This was bloody fantastic. Elle knew it had been coming as Eleanor had told her in person that she’d made the decision to go home, but it was no less enjoyable seeing her name appear on the departures list. While they hadn’t been incredibly close in Atlantis, they had been in Breckentale, and she still considered her a friend here as they were learning more about each other. She’d led a more interesting life than anyone Elle had ever known and had genuinely enjoyed the other woman’s company.
People leaving was the nature of this place, though, and while it was disappointing to see her leave, Elle was at least glad that Eleanor was able to do so on her own terms rather than being someone who left unintentionally. It was something she often wondered if it would ever happen to her one day only to go back home to her death.
She didn’t plan to indulge in self pity for long, but one evening wouldn’t hurt. She still had friends here; most of them were male and/or from her home world, but they were as good of mates as any. With the evening off from work, Elle opted against going to one of the usual spots but instead went for something a little more familiar. The Three Broomsticks. There was always the chance she’d run into someone from home here, but she didn’t much care.
After ordering herself a firewhisky, Elle turned and leaned her back against the bar area while surveying the room. A couple of faces she recognized but no one so far that she knew very well. She sipped at her drink for a moment, ordered a refill, and then started walking towards one of the tables to find a seat.
Emilia spotted her sister after coming in and didn’t hesitate to walk over to her table once she’d ordered her own drink. She hadn’t seen much of her since their return from Breckentale and she felt badly about that. Whatever had happened at home, whatever Elle had done, they were still sisters and Emilia loved her. That had always been the case, even if she wished she’d made a few different choices.
“Elle, hi,” she said once she reached the table. “Do you mind if I join you?” She couldn’t assume that Elle didn’t have plans to meet someone else here and she didn’t want to intrude if she did, but especially after noticing Eleanor’s name on the arrivals list - and remembering they’d been close in Breckentale - she wanted to make an effort to be there for her.
Even though Elle hadn’t really been looking to run into anyone tonight, she was probably tempting fate by coming to the one place in town that was actually from home. Still, the sight of her youngest sister wasn’t unwelcome, so she nodded and motioned for her to feel free to take a seat.
It was strange. Emilia had always been the sibling that Elle had gotten along with the easiest even after everything that happened at home, but in Breckentale she’d felt the closest with Alicia. Now? Who the bloody hell knew what was going on there. Elle wondered what it would be like to change how things were now, but her pride was still getting in the way.
“How’ve you been?” She asked after taking a drink. “I think we’ve all been fairly busy since being back.”
“Good,” Emilia answered with a smile, nodding her head. “Yeah, I guess we have been.” She’d been spending more time at Snoozle since coming back. Breckentale had been pretty okay for her, but it was still an adjustment. Those memories were fading, but they didn’t feel fake, exactly. One bright spot had been that her relationship with Cappie had been completely different there and the whole thing had helped her put some more distance between her and their breakup. For the first time, she felt like she was ready to move on with life. She guessed that was a good thing, but thinking about the differences still made her brain hurt a little and throwing herself into work had just been easier.
“I’m really sorry about Eleanor,” she offered. She didn’t know if they’d been close here, but in Breckentale she knew they had been and she thought it could be hard either way. Thinking about the people she’d been closer to in that life, like Donald Pierce, she knew she’d still be upset if they left Atlantis. It was one of the things about a place like this, losing people now and then. People came and went, sometimes more of them than others, and it was always hard to watch them go.
Using the drink in her hand as a distraction and a delay, Elle took a long sip of her whisky and then shrugged her shoulders. “It was her decision to leave,” she said. “Not everyone gets that chance.” So many people left without explanation. Either by not saying anything to anyone or simply at random because Atlantis was having a bad day. Eleanor had wanted to go home, and she couldn’t fault her for that.
It was a large group that had recently left or been sent home, so she knew she wasn’t the only person dealing with the loss of a friend or otherwise. To be honest, she wasn’t sure if Emilia knew any of the people on the list well or not. “Did you lose anyone?”
