came facing twilight on and on, without a clue

On the first night of the party, N and Sylvan are sitting by the fireplace. N is rambling about who-knows-what while Sylvan alternates between admiring her and staring out the window at the snow.

Then Mel and Aurelia wander in here yurifully.

"OMG, HI SYLVAN!" Aurelia shouts.

Sylvan winces at the sudden increase in volume. "Did you just say 'OMG' out loud?"

"Sure did!"

Stiffly, Mel says, "...Hi, N."

"Hi." He replies.

"Sooo, what are you two up to~?" Aurelia says.

"Literally nothing." Sylvan responds.

N objects to this, saying, "Hey, I was telling you all about the ideal frequency one should flip their mattress to get the longest possible use out of it!"

"Okay, we're up to that."

Aurelia looks puzzled. "...I forgot you guys are total weirdoes."

Mel retorts, "How could you forget THAT??"

Sylvan stares at them, deeply unamused.

The four of them then chatter idly for a bit. Well, Aurelia, Mel, and N are talking. Sylvan is sitting there, listening mostly just to N.

Mel is in the middle of a story. "So I said to my boss, 'Do you want to let me go to this event, or do you want to lose the only person willing to deliver to that grouchy guy in Lacunosa Town with the Braviary?"

Someone else's voice chimes in.

"...Melpomene?"

A woman with green hair and gray eyes stares blankly at Mel.

Mel stares, wide-eyed, at the tall woman. "Aunt Líadan...!?"

"I am very pleasantly surprised to see you." Her speech and expression are entirely flat.

Líadan... the woman who Mel claims is N's biological mother. N considers making a run for it... But maybe if he just stands here silently, Mel and Líadan will forget he's here.

Líadan answers Mel's question with, "I have similar goals to you, I would assume. That is: I would like to have an enjoyable time."

Sylvan can't stop glancing back and forth between N and Líadan. He whispers,

"She really is your spitting image..."

"Do I look that... dead inside?" N whispers back.

"Well... not anymore. But you did when we first met."

Anyway Mel's still talking to Líadan. "Well, I guess that makes sense. It's really great to see you! Do...? You...? Want...? A hug...????"

"That would be acceptable."

Mel hugs his aunt, and she stiffly returns the affection... for exactly three seconds. On the dot.

"That was enjoyable."

"Uh, yeah..." Under his breath, Mel continues, "If you say so."

Aurelia, at her absolute limit of being silent, pipes in. "MELLL! THIS IS YOUR AUNT?"

"Why are you shouting." Líadan says.

Aurelia continues, "Does that mean she's also related to—"

"Shhhhh!!!" Mel physically puts her hand over Aurelia's mouth to shut her up.

...

Aurelia licks Mel's hand.

"Ew!!" He quickly wipes his hand off on Aurelia's dress.

"HEY!!" Aurelia pulls away, giggling.

"WELL, you shouldn't have—"

Líadan clears her throat, getting everyone's attention. "You should introduce me to your friends, Melpomene."

"O-oh! Well... This is my best friend, Aurelia! She's an actress, and... super awesome!"

Aurelia giggles bashfully.

"And, uh... these two..."

Mel looks from Líadan, to N, and back to Líadan, seemingly noticing the same thing Sylvan did.

"These are my... acquaintances... N and Sylvan! They're..." She struggles to think of something else to say. "...My acquaintances!"

N is filled with dread at Líadan being made aware of their presence.

"Oh. You have made the acquaintance of the Team Plasma boy." Líadan states.

"Don't call me that." N says sternly.

"Hm." Líadan replies noncommittally. "Well. Anyway. I am Líadan Fintan. It is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of you all."

Sylvan nods silently.

"Of COURSE! Mel's talked a lot about you!!" Aurelia cheers.

"Well... I mean... not that much..." Mel mutters.

N glowers at Líadan. That cold, steely glare... For both of them, it is like looking into a mirror.

"You. Let me get a closer look at you."

Líadan assertively marches into N's personal space. She grabs his face and stares into his eyes. N wants to wiggle out of her grasp, but feels not unlike a scruffed cat.

Sylvan kicks himself for being able to jump between N and a knife guy but being scared still by this random tall lady.

Líadan exhales slowly as she examines N's face.

"You guys look a lot alike, huh?!" Aurelia says.

Ignoring her entirely, Líadan says to N, "When I look into your eyes... I can almost remember the face of my son."

Her face, which has been entirely expressionless this whole time, almost starts to maybe, just a little, seem a touch sad.

