Lumi Theiss (visionarydreams) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-10-12 11:48:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | 2009-07-29, kajsa |
Leave my door open just a crack
Who: Kajsa and Lumi
Where: Lumi's home
When: Night
So Lumi’s morning had been a little weird. A lot weird, actually, one of the weirdest mornings that she had had in a long time. Part of it could have dealt with the fact that she had pulled an all-nighter by taking someone else’s shift so everything seemed a little surreal... but really, a lot of it dealt with that Ulysses man who had taken her out for breakfast. He had been so charming and seemed genuinely interested in everything she said and it was just weird. After confirming that Kajsa was going to come over for the night Lumi had slept a few fitful hours. Now she was all comfortable in her pajamas and curled up on the couch with Tuxedo, alternating between watching an episode of Spongebob and feeding him more carrots. Silly thing loved carrots and she loved it when she did not have to listen to anyone yelling in the house. Even if her father rolled his eyes a little bit at her choice of television show. He could have it back for sports or one of those gun shows just as soon as Kajsa and the pizza got there.
Rolling over onto her back, Lumi studied the ceiling, toying with the necklace she had made herself. Humming along with the themesong of the show she nearly dumped Tuxedo right onto the floor when she heard the doorbell. “I’ll get it!” she chirped happily, skipping to the door with her bunny tucked underneath of the door. Flinging it open her smile only widened when she saw - oh, wait, the pizza guy. Wrinkling her nose a little she took the money off the side table and exchanged it for the box. “Okay, well, she’ll be here soon.”
Feeling too much like she was going to a middle school sleepover, she waved goodbye to her mother once the door was closed. It was, admittedly, a little strange considering she’d been on her own and independent for a while. She simply was still not comfortable driving a car. Turning around, she walked up to Lumi’s house to ring the doorbell and shifted around in her high heels. It was also a little strange staying over at someone’s house when they hadn’t spoken in a while but she and Lumi had always been good friends in high school and there had been a decent number of sleepovers. Of course, Kajsa had lost contact with most of the people from high school and rarely spoke to them except the occasional birthday greeting on Facebook, prompted by birthday notifications on their respective homepages.
It was even weirder that she’d come here instead of creating some excuse to see Damian. Then again, how awkward would it have been asking her mother to drop her off at his place? Now that would have felt even more like middle school. Especially considering Linnea was old enough to date Damian herself. Kajsa rolled her eyes. She didn’t even really consider that she was dating Damian. It seemed like a false statement. It was the same reason why Lumi’s saying something about how he didn’t own her prompted Kajsa to agree to this sleepover. She had a sleeping bag under one arm and an overnight case in her other hand. She wasn’t sure where she was sleeping, so she was prepared for any scenario. Her sleeping bag was even flame retardant. Just in case.
Catching sight of Zazriel sniffing at the scent of pizza Lumi shook her head. “Viuly’ll make you dinner, this is for me and Kajsa.” It was rare that Lumi would actually get food that she was not planning on sharing with the family but this was a special occasion; she had even bought gummy bears! But this was a special occasion, a sort of reunion with someone she had gone way too long without seeing. Which was mostly because Kajsa had gone a completely different route in college... but Lumi was not thinking about that. Otherwise this would just be weird and she would feel obligated to say things and that would ruin the entire night and she would lose the ability to sleep again. Shrugging the thoughts away at the sound of the doorbell, Lumi went to open the door again.
And this time it was Kajsa. “Hi!” Lumi chirped with a bright smile, reaching right out to hug the other blonde despite what she was holding and the fact that she was also holding Tuxedo. The rabbit was used to being in close quarters. “You’re just in time, the pizza got here a few minutes ago so it’s still all nice and hot. Come on up to my room so we don’t bother dad.” Sure she was twenty-three but the fact that she was living at home bothered her not at all. How was she supposed to have a place of her own when she was always so busy with school and the hospital? Silently she added in that Viuly was less likely to say or do anything with them out of sight because she hated admitting that there was anything wrong with her sister. “I like your sleeping bag but you’re totally not sleeping on the floor, that’d ruin everything.” Lumi was almost certain she could find people’s dreams without touching them but she was used to doing it that way and besides, sleeping on the floor was uncomfortable and if she woke up and forgot Kajsa was there she might step on her. And that was just plain rude. Grabbing the pizza on her way to the stairs, Lumi waved at Zazriel, noting that the station had already changed.
