Winchester, England
July 2008
11:31 AM
“You know what I want to do?”
“Mm?”
“After graduating or during the summers or something. I don’t know.” Lysette peeks at Aether from behind her canvas, paint brush tucked behind her ear. “I’ve been giving it some thought recently and maybe...maybe this is something I can do when I have the time.”
Aether quirks a brow, setting a book down on the bed. Lysette catches the worn-out cover and the yellowing pages in the light and thinks of telling Aether to get herself a new copy. “And what do you want to do, Lys?”
“Volunteer.” It falls easily from her lips. Aether’s eyes widen a little in surprise. “Volunteer, come back here, all that stuff. I don’t know.” She shrugs, “I feel like I owe Xavier and everyone else at least that. He always mentions how some kids have come back to either work here or do some volunteer work for the kids. Remember the alumnus who helped you out with the piano? Or the guy who came here to give a weekend session on watercolor?” Aether nods, “I want to do something like that. Why not, right? I remember how happy I was after learning about it and getting critiqued.”
“That works.”
“Probably during my term breaks though. I can’t come down here every weekend.” Lysette snorts and feels her hair slide out of its bun; she raises her arms and does it up again rather nimbly, Aether watching in silence. “But that’s what I want to do. I want to do it for the kids.” She focuses her attention on her canvas again, taking the paintbrush from behind her ear. Dipping into her paints, “What about you?”
“Huh?”
“Of course you’ll come back.” Lysette grins to herself, mixes the red with the white. “You’re gonna come back every summer, with me, and we’re gonna teach those kids something good. That’s the game plan. Every summer even after we graduate.”
“Lys, what can I teach them—”
“Piano, duh. You can teach them piano and do some vocal coaching.” She doesn’t bat a lash while saying this; Aether, sitting on her bed, frowns to herself. “And come on, don’t give me the ‘I’m not good enough’ spiel you always do. Or else I’m gonna come up there and kick your ass.”
“But—”
“Nope, no buts. Keep talking shit like that and I’m actually going to fight you.”
London, England
July 2014
10:32 PM
“You’re gonna be gone for how long, now?”
“Just a week, asshole. Calm down.” Lysette stuffs her luggage with a few more cardigans, fully aware that Elio was watching her with a bemused smirk. She sort of wishes that he would leave her alone and not really mock her about it. Maybe it’s the summer heat getting to her and maybe it’s just the smug, smug look on his face that’s getting to her. Maybe. “And shut up, don’t tell me I’m packing wrong. I’m excited.”
“Which explains why you’re stuffing random pieces of crap into your bag without even folding it neatly.”
“Shut up.” She huffs and does the same with a pair of pants, “And don’t give me the how long shit, I know you’re going to love it when I’m gone. You’ll finally be able to have your girlfriend over without me interrupting you two—”
“Okay, now you shut up.” Elio laughs (albeit uncomfortably) and approaches Lysette, the latter sorting through her socks and deciding which ones to bring on her short trip. “And you know that she and I broke up a while back, don’t pull that on me.”
“Did you?” He nods. “Then I guess you’re going to have your ex-girlfriend over while I’m gone, that’s sweet.”
“You’re not going to let that go, are you?”
“Never. I still have the pictures.” Elio groans and finally admits defeat, leaving Lysette alone to herself. She had been packing for over an hour now, and still needed to dig up some spare materials she could pass on to the kids. She knows that she could have done all that sooner (despite Elio’s insistent nagging), but she had never been the type to plan things in advance.
Regardless, the thought of seeing the kids again made her smile.
Lysette finishes packing her clothes twenty minutes later. Elio finds her standing in front of her electric fan, Lysette cursing and grumbling in an attempt to cool herself off. He can hardly blame her; the weather was impossible lately and the ventilation in their apartment was hardly enough to combat it. “You look like you need this.”
“If it’s a hot coffee, you can fuck off.”
“What if it’s a glass of iced tea?”
“Then I’ll take it,” she sighs. Lysette turns towards him and he passes the drink to her; she downs the drink in seconds. Elio frowns at her when she places it back into his hands with a teasing smirk. “Please?”
“Only because you’re finally leaving tomorrow.”
“That’s fair.” But Elio doesn’t leave and Lysette’s smirk fades. “...what?”
“You still need to dig through your closet for the other supplies.” She tries not to groan at the thought. “And it’s almost eleven.”
“If you’re just going to mock me, you can leave me alone and I’ll get to it—”
“Or you could let me finish,” he interrupts. She huffs. “I was going to offer and help you out so that you could sleep early and not miss your train in the morning, but if you’re going to be mean to me with no reason then maybe I will leave you alone to get to it.”
...maybe she was being mean.
She doesn’t admit it, of course.
It’s quiet for a bit except for the strong whirring of the electric fan. Lysette weighs her options. She could either pack and melt alone, or she could pack and melt alongside Elio while also talking to him about what she was going to do.
Right.
Lysette turns away from him and faces the electric fan again. “You know where the art stuff is.” He fetches it without another wisecrack, and Lysette finds herself thinking that maybe the night could go on without any funny business.
(But it doesn’t, it never does. Lysette wakes up a little sweatier than usual a couple of hours later, wakes up to Elio’s arm around her waist. It’s early and it’s hot and she could wake him up for another round of lazy kisses, another round of feeling nice.
Without warning, Elio mumbles under his breath: “You’ve an hour and a half to prepare and catch the train, Cross.”
She takes a cold shower after that.)
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