Elianne is expected to be better.
Everyday she wakes up,she is expected to do something, to wake up and make herself a meal,to go to online school and work part time on her job. And every day, she is expected to be better. To be better than the day before, to improve and achieve a goal:pure perfection. To do better.
At least that's what she tells herself, no one really tells her to do all that,not even Andromeda, not even Thora,Even though she's here with no guidance. She knows she's meant to learn and become someone better.Her parents are too busy and too far to give guidance,but she knows this is what she is meant to do, she knows what's expected of her, title or not,lood or not . She's used to it, that's normal,it is meant to be normal,
Everything here is.
From the ice crawling her walls thanks to a nightmare to the ghost that follows her everyday. Ah, the luck she has.
'Booring, can't you do something more fun than a dumb mental monologue?' The girl, Adeline, stands from the corner of the room, sitting on some boxes that are not hers,but kept there since there's no more rooms.
Just leave if you don't want to see me.
'Ugh ,but then what can I do then,other than be sad for all eternity!,’She pouts,stomping her foot on the wooden floor,though it never makes a sound' It's easier to torment my killer, don't you think, Anna?'
That's not my name
'Whatever, there's no point to learn the name of a killer, you don't deserve even that’
She grunts, annoyed at the child that never changes.It was an accident, really,that's what you might eventually get when bullying someone with multiple abilities,maybe.She doesn't know what's normal anymore, maybe. she's not to learn that anyway yet, maybe.
'sssstop repeating ‘maybe!’ You are so annoying!'
stop being around me then
"Fuck Eli, I had the weirdest dream about-"
Thora, her cousin,Stands on the door without knocking, and quiets seeing the Ice situation, staring at her foot and creeping up to the ceiling "oh… do you help with that?"
" It's fine, I can melt it anyway.it won't take too long" she says as she melts the ice with her feet,focusing on the cold. "What were you saying about your dream?,and old lady-"
"YES! And she was looking at me all like 'please carry my child, since she is oh so sick' while she looked like how Andromeda must be looking right now if she was human, I swear" Thora explains and she can't help but snort at her voice and expressions " do you think this was like, past me? Maybe a reincarnation…ah, whatever. How's your morning? I didn't wake you up did I.."
"You didn't, I was already awake. Did s-did Andromeda leave early again?"
"Yeah, she said she'll be home early too"
Andromeda has a habit of leaving before everyone wakes up for some reason, and the times they don't it's because he has an undercover mission and doesn't want them to find out by accident, again. For some reason
"Okay cool, do you want me to cook pancakes again? I think keahi and… that other kid might be here too later-man,I always forget their name- and I have to check in at least once in my classes and then there's work and-"
"Yes yes, I'm glad I'm your living to- do-list checker" she deadpans, letting the other pass through the door and into the living room.
'aww,can't wait to kill her when the chance comes, bet you'll be really sad about it wouldn't ya?'
Stop.
'Why, ‘cause you'll get sad? ‘cause your parents will cry about your death? Imagine how mine felt when you killed-’
"Ice is spreading on the floor Elianne" Thora says, grabbing her hand. She looks cautious, waiting for her to make a move “are you okay?”
Elianne looks around, at the floor, at the lake of ice building below them,it's creeping up to their feet , encasing them.
“Oh… I'm fine Thora,” she says looking at her cousin, teal and bronze meeting her gaze.''it’s… w-what did you say about your nightmare, an old lady chasing you?”
“Oh yes!” the other responds, and she welcomes a distraction while Elianne makes pancakes in the kitchen “she even knew my name! Do you think I'm being stalked? Oh! And she had so many wrinkles it made me Self conscious, do you know how hard it is to make me doubt myself?”
“How would you even be stalked in your dream, didn't you do a spell for that- do you want three?” She's flipping her third pancake while asking, they normally make more when Andromeda is around, but he's gone.
