Re: Zania and Caius
Watching Caius call the obscurities forward was a completely different experience for Zania now that she could see more. She could see the creatures, just like she could see the demon that had been stalking her. They were living inside Caius, just beneath his skin now, and the dark overtook the gold while he viewed his mother through them. She was tempted to reach out and touch them, but knew how weird that would look, so she kept her hands to herself. “Of course,” she answered. “I wish I had a better handle on this and could tell you more.” But she’d come to him looking for answers, only to discover it was a mystery to them both. “Hopefully it’s nothing to worry about. Maybe even something good. They deserve a break.”
He sighed and pulled the spirits back, and in one or two blinks his eyes looked normal again. “They do. But I’m not going to hold my breath for it,” Caius said, and couldn’t really hide the bitterness in his voice. He was thinking more about how he couldn’t seem to catch a break, more than anyone else, but it applied broadly around here. “But thank you for bringing it to my attention,” he continued, knocking back the last of his drink. Caius already wanted another. “I should have been checking in with her more, probably.” Now he had both of the main women in his life to worry about. Caius glanced down at his glass and then over at Zania. “I’m going back to the bar, do you want anything?”
Zania wished she could tell him to be more optimistic, but it was probably safer and smarter to be a realist around here. Bad things happened. They happened all the damn time. And in her experience, this town didn’t hand out gifts like it handed out curses. If something was happening with Miriam, chances were it affected all the people who’d been stuck in the fog dimension. Zania just couldn’t figure out what it was. Vex hadn’t mentioned anything and none of them looked exactly alike, though there were some similarities worth noting. Unfortunately, their auras provided no answers. Zania glanced down at her glass. “I’m good, thanks,” she said, then flashed him a small smile. “We should catch up again soon. We never talk anymore.” She was mostly teasing, but she did kind of miss him as a friend, and only a friend. It was a good feeling, one that could probably be attributed to having Gabriel in her life. “Tell Reagan hello for me if I don’t catch her later.”
Despite knowing Zania for years and years, Caius still wasn’t accustomed to having friends in his life. People to check in on, catch up with, rely on for help. It was always a little jarring to realize he was a shitty friend, mostly because he tried not to be shitty at anything in life. If he’d been catching up with Zan more, he probably would’ve known about her aura-vision already. His expression softened some and he smiled faintly back at Zania. “We should,” he agreed. “I’m sorry, I’m neglectful. Let’s have lunch or something next week, I’ll come by the shop. My treat.” There was a lot he couldn’t tell her, but many things he could, and maybe he should start doing that instead of shouldering everything on his own. He was going to end up as isolated as his father was. “But yes, I’ll tell her. I hope you and Gabriel have a lovely evening.”
Zania hadn’t seriously thought they would catch up outside of some kind of crisis, because that’s how things always seemed to go, but she liked the idea of that changing. They could be normal people and grab lunch together sometime, talk about something other than what was going horribly wrong at the moment. Maybe they’d even invite their significant others, though the idea of her and Gabriel with Reagan and Caius gave her a mental chuckle. “Sure,” she smiled. “I’d like that. It’d be nice to catch up when it’s not some kind of life or death situation.” Hopefully nothing would come up between now and then, though it wouldn’t surprise her if something did. The peace and quiet had been going on for so long that she expected something to happen any day now. “You too, Caius. We’ll talk soon,” she smiled then sent him on his way. Hopefully he meant what he said because she was already looking forward to it.