2. Chapter 2

Waking early was one of the habits Lyra had developed as part of the life on the road. Or she'd had to develop because of her mother. She didn't differentiate the two.

But her mother would always be up late either playing or partying and then come back to whatever lodging they had well after her children fell asleep. Getting up early was her means to make sure her mother was okay and that Lemy didn't see anything he didn't have to. The state she came home in sometimes…

There were actually many nights, sometimes even entire weeks and months, she'd be perfectly fine and the next morning her children would find her in bed without incident. Other times, though, Lyra would wake up and her mother would be randomly sleeping somewhere in the vicinity- on the floor, on a table, on the toilet- sometimes she'd actually give her daughter a fright and end up climbing into bed with them. And more than once she'd found her mother passed out against the door right outside the room, too intoxicated to actually open it. Articles of clothing tended to disappear from the time she left to when her daughter found her the next morning. Coming back with vomit or something on her shirt was a usual occurrence as well.

And like a good daughter, Lyra would make her decent and put her somewhere she could more comfortably sleep off whatever had happened and have coffee, water, aspirin, or whatever else was necessary when she woke up. It was routine, just like asking her every time this happened if she was looking forward to the fire and brimstone of Hell while she was still disoriented.

So, despite their late arrival last night, she was still up at 9 o' clock, before either her brother or uncle. They were still asleep when she finished her morning ritual and dressed herself in a button up shirt and another long skirt. She was hungry, but she believed it rude to just pillage her uncle's kitchen without permission. So, she passed the time with re-reading her copy of the Bible she carried around- the King James Version.

Eventually, she did hear stirring from the living room. She walked in to find her uncle sitting up on the couch rubbing the sleep from his eyes. When she bid him a good morning, he made a startled sound and fell down.

"Good morning!" He quickly got back up. She supposed he was used to living alone and just didn't expect her. He glanced at the clock on the wall and looked surprised to see it was already past 10. "I should go make breakfast." He thought out loud.

"Would you like any help?" She offered as he passed her on his way to the kitchen.

"Sure." The kitchen was as basic as the rest of the apartment- a fridge, counter, cupboards, and a sink against one side and a table with three chairs on the other side. "You mom sent some money ahead so I went ahead and stocked up." Her uncle mentioned as he pulled stuff from the cupboards. Lyra responded with a barely audible "mhm". Asking someone about their finances was rude, but she always suspected her mother did as much. Not many single mothers would so readily accept two extra mouths to feed, or even well-off ones. He was just the first one to admit it. "I still got some left, so just let me know if either of you need anything."

"Thank you." Lyra nodded. She noticed he'd gathered some pancake mix and offered to start while he went to at least change into a pair of clean clothes. She didn't have much experience cooking; it was unnecessary when traveling so much. But some of her aunts had taught her, aunt Leni and her daughter more than any other. Not that there was anything difficult about following printed instructions on a box.

While she was mixing the batter, she heard movement behind her that stopped. After a moment she sensed a presence behind her and glanced back to see her uncle, now in jeans and polo shirt, watching her from the doorway. He jumped a little when she turned.

"Sorry." He said when he realized he was caught. "I was just thinking how much you look like your mother."

"Hmm." She responded neutrally. She'd seen pictures of her mother when she was her age- all her aunts seem to own the same copy of a picture they'd taken together during that time. Even though her aunts and now her uncle claimed it, she personally didn't see the resemblance. Her mother's stylistic choices hadn't changed in 15 years- short hair, short skirts, and just rough appearance in general. Lyra's modesty and femininity was the exact opposite. Yet everyone kept saying how similar they looked. The comparison secretly annoyed her.

They worked in silence for a few moments, pouring the batter onto pan. Unlike his sisters though, her uncle seemed to pick up that she didn't like the comparison. "You're a lot different than her though." He added as an afterthought while he flipped some of the pancakes. "Not that that's a bad thing- when we were kids all of us had different interests. Caused a lot of arguments, but it had it made things fun too." Lyra smiled at that while she flipped the other pancakes.

"Last night you uh…" Her uncle seemed hesitant about what he said next. "You said Sam was in rehab?"

"Yes." Lyra confirmed. She didn't really keep up with her mother's work, but she heard in passing that her band changed members often. Sam was the only consistent member of the band for the last few years, although the blond woman would take breaks too. She'd been friends with their mother when they were still teenagers.

Aunt Lori and Leni had asked about her too. Both of them also seemed to be under the impression the two were together. Sam would bring her mother home some nights and even stay overnight, and it did seem at times like her mother was pining after that- one more sin atop of many. But as far as Lyra could tell the other woman didn't return the affection. Actually, she was pretty sure she'd mentioned a boyfriend at one point. Overall, she didn't interact with either Lemy or her.

