The Years After The Dream (The_Idol_Inside_Me and malin)

[The_Idol_Inside_Me]

The alarm's crude beeping woke Robin from her peaceful slumber, forcing reality to take the place of sweet dreams about a perfect life. She reached out from her bed to turn off this very handy, but rather brutal function of her cell. She tossed back the little device onto the nightstand and looked at the ceiling. She was an early bird for as long as she could remember. When she was a little kid she would annoy her parents to no end by going to sleep rather early (and in the meantime forcing them to be silent lest they wake her) only to be up and running before a rooster would even look at the horizon in search of the first rays of light. Those days were over now and she lived with only her father in a not too spacious apartment, as opposed to the old days, when they were one happy family, living the American Dream complete with white fences and all. In an ironic way it was very similar to a real dream, waking from it could ruin a person's day, or in this case weeks, months, and for some unlucky fellows even years. Robin considered herself rather lucky in this regard, the divorce didn't affect her as much as it did with other people. Sure, she loved her mother and she was grateful to her for having given birth to her, but Robin also knew that she could a pain in the ass and that she had to work hard not to become like her, some things ran in her blood whether she wanted it or not.

The young 18 year old girl kicked off the sheet that got entangled with her legs after a few stressful tries and stood up. The blue tint of the sky revealed that the sun was already coming up and with no clouds in the vicinity it looked to be a promising day. This cheered up Robin, she loved basking in sunlight, her tan obviously a telling sign of this favored hobby of hers. She changed into her purple tracksuit (her sleeping attire consisting of a pair of panties and an old t-shirt) and sneaked out of the apartment as quietly as possible to avoid waking her father who was still sleeping and hopefully would be at least until the time she came back. She also had her iPhone (last year's birthday present from her loving father) that she used to listen to music and to the weather forecast to know what to expect during the afternoon should she wish to go someplace. The chilly morning air helped her wake up, an effective and less addictive method than drinking coffee. The traffic was minimal yet, some other people jogging, Robin even recognized a blond woman whom she had often seen in the park that was close to the apartment she resided in. An old man was walking his dog, and some poor souls were already commuting to work, probably underpaid and overworked from the looks on their faces.

Having finished her morning exercise, Robin returned home and occupied the bathroom. She had a quick shower (being careful not get her hair wet, while it barely reached her shoulders, it was still a pain in the ass to dry it) and washed her teeth. She placed a clean towel on the stand for her father and put on her casual outfit for while she was home. A pair of denim hot pants with a light blue thong underneath, sporting a purple tank-top and light blue bras as well. Her father's room was still quiet, so she decided to give the kitchen a visit. Unlike her mother she couldn't cook. At all. It was a very painful revelation that hit both her and her dad when they started living together. By now they could laugh it off, but the first few weeks were terrible and they survived on junk food alone. She made some coffee and turned her attention towards the cereal box. Even she could add milk to a bowl without triggering a devastating catastrophe in the neighborhood. When her father finally showed up, she greeted him without a smile, but that was nothing out of the ordinary, she simply didn't smile very often.

"Morning dad, made you some coffee." She gestured towards the still hot black liquid that should put him in gear.

 

[malin]

Markus could hear his daughters alarm go off in another room his light sleeping slightly disturbed by the noises of his daughter going out for her morning run. He turned slightly under his heavy quilt, and stayed warm hugging a pillow as he had hugged his wife in years past. But the bed was empty, far more than it had been in years, and his sleep was lighter for it. He didn't feel comfortable in his bed, rather he felt alone. His dreams were discomforting short and passed quickly enough that he forgot them before he even awoke. When he heard his daughter leave the house he drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness cursing the fact that she had always been such a morning person. It was a fact he really didn't approve of since he was not, that being one of the few things he and her had different opinions on. His uneasy sleep finally ending when Robin walked in through the front door and started to work in the kitchen. His eyes were slightly shot and he tried to rub the dryness away from them as he started waking painfully slow.

Markus stayed under the covers for a moment taking in the light of his room. all the window's in their small apartment pointed out towards the sun rise, meaning even now natural light was starting to filter in through his windows as well as the sounds of the city that they lived in. He stretched giving a yawn and stood up. His room was small and messy, but most importantly it was lonely. He had lost a lot in the divorce. His home, a lot of his belongings, but he had also lost his lover and his friend. The only person he really had left was Robin, and during the days that was fine she was his daughter, and his friend, But there was a place in his bed and in his heart that a daughter couldn't fill. Shaking off the depression he stretched feeling his joints give way to small pops and clicks. He slept Naked, and as he stood up his tall athletic frame was on display from his open window. Putting on some underwear and a pair of pants he shook his head needing to face the day.

