I moved down the stairs, tilting my head a little as Powder rushed past me. Not saying anything and not really in any mood to know what she was up to, I began making my way back to the shared room the orphans shared before pausing and hearing Mylo and Vi mid-conversation.
"Like, complain about everything," Vi said as I looked through the crack of the door. Mylo threw a ball against the wall, it bouncing into his palm before he looked over at Vi.
"What?" he whispered.
"And brag nonstop," Vi pushed on while sitting up.
"Okay, okay, I see where this is going," he groaned before throwing the ball again. But she caught it as she stood up, marching over to him.
"Pick fights with the group when we need to focus," Vi snapped as I began to slowly open the door.
"Vi, I--" Mylo began chuckling, the two not noticing me yet.
"And tell strangers on the street that we got a nice haul?" Vi pushed on as she threw the ball to the ground.
"I--I didn't mean to--"
"Powder's my problem, okay? Your problem is never knowing when to shut up."
She pointed her finger in his face as he leaned away from her. "But I'm going to help you with that. Ready?" Vi said as she pulled her finger back. And then she pointed at herself. "You see this look on my face? This will always mean it's time to shut up."
"But..." Vi pointed at her face, stopping Mylo short. "I--"
She gestured with both her fingers, lips pinned together before he groaned.
"Well, then what about Y/n, huh?" he shouted as he sat up a little and Vi reeled away from him.
"What about her?" Vi snapped.
"The girl can't even last two seconds in a fist fight before getting her nose bashed in."
My hand subconsciously went to my nose which was still a little crooked from today. I suspected it would forever be crooked now.
"And let's not forget the fact that if it wasn't for a little mouse, she wouldn't be here!" he added. "I can't tell you how many times that thing has saved her life because she can't even defend herself--"
Vi's lips twisted to the side before she pointed to her face, silently telling Mylo to shut up.
"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up?" she hissed before knocking him in the side of his head. "She's not a problem."
"Sure she is," Mylo hissed with a roll of his eyes as I began making my way down the stairs. "You just don't see it because you--"
Vi gestured to her face once again, and Mylo let out a small sigh as he got to his feet. Once I had reached the bottom step, I accidentally pushed a bottle off the railing with my hand and cringed with it clattered against the ground. Both of them turned towards me as Whiskers hid in my hair. Great job, Y/n... silent as a mouse.
I quickly walked around them, jumping into Powder's bed before closing the curtain and blocking the two out. Her bed was set up neatly in a small little box area, blocking out everyone else. It was nice and cozy--perfect for when I needed to hide from my mother or anyone else... which would be Mylo and Vi right now. It didn't work out that well.
"Please tell me you didn't hear all of that," Vi mumbled as she pushed open the curtain. I sat up a little, looking up into her blue eyes without saying a word. Whiskers climbed out of my hair and down into my lap, raising herself on her hind legs and putting her nose in the air. Vi looked from me down to the mouse on my lap before sighing and sinking into the mattress just at my feet. "Your mom hit you again, didn't she?"
I pressed my hand to the side of my cheek, feeling the heat of it still on my skin. Great--that means there's a handprint.
"You don't have to be quiet around us," Vi whispered as she stared at the room ahead of her. My lips twisted up to the side as I looked down at Whiskers before beginning to gently pet her. "Your voice matters here."
She looked over at me, and we maintained eye contact for a minute before she finally looked away first.
"Mylo's an idiot," Vi sighed while running a hand through her hair. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Sure he does," I mumbled quietly while looking down at Whiskers as she leaned into my touch. "And he's right, you know. I can't punch without getting it tenfold back. And Whiskers here can at least make someone bleed."
I laid back out on the mattress, meaning to hit the pillows but accidentally bonked my head against the wall. Hissing slightly, I leaned up while rubbing the back of my head as Vi stared at me.
"So is my mother," I continued on while looking up at her. "Stick to the shadows, keep your nose down... silent as a mouse. That's how I'll survive."
"You never have to just survive," Vi said as she leaned forward and cupped my hand in hers. My eyes went from our clasped hands back up to her eyes filled with sincerity. "Your mother is a liar. Your strength isn't how quiet you are. It's your ability to detect anything around us when I can't. You heard that guy coming in the penthouse before I did. And you even noticed those guys circling around us back up top. You protected Powder... you can do more than you realize."
She pulled her hand away, and I felt a little bit of warmth leave with it as she tilted her head at me.
"Mylo's nothing compared to you," Vi mumbled as she stood up, "but you can't be anything if you don't believe in yourself, too."
She shut the curtain, leaving me alone. I shifted downwards, sighing as Whiskers let out a soft squeak up at me. Gently stroking the top of her head, I closed my eyes while taking in a deep breath.
* * * * *
At one point or another, Powder had come to her bed to work on her bombs. I didn't mind her company now, so I allowed her to just work beside me... even though I was in her bed. She was laying to the side, her legs thrown up over the wall as rock music played over us. I had my eyes closed, listening to Powder play around with her creations as I lay side by side with her. My legs were bent against the wall, though, being too long to straighten them out like Powder. I heard her take out one of her colored chalk, etching against the metal and making me grimace lightly at the odd noise that filled my ears. I was focusing on what Vi had told me about my hearing... and I could actually see where she was coming from. Maybe for a regular person like Claggor, sitting beside Powder while she sketched into the metal wouldn't affect him. But Whiskers was scratching at her ears, obviously not liking the rough noise as much as me.
