Siya glowed in the light of Atticus’ eye, basking in the warmth of his nearness and the heat of his words. She was fine with his suggestion, that they never miss a day. It made her grin and wriggle her toes in her shoes in delight. It made her want to kiss him again, no matter who was around. But he was up and moving, as restless as the ink on his skin and she couldn’t help but stand up and follow after him, her small form swallowed by the shadow he cast. 

She was exhausted from her expenditure of power but also better, more comfortable in her skin as if she fit better. So she slipped into a chair and beamed happily up at him when he handed her the tumbler with it’s cube of chilled granite. Hard alcohol was one of the few things she could comfortably drink without issues and she indulged rather often. Though in the past year it had been done with an air of brooding whereas now it was done in the spirit of celebration. She lifted her glass to toast him, parting her frozen-berry lips to offer a toast when the room darkened. She froze, her eyes, normally able to adjust to the dark, couldn’t pierce this dark and it made her skin tighten and prickle. But then it was gone as fast as it had come and she felt her jaw dropping and her undead heart cracking. She barely managed to put the glass down before it slipped from her fingers and the half a century old scotch was saved simply by the luck of the table being on hand. Even as the granite clattered inside the glass she was standing, her eyes wide in her face, pink tinged tears of relief running slowly from the corners of her eyes. 

Max. Max and Veti. Veti who glowed with life and joy. Veti and Max together as they always should have been. But then she stepped closer and saw that maybe it wasn’t Max. 

Thad. It was Thad. She bit her lip and then covered her mouth with her hand to keep in the wash of emotion. Max, Thad, she supposed it didn’t matter, not if it made Veti glow like she was. Not if it kept her best friend and savior in this life. She stepped close to Atticus sticking to his shadow and smiled at the lot of them. She was distantly worried that Veti would never forgive her for not going with them but she couldn’t stay away. She ducked her head sheepishly when Max spoke to her, teasing her, calling her Sunshine and she had nothing to say that wasn’t choked off by the joy bubbling up inside her. 

And it didn’t matter, he was scooping Veti up and taking her away, as he should. [i]Keep going[/i], she whispered in her mind. [i]Keep going and don’t stop[/i]. She was no sunshine. She was just a pale little thing hiding in the shadows, happy to bask in the glow of her friends. She did feel emboldened enough to step closer to Atticus, slipping under his arm and slipping her own around his waist. She pressed her face into his side and sighed as close to contentedly as she could be.

She eyed Daisy who stood across the room with her arms around that dog-thing she kept with her. Siya tried to catch her eye and then nodded her thanks. Daisy had gone with Veti and helped her get Max back. Did that make her a better friend than Siya? Perhaps. What did that mean for the lot of them? Siya wasn’t certain, but she did know that she was done living with dog-hair everywhere. But she also knew that somehow she would miss the sullen presence of the bubble-gum reaper if she were gone. She might even miss scowling at the not-dog or grumbling as she vacuumed yet again. 

She tightened her hold on Atticus and eyed the space between her and the reaper like it was some big yawning chasm.