Lilith Landers (icehasformed) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2011-03-15 10:09:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | 2009-08-12, cole, lilith |
Well aware I want what I forbade
Who: Cole & Lilith
Where: The Landers' kitchen
When: Morning
Locke was gone - there may have been a little morning make-out but Cole was pushing that to the back of his mind - and Cole was staring at the cereal boxes like they held some sort of answer. His hand came up to tangle into his necklace that he had not taken off from the previous night as he debated whether Lucky Charms or Cinnamon Toast Crunch was the answer. One of them would surely make everything better and get the day started right. Good bowl of cereal and he could always go hit up the skate park for a few hours. While he was thinking his hand reached for the Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Seeing that movement he felt his cheeks flushing and grabbed the Lucky Charms instead. No, he was not going to eat something cinnamon-y just because he had discovered that Locke smelled like cinnamon. It was just... alright brain, Cole thought grimly as he grabbed a bowl, milk from the fridge, a spoon and settled down at the table. We’re going to have a long silent time now about things dealing with Locke and Bunny because there is no way thinking about this won’t make you explode. And that’d be bad and I’d be dead and then where would we be? Me in a hospital bed, you exploded all over the inside of my skull. Not a pretty picture. And to try to distract himself he decided to use telekinesis to pour his cereal. Except his mind was not listening to the whole ‘shut up’ thing and instead of going into the bowl the cereal shot across the room, leaving a trail of marshmallow bits behind.
“God damnit,” Cole swore, tugging at his beanie before getting out of the chair to start sweeping the cereal up. “This is all because I was just trying to be nice, I didn’t even want...” Okay, lie. Especially once Locke had tangled up in him and after that first kiss it was just... the box shot off again to scatter more cereal and Cole seriously debated just leaving it there and going back to his room. There was no rule that said every mess in the house was his fault. Maybe his parents would blame it on Isolde toying with her elemental or something.
The morning had gotten off to a bad start. Part of it was because she hadn’t slept well. Part of it was because she had almost frozen Neil’s toothbrush to his teeth for teasing her over alleged nightmares she couldn’t remember having. Icarus had not helped by informing her it was just her subconscious - it couldn’t very well be her conscious, could it? Not while she was asleep. An hour spent with the fountains in her study was enough to set the morning straight, however. She had left several crudely-made ice sculptures to melt, but she felt herself again. If not a touch subdued from lack of a decent night’s sleep. ‘Neil says you’re not supposed to eat cheese before going to bed,’ Icarus informed her almost politely. Lilith did not feel the need to point out she had not eaten cheese and that her husband was telling old wives’ tales. She did not know why her familiar took everything Neil said quite so seriously.
Pinning her hair up, she humoured the turtle and waited in the hall for him to catch up with her. Which, in her opinion, was pointless. She would only start walking again when he did and he would be left behind again. He wouldn’t accept her initial insistence that he just find somewhere in the house where he was more comfortable and just stay there. She very much doubted he would begin now. Hearing what sounded like Cole talking to himself - she knew her daughters were elsewhere and Neil was upstairs, though she supposed he could have been talking to a familiar - Lilith abandoned thoughts of Icarus’ capacity for stubbornness and tilted her head around the kitchen door. Ah. sleeves pushed up, she automatically moved to help with the minor upset. “Everything alright?” Somehow she did not think Cole had deliberately thrown the cereal across the room. If he could balance his own weight with telekinesis, he could... Well, she wasn’t certain how the telekinesis related to the Lucky Charms, but given the apparent tone of frustration she considered it the more likely culprit than her son’s bare hands.
Having been caught up in his argument with himself, which was thankfully mostly silent, Cole had not even heard the sounds of someone else approaching. When Lilith asked if everything was alright while moving to help him, he automatically stiffened. It was his mess and he was plenty old enough to clean it up himself. Biting his tongue to keep from saying that he just shrugged and swept more of the cereal up into the bowl. Peering into the box he sighed as he realized that he would either have no cereal or it would be the Cinnamon Toast Crunch after all. Going hungry was not all that bad of a choice, or maybe he could just have some toast... he could handle toast. Toast did not have a distinct smell that was going to remind him of... “Yeah everything’s just fine,” Cole agreed with a quick nod as he stood up to toss the cereal in the garbage. “Nothing weird going on here, not a chance, just a little flick - and the light in my room needs to be replaced. It... burnt out last night.” Shattered into a million tiny pieces because Locke’s nose had touched his own. And that thought was enough to cause the lights in the room to flicker, but at least nothing was breaking. Yeah he could do what he wanted with his ability but it really did have a mind of its own when his emotions ran high. “Totally normal everything.” Locke kissed me, we made out all night and he is definitely NOT the girl I’m dating. Another flicker.