“I want four, it's 10 am” she points at her,looking at her phone. Thora normally has breakfast at 7, so this is brunch for her in a way. “Do you think she'll be back soon? It's been a while since I last saw Andro, and this nightmare is no good omen for the rest of my week!”
She licks her lips, thinking of her words. The moment she sits at the table to eat, she shares her thoughts.
“ Do you think this is… like, manifestation of a god ?
“A god? What are you-” Thora stays quiet after ,very quiet.”you don't mean- Elianne, that's too soon! I mean you're what,17? There's no way that I'm being picked this soon.” Though Thora says this calmly,she knows it's the opposite.elianne feels guilty of bringing the topic up.
“Just because you've been chosen doesn't mean you have to leave and do your duty”,she reassures her, taking her hand” I'm 18, you're 14, and Silas loves you. There's no way they'll let you go right now. And even if you do, you can always decline and wait.You'll be fine, Thora.”
“But what if it's not, what if I have to leave,what if I'm forced to?”
Elianne stays quiet, and eats.
After a while,Thora continues to eat in silence,too.
“ What are your favorite flowers?”
“Why? I'm not dying soon.”
This question is one that pops up mainly when the person it's being asked to is on their deathbed,as death has to be treated with very intensive care.
“Oh, Andromeda asked me to ask you, I don't know why” she says,not a muscle in her face showing otherwise. Thora is bad at acting, so this only makes her question what the hell is Andromeda planning,she doesn't answer the question,exchanging the question with a different answer: blue, he favorite color.
Time goes fast when you're with someone familiar, and so the time goes when she needs to check out and go to work.
—--
It was a struggle when she first got in. ‘Avians have an advantage’ people say, never minding what would happen to an avian that can't fly, wings or not.
It took her a while to get a handle on her wings,but she got the hang of it. Getting her flying license was a wild ride, oddly enough, who keeps doing these laws anyway?!
“That license idea was my fault really”,Andromeda told her one time”it was my first time flying, okay?! I didn't know there was a need for practicing it , avians made it look so easy and….I broke a lot of windows”
Fuck Andromeda, who the hell decides to be this dumb and go full flight while intoxicated knowing they have never tried something before? She ponders if they have reached the place they are in by pure luck, there's no way they-
“Aough!-”
Ah, shit.
She looks down to realize she's just bumped into one of her coworkers in the line of work.great.
“Ah, sorry Ian,here-let me” she gives him a hand to hold off while he stands.Ian joined around the same time as her, and both of them being avian,they both get assigned the same type of packages:heavier than what the average human can hold, and away from the actual storage house or whatever. She always forgets.”are you ok? If I broke anything let me deliver it I'll give you mine-”.
“You're fine! You worry too much, miss” they say smiling at her.”I'm stronger than you think,believe me. It will take a lot of a guardian's punch to knock me over!”She sighs, glad he's okay.” Oh, what's your next delivery? I wouldn't mind us waking over there, honestly”.
She checks the package address to see where it's meant to go, only to find out it's a couple of streets over “ah, sweet. It's just some streets over”she points to the direction they Started walking through”,yours?”
“It's ... .uh,”Ian looks at his own phone.squinting at whatever address they've given them.”the opposite side, actually.see you later, I guess, be careful going over there”
She chuckles at that” what for?”
“Rumors, something about a cursed child or whatever. I think it's like, crown related.there's always something crazy going on when you get stuck with the crown, just saying.” He looks awkward saying this, and who wouldn't?. It's always weird talking about the royals that govern the country. There was a point when people realized speaking ill or speculating about the crown seems to bring people bad luck. So speculating about it has become a very careful play between people,using code words, and speaking only with the information that has been public to the people(which is very little) and hope to not be struck with lightning the moment the words are spoken.
‘aren't you a sweetheart? Giving me information I don't give a shit about.’
The girl hovers around her, poking at her wings, and it's only then when she realizes that Ian has left, probably going where they're meant to go.shit,they're going to discount money on her paycheck!
