// shops for groceries //

    They do this together more often than not. Dechlan can cover the essentials on his own, but Jandy has some peculiar tastes that change almost weekly, and so it’s hard for Dechlan to do the shopping without forgetting something. At the same time, she can’t be trusted to remember the basic staples such as milk, eggs, or bread, so they go together and that way they’re both content.

    // kills the spiders //

    Jandy hates anything with an abnormal amount of legs and shouts for Dechlan whenever she comes across a creepy-crawly. He fulfills his duty as bug-killer with humor and great efficiency. And Dechlan always gives her a hard time about it, because she was able to mouth off to Warren, who would’ve killed her in a heartbeat, but when it comes to any sort of insect, she’s standing on top of the highest object nearby and waiting for him to rescue her. He wonders how she ever survived with just her sister to kill the bugs.

    // comes home drunk at 3AM //

    They both know the cost and effects of too much alcohol and Dechlan is too disciplined to allow himself to be that lax, but Jandy might, if it were the anniversary of her sister’s death and Dechlan wasn’t there to stop her from going out in the first place.

    // makes breakfast //

    That would be one of Dechlan’s things he does in the morning, if they don’t have work. He’s up anyways and knows Jandy likes the slow wake-up call that she gets from him bumping around in the kitchen. Though she complains about her dreams featuring quite a few breakfast foods on the mornings that he puts together more than just cereal.

    // remembers to feed the fish //

    It’s usually Dechlan, unless he has a lot on his mind, then Jandy will quietly picks up the slack around the house that slips his memory. Those are the few times she will remember to get the staple items from the grocery mart as well. He just gets caught up in work and some things have to let, so Jandy just takes care of the things he normally does in their routine until he’s sorted everything out and is back on his a-game.

    // decorates the apartment //

    That’s a Jandy thing, to some extent. But it’s only when the urge really strikes. She and Jane lived week to week and didn’t have the money for much extra paraphernalia around the house around their apartment, so it’s hard for her to get over that and decorate. But Dechlan’s learned to pick up on when she really like a piece of art or décor and then eases her into a decision about getting it or not. They don’t have a lot, but their living space is tasteful in a somewhat eclectic manner as a result.

    // initiates duets //

    Good heavens does Dechlan not sing. Jandy will, if the mood strikes. Whatever song she’s heard on the radio lately is usually her song of choice and then she just sings it on a loop when she doesn’t know many of the lyrics. She’s usually too distracted to notice, but if she’s singing a catchy tune in the shower, Dechlan can sometimes be caught humming along. And that’s the closest they ever get to doing a duet.

    // falls asleep first //

    After so many years of working long hours with little sleep, Jandy values every extra hour of sleep she can get, so she’s usually the first to crawl into bed at night to sleep. Dechlan tends to stay up later on purpose,  because he likes being able to lay awake and listen to the whispers of Jandy’s dreams. It lets him know where she’s at emotionally in her subconscious and it brings him peace to know that she’s resting and is safe. Jandy’s aware of his habit and lets it continue unimpeded because she watches over him too when he’s stressed out and isn’t sleeping much.

    // which one is abysmal at roller skating and has to hold onto the other //

    Jandy’s balance sucks when she’s not on her own two feet, planted on the ground. Jandy and Jane tried it once and they both ended up with bruised knees and scraped hands, so when Dechlan dragged her out to try again late one night when they both couldn’t sleep, she made him promise not to let her go because she was hurting too much from a rough two days already to add bruises from skating on top of them. He didn’t.

    // which one gets hiccups every time they drink something fizzy //

    That would be Dechlan. After Jandy worked as a serving girl at a night club for so many years, she’s pretty much immune to any weird side effects of the many weird drinks out there. But Dechlan, being the soldier he is and working off a pretty strict diet, has learned to steer away from anything carbonated. He made the mistake of drinking a soda in front of Jandy once. She didn’t stop laughing for an hour.

    // which one listens to new songs on loop until the other can’t stand it //

    It’s not always even new songs, but if Jandy finds a groove that she enjoys a lot, it can be put on replay for a couple of days until she has her fill of it. Which is two days too many for Dechlan, but they’re learning how to compromise. Two days of music in exchange for two days of quiet, depending on the situation. On very rare occasion, he enjoys the song too and doesn’t mind having it on a running loop. There is always the bonus of how very alive Jandy becomes when something loud and with a good beat comes on. 

    who holds the umbrella when it rains

    Jandy is the one who bought the bright blue umbrella with the white polka-dots, on a whim, merely because she could, and while she remembers to bring it with her when she leaves the apartment, but tends to forget about its presence in her backpack when it actually does begin to rain. She’s not accustomed to little niceties such as an umbrella, not after spending the years before Dech, growing up in Akita with Jane, without them.

    So he’s the one to tug her to a stop when it does start to drizzle, to retrieve the (ridiculously, in his opinion) bright umbrella from her bag and then hold it over them. Jandy is pleasantly surprised each time but has no qualms with using it as an excuse to stick to him like a burr.

