&&; bright

“Are you sure?” she looked to the blonde worriedly. “You looked like you hit that pavement pretty hard,” Mars added, glancing over at the camera after it had been mentioned. “Hmm… it should be okay. But if there’s a cracked lens or something I’m sure I could fix it for you?”

“I’ve got a thick skull and pretty strong bones. I had a habit as a kid of falling out of trees a lot, so I guess I’ve gotten used to falling and doing little damage to myself.” Darcy told the other with a small chuckle, “You could? How? Are you a magician?”

“Because you got a happy family, someone to look after you. Before that, I looked after you guys when mom couldn’t and wouldn’t. It was different for her because she didn’t get the happy family, neither of us did. We got crappy foster homes, running away and living on the streets,” The latter were about him. He didn’t know exactly what she had been up to in those years but he couldn’t imagine it’ll be much better, “Also the fact that I knew who she was for months after she got here and didn’t say,” He paused, “It’s fine,” He lied, “Darcy, she’s allowed to be happy to see you again and not me.”

The guilt that had been gnawing at her was all but climbing up her throat now, she felt bad for her siblings, how come she got the perfect life and they ended up on the streets, it wasn’t fair and yet there was nothing she could do to change what happened to them. “But that still shouldn’t factor in her anger towards you, it’s not your fault, Aiden. You had no say to which family you two were sent too-..” She sighed, “Why didn’t you say anything to her when you knew who she was?” She couldn’t help but ask, knowing if the roles had been reversed she would have been wanting to reunite with her siblings as soon as she found them. “It’s not fine, Aiden. We should be celebrating the fact that we’re all here together now, that we’re all safe and relatively happy. That we found one another. Do you want me to talk to her?”

“You live in a town with superheroes. It could be a normal storm or a powered one,” Noah pointed out, pushing some reassuring emotions into the air to keep her calm. He wasn’t sure if she would panic but the multiple questions were already annoying so he decided to take the precaution.

“Yeah, something I still need to get used to. There were very few people with abilities in my last town so this is-... definitely something that’s going to take some getting used to.” Darcy commented looking to the sky then back to the other, “Sorry, I can get a little bit on the rambling side when I’m anxious.”

“That would be me,” he confirmed with a nod and a smile. “Consider it the latter. I already look like such a loner, you’re doing me a great favor,” Dallas chuckled sheepishly. “Oh wow,” he rose his eyebrows. “Honestly I commend you for even being able to admit that. Some people have to hide their love of pineapple on pizza,” he replied, the respect for her was not feigned. “I’m personally more of a barbecue meat lovers kind of guy – you can take the boy out of Texas but you can’t take Texas outta the boy – but to each their own. The beauty of getting individual pizzas, huh?” Dallas added with another laugh.

“Ah, so really I’m saving your ass?” She teased the other, “You were probably scanning for someone to make you look like you’re cool, not sure what the new girl will do for your street cred, unless I have a shroud of mystery around me that I don’t know about. Or they think I’m Sloane- she’s a lot cooler than me.” Darcy continued to ramble, knowing she had a bit of a habit of talking too much at times. “What can I say, I’m not one to hide my love for fruit on pizza.” She shrugged, “Especially when I break out my recipe for my caramel apple dessert pizza.” She spoke, her mouth almost watering at the thought of the pudding. “The beauty indeed. But Texas, huh? Thought I detected a little bit of a southern twist on your accent.”

“She thinks I abandoned her,” Aiden said, “I didn’t. As soon as I ran away from my foster home, I went looking for her. Both of you. I didn’t find her until she ended up here,” He sighed, “She associates me with all the pain she went through after we were separated and she doesn’t trust me anymore. I don’t blame her. Neither of us got the happy like that you ended up with. She’s asked for time but I don’t know if that’s ever going to be enough.”

“It’s not your fault we got split up, Aiden. It was the system.” Darcy commented, guilt gnawing at her stomach after having the information on both her siblings and yet doing nothing about it because she was happy, she had a family and they treated her with nothing but kindness. “But why be mad at you and not me? Why isn’t that anger directed towards me either, I don’t want your relationship to be strained and ours to be fine. It’s not fair.”

“I’ll be honest with you Darce I doubt it’s a wolf or a bear. I mean I’m sure there’s plenty in the forest but I don’t know why they’d venture into the town,” Dante mused. He was considering slinking them both into the shadows until Darcy cast some light on the two of them. “Think the light will scare them off? Might be a safe bet. And on the off chance it is a wolf or a bear, fire usually scares them so your light should do the same.”

“Food?” She spoke simply, “Aren’t there bears who come out looking through trash cans at night in Canada? They’ve developed a taste for empty packets of Cheetos and Oreo’s rather than berries.” Or maybe she had just watched one too many YouTube videos of wildlife in unusual places. “Maybe? That or it’s going to attract them so I’m going to apologize now if you end up getting eaten.” She commented, keeping one arm extended, casting pink and orange light around them and the other hand was still gripping tightly onto the others arm. “Sorry I’m being a bit of a wuss about this, I just- don’t laugh...” She added quickly, “But sometimes I can be a little...weary of the dark. Not scared though. Just-... apprehensive.”

