lux in tenebris

the conversation about their parents passed and love resigned herself to the fact it would be a long while before lux would talk about them again. "family isn't a competition, lux. them competing for the title of lux's favourite cousin is a little much" she assumed that it was down to lux being the cooler sister that everyone wanted to be her favourite. hell, love wanted to be her favourite. there was something about her sister that made you want her approval. "i'm alright. i got a fright at the whole thing but i'm okay. you know lowe...i think she needed some time to herself to process. looking for supplies is therapeutic to her, i'm not going to stop that. how are you?"

"you keep telling yourself that, but we all have favourites whether we want to admit it or not" favourites could consider a number of factors varying from the deep to the superficial. "i never asked them to compete. have i encouraged and floated the idea of introducing a scoreboard? maybe" she smiled over to her sister while she swept the floor. there was nothing wrong with a little healthy competition, it bonded people. "lowe the gatherer, taking that oldest sister title so seriously. we all have out coping methods, i guess. i'm fine, loosing the will to hold onto my sanity with each passing day being stuck here but other than that, just peachy"

"oh, luuuuux-," rhiannon sing-songed as she skipped over to the park bench. this wasn't the first nor would it be the last time lux morrison was caught ruminating on a park bench. the redfields and the morrisons had always been on friendly terms like most witch families in town. of course, lux probably didn't see rhiannon as much more than an annoyance. "are you going to spend all day on here?"

that sing-song voice only meant that a headache was fast approaching. she groaned to herself when said headache arrived at the bench. families being on friendly terms unfortunately didn't mean lux was exempt from conversations. "maybe...i'll see how i feel about it. it's not like there are any pressing matters to attend to"

ceylan had never known where she stood with lux morrison when they were in high school. she could never tell if she hated her or if they might actually be friends... or something. it was clearer now (at least, ceylan thought so), enough that she approached with ease and a sympathetic smile.

lux was, well, lux about everything. indifferent. ceylan and her had been in the same circle of people during their time in school. lux had been perhaps too focused on other things like getting out of town and for a window of time somewhat distracted by jake howell, but whatever. since then, they had struck up a friendship

roxy had fun playing with the witches in town. she'd hoped for so much more from ceylan farhi, but after she put her powers to sleep... it just wasn't fun anymore, tormenting her. pushing her to turn it off. and when you couldn't escape this hellhole, you relied a lot on making your own fun. so, she'd considered other options. lux morrison had made the top of her list.

she rolled her eyes at the arrival of roxy. of all the people that could've shown up, roxy was not on the welcome list "oh yeah, hang on, let me check my bustling schedule in this graveyard of a town" she answered sarcastically, her cigarette returning to her mouth.

danny was very careful when he was above ground. he didn't need to be told twice, he understood the dangers posed up here to a mcreid better than anyone. his trips topside were often short and sweet, and he was focused on the task at hand. he'd finished doing a sweep of lua harvelle's perimeter when he cut back through the park and saw lux morrison. danny was no shrink, but it looked like she was in full existential crisis mode. he approached carefully, clearing his throat first before pulling on an easy grin.

looking up from her spot she saw danny, as cheerful as ever. if he wasn't her friend, she would've rolled her eyes by now. an unlikely friendship duo from their time back in school somehow still stood now "gee, i'm positively bouncing with excitement" she answered sarcastically and dragged herself to sit upright to give danny the spot next to her if he chose to sit "what are you doing up here anyway? you know you shouldn't be up here and exposed like this"

it was nice to see her sister open up, even if it was only for a brief moment in time. their parents were a sore subject and where love would talk, lux would close off. "you know the more you deny who's the favourite cousin, the more they want to be your favourite, right?"

she didn't want to dwell on her parents who were stuck outside the dome right now. they weren't sure if they were even still alive. "well what they want and get are not the same thing. besides, it's healthy to keep them on their toes." she shrugged and kept sweeping "how are you after everything? that quake was a lot. how's lowe?"

jake was looking to shake the rest of this day off and franks' was always the perfect place to do it. neutral, no nonsense, cold beer - what more could you want? he'd been caught up a the door, catching up with old friends, checking in with his team. when he finally managed to head to the bar... there she was.

lost in her own head, lux had no intentions to tune back into the world going on around her. it meant nothing to her. for a brief moment she was content with the nothingness until she was interrupted by the one person she thought would avoid her like the plague.

"the digs... they are harsh, lux. good thing i'm already in the hospital, huh? i guess everyone's perfect fantasy world needs one party pooper. you will page me when you're ready to come join me in the land of awesome though, right?" he joked, barely containing his own laughter. there was no denying his cousin wasn't exactly doctor party, but he loved her nonetheless. very brave of him, really.

"that's not a good thing but i suppose you being here does limit the amount of injuries you can sustain further. honey, i'm going to parties you're not invited to. you can keep your kegstands and frat boy idiocy" she gave her usual subtle smile. rare in appearances to most, frequently to ian and his antics.

"then she would eventually laugh because she could never keep a straight face when he joked around" she smiled, she missed her parents. they didn't talk about them a lot anymore. "him and that sandalwood spray" she laughed "did you confirm or deny if he was the favourite cousin?"

lux briefly smiled at the memory of their parents. she wouldn't dare admit it, but she missed them. her dad especially. she always felt like the odd one out but he had accepted her for her. it became easier to avoid the conversation about them now to avoid upsetting her sisters. quickly changing topics she started sweeping "oh it was deny deny deny. otherwise it becomes a battle of what would suffocate me first, the sandalwood body spray or his inflated ego"

"could you imagine? they'd go insane if this was the state lowe and i left this place in. and no smoking in here please, we don't need a fire on top of an earthquake" love handed the broom over to her sister and gave her a look of thanks that she was willing to help "she'll be out trying to get supplies in since we've lost a load of ours. how was ian?"

"mom would have that stern look and dad would be joking around and making a more of a mess" she never understood why her sisters were so willing to tie their lives to the magic shop, but then again, she never understood what some people saw in the town as a whole. lux rolled her eyes at the mention of no smoking but nevertheless complied. "he was good. stinking up the place with his sandalwood body spray and claiming he's the favourite cousin, the usual"

"has anyone tried that yet? my manly musts might just save the day at this point, lux! they'll have to rename 'founder's festival' to 'ian's day'. everyone'll be forced to wear chinos and do keg stands, it'll be awesome." ian flashed a grin at his cousin, stepping away from the body spray can. he gestured for lux to come into his room, as she had many times before now. his cousins had done a pretty great job of making him feel loved.

"calm down, paul bunyan. your sandalwood must isn't doing anything but choking us all. and if you think i'd be caught dead in chinos and partaking in a keg stand, you've got a rude awakening coming in that vision of yours" she smiled and entered the room, taking a seat in the chair next to his bed.

the magic box had taken a hit during the earthquake and the place was a mess. determined to try and get some semblance of order back in place, love had taken it upon herself to tidy up.

on her way home from visiting ian, lux saw the lights on at the family business. opening the door, she saw her baby sister hard at work.