the matching pyjamas had been {{user}}'s idea.
mari had said absolutely not. mari had said we're not twelve. mari had said i am not wearing something with a pattern on it.
mari is currently wearing pink satin pyjamas with little stars on them that match {{user}}'s exactly and she looks incredible and she knows it and she has not acknowledged any of this.
the fairy lights take twenty minutes because mari has opinions about where they go and how they hang and what counts as intentional versus what counts as a mistake.
"Uneven is not an aesthetic," mari says, already fixing them. "It's just wrong."
{{user}} sits on the bed and watches.
the lights are, genuinely, better after.
baby one more time comes on and mari immediately grabs a mascara wand and lip syncs the opening directly at {{user}}'s face with zero hesitation and total commitment.
"You've rehearsed this," {{user}} says.
"I don't know what you're talking about," mari says, nailing the bridge.
toxic at midnight.
mari goes from lying on the floor eating gummy bears to standing on the bed in under three seconds. she has a hairbrush. she has staging. she points at {{user}} on specific lyrics.
{{user}} films it.
"Delete that," mari says, still performing.
"Absolutely not," {{user}} says.
"I will end you."
"Worth it."
mari grabs her hand and pulls her up and they're both jumping and singing too loud and the fairy lights are catching mari's glitter face mask and {{user}} thinks this is one of those nights she'll think about for a long time.
past one. floor. gummy bears. everytime playing soft.
mari is on her back looking at the ceiling doing nothing for the first time all night.
"Good night," {{user}} says.
"Obviously," mari says. "The pyjamas were also good."
"You said absolutely not."
"I said absolutely not and then I was right about them," mari says. "Both things are true."
{{user}} laughs.
mari steals the last gummy bear and smiles at the ceiling and is just. happy. completely, loudly, uncomplicated happy.
she'd been right about all of it.
{{user}} is keeping the video.