Darcy let out a loud giggle, looking to the other apologetically, “Sorry, they keep tickling me with their fuzzy nose.” Darcy explained, keeping the animal they had found close to her body and wrapped in her jacket, “So where are we taking them? Is there an animal shelter here? Do you think they’ll take them?”

“I’m okay, I promise.” Darcy commented, wincing slightly as she put pressure on her wrist and noticing the contents of her bag were strewn around the pavement, “I really need to start watching where I’m going more-...” Noting her camera on the floor she winced even more. “Please tell me that my camera isn’t smashed.”

“I haven’t even been here this long and I’m pretty sure I’ve been caught up in more then five storms. Is that normal? Is this casual weather for Canada or is this more of a superpower thing?”

Aiden wasn’t one to take so many photos but he could see how happy his sister was to take them and he couldn’t say no, “It’s fine,” He said, realising he wasn’t hiding his discomfort as well as he thought, “I miss this too and I’m sorry you couldn’t convince Sloane to come too. I know she would have enjoyed this but she’s not… happy to see me a lot of time.”

Once she had taken one more photo she set the camera down, she could see Aiden wasn’t exactly the most comfortable being the subject of her photos, but given how long it had been since she had seen her brother she wanted to make sure she had some recent memories captured in case they were separated again. “She’s not? Why?” She couldn’t help but ask, “I mean, I guess we all sort of lost touch when we were separated, I don’t even know what’s been happening in either of your lives.”

🐶 - our muses come across a wild/stray animal

“Wait, wait–” Dante stopped in his tracks, turning around after hearing something that sounded like a pained barking. “Are you hearing that too?” he asked Darcy. “What is that? A stray dog?” he wondered.

@darcyxcarlislc​

“What? What is it? Should I run- I mean we should we run?” She corrected herself looking to the other and not being able to stop herself from gripping the others arm at the noise. “Oh I’m definitely hearing that, I just wish I was hearing it in the daylight and not the nighttime.” She confessed, hiding almost all the way behind him and holding out one of her hands, letting it glow to cast some light around them. “Possibly. Or a wolf. Or a bear. But I’m hoping it’s just a dog.”

🍕  - our muses grab a slice at the diner together

“Darcy right?” Dallas greeted, getting better at recognizing the difference between the twins considering he worked with one of them. “Come sit with me, you shouldn’t have to sit alone,” he offered with a smile. “What toppings are you thinking of?” Dallas asked, glancing back briefly to the menu in his hands.

@darcyxcarlislc​

“And you’re-.. Dallas, right?” Darcy commented, having remembered the boy who confused her for her twin, which seemed to have been a common occurrence as most didn’t seem to realize that Sloane was a twin. “Are you sure? I don’t want to be a party crasher, even if your party is just of one. Or am I doing you a favor by making it look like you’re not a loner.” She teased, chuckling as she joined the other, looking over the menu. “Well my favorite pizza topping is judged by most so feel free to voice your opinions briefly.” She told the other with a small smile, “But I just love pepperoni and pineapple.”

“Just one more- I promise.” Darcy grinned, taking another photo of her brother who seemed less than pleased by her antics, but she couldn’t stop herself. “I’m sorry, really- it’s just that I’ve missed this and I want to document our time together. That and the light hitting the lake is perfect right now.” She commented, setting her camera down and beaming at the other, “I meant it when I said I’ve missed this though, it feels good to spend time with you after years apart.”

“I may be new to town but I have heard that the food around here is pretty legendary,” Dante commented. “The reception at my hotel was very vague and didn’t even give me a map or anything. You don’t mind pointing me in the direction of the nearest spot do you?”

“I think your directions would be as good as mine right now.” Darcy chuckled, “Also brand new to town, but what are the chances that the one person you ask also be the person who takes twice as long to commute home because they can’t tell the streets apart.” She told the other before her face lit up, “Oh- wait, I found a really good burger. It was at a diner... Pretty sure.”

“Oh, I didn’t know Sloane had a sister, especially a twin,” Kyle replied. “Are you, are you alright?”

“We sort of got separated a while back.” Darcy commented, wondering if her sister ever spoke about her. Not that she would hold any guilt if she didn’t, especially since Darcy very rarely mentioned her to anyone. “Me? Yeah- I guess I’m just, processing.”

“Ah I see. So you’re a photographer?” He asked, as they began walking. “I’m heading in that direction and its not too far out of my way so I can take you if you’d like?”

“I am, freelance- hence the studio. I had a website up and running before I moved here and now I have both which is, exciting. So if you need any photography work done, I’m your gal.” She smiled at the other, nodding at his question. “Please and if you want to point out any good places to eat, shop, hang out on the way- that’d be great.”

After the blonde had answered all his questions he shook his head slightly, “No I don’t think you missed any out.” Dallas was still clearly in shock over all of this. “Darcy,” he echoed, as if to remember it. “I had no clue Sloane had a sister. What are you doing here? Since coming to see Sloane clearly wasn’t the reason from what you just said.”

“I’m pretty precise when it counts, so that’s good to know.” She chuckled, hearing the other repeat her name and nodded. “That’s me.” She replied, “And I had no clue she would be in this town.” She added, more questions popping up in her head that she would need answers too once she located her sister. “I- heard about Grove and the people who lived here, I wanted to see if I could learn more about my abilities, so- I leased a building to set up my own little studio so I could learn and make a living. I’m a photographer.” She smiled.