Midnight Wonders

8.0.0. Four Years Later

Spring came knocking gently on the windows, the birds trilling from the branches that brushed against the sides of the house. Luc woke not from their morning song but the soft buzz of an alarm under his pillow.

The morning was bright but warm, and he slid his phone out from under the pillow to turn off the alarm before it woke Kay, which he was sure he always failed to do, knowing how light of a sleeper Kay was. Though Kay didn't actually open his eyes every time it rang anymore, which meant that he had either gotten into the habit of deep sleeping at night (and this was a rather likely option considering how long it had been) or he just pretended to keep sleeping so as not to make Luc feel bad.

Acting or not, Luc let it be. Kay slept almost exclusively on his left side, and he slept on the right side of the bed, which meant that Luc usually woke in the mornings to the sight of Kay, and he didn't even have to move to reach out and run his finger gently across Kay's freckled cheek. Sometimes touching his eyebrows made him stir or wake (or just open his eyes). His skin was even more freckly now that he was exposed to a real sun; Luc had wondered how he'd even had freckles in the first place when he was in Under-The-Green-Hill. But he knew Kay must've gone outside many more times than just when Luc had seen him.

Luc slipped out of bed and went over to the window, opening it. The petals were waiting for him on the sill. They were pale pink against the white windowsill yellowed from age and weather. Luc picked up one of the petals and put it on Kay's closed eye. For when he woke up. Luc went back to the window and brushed away the rest of the flower remains so Kay couldn't get his revenge later.

When Luc went out into the kitchen, he found Cora making herself a cup of coffee. Annabel had bought them mugs that were now always stacked beside the kitchen sink. The mugs had an initial for each person in the house, along with a little elf in a green hat because Annabel had gotten them on sale after the holidays were over. Lilias got to use the cup with the L, and Luc was now Juc because, according to Annabel, the letters were "close enough;" likewise, Tam got the T and Tristan became Gristan because "there were just no more good letters left." Then Catherine began to call Tristan Gristan all the time so now he was often Gristan as much as he was Tristan. He was offended because Catherine didn't call Luc Juc, and then he got more offended when Catherine began to call him Mr. Short because Luc was Mr. Long and Tristan had to be a different mister. Catherine was very delighted at his offense and was enabled by Cora and Emma.

"We're running out of coffee beans," Cora said, shaking the mostly-empty bag. "I'll take a grocery run in the afternoon."

"Take Tristan with you; he's heartbroken over the episode of that crime show he was watching last night," said Luc.

"A little heartbreak now and then is a good thing," Cora said as she got the milk from the fridge to make herself a bowl of cereal. "We'll get ice cream, too; it's getting warmer. Need anything else?"

"Whatever you see at the store that looks good."

"Exactly," she said. "Grocery lists are overrated."

"As long as you don't spend too much money."

"Hey, I've got my own card now!" she said. "And I make my own money! And so does Tristan."

"That's all true until you see the bakery section at the grocery store."

Cora sighed. "I hate that you're right. But maybe we'll get bagels. I like bagels. The kids like bagels!" She grinned at Luc, knowing that she'd won the conversation. "An afternoon snack for them." Lilias and Tam stayed around in the afternoons while Emma and Annabel were away from home. Emma had been promoted from volunteer to employee, and Annabel had been convinced by Cora to go to school, only Cora had only dabbled in it for a little bit (she'd already gone a long time back when she and Luc had first left and before she lost her energy) and Annabel had fallen in love with it so now Annabel was the only one who was actually going to complete her education. Besides Luc, who already had.