Smiling at the familiar face that greeted her at the door, Kajsa accepted Lumi’s hug, which was about all that she could do all things considered. Something twitched against her shoulder and looked at it with curiosity. That was new. Maybe it was a familiar, like Slipper and Blastoise and it would be rude not to say hello. So she did. “Hello,” she said rather ambiguously. In case it was just a rabbit. “Oh my gosh! It’s been forever,” Kajsa said excitedly, naturally exchanging the more religious version for the less secular one because the former had always caused some discomfort in the house, primarily with her father. Er. Jokull. “Sounds nice, thanks for having me over on such short notice,” Kajsa said with a smile as she entered the house and noticed Lumi’s father by the couch, watching TV.
“Good evening, Mr. Theiss. Nice to see you again,” Kajsa said politely. When she was doing okay, most parents liked her. She hadn’t really gotten to meet many parents when she was not doing so well, mostly because during that time, she usually either found herself on the floor of her bathroom or in a ditch, covered in petrol. “I brought it, just in case,” Kajsa said, smiling at Lumi before ascending the stairs. “It’s flame retardant and everything, just in case. Waterproof, too, because you know how family vacations can sometimes get. Not that we’ve been on one in forever,” Kajsa added. She’d also been pretty outside of the family, even if she tried to keep in contact. Jokull would not have invited her on a family outing while she was at university or moved out on her own.
“Oh, right, Tuxedo. He was abandoned at the shelter and I couldn’t just leave him there.” Last thing she wanted was for Kajsa to start thinking that this was her familiar when really, her familiar could squish Tuxedo with one of his hooves. Not that Nibbles ever would but that did not change the fact that he was completely capable of doing so. Nuzzling Tuxedo on her shoulder and balancing the pizza box remarkably well Lumi practically skipped up the stairs. It was delightful to have an old friend in the house who already knew everything - well, as much of everything an anyone could ever know - and would not be all that disturbed by any of it because of her own family.
Lumi nodded at the family stuff. Though she thought that maybe having a family of water elementals would be better than a few fire elementals, what with their tempers. She could not imagine anyone in Kajsa’s family having the screaming matches that she had heard between her father and sister. “Best to be prepared!” Lumi totally believed that. Nudging her door open with her foot she set the pizza on her desk next to the Pepsi. “Pizza, Pepsi, gummy bears... and you can tell me all about whatever’s happening with you other than the accident. Like do you need to talk at all about what happened? I know losing a parent can be hard.” Her nose crinkled a little again and she squeezed Tuxedo a little before setting him on the floor. Of course she had no idea that there was anything out of the ordinary with the family past what she had glimpsed in dreams, but that was half-remembered and potentially untrue.
“Aww, I was thinking of adopting from the shelter, as well, actually. Mom and my sisters all have their familiars and I’m obviously not getting one, so I was thinking of a pet. But, then, with the new baby coming, I didn’t want to introduce any form of new allergen into the house before he or she’s all settled in, you know?” Kajsa was actually being truthful here. Honestly, while she wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of another kid in the family, she was going to take care of the newcomer as best as she could. She’d learned how to from her three younger siblings. She did want a pet, though, she felt left out sometimes when everyone had their own familiars to snuggle with. Slipper was nice enough to cuddle with her sometimes but he was Dagmar’s. And everyone knew that.
