Groaning softly as she packed away the contents of the last moving box, Tobin stood up and stretched, arching backwards in an effort to pop vertebrae back into place. Pushing sweat-draggled hair from her face, the blonde glanced around her late cousin’s room and nodded slowly to herself. It had taken time and a lot of effort, but at least the room didn’t seem to pulse quite so strongly with Alairi’s personality now. Though, somehow, Tobin doubted her aunt and uncle would ever completely let Alairi and Ume go. She’d certainly think less of them if they did. And they’d flatly refused to allow her to annex Ume’s room as well, wanting to keep at least one shrine to themselves.

“Guess I can’t really blame them,” she murmured to herself. She’d talking to the police herself a few days ago. No bodies found, no trace of where either of her cousins might have vanished to. It was a wound that was never going to heal. Looking at ti that way, let her aunt and uncle have their little shrines. It was all they had left for themselves. She’d even decided not to let it bother her too much when Auntie had called her Alairi this morning by mistake. She knew how strongly she resembled her cousin. And if it helped Auntie to cope…

At least, she hoped her presence would help them. If nothing else, she could maybe help her bereaved family move on a tiny bit. She could keep them from stagnating at any rate. Hobbling slightly towards her newly set up desk, Tobin sank gratefully into the chair and allowed her body to go limp. Incredible to think that it had taken all summer to get her installed in the house. Even more incredible to think that she’d be going back to school in a few days. She didn’t really know anything about this Crystal Academy place beyond her parents insisting she go there. And at least Mom had forcibly argued the school out of trying to make her board there.

“Wouldn’t exactly be helpful to move out here to help if I can’t live here, would it?” she murmured and chuckled softly. Now, what else did she have to set up? Her computer and stereo were good to go. She didn’t really care about watching TV when there was Netflix. Glancing around, she decided that any further setups would be purely cosmetic. New curtains, a couple cute desk accessories, that sort of thing. Maybe a full length mirror to hang on the closet door.

Speaking of the closet… she’d had to hide her sewing machine and supplies in there when it had become painfully clear that seeing them had hurt Auntie and Uncle. Downside to sharing a hobby with Alairi. Still, the closet was a lovely, big walk-in affair, so it wasn’t as if she was being put out of her way. Grabbing a pen, she jotted down a small list of things to get or further adjustments to make to the room. Once she was done, she allowed herself a smile before standing. She felt gross and wanted a shower. Grabbing a change of clothes, she tossed them onto the bed before grabbing a towel and making a beeline for her bathroom.

“Auntie, I’m gonna clean up and when I’m done, I’ll make dinner for us,” she called down the hall. She heard her aunt’s grateful acceptance and smiled again. She’d help them recover. But first. Shower and food.