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When you're so used to doing the same task every day, you end up basically going into auto mode. Showering right after you wake up, putting on your clothes, making the bed, making breakfast, setting the table and then washing the dishes. Of course, many of these tasks you end up sharing with your girlfriend; either you end up doing them together, or one day one of you does them and the next day the other, but usually still on the company of each other.
Today, however, is unfortunately not one of those days. As soon as everyone had finished breakfast and the children had helped you carry the dishes to the sink, Alma quickly went to her study (as she had said she needed to) to organise the children's lessons. Which left you with the responsibility of washing all the dishes by yourself, since they all dispersed, each with their own chores.
So you put on a pair of rubber gloves and turn on the water, waiting a few seconds for it to warm up. Once it's at the right temperature, you start to wash all the dirty dishes, making sure to scrub each one properly. While you do this, you start humming a quiet song to yourself, enjoying this moment of tranquility. Though you would rather have the company of the headmistress, you can't deny that this moment is very therapeutic, a moment of calmness and to just enjoy being by yourself, while also hearing the children move around the house or play outside.
As you let yourself get lost in your thoughts, you accidentally drop the knife you were currently washing. Immediately, your arm shoots out as you try to catch it, but your reflexes aren't too quick, because it lands on the floor right after cutting the tip of your left index finger. You let out a loud hiss, as pain immediately shoots up your finger.
"FUCK! Goddamnit..." you curse, putting your index finger on your mouth to try and soothe the sting right after you take off the gloves. "ALMA!!" you then shout, waiting for her to come help you.
After only a few seconds, you hear her footsteps running towards the kitchen, and before you know it, she's rushing into the room. As soon as her gaze falls upon you, her eyes wide and with concern written all over her face.
"My love! What's wrong?" she quickly comes over to you, grabbing your injured finger to examine it, making you wince slightly.
"I'm fine, I just cut myself with the knife while I was washing the dishes..." you try to reassure her, even if it's in vain considering how worried she looks for you.
"Oh my god, dear. You need to be more careful." she says, looking up at you with a concerned expression. "Sit down on the chair."
You frown, rolling your eyes slightly.
"It's just a tiny cut, I got distracted and let the knife slip, that's all." you say, sitting down on one of the chairs, still letting her hold your finger in her hands.
She gives you a small glare, shaking her head.
"Doesn't matter. A cut is still a cut, you idiot." she says, but her voice has a fondness to it. "Stay here. I'll go grab the first aid kit."
You roll your eyes, but you can't help the small smile.
"Yes, mum." you tease her as she leaves before sitting back on the chair to wait until she comes back.
It only takes a few minutes before she returns into the kitchen, holding the first aid kit. She quickly sits down next to you and begins to open it up, taking out some scissors, cotton, bandages and alcohol. You watch her closely, amused at how seriously she's taking the situation.
"You're acting like I cut my finger off, babe." you jokingly say as she rummages for supplies.
The ymbryne chuckles, but then shakes her head, a small smile on her face.
"I'm still not used to you calling me that, you know." she says, referring to the term of endearment you used. "But I can't help but worry." she adds, her smile falling as she looks up at you with a worried expression. "I just don't want you getting hurt."
Alma then grabs a cotton and alcohol.
"This will sting a bit, love." she says softly, before taking your hand and dabbing the alcohol over your wounded finger.
You wince slightly, the stinging feeling on the cut. But you clench your jaw and endure the pain. You look up at her, the concern still present in her eyes as she focuses on cleaning the injury.
After she finishes doing it, she grabs a bandage and starts to wrap it around your finger, her touch gentle as she does it. When she's done, she brings your finger up to her lips and kisses it delicately, a small smile on her face.
"There you go." she whispers, looking up at you. "All fixed."
You smile at her tender actions, feeling your heart skipping a beat at seeing how worried and caring she was.
"Thank you, love." you say, lifting your other hand to cup her cheek and run your thumb over her cheekbone.
—
Throughout the day, you can't help but notice that Emma has been avoiding you. She hasn't said a word to you all day, and whenever you try to talk to her, she quickly excuses herself and leaves. Eventually, you begin to worry and wonder if you've done anything to upset her.
After dinner is over and the kids are occupied with cleaning the dishes, you take the opportunity to talk to your girlfriend about what you've been noticing.
"Alma," you say, catching her attention. "Have you noticed anything strange about Emma? She's been avoiding me all day."
The headmistress frowns.
"Actually, now that you mention it, I have noticed some strange behavior from her." she nods thoughtfully. "She hasn't exactly been avoiding me, but through the day she wouldn't look me in the eye and whenever she needed to talk to me, she would blush."
You raise an eyebrow.
"That's unlike her. She's not normally like that." you say, puzzled by her behavior. "I wonder what's going on with her."
The older woman nods in agreement, a look of worry on her face.
"Yes, it's not like her at all." she says, then suggests, "Why don't we try talking to her about it? Maybe she'll open up to us if we ask her directly."
