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 Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:22 pm
 Vederat stared at his homework assignment and scratched his ear. Thinking was hard right now—and not just because of the heat, either. The very air seemed to crackle with anticipation, and it didn’t take a genius to know why that was. It was May, and every brain was feverish with the attempt at chronomancy, to move the days forward so that it would be glorious summer instead of the stinky ol’ school year. School years were exciting enough during the first few weeks, when all of your crayons and erasers were new, but after that, they got really old really fast, and frankly, you wanted it to be June already by the time you were halfway through September. Ved didn’t know a single person in the whole wide world who didn’t agree with that statement.
It seemed unfair, then—they only had a month and a half left of school, and rather than give in to the inevitable march of time, their teachers were insisting that they do homework, and on a day like this! Ech. Well, at least it was only language arts. If it had been math that Ved had to do, he would have screamed. In fact, he had, earlier, when he was doing his math homework. Okay, maybe not screamed. Not precisely. More like “groaned super-duper dramatically, because math homework was, like, the worst.” Same thing according to teachers, anyway.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:23 pm
 Sound Lee watched his friend with amusement. Ved looked like he was on the point of exploding, which in itself was pretty entertaining, considering that this was the third time this afternoon that Ved had gotten that “I wish the whole world would blow up” kind of expression on his face. And the blue Bakeneko had a pretty good idea why that was. The not-quite summer sun was shining down on them, making concentrating on homework difficult. Sure, they could have solved that problem by going inside, but that would have required common sense on the part of either of his friends, and Sound Lee knew Aura and Ved well enough to know that he was, himself, the most sensible of the trio. Nope. They were going to sit outside, letting the late spring sunlight torture them with the fact that they had homework to do on this table outside, where birds were chirping and insects buzzing.
Lee fiddled with the piece of card in his hand. Their language arts homework was simple—they were to write five hundred words about a subject they’d drawn from a hat. Lee hadn’t asked his friends yet what their subjects were. His own had been distracting him for a little while. But distraction had turned into curiosity, and he wondered what they had. “My subject’s ‘how did you meet your best friend,’” he murmured. “What did you two get?”
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:25 pm
 Something considerably worse than that, as it turned out—not that Aura could tell the boys about it, anyway. Ved and Lee wouldn’t understand why it was a big problem. Neither of them had the background to understand it, and more importantly, neither of them had the background to understand why Aura’s subject was so terrible. They hated this stupid, stupid subject, and yet, they had to write five hundred words about it by tomorrow. They couldn’t put it out of their mind, they couldn’t delay, they couldn’t procrastinate—at some point, they would have to surrender into their stupid, stupid, terrible teachers and just write the dumb homework assignment.
Why did being ten years old have to be so objectively terrible?! Couldn’t they just grow up already and be eleven? Ten years old was turning out to be the worst year in Aura’s life, and they couldn’t even begin to guess how it could possibly get worse. I wish time would just move forward, Aura thought. So that I can get past this and have it all over with already! “My subject’s really, really dumb,” Aura said. To the Elf’s mild surprise, they found themselves saying it…mildly? Not snapping it at all? Why was that?
Aura looked over their friends appraisingly. Ved was sitting cross-legged, fingers idly twitching over the strings of his ukulele. Vederat. A musician. Aura could punch him as hard as they could (metaphorically, of course, they may have been an Elf, but they weren’t a monster), and he’d bounce right back again. Saying mean things to him was…difficult. It just didn’t come naturally. It was like hurting a little animal with big eyes—hurting Ved made you hate yourself.
And Sound Lee? Aura looked over at the Bakeneko. He was sitting with his legs stretched out, eyes closed and ears gently rotating to catch the sound of every chirp the birds and the bugs made. Hurting Sound Lee was like punching water. The only thing that ever happened was that you got wet, and by that Aura meant that you made yourself look like a fool. Sound Lee didn’t care about anything. At all.
“You should write about the time you came to talk to me after the Hunter’s Jubilee party, and you offered me candy because you kept beating me in every game,” they told him.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:26 pm
Ved shook his head. “That wasn’t really how you first met, though, was it?” he said. “I mean, didn’t you say you met because he beat you in every game or something? Because that’s how I thought you met.” The Imp grinned. “I even wrote a ballad about it! But I left the lyrics back in my dorm, so I can’t sing it for you right now.” He strummed the ukulele. “I mean, I could play you the opening riff, but, like, no words or nothin’.” He looked over at Sound Lee. “You could write about the time we both wanted to do a project about fish and we found out that we both like fish? Because that was a pretty funny day.”
