[ Maya reaches up, brushing the fingers of her bare hand along Kasumi's hairline ] If anyone ever tries to use me to get to you, I'll incinerate their brain.
[ It evidently works in real life, too, since Kasumi hums approvingly as Maya does so. She wonders for a moment where she'd learned that, but quickly concludes that it must have been from some of the racier novels she's given Maya.
She is suddenly really thankful she'd sent those, and fingers find their way into the tresses of Maya's hair. ]
[ Alyssa Lysander did not deal with things very well. She spent most of her life squandering her grandmother's generosity, lost and confused and trying to prove her self worth by flinging herself at anyone who would take her.
And now with the death of her grandmother, Lys' downward spiral seems to have gotten worse. It's not helped by the fact that Lys was the one to find the body. And it's further not helped by the fact that they know who did it, that it couldn't be more obvious to those on the outside of the situation looking in, but there was no proof. The eldest Lysander was ordered to stay away from the case- it was too personal- and with nowhere left to turn, Sandon had dragged his baby sister to meet Jacob Randall, to plead for the wizard's help in resolving this. Jacob had agreed, of course, which left Charlie with a shape-shifting couch surfer with an alcohol problem.
It's been a couple of months now, with no resolution in sight. Alyssa's presence around Charlie's apartment was often scarce. Sometimes she would stumble in the door at four in the morning, disheveled and reeking of alcohol, crashing on the couch to sleep the day away, other times she wouldn't come back at all, only to resurface in a day or two to start the cycle again. It was always a toss up of which it would be when Sandon would drop by to check up on his little sister.
Often times, when she was nowhere to be found, Charlie would have to talk the other man down, tell him that he's tried to talk to her about it, tried to help her and keep tabs on her as best he could, but in the end, Alyssa always found a way. She didn't want to live and the here and the now, and she'd do whatever it took to ensure that she didn't. Sandon would then take up residence on Charlie's couch and wait for her until eventually work dragged him away. It was awkward at first, with the wizard tiptoeing around the shifter, but once Charlie finally struck up conversation, it was clear that they got along well.
Other times, when Lys was passed out on the couch, Sandon would just sit silently, stroking her hair as she slept, worry written across his face. Eventually Charlie started inviting him to partake of a cup of coffee, and the two would sit in quiet conversation at the kitchen table while Alyssa dozed away on the couch.
This is one of the latter times. Charlie slides a mug across the kitchen table to the other man, offering him a small, sympathetic smile ]
She's been around the apartment a little more often lately. I think she misses you.
[ Sandon wasn't typically in a position where he felt powerless; his role in the magical community meant he could help his own more often than not, could manipulate situations as necessary to make trouble disappear. But this -- Alyssa's banishment, their grandmother's death, and a stepmother whose disposition is typically reserved for characters in fairytales -- he couldn't fix this. Not on his own, in any case.
It's difficult, watching his life spiral out of his control. Harder still to watch his sister slipping further and further away from him. His family is falling apart before his very eyes, and there's nothing he can do but watch.
He's watching his sister sleep when Charlie passes him the mug of coffee, and he tears his gaze away long enough to offer a nod of thanks. In answer to Charlie's words of reassurance, Sandon has little to say. (I miss her too, chief among them, but there's no need to voice that.) ]
Thank you, for keeping an eye on her. [ His smile is small and rueful when he adds, ] I'm going to guess this isn't exactly what you signed on for.
[ That Charlie has been nothing but kind during all of this has been a balm, and Sandon is grateful for it -- especially during his less than stellar moments in the early days, when Lys would be gone and he had no one and nothing to vent his frustrations on but the Animator.
By now, he's just-- disappointed, when she's not here. And worried, and agitated, and, yes, angry, but more at the situation than anything. And when she is here, sleeping off the days she spent doing who knows what -- he's not quite happy, but calmer, at least. ]
How's the store? [ It's the only thing he can think of to change the topic. ]
I'll be honest -- sometimes I'm surprised you even have much business, these days, and that you haven't given up entirely. [ He says it with a bit of a smile. ] Turned it into a coffee shop, for instance.
[ He can't help but grin back. He's glad to have gotten a smile out of Sandon, even if it is a small one ]
You kids and your new-fangled ereaders.
[ though it occurs to him that he does not, in fact, know how old the shifter is. Alyssa's barely 21, but that's hardly a stick to measure her whole family by considering shifters can live just as long, if not longer, than wizards can. ]
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