You nod.
"Yeah, might as well try." you say. "Hopefully she'll tell us what's bothering her."
The two of you head towards the kitchen, where you see all the children helping each other with the dishes and cleaning up the room. You spot Emma among them and call out to her.
"Emma, can we talk to you for a moment?"
She turns around in surprise. She looks nervously between the two of you, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "Um, sure. What is it?"
The headmistress looks at Emma closely, also noticing her pink cheeks. "Would you follow us to my study?"
The teenager silently nods at Miss Peregrine's request, before following her.
Before leaving the kitchen, you turn to the other children and tell them to finish cleaning up before gathering in the living room to watch Horace's dreams. You then hurry after Alma and Emma, catching up with them as they're walking towards her study.
The three of you enter the room and your girlfriend closes the door behind you, gesturing for Emma to sit down on one of the chairs. The three of you take a seat, and you notice that Emma's cheeks are still pink, and her hands are fidgeting nervously. You all sit down and silence envelopes the room for a moment, before you clear your throat.
"Emma," you say, speaking up. "We noticed that you've been acting strange today."
Alma nods in agreement with you, looking at the girl with a concerned expression. She adds, her tone gentle. "Is everything alright?"
Emma finally makes eye contact with the two of you, but she's still blushing as she does so. After a moment, she sighs and looks down, mumbling something.
"I heard you, okay?"
Your girlfriend and you exchange a confused look before turning back to Emma, even more confused. You both look at her with furrowed brows as Alma asks, "You... heard us?"
The teen blushes even harder, still avoiding eye contact. She mumbles, embarrassed, "Y/N wasn't exactly... quiet. You two should be more careful when you're being intimate."
Both of yours and the headmistress' eyes widen in surprise, and you can feel your face heat up.
Blushing, you point to yourself and blurt out, "Me?" you then turn to Alma, and whisper to her in a hushed voice, "We were pretty quiet last night, though."
The ymbryne's face turns red as she realises exactly what Emma is referring to. She looks at you with wide eyes and then quickly turns her attention back to the younger girl. Emma, however, seems puzzled by your reaction, and shakes her head.
"Wait, last night? That's not what I'm talking about. You did it last night too?" her face scrunches up in discomfort.
Alma's face flushes even more. She splutters for a moment, unable to find any words. After a few seconds, she finally manages to say, "N-Nothing sexual happened between us today!"
You chime in. "Miss Peregrine spent almost the entire day locked up in her study, preparing the children's lessons. We didn't do anything today."
Emma looks at the two of you, confusion written all over her face. "Then what did I hear today?"
Both you and your girlfriend look at her quizzically, wondering what she could be talking about. Alma tilts her head slightly and asks, "What exactly did you hear?"
The girl fidgets awkwardly in her seat, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. "Well... I walked in the house and I heard you hissing and cursing, and then you screamed Miss Peregrine's name."
Her words cause the pieces to click in your mind and you realise the confusion.
"Oh," you say, understanding dawning on you. "Emma, it's not what you think. I hissed and then shouted that and Miss Peregrine's name because I accidentally cut my finger with a knife while I was washing the dishes."
You then hold up your wounded finger, showing her the bandage wrapped around it. Emma's eyes widen in surprise, her cheeks turning even more pink with embarrassment.
"Oh," she says quietly. "I... I didn't realise. I thought..." she trails off.
"It's alright, Emma. Giving the context of what you heard, it's completely understandable that you misunderstood the situation." the older woman says in a gentle voice. She smiles at the teenager and adds, "If you ever have any concerns or questions, don't hesitate to talk to either of us, alright?"
Emma nods, still looking embarrassed but relieved to have the misunderstanding cleared up.
"I'll keep that in mind," she says, then adds sheepishly, "but I think I'd rather not know about... your intimate lives, though."
Chuckling softly at her words, you nod and get up from your chair, gesturing for the two of them to follow. "Alright, fair enough. You can go back to your daily chores then, Emma. Thanks for talking to us."
She gets up from her chair as well and mumbles a quick "okay" before rushing out of the room, clearly eager to leave. Once Emma leaves the room, the two of you let out simultaneous sighs.
You turn to Alma and say, with a hint of amusement, "That was close. Can you imagine if she had actually heard us having sex?"
She gives you a playful nudge on the arm and rolls her eyes at your words. "Well, she might not have heard us, but now she knows what we were up to last night thanks to you..."
You chuckle and raise your hands in a defensive gesture, saying, "Hey, to be fair, she didn't specifically tell us what and when she heard us, so I naturally assumed she was talking about last night."
Your girlfriend playfully smacks you on the butt and grins. "Alright then, go do your tasks, love."
She then plants a quick kiss on your lips before gently pushing you out of the room.
You can't help but leave the study chuckling to yourself, both amused by the older woman's playfulness as well as relieved that the misunderstanding with Emma has been cleared up. You are still a little bit embarrassed though, knowing that she's now aware of your intimate life with Alma.