Lucius

Lucius looked up from eating, a little confused by the stranger approaching him. Still, he knew how to be polite.  “Isn’t it a little weird to be watching someone eat?”

 He smirked, noticing that both individuals looked almost identical. 

“Ah, twins. I suppose one of you is the evil one?” He chuckled slightly, thinking of his own twin. 

“Or maybe both of you are?” Lucius suggested, his words teasing as they were spoken. 

“ ‘ You learn more by watching’ & listenin’, than you do runnin’ your mouth. ’ Our mother taught us that … her advice has yet to be proven wrong. “ Jonah recited, a dour expression on his face that somehow matched his soul less tone.

Seth stood, his arms folded over his chest - a ghost of a grin playing around his mouth. Jonah sulked just to his left, as he leaned against the nearest clear surface. Seth rolled his eyes at his brother’s mopey mood. 

“ Give me credit — it was certainly more interesting, honest, & less annoying a starter than: ‘ Hi, we’re the Trimbles ! What’s your favorite color ? When’s your birthday ? Wanna be BFFs and make friendship bracelets ?! ‘, right ? “ 

“Are you implying that you take me as someone who talks a lot?” 

He shook his head and dug his spoon into the bowl before lifting his hand away and pushing it to the side. 

“Well thank you for sparing me the small talk, I certainly don’t have any interest in humoring any of that...” 

Lucius watched as they began to retreat. 

“Am I understanding that you want me to address you as the Trimbles? I certainly doubt you want me to address you as Trimble 1 and 2.” 

He hoped that would be enough to get them to halt and continue the conversation, his voice teasing on the second part. He had never met any twins besides himself and his brother. This had to mean something in the grand scheme of things. At the very least, it already proved to be entertaining. 

Lucius could not wipe away the amusement on his face nor could he hide the way his eyes lit up at Rennie appearing at the doorway. He blinked several times in disbelief. 

“Before I answer that question, I have to say, I’m more than a little surprised you decided to come all this way to have this conversation in person.”

He surveyed the area behind her and then moved out of the way, gesturing inside. 

“As a matter of fact, I do enjoy music. The idea of someone singing to me to “cheer me up” however……it sounds more than a bit cheesy. Maybe someone more sentimental than I would like that.” 

Lucius looked worried for a moment. 

“Please tell me you didn’t come all this way to do that.”

He shifted uncomfortably, but raised his eyebrow at her following words. 

“What’s wrong with games for intelligence? My brother and I enjoy playing them….although it can be a bit hard to determine a winner when our Father gifted us both with equal intelligence…..”

He paused for a moment, his lip slanting slightly as he studied Rennie. 

“You really don’t think that’s all we do for fun, do you? We both enjoy movies and shows, as long as they aren’t too cheerful. We enjoy discussing the failure of humanity and of course we have our inside jokes. We have a lot of darker things we do for fun too.”

Lucius gestured to the main living room. 

“Shall we sit?”

He was doing his best to be more kind and open to Rennie. Being polite was a natural part of how he got this far, even if he didn’t mean it. However, his brother did care about her and by proxy, Lucius had to care too. It’s not like she was going anywhere. He had already did everything he could to suggest to her that the end days may not involve her being alive. If that didn’t scare her away, nothing would. So it was time to be nice and damn it, mean it. Still, Lucius was naturally painfully sarcastic and he enjoyed teasing Rennie when the opportunity arose. He hoped she would be satisfied with his efforts to be more hospitable to her than he had in the past. And maybe, caring about her at this point was easier than he would like to admit.