“I’ll ask your father about it, though we may be out of bulbs.” As a rule, Lilith tried not to involve herself in things that involved a more direct contact with electricity than, say, flicking the light switch. That her element made an excellent conductor made her nervous around it, so she kept her distance. And that was, what? Five assurances that everything was fine. Were it not for the fact it was a touch uncalled for and it might have brought certain comments on gender to light, she would have pointed out that the lady was protesting far too much. ‘With special effects.’ No, the light’s behaviour had not gone unnoticed either. While Lilith had to admit she was a little concerned something might be wrong, if Cole did not wish to tell her then she was not going to make him. She tried not to interfere in her children’s affairs. ‘Until you start worrying too much and the milk freezes.’ “Alright,” she accepted that answer with a faint smile. “Just refrain from trying a repeat performance of psychic acrobatics with your breakfast.” If his telekinesis was acting up. Otherwise he was just showing off or being lazy - both of which she tended to disapprove of, but it tended not to result in cereal across the floor. “Coffee?” Some parents did not allow their children caffeine. Lilith was quick to point out how much of it was in the various carbonated drinks sold and did not see the point in forbidding it. Besides, she was making one for herself. “How is Locke?” Her own mother had passed away when she was around his age, but that had been natural causes and she had still had her father. She could not imagine what he must have been going through.
Most households probably did not have to worry about running out of lightbulbs as quickly as the Landers always managed to. Or not the Landers so much as Cole. He was the culprit behind most of the broken things, intentional or not, and at least eighty percent of the lightbulbs they replaced for as far as he could remember had not been because they reached the end of their lifespan. No, it was him. Him and his nerves or temper or whatever. “I didn’t mean to,” Cole sulked at the mention of breakfast, brushing a piece of unruly hair up underneath his beanie before he sat back at the table. Without any cereal. “Coffee’d be nice.” Might even help give him a bit of perk that he was likely very much in need of. And that could have been that since Lilith was blissfully not the sort of mother to push - until she mentioned Locke. This time the lights did not flicker, they went out with a telltale crackle and Cole groaned before burying his face in his hands. Had someone not yet invented some sort of medicine that helped teenage telekinetics keep themselves in check? They needed to get on that. “He’s fine,” Cole snapped, voice strained. Uncovering his eyes he directed an uneasy sort of stare at his mother. “Upset about what happened, I guess. We’re not girls, mom, we don’t chit-chat about our feelings.” Yeah and it’s hard to talk when you’ve got other things on your mind. Cinnamon. Muscles. Gorgeous green eyes. Silky hair between his fingers - good god Cole cut it out! His cheeks were steadily turning red, he could feel it. “Feelings are like, Niamh’s department if you’re talking depression or anything.”
“I know.” She had not said he had meant to, nor would she ever. Not in this instant. ‘Not until it’s obvious he did.’ Which went without saying, really, and Icarus would have done well to stop giving his input on the matter. Eyes angled at the dead bulb, Lilith decided against passing comment. There was no need to, it was an accident. That little slip of the tongue was not, though, and her gaze remained steady as she pushed his coffee across the counter along with sugar and milk that her familiar was suggesting she try not to freeze. Watching her son’s face change colour, she stirred her own coffee. She was certain he knew how to finish making his own himself. “God forbid I express concern for someone you deem a friend,” she answered, tone level. Perhaps a little colder than was necessary, but it was either that or he was getting an earful of ‘don’t take that tone with me’, complete with his full name. She did not quite have the energy to engage in teenage warfare.
Great, now he had gone and earned that tone from his mother. He knew that tone every bit as well as his siblings and the last thing it meant was something good. Usually it meant some degree of trouble. Except he was not in trouble because he had not really done anything. Did so. Shut up. Adding sugar and milk to his coffee until it was closer to white than black, he stirred it with a hand that he was adamant was not shaking. “He’s having a rough time,” Cole muttered, more at his mug than his mother. “Tried to help.” And had he actually helped at all with that? Or had he really just managed to add to it and make it worse? Cole was torn which was true, but the part of his brain that was more active right then was shoving him right towards siding on having made it worse. He had seen multiple movies or TV arches that centered around kissing someone or something because you were upset and then regretting it the moment you calmed down. So yeah, he had not helped at all. Maybe for that particular night but once Locke actually thought about it... he would hate him. And then so would Bunny if she found out, and everyone else and it was just... Cole’s vision blurred a little as his eyes filled up and he rubbed at them hard with the back of his hand. “Funeral’s in a few days or something.” Because that was what was important here and he could not even stay focused on that. If Locke decided he hated him then he probably would not even be welcome.
