#etaernum

↣ THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT

He can't sleep. He doesn't sleep anymore, not for any real span of time. He is a stranger in a strange land, and he is a dead man come back to life, and he can't sleep. He has slept through so much, through war and chaos, through a Hell made real by people he has never met, but he cannot sleep now.

And this is how his sister has found him. He tries very hard not to bother her, but here she is. He doesn't know if it's a coincidence, if it's a twin's intuition, or if something that they did to her made her able to feel it. There is so much of her that is strange to him now. There is so much of himself that is strange.

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@etaernum

Jix really should not have tried to climb up to that window. It was just that it was so much faster to climb in through a window than to go all the way around to the doors, but... he was a terrible climber, and the window had been very high up for such a small leafling.

Gwen wasn't much of a party person, never having the opportunity to attend any when she was younger, being raised to uphold the family tradition of fending off intergalactic threats and all. That, and she kind of had a image to uphold. She was Gwen, interstellar sweetheart, known for her ( semi ) pristine public image and goody-toe shoes behaviour.

The media would have a field day if they saw her now, they loved when she self-destructed, as rare as it was. Tipsy, three bar fights ( that she won, thank you very much ) and now sitting on the floor sipping something orange and glowing from a twisty straw.

It wasn't her fault, she'll tell herself that. Gwen had only stopped on this space station to get fuel for the next leg of their adventure when someone recognized her, started dragging her away by the arm with the proclamation of 'hey, let me buy you a drink !' for being a universally recognized superhero, despite her protests. One turned into twenty.

She'd lost Johnny somewhere in the chaos between the second and third brawls but when she recognizes that asshole from across the room she raises both her arms up and yells. ❝ Johnnnnnyyyyy ! Have you TRIED these things ?! T-they're so good. Do you think they have them in bluuuuueeeee ? S'my favourite colour. It's so pretty. ❞

"I would think you, of all people, would understand what it's like," Shuri hissed, her chest heaving with exertion and ire. She'd come to the woman known as the Scarlet Witch to ask for help, to get rid of those who constantly prodded and poked at Wakanda's borders instead of leaving them alone. She'd come to someone who she believed of like mind to do what no one else she'd considered a friend would do. Instead, she found herself walking through the same conversation she'd had a million times.

Only this time, the Witch was more than a formidable opponent. Shuri had nothing on her side to combat actual magic.

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She blinks a couple of times to calm herself, dimming the glow and eventually shutting it down. Gwen tilts her head with raised brows, hands coming to rest on her hips in her usual stance. ❝ Are you sure ? You might be seeing things. ❞ Gwen teases.

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@etaernum

"Wahhhhh...! What a nice thing to say to Jix! Thank-thank for protections! Am feeling all the specials right now," the little leafling said, exploding with happiness and gratitude. "Would like to think... can take care of self. But, am teeny-tiny and delly-cate. Sometimes Jix needs help from friends. Soooo blessed to have friends looking out for Jix."

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"Excuse me?!" Ashelia could not have held back her affront if she'd wanted to. "Who are you to speak to me that way?! Were you not taught any manners as a child?!" She was already turning red in the face at the very idea of being called a common liar. "What, exactly, do you think I have been untruthful about, if you would be so kind as to enlighten me?" she asked, her tone dripping with irritation.