She stared at him, wide blue eyes full of surprise. Really, she hadn’t thought she’d continue the conversation in person either. Plans change sometimes, right ? No harm in that …

“ I sent that text 45 whole minutes ago & then, after I really thought about it: I decided I missed you. So, here I am. “ 

( Her nose wrinkles at the words ‘ missed you ‘, like she’s just gotten the scent of something sour. She worked on smoothing the expression out again as quickly as she could, recovering in a little under a minute. ) 

“ I didn’t come here to sing to you. I got something for you, actually - and I picked it up a little while ago, yet another reason I stopped by. “

She hunts around in the big Dooney & Bourke™ purse hanging on her shoulder, as she takes a step inside. There was a time in her life when she’d have been too intimidated and apprehensive to step any further than the veranda. Now, there’s only a split second’s hesitation before she allows herself to follow his lead towards the living room.

“ Oh, you actually play Chess … and enjoy it ??? That explains so much actually. I guess, deep down - I always knew you were a nerd™. “ 

The quip doesn’t hold bite anymore as she sinks onto a plush couch and finally draws her hand out of her bag, holding two hard shell glasses cases. She thrusts them towards Lucius and waits expectantly for him to take them, a faint smile playing around the corners of her mouth. 

“ I know you don’t like cheesy stuff — but, I promise these are très aesthetic ! I got one pair in black and then another in red, because honestly ??? I wasn’t sure what the usual everyday vibe is. Also, I took the liberty while I was at it & had your initials engraved in the corner of both. No, before you ask: I didn’t get Damien any. “

Her rambling came to an end finally and a shy crooked smile had worked over her face. She won’t be admitting that she has matching flame shaped sunglasses in pink and purple with her name in the corner. He can just be unpleasantly surprised one day … yay friendship !  

He was genuinely curious about that. It never really occurred to him that she might like him outside of the fact that he was Damien’s brother. His eyebrow was raised as he waited for her response.  “For me? So you’re not bluffing? You really care about me?” 

His eyes follow her and then he stops in his tracks as she delivers the teasing blow. 

“Ah, there’s the Rennie I know. Never afraid to poke the bear.” 

He scoffed, recovering quickly and following her to the couch. Before he sat, the items were thrown in the spot. He looked at them for a good minute before reaching down to grab them and take a seat, opening them to inspect them closer. 

“Where did you find these?”

Clearly entranced, he did not look up when delivering the question to Rennie. Something about them seemed perfect. He looked up when she mentioned Damien was left out. 

“Is there something wrong with my brother and you that I should be aware of?”

He tried his best to remain calm, trusting that Damien would have said something but, that tug of worry was there in his voice, like a dog who is sniffing and considering growling. 

“Rennie, I mean this in the nicest way possible I can…….why would I want to hear anyone sing?” 

“ … You … you listen to music, don’t you ? Like, you know, on the radio or maybe in a concert ? “

Rennie paused, suddenly very disoriented by his assertion. She’d always wondered exactly what counted as ‘ fun ‘ for Lucius & his brother. It seemed that perhaps their extra curricular pursuits were more academic or dangerous in nature.

“As a matter of fact, I do enjoy music. The idea of someone singing to me to “cheer me up” however......it sounds more than a bit cheesy. Maybe someone more sentimental than I would like that.”  Lucius looked worried for a moment.  “Please tell me you didn’t come all this way to do that.”

He shifted uncomfortably, but raised his eyebrow at her following words.  “What’s wrong with games for intelligence? My brother and I enjoy playing them....although it can be a bit hard to determine a winner when our Father gifted us both with equal intelligence.....”

He paused for a moment, his lip slanting slightly as he studied Rennie. 

“You really don’t think that’s all we do for fun, do you? We both enjoy movies and shows, as long as they aren’t too cheerful. We enjoy discussing the failure of humanity and of course we have our inside jokes. We have a lot of darker things we do for fun too.”

Lucius gestured to the main living room. 

“Shall we sit?”

 He smirked, noticing that both individuals looked almost identical. 

“Ah, twins. I suppose one of you is the evil one?” He chuckled slightly, thinking of his own twin. 

Happy Holidays !!! ( Gifts ) || Ya Gurl, Heather™ Spreading Some Seasonal Cheer !

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