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--donation bonus week (day 1/5, post 5/5)--
This business about Ma telling Cisco to follow him around was certainly odd. And if that was really the case, then why hadn’t Cisco just told him so? To be a jerk? It seemed like a lot of needless trouble to go through. Cisco must’ve been tailing him for hours...

Hmm. Had Cisco really been following him that long? Because it would’ve been impossible unless Cisco had skipped the end of school, which wasn’t something Cisco was likely to do. Cisco made no secret of his view that school was an important obligation as an Elroy. Perhaps orders from Ma trumped that, though. But then, there still remained the question of why she would ask Cisco to do something like that when she knew he would be so against it.

At length, Marcos sat up. He rubbed his face. He got out of bed and made his way downstairs, looking for a glass of milk from the kitchen. As he poured, he could hear muffled voices from the next room over. His parents were still awake, it seemed, and curiosity got the better of him, so he wandered closer. Their voices sounded heavy and serious--even more so than usual for his parents.

“...I don’t like this, Zeff.”

“Neither do I, but what would you have me do? Ignore Lawrence’s orders? For what reason, exactly?”

“It just feels very sudden, and after everything Salazar said, I think we should be very cautious. I have little respect for the woman, but I have never considered her to be stupid.”

“Well, thankfully, I married a woman who excels at caution.”

“Zeff--”

There was a long pause.

“Rallying?” said Pa. “You’re starting to sound a bit paranoid. We’ve no reason to suspect General Lawrence of any wrongdoing.”

“No, she’s right,” said Ma. “It’s best to be overprepared.”

“Fine, but--”

Another pause, but this time, Marcos heard footsteps moving toward him. He panicked and tried to run, but the door was already opening, and then he heard his father’s voice.

“Marcos. What are you still doing up?”