Joining Lumi in her room, Kajsa dropped both her sleeping bag and overnight case by the door and clapped at the mention of gummy bears. After all, it was totally tradition to get sick from eating too much sugar. Perching at the edge of Lumi’s bed, Kajsa shrugged. “The accident was a stupid mistake. I was drunk and tried to drive home. You know, it was a classic sort of driving drunk accident. As for Jo--father...his death was unexpected but we imagine he had a fair number of enemies who wanted him dead. He wasn’t a very friendly person. And...honestly, we weren’t that close. So, while I mourn his death for the sake of my siblings and Mom, I can’t really say I’m too broken up about it. It’s a horrible way to feel about your own father’s death but there wasn’t any real affection for me. I guess because I’m not a water elemental, you know?” Kajsa smiled. She checked her words. There weren’t any actual lies in there. Technically.
Lumi understood about the new baby thing, she had been all worried when Viuly had moved in because of Liam but luckily the little guy did not seem at all adverse to Tuxedo. If anything he loved the fluffy bunny and Lumi was more than happy to share. So long as she never came home to find a squished bunny or a burnt one because Viuly had lost her temper at him then all was well.
Sliding a piece of pizza and a large handful of gummy bears - the two totally went together, what were you talking about? - onto two plates, Lumi managed to juggle two cans of Pepsi before joining Kajsa on the bed. Now she may not have been able to boil water but Lumi had been a cheerleader, she had the balancing act down. Biting her lip to keep from saying anything about drunk driving, Lumi had promised herself she was not going to harp on Kajsa for that because the other girl clearly regretted it and had learned from her mistake, she focused instead on what was said about Mr. Niemi. So maybe I am remembering her dreams right... that’s a little depressing. She patted Kajsa’s hand sympathetically before popping a few bears into her mouth. “But your little brother’s not an elemental either,” Lumi pointed out once she had swallowed the sugary globs. “Well whatever, it sucks that you weren’t close! I love having my dad around, though... I guess parents aren’t always nice.” Her father and Viuly were a classic case of a bad father-daughter relationship. “But hey, you’ve got your mom, and Mrs. Niemi is awesome.” Had someone really killed Kajsa’s father? That was so hard to believe! Sure Lumi had disliked people before but she had never thought that killing was anywhere near the right answer. Or a remotely good one. “How’s she holding up? I mean - oh god, being pregnant right after your husband died. That’s going to be big on the gossip mill.”
Kajsa took the plate and can of Pepsi from Lumi. “Thanks,” she said as she set the can down by her foot and started off her meal by nibbling the head off a gummy bear. She shrugged. Valterri...lived in his own universe and adored Jokull for heaven knows what reason. “Well, Valterri’s a boy and you know how fathers are about sons,” Kajsa nodded. It had to be something like that, right? Of course. And it was probably weird for Valterri growing up with a bunch of women so he needed a male figure to look up to and Jokull was perfectly convenient for that attention. “And it doesn’t matter, I’ve got my mom and she’s all that I really need,” Kajsa smiled. Except for the bit where she went away to rehab and forgot all about us and the part where she decided to get knocked up almost immediately after dad died. She stretched a leg out and finished off the rest of the yellow gummy bear.
“She’s fine,” Kajsa shrugged. “And why would they gossip about it?” Kajsa raised an eyebrow. “My mom and Jo--father were simply doing what married couples are supposed to be doing. Isn’t that in the Bible or something even? It’s just too bad that Mom found out after he died so he didn’t manage to take that happy bit of news with him to the grave...er...Heaven. Or...wherever he is,” Kajsa really couldn’t say. There was something condescending in Lumi’s words, though Kajsa tried to erase that from her mind. She was a concerned friend who cared about Kajsa, obviously and was simply trying to be friendly. She was being completely unfair to Lumi. She decapitated another gummy bear in silent apology.
Okay, so there was one thing that Lumi could admit - if even only to herself - that she was jealous of. People like Kajsa who still had their moms. Oh she knew the stories about the rehab but still, she had come back and Lumi’s mom had not. Remember, your fault, no one else to blame. Right. She knew that. “You’ll have to tell her I say hi, she hasn’t been to the hospital for awhile so I haven’t seen her.” And there had been a lot of people coming into the hospital lately. She was kind of glad that not a lot of her friends had counted among them because that would mean they had been injured. Though even seeing Kendal in there from blood drain was bad. Ugh, what is wrong with me? Fun! This is supposed to be fun.
