hexes for exes

chapter thirty, nineteen's kitsch

Pamela shrugged. "Mum's probably in the backyard helping set things up. Dad too. Nai nai's been arranged a very nice chair by the pool."

"Ah, the VIP treatment."

Dryly, Pamela replied, "I think it's more because they're scared she'll accidentally fall and hurt herself, but sure. Whatever you want to call it, Livia."

"Where are your brothers?" Livia asked, nudging her chin at Aurelius.

"In their rooms," Aurelius replied. "Mum told them to screw off but with nicer language when they tried to help. We all remember what happened two years ago."

Livia winced. The two boys had managed to drop an entire jar of fresh lemonade. It had gotten everywhere on the carpet, and was one of the many times she wondered why the British were so in love with their carpets. They were ridiculously difficult to clean, full of germs, and not even all that comfortable. Was it for the cold? Perhaps it was. But she was never here during the winter, so she'd have no clue about that.

"It was a good thing," Pamela snickered, "they never asked any of us to help with anything after that. I think they realised we'd just make things worse."

"That's not something to be proud of," Livia sighed.

Shane shrugged. "Seems like a good way to be lazy."

"Kids," Livia muttered, shaking her head. "I'll go find the boys."

Aurelius eyed her for a moment. "You're all friends again, yeah?"

Livia nodded and gave no other answer. She didn't want any more questions about that. It was complicated, that was the simplest way to put it.

She located the two boys in Amphion's room, sat at the same desk. She squinted. They were gaming.

She strolled forward. "Seriously? You're playing a game now?"

"It's a solo," Zeth explained, not looking up. She watched for a moment as his champion narrowly dodged an ability from Amphion's champion.

"Nice sidestep," she commented.

"Dodging's kind of my thing." Which was true, and why Livia despised playing against him. All her champions were heavily skill-shot based, and Zeth somehow had the ability to dodge everything when he put his mind to it. His reaction speed was insane.

When Amphion missed another skillshot, Livia wrinkled her nose. "What the hell is that?"

Amphion scowled. "You said it himself, he's the dodging god."

"Nah, you just completely aimed that at the wrong place," Livia scoffed.

"Shut up," he shot back. "Don't you have something else to be doing?"

"Nope," Livia replied, settling on the floor behind them. "I'm bored as all hell. Maybe I should bring my laptop and mouse over too."

Zeth finally took a glance at her before turning right back to his screen. "You can play on my laptop after this if you want. I'm hungry."

"I have a banana," Livia said, showing it, "but it's just for me. There's a few more in the kitchen." She started peeling her banana as well, because she was starving and didn't feel like holding it around forever.

"I'll do that whenever this game ends," he promised. "You can use my laptop."

"Do you even have my champions?" Livia asked, frowning.

"I have some of them," Zeth huffed. "We've all played for years, Livia. It's not that difficult to unlock all the champions."

"Fair enough." Livia munched on her banana as she whipped out her phone, periodically glancing up to see how the game was going for the twins. Zeth was one kill up so far, but it hadn't given him too much of an advantage, since he was behind in farming. Amphion had almost twenty minions on him, which was just ridiculous, all things considered. But then again, whatever talent had been instilled in him for his dodging had not extended to his farming. It wasn't all that surprising, she had to admit.