Cerys POV
"...in the jungles of Africa." You look down as you finish the sentence. Una looks like she's asleep, but you know better. After a moment of staring, she cautiously peeks an eye open, looking up at you curious as to why you'd stopped. The book closes with a quiet rasp as you set it down on your lap, stretching your legs and arms, your sister barely even shifting at the movement as she clings to you. She makes a few grumbles, resting her back against your chest as you chuckle, bouncing her entire body slightly. "That's the end of the last chapter." That was a pretty good book, I'll have to see if there are more by the same guy.
You slide the book back into its place as you stand, scooping up your sister with your other hand and setting her on your hip as you walk into the corridor. "Bath time, we smell." A small smile comes to her face as she helps balance herself against your side. Honestly, she was getting a little too big to be doing this, you had to use a little bit of magic to carry her so effortlessly. Still, you make it up the stairs with a bit of a bounce in each step, taking them two at a time. You really did smell, the saltwater and blood from earlier in the day clung to you heavily. Una had probably noticed but not said anything.
Not that she was much better, her hair needed a good brush and a wash, otherwise she was going to have one hell of a tangle in the morning. Well, later in the morning, a wall clock informs you that it is currently four hours past midnight. You briefly think about being quiet, seeing that Karen is probably asleep, before you catch sight of her in the Master bedroom, working away at a small pile of paperwork. You knock on her door with your free hand and wait for her to turn around. "Bath time." You tilt your head towards your sister and she nods at you.
"Don't turn the hot all the way, it'll come out scalding." The heat doesn't really bother you, but it would be bad if Una got burnt, no matter how much love she seems to have for fire these days. You nod back in thanks and set off for the bathroom, setting Una down once you are inside and turning the hot on most of the way. There is a moment of nothing before hot water suddenly bursts from the tap in a torrent. You just barely manage to move your hand and keep it from spraying all over the bathroom.
You shuck off your clothes and drop them into a pile as the tub fills when you see your sister, despite her best efforts, she doesn't seem to be able to lift her left arm above her shoulder to remove her t-shirt. You move over to her quickly, pulling up her shirt so you can see her shoulder, it's a little red and covered in wavy patterns. You almost panic before remembering that she had just been lying on it for several hours, the pattern was just her shirt. "Roll your shoulder."
She complies and does so with a little difficulty, her movements becoming smoother as she continues. Haaa, nothing wrong, just a dead arm. You help her remove her shirt and let her finish getting undressed, glancing back to the tub when your sense lets you know it's three-quarters full. You lower the temperature a little for Una as you slide into the water, letting out a deep sigh as you sink in up to your neck. Your sister climbs in a moment later, squeezing in between your legs and sinking down until only her eyes are above the water.
The two of you lie there in silence for a while, broken only by your sister shifting upwards to breath. Eventually you tap her shoulder as you sit up, water sloshing off of you a she looks up. "Pass the soap." She nods, carefully picking up the little blue bar and passing it to you. When you are done you do her back, swapping to let her do yours before you get her to dunk her hair, smoothing your fingers through the matted bunches. Her face scrunches in a little pain up as you carefully pick through the biggest knots, but she lets out an almost purring noise when you start rubbing the shampoo in.
When you are washing the shampoo out, you you see a tiny little spark bouncing through her hair. You snatch it up with your hand, watching it dance along your arm, leaving tingling lines in it's wake before it returns to your sister. Thats... my magic? But not my magic? The feeling is so familiar, but it's not yours. You shift the magic you are emitting into your sister and notice something on the other end for the first time. It was just a void before, accepting your magic without issue, almost like it was her own.
Now, there was a tiny spark of that magic. It was difficult to distinguish from your own and it only sometimes followed your directions, but it was there. My sister's, this is her magic. You press your lips together at the thought, re-starting your washing at a questioning hum from your sister. You continue absent-mindedly examining it when you feel it prod back at you.
The sensation surprises you, making you jump as you spike your own magic in return. Your sister giggles at the feeling and you look down at her. "Did you do that on purpose?" Her giggles continue and she tilts her head backwards to look at you with innocent eyes, the look enhanced by the fact they were literally twinkling with a mixture of your and her own magic. A smile comes to your face as you prod back at her, running your fingers through the last unwashed section of her hair as she jumps, her giggles only growing stronger.
You turn around, dunking your hair as your sister shifts to help you wash yourself. Your little poke war continues through the rest of the bath, a breathless laugh echoing out as you finish washing. You used your superior control to negate her pokes while admitting your own, letting you achieve total dominance.
Lifting yourself out of the bath, you set Una down on one leg as you sit on the edge, a bit of magic running through your leg to help prop her up. You dry her hair, stopping her from shaking it out in your face as you dry the rest of her. When you are done she hops off of your leg, the little bit of magic the only thing stopping you from falling over as she spins on the spot, wet hair slapping you in the face. Goddamit.
The badly hidden smile on her face tells you everything you need to know about the little spin and instead of handing her the towel you gently throw it at her, the blob of fabric landing in her face with a satisfying thwump. You let out a little chuckle as she struggles to free herself, one eye peeking out of the towel, glaring at you cutely. You bow your head when she frees herself, letting her quickly rub your hair dry. Everything done, you pull on your underwear and leave your dirty clothes in the clothesbin.
The two of you pad your way into the closest guest bedroom, the one looking out the back. Una flops down onto the bed, letting out a long sigh as steam rises from her skin as you search through the drawers, coming across a hairbrush in the second one down. You sit down against the bed's headboard, patting the space between your legs. Una crawls over, and sits in-between your legs as you brush her hair, picking out long strands of white-blue hair as you go.
She almost sags in place, needing you to clench your legs together a little to stop her from slumping over. Honestly, you are such a cat. When you are done, you give her a moment to see if she'll fall asleep, but she shakes her head and looks back at you. You hand over the brush when she reaches for it, letting her climb over your legs and settle on the pillow behind you as she starts brushing your hair. Aaahhhh... You let out a quiet mumbling noise as you half close your eyes, a barely audible rumbling in your chest.
You open your eyes some point later, your sister poking you as she sets the hairbrush down. You blink your bleary eyes, shifting your numb legs from underneath you as you fall sideways onto the bed. Una crawls up alongside you, picking up one of your arms and curling it over her as she snuggles up against your chest. You giggle a little as her hair tickles your bare skin, but she settles down eventually, her breathing falling into an even rhythm. Is she actually asleep?
You wait a little longer, but her breathing is steady and so is her heart, beating slowly against your chest. Huh, I guess she was more tired than I though. You turn your attention to the other room, your sense tells you that Karen is settling down into bed herself. I should probably go to bed too. You close your eyes, extending your thermal range to cover a bit beyond the house and the grounds as you feel the weight of the day pulling down at you.
You feel a smile pull at your face as you take a deep breath, the familiar comforting scent of your sister filling your senses. She's safe here.
POV
[] Sisters
[] Cuifen
[] Starburn