“Well yeah,” Lumi agreed. “I mean, I didn’t say I was saying anything, but people...” Bad topic. Even when she tried not to be judgemental it slipped into her tone on certain subjects. For all she knew Linnea had been pregnant for weeks before Jokull died and there was nothing wrong with that. Kids got raised without fathers all of the time. And mothers. There was something that made her a little curious but she had never asked because it seemed, well, rude and it still did but just a little less so because he was dead. Shifting around so that she was stretched out on her stomach, Lumi took a drink before saying, “You always stop yourself. From saying Jokull instead of dad.” A bite of pizza, dark eyes wide as she blinked up at Kajsa, the picture of innocence. She really was just curious and it was not a one-time occurence, it was more the rule than the exception.
Kajsa felt that Jokull was fair enough compensation. Lumi had an awesome father and a mother that had passed away. On the other hand, Kajsa had an awesome mother and a far from perfect father. It evened out somehow, even if Kajsa was aware that daughters needed their mothers more than their fathers. “I’ll let her know, definitely,” Kajsa said with a smile. Lumi was one of the few friends she’d had that her mother had approved of. In fact, Lumi was one of the few friends that Kajsa herself still approved off. “She’ll be in the hospital a lot more in the coming months, I’d imagine,” Kajsa added. “With the new baby and all.” Kajsa was fully expecting her mother to take it easy and be very careful with the pregnancy. She didn’t really have a history of miscarriages, which was good, but she was a little older now and care still needed to be taken. Just to make sure.
“It doesn’t matter. Haters gonna hate. People will say whatever they want about my mom and our familiy but we don’t really care. And soon enough, the gossip will die down as everyone gets back to their boring lives and start on the next really rather tragic gossip topic.” Once the thing comes out a demon, we’ll all know it’s Jokull’s. If it turns out to be an earth elemental, well, we’ll know where it came from, too. Kajsa had hoped her mother wasn’t really the adulteress she seemed but here she was, living proof of her extramarital affairs. Valterri, too. And, heck, the new kid had to be Bradley’s. “I don’t know, it just seemed awkward calling him dad after I reached a certain age,” Kajsa said. “We weren’t ever close and he seemed more like an uncle than a dad. So I got used to calling him Jokull. Even if I try to be more traditional in public,” Kajsa sighed. “I should go change into my pajamas. Can I use your bathroom?”
Actually, if Lumi had known the truth of everything she would have said she was better off than Kajsa because there had been absolutely nothing wrong with her mother. Had she not died of cancer when Lumi was little then her life would have been, well, better than it was. And really, absence was better than having someone there who made you feel useless. Lumi knew that thanks to Viuly, who she was glad to have around though she could not lie about how much easier it had been for her when she was simply gone. “Right, I’ll have to make sure to check in on her and make sure everything’s okay.” Yeah the doctor’s knew more about medicine and all of that but Lumi had magic up her sleeve and she had no qualms about using it to ensure that things were alright when it came to the people that she cared about. Since Kajsa was her friend that automatically meant all of her family. Maybe not Dagmar. That’s a terrible thing to think! Sorry.
“I’m glad it won’t bother you but I’ll still make sure to correct anything I hear,” Lumi said with a nod. She never understood why people went and talked about others behind their backs, it was cruel, but they would continue to do it always. “That’s... okay.” Lumi did not understand, but her dad had always been there. If it made sense to Kajsa then it worked for her and there was no reason to try pointing out why it might be wrong. “And yeah, go right ahead! I’ll be here when you get back.” Rolling off the bed she took a big bite of pizza and started flipping through her movies. Even if they did not watch it; a sleepover simply was not right if there was not a movie going. She bit at her lip, holding A Walk to Remember in one hand while trying to remember if Kajsa liked romances or not. “Kajsa!” she called, DVDs spread around her on the floor. “Do you care what I put on?”