Ved stretched out his arms, almost knocking his precious instrument on the ground. He snatched it up and clutched it to his chest. He hurriedly looked it over. Not a scratch mark on it. Thank the Nine! He set it back down on his lap, satisfied that his most prized possession had not been damaged. “I actually kinda want to talk about my subject, though, ‘cause my subject is ’what are your plans for the summer.’” He grinned at both of his friends. “I figured we’d be spending it together, obviously, but ‘I’m gonna hang with my friends’ isn’t five hundred words, even if I use proper grammar and stuff. So what are we gonna do this summer? ‘Cause I’ve got so many ideas for what we can do this summer.”
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:27 pm
Sound Lee nodded. He’d been greatly looking forward to a summer spent with his two best friends—especially with Ved. Ved was easier to get along with than Aura, but it didn’t mean that Lee didn’t like Aura. Aura was just…well, Aura was prickly. Lee was about ninety percent certain that Aura was a nice person inside all of that…not-niceness, but that they were keeping it hidden for some important reason. Lee was sure that the reason would become obvious in time. It just sort of had to. Lee was patient enough to wait for that day to come, and in the meantime…
“Yes, we met then. But you seemed so upset, I couldn’t leave you alone. I’m glad I didn’t,” he added. “If I had, I wouldn’t have gotten to know you, Aura. And that would have been a tragedy.” For his curiosity if nothing else! “But I think I’ll write about how we all came together, when I invited you both to come to a festival with me. I think that’s the best time to write about, though I’ll probably write about the other times as well. Just to round it out.”
Lee’s tail twitched as he thought about the future. Hm… “I’d like to show you both the beach, if you haven’t been. What about you, Aura?”
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:28 pm
Ah. Now. There it was. They were being forced to discuss it now. Sure, the boys didn’t think they were forcing Aura to do anything (except maybe participate). But that was the insidious thing—by talking about their assignments, they were making Aura talk about their own assignment, and that was…ugh. Horrible. Beyond compare! So what could the Elf do about it? “I’ve seen the beach loads of times,” Aura mumbled. “Lots of times in Above, anyway.” They didn’t want to talk about Above, though. They really didn’t.
But they were looking at Aura expectantly, and Aura would have to tell them sometime, or they’d never leave Aura alone ever again. Then again, on the other hand…
There was a pain in Aura’s heart as the Elf thought about the subject. Not a figurative one, either—Aura could swear that their heart was actually squeezing into a tight, tiny ball at the thought of the subject. They couldn’t talk about it—that would make the problem worse!
But Lee was looking at Aura with a vague look of concern and Ved was looking downright worried. For a kid who would often completely fail to notice what emotions other people were experiencing, it was a pretty rich expression. And for some reason, both of those faces made Aura’s heart hurt more, even when they reminded themselves that the boys were stupid and that their dumb emotions were stupid, too.
Aura sighed. “I don’t know what I’m doing this summer,” they said flatly. “I might be staying here, I might be going home.”
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:29 pm
Vederat nodded sadly. He’d known that was a possibility, of course—Aura had made so many references to Above that he’d just sort of assumed that Aura must have actual family back there. They’d never made any reference to it, but orphans from Above tended not to be sent to the Academy willy-nilly—and if they were sent to the Academy straight from Above, it was usually because of some program they’d signed up for, and Aura…well, Aura wasn’t really happy at the Academy. Not in the same way that Ved was, and definitely not in the same way that Lee was. Lee had come from a similar situation to Aura, at least in theory; Lee had come from another world—okay, yeah, Auster was technically in Below, but—from an orphanage and he’d been sent here instead. And the Bakeneko absolutely loved the Academy! So far as Ved could tell, the only thing Aura loved about the Academy was, like, nothing at all.
Ved wasn’t even sure most of the time if Aura cared at all for their friends. Every time that thought crossed his mind, though, he’d pushed it away. He didn’t want to think about that possibility—the possibility that one of his best friends wasn’t really one of his best friends. “Oh,” he said, unable to keep the disappointment from his voice. “Um…have fun at home, though?”
A summer without Aurabelle would be…well, it would be different, that was for sure. Aura brought a certain directionality to their friendship. The Elf was always making plans, and Aura actually stuck to those plans, unlike either Ved or Sound Lee. Left to their own devices, the boys would just drift around doing nothing in particular, wasting the weekends and the free afternoons. With Aura around, they went out, they explored, they had experiences, rather than just…feelings. And it was weird, but Ved thought he’d miss that this summer, for all of Aura’s…well, mean-ness.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:30 pm
Sound Lee, too, nodded. Yes, home—Aura would probably be going back to Above. That he’d sort of already taken as read. But that wasn’t the part of the Elf’s statement he latched onto. The part of Aura’s statement he latched onto was the bit right before going home. It was the word “might.”
