Beyond Evolution

Frankly when she'd gone to pick up her brother form the bus depot in the city -- none of her family tended to fly anywhere -- the one she had been most hoping wouldn't turn up was Jesse, the oldest of the four siblings, but typically that was exactly who it was. Immediately her reaction was a Fuck My Life eye roll and a rake of a hand through her black hair, a staggered sigh playing accompaniment to the motion. Of all of them, it was Jesse she had the most issues with; Bennett, the youngest brother had been the one that she had managed to hospitalised but he was also the one that she had shared a room with her whole life and she knew that they were pretty okay now, she didn't relish the thought of seeing him again particularly but at least that was on her, she was the one who had left town more or less the moment the Ambulance had peeled out of the driveway. Trey was the middle brother, and he would have been the best candidate, level headed and calm, someone she could have had reasonably civil conversations with. Jesse on the other hand was going to be a nightmare and she knew it as soon as their eyes met through the throng of people humming around them. His expression stiffened, her spine went rigid and for a moment she felt as if the ground under her feet was moving like quick sand. Driving back to the mansion had been awkward too, there was little conversation, little eye contact, Lucille found that she kept having to remind herself to take air into her lungs and let it out again, like her body seemed to have forgotten how to react autonomously. If it hadn't been for King and Jaya willing to distract her older brother she probably would have snapped much sooner than she actually did, instead they managed to occupy him for an afternoon and Lucille slunk off into the Danger Room to let off some steam; normally she would have gone to the art room instead but she didn't feel like running into Kevin after their spat on the journals, she was mad at him, not that she thought he would care that she was, but that was besides the point; she had said she could handle this and if she bumped into him looking a neurotic wreck that would hardly back up her statements. It was that evening, the day after Jesse had arrived that things took a nose dive.

( Jesse wanted to see the hedge maze and Lucille wanted to not be hanging around inside all that much so she agreed to go out there with him. )

[narrative;; closed]