She gets to go, with her luck she hopes she will not be in whatever mess people in that area are in.
—--
“Well hello, hello! Is there anything we can help ya with?”
Every once in a while her coworkers like to joke with her by telling her something completely serious about a topic then marvel at the fact she never knew about it or that she genuinely took it as a fact, so when told that this area was crown related, she took it with a grain of salt,commonly to some people,they use ‘crown’ too closely and it's normally to scare others away, to be wary of something that might not really be there.
In front of her, there is a half-dragon with the blood of one of the most magically strongest gods in the realm: Admani.she sees now that maybe she shouldn't have taken this with a grain of salt.
‘oh no shit people are scared of this place, what's worse that messing with the crown than messing with the gods’
Shut up
“package” she answers,after the shock of who's in front of her leaves her body. with the little information she has about Admani's kin. She understands the awkward feeling of being respected like it's the law,she is not to deliver the same sentiment, her intuition seems right, because the dragon doesn't give a negative reaction at her considered ‘disrespect’ in other eyes “ it is said to specifically leave it at the register so will you tell me where it is?”
“oh, sure! I was on my way there anyway, follow me miss.”
She looks around while following,if they were to tell her this was a garden and not a greenhouse she would've believed it, especially with the tree in the middle of the place,spreading its branches as far as the magical barrier lets them up”aren't those branches going too far? Isn't that a hazard for the place?”she asks while they walk to the register.
“Nope! This place gets checked once a month,and the tree branches get cut yearly.”Admani's kin are (in theory) easy to recognize, curved horns and patterns around their skin.this one showing a good example of it( there's no pattern, which Is either non visible to her or just not there at all)her canines are shown, with the way they smile at her, and she wonders how sharp they might be.''why do you ask, have I caught your attention maybe?”
“What-”
“Oh dear love,how have I missed that voice of yours”they both turn to see an old man leaning against the register,next to a cart full of terracotta pots. Wait, where did the cart come from?
“Aw, shit.” She hears the other murmur at the sight”forgot he was here,hey do you want me to show you something else, somewhere else? I'll pay you”
“Uh-”
“How much has it been since we've last met?”The man continues talking,and the cashier looks unamused, checking out the pots instead”Two years?how time flies does it.i've missed you too much!”
“ Sir,we met a week ago, I asked you where the ketchup was once”the cashier says,blue hair and yellow eyes landing only on the pots and never landing on the man,non reactive to his antics.”My head has been humming for a while,would you keep the talking to a minimum?”
“Ah, come on. I know you love my voice. "The man leans in and smiles at her, reaching for her hand, but the girl backs away.”you know, maybe you should stop with the whole ‘magic barrier thing? It's bothersome at least,you have control of this whole area, I see no reason to why put it in anyways” the man explains, exasperated by her reaction(probably).
“Uh yeah, I think it's better to leave…”they whisper,eager to leave those alone. She’s curious though, eyeing the other customers.they all look bored out of their mind.
“Uhm, actually-”
“Really, why do you keep that barrier?” The man laughs, the girl winces at the sound.”Really,there's so much nutrients you are keeping from the plants, don't you think?” he leans into her more,tracing circles over the wooden desk”all-all the sun you aren't letting in, all the bees that would kill for a touch of your plants,isn't that a bit mean?”the man pouts, and it's at this angle that Elianne thinks she has seen him somewhere”maybe you should let it out.no one buys from this sorry place anyways, maybe if you let the bees go in,”he walks his fingers across the desk,up to her”and maybe once those bees pollinate, your beautiful flowers, maybe then-”
“I will not be having sex with you”
Silence.
She looks to the side, eyeing the workers reaction and damn,their mouth is wide open in shock. Completely horrified, some customers look the same way.
‘Hey, idiot. Maybe it's your turn to finally deliver that package!’
Never agreed more with you.
She goes to the register and lands the package there “I need a signature for this please” she murmurs at the two people in front of her, none react.