"What are you calling this one?"
My eyes snapped open, and I looked over to see Vi was leaning over the bed directly above Powder, smiling down at her younger sister.
"Whisker," she answered, making my mouse perk up on my chest at the name. She squeaked, running over to Powder and sitting on her chest while looking at the bomb she had made. Powder began drawing little paws on it as Vi sat down just by her shoulder, slumping a little. This was her second talk in the last hour in the same bed.
"You wanna talk about today?" Vi asked, looking down at her sister as Whiskers tilted her head at the drawing of the mouse on Powder's bomb. Its mouth was agape, showing off pointed teeth. Whiskers then looked over at me as I snuck a glance down at her, noticing her opening her jaws before patting her dull teeth. Smiling a little, I resisted the urge to laugh.
"What's the point?" Powder sighed as she began sitting up and knocking Whiskers off her in the process. The mouse scurried back over to me as Powder curled her legs to her chest, hugging them while placing her head on her knees. "I ruined everything. I always do."
"Nobody said that," Vi whispered as she leaned down towards her sister.
"No. Just that you were "twice the person" at half my age," Powder shrugged back sarcastically. Yeah... Powder told me all about Mylo's conversation with Vi and why she was storming up the stairs when I passed her. It made me feel bad for not following after her. "You heard them. I'm not a fighter."
She clicked the top of the bomb into place as I let out a little sigh.
"You don't have to be," Vi said as Powder pressed her forehead into her creation. "Look, I've got these," Vi said while gesturing to her arms, and then she pointed towards Powder's many bombs hanging over her head, "and you've got those."
"They never work," Powder whispered as she ducked her head down.
"They will," Vi turned back to her sister with a little smile. "Come with me."
"What?" Powder perked up as Whiskers jumped off my chest and scurried after Vi as she stood up.
"Come on," her sister called as I rolled onto my stomach, seeing Powder giving me an unsure glance. I simply shrugged before nodding, watching her quickly leave the bed. Twisting my lips together, I began turning back before feeling a hand grab my elbow. "You, too."
"Me?" I whispered as Vi tugged me out of bed. She nodded as Whiskers appeared on the top of her head, sniffing in my direction as she began walking away. I frowned slightly before following after her and Powder, ending up on the roof of the Last Drop. Vi moved towards the edge, sitting down on the part where the railing was broken off. Powder quickly sat down beside her, and then I sat down so Powder was between the two of us.
"What are we doing here?" Powder asked the same question on my mind as Whiskers jumped from the top of Vi's head to Powder's and nestled into the blue nest of hair.
"See that gutter running along the canal?" Vi asked as she pointed ahead of us. I looked ahead, spotting the spot Vi was talking about easily. But Powder was having a harder time, so Vi dragged a pipe out from the fence nearby before handing it over to her sister. She looked down the barrel as Vi pointed it in the right direction, allowing Powder to see the same drunk man I was seeing. "That's where Claggor got his foot stuck running from enforcers."
The man moved over the boards, and I grimaced in disgust as he began unzipping his pants above the canal.
"They thought it was funny, so they left him there," Vi continued on with Claggor's story. "He was out all night before we found him."
She smiled gently before pointing Powder in a different direction.
"That sign?"
I looked over, already knowing this story and I immediately began smiling.
"You see it?"
"Uh-huh," Powder hummed in response.
"Mylo tripped over his own paint bucket and nearly fell off trying to draw a giant middle finger," she whispered, making me chuckle under my breath with a shake of my head. "His ass made that splotch."
Powder laughed, pulling the pipe away from her face to look up at her sister.
"And that?" she gestured ahead, pointing to a bunny that was stuck on a line right in front of us. "When I was a kid, some guy took my favorite toy and threw it up there. I used to come out here at night, and stare at it, hoping maybe the wind or a bird might knock it down."
I tilted my head at the stuffed bunny, remembering all those nights I used to do the same for Vi. It was when she first came to the Last Drop, and she and I weren't as close as I wanted to be. But I thought if I had gotten that bunny and given it back to her, maybe she would like me a little more. And one night she found me sitting directly under it in the pouring rain. She was so confused as to why I was doing it, and after I explained it to her she had actually laughed. And we've never been closer since.
"We've all had bad days," Vi mumbled, continuing on with why she had brought us up here. "But we learn. And we stick together."
She looped an arm around her sister's shoulder before looking back at me and smiling. I smiled back as Whiskers jumped from Powder's head to my shoulder, snuggling into my neck.
"Oh, I forgot," Powder whispered as she began digging into her pocket. She then pulled out three glowing blue balls, showing them off to the two of us. "These were in my pocket. They're from the apartment."
Whiskers squeaked in alarm before ducking into hiding in my hair, and I tilted my head a little.
"What are they?" Vi asked.
"I don't know," Powder answered with a shrug as she pinched one between her fingers. "Should we show Vander?"
"No," Vi quickly said, making Powder's smile drop. "Let's keep this our little secret."
She smiled down at her sister, and I leaned a little further away from the two while looking out at the stuffed bunny.
"Mylo's wrong, Powder. You're stronger than you think."
Vi rose to her feet, and I snapped back to attention as she looked out of the Lanes.
"And one day, this city's gonna respect us."
I looked out to the city beyond, taking in a deep, long breath. One can hope, Vi... one can hope.