"I think we might as well go home, we're not going to be told anything."
Lihn frowned at her brother where he was lounging on the bed she had been sharing with Thanh for almost four months. "Im sure grandfather will come round. I want to know what happened, it is about my mother."
Truthfully neither of them had expected to be in Vietnam for so long. They'd turned up expecting to be told why they were there in the first place. Unfortunately their grandfather had taken one look at Thanh and Kei (neither of whom should exist in his eyes) and had refused to speak to Lihn. So they were still here, staying with their Aunt Phuong who had thankfully offered them a place in her house.
"I thought you didn't get along with your mother."
"I don't, but that's not the point, Kei. It was important enough for them to contact me." Lihn shrugged slightly as she went back to responding to emails on her laptop. She was still trying to work as much as possible, even with taking a leave. She'd had calls with a few of her clients.
"We'll only be able to stay at Aunt Phoung's for so long," Kei rolled over to pick up his DS where it sat on the bed.
"Well, I've always wanted to visit somewhere in Singapore, Japan and China. We can take a holiday somewhere else. Stop being so logical, Kei, it doesn't suit you."
Kei went to respond, but didn't get a chance as a knock on the door interrupted him, and their aunt peered her head in.
"Lunch is ready, if you two would like to come and join us.""We'll be there in a minute," Lihn responded before speaking to Kei in english. "We better save the twins from Thanh."
"I don't know I think we might be saving her," Kei shrugged while forcing himself to get up. It took a bit of effort. Since arriving in Vietnam he had gained a bit of weight from eating far too much. Aunt Phuong liked to spoil them and Kei was more than happy to eat her food. He was finding time here interesting, at least. He hadn't gotten to cook Vietnamese food much before.
"
Mommy!" Thanh ran over to Lihn as soon as the two left the bedroom and entered the main living room. The young girl had quickly switched to speaking entirely Vietnamese. Lihn hoped she at least remembered some English.
What is it, Thanh?" Lihn smiled softly as she bent down to pick up the little girl. Thanh bounced excitedly in her mom's arms.
"Granda is here for lunch!" she grinned, looking pleased with herself as if she had actually done something right.
Lihn raised an eyebrow, looking over at Kei - who was frowning. Well that was certainly... Odd.
"Where is he?"[i]"Front with auntie," Thanh pointed to the door that led to where they ate. Lihn sighed and handed Thanh over to Kei.
"Watch her, I'll go speak to grandfather." Without another word to her brother she stepped through, forcing a smile as she met the instant, hard stare from the ageing man that was the Phan family patriarch.
"Lihn," Viên lingered over what he said, dark and cold eyes on Lihn.
"It's time that we spoke. Walk with me."Lihn just nodded. Her grandfather was as abrupt as always. It didn't matter though. Finally, she was going to find out why she had been asked to come to Vietnam.
Rori Aherne, & Maxine Diaz
"You're still not coming back?" Rori pouted slightly as they tapped their pen against the table in the dining room. They held their mobile phone to one ear, pen in the other hand. "But it's my birthday soon!"
It had been an odd few months. Rori had, pretty much, been left home alone. They had taken the opportunity to spend as much time with friends as possible; visiting the academy regularly. They'd also, secretly, started looking into starting school again. They hadn't told Max about that yet.
And then there was Conor. They didn't want to think about Conor.
"Your birthday is in January."
"That's still soon. You might not be back by then."
"I know, Rori," Max responded, voice slightly muffled as she obviously held the phone a bit away from her face. "It's not a choice, y'know? Gotta stay in Europe till RAVEN wants me to go back. Who the hell knows when that'll be?" She paused, muttering something incoherent (to Rori) in another language (probably Spanish). "I am sorry - I want to be there for your birthday. We'll do something when you get back. Feel free to have friends round in the house, though!"
Rori sighed softly, doodling in their notebook now. "I'll have a few friends round, then." They dropped their pen and stood up, beginning to pace in the kitchen. "How is Spain?"
"Boring as fuck. And the office here is incredibly stuffy... Makes the paperwork worse. Nothing interesting is happening at the moment - though I guess I should be thankful of that. There's some nice clubs actually. Cass and I are heading to one tonight."
"Cass?" Rori smiled slightly.
"Co-worker - she's on the same program as me, and from the UK. She's nice enough."
"That's all you've got to say?"
"What are you suggesting here, Rori?" Rori could tell that Max was rolling her eyes, even if they couldn't see it. "I'm not in Spain to get with anyone, or get too close to my co-workers."
"That's not the Max I knowww. Have you matured or something, huh?" Rori laughed. It had been a while since Max had gotten a chance to call them - so the catch up was nice. Teasing Max was nice. "Your fellow RAVEN agents here will be shocked."
"I bet they will," Max muttered. "Maybe travelling around has made me more mature and serious or whatever. I don't care."
"I'm kidding, Max." Rori grinned.
"I know, and it's annoying. Anyway - how are things at your end?"
"Fine. I've been spending a lot of the time out with people."
"Good." There was a long pause.
"Hey, Max?" Rori bit their lip as they interrupted the silence. "Can 18 year olds still go to school?"
"Hmm? Well yeah - some people take an extra year to complete school, or turn 18 in their last year. Why?"
"Just wondering."
"Sure you are. Are you-" Max was cut off, and switched to speaking a few words of Spanish to someone else. "Sorry, cuz, but I've got to go. I'll call again as soon as I can."
"It's fine. See you - try not to die."
"I will. You also stay safe. Bye."
The line clicked as Max hung up. Rori sighed again and put their phone down.
It was a bit after calling Max, when Rori was in the middle of or acting a piece on their Violin, that their phone buzzed again. They were quick to pick it up. It was from Haruka.
(Text from Haruka)
Rori grinned and quickly responded. It didn't take them long to sort out all the details through texting back and forth.
Since Max had left Rori had spent a lot of their time out in Baybridge. They'd bumped into Haruka again by chance. This time they'd actually exchanged details and began to meet up more and more. Rori was more than happy to have another friend - and they got on very well with Haruka. It gave them someone to practice instruments with, too!
A lot has changed in the months since Max had left. Rori had let their hair grow out a bit so it now fell, in a shaggy mess, just above their shoulders. The top section they had dyed green so it filtered into the older blue bits. They didn't like their natural hair colour. It wasn't the only thing to grow. The wings they had gained through an unfortunate incident had been slowly growing. It hadn't been noticeable, at first, but Rori had realised after a while. They still couldn't fly with them but maybe one day they could. Their arm was also no longer broken.
Their phone buzzed again - and the name on the screen wasn't a welcome sight. It was the one thing that has been bothering them recently.
You didn't respond to my last text - are you free this week?? You can't always had music rehearsals!Conor had been pestering Rori for months. They had spoken to Max about it and she had recommended not seeing him till Rori knew why he was in Baybridge. Rori did want to see him - they wanted to meet their family again. But not when Max wasn't around. They hadn't exactly left on good terms. So they didn't want to meet Conor alone.
Wait a minute. Maybe they didn't have to. Rori smiled slightly. They could bring someone else along - someone who wasn't Max. That was a great idea.
Might be. Will text later.
Atrophy
Evil Ghost Note
Neziul
DrDistasteful
Simply Not Real
Ohm
VenusSundew