Kajsa nodded. It had been a few days since Linnea had told them she was pregnant and Kajsa was slowly becoming more and more okay with it. In fact, Kajsa was incredibly calm about the idea of having another one in the house. After all, her mother was always right about everything, right? Of course, Linnea was practically perfect in every way possible and Kajsa should have been more understanding of the situation even if she didn’t like it for herself. Linnea was someone she had strove to be like her entire life and Kajsa shouldn’t ever doubt any of her decisions. “I’d appreciate that,” Kajsa said with a smile as Lumi said she’d make sure to check in on her mother. She trusted the doctors completely. After all, they had gotten her better, but it was always nice to have a little extra help.
Don’t. Just in case what they’re saying is true. “You don’t have to go through the trouble,” Kajsa shook her head. She didn’t want to make a liar out of Lumi or have people say ‘I told you so’ just in case Bradley or some other person was the father and not Jokull. Kajsa smoothed her hair as she rose and took her bag with her. She slipped into the pajama bottoms she had packed and planned on sleeping in just her camisole but the moment she caught a glimpse of the stitches that still needed to come out of her shoulder, Kajsa put the coverup back on. She wasn’t really vain but it was still a source of discomfort for her that someone would see that. Coming out of the bathroom, Kajsa shook her head. “No, I don’t care,” movies were not something else Kajsa had spent much time on. She was really such a boring person. Pulling her headband off her head, she ran her fingers through her hair before squeezing the hair accessory into her bag. Hopping back into bed with Lumi, she picked her plate up and took a bite of the pizza. Mmmm...greasilicious.
Trouble? Lumi saw no trouble with the matter at all. She had been standing up for her friends for her entire life and even when she ended up being wrong she still felt good about herself for doing it. People could be forgiven for making mistakes but it was a lot harder to forgive someone if they were not there for you when you needed them. “No trouble,” Lumi told her friend with a reassuring smile. Of course she had no idea that any rumors would be true. Lumi could not imagine someone who she viewed with any sort of respect doing something like that. But she did let the matter drop because Kajsa had left the room and there was no need to pick something like that back up. Sleepovers were not supposed to be solemn occasions and really, she had just the thing to brighten it up. After she picked out a movie.
“Then we’re going with A Walk to Remember because I like it and haven’t seen it in forever.” Or a few months, whichever. Scooting the other DVD cases back towards the TV, not bothering to take care of them yet, she popped the one she had chosen in before returning to the bed. Tuxedo was curled up on the pillow nibbling at a gummy bear, which she promptly snatched and replaced with one of the carrots she kept on her bedside table for just such occasions. “No candy for the bunny.” She even waggled her finger at the bunny like maybe he would understand. “Oh, so, the strangest thing happened to me this morning! I took a double shift and was about to go on break when this guy with the most amazing blue eyes came up asking about another intern. I let him leave her a note, right, and then he asks where a good coffee place is so I take him with me.” Because Lumi was always doing nice things like that. “I said I’d show him around town ‘cause he’s new and he said he’d take me out to dinner as payment. Cool, right?”
Kajsa hated romance movies. She’d lived in an anti-romantic life and her parents had never bothered to even create a semblance of romance between them. Nothing pretended, not even for their children. But all her friends had loved them and so she tolerated them. “A Walk To Remember” was one of those stupid Nicholas Sparks movies. At least it was still a pretty good movie with a plot and character development. His more recent movies were prime examples of where random emotionality had replaced plot. I don’t care how it happens, but he’ll die and it’ll be sad and people will cry and they’ll love it. People preferred tragedies because it’s how they think life really is. It’s not. Kajsa’d rather be reading an LSAT book. Nevertheless, Lumi had been nice enough to invite her over and she wasn’t about to make a big deal about the movie choice when she really could care less either way. She probably wasn’t even going to be paying any attention whatsoever to the movie.