    They get a lot of smiles from elderly folks during these occurrences.

    who is the grumpiest in the morning

    On a normal day, neither of them are too bad. Jandy is a slow-riser, but it doesn’t make her too grouchy. Bad days, however, are a different story altogether and picking the worse of the two is nigh impossible.

    For Jandy, it’s when she’s had a cruddy several nights of sleep, filled with dreams about subjects she’d much rather avoid—Warren, his Dyad program, Jane—that she gets into a snit right when her eyes open. She slams doors and drawers, contemplates kicking her dresser, and seriously considers just breaking something, because she would rather take her heartbroken anger out on inanimate objects than on Dech.

    And Dech… Dech gets surly in the mornings when he’s stressed and isn’t sleeping because of it. He’s off beat and going up the wall with the strain of trying to figure out the problem. He isn’t as demonstrative in his mood as Jandy is, but heavens help anyone who crosses him on those mornings.

    They’re adjusted to living in each other’s heads, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. They’ve learned when to intervene on each other’s bad moods and when to slip out of the apartment for a few hours so they both can breathe.

    who worries more when the other is sick/hurt

    Seeing as Dechlan is the one who didn’t practically raise a younger sibling all on his own, this one falls on him. Jandy’s is well-versed in what counts as a serious illness and what doesn’t, and, as such, knows when it’s time to worry and start considering a trip to the hospital.

    His lack of experience means that Dech tends to hover when Jandy comes down sick, or during one of the admittedly multiple times she is injured in some way. Like she’ll slip through his fingers if he’s not careful.

    Jandy is much more relaxed about it. Sure, she’s concerned when Dechlan’s under the weather or laid up in some other fashion, but she’s been through this gamut before. She knows what to expect. And knows that, even if his forehead is burning hot beneath her hand or he’s moving like an old man after getting shot, as long as those things are happening, he’s not gone from her life.

    who plays pranks on the other

    Does this even need answering? Jandelyn Elsie Sparks, folks. Not a grand prankster, on any account, but every now and again, she’ll catch Dechlan off-guard with a simple trick that tends to make him stand there, blinking in surprise, while she cracks up following his train of thought.

    And though you wouldn’t think it, Dech does, in fact, get his revenge for his mischief in quiet ways. Such as the quite unfortunate occurrences that all her shirts have to go in the laundry at the same time, or those times that he forgets that she doesn’t like a particular food product…. for three weeks in a row.

    who is always the first to suggest cuddling on the sofa

    It takes them both time to acclimate to each other physically, even after their minds are connected. Dech isn’t inclined towards touch and it’s been so long for Jandy, since before she lost Jane, and even then, she was working so much that there wasn’t a lot of extra time to spend curled up with her sis.

    But after they do figure it out, get closer, adjust to each other, then things like napping on the couch together start happening. While Jandy is given to impulse hugging (and poking, and tickling, and hair “fixing”), it is Dechlan who enjoys coaxing her into the living room with him on a lazy Saturday afternoon when the sunlight is warm and they have nothing to do. She might put up a good show of considering his offer, but it never lasts, and she’s always the first to drop off, humming in contentment to have Dech near with his heartbeat under her ear.

    who insists on creating nicknames for the other

    Jandy, Jandy, Jandy. As you’d expect. She was the one who started off their unorthodox relationship by calling him “Soldier Boy” when she was annoyed or just felt like getting on his nerves. But he broke her of that habit pretty quick, along with a handful of other inclinations that he didn’t agree with.

    So she’s settled into just “Dech” if she doesn’t feel like saying all the syllables of his name and he calls her Jandy, because she both doesn’t like her full name, and who on earth wants to say Jandelyn on a daily basis, and it works for both of them.

    who drools on the other when they’re asleep

    This one’s on Jandy again. It doesn’t really bother her, once she’s comfortable with Dech, because, hey, she raised her sis and do you know how much kids tend to drool? But it still kind of weirds out Dechlan and he tends to lay there, nonplussed, as she wipes it off his shirt, sort of apologizing, but not really. Because what’s the problem? And then she starts laughing when his reaction sinks in and she realizes how unused he is to this. Then she calls him a big baby, and goes to get ready for the day.

    who says ‘I love you’ first

    Because this is Jandy Sparks and Dechlan Scott, and because they don’t tend to do things in an orthodox fashion, there is never an outstanding moment where one grabs the other and blurts out those three, life-changing words. There’s just never a need to.

    They live in each other’s heads, are privy to each other’s most private thoughts and emotions, and thus they both know when their attachment to each other shifts from affection, to caring, to love. And they don’t need to say it because they are it.

    Even if they hadn’t been linked in the Dyad program, they know they wouldn’t have ever found someone else who complements and completes them like the other. The “I love you” just begins getting tacked on at the end of farewells in the morning, or at the end of a wandering thought that ends with a “I can’t believe how much I love him” or just in a quiet stare across the kitchen in the evening. Nothing momentous or memorable, particularly, just… them.

    And that’s how it’ll always be.