Lucille

“I’m very impressionable, Lucille.” He replied sarcastically. She suggested he return the lighter and he shook his head. “Finders keepers, right?“

-

“Then stick with me and you’ll be great, right?” Lucille laughed before taking a long drag of her cigarette before blowing the smoke out into the air. “Right. Exactly.” Lucille grinned slightly before watching him for a moment, trying to decide if she wanted to say anything or not. Lucille wasn’t the type to open up about much of anything, and Chandler was just a shifter she had drinks with. Nothing more, nothing less. But there was a part of her that wanted- needed to talk about Xiu being on the island but she wasn’t sure if she should or how she would even say it. Suddenly, before she realized it, she was blurting out, “I found out my ex and her whole family is on the island.” She almost immediately regretted it, but she couldn’t take it back now. She’d just have to wait to see what he’d say... if he said anything at all. Lucille just sat back and took another drag of her cigarette.

Kate smiled when Lucille brought Devon up. “I would want nothing more than to spend all day with him.” He was growing up so fast, soon he would have his own responsibilities and classes to go to, and getting pregnant again after only 1 year and so would be almost impossible for a royal, trying would be almost setting herself to fail, however she couldn’t help but have a small hope. “But this is important, and the longest I stay, the faster we will finish, Devon is safe at the palace, this is where I’m needed it, so I will probably stay as much as I can, you do not have to stay that long.”

-

Lucille shifted her weight before kneeling to begin painting, and it almost bothered her that Katherine wanted to do all this for the island, seeming as though she genuinely cared for the residents of the island, meanwhile, Lucille only cared about doing this kind of thing for herself. Lucille hadn’t always been so selfish but everything that happened between her and Xiu had changed her and she swore she’d take care of herself and no one else anymore. “How kind of you.” She almost rolled her eyes as she spoke, letting out a small huff. “I guess it is rather important but there’s so many people already here. It just doesn’t seem like it should be your job.”

Chandler looked down as he felt something land in his lap, and smiled slightly at the lighter. He was lighting his cigarette as she admitted to stealing it. “Wow, you’re not setting a very good example for the young shifter in front of you.” He teased her. Lighters were cheap and easy to find, so he certainly didn’t feel bad for the guy. He took a drag from his cigarette before handing the lighter over to her. “Oh, shit, I was gonna talk about the weather. Or the…Minnesota Twins.” The only reason he knew the name of any sports teams was because his dad was a big fan of them. Still, the team name almost sounded like a question as it left his lips. 

-

“Do you really think I care if I’m a good influence or not at this point?” Lucille raised a brow at him before leaning back in her seat and lighting her own cigarette. “If you’re so worried about this poor drunk’s lighter, why don’t you return it to him? I mean, he’s right over there.” She pointed in the man’s direction as she took a drag from the cigarette.

“Oh shut up,” He rolled his eyes playfully as he walked towards the back of the line, “They don’t get much littler than you, so I’ve had a lot of practice.” He reached out and ruffled his sister’s hair, making the golden strands stick up in all sorts of ways. 

Once he reached the back of the line, he wrapped an arm around Lucille, just to keep her there out of amusement. “It’s alright, I won’t be waiting in it alone. How’re you holding up, Lucy? Everything good?” He looked down at her, a small smirk growing on his face. 

-

Lucille swatted at his hand as he ruffled her hair, rolling her eyes as she followed him. “I can take care of myself. I mean, haven’t you noticed.” She crossed her arms over her chest when they made it to the back of the line. His arm wrapping around her called for her to shove him away. “No, you won’t have to wait alone because there are plenty of others here who haven’t made it through yet. Me? I’ve had my portion, so you definitely won’t be waiting with me.” She huffed, looking around at everyone else for a moment, almost as though she were trying to find something else to bring up to avoid his question. “I’ll be fine. I always am. And you? Trying to be everyone’s hero again?” Cassian’s kindness to others almost annoyed her but it was mostly because she knew she was nothing like him and didn’t care for many others than herself, and deep down she knew she was wrong for that.

This is a mistake was all that had been running through Lucille’s mind as she tried to figure out where Xiu was. After Xiu An left her all those years ago, she didn’t think she’d ever see her again, so when they ran into each other at the club on Paradisus, Lucille absolutely panicked. Lucille couldn’t get her off her mind, though, and now that the island was attacked, she feared what may have happened to her, and as angry as she was with Xiu An, she was angrier with herself for still being in love with her and caring for her. 

So, Lucille found herself at Xiu An’s doorstep, wondering what the hell was wrong with herself to actually be doing this. She just wanted to know if Xiu was okay. That’s all. Slowly, Lucille reached up and knocked on the door, only for her anxiety to spike and she started to turn away and leave until she heard the door open. “Oh..” was all she could get out when she came face to face with her first love once more.