Oddly enough, the man finally reacts after a while” oh, miss! I never thought you were-”
“ Your agent has been harassing me to meet up with you for a week straight-i'm the owner, let me sign.” she directs her, and she gives her the pen and papers,all while talking to the man”and you have now gone into my shop to buy 122 terracotta pots,only to ask me out for the sole purpose of breeding, haven't you?”
Her eyes widened, is she also one of admani's? Her nose tracks a faint scent at that exact moment, confirming her questions.
“Uh,that’s-”the man has been obviously found,looking for an excuse”th-that's such a vulgar way of putting it miss Catherine, I only wanted to court-”
“I know nothing about you, don't you dare call me by my name,” Catherine spits, nodding at her once she has signed for the package,”actually,since this nice lady is going out,why don't you join her.hm?”she smiles at the man, grabbing the coworkers hand and spinning them to the cashier station, all to follow the both of them?.
“But the pots-”
“Your agent gave me your number,I will contact her.”she says ushering him down the exit,she only follows.”now please leave”
“c’mon Catherine, not even a chance? If your mother was here-”
She punches him.
‘oh shit’ the little ghost hovered over, smiling at the sight of blood on the man's nose.He looks angry.
“Excuse me, how fucking dare you hurt a noble, a noble! Oh, the moment you become my wife I will make sure you don't even dare to misbehave like this.”he growls at her , but there's no reaction to it. She can't see it from here, the girl is in front of her. And she wonders if it'll be good to intervene.
“I am nothing of you. I am of age to make my own decisions,so I decline your proposal anyway!”
“Nobody says no to me!.” the man grabs her by the shirt, and now seems like a good time.
She grabs the man's fists and pushes them away from Catherine, shielding her with her wings”I think this is going too far sir, I think you should leave.”
“She punched me!”
“After you insulted her,”she adds, she can feel her wings being lifted, and hopes she doesn't have to break it again”it is obvious she doesn't want you to and as the owner of this place she has the right to deny service” she states, thank Thora for doing those debate classes practices with her, they finally caught up to something.”it would be very bad if you gained bad reputation by insulting admani's kin, no?”
“What? That's not how it-”
“You are a fool to think Admani would give you even a glance”the man interrupts the girls whispers, cleaning his nose with a napkin in his pocket.Shit, he's right, also admani barely talks to her kin, that's fucking obvious,shit-.
Unless.
“Oh yeah,yeah,you're right”, she feigns, leaning closer to the man,towering over him.
“Your height and muscle doesn't intimidate me”the man whispers,with how close they are, it's even funny what she's going to say next.
“Oh, I know. But Silas does intimidate you doesn't he?” She whispers to him, and the terror on his face almost makes her smile “yo-you wouldn't-” she answers, but she already knows how to do this.
“You're right,I wouldn't. But Silas has eyes everywhere” she smiles, looking to the sides,feeding onto the man's new paranoia.
Defeated, he finally left. Tail behind his legs as he cursed out whatever enchantment he knows, it won't work on her though, Elianne knows so much.
The smaller girl lays down on the floor, sighing now that the man is gone.” You didn't have to say that,it was enough with getting him out of here” she tells her, and it's only now after she turns that she sees a speck of orange on her golden eyes,faint freckles covering her face.
“Oh,will that inconvenience you?”
“Not really,I've been taught to not spit the gods name so loosely,a habit I guess” she says, avoiding eye contact“still, you really didn't have to do this, would you like anything from our selection? Free of charge”
“Uh-what?”out of everything to come out of today,free plants it's not what she expected.”No.you don't have to,really.”she says, stepping back so she can try to leave” I did this willingly,believe me. It's fine you don't have to-”
“ It's the most I can do,Maylenne obviously forced you into this, no shade to them.But trust me, I insist on doing this ”she says,dead serious on her stance, which is worse.this was not what she expected today.