"What happened?" He asked. Lyra just shrugged and said she didn't know. Lincoln nodded somberly. The pancakes were nearly done by then. "Why don't you go wake your brother up and I'll finish here?" He offered. Lyra took him up on it.

Lemy was sprawled out along the width of the bed using his arm as a pillow. He groaned when his sister started shaking his shoulder and tried to swat her arm away. "It's time for breakfast." Lyra told him. He stirred and raised his head to yawn. He opened his eyes and blinked before looking around in confusion before remembering where they were. "The bathroom's across the hall and the kitchen is down it. Get dressed and come eat." She stood there and waited for him to get out of bed and stand up before she went back to the kitchen.

Her uncle had already set up three plates with pancakes on them. Three glasses and a jug of orange juice sat in the middle of the table. "He'll be here soon." Lyra informed him as she took a seat. Sure enough, her brother walked into the kitchen a minute later, barefoot and wearing a different pair of jeans and a grey t-shirt. He always wore the vest and bandanna around his hair though. Lyra used to have to take them while he slept just to wash them. His eyes lit up as he spotted the pancakes and jumped into his seat.

"So, what do you guys usually do when you visit your aunts?" Their uncle asked.

"Not a lot." Lyra answered, eating at a slower pace while her brother stuffed his face. "Most of them work during the day." The exception were Luan and Lucy- both worked from home and the former usually worked evenings. "We usually stay home." It could be boring, but not as much as staying in a hotel room for hours on end.

"You got cable?" Lemy asked through a mouth full of food.

"Yeah, and some video games." At his uncle's words, Lemy immediately became more interested. Those were the only hobby he had when you ignored the guitar playing he only did to impress their mother. At some of the better hotels they'd stay at, he'd spend hours in the arcades. Some places had a game console you could rent for your stay, and their mother would usually buy it for him; it's not like money was an issue. It was pretty mindless in Lyra's opinion, but it was one of the few things that would get them out of a hotel room for a little while.

"What kind?" He asked.

"Fighting games mostly. A few shooters. They're under the tv. You can go see if there's any you like." Lincoln explained. Lemy made as if to get up before Lyra fixed him in place with a glare that said "after you finish eating" and he sat back down.

"There anything else you guys like to do?" Their uncle asked. "Places you like to go?" The siblings shared a glance and it turned into an awkward silence. They really didn't get out much. During their stay with Leni, she'd taken them out to about a dozen different shops. Aunt Luan had offered to take Lyra to some of her shows, but it wasn't of interest to her. Lynn had always dragged them to a nearby park, but that was more for the benefit of her and her daughter. She didn't drag them as much as they both ran there while occasionally doubling back to run a lap about both siblings.

But other than that, the two really didn't get out much. Lemy was content to spend all his time in front of a tv, and Lyra always had her bible to re-read. Or they just spent time with their cousins, which was mostly inside as well.

"Just saying you guys can go out and do something if you want." Their uncle explained awkwardly. They hadn't gotten that offer before. Their aunts never explicitly forbid them from doing so, but they never told them to either. Even though they'd come to visit this city several times, they didn't actually know it that well. Lyra explained as much.

"Oh." He seemed surprised. "Well…I can show you guys sometime." He offered. "I have to work the next few days, but there's a lot to do around here."

"That sounds interesting." Lyra offered. Lemy by comparison didn't look the least bit interested in the prospect. He finished his portion and left in a hurry. "He'll warm up in a few days." She tried to console her bothered looking uncle. "He's always like this at first." Even if they were visiting something they'd visited before, he would be moody at first.

"What's the matter?" Lyra couldn't say that with exact certainty. She just assumed he was angry at the situation he was in. She knew she'd been. She still was, really. For all the good visiting was, the long trips and change of surroundings put both of them on edge. She'd gotten better over the years of adapting, but Lemy hadn't.

She suspected there was a deeper reason too: there'd been times she'd seem him watching their cousins interacting with their mothers with obvious bitterness. Sometimes he'd look at her like that too. She wasn't sure why.

But their own dysfunctional family wasn't something she was going to openly discuss.

"He doesn't like new places." She lied. A small sin, one she'd amend later. Her uncle nodded, accepting it. He was being nice, she realized. A little awkward, but nice. He was really trying, putting a lot of effort into making them feel welcomed. She normally would let Lemy just thaw on his own, but she'd probably talk to him later.

Her uncle finished not too soon after, saying something about work he really had to get done. Lyra volunteered to take care of the dishes.

When she was done and entered the living room, Lincoln was at the desk, clearly working on something. Lemy was sitting cross-legged in front of the tv, looking through about a dozen plastic game cases. At least he was until Lyra knelt down and picked them up.

"Hey!" He protested. "C'mon!" He almost whined as his sister casually cycled through the cases, frowning at all the T and M rating labels.