His pants were only pajama's, seeing as how he would soon need to shower so he could fully wake up he saw no real point in being fully dressed. He opened his door and walked out holding a change of clothing and a towel in his hands. He moved stiffly almost like a zombie. Seeing robin in the kitchen she offered him some coffee. He often had to wonder why it was she almost never smiled. It wasn't that hard to figgure out though considering he didn't really have much to smile about either. Putting down the clothing and towel he took up the coffee, nodding in appreciation his voice still too dry to use. He took a grateful sip of the hot black gold of morning. The bitterness snapping him and restoring balance to the universe.

"Thank you dear." He spoke at last the morning finally starting to agree with him now that he had coffee. "Today's my day off, do you have any plans?" He asked carefully wondering of he could abduct his daughter for the day. It would be less boring if he had her around, she was his only friend at the moment.

 

[The_Idol_Inside_Me]

"I have a training session in the afternoon from four to six, but otherwise I'm free. I thought about going to the mall to do some window shopping and buy some cosmetics, but it's not set in stone I still have enough for a few days. Do you have something in mind?" She asked and looked at Markus.

In the meantime she finished her little breakfast, so she washed the bowl that she had used. She was the best member of the volleyball team and they had practice sessions every other day to get ready for this year's tournament, the previous year they almost became the number one team of the state, too bad they had lost that last match. No matter how good Robin was, there was only so much one person could do in an activity that had multiple participants. Maybe if she was a member of an all-stars team she could have marched all the way to the Olympics, but a dream sometimes remains just that, a dream, nothing more. Sport was Robin's Raison d'être and she was good at it ever since she was a little girl, she had a whole shelf dedicated to the medals and cups she had won. She was a relatively smart girl, but when it came to studying, she just didn't give it her best, whether it was Spanish, Geography or Math, she simply couldn't find the motivation to study. However, when it came to some kind of sports activity, she had seemingly endless energy reserves.

 

[malin]

Markus nodded as his daughter said she would be busy in the afternoon, that was fine. He would enjoy her company for as long as he could before giving her the space she needed. No child ever wanted to be around their parent twenty four seven, and though he was close to Robin he knew her love of sports practice, and was more than proud of her. looking out the window the morning was shaping into a warm day with no clouds in sight.

"What would you say to a picnic lunch, get out of the house for a little while with a few sandwiches and enjoy the sunlight while we have it. We could go to the nature park and take a hiking trail, than i could drive you to practice." He said with a light smile mulling it over in his head. It sounded like a good activity they would both enjoy, and he desperately wanted out of this depressingly small apartment. It was starting to play on his mind, and make him feel claustrophobic. Some fresh air and a forest hike would do him wonders, made all the better if Robin was willing to go with him. He took another drink of the coffee and began to wonder where he had put the good backpacks, if he was serious about this than he would probably need them, and he still needed his shower of course, but he could do that while she was at practice if they wanted to leave right away. "What do you say to going on an adventure with your old man?" He said lightly knowing full well he wasn't that old.

 

[The_Idol_Inside_Me]

"That sounds wonderful, I could use a good old fashioned hiking, it's been ages since the last one!" Robin was visibly eager to take up on her father's offer.

While it was true for many families that the father and the daughter had a very close and reliable relationship, it was especially good between Robin and Markus. It might have had something to do with how Robin's mother alienated her daughter with her behavior from herself or just a random occurrence, but it was an undeniable fact that Robin gave very little trouble to her dad even during her rebellious teenage years. It was something like an uneasy peace between two bordering nations, neither wanted to enter a war, but both had certain things they desired above all. By some miracle the phase passed with no major incidents and they settled back into a partner-like relation, helping each other when it was needed, but otherwise being equals in everyday activities. Robin's friends usually gave a puzzled look when they learned she was on such good terms with her father, except the ones who never knew their own dads, in that case it was a simple look of envy, devoid of ill intentions.

This would mean that Robin's day was settled, even she didn't have enough energy to go on a lengthy trek, have an arduous volleyball practice session and still have reserves to go out for the night. Not like it was a big deal, she loved being exhausted, her aching body reaffirmed her that she was alive very much so. For a person who rarely smiled and had few goals and desires, something like that was absolutely important to keep on living. Even as a child she was different from her peers, she never dreamed of becoming a princess or a perfect wife, she simply wanted to have fun to her heart's content. She also wasn't much of an animal person, she could never understand the appeal of cats and dogs, horses were the ones she could spend time with. If she had won the lottery, she would have bought a vast land and a couple of horses, living her life riding them everyday until one day she would disappear into the sunset.

"I guess I'll be packing my stuff then!" She said and energetically stood up, borderline jumping. It was pretty much given that she would not be making food for the picnic. Neither the daughter nor the father wanted to have a severe case of food poisoning.