Yes, Lilith could understand that. She also understood that boys - Young men. - did not talk about their feelings as freely as girls did. Her cold shoulder was dismissed as fast as it had begun to form once Cole gave her some kind of proper answer. “I’m sure you did help, sweetheart. Even if it doesn’t feel like there is much you can do.” ‘There’s nothing he can do,’ Icarus put in. ‘The lad’s parents are dead.’ “Icarus, do be quiet.” She shot a look in the turtle’s general direction, vaguely surprised to see him in the doorway. He caught up faster than he insisted he could. Her attention turned back to Cole in time to catch him rubbing at his eyes. There was something wrong. ‘I thought you prided yourself on not interfering.’ I told you to be quiet. Lilith’s voice softened slightly. “Well, we’ll go, of course.” After a moment watching Cole over the top of her coffee cup, she set it down and leaned her hip against the counter. “Sweetheart, what’s the matter?” Sometimes the question itself needed to be asked.
“Yeah... for a bit.” Temporary distraction that might have just added to all of the confusion. God knew that he was confused. This was the sort of thing that Cole had just deliberately avoided because he did not want to know what would happen. Like this. Because his mind was not letting him remember that little flash he had gotten from Locke that the other boy liked him as more that a friend, no, it was just remembering the thoughts that had popped up about Bunny and feeling guilty for what he had done. What if she found out? Cole could not see that going good - because he was unaware of the fact that he really did come off as that gay. “Might not want me to be there,” Cole muttered, kicking his foot at the floor. Better to do that than to break more light bulbs. “I don’t know,” he admitted when Lilith asked what was wrong. “I feel awful. Like I did something wrong and that makes me, like, an awful person. But it’s totally way worse than that because I knew it was wrong and I still did it and now I don’t know if… no, I’d still do it. And… worse for it!” He waved one of his hands before burying it up underneath of his beanie, tugging at his hair. His lower lip was trembling. “I don’t want anyone to hate me, mom.” That last part was very quiet and he looked over at Lilith, knowing that his face had twisted itself into his sad sort of puppy look.
‘This sounds serious.’ Lilith pointedly refused to look at her familiar. ‘Inasmuch as adolescents can be genuinely serious.’ She was not going to freeze him to the floor. ‘I’ll be in the next room.’ Icarus knew better than to make remarks like that, even when it was private to her. It made his apparent spontaneous freezing unnerve others. But this was where she wished Neil would come down and just tell her what was wrong, even though she often did not listen because she believed it counted as both interfering and invasive. And, as Icarus quietly pointed out, empathy did not work like that. She could not see why Locke would not want Cole at the funeral. Even less could she see what he had done, or thought he had done, that made him a terrible person. The incident with the confessional sprang to mind, but overall Lilith had to admit she found it mildly amusing. “For one,” she moved to stand next to him, removing the need for eye contact. She was well aware she could often make that difficult. “I believe Locke will need you at that funeral. What he may or may not think he wants has nothing to do with it.” Her sleeves were tugged back down. If Cole’s telekinesis was acting up then she did not want to risk causing problems with his clairsentience as well. “For two, I cannot think of a single person in the world who has a justifiable reason to hate you. Locke does not strike me as one of the pigheaded morons who can find nothing better to do than shout derogatory terms at people who apparently do not meet their incredibly warped standards. And even they do not hate you.” No, they were just idiots. And she would barely think twice before slicking the pavement in front of them with a sheet of ice. “What happened?”
Cole hardly noticed that Icarus was leaving because he had not really made note of the turtle in the first place. A difficult task when the creature spoke and took up so much more space than the typical turtle was supposed to. But yeah, Cole’s mind was already busy enough without needing to add the voice of his mother’s occasionally grumpy familiar to the mix. Yeah, need like he needed me to be a good friend and instead I let all of that happen, Cole’s hand came out of his hair and he found himself glad that his mother was next to him so that he did not need to look at her. He very rarely had any sort of a problem with looking at Lilith, just sometimes it was easier to not look at anything. See, parents were supposed to be able to have all of the answers and yet here Lilith was just saying things that he could not believe were true. Because for them to be true meant that Bunny would not get mad, that Locke would not regret it and that... yeah it was a whole bunch of things that Cole’s mind was just not letting turn out as anything but “no they hate me”. Turning he did something very childish that he was sure would have given Niamh or Isolde ammunition against him for the next month. Laid his forehead on his mother’s shoulder and shuddered. “Locke kissed me. Or I kissed him... I don’t know which did it first but one of us did and it’s not right because Bunny’s his best friend and I’m dating her and I feel awful.”
