HekaAnna

It was the day before Valentines Day and Zoc was still spending all of his time working on the potion. Ann had just gotten home and decided she couldn’t wait any longer to see him so she headed to the basement and used one of the extra shrinking potions that were kept hidden in the basement then headed into the nest. As Ann got close to Zoc’s home she could hear him muttering something that she was sure it was a good thing she couldn’t understand, then she saw a potion bottle suddenly shatter against the wall. She hesitated a moment then peaked inside, any anger she had felt about not seeing him since Friday instantly disappea

By the beginning of February, Ann had finished and turned in her report, but was really starting to miss Zoc. He still came over and stayed with her on Friday evenings, but according to Hope, he never did anything but work on the potion that he still hadn’t been able to make work. On the third of the month, Ann was just getting off of work when Elnora asked, “Do you and Zoc have any plans for tonight?” “No,” Ann replied, trying not to sound disappointed. “What’s wrong?” Elnora asked, sensing Ann‘s tone. Sighing, Ann said, “I’ve just barely seen him these past few weeks-- he’s wor

By the first of the new year, Ann had told Hope, May and Lilly about her and Zoc being engaged; after that, word had quickly spread through the whole colony. Meanwhile, Zoc was working out the details to have the Head of Council perform the ceremony on Valentines’ Day, just as Ann had mentioned to him once in passing. (The fact that Zoc was arranging the most important day of her life around something she’d never expected him to recall, or even pay attention to, meant a great deal to Ann, and was a daily reminder of why she loved Zoc so much.) Another daily reminder came when she got home on Friday night, calling out as she entered

When Ann and Elnora got to the shop a few minutes later, Elnora showed Ann to a small locked room on the top floor. Inside was an old bed, a dresser with a small wooden chest on it and several boxes stacked around the room. “What do you want to show me?” Ann asked, staying a few feet behind Elnora as visions of Elnora shoving her into the room and locking her in there until she told her about the ants filled her mind and made it a challenge to remain calm. “Ann, honey, you’ve got to relax-- I’m not going to hurt the ants or you,” Elnora consoled, pocketing the key to the room. “Come look at this.” Ver

On Christmas Eve, Ann and Zoc were curled up relaxing in front of the fireplace. “Are you sure there’s nothing you want for Christmas?” Ann asked. “I told you before-- all I want is to be with you every moment the Nickles and Elnora aren’t here, and half of whatever cookies and candy are left over after the fact,” Zoc told her for the hundredth time in past few days. “I was going to do that anyway-- are you sure there’s nothing else you want?” Ann asked. “Only one other thing I can think of,” Zoc said. “Which is?” Ann prompted. “I’ll tell you tomorrow,” Zoc s

Over the next three weeks Ann, Elnora and the Nickle’s sorted and cataloged everything from the safe, with Zoc helping Ann when no one else was around. Near the end of those three weeks, Zoc put the last box of sorted coins with the other boxes, then walked over behind Ann where she was still sitting at the table, putting the last of the supplies away. “So what are we going to do the rest of the day?” he asked, gently massaging her shoulders. Ann leaned her head back against Zoc’s thorax and looked up at him. “I think it’s about time I get my Christmas baking done,” she told him. “I finally get to ta

That Thursday was Thanksgiving, and after assuring Elnora that she could handle making most of the meal by herself a couple dozen times, Ann had finally convinced her not to come over early, leaving Ann and Zoc to make it together. Ann woke up on Thanksgiving Day lying on the couch with her head on Zoc’s thorax. Considering that Ann didn’t have classes that day, Zoc had stayed overnight. As much as she wanted to lie there for a while longer, she knew that they had to get everything made, including starting the turkey, and soon. She slowly started to trace over the patterning on Zoc’s thorax with her fingertips. When that didn

When Ann got home that evening, she tried to start a fire in the fireplace, but after a few failed attempts to get the flames to moves from the papers to the kindling, she let out a frustrated sigh and dropped onto the couch. “You know, I could teach you an easier way to do that,” Zoc observed from behind her. Ann jumped and whipped around to look at him, only to smile and ask, “What are you doing here at this hour?” “I saw you get home and thought I would come see how everything went,” Zoc answered, coming around to sit next to Ann on the sofa, resting his staff against the piece of furniture‘s arm.

When Ann woke up at seven the next morning, Zoc was gently kissing her shoulders. “It’s time to wake up,” he told her quietly. ”If I don’t bother to, will you keep doing that?” Ann asked. “For a little while,” Zoc replied, slowly kissing his way from her shoulders down to the neckline of her dress. Finally opening her eyes, Ann reached up and pulled the pillow out from under her head, which lowered her head enough that Zoc could continue his way across to her other shoulder. Ann gently kissed his forehead, then his antennae, as he kissed to her shoulder and the center of her chest, his antennas curlin