Reflections of Light

Secret Girl Stuff

"Do you just live here now, Johnny, or what?"

In the small hours of the morning, just as the sun had begun to stroke the corners of the dark sky, Alysha had returned to the house.
She stood on the other side of the mirror, arms crossed; and whilst her tone was meant to sound jokey, there was a serious edge to it.

"I have as much right to be here as you do." He said simply.

"Uh, not really." Alysha said, shaking her head. Slowly, she reached out glass, like breaking the surface of pond, to take hold of the frame of the mirror; and very carefully, she stepped out of the reflection and down into the room. "Sisters before misters, you know."

"It's funny, because that's what I wanted to talk about."

Nyx groaned for where she lay curled under her blankets, forcing herself to sit up. "I'm up, I'm up. Nobody argue. I'm awake."

"Good, good, good!" Alysha chimed. "Tell him to get out, so we can chat."

"Oh, I'm sure anything you've got to say, you can say in front of me." He drawled, standing up and crossing his arms.

"It's secret girl stuff; so no, I can't say most of it in front of you, actually." Alysha answered moodily, rolling her eyes with a derisive expression.

"Didn't you have enough time for that when you stole her away to London behind everyone's backs?"

"Behind everyone's backs, or behind your back?" Alysha asked, narrowing her eyes. "Just checking what the actual priority is here."

"No. No provoking each other. No." Nyx said, shifting forwards on the mattress to sit roughly in the middle of the two of them.

Alysha bounded over and sat next to her. "We should do that again, get out of the country like that."

"Maybe." Nyx said cheerfully, shrugging noncommittaly.

"Soon."

"Alright."

"Now."

"Oka... No, not right now." Nyx clarified with a chuckle.

Alysha pouted. "But it's important..."

He interrupted her, speaking over her quiet tone. "Why's it important?"

Alysha clammed up, setting her jaw stubbornly so he knew she wasn't telling.

"It can't be that important then, can it?" He said with a smirk.

Alysha put on a serene expression, refusing to rise to the bait; instead, she reached over to a small package laying open on Nyx's bedside table. Reaching into the box, she picked up the card from which hung a pair of earrings- shaped into ornate flowers and elegantly bejewelled. "Oooh, shiny! I like these."

Shifting closer to Nyx, Alysha plucked the earrings from the card and hooked them into her sister's ears; tilting her face back and forth by the chin to admire the jewellery. "Aw. Looks good. Reminds me of me when I was young and innocent."

A sound of derisive humour came from Nyx's other side, which Alysha responded to with a glare.
Smiling, Alysha turned back to admire the earrings once more. "Birthday present?"

"Yeah."

"From who? Travis?"

"Me." Came the masculine reply across from Alysha.

"Really? Huh. Gotta hand it to you, Johnny. You picked well." Alysha said. "Definitely one of the better 'rings' a woman could expect from a man on her twentieth birthday. Ooh, where's my gift?"

Nyx tensed; Alysha reaching past Nyx's shoulder to feel through the gifts left on the side table, before trailing her fingers down to pull open the drawer. "Ah ha. There it is." And she pulled out the long wooden box.

"Be careful-!" Nyx warned quickly, without even thinking; as Alysha reached to draw the pair of long metal items out of the case. Alysha smiled, taking the hair ornaments carefully in her hand; running her fingers fondly over the ornate handles. Nyx waited, counting the seconds- One, two, three... Against all her expectations, nothing happened. No visions, no strange reaction on Alysha's part, nothing.
A wave of relief washed over Nyx, followed by confusion.

"They're very beautiful, aren't they?" Alysha said, clearly having assumed the warning Nyx had given was out of care for her beloved present.
Grinning happily, Alysha wriggled across the mattress to sit behind Nyx, legs crossed. Nyx pulled a fairly confused expression when she felt fingers in her hair. "What are you doing?"

"Hold still, I'm playing." Alysha giggled, braiding Nyx's hair and twisting it up on her head. Picking up the hair ornaments, she pinned her makeshift bun in place, arranging the curls this way and that. "See, you can wear them crossed over like this... Or both on one side, like this. Just leave some framing your face, or you end up looking like Evelyn. See?" She said, tugging a couple of ringlets down either side of her face. "And voilà! An elegant lady. Don't you think, Johnny? Ooh, where's your lipstick, Baby Sis? You need a good red lippy."

Alysha looked up with 'innocent' eyes. "What, am I boring you, Johnny? I did say it was gonna be girl stuff, but you insisted."

"Don't wind him up..." Nyx hissed.

"I have to be going, anyway." He said, seeming fairly unaffected. "I have things to attend to, unfortunately."

"Yeah, don't you wait tables now? Bit of a step down, everything considered." Alysha teased.

He acted as if he hadn't heard her, instead reaching forwards to kiss Nyx firmly on the lips; a victorious smirk twitching at his mouth at seeing Alysha's disgruntled expression in the corner of his eye. "I'll be back tonight, okay? Stay safe, I'll see you then."

Nyx nodded, smiling contentedly.

Alysha gave an exaggerated wave and calling out loudly; as if in a final attempt to tick him off. "Buh-bye now!"

And then, he was out of the window, and gone.

"Right, okay then." Alysha said, getting comfortable next to Nyx. "I can't really tell you how, but we are in BIG trouble."

"We, as in...?"

"You and me specifically, but everyone else too."

"Oh, joy..."