Besides,she's not really a plant person, okay? That's more Thora and Andromeda. And she can't just come home with flowers!
“...I have been taught to stand up for people if they are even in silent trouble. I did this willingly,you don't have to thank me for it”
“I wasn't in silent trouble! Before you came in I was holding my ground arguing but gave up and gave silent treatment. It was too much, I have to thank you”
She is not getting out without something from here is she ?
‘lameee!’
“Y-you don't have to, miss Catherine” she says,”I don't…have enough space in my house for plants, and I'm not even home most of the time. It would be terrible for me to get a plant ,believe me it's fine.”
“ well I don't think it's fine…Elianne” she says
After looking at her nameplate (she's forced to wear it ), crossing her arms.” We do have delivery service, in case the trip from here your home is troubling-which I doubt you will have trouble with- but I insist that you should take something from here.we do have a small batch of fake plants, and Maylenne sells their own pottery, please.”
“Fine, can I take you out then?”
“W-what?!”
“You’re saying I can take everything from this place. So I'm taking you” she is so done with this,too many conversations in one day,today is not how she wanted it to be.
The idea is dumb, but at least it might satisfy her persistence, something has to work for her. She doesn't seem to like courting though So she grabs her by the wrist and leads her to the exit.
“H-hey! What are yo-”
“Taking you out” she says now on the sidewalk, letting go of her hand.” I have now taken you out,see ya”
She leaves to clock out. She hopes that is not enough so that the other holds a grudge, she really needs to go ,okay? She hopes this isn't something that will come back to kick her in the ass.
Hopefully.
—
“Father”
“Eh?”Father looks up from his desk,he had fallen asleep”oh,yes, right. yesyesyes,I grant you permission to work, would a fake name be used, that's up to you since nothing about you has been only rumored with a name,you'll be-”a long yawn forms his way in, and it almost makes her yawn too”you'll be fine. Is there anything else to report, Elianne?”
“...nothing, father.will you come to my birthday?” She asks, she knows it's futile,with how dad works.but one can only hope,hope he will say yes
“...I'll do my best and try, sweetheart.”he smiles, making his eye bags more pronounced.”I'll do my best”
—
Not the best memory to come to her mind while seeing her father in front of her.but what can you do?
“...Anything wrong sweetheart?”her father asks.and man,does he really have to do this, she gives him a look that hopefully tells him to drop the act, but Andromeda either doesn't want to back down, or didn't get the memo.”I-I know it might be a bit unexpected, but plea-”
“Stop it ,Silas” she sighs, she has been reprimanded from using that name before. But now there's no point now since he's doing…whatever this is.”it is very obvious is you, he never comes here”
“W-Well, you're…heavily mistaken”he says, and she puts her bag and shoes down, waiting for their explanation, whatever it is that they might come up with.”because…”
“ANDROMEDA! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU WE NEED YOU TO-”keahi appears out the end of the hall,her apron covered in something blue,she freezes the moment they lock eyes.”O-oh, hi miss Elianne! didn't know you'll be here so early!”
“ ah, it's fine.” She says, going to her room.”Something tells me to not be in the kitchen, so I won't.call me when you want me there” she closes the door and goes to take a shower, the cool water soothing her skin.its been a while since they've all gathered together. She was alone with Andromeda on New Year's,and before that it was that meeting on October.huh, for them being so called a ‘found family' they really have nothing together.
But again this is something she is expected of, her “family members” are meant to go here every once in a while until they reach puberty,then it's one training session after the other, which will later turn into etiquette training, which then it will turn them into what they're meant to be: soldiers.
That is to be expected of them, how her father's family has run this exchange,and how it will stay lest they dare to change it. She doesn't dare, father hasn't dared, the least we can give Andromeda is resources, and in exchange, protection.
It is only now that she realizes that her hair looks off in the bathroom mirror, a smidge of brown sprouting over the pink she has associated herself with over the years.
