
Silver frowned at him and booped his nose with her finger. "I'll spend my money on whoever I want. And I don't have anything better to do than spend it on people I love."
Miki tried to hold in her giggles. "Oh my word it's not that funny, Cage." But the more he laughed the more she laughed, until she couldn't stop.
Gabriel still stares of in the distance and gives his nose a small rub with his hand after she’s taken her finger away.
“Sil, it’s okay.” He scratchily whispers.
They've lived outside before…
Cage rubs his eyes as his laughing calms down and he stands, stretching. “VIIIIII. When are you guys leaving tonight?”
She peers over the balcony, “six I think.”
He nods. “You guys are gonna be out for a while.” He says to himself, rubbing the back of his neck.
Silver sighed. "Babe, I know it's not the worst thing ever but…" She sat up. "I know how much they mean to you." She twisted her lips to one side thoughtfully. "I wonder if I could ask Ben for a shed. For me. Not for you." The idea took root and her eyes lit up. "They might have to be outside for a short while before we get a shed set up, but let me go talk to Ben again." She pressed a quick kiss to Gabe's cheek and scampered down the ladder.
Miki raised an eyebrow. "They won't be back before ten or eleven. I wonder where they're going?"
“Dinner.” Cage states, peering into the ice cream machine. “Or that’s what they said. Maybe they’re really bad guys though and they’re going to tell their boss everything about us.” A grin crosses his lips.
His brow creased, Gabriel watches Sil quickly climb down the ladder.
???
Ben, once noticing she’s finally come back down, walks to Silver, having been leaning against the wall talking to Violet. “Well?”
"Oh my word, you weirdo." Miki rolled her eyes. "And they only rat us out after two years and moving half way around the world??"
Silver stood in front of him and cross her arms. "Can I have a shed?" She asked, pointing at herself.
Ben raises an eyebrow. "? Why would you want a shed? Is this for his animals, Silver?"
Cage nods. "It makes no sense, but they never do."
"I just want a shed, Ben. Please? I just… please can I have a shed? It doesn't matter what I do with it. I just want one."
Miki nodded solemnly and joined him in the kitchen to watch the ice cream maker. "But we love them anyway."
Cage grabs Miki's arm, suddenly gasping. "MIKI."
Ben closes his eyes, sighing. "Why can't we just… Put them outside. You know if we get a shed for them he'll just live in it."
She jumped. "AHHH WHAT??"
Silver took a deep breath. "Yes. And he'll be happy." She said quietly. "Ben, he really loves them. I've hardly ever seen him so happy and content before. They mean a lot to him. Just… can I have a shed? Please?"
Ben rubs his brow, mumbling something in Russian. "Do you even know how much those things cost Silver? And just for him to have a house for his animals that could very well live outside?"
Cage starts to bounce. "YOU'RE GONNA MEET ROBBY TOMORROW"
Silver swallowed, sighing in resignation. "How much does a shed cost? Cuz I have some money. It might be enough. I could get it myself."
"OH MY WORD" Miki yelled. "IM SO EXCITED I CAN'T WAIT AAHHHH"
He sighs, waving Silver off and turning around, "no, no. I'll get us one. But if Gabe gets his own shed for pets, your sister or Cage are going to want pets too. So he might end up sharing it." He rubs his forehead again, looking to Violet. "What do you think?"
She smiles. "It's a fine idea, and you're thinking about it too much, Ben."
He nods. "Alright."
Cage bites his lip, containing a squeal. "I haven't seen her in a good while either! I'm so happy she's cOMINGGGG!!!"
"Eee!" Silver squealed and gave him a tight hug from the back. "You're the best, Ben. And I'm sure he'll share just fine." She kissed Ben's cheek and climbed up the ladder again. "Gabe! Ben says he'll get a shed for your animals but if Miki or Cage want pets you'll have to share it." She wrapped her arms around Gabriel's neck, squeezing him happily. "But he's getting a shed for them!"
Miki laughed. "How long has it been? Have you even seen her since we moved here?"
Cage nods. "Yep. I saw her just last month. Me and Ben were going to run some errands and we had lunch with her." He smiles. "Ben makes sure I still get to hang out with her at least once a month."
Gabriel is startled and tenses up a little, then relaxes.
It's just Sil. She's not scary.
Well.
Kissa strides out of her room, closing her door and rubbing her eyes. "What is with the noise in this house?? Ugh."
"Awwww" Miki crooned, clapping her hands to her cheeks. "And here Ben would have us think he's a grumpy grouchy old man who doesn't care about those sort of things."
"It might take a few days to get it all set up so they'll have to stay outside until then. Is that okay?" Silver asked.
Cage giggles, saying “Naaaah, Ben’s a sweetie.”
Which of course is when Kissa walk in. She scrunches up her nose, picking up a bread roll from the counter. “I’m not convinced.”
Gabriel nods.
Yeah. That’s fine.
Miki laughed. "He hides it so well. Hey, how much longer is this ice cream supposed to go? When do we freeze it?"
Silver squeezed him one more time and jumped down the ladder, leaping over the balcony and dropping down to the kitchen. "GUYS WE'RE GETTING A SHED."
“Can I freeze it now?” Cage peers at it again. “I don’t think it would hurt it.”
Kissa stares sadly at the mixture. “You can’t hurt it more than you already have.”
Cage goes to say something, but jumps when Silver yells. “WAIT WHAT ARE WE GETTING A PONY!!!?”
Ben face palms and Violet walks to his side, rubbing his arm. “I knew this would happen.” He grumbles quietly.
Silver laughed. "Nooooo, it's for Gabriel's animals! So they won't be outside in the cold! And so y'all can sleep in the house again." she came over and peered at the machine. "Whoa, so we do have an ice cream maker?"
"Yep! It was under the sink the entire time!" Miki said. "Go ahead and freeze it, Cage, I want to watch."
“Ah, Gabriel gets a whole she’s for his animals??” He walks to the ice cream maker and puts his hands on it. “Oh, wait. Shouldn’t we move it to a different container?”
Silver hopped up and sat on the counter, dangling her legs back and forth. "Well, would you rather him keep them in the attic??" she asked.
Miki laughed and grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet. "Yeah maybe we should move it otherwise we'll never get it out of the machine."
Cage shakes his head, dumping the mush into the bowl. "Nooo, I want to sleep in this house. And I wan't if I'm worried about Raccoons eating me."
Gabriel climbs down from the attic, becoming invisible and sliding the ladder back up.
"Gabe's raccoons will not eat you. They've been there for a month and you never knew." Silver said, rolling her eyes.
"A MONTH???" Miki shrieked, almost dropping the bowl as she tried to scoop the ice cream into it. "I need to go take like… ten showers."
Cage squeals. "EEEEeeeeeeuuuuuiw! He probably has rabies from them, Sil!!!"
Kissa rolls her eyes, taking the trail mix bought from Gabriel's ice cream and sitting on the couch as she opens it.
Silver groaned and rolled her eyes. "You only get rabies if you get bit. And you know Gabe would bite them right back if they bit him. But they wouldn't. Because he's a stinkin Disney princess." She caught Kissa out of the corner of her eye snag Gabriel's trail mix, and launched herself off the counter, landing on the floor in front of the couch.
"Kiss. That's Gabriel's. There are plenty of snacks in the pantry for the rest of us." she said.
Miki shuddered and finished transferring the ice cream to the bowl. "Confirmed, I'm sleeping in the van for a month. Go ahead and freeze it now, Cage."