BELL

Reid placed his hand against his chest and feigned a hurt look as he gazed at her. “That hurts Alex. That really hurts. I honestly thought we could move past all that animosity.” You could hear the sarcasm laced in his words as he shook his head in fake sadness. “I’m not sure I want to answer your question if you’re going to be rude.”

Lex looked up at her brother, brow raised as she took in his performance. An audible sigh left her lips; she should have expected to run into him again at some point, but she hadn’t wanted to. It wasn’t just a little sibling bickering with them -- it was always more than that. “I’m sure you’ll live.” She replied, coldly. "And here I thought that was the only possible way to get through to you.”

Her breathing was ragged, now that the female had startled her. However, re orientating herself and noticing the female properly, Luna smiled slightly. “I do try.” She fake bowed, eyes rolling slightly as she did. “I wouldn’t say scary, exactly— more disturbed me…” She mused, a small smirk raising to her lips. “Perhaps it was only a fluke, next time you wont scare me so much.” She smiled widely, a chuckle leaving her lips. “What are you doing here?”

Lex raised a brow as the woman elaborated, pressing her lips together as she considered the change in words. “You know, I’m not sure that’s better.” She said, cocking her head to the side. Of course it largely depended on how she would choose to define the word disturbed. “Well now that sounds like a challenge.” Her arms crossed over her chest as a small smirk found its way to her lips. “I was actually looking for some time alone.” She let out a short laugh. “But I guess I picked the wrong place for that.”

Marcus smiled in response to his friend’s words, showing her that he was grateful. “You’re the best, Lex.” He spoke with a wide grin covering his face. His fingertips traced over the delicate paper that covered the front of the comic, his smile widening as his friend spoke once again. “Yeah, he does look fun.” A laugh passed through his lips as he once again peered back up at her. “How’s everything at home? You and Nat getting on okay?” He asked her with a gentle smile before turning his attention back to the comic, flipping the front cover open his eyes then began to scan the brightly coloured drawings that littered the pages.

“Oh, I know.” The brunette smiled, winking at her friend. She was happy to see that she could put a smile on his face, even after the horrific events that he had gone through. “Quiet without you.” She nudged him lightly, making sure not to be too hard with him given the circumstances. “There have been times we almost set the house on fire, but I think we’re doing okay.” She joked with him, a light laugh passing through her lips.

Seeing a familiar face approaching the table, a smile crossed Isaac’s face as he connected his gaze with that of his ex-girlfriend. “Hey, Lex.” He greeted her then laughed lightly in response to her statement, nodding his head slowly. “Merlin, I must look worse than I thought.” Another light laugh passed his lips. 

Lex cocked her head to the side slightly and shrugged. “I guess that depends,” she said. “How bad did you think you looked?” Her brows furrowed as she looked at her ex-boyfriend, her hands wrapped around the coffee cup. 

Seeing the wizard alone at a table in the corner of the room, a frown found its way to Lex’s lips. It was true that these days she didn’t know Isaac very well, and possibly true that she shouldn’t want to know him either, but there was something about him that caused her legs to start walking towards him before she had even realised. Placing her cup of coffee on the small circular table, she drew the seat back and slipped into it. “You look like you need one of these, too.” She raised her brows, and her eyes searched for his.

“Now, now Alex. Is that anyway to speak to your big brother?” He questioned sarcastically as he stood peering down at her with a smirk. Their meeting was inevitable and with it being such a small town, it was always going to happen sooner rather than later. With that in mind, Reid had purposely seeked his little sister out in hopes that the meeting would happen on his terms rather than letting any surprises throw him off guard.

Lex closed her eyes for a moment, already quite done with the conversation that had only just begun. “It’s pretty much the only way to speak to you.” She stated, meeting her brother’s gaze. “And you didn’t answer the question.”

Marcus’ gaze moved toward the door as he heard it open, a large smile falling on his face as he recognised his best friend. “Hey Lex” He grinned, shuffling up the bed as he noticed the large stack of comics in her hand. “You are a life saver, honestly - I have never been so bored in my life.” The young male complained with a roll of his eyes before reaching out to grab the first few comics in the stack. Adjusting his glasses he flicked through them, looking over some of the titles she had brought him - he certainly wouldn’t mind rereading them, after all it would give him something to pass the time. Though he was more interested in the brand new one that she had brought him. “Thank you, so much - you’re the best.” He grinned, taking the new comic from her and reading the title, his smile widening. “I’ve actually not heard of this one.. The Fantastic Four.. Should be interesting.” Marcus spoke, sending her a wink. 

