#deepbluevi

"Aw come on Artie, your prowess in terribad puns is unmatched, you know that!"

"And joking aside, I can and will start listing all the things you're legitimately good at. That IS a threat."

“...”

"....."

@deepbluevi

"Hey it's not my fault it's so obvious! If you don't want people commenting on it, maybe wear higher heels." 

 Lucifer rolls his eyes before looking her over with a hand on his chin, glancing around behind her quickly. Was it her? Why was she alone if it was? 

The sound of splashing was from the black and white spirit, standing knee deep in the green water, staring downward. His eyes were blank as he looked for a reflection, and found little to nothing. Taking a deep inhale of stale air and exhaustion, he entertains the idea of crawling under. But upon the first step, a sound pulls him out with a flinch.

Turning his head, and splashing the water, he scans the interior of the cave. The light shocking him out of his stupor, and the distant form did just as much.

She followed the darting silvery light as stealthily as she could, keeping enough distance to be relatively sure she could avoid detection-- or at least hope that she could. It was hard to be certain how good its vision was when it had no eyes, or features at all.

Whatever she was expecting to find at the end of its journey, it wasn't an isolated mansion. The building was decidedly aged but well maintained: ivy crawled along the white-washed walls, but it was trimmed down so that the effect was artful rather than dilapidated. The windows were all fully paned and the glass was clean. The roses planted around the steps to the porch looked healthy, all glossy leaves and fat lavender blossoms.

"How-- how the hell did I not know this place was here?" she murmured to herself as she stepped out into the clearing around the opulent house. She started down the walk towards the front door, but soon a particular sound distracted her-- a voice. A man's voice, soft but warm and rich as butter. She couldn't make out the words in that voice, but the pitched moved and flowed in rhythm. Perhaps he was singing?  Vivi crept around the side of the manor and to the back, following the voice but hugging the side wall to remain as hidden as possible for as long as possible.

Having completed its mission, the wisp was returning home after guiding another lost soul from the forest. It did as it was commanded and then drifted along...though it was unaware of its follower as it floated along to its master’s home. Coming into the clearing surrounding the manor, the wisp gave a bob and dip, zooming to report its accomplishment. The arc of travel took it around the artfully-maintained home and straight to the back yard where the winged master of the manor stood with other wisps and small, fluttering birds surrounding him.

He had been working on his garden, singing to himself more than anything else as he trimmed the unnecessary branches and leaves. In any such context, someone would expect the song to be something jovial and glad. Something happy to pass the time faster as he worked. In reality, the tone was sad, almost mournful as the little wisps and birds around him tried to cheer him up. Were this unexpected visitor to come closer she would hear the tail end of his song as it faded to its last somber baritone note.

As the echo faded, his wings sagged, feather tips dusting the ground as the wisps and birds took to landing over his shoulders and wings, cheeping and chiming in soft tones to try to cheer him up. Alas, there was no fixing this hurt, not easily at any rate. Sparrow looked upward into the clear evening sky, not sure exactly what he was searching for before he turned to address the new wisp, holding out his hand as it popped into the shape of a silver bird and landed on his finger.

Such a meaningful, kind offer. 

Too bad her alternate saw that explosion of anger. 

It’d been years of work gaining control of that troublesome side, yet in instances where touchy subjects shoved themselves on her, that boiling wrath emerged in an ugly manner. She’s tired, that’s for sure, both physically and mentally from the sudden burst. In her moment of cooling, one of her precious alternates stepped forward with a brave suggestion. 

Did she even deserve that right? Another mother....another family coming from one of her altered-timeline twins? 

After dusting off her skirt and shoulders, Vivi loudly inhaled then exhaled in a rough sigh. She kept her back facing the other bluenette, too nervous to even give her the necessary full attention. 

“....I don’t know....”

An unfamiliar response, holding worry and dripping with caution. Should she? There’s too many unknowns in this case, yet the potential for a true maternal figure held itself right there...in the twin’s own hands. How could it be that easy?

“I can’t say no....but I can’t say yes...for now. Maybe...I can think about it. I’m not really sure but...thank you for your generous offer..”