Despite herself, Lilith sighed. She did not envy her son his age. The days when everything made itself more complicated than it ever needed to be. When the end of the world seemed to be right around the corner. She suspected that last part was more relevant to Niamh than Cole, but nevertheless. “Oh, love...” Both arms wrapped themselves around him, cheek resting lightly on top of his head. Lilith was fully aware of his sexual preference and what seemed to be the subsequent denial of it, though she had accepted that most people went through something similar at some point. Was that not why he had been dating Bunny? “It may take one to initiate a kiss, Cole, but regardless of who did, it takes two to continue. Bereaved or not, I think Locke is aware that he was kissing his best friend’s boyfriend.” As aware as she suspected - or hoped - Bunny was as to why he was dating her. And she wasn’t judging either young men in the equation, but she did wish teenagers were better at communication. “I very much doubt either of them will hate you.” She wasn’t sure Locke had the right to, and if Bunny was upset then it was usually the best friend - the one trusted above any romantic attachments - who got it in the neck. Though Lilith was trying incredibly hard not to point out how trivial this would likely seem in a year’s time. “I do think you should talk to them, though, as daunting as that might feel. They might surprise you.” She hoped they surprised him. They did have eyes and half a brain, as far as she could recall.
Normally Cole did his best to avoid touching people because it only led to things like seeing or hearing or knowing what he did not really need to. Though here he was not actually touching her so it was okay. Plus it just felt comforting to be held by his mom. No one was there to see him being held anyhow. And for all of two seconds he was able to keep his mind shut off about people hating him or what to do, and then she went and said that. What was he supposed to even tell them? That he had kissed Locke and liked it or that it had just been some huge mistake that he was never going to do again? For that matter, why was Lilith so calm about this whole thing? Most parents should have been just a little more upset or surprised or something. But nooo, his mom was just telling him what he should do. “What am I even supposed to tell them? I don’t... I don’t know.” He was fifteen, confused and crying on his mother’s shoulder. Wanting nothing more than for someone to tell him what to do. Because yeah, he did not know. This was totally one of those things where he felt like he was a little kid again waiting for his mom or dad to take care of the problem. They could not do that for him, of course, but he still felt that way.
Blissfully unaware of Cole questioning her reaction, Lilith directed her gaze at the broken light bulb and considered that question herself. She wasn’t sure there was ever a right answer to that. Not everybody appreciated being told what they should be. But then she supposed that was their problem. She was incredibly guilty of mostly only taking Cole’s welfare into account in this situation. Locke and Bunny were only really taken into account once she had acknowledged that they were Cole’s friends, thus had an effect on his welfare. “The truth tends to be a good start,” she pointed out gently. “And anything else you would like to add to it. Sometimes it has less to do with what you’re supposed to say and more with what you need to say.” Pressing a kiss to what she realised was a beanie and not Cole’s head, Lilith gave him a slight squeeze. “You know I love you, right?” ‘Has anyone ever told you you’re a walking contradiction?’ No. Because she wasn’t. Keep your thoughts to yourself.
Yeah, the truth, but that was a tricky subject because he had no real idea of what the truth was. What if the truth was that dating Bunny was what he had told that priest - a cover so people would stop just assuming he was gay? Or if it was the exact opposite and he really did like girls, he had just never thought about it and... if that was the case then I wouldn’t have liked kissing Locke so much. A lot of things could, and would be, denied but it was really hard to deny how he had reacted. Even to himself. God knew he was actively trying. “But I don’t know what’s true,” Cole very nearly whined. Though whining was a bit hard to manage when his voice was trembling because his eyes were leaking but he was not going to full out cry. “I know, you love me just fine the way I am.” But what if he was the wrong way? Or a totally different way? Or... or something. It was probably a good thing that he was one of the two in the house lacking a familiar because the thing probably would not have done well hearing all the things in his head.
