Morgan was tired. Tired of running, tired of Fionn, tired of (and she never thought she'd say this) fighting.
Sometimes she wished she was normal. Sometimes she wished she wasn't a mage, that her and her girlfriend Amber had met at cafe or a school disco or something. She wished they could go on dates, to parties, to films together. She wished they could introduce eachother to their parents.
Morgan knew she wasn't ""normal"" from a young age. Before she was Water Mage Morgan Hae-eun, she was Morgan Hae-eun. Regular Morgan Hae-eun. Autistic Korean Lesbian Morgan Hae-eun, who had a younger brother called Matthew and a cat called Stocaí, who lived in a little house in a seaside village in Kerry.
She missed her house. Her bedroom, with the deep blue walls and glow-in-the-dark stars stuck on the ceiling and the shells in the window. She missed her kitchen, where she'd attempt her maths homework each evening while Matthew begged her to play with him and Stocaí nipped at her ankles.
They drove alone another dark,winding country road, all five of them piled into the stolen car; Oriel driving, Fionn in the passenger seat, Morgan, Amber and Worm in the back.
Oriel hummed some indie song under their breath, tapping the steering wheel with their long light brown fingers. Fionn was reading a book he must have found in the car, carefully turning each page so not to crease it. Worm was curled up asleep beside the window.
Amber looked at Morgan with her piercing dark eyes. Everything about her looked dark, her eyes, her skin, her clouds of natural curls... but Amber was bright, bright, bright; a shimmering star in overwhelming darkness.
Amber gave Morgan a smile, gently slipping her hand into hers. Morgan couldn't help cracking a smile too. She rarely smiled, unless she was around Amber.
They drove for about half an hour more, before stopping at a motel on a deserted road.
They checked in, booking two rooms with two double beds in each, making sure to disguise themselves before quickly locking the doors behind them.
The five teenagers all sat in one of the rooms, tensely staring the others down. Oriel, the oldest and always the leader, spoke up first.
"Okay, so, I was thinking-" they began, which was code for 'shut up and listen to me'.
"Amber and Morgan in one room, Fionn, Worm and I in the other."
"Why are you separating us based on gender, bigot?" Worm queried, hanging upside-down on one of the beds.
"Am I a guy, Héctor? No. Am I a girl? No. Am I annoyed and tired? Yes. Do I just want to cuddle with my beloved boyfriend? Yes. Do you understand, Héctor?"
Worm nodded. "Sorry, man, just wondering."
Oriel inhaled sharply, then exhaled. "I get it. We're all kind of snappy these days."
Fionn wrapped his arms around them behind, reaching down and kissing the top of his partner's curls.
Oriel smiled, kissing him on the nose. They both giggled. The other three all exchanged a look.
Worm cleared his throat, causing the couple to blush and spring apart.
"Yeah. So..... please don't have sex with me in the room."
"Héctor Worm Huerta!" Fionn gasped, looking genuinely shocked.
"You do realise Worm isn't actually my name, right?"
"You can't talk about sex! You're, like, nine!"
"Thirteen."
Morgan looked at Amber, who gave her a nod.