“So you’re telling me I can get a lighter without making small talk with strangers? Amazing. Definitely taking you up on that.” He replied, pulling the carton of cigarettes out of his back pocket and handing her one. He enjoyed hanging out with Lucille; she knew how to have a good time without him needing to mom-friend her. And she never told him to stop drinking so much, or lectured him about why smoking was bad. He followed her back into the bar, ordered a greyhound and Lucille’s usual and went to the smoker-friendly patio to wait for the blonde to obtain a lighter.

-

After a moment, Lucille found Chandler outside once more, tossing the lighter into his lap as she sat across from him, immediately pulling her feet into her seat so her knees were to her chest. “I may or may not have just swiped it off someone’s table while they weren’t paying attention..” She paused for a beat, “Well, the poor ol’ fool was drunk as fuck.” She shrugged as she twirled the cigarette between her fingers, waiting for him to light his own before giving it to her. “I don’t do small talk either.” It was nice having someone to talk to though, especially since neither of them cared to be close. Lucille and Chandler went out for drinks, went to the club every now and then, but there was a nice and safe distance between them. 

Katherine smiled, glad that Lucille decided to help, some jobs were harder and took more ability, others were very simple and there was no way to mess it up. Kate grabbed a brush and offered for Lucille. “How about a paint job?” She asked, the wood needed to be waterproofed, it was technically an easy job but a very important one. 

-

“Sure.” Lucille let out a sigh as she lazily took the brush out of Katherine’s hand, already hating herself for agreeing to it. She turned to look at the part of the dock that was already done and needed to be painted. It wasn’t too far from where Katherine was working, so as Lucille moved down to her knees to begin working herself, she spoke, “How long are you gonna be out here? I figured you’d be spending the day with Devon.” 

Katherine smiled when Lucille gave her the hammer, she was ready to just get back to the project, after all, every second was important, when her friend spoke, words that seemed to be in everyone’s mouth lately. “I would love nothing more than to spend the day hugging my son, but that won’t help anyone.” She said, it was as simple as that, if Kate was going to be the future Queen of this island, that mean leading them when things were difficult as well, being the first to volunteer and the last one to leave. “How about you? Are you here to help, or just walking by?” 

-

Katherine was better than Lucille in many ways, one being that she was so willing to help others. Lucille saw helping others as nothing but a way to be taken advantage of or get hurt. Lucille had no intentions of actually helping rebuild the docks but when Katherine asked her, she considered maybe she should. Selfishly, though. She knew the rations they were receiving could only last for so long. “I-… I guess I could.” She shrugged, looking around at the docks once more. “What would you even want me to do?” She let out a deep sigh, figuring she had nothing else to do other than mope because she was worried about Xiu An but didn’t know if she could talk to her.

Xiu was in a similar boat, the carnival was fun, the food was mouth watering, but she couldn’t help but wish she had someone to experience it with like the other people who wandered along the fairgrounds. Her mind kept wandering back to Lucille, even all these decades later. The sweet moments they shared, sneaking away from her estate, kissing in the rain. 

She sat at the bar of the Belladonna, raising her glass to her lips when she saw a head of curly, blonde hair pass by her. She downed the rest of her drink and got up, unsure of why she was going to approach the stranger. Perhaps it was because she reminded her of her love from so many years ago. Would this help her feel better in the long run? Probably not. But it was worth a try. 

When she asked if the stranger wanted to dance, and the girl agreed, she followed her onto the dance floor. Xiu held out her hand, just visible enough as the woman still faced away from her. An invitation to twirl, to back into her, to do absolutely anything with. Xiu just wanted to get lost in the moment for a little bit. 

-

Hope was friendly, she could easily go in a room full of stranger and leave after 5 minutes with all of them being her friends, she already knew some people around, but she already had made a few new friends as the day went along.

Sitting down for a few minutes to finish her funnel cake, She smiled when someone new talked with her. “Please sit, make yourself comfortable.” She said with a smile. “I’m hope, are you enjoying the festivities?” She asked in a very friendly way.

-

Lucille gave the other a small smile as she moved to take the seat next to her. The other giving off this brightness- she seemed so light and happy, and Lucille wondered what that was like. “Lucille.” She smiled, thinking about how the name Hope suited the other so well, it seemed. “It’s been... fine.” She shrugged lightly, “I’d imagine you’re having the time of your life?”

The carnival was fun and all, but it wasn’t really Lucille’s scene. Even after all these years it was hard to watch couples walk together hand in hand after what happened with her and Xiu. She still had a bitter taste in her mouth over that whole situation- what happened with her parents, how Xiu left her without any warning... it was all so much. She’d been running from it for years, and finally settled on the island to completely get away. However, she still felt that need to keep her mind busy so she wouldn’t sit at home pining. She found herself at the Belladonna night club, and again, she didn’t understand why she chose something like that. There were still couples and memories of the places she and Xiu would go together, all tainting the place. She walked through the crowd with a drink in her hand when she suddenly heard someone behind her asking her to dance over the sound of the music. Wanting to shove her thoughts and feelings aside, she agreed, setting down her drink and went ahead to make her way to do dance floor even before she even looked up to see who the other was.