“Then just tell them what you feel you need to.” Lilith had little doubt that, somehow, it would lead to being the same thing. That was how feelings worked. They were not rational things and did not often present themselves as truths directly. She could sympathise with that much, though she did not quite have the heart to tell him that being an adult provided no real answers for such circumstances. “And perhaps confirm my suspicions that Locke does indeed want you at the funeral.” She could not think of a single reason why the boy would not. Even if there were complications, it was still better to take moral support where one could find it. She rather hoped she would not have to resort to figuratively or literally banging someone’s heads together. “The way you are, were and will be,” Lilith added, ignoring any accusations from her familiar that she was definitely thawing out. She would show him what ice really looked like in a minute.
Cole had to bite his tongue to keep from shooting out a reply to that that would have only ended up with him getting some sort of lecture for being flip. Still, he did not know what he felt he needed to tell anyone. Or if he felt like he needed to tell anyone everything. Sniffling, he squeezed his eyes shut as the tears started to slow. At least he had not been going at the waterworks because, water elemental or not, he still thought it would be a shame to get his mother’s outfit wet. Could be that she was right about Locke wanting him there. After all, it had been the other boy who had come over and spent the night and really, if Cole got over his moment of being stubborn and irrational then he knew that he would realize that there was no chance Locke hated him. Like at all. Plus that whole little thing from Lilith made him smile a little. He was not attached to her apron strings or anything - was actually unsure if he had ever seen her wear an apron so why did that saying pop to mind? - but having her approval was way more important than he let on. He was the only non-elemental out of his siblings so he already felt a step behind. Adding ‘and yeah, gay’ to that was... hard. If only inside his head. Where it happened to be important. “Love you too, mom, but this really sucks. Like hardcore.” Being a telepath so would have trumped the clairsentience.
“Yes, it does.” She had to agree that much. The situation would be undeniably worse from Cole’s perspective. But then Lilith had gone so far as to break off her first engagement during her father’s wake for reasons she could not even recall. She was very much of the opinion that it could be worse. “You may yet find that it resolves itself faster than you expected.” Which she was fairly certain it would. “At least you’re not holed up in your room, clinging to the nearest fountain and listening to The Smiths. Or Echo and the Bunnymen,” she pointed out, eyebrow arching as she recalled her own teenage catastrophes. Each and every one had been like some kind of portent for the End of Days. Somewhere in the back of her head, Icarus stirred almost uncomfortably. ‘You do remember that your eldest listens to at least one of those bands.’ Yes. Lilith did not envy Niamh her age either. She just prayed she would never have reason to turn into her mother.
Thank god Cole had not been born a water elemental. The world would have ended several times over from his point of view if that had been the case. And the house probably would have tried flooding while it was at it. Broken lightbulbs and lamps were easier to take care of than water damage. What he did on accident, or purpose, did not shoo them out of the house while it got fixed. Some element. Sniffling, Cole nodded and stepped back, rubbing the tears out of his eyes. If anyone saw him before the redness faded he would just say that he had... eaten an onion for breakfast or something. Or tell whoever was asking to shut up and go away. “You wouldn’t want me to be a water elemental,” Cole declared as he stuck the milk back in the fridge and put his unused bowl and spoon back where he had gotten them from. “I’d make Niamh look like the emo version of a happy princess.” Only because he liked dramatics naturally and adding in the emotional element would have definitely made it worse. “Thanks though... you’re right, I’ll be fine.” Potentially. Eventually. If no one ended up hating him for whatever he did or did not do. “Where’d Icarus go?” He almost thought that he remembered having glimpsed the turtle.
“Nonsense,” Lilith answered without even thinking. “You could have been born a fire elemental and I would never have minded.” She paused. “Though in both cases you would probably have ended up resenting me. Water, because I passed on the overly emotional and potentially psychotic element. Fire, because we’d be naturally opposed.” The latter would indeed have been unfortunate, though she was fairly certain she would have found her way around it. Such was the nature of her element. It found its way around and through most things. As did she, her familiar was quick to point out, but she did not need anybody else to tell her that. “That said... I am not sure that much melodrama would be at all healthy - and no, that was not a cue for you to run and claim that I called your sister melodramatic.” And of course he would be fine. Cole was her son, there really was no room for another option. Though at the mention of her familiar, Lilith tilted her head slightly. ‘It’s almost like he misses me,’ Icarus shared with whoever was available to hear it. His elemental smiled slightly. “Just out of my range.”