Licking the grease off her fingers as she finished her pizza slice, Kajsa listened to Lumi’s story about the guy and the intern and the hospital. Why couldn’t she meet guys in some form of normal fashion like that? Instead of under an awning during a downpour with a broken heel? She needed to get out more. “Well, it depends on whether he was looking for a female intern or a male intern,” Kajsa smiled. “On one hand, this could be a really great guy that’s new to town or, alternatively, you could be helping him cheat on a girlfriend. Unless it was his sister he was visiting. Do you know?” Reaching down for the can of soda, she popped it before continuing. “Either way, I hope it works out, whatever is going on. Did he seem like a nice guy? Other than his eyes, of course?”
Lumi loved romances, but that was a given when you thought about her personality. Cartoons were good too, but this one she liked in the current moment and since Kajsa had offered no verbal objections she saw no reason to not watch it. Or at least have it on for background noise. Though it was marred a little when Kajsa had to go and point out logical things that Lumi never would have thought of about Ulysses. “It’s a female, her name’s Alexandria, but I think she has a boyfriend.” Setting her pizza crust on the plate, she never ate it, Lumi reached for another so that she did not start biting her lip. Last thing she needed to do was go and bite through it again. “Someone saw her leaving the hospital a few days ago with this blond guy she was practically hanging off so... I think he meant it when he said he was looking for a friend.” Because Lumi never thought of people cheating. She always wanted to think the best of them. “And yeah, he was really interested in what I... do. And no, I didn’t just say ‘hi I’m Lumi, I’m a psychic!’ he did something telekinetic so I just shared. Like you do.” ...wait. “Did I ever tell you I’m a psychic?” Lumi blinked as she tried to remember just who had been informed after the Light of May, when it had become acceptable. Then she thought again and realized that of course she had, Kajsa came from a supernatural family and Lumi had never been good at secrets. “Sorry, I know I did, it just took a second. I haven’t been sleeping well.” Hence the desire for a sleepover.
“Geez, do you work in an episode of E.R. or something?” Kajsa rolled her eyes. The obvious newer reference would, of course, be Grey’s Anatomy or something but Kajsa hadn’t watched TV in ages. “Maybe he’s her ex-husband back from the dead and she was leaving the hospital with the guy she was cheating on him with and who helped try to kill him. BUT unbeknownst to her, she was actually leaving with his evil twin brother and the real man she loves is stuck in a warehouse by the lake,” Kajsa said ominously before bursting into laughter. She took a sip of her soda as she listened to Lumi’s story about the guy with the telekinesis. Men were overrated, honestly, in Kajsa’s opinion. Their purpose was to get you pregnant so you could have kids to love and be a mother. But keeping them around was kind of dumb. She nodded at Lumi’s question. “Of course, silly goose. And he’s probably one of the more ‘out’ psychics. They’re suddenly all over the place offering services now. The classifieds are swamped with mediums and finders.” Kajsa took another gulp of soda before looking worriedly at Lumi. She stretched a hand out. “Are you okay? Is it stress or something?”
E.R? Lumi had heard of that show but she had never actually seen it so she just shrugged non-committed. Though the tale that Kajsa spun out after had her staring open-mouthed, almost ready to believe that that was just as reasonable as anything else... until Kajsa started laughing. Then she stuck her tongue out and threw her rainbow unicorn pillow at her, rolling her eyes before picking up another handful of gummy bears. She bit at her lip for a moment about the mediums bit, deciding not to say that she had wanted to hire one to ask if her mom was hanging around before she had realized how dumb that was. Viuly would no doubt find out and call her ten kinds of idiot, and she would be right. Someone like Lillian Theiss would not have been hanging around after she died, who was she kidding? “I just keep having those dreams,” Lumi said, tapping the side of her head before reaching out to squeeze Kajsa’s hand, always grateful for a bit of comfort. “Nothing to worry about, it’s not like they hurt anyone.” Except me. But bloody noses and scratches and headaches hardly count. “You’re recovering from your accident okay, right?”