“I’m glad it was her choice, but I know you’ll still miss her,” Emilia said before shaking her head. “No one I knew really well,” she said. This time, anyway. Emilia had seen familiar names in these announcements too frequently for her liking. It had been awhile since that had happened, which she was grateful for, but her heart still ached for those who did lose someone on arrival days. She knew it wasn’t easy to say goodbye, whether you got to literally say it or not.
“It seemed like a really big group today,” she added. “I hope that’s not going to be a pattern.” It was hard to tell in Atlantis, but usually the lists weren’t quite so large. She hoped it would be awhile before they saw a departure list so big again.
Elle would miss her, but for the time being she was content to drown her disappointment in multiple servings of firewhisky rather than talking about missing her. She’d been a friend that was new to this world and one that didn’t know her family or any past history of the life she led outside of Atlantis. Plus, she had some of the best stories Elle had ever heard in her life.
“The numbers tend to fluctuate,” she said with a small shrug. There had been a couple large number departures over the last couple of months, but it wasn’t the norm. Elle normally didn’t particularly mind one way or another since her circle of friends or acquaintances tended to be small.
“Enough about that,” Elle said with a wave of her hand. “Anything exciting going on lately? Are you fully adjusted to being back from our other lives?”
Emilia nodded. “I don’t think my life was really that different there,” she admitted. “Not compared to some people. It’s nice having magic again.” The biggest difference aside from magic for Emilia had been in her relationships, having a closer connection to Pierce and never having dated Cappie there. The latter had been a nice reprieve, honestly and she’d come back to Atlantis feeling a lot better about things. It was nice to be able to run into him and not feel completely awkward or like she’d never get over him.
Otherwise, life really hadn’t changed much. She was happy to have her magic and her real memories back, but she knew coming back hadn’t been as much of an adjustment for her as for others. She suspected the same wasn’t true for Elle, though, and she gave her a curious look. “What about you?” she asked. “Being back has to be a pretty big adjustment.” If there was one thing Emilia missed most from Breckentale, it was the way their family had all gotten along and been close.
She should have seen it coming, but after the question was turned around on her, Elle wished she’d never brought up their alternate lives. She hadn’t managed to work through her feelings on those couple of months - or years really considering the memories tacked onto the two months - that were still tucked away. Coming back to Atlantis hadn’t erased the memories, just numbed them a little. Two conflicting lives that hardly reconciled with the other.
“An adjustment, yes,” she said and took another drink. But instead of talking about their family dynamic, she chose to steer the conversation elsewhere. “Once we began to know what was happening, I missed magic, but I didn’t mind being without it. Being a muggle isn’t as bad as one might think,” Elle smiled at her sister. “But it was a relief once the rest of you lot began realizing what was happening.” Lying wasn’t a new skill for Elle, but it had felt different at the time.
Emilia was honestly glad she hadn’t been in that position of knowing the truth and having to hide it from her siblings. She wasn’t sure she could have done it.She didn’t like lying in general, but she especially hated the idea of having to lie to the people she loved. She still couldn’t believe Rocco had known for as long as he had without saying a word to them.
“You’re right,” she agreed, thinking back to the life she’d had there. “Being a Muggle wasn’t that bad at all.” She’d missed magic, too, once she’d started to remember. It had come back to her as gradually as the memories of her real life,but before that, the life she’d had really had been a good one.
“It was nice while it lasted,” Elle said, glancing off towards the bar. There were a handful of things that she meant by the statement, but she also didn’t really want to get into them even if Emilia had always been easy to talk to and there for her. Elle wasn’t entirely certain what she felt about her time there at all, so she wasn’t keen on talking about it with anyone. The only person she had spoken to about it had been Eleanor and now she was gone. It had helped that Eleanor didn’t know any of the Spinnets or their family history.
Noticing that they were both low on drinks, Elle put on a quick smile. “Another round, yes?” She’d already started sliding out from her seat and picked up the pair of their glasses. She still hadn’t quite achieved the buzz she’d wanted, so another drink it was.