Gold. Silver. Frankincense. Myrrh. Gifts fit for a God, but what is fit for the King of Birmingham?
What is fit for a man that already has everything a man could possibly want?
A little bit of Gold created Chaos, perhaps?
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Blue hues always seemed to make any room look far cooler than it was. According to some science essay that had been circulating in the papers a few years prior, it was proven- but Polly Gray didn't believe that a colour could have such an affect on people.
Until Milly Gold walked into her living room wearing a blue jacket. It felt like the room had suddenly cooled, the warmth that the fireplace was giving simply not reaching the bodies sat on the settee.
The blue that Milly wore was so unlike her usual golden yellow that the Grey had become accustomed to. Of course, the girl could've worn gladrags and still looked as beautiful as she had done the first time she had ridden into Small Heath, but that blue—
It was just something else.
"What brings you to my abode, Milly? And in such a cold colour, too?"
Pollys voice was absent of its usual harsh tones, her motherly instincts overruled her usual tones and allowed the Gold to sink into its comfort.
"I witnessed my mothers death twice, you know? The first time, it was in a fever dream that everyone just thought was that, a dream. I was eight." Milly started, wiping her clammy hands against the blue sleeves of her jacket.
Pollys face contorted into a look of concern. She had only ever heard rumours of a child who could see what no one should ever see. Rumours had always circulated through the gypsy communities, but the rumours seemed to be amplified once the Lees heard them. They were as worse as school girls hearing about childhood boyfriend dramas, but the Lees never learned that the rumours were true...
Or at least they hadn't until a Shelby witnessed it all first hand.
"So I had hoped that coming to Thomas would do some good, save a few people from dying... but I don't know if what I had done went against..."
The elder cut the girl off with a raise of her hand, the girl almost swallowed the rest of her words. Polly took hold of Millys hands, holding them, using her thumb to stroke the outer part of her hand.
"God does not control us, not when he could've saved Freddie from dying."
God, despite being a wonderful thing to pray to, wasn't someone who could control everything that life had for every single person that existed on earth. Polly had learned the hard way of that, after losing John, her daughter Anna, and almost losing Michael.
"Is this why you're all in blue, or did you dirty up your yellow?" The question came as a surprise to Milly, no one had payed this much attention to the clothes she wore in the other places she had the misfortune of living in.
"Finn noticed a few days ago, said something about you being upset and confused. He's a clever boy is my Finn, but godawful at speaking to people." The elder woman added, unbothered by the sound of the front door opening and closing.
Milly shrugged, she loved her yellow, it was her colour and made her stand out from her sisters more than she already did.
"Finns not noticed I've been in blue all week." The younger scoffed back in response, warning her a soft scowl. "Alls I'm saying is he doesn't even acknowledge me, so how would he know?"
A head or two popped into the door, eyes focusing briefly on the two women talking, before popping out just as quickly as it had came. A flash of golden metal glinted under the dimmed light, Milly noticed it before anything else.
How Polly Grey wasn't wary of this was beyond her, especially since it was only last year that she was talking to the dead, giving away all of her valuable items...
"Finn, kettle."
A grumble of an 'orrite' came from the kitchen, along with a voice that sounded eerily similar to Bonnies.
"How did you—"
"It's what I like to call my Gypsy Intuition, similar to how you know when catastrophic events are about to happen, I know who comes in and out of those doors." Polly answered, once again, cutting the girl off from her speech.
What Milly didn't know was that Polly was trying to see what would irritate the girl to the point of confrontation. She had seen the girl explode on her brother once before in the street, but it was always calmly said, but her words were fuelled by venom.
For a moment, Milly wondered what it would've been like to have a matriarch in the family for a little longer than she had one, and for a moment she was bitterly jealous. Though, without her mother she had learned how the world worked and how to conquer anything that was thrown her way.
To a degree.
The room slowly became warmer, no longer could they feel the bitter nip of a frozen breeze. The licks of the fire danced across their cold skin, creating goosebumps as they passed from joint to joint.
It was as if the more comfortable Milly became, the less the blue was affecting everyone else around.
Of course, that wasn't possible, but emotions could play tricks on the mind.
A few minutes went by of almost complete silence, the sound of clanging coming from the kitchen and discreet conversation she couldn't quite make out.
It had to have been Bonnie that came through the doors with Finn, it wasn't Isaiah - the accent was wrong, and too tall to have been Michael, too young to have been Thomas and Ada definitely wasn't a man-
"Coming, Pol." Finn shouted from the other room once the whistle if the kettle had calmed down.
Before Finn walked through the door with the teas, Polly lit herself a cigarette - but not before offering one to Milly (who politely declined knowing she would've been bollocked for it if anyone found out).
The lighter burnt the end, causing a burnt umber glow of light from the end. Satisfying to some, yes, but the smell was enough to make one's nose burn after so much time with the door shut.
As if on cue, her saving grace for the moment, swung the door open to allow some of the fumes to freely escape the once enclosed room.
Bearing tea and a few of the fancy biscuits most people saved only for Christmas, Finn walked through the door. His cheeks tinged with a light shade of pink presumably from the changes in temperature.
"Sit down boys, you too Bonnie." Polly called out, causing Millys head to turn to face the door properly.
Bonnie was just leaning against the door frame trying to keep himself out of view but after being exposed by a woman who clearly had eyes in the back of her head, he had no excuse but to sit down.
"Mornin' Ms Grey." Bonnie somewhat squeaked out, taking a seat next to his sister who was conjuring up a list of questions to ask on their trek home.