Kajsa deflected the pillow with an arm, the can in her hand shaking a bit but she had drunk enough that nothing spilled out. Tucking the attack pillow against her chest, she smiled at Lumi. “It might be true,” she teased. There was a 0.000000000000000000001% chance it was, but it wasn’t necessarily an impossibility. After all, the TV had to get it from somewhere. Setting the can of Pepsi at the foot of the bed, she curled up and held the pillow against her head as she squeezed Lumi’s hand. “Can you take anything to help you sleep? You’re the medical person, I just get medical attention,” Kajsa added with a little laugh. “Hmmm...it’s fine, my shoulder’s still stiff by the stitches should come out soon.” Had Kajsa been aware of Lumi’s question, she could have confirmed whether or not her mom was really around. But she wasn’t. Neither was she really aware of her own abilities to be able to answer that question. But that’s a completely different conversation altogether. She raised her head to look at the TV. Mandy Moore was wearing some atrocious sweater that belonged on absolutely no one. Kajsa tried not to pass comment on it.
“Not!” Lumi denied. She was not going to consider that as a possibility because it could not be. Just no. And it was easy to move her mind past that and onto the other topics at hand - health. Someone interested in white magic, medicine and her own inability to sleep could talk about that for ages. “Nah, sleeping pills just make me sleep but they don’t stop the nightmares. Only thing that stops them is sharing someone else’s dreams. Nothing hurts me there.” She was not saying it to whine or anything like that, it was just the truth. Lumi never woke up from someone else’s dreams with a black eye or bloody nose, unless maybe whoever she was sleeping with had gone and hit her for whatever reason. “I’d offer to help but I can only really do scratches and punctures and stuff right now. Maybe when I’m stronger I can help with things like that.” She really hoped that she could help to that degree when she got better practiced. If Viuly could practically kill people and curse herself forever then surely Lumi would be able to help others. Turning her eyes back to the screen she followed along easily, having seen the movie at least a hundred times. “Anything else interesting in your life?” She had to make sure she was not missing out on something.
It was impossible, for certain. Life wasn’t a TV drama...even if Kajsa sometimes felt like her life was scripted and someone was having a good laugh at her expense. Actually, she’d rather have someone be amused by her crazy life and have someone at least get a kick out of its insanity. “You’re welcome to my dreams any time you need them,” she told Lumi...and then realized that her dreams of the last few nights had not exactly been dreams fit for sharing. Uh... Well, it was too late now. She gave Lumi’s hand another squeeze before releasing it. “Don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt much anymore as long as I don’t...smack it against something. The painkillers help when it gets too bad. I just don’t like the scarring,” Kajsa admitted. She was vain; she liked her strappy, lacy things...and it just made her incredibly self-conscious. It was a sharp reminder to never do anything stupid like that again, though, and she was lucky that her law firm still wanted her to work for them despite this little...drawback. Lumi’s next question was met with a quick and rather sharp, “Nope, nothing,” and a shrug of a shoulder. “And you?”
Any dreams were better than her own. Lumi had no doubts about that and she could handle whatever was in them so long as they did not damage her. Which they would not. “I’ll take you up on that sometime, just so you know,” she informed her. In addition to right then. Her eyes did widen a little at Kajsa’s answer since it seemed a little too quick. “If you’re sure... and no, just what I told you. Oh, and I got Sai on a horse!” She did not think that Kajsa knew who was Isaiah was, but the point still stood and she was proud of it. “He never rides, but I pouted and he did. Guys can be so easy to get to do things.” Grinning, she ducked her head down and ate another couple of gummy bears. “You sure nothing’s going on? I have two ears that are great at listening.”
“That’s awesome! Who’s Sai?” she asked, wondering if that was a friend from high school she’d forgotten. Kajsa had forgotten a lot of people from back then. Lumi was one of those guileless people who found it easy to be open with other people and use that charm to make people do things. Kajsa was a little more reserved and didn’t quite know how to manipulate people. She was potentially a different person inebriated but she wasn’t about to test that theory any time soon. “No, nothing. Just a little tension at home from Jokull’s death and mom’s pregnancy but that’s about it. Nothing else exciting. Oh, trying to see if law school might be something I want to do but other than that...nothing much.” Kajsa rubbed her shoulder. “How’s the hospital...other than charming psychic gentlemen?”