“Might” held a lot of possibilities. So did sighing. And from a person like Aurabelle, so did saying something flatly and without emotion. Something was eating the Elf from the inside, and Lee’s insatiable curiosity just had to know what it was that was upsetting his normally quite defensive friend. It was plain that Aura’s defenses were coming down. If he was ever to get to know his not-quite-as-best-friend-as-his-best-friend friend better, it would have to be when Aura’s guard was down. So how to get Aura to cough up an explanation for why they might be staying here in Below instead?
A little part of him secretly hoped that it was because Aura wanted to spend time with them. It would prove that Aura actually liked them instead of putting up with them as they so often claimed to do. Of course, Aura did spend a lot of time with them while they were at school, but that wasn’t the same thing, was it? It meant something entirely different than giving up time with your family so that you can spend time with friends. That was quite different—Lee didn’t need a family to know that.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:32 pm
Aura fidgeted. The boys hadn’t asked them why they weren’t sure about their summer plans. They’d just…assumed that Aura was not going to be there? That was actually worse than asking them to fess up! “My parents are getting a divorce,” they said suddenly. “They all really hate each other now, so they’re getting a divorce and they sent me here so that they wouldn’t have to deal with me until it’s all over. So I don’t know if I’m going home for summer this year, because I don’t really have a home.” Aura held out the crumpled-up card with their writing prompt on it: Describe your home. They dropped it on the ground. “I can't describe my home, because I don't have a home. I just have three broken ones with parents who hate each other more than they love me.” Aura bit their lip and looked up at the sky. They were about to cry. They just knew it. Their nose hurt and their eyes hurt, and their vision was starting to get blurry, and they did not want to cry. They had never cried in front of their friends, and they were not going to break that record now. “So I don’t know what I’m doing this summer,” Aura croaked. “But…” Aura wiped their eyes and took a deep breath, then fixed their friends' green eyes with their own red ones. “But. I’ll tell you when I have an answer. And if I’m staying here, then I swear, we’re going to go places. I dunno how we’re gonna get money, but I’ll bet neither of you have been on a roller coaster, and that means you haven’t really lived.”
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:33 pm
Ah. Oh. Um, okay. Um. Uh…
Well, that was…worse than Ved thought? He’d known that Aura had had a family—well, he’d been pretty darn certain they had a family—but they’d never confirmed it? Aura never talked about their family, and before Ved had thought that maybe that was because he was wrong and that the Elf didn’t have a family after all. But nope, turns out that they did have a family, but they might have a lot smaller one soon. Was that worse than not having one at all? Ved thought that if he had lost most of his family, especially out of, like, hate, as Aura had said, that he would feel terrible and horrible and that he’d have a broken heart. But surely a small family was better than no family at all, right?
That was right, right?
Before Ved could say something to comfort Aura, though, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over at Sound Lee. The Bakeneko had put a hand on his shoulder and was shaking his head. In movies that was because Person A knew what Person B was thinking and wanted Person B not to act on that thought. If either of my friends are psychic, it’s definitely Sound Lee—and if either of them knows how to handle the situation with Aurabelle…well, it’s Aurabelle, but Sound Lee knows how to deal with them a lot better than I do. “Sorry about your parents,” Ved said instead. His words sounded lame. He supposed that that was because they were. “But roller coasters sound nice?”
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:34 pm
Well, if Sound Lee had been called upon to predict what had been eating away at Aura, that was not what the young Bakeneko had thought the answer would be. It wasn’t what he had hoped, either—Aura’s “might” wasn’t because they were conflicted between family and friends, but because their parents were in conflict with each other. But then again, Aura had said that they wanted to spend time with both Lee and Ved this summer—so actually…it was sort of the same thing? Except he’d finally figured out what that hard shell around Aura was for. It was because of that sadness, and the feeling unwanted. And the hate…
Lee didn’t like the word hate. It was very strong, and it got overused—especially by people like…well, like Aura, who used words like “stupid” and “hate” like other people used “the” and “and.” But coming from Aura’s description… Either they’re being really melodramatic, which is a very Aura thing to do, or they’re telling the truth. The first possibility reflected poorly on his friend (even if it had the ring of truth to it), but the second one…well, the second one was a pretty depressing option. Lee looked over at Ved, wondering what he thought about this, then sighed inwardly. Ved was frowning, and he was opening his mouth. Great. He was probably about to say something really insensitive. Lee leaned over and put a hand on Ved’s shoulder, then shook his head. Don’t say anything, Ved. You’ll just make Aura upset.
“I’m sorry to hear about your family,” Lee murmured. “I hope they come to their senses soon. So what are roller coasters like?”
