The Household Tips Deep-Dive


 

Leah was hyperfocused.

Elliot knew the signs. The intense stare at the screen. The speed at which she scrolled. The fact that she had, at some point, migrated from the chair to the floor, her laptop balanced precariously on her knees, completely unaware of time.

He peered over her shoulder. Household tips.

Elliot exhaled. Not again.

"Babe?" he tried.

No response.

"Leah?"

Nothing.

"You haven’t eaten in six hours."

Still nothing. He could’ve said, Leah, the house is on fire and she probably wouldn’t have looked up.

He sighed and retreated to the kitchen. He had two options:

  1. Let her be and deal with the inevitable emotional crash later.
  2. Find something she would eat and gently lure her back to reality.

He chose snack bribery. Toast was clearly off-limits, so he settled on cut-up fruit and a few biscuits, arranging them like an offering on a plate.

When he returned, Leah was muttering under her breath, her fingers flying over the keyboard.

"Apparently, if you soak burnt pans in a mix of baking soda and vinegar overnight, it lifts everything off. People swear by it—look at these before-and-after photos!"

Elliot rubbed his face. "Leah…"

"And get this—apparently, the reason our towels aren’t soft is because we’ve been using too much detergent. The buildup makes them stiff. We need to start adding white vinegar to the rinse cycle."

"Leah, I love you, but you need to eat something."

She waved him off, eyes never leaving the screen.

"I’m serious, El. We’ve been doing everything wrong. Fabric softener is a scam—"

"Leah."

Nothing.

He held up a biscuit. "It’s ginger. Might help your nausea."

That got her attention. She glanced at it, hesitated, then snatched it from his hand. Victory.

He sat beside her as she nibbled on it, still lost in the rabbit hole of cleaning hacks and organization techniques. She wasn’t entirely present yet, but it was a start.

Elliot glanced at the screen.

"…Why does this video say lemons can fix literally everything?"

Leah's eyes lit up.

"Oh! Let me show you—"

Elliot sighed. This was going to be a long night.

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