Three knocks are heard at the front door. Cole goes to answer the door as Luna sighs, thinking it’s Otto or Ludwig again.
"Hello?" They are wearing a black and red hoodie that's covering their face.
"....okay, neither Ludwig nor Otto. Can we help you?" Luna asks from the couch.
Cole's head tilts slightly "Hi? Might I ask who you are?"
"Um, I was told my brother would be here?" the unknown person says.
"Who’s your brother?" Cole crosses his arms.
"Chris. Chris Ocean Garnet."
"Today I learned Chris has a brother." Luna tilts her head slightly.
Cole smiles "I see, come in." He moves out of the way so they can walk inside. Isaac looks up.
"Thank you, Mr. Cole." They come inside.
"..." Luna squints at the newcomer.
Cole puts his hands behind his back and watches them carefully
"And no, I'm not his brother. I'm his sister." She removes the hood. Her icy blue eyes look at Luna, and she looks slightly annoyed.
"...um, okay, I see. What's your name?" Luna looks right back.
Cole chuckles "I think I know who this bitch is."
"Is it really important?" She raises her eyebrows.
"You clearly know who Cole is, despite him never telling you his name," Luna grins, "so please, you may as well reciprocate."
"Only because he picked up." She shrugs.
Isaac glares.
"She called Chris's phone one time and I answered" Cole shrugs.
"Ahhhh, my poor contradiction…" Luna sighs.
"Though, I can say that his nickname for me is Borealis, if we want to play guessing." She grins.
"Aurora Borealis!? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within our living room???" She chuckles.
"It would seem so. Then again, I call him Pinecone, so it's only fair."
Luna nods, "Okay, where even is Chris at actually?" she asks and notices Chris sleeping soundly in the corner.
"So erm, Borealis, if you'll look over there," she points to 'Pinecone', "Chris is taking a snooze."
She snaps her fingers. A stream of water starts spurting from thin air onto Chris. "Wakey wakey, brother."
"Gaah!" Chris wakes up and looks around. Upon seeing Aurora in the room, he glares at her. "Do you really need to do that?"
"Not really. But eh, it could be way worse." The stream of water stops.
Cole is still watching her, carefully
"Can you stop looking at me like I'm gonna murder someone, Mr. Cole?" She sighs.
"Can't exactly help it, if that's how you’re gonna interpret my simple look" Cole shrugs with a grin.
Luna is just watching silently.
"Anyway, I need your advice, brother." She looks back at Chris expectantly.
"What advice do you need from me that warrants such a trip, O Great Sorceress?" Chris stands up and does a mock bow.
"Really now, brother? This isn't time for title calling, Princeling." She glares at him.
Cole holds his tongue as he snaps and a pair of black sunglasses appear in his hand as he quickly puts them on.
"Now who's doing the title calling?" Chris grins.
"For goodness... can you be serious for once, Brother?" The room's temperature goes up a few degrees Fahrenheit.
Luna notes the temperature change. It's slight, but noticeable.
"I am now. So what do you need my advice for?" Chris replies
In reaction to the temp increasing Cole cools down by a few degrees.
"You're the only one I can turn to, the de facto expert on marriage." The temperature goes back to normal.
"Right, and you don't talk this to our parents because?"
"They have political gain from this, obviously. Me getting married to another prince will bolster our good relations with them."
"Uh huh." Chris looks unimpressed. "And is that the only reason?"
"What do you mean?" She narrows her eyes slightly.
"You know exactly what I mean, little sister." Chris glares at Aurora.
"Oh, I don't want to burn down the house. Can we go outside for a bit?" She tilts her head to the door they came in from.
"Of course." Chris walks out of the door. She follows suit. Cole watches them from the window, ready to intervene.
"Why are you running away, brother?"
"You know I cannot answer that without jeopardizing you, right?"
"I have the right to know! It's been 5 years. FIVE. YEARS. How much longer will you hide?"
"As long as needed." Chris shot back defiantly.
"We all thought you've died in the train crash. Nobody is looking for you, brother. Come back."
"And let them know I'm alive still, unravelling all I did to keep you safe, Borealis? I think not."
After a long silence, she sighs. "I cannot force you to come back, brother, if you don't want to. Can I stay for the night?"
"That's fine. Shall we go inside?"
She nods, and they both go inside.
"Alright. Aurora, you can take the lower bed." Chris points to the lower bunk. She slips into bed, and moments later, she is sound asleep.
"Everything go alright Chris?" Luna asks.
"At least nothing's on fire." Chris mutters, as he sits down on the couch. "It could have gone way worse, not gonna lie."
Cole pivots on his heel as he mutters, "at least I didn't have to kill a bitch," he walks back next to the couch and sits down on the floor.
"Dear, no. We are not gonna kill. Especially not my sister." Chris sighs, seemingly exhausted.
"Well I wasn't gonna kill exactly but potato tomato." Cole sighs.
Isaac is staring at the zipper on his new coat.
Chris grumbles under his breath. Something about it being troublesome tomorrow.