and the clouds roll in

The morning Maisie and Amycus had planned for their vacation to begin was a sunny one, with birds chirping and leaves rustling gently in the soft breeze. Being the dark individuals they were, they hated it, and decided to leave for their trip as soon as possible. The weather promised to remain overcast in their destination, which was much better.

While Amycus brought the suitcases down, Maisie got Alecto up and ready to go. This was not a particularly easy task, as Alecto needed various items to keep her entertained during the trip, most of which she had scattered about the room. As she retrieved a chew toy from behind Alecto's shiny dresser, she found herself wishing Alecto cleaned her room more often.

By the time Alecto finished saying her goodbyes to Beatrice, her shiny talking wallpaper, Amycus was piling their suitcases into the trunk of their car. After making sure Alecto was settled in and had enough room, Maisie opened the car door and took the passenger seat, while Amycus finished up and got behind the wheel moments later.

They had only just pulled out of the driveway when Alecto shouted, "My chew toy! We forgot my chew toy!"

"It's okay, I brought you one," Maisie said, removing the shiny green chew toy from her black purse.

But what Alecto wanted was her old one, so Maisie had to go back inside and retrieve it for her. Once seated again, she gave it to Alecto, who gratefully gave her chew toy a few nibbles.

This time, they made it to the highway with no interruptions. Amycus steered the car with his lengthy caterpillar tongue, and Alecto happily gnawed her chew toy in the backseat. As for Maisie, she was just glad she was able to go on a vacation with the two people she loved most.

Everything was peaceful until Maisie felt a sharp kick to her seat, then another. She turned around, frowning. "What is it, Alecto?" she asked.

Alecto mumbled something along the lines of, "I have to go to the bathroom," but it sounded more like, "Half a bathroom" because she still had her chew toy in her mouth.

Even so, Maisie understood what she meant and asked, "Why didn't you go before we left?"

"I didn't have to go then!"

Sighing, Maisie turned to Amycus and said, "I think a stop is in order."

They drove a bit further before stopping at a gas station. Amycus tapped out a tune on the steering wheel with his tongue while Maisie took Alecto to the bathroom. It took a little while, due to lines and Alecto wanting a cookie. When they finally came out, Alecto nibbling her cookie and Maisie slipping her wallet back into her purse, Amycus had gone through three songs.

Once again using his tongue to steer, Amycus returned to the highway. By now the weather was beginning to look just a bit more dreary, meaning they were moving along nicely.

Another hour came and went. As they drove, the weather grew more and more cloudy. In fact, only a few strips of blue could be seen in the sky. Amycus and Maisie were delighted to see this. At this rate, it might even be raining by the time they arrived.

Maisie took another jolt to her seat. She turned and said, "You don't have to go again, do you, Alecto?"

Alecto shook her head.

"What is it, then?"

"Are we going to eat soon?" she asked. "Because I'm hungry and I wanted to get up and walk around anyway."

Both Maisie and Amycus were also a bit peckish, so Maisie gently assured Alecto that they would be stopping soon.

The restaurant they stopped at was about twenty minutes down the road. Alecto wanted to bring some rice to play with while she waited for her food, so Amycus swept some of it into a small bag for her.

The rice proved to be a good thing when Alecto briefly looked up from stacking grains of rice and saw Amycus lovingly lick Maisie's cheek. She didn't appear to mind, but Alecto found it strange, and was glad she could play with her rice and not have to witness any more of that.

Their food arrived just as Alecto's flimsy rice tower finally toppled over, and she scooped it back into the bag and began to eat. Ordinarily it took much longer and a bit more prompting to get her to put the rice away and have some food, but she had ordered pasta and thought it might be fun to try playing with the leftover noodles.

When the meal ended, Amycus paid the check, and their plates were cleared away. Alecto was glad, as she had learned that noodles weren't as fun as rice. They went back to the car.

While they had eaten, more clouds had rolled in. The sky was growing darker and darker as they drove, the fluffy white-grey clouds giving way to dark, looming ones. They seemed ready to burst open any minute.

As the sky became more restless, so did Alecto. She was growing tired of biting her chew toy and staring out the window, wondering when it would begin to rain. Even her rice seemed a bit dull.

"Are we there yet?" she asked.

"Not just yet, Alecto," Amycus replied, switching to steering with his hands so he could better answer her. "We still have a little farther to go."

Alecto frowned. "Are we almost there yet?"

"We're more than halfway there," said Maisie, "but it'll probably be about two and a half hours before we're there."

"Two and a half hours? I don't want it to take two and a half hours!"

When neither Maisie nor Amycus could produce a truthful response that it wouldn't take two and a half hours, Alecto began a furious tantrum, attacking Maisie's seat and wailing, "But I want to be there now!"

Amycus looked a bit flustered, clearly trying to keep his attention on the road with all the commotion going on around him. However, Maisie was prepared for this. She reached into her purse and removed a small bag of shiny Muggle sprinkles. She knew how much Alecto loved her shinies.

"Alecto," she said, "if you stop crying and let Amycus drive in peace, I'll give you these to play with."

She did want the shinies to play with, but it wasn't so easy for her to calm herself down. Usually Maisie or Amycus did that, armed with gentle pats, assurances that everything would be all right, and cookies.

Finally, Maisie reached back and gently patted Alecto's knee, one of the only body parts she could reach at this angle, and held out the bag of shiny sprinkles. Gradually, Alecto's cries died down to sniffles, and then were gone as she amused herself with the shinies.

The remainder of the trip passed in almost peaceful silence, broken only when Maisie and Amycus began to sing a duet in the front seat. Alecto merrily played with her shinies, and was the first to inform her traveling companions that it had begun to rain.

It was true. The sky wept at last, soaking everything below it. Raindrops danced across the windows of the car, then slid out of sight to continue their journey. Everyone inside was pleased to see the rain fall. It was expected to be like this for most of their vacation, so they wouldn't have to worry about sunny days or gentle breezes.

By the time Amycus, who had returned to using his tongue, pulled into the hotel parking lot, the rain had slowed to a few drops here and there, but the sky was dark except for the light of a few stars, so they didn't mind.

They found a parking space near the entrance and stopped the car. Maisie opened the trunk and removed their luggage and Amycus went to retrieve Alecto from the backseat, thinking she may need his help bringing everything in.

When he opened her door, Amycus found that she had fallen asleep, her chew toy in one hand and a pile of shinies pooling in her lap. As she slept, her foot gently grazed the seat in front of her, then dropped back to the floor.

Amycus didn't quite have the heart to wake her up, so he undid her seatbelt and lifted her into his arms, ensuring she didn't drop her chew toy in the process. Making sure to take her beloved rice, he shut the door.

Almost as if symbolizing the arrival of darkness, a clap of thunder sounded as they arrived at the hotel. Yes, this vacation would certainly be perfect.

the concept of beatrice the talking wallpaper belongs to the wonderful ella.

maisie, i apologize for all of this.