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:35 pm
Once again, Aura’s friends took their words pretty much in stride. No asking for details, no pressing, no pushing, just… Aura looked at Ved. Ved looked confused, and the gesture that passed between the Bakeneko and the Imp made it clear that Aura’s suspicion had been right—Ved really didn’t understand what the big deal was. Great. But Lee… Aura looked at Lee. No. Lee wouldn’t understand, either. Lee was unruffable. He didn’t let things bother him. The idea of letting other people bother him was as alien to him as he was to Aura.
So neither of their friends had understood them. But…that wasn’t so bad, was it? They’d expressed sympathy (either that or pity, and honestly, what was the difference? So far as Aura could tell, it was pity if you didn’t want it, sympathy if you did, and boy, did they ever want some sympathy right now), and they’d moved on to another topic, quietly and calmly accepting Aura’s wish to move on to a subject that was less painful.
What did I do to deserve you two? Aura thought fondly. “Roller coasters are, like, the best. They go really fast, but there’s a lot of anticipation. Really, I can’t describe it. They’re exciting, we have to take you guys on roller coasters this summer.”
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:36 pm
Okay, so Ved knew that he shouldn’t push it—that was exactly what Sound Lee had told him not to do, after all—but Aura was starting to look so much happier. Ved couldn’t stop himself from asking the question: “So I guess you’re going to stay in Below this summer after all?”
He looked at Sound Lee in time to see the Bakeneko bury his face in his hands. Okay, yeah, he’d done a dumb. He’d made a mistake. He’d gone right back to the topic that Aura had wanted to avoid and that Lee had told him to leave alone all quiet and psychic-like. “I mean,” he added hastily, “you’re making plans, and Aura, you never, ever make plans if you don’t plan to keep them. Like, you’re always super true to your word and, like, you’re practically honorable like those guys in the stories? So I guess I’m saying that I figure, if you wanna make plans with us, it’s because you know you’re gonna be here and you’re not just gonna leave us hanging with, like, nothing to do at all ever all this summer, I mean, I’d really, really love to go on a roller coaster with you, and I think I’d be disappointed now if we didn’t.” The words all came out in a rush that Miss Lyra would have severely disapproved of if he’d written it out on paper, but that was only because all of those words needed to be said all at once, and he couldn’t decide which ones to say first! Because if he took the time to organize his thoughts, he’d lose the chance to get to take back those words…
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:39 pm
Oh, surf, sand, and sky. Sound Lee groaned inwardly and buried his face in his hands. Vederat. Vederat. We discussed this. We talked about it. Maybe not out loud, but communication occurred. We weren’t going to continue this subject. We were going to drop it. We were going to leave Aura alone. We were going to be our friend’s island of salvation. A safe place to not have to worry about their parents and their family, where they didn’t have to confront their future. We were going to crack Aura open so that they could turn into the nice person I’m absolutely, positively, completely ninety percent certain they actually are underneath all that upset about their parents, which I predict they are about to describe as “stupid.”
But no. Vederat had to go ahead and ruin it all. Honestly, Lee should have been expecting that, but nope. He’d been totally unprepared. Blindsided. And now Ved had ruined the moment.
Or had he?
The Bakeneko sneaked a glance at their Elven friend, bracing himself for the explosion he was sure to ensue.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2016 10:40 pm
Eeeeeeeeeeeeey. Hello, you’ve been listening to Vederat FM! Today’s topic: how can you not ever take a hint, you stupid, stupid boy.
Well, the answer was right there, wasn’t it? Vederat. He…well…well, Vederat cared. And because he cared, he had a tendency to…well, to say something that made you upset. Because he cared. It didn’t make any sense, and it sounded really, really, hella stupid, but there it was. Maybe it was the lingering affection from Aura’s previous thought—maybe it was the recognition that yup, that was Vederat for you, all wrapped up in a nutshell—but Aura sat and thought about what Ved had just said. And why he must have.
The answer was pretty obvious after less than a second’s thought. So apparently Aura was the planner? Well, yeah, duh, neither of the boys had any healthy drive or ambition, so yeah, Aura kind of had to do all of the work around here. But…honorable? Aura had never thought of themselves that way. They kind of liked the sound of that. Aurabelle. The Honorable One. Not “the mean one,” not “the stupid bully,” like they sometimes privately thought other people thought of them. But Aurabelle. The honorable one. They liked the sound of that. And the really insidious thing about titles like that is that they make you want to live up to them.
Especially when the person who gave you that title is asking you with baited breath if you’ll be hanging out with him this year, because yeah, you did sort of start making plans after telling someone that you couldn’t make plans, which was dumb. And…not honorable? “If I do end up going home to Above this summer, I’ll get my parents—or whatever parent I have—to send me back two weeks early, so we can at least have early August together,” Aura said. They stretched. “Now could we please change the subject? Like, seriously, Sound Lee, you can’t write about all of our best moments together.”
“Why not?” the Bakeneko said, visibly relaxing. “I might just write about this one.”
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