‘I think it looks ugly, did you really have to change it?’
In the reflection of the mirror she sees her, the ghost that has haunted her ever since her powers bloomed. Her face never looks right, never how she remembers. Only her orange hair and freckles are the only thing consistent,She floats around. Fingers black due to frostbite, and hair always frizzy. She never has seen her change, and she wonders if she's even able to. There's been stories of ghosts who could change form, could she really change her appearance?
She looks at herself, dark skin contrasting her pink bright hair, eyes from her ...father? She never understood the comparison. a beauty mark over her left eye,thanks her mother, She's…. something. Really.
She never had an opinion on herself, she knows no one is ugly ,some people are just more pleasing faces than others.she counts herself as to having a not-enough-pleasing face
‘You literally have a fan account on igg! You're not an unattractive lady!’
I'm surprised you support me on this, the first time you agree on something I don't.
‘Because you're always wrong!’
She changes into whatever tank top she finds sitting on top of the dresser.she cleans her room after not having the time before to; she immerses herself in folding clothes and sweeping the floor that she almost forgets what today is meant to be.
Someone knocks at the door, it doesn't sound strong enough to be Thora, and there's no rhythm to it, like Andromeda;she did tell
them to call, not knock, so it must be the other two. She answers the door, “coming!” putting on some mismatched socks and shorts. Elianne opens the door.
“Miss Yvaine, dinners ready”
She stands there,confused ,thinking on her words“Uh-alex?Alex,Alex”,the kid is not able to come here often,and with how quiet she is,she forgets names, okay?”Elianne is fine, you don't have to call me that.”
“Oh,okay.sorry for calling you that, Elianne” for someone so young,it's surprising how polite she is, how quiet she moves and behaves. Alex backs a little, looking down at her shoes”Andromeda told me to tell you to come to the kitchen, so please follow me” she walks away,long dark hair bouncing down the hallway.
It's been a while since the four of them have been around the same house(five since Andromeda doesn't stay as often) so it's nice for a change to gather around and celebrate.
The kitchen is dark,and the moment they both step in the lights turn up with a loud sound, the three of them yelling.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIANNE!” they all yell in unison,holding up a cake(strawberry) smiling at her.
In spite of herself, she smiles back.
They sing her happy birthday and celebrate, they end up doing a sleepover in her room,the floor already covered in sleeping bags, bean cushions and the fluffiest blankets she owns, this was expected to happen. They do sleepovers anyday the fourth of them are able to be together, it's the least she can do for the girls and Thora.
They began by painting their nails, continuing by watching whatever she can find on her phone that's connected to the projector.the decide on pirating a movie.
“ Are you sure we're not going to jail for doing this ?” Keahi asks
“It's not like we just went to the movies to record it, we'll be fine” thora reassures her.picking on the popcorn bag below her ”Andromeda could bail us out anyway.chillax”
“Andromeda could ‘bail us out’?” Alex asks, the longer they've been up, the more anxious she acts, hopefully it's nothing serious.
“I mean, yeah. With the shapeshifting and all, they could persuade some guards to get us out”
“Are you telling children that it's okay to bribe people?”
“Of course not! I'm just saying they could do it ,not us. actually, doesn't he have a friend-”
“Do you think…he could bribe someone for me?” Out of everyone here the person she least expected to hear that from is Alex, she looks up, eyes shining with pure curiosity.
“W-what? Why would you need that ?” Thora asks, completely taken aback. Elianne gets a twist in her gut About the question, and decides to record the conversation.
“My…” she hesitates,fidgeting”My parents say they can't get me out to stay here because they don't have money, and sometimes a man comes home and asks for ‘payment’ do you think Andromeda could help them pay if I ask? He only comes every two months,it would be much-”
A knock on the door.
Elianne thinks this is much of a coincidence,she gets ready to protect the children if anything happens.
“Password?” She asks.
