The half-hearted attempt at a hug and the clipped greeting was all Belinda needed to be happy. While her sister had adapted to life with her, so had Belinda learned to live with Glenda. One could never hold the “darker” twin to the same sort of standards. For example, Glenda was never going to go out of her way to hug someone or shower them with verbal affection. Voluntary bodily contact, however begrudgingly it was given, was equal to one of Belinda’s bear hugs. If she managed to make it through a sentence with only one curse word, then that was a sign that she was showing sincerity. You just had to know how to see it. The Lange Twins were not women who were made for the faint of heart -- at least they shared that in common.
Mayara hesitated slightly, obviously not used to so much cursing directed toward her, but one encouraging smile from her ward put her back on the happy, enthusiastic track. ‘I’m a capybara,’ the familiar said as she sat up proud. Belinda looked over toward Glenda and offered, “She’s a rodent.” ‘The biggest!’ “Like a giant hamster.” The two bounced off one another as though they had been practicing this bit for months. They hadn’t, of course, but it would figure that their bright personalities would resonate with one another -- no doubt to Glenda’s dismay. Belinda moved toward her familiar and picked her up. Had she been any larger, it would have been nearly impossible for the elemental to lift the awkward shaped animal, but that wasn’t to say that it was particularly easy. She didn’t think about that though. The only thing going through Belinda’s mind was making sure that the two made proper acquaintance. With Mayara cradled in her arms like an infant, she walked back over to her twin and practically shoved the capybara’s face in Glenda’s. “Her name’s Mayara. And she totally caused mom to flip when I tried to bring her in.” There was a certain degree of pride in her voice. She didn’t love to make people upset, but it was difficult for her not to relish defying every word that came out of her Air-elemental mother’s mouth. That she thought acting like a “bad kid” would impress Glenda certainly didn’t help.
Once she felt that introductions were properly made, Belinda sat Mayara down, stopping only to kiss her on the forehead before she did so. “So what brings you back home? Mom said something about your apartment?”