Finally mustering the will to move, he wiggles out of Líadan's grasp... though that may simply be because she allowed him to.

"I don't know how to respond to that." N says bluntly. "But I'll have you know, I'm nobody's son."

"Are you sure?! 'Cuz you look like you COULD be her's!" Aurelia says.

N bites back, "Will you shut up?"

"Hey, hey! No need to get hostile..." Mel butts in. "But, y'know... take N's word for it..."

Líadan continues to stare at N... from a more normal distance than previously.

"There is something I recognize in you. But I cannot place what."

"Okay." N replies, his monotony matching hers.

"U-um..." Sylvan starts.

"What is it, boy?" Líadan replies sharply.

Sylvan's voice grows slightly prickly in irritation. "I was just going say... Nice talking to you all. But we should be going. After all..." He subtly nudges N. "There was that thing you wanted to check out, right?"

N blinks. "What... Oh!" He chuckles slightly. "Right...! That... Thing! That I... wanted to check out. Yes! That thing. I am always checking out things."

"You've made your point, love..."

"Good! Good. Let us... check out that thing. That I was going to..."

Sylvan nudges his partner again as they wander off. "We got it. We're checking out a thing."

As the weirdo gays leave, Líadan spots something that catches her interest. Quietly, she mutters...

"That cube."

The next day, everyone is seated in the dining room for dinner.

As everyone finds somewhere to sit... Líadan sits herself across from N. She attempts to make conversation, but N tries their best to pretend they're too interested in their menu to notice.

Finally, she says, "N. I know you are listening."

"What do you want?" N responds, exasperated.

"I do not know what I have done to warrant this hostility. Regardless. I noticed you have something very interesting."

The writer is ignoring the fact that a few hours after he wrote about Líadan noticing the cube, he realized that N's winterfest outfit doesn't include the cube. N just has the cube Okay.

"What is it."

"That puzzle cube. May I take a closer look at it." Her flat affect dulls any questioning tone she may have intended.

"No."

"I collect them, you see. They fascinate me."

"My puzzle cube is very important to me."

"I just want to look."

In hopes that this will get her to leave him alone, N hesitantly unclips the puzzle cube's chain from his outfit and holds it out towards Líadan.

As soon as she sees the cube up close, her eyes go wide, her pupils large with fascination.

She reaches for it, but N pulls his hand back when she tries. So she sets her hands in her lap. She looks like she's trying to touch it with her eyes.

"That pattern."

N raises an eyebrow.

"I have seen this cube before. No— This cube... Belongs to me."

"Not anymore, it doesn't." Sylvan says pointedly.

There's a faint sadness in her eyes. "You are right." She looks at N. "This has been yours for far longer than it was ever mine. But it was mine once."

N stares at Líadan, only mildly interested in what she has to say.

"A Zorua took it from me. It came into my house. Disguised itself as my stolen son. And took my one-of-a-kind cube."

"Zorua don't do that." N retorts. "Stealing people's children or whatever. What would they ever want with a human child?"

She stares at nothing. "I do not know." She is quiet for a few moments, staring at the cube. Then at N. Unfortunately continuing to speak, she says, "I do not remember his face."

"Your son's?"

"Correct. "But something about you... makes me think of him. When I look at you... I can almost remember Conrí."

N flinches at that name.

"I do not know where I went wrong to lose him."

Growing irritated, N says, "Maybe it was when you left him in the woods."

Líadan is quiet for a moment. There's a vague thoughtfulness in her expression.

She eventually says, "...I did not tell you that."

N freezes. Shit. Fuck. Shit fuck ass shit ass shit fuck shit ass fuck shit. Yup I wrote that and I'm sticking with it. "Well, I am acquainted with Mel. He told me the story."

"That is an awfully personal story to be telling a mere acquaintance."

"It was relevant."

"How."

"None of your business."

"This is very much my business."

"We were talking about family."

"You are keeping something from me."

"And what of it?"

"Well. Obviously I would not like to be blatantly and deliberately left in the dark."

"It doesn't concern you!"

"It concerns my son."

"Your son is DEAD! You killed him!" N is usually a terrible liar. This isn't necessarily a lie.

Líadan sits there, expressionless as always.

N glares at her, adrenaline rushing.

She stands. "I see. Thank you very much for the information." Líadan leaves. She hardly ate her dinner.

The silence is deafening.

Sylvan pushes through the tension to ask, "You okay...?"

"I'm fine." N responds instantly.