“uhhh hold on let me think..” she opens the door to find Andromeda, wide eyed at the reaction” I'm surprised you chose that as the password”
“Foolproof plan” she smiles at them,looking back at the kids and Thora.” Do you need anything?”
“Yes I do actually,Alex” he calls the girl, and she swears she's never seen her more terrified than now” why didn't you say you had a curfew? Your parents have been blowing up my phone and calling me names” he places his arms on his hips.
She's been around Andromeda long enough to know when he's outraged by something. This is not something he is mad about, concerned seems to be more appropriate, except for the part where his concerned face and angry face combine and makes it Irecognizable for others.
“I-i-i’m” she stutters, holding the hem of one of her old nightgowns.ready to cry as her puffy face suggests it” i-i thought they wouldn't notice me until later. Its only a two hour difference from my normal curfew! I didn't meant to,I'm sorry for-i apologize for causing trouble sir”
She walks up to Andromeda, then turns away to face the room.
“I'm sorry everyone, I have to go.” She looks at her, and that's when the tears bubble breaks.” I'm- I'm sorry for inconvenience you, yvaine-”
“Woa woa woa! you're not in big trouble kid” Andromeda pats her hair, and crouches down to her height.” I talked to them,you have to leave right now. But you can come back tomorrow” he smiles at her, and the kids face lights up”they seemed to be in good spirits, so I did what I could”
The audacity of Andromeda, who will be taking care of two kids tomorrow?
‘Ugh, you're such a pessimist !’
“Andromeda, we'll all be busy tomorrow-”
“You will not!” Keahi shouts, trampling between the pillows on the floor to get to Alexis and hold her hand.”I asked to be here tomorrow too! Andromeda also talked about you not working tomorrow too ,dummy! We will all be together” she smiles at Alexis , wiping her tears away.
“Excuse me? What did you do to my job hours-”
“Since you worked on your birth date,-of all things, seriously? stop being so workaholic-I had to make adjustments so you're relaxed in any way for this.you're welcome sounds better than excuse me !” Andromeda smiles at her, the bitch.
“Yeah,yeah whatever. Oh, you didn't interrupt my birthday, Alex” she says to the girl,and she nods, with a smile.
“Okay then, see you tomorrow, Elianne”
“Goodbye Eli!”
The three of them excuse themselves out of the room, and they're one hour onto the movie when she realizes Thora fell asleep.
She smiles, deciding to go outside to the ceiling. The area where they live is somewhat rural, a huge forest with a tiny house(in comparison) in the middle of it all, the road that leads here is very long, the trips to get mail are dreadful but it's nothing to her, really .She's the number one option when coming to picking up the mail, she's been catching herself doing it by reflex.it is also a reflex to go here before sleeping, it has a calming effect.
Her mother once told her that dead avians reincarnate in the sky as stars. Her mother told her that sometimes to feel closer to her ancestors, she would stare at the stars and to seek guidance from them.
Her parents aren't dead, nor close to dying. But it's somewhat nice to think of them while looking at the stars,it makes her feel close to them, it's nice feeling like she's close to them.
She hears a grunt, and prepares for anything that might come her way. Andromeda appears , panting very heavily. There's something she's hiding, but isn't able to see it from this angle.
“Hah…hah…girl, how do you do this so effortlessly?” She says, sitting next to her, the object she can't see it's not in her view yet
(sneaky bastard) so she looks at her instead.
Her eyes have always been surprising,the mark of true lizard kin(at least he ays so) with a freckled tail and red skin,complimenting his light blue tail. Though Andromeda takes many forms, this is the one that's more ‘truthful’ in his words.
“ I walk around the country every day, technically. I just got used to it” she answers.
“Woa, that's- that's great, teach me how to build resilience without having to work, please”
“that's impossible, Andromeda.”
“n-ah! There must be a way” they say, frowning to the stars.” Was the birthday party a success? I know you don't like too much spectacle but we just had to make it special, you know?”