Lex smiled as her friend thanked her. She couldn’t imagine that the hospital was the most entertaining place to be and she was glad she could at least provide him with some entertainment. “Staring at these four white walls all day could make anyone crazy.” The witch mentioned. “And I couldn’t let that happen.” She offered him a smile and shrugged, watching as he flipped through the comics. Though his reaction when he saw the new comic was much more pleasing and brought a smile to her own lips. “I thought the fire guy looked pretty fun.” She said, pointing at the flying ball of fire that graced the cover. “But I’m sure you’ll get more enjoyment out of it.” 

Sat on a table outside the town’s smallest cafe, Lex was working in her notebook. The pencil in her hand moved quickly, jotting down lyrics onto the page -- and erasing them just as fast in some cases. She hummed to herself, biting her lip whenever the melody vanished from her mind as she stumbled over potential lyrics. However, when a shadow loomed over her paper, she closed her eyes in frustration as she moved her gaze to look up to the person who had disturbed her. “What do you want?” 

“How would one go about doing that? You must be very talented to do so.” Elodie replied impressed. “Really? I would love that.” She grinned excitedly. “Maybe you should have a, erm–” The blonde did a short pause as she tried to remember the English word she wanted, –”a sort out?” 

“There’s a lot of books or magazines that can teach you, sometimes really complex things too!” Lex explained with a smile. “And when you’ve been playing for a while, a lot of the time you can pick songs up by ear.” Lex quite enjoyed being able to do that when she had first learned how. Lex laughed at her suggestion and nodded. “Probably.” She agreed. “But, maybe that’s for another day.”

“I guess I never got around to it, that and I never knew anyone who could teach me.” She gave a shrug. “I do play the piano though.” The blonde added with a smile. Elodie bit bit down on her lip as she gave another laugh. “Could you bare to part with any of them or are you wanting to keep them all?”

“I put it off for a while, but in the end I ended up teaching myself a bit. With a little help from other people.” She admitted to the blonde. “Well, I wouldn’t be able to teach you everything, but if you wanted I could get you started?” Lex offered -- she often spent her days playing, singing and writing away anyway. “Some of them have more sentimental value.” She smiled with a small shrug. “But others I wouldn’t miss as much.” 

Moving through the hospital, Lex carefully checked each room door until she arrived at the one she knew belonged to her best friend. She took a breath before entering the room. She knew he had been badly hurt, and wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Holding the small stack of comics in her left hand, as well as a new one that she had managed to get her hands on for him (it was at the very least related to the comics he already owned), she pushed the door open and entered the room. Her gaze fell on her friend laying in bed, and she frowned as she moved closer. “I just grabbed a stack of them. So I hope they’re entertaining enough the second time around.” She said, a small smile replacing the frown as she sat on the seat next to the bed and placed all but one of the comics on the bedside table. “Oh, and I brought this one, too.” She said, showing him the cover and peering around the side of it to see his reaction.

“How lovely. I have always fancied playing the guitar.” The young witch mused smiling. “Oh my.” She gasped bringing her hand to her face to cover her mouth as she began laughing. “It could be stranger, imagine if you had them all and could not play the guitar.” 

“Why haven’t you?” She asked, tilting her head to the side slightly, a smile gracing her lips. The smile grew when the blonde began laughing and Lex couldn’t blame her. “Then I think I would classify that as a serious hoarder problem.” She laughed. "It might be getting there anyway."

Elodie smiled, “You play?” She asked almost excitedly. “Sort of? I do not understand… how can you sort of collect them?” The blonde questioned her, tilting her head and laughing lightly.

“Well enough.” Lex nodded. She was by no means a professional, and had some things to learn still, but she played well enough that she could compose songs and that was good enough for the time being. “You realise one day that you have around thirty different guitar picks and no idea how you accumulated them all.” She smiled at the blonde.

She gave the brunette a smile feeling triumphant as she confirmed the small case was hers. “I did not mind.” The blonde replied with a shrug. “May I ask what they are?” 

“They’re just guitar picks.” She informed the blonde with a smile. Explaining that she carried them around with her for inspiration and a sense of luck would likely result in an odd look. “I sort of collect them.”