Shadows on the Sea

Planning Up A Storm

Chosen opened the door of her house, resting the canvas bag which Dark had given her on the floor. Second squeezed past her, panting from the long walk.

Chosen gave him an unimpressed look and followed her youngest brother down the entry hall into the living room.

"Man," came a voice from behind her. She whirled.

But it was just Dark. He was standing with his hands on his hips, looking around the room. Chosen was surprised to see tears in his eyes.

"What is it?" she asked curtly.

Dark looked over at her, blinking hard. "Just- didn't ever think I'd ever- ya know- be inside here again."

Victim patted Dark's shoulder. "You're forgiven, idiot. Get over it."

Dark punched him halfheartedly in the back. "C'mon, Vic, you don't just win back a life's-worth of trust in a day."

"I never trusted you much anyway!" Chosen called over her shoulder as she walked towards the kitchen.

"Yowch," she heard Victim say teasingly, and then the sound of a punch that was less halfhearted than the previous one. "Ouch!"

Second bounced over to the fridge, opening it and pulling out a juice with a straw. He slurped it casually, stalking over to Dark with a half-grin on his face. "Want a drink?"

Dark shrugged. "Depends on what you have."

Second listed off, "Codeberry juice, root beer, apple cider-"

"Chosen still drinks cider?" Dark said disbelievingly.

Second nodded. "Every day!"

Dark shook his head in disbelief. "I would have thought- you know-"

Second put his hands on his hips. "No, I don't know. What."

Dark sighed and put his head in his hands. "It was our sharing drink. Whenever we got frustrated with each other- probably because I was being stupid- one or the other of us would get out a couple of glasses and fill 'em with cider and we'd go sit out on the edge of the cliff and watch the sun go down together. It was- I guess it was like our calming strategy." He paused. "Yep."

Chosen bowed her head, back turned towards her brothers. She didn't know why she'd kept up the tradition after... after... after the fight.

Still, whenever she got angry, or depressed, or unreasonably sad, she would pour a bit of the sweet, rich, spicy drink into a glass and walk out to the cliff edge, watching the weather and the sun.

It was a part of her now.

She lifted her head and kept moving about the kitchen. "Yes, I still drink it."

Behind her, Sec looked over at Dark. "We do have water, too."

Dark shrugged. "I'll take water."

Second puttered off to the kitchen. "Hey, Cho, where do you keep your cups?" When Chosen pointed silently towards a high-up shelf filled with twisted, glass-blown shapes, Second pushed the stool under the shelf and stepped up onto it. He gazed indecisively at the irregular glasses. "Dark, which one's yours?"

"I don't have a cup that's specifically 'mine,'" Dark said teasingly, "but I do like the black one there, on your left, with the red chrysalis pattern on the side."

Second pulled it off the shelf and tripped cheerily over to Dark. "Did you make it yourself?"

"We made all of these ourselves," Dark explained. "I had a lot of random glass shards sitting around from all the times me and Chosen broke our windows, so it was a piece of cake."