“It was fine,I-” she hesitates,finding words to say.”i enjoyed it, thank you for it”
“Eh, it's the least I could do” they both smile,
“Sorry they weren't able to go, Eli. You know how they-”
“You don't have to give excuses for them, I know.” She cuts him off, but regrets it immediately.”I'm sorry,I-”
“ I understand,” she says, but it haunts her all the same. She knows they wouldn't be here, they have a cycle where they would promise and promise that they'll be there. Excuse themselves that they're busy, that they can't go today,that they're not ready. They're never ready.
Still, it's not fair to lash this out to Andromeda, there are healthier ways to do this. She shouldn't give out her anger on her”still,I'm sorry for yelling,I shouldn't have-”
“Elianne, you're fine” they smile, hand on her shoulder” ‘Sides, I should be the one apologizing for not finding-”
“not finding the one thing only you care about, not to insult you”,she pauses looking into her eyes,there's not light in them;she wonders if Andromeda ever had any”but you found those with court looking, don't you think you need to rest?”
“Hah, I'm flattered.” He says, a smile in his face”but this time looking around is nothing compared to-”
“-To all the years you have served and lived and ah, how sweet! For someone in your place to care about me like I'm a human being,how thoughtful of you ,Elianne!”she dramatizes, swaying her hand in the air as she speaks.andromeda doesn't look Impressed.
“Haha, very funny of you,Eli”
“What I'm saying is: stop worrying,you know I don't really care about that” she says softly,” with me you are not Silas, you're Andromeda”
Despite her personal struggle of being better, the same can be said for Andromeda. Living so many years with this sort of burden on your back?
The words she said were simple.but to them , they marveled at it, eyes wide and such a big smile she can see her dimples. Andromeda looks back onto herself and picks up whatever she was carrying before, holding a pot with an orange flower.
A gift?
“Someone got a gift for you, probably Thora” she comments.letting her look at the gift on her own.”want time alone?”
“...time alone with a plant?”
“Time alone with Thoras present” they smile,trying and failing to stand up as Elianne grabs her wrist and shoves her down on her seat.”fine then. You didn't have to throw me down.”
She rolls her eyes,checking out the flower. There's not much to see, really. A pretty orange flower in a blue pot.sje remembers seeing the name in Catherine's shop, a gardenia, she remembers. seems healthy and not damaged in its delivery (surprisingly) she checks around it to see if there's plant food or a guide on how to take proper care of it,she remembers Thora mentioning how plants need specific care sometimes, the gardenia could be one of them.
What she finds instead it's a white, dirty envelope.not dirty enough though, as she can see the neat handwriting that says ‘to the birthday girl”. She dwells to think if it's a good idea to open the envelope, knowing Thora there could be a prank attached to it Andromeda reassures her that there's no explosion that she checked for herself,
Figures.
“Are you sure, though? What if it only detonates with my dna?”
“Why would someone have your dna?”
“...”
Fuck it.
She opens the envelope,being greeted by a letter in a not so familiar handwriting, oddly enough.
Dear Elianne
I only realized later after we met that there was a reason you seemed familiar. Your cousin comes here often, and she mentioned on her last stay here that her cousin’s birthday was in 7 days .If my calculations are correct, your birthday falls on the day you're seeing this letter. And since you were stubborn enough to not accept anything from my store, take this as your payment of gratitude for helping me, free of charge as promised.
I wish you a happy birthday.Hopefully, you didn't pull anyone else out of their work environment today.(Please don't do that)
Sincerely,
Catherine."
Elianne snorts, she had totally forgotten about what happened with that man.
“Inside joke?” Andromeda asks from her side, more interested in the stars that adorn the sky. She follows suit,using one of her feathers to guide the letter into her nightstand cabinet.
She smiles at Andromeda.
“Inside joke” she responds, looking at the bright stars, today she is expected to have a nice birthday and be happy about it, she wonders what's expected of her tomorrow.
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I hope you like the story!