For the time of day that it was and the way his mind had already been jumping around, Cole viewed that statement as a little too thoughtful. Definitely too much so for him to really pay the best attention. “Uh-huh,” he agreed, guessing that whatever Lilith had said was right by pure virtue of the fact that she had said it. It was not like she was going to know that he had hardly been listening or everything. Eternally he would be grateful that his mother was not a telepath. “But Niamh is melodramatic, you don’t have to say it for it to be true.” Had he come across her crying over spilled milk one day then he would not have been too terribly surprised. That was just how she was. “And I never said I missed you, you’re just really hard to not notice when you’re not there. What’d he say to have to hide?” A pop-tart was a good breakfast, less effort and once his question was answered he could run off to his room and potentially sulk.
Eyebrows raising slightly in amusement, Lilith turned her attention to coffee that was now lukewarm - Ah, no. Cold. Never mind. She had never had a problem with drinking cold coffee. Rarely did she have a problem with Cole deciding he would stop listening. When what she was saying was important, she tried not to give her children the option to stop listening. In this case, her trail of thought had attempted - and failed - to carry her away. She would not be moved quite that easily. Regarding her eldest, she would agree with Cole to an extent in the privacy of her own head - which was barely private at all, thanks to Icarus - but no further. It wasn’t fair to use someone’s natural tendencies against them. Similarly, she would not be teasing her son about the fact that his bulb had likely broken last night, around the same time Neil pointed out her jewelry was trying to levitate off the dresser while the lights in their room and the hall flickered. ‘Likewise.’ Only just stopping herself from rolling her eyes, Lilith shook her head. “Enough to feel more comfortable in the next room.” She wasn’t going to start an argument between any of her children and a turtle.
Cole got teased plenty of times about being the way he was, from his psychic abilities to his behavior, so he figured that he might as well do it back as often as he could. He still remembered that time when someone had chased him around after his clairsentinence started to manifest declaring ‘I’m not touching you!’ when yeah, they were about to. So not cool. Ripping off the foil he took a bite out of the pop-tart and rolled his eyes at Icarus. He could not see the turtle but the thought was what counted and the thought was totally all right there. And if Lilith saw it then Icarus would know so yeah, totally worked. “Awwww, poor turtle was scared of getting turned into a living ice sculpture,” Cole grinned after swallowing his bite. Talking with his mouth full was something that he was guilty of, yeah, but not when his mom was standing right there. She was a little too freeze-happy. “Good to know not even the familiar gets to escape the freezeburn we’re all used to.” What? They were.
‘Given that one day she might inadvertently kill herself or destroy her mind by doing so, yes,’ the turtle answered rather more calmly than the subject matter ought to have suggested. It was Lilith’s turn to roll her eyes. She was not ignorant to the fact that the death of her familiar would almost certainly be the death of her, but if Icarus really thought that she would injure him quite that badly then he did not know her at all. ‘Despite the fact I’m wired into your brain.’ She was ignoring that. “I am nothing if not consistent,” she answered with a faint shrug, cooling her coffee further. Whether or not it was the truth was another matter, but for the most part Lilith knew herself fairly well. ‘Freezeburn’ was her temper’s forte.
The edges of the pop-tart, the crust so the speak, were the best part and Cole had no issue nibbling them off before eating the rest. Even if he was trying not to snort at Icarus. Or the fact that his mom had just gone and called herself consistent. Un-huh, that was exactly what she was. Except for those times when she was, you know, the exact opposite of that and not consistent. She was a master water elemental and water was only consistent if you stuck it in a cup and left it there for a really long time... but it would still probably try to get out. Earth was consistent. “Mom you’re water, not earth, you don’t have to make with the acting like you’re consistent when I’ve been around for nearly sixteen years and turtle soup on legs is inside your head. Yeeaah, we know.” He rolled his eyes again and tossed the foil in the trash before turning towards the stairs. “Frozen water’s consistent and you’re not always ice.” Just... like half of the time. Or more. She melted when he needed her to, probably when the others needed her to. Leaning over on his way out he dropped a kiss on her cheek, ignoring the little flutter of images. “Thanks, mom.”
Smiling slightly at her son’s assessment, Lilith gave a rather vague nod of concession. For a moment, she wondered what her children would have thought of her own earth elemental of a mother. She was far warmer, but completely immovable. Lilith, at least, was - ‘As frozen as mentally and emotionally possible until it involves your offspring.’ She wished he wouldn’t call them that. It made them sound like animals. ‘From what I’ve witnessed, they’re not far off.’ Brushing her familiar’s remark off for the time being, she appreciated that display of affection for what it was. “You’re welcome.” One dilemma potentially handled. At least, inasmuch as she could. And now... she was going to drown Icarus.