Reflections of Night

Family time

"Oww, Selene, that hurts! Oww! Ouch! You know, I'm pretty sure this counts as abuse!"
"Oh, shut up Nyx, I'm only brushing your hair."
"I'll be shocked if I have any hair left to brush after this! Oww!"

It was Sunday night, and Rachel was cooking a family dinner. Travis and Nick were having a call of duty tournament and Selene had practically kidnapped Nyx and was giving her a makeover at the dining room table.
Nyx was proceeding to object by screaming loudly every time she was so much as touched with the hairbrush. And they hadn't even started makeup yet.

Rachel walked out of the kitchen, bowl of batter in hand to see what the screeching was about.
"Selene, leave her alone. If she doesn't want a makeover, you can't give her one."

Nyx lept up from the chair. "Thank god! Another moment and I would be bald!" She slipped into the kitchen. "Mum, can I have a Cola?"
"Er... yeah, sure. Selene, want one?"
"No, I'm good."

Nyx sat back down opposite her, cracking open the can. Selene eyed her disdainfully. "You know,  that's really bad for your teeth. In fact, I read somewhere that a scientist put a tooth in a bucket of cola for a week, and when he came back, it had dissolved."
"Well, I'm hardly gonna hold it in my mouth for a week, am I?" Nyx shrugged, taking a mouthful. "Besides, where the heck did you read that? Because it might explain why you failed science."

Rachel, obviously trying to avoid the brewing conflict between her girls, interrupted. "So, Nyx, it's your birthday in a couple of weeks, anything in particular you want?"
Selene grinned wickedly at Nyx. "Yeah Nyx, tell her what you want for your birthday."
Nyx looked down, not meeting anyone's gaze. "I... uh... well... for my birthday, I would like... uh... Jewellery. And... uh... books and movies and... uh... what I really want..."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "If you don't tell me, you're not likely to get it."
Nyx mumbled an answer.
"Sorry dear," said Rachel "I didn't quite catch that."
Nyx mumbled again.
"I'm really sorry, but I can't hear you when you mumbled. Say again?"
Nyx took a deep breath.
"WhatIreallywantformybirthdayisatattoopleasethankyougoodnight!"
SMASH!
Rachel had dropped the bowl. "A tattoo? Did you just say you wanted a tattoo?"
Nyx looked down again. "Maybe."

"Why? Why would you want to permanently mark your skin that way, and what if it came out wrong, Nyx?
What if you didn't like it once you got it? Why, just why?"

Nyx partially zoned out. Well, this couldn't get any worse.

The doorbell rang.

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