“Isaiah Williamson,” Lumi answered as soon as she swallowed her mouthful of candy. Now she was going to need to brush her teeth. “He was in the same grade as us, tall guy, really nice, pretty cute.” Girls tended to register guys like that from what she had noticed, even if she had not looked at all that many of them since she had been starry-eyed over Cael at the time. Ow, not what I want to be thinking about right now. That mess is not... Liam is adorable, that was supposed to happen. She could not have had a kid anyhow and Cael so did not deserve that. She did give a bit of a sad face over what Lumi said and wrapped an arm over her friends shoulders for a quick hug. “Hey, that’s okay, things will probably be tense for awhile over something like that. And law school would be cool! You’ll be working for a degree as long as I am.” Another degree more like since they both already had one and Lumi had a certification on top of it. “The hospital’s fine other than that. Kendal Hathaway was there when I went in and she’s... herself. Um, nothing all that interesting, nope!” A bright grin. “My life is boring as always.”
Curling up on the edge of Lumi’s bed, Kajsa dropped her head onto her arms and yawned. The name was familiar but even the description didn’t help very much. He was a blur, like much of life before her current one. She accepted the hug from Lumi before dropping back down onto the bed and rolling over. Kendal Hathaway. Someone she remembered if only for the political significance. “There was something about her in the news,” Kajsa said through a yawn. “Something about vampires.” Kajsa tried to pay attention to the news in preparation for law school but tabloid bits like that were hardly material she decided to read. Knowing her reputation (because who didn’t?) and that involved vampires, Kajsa had naturally assumed it had something to do with a bite fetish that most people seemed to have discovered after the Light of May. Good old warm-blooded humans. What ever happened to those?
Following Kajsa’s example, Lumi stretched out on the bed next to her friend and curled up next to her. Normally she would have a pillow in arms to cuddle but that was part of the reason of having Kajsa over, so that she did not have to. Plus a pillow was not going to share dreams with her. “Mmm, yeah, she had a bite mark on her neck.” Maybe that was one of those things that Lumi was not supposed to share with people but they could just look in the news and see. All she knew about the incident were things that Kendal had probably been more than happy to share with reporters. “I got rid of the scars for her because I can... oh hey! Maybe, when you’re all healed, I can get rid of your scars for you if you want.” If she could do it for someone like Kendal who she did not even like then who was saying that she could not do it for a friend? “Since you’re nice enough to stay over and help me out.” Yawning, she covered her arm and reached for the bedside light to flick it off, though she left the movie playing. She liked a bit of noise. “Have I said thank you for that yet?” Probably.
“Only about fifty thousand times,” Kajsa responded, amused. She wriggled a bit to get more comfortable and yawned again. “That’ll be nice,” she agreed. Her stitches were scheduled to be removed and she would be glad when they were gone. And if Lumi could do something about the scarring, that would be even better. While Kajsa was all for suffering the consequences of her actions and lasting reminders of her mistake so that she did not repeat them, it would be very nice to wear the clothes she wanted to again and not have to hide everything behind a long sleeved shirt. “Good night, Lumi,” she muttered. “Sleep well.”
Fifty thousand times was surely enough to get the point across so Lumi decided that she was done with it. After Kajsa wriggled she shifted again, making sure that she was touching the other girl because that always made it easier. Sure she had advanced past the most basic levels of sharing dreams but easier was always better. Last thing she wanted to do was make a mistake and end up with nightmares when she had a perfectly good friend right there to share her dreams. Yawning after Kajsa did Lumi snuggled her head down into her pillow and set the sleep timer on the television so that it would shut itself off soon. “Night Kajsa, sweet dreams.” Please.