Silence | Book 1

1-11: Ladybird

After a bit of a search, Tristan had finally found where every item belonged, and put it back the way it was before Anya had come through with her grabby hands. He wasn't sure what he'd find once he had made his way down to the basement, but he decided to cherish the few minutes of silence he had. As the escalators carried him down, he let his thoughts wander for a bit, staring off into space while pondering over the intricacies of various political systems.
The jewellery department took up a large corner of the second floor, with the other parts taken up by lingerie, perfume and everything fancy. Display cases held all the sparkling necklaces, rings and watches, and even Tristan couldn't resist the sight of so many beautiful things, his gaze darting between the many things to see.
Amongst all that glitter, he saw Anya bent over a display case, taking pictures of something. He joined her and saw it was full of charms necklaces meant for children, with racecars, flowers and all sorts of animals cast in silver and coloured enamel.
"Don't they look cute?" Anya said with a grin, pointing them out. As she did, his eye caught the price tag, which wasn't nearly as high as he had suspected. I could afford that...
"Which one do you like best?" He asked with a smile, and Anya thought it over for a moment.
"That one, with the ladybird."
"I think grandma once told me ladybirds were good fortune." Tristan said, thinking back to when he was a child and his grandmother had shown him all the bugs and flowers in the garden of her home.
"Just like me." Anya grinned.
"Do you want it?"
"I mean, you don't have to buy it for me? I just like it." A bit of uncertainty kicked in, and Anya leant away from the case again as if she had asked for too much and wanted to distance herself from it.
"Then I'll get it for you." Tristan said with a grin, before giving her hair a bit of a ruffle. She gave him a slight smile, not quite sure how to take such a spontaneous gift but enjoying it nonetheless.

It didn't take long before one of the circling salespeople noticed they wanted to buy something, and took the small necklace out of the case for them to ring it up. Although Tristan had saved up to buy a few books for himself, he didn't mind parting with it to spoil Anya a little. Once the transaction had been completed, and the 'have a nice days' had been exchanged, he took the charm out of the tiny bag it came with.
"Hold out your wrist." He said with a smile, and Anya did, pulling back her sweater. He wrapped the thin silver chain around her wrist twice, and after a few tries managed to get the lock in one of the eyes tightly enough that it wouldn't slip off over her hand.
Once he was done, Anya lifted her hand up to eye level, smiling widely.
"It's so cute." She said, enthralled by it.
"Do you like it?"
"Yeah." She grinned.
"Now you have something to remind you that no matter what, you still have me." He said, smiling widely as well, only to immediately be tackled into a tight hug.
"You're the best brother." She said, buried into his chest this time.
"That's the second time today you're saying that." He gave her a few pats and avoided eye contact with anyone who passed by, not sure how to deal with a hug in such a public space.
"Mhm, because you are." She nodded, before pulling away again. He smiled a little, but didn't know how to answer.
"So er... do you want to go anywhere else?" He asked, trying to avoid most of his own awkwardness with walking towards the escalators. Anya shook her head in response.
"I'm starting to get a bit peckish." She admitted, stepping onto the escalator after him.
"What are you hungry for?"
"Pasta." She said decisively.
"Red sauce of white sauce?"
"White sauce, with lots of ham."
"White sauce with lots of ham it'll be."
"Yes!" She exclaimed, like it was a victory, while Tristan opened up his umbrella to go outside again into the rain which had begun to pour while they were inside.

Once they got home, and Tristan was still busy unpacking the groceries they had gotten on their way back, Anya beelined for the computer.
"Did you do your homework for tomorrow?" He asked as he set away a glass jar of red sauce in his cupboard. His answer came in the form of an indecisive mumble about it being boring. With a tut and a disapproving headshake he chastised her for it.
"But Triss, it's so boring, I just... can't." She groaned.
"No games until your homework is finished." He said, pointing at her with the leek he'd just taken out of his second bag.
"Fiiiiiiiiiine." Anya grumbled as she left his desk chair again and instead grabbed her bag and walked over to the couch.
"What's your homework about?" He asked, curious as to whether it was maths or history this time, since those were the ones she hated most.
"Some dumb history stuff."
"Still on Victorian England?"
"No, on some dude called kaiser, keezer?"
"Kaiser Whilhelm?"
"No, just kaiser... spelled like the salad."
"Oh, Caesar?"
"Sure."
"He was pretty cool."
"Maybe for you."
"What do you have to do for your homework?"
"Fill in questions about him. But I don't really get it."
"I'll help you once I'm done cooking, okay?" Tristan smiled at her as he put the last items away in his cupboard, and took out some pasta and his pans to make dinner.
"Okay." Anya said with a smile back, before biting on the back of one of her pens and frowning at her questions.