"Do you have anything more suitable for kids?" She asked.

"I don't think so." Her uncle answered without looking up. "It's fine, really." He said. She noticed her brother doing a victory first pump out of the corner of her eye.

"You heard him. Hand them over!" Lemy's cocky grin deflated as his big sister's unamused expression turned down on him. "Please?" He muttered as an afterthought, not meeting her eyes. Though displeased, she gave them back. While Lemy choose which mindless activity to pursue, Lyra took a seat in the computer chair, next to the desk.

Lincoln was leaning over a sketchbook, making tiny and precise strokes with a colored pen. "That the comic you work on?"

"Nope." He didn't look up. "It's a commission. People like drawings of their favorite characters from games or movies so they pay people to make them. It gets me a little extra cash." She nodded and realized it wasn't best to disturb him. She started to rise from the chair but stopped.

Lyra had noticed something sitting on the corner the corner of the desk she hadn't last night- photographs, a few framed and many others stacked loosely together. One of the framed pictures was that family photo all her aunts had, but one of the others caught her eye: it was her mother, holding onto a bundle she realized was herself. She'd never seen a picture like that.

She reached forward and picked it up, the slightest bit awed. Her mother was still a teenager, wearing the purple skirt/ skull t-shirt combo she loved so much. She was seated on the end on a blue couch, holding a wrapped infant in her arms. What got Lyra though was her expression- she was looking down at her with such a soft expression on her face. So obviously caring…

"You can have that if you want." Lincoln offered, startling her. He'd looked up from his work to see her absorbed in the photo.

"Oh, n-no thanks." She stuttered and set the frame back down, slight emotion in her voice. Lyra remembered the time her mother was more attentive and involved in their lives, a time before they spent entire evenings by themselves or were sent to stay with other people. But seeing it in clear color stirred something in her. What had changed things so much?

"You ever see pictures of yourself when you were little?" Her uncle asked, collecting the unframed photos and trying to line them up. She admitted she hadn't. None of their family seemed big on pictures beyond that one copy of them together. Mom had never mentioned if she had any. But with a tendency to lose or destroy her luggage (except her guitar- she practically slept with the thing), it probably wouldn't have mattered if she did.

He picked through the stack, pulling out a few while explaining he had so many physical versions because he didn't trust computers. The entire stack, Lyra noticed, was family pictures from around the time her and her older cousins were born. When he held out the selected ones, his niece took them with an almost shaky hand.

Lyra quickly realized how her uncle had so clearly picked out the pictures with her in them; her mother's love of purple was evident in the fact it was the color of every onesie or other clothing she'd put on her daughter. Pictures of her in a crib, with her mother, being held by younger versions of her aunts and uncle. She paused when she came across one of her being held by an older woman with blond hair and a pink shirt. Something picked at her mind and Lyra realized she recognized the woman.

"Grandma."

"Yep." Her uncle confirmed. "Her and dad- grandpa- really took a liking to you." She looked just as caring as Lyra remembered, even if the circumstances- her mother was in the background- weren't so great. There was a picture of her grandfather holding her too. She held both pictures and stared at them for the longest time. Even video games couldn't distract Lemy forever and he got curious enough about what they were looking at and wandered over. Lyra showed him, explaining who they were.

There were a few pictures of her with a larger infant she realized had to be Liena. She stopped in amusement when she saw a picture of her uncle, clearly just an early teenager, passed out on the couch holding both of them. One of the last pictures was of her and Liena alongside a much tinier infant that had to be Loan.

"These are amazing." She said, picking up the rest of observe just out of curiosity. Lemy looked over her shoulder the whole time. There were quite a few baby pictures of her other cousins, but the majority were actually just of their aunts, uncle, and grandparents doing stuff together.

"Yeah, mom and dad started taking a lot of pictures the last few years while we were all still together. Before everyone started moving out…" Her uncle reminisced. Those had to have been troubling years, Lyra thought to herself.

"You got any of me?" Lemy asked. Lincoln frowned in thought. Lyra hadn't seen any in the stack.

"I think your mom sent me one." He tried to remember. "But I'd have to look for it." Whatever interest Lemy had in the subject vanished and he stalked back to the video games. Lincoln caught sight of a small digital clock on the desk and muttered something to himself before turning back to the commission he'd been working on. Lyra went through the stack again, lingering on the ones of her before setting it back down. She again stared at the framed picture of her mother holding her.

"Sorry." She interrupted her uncle's work. "But…can I keep this one?"

"Of course." He looked up and smiled. "Show you mother when she comes to get you guys. She'll like it too." Lyra thanked him and took the picture carefully out of the frame before going to carefully stow it in her luggage.

The rest of their first day there didn't have much excitement- the days visiting family rarely did. The amount of quiet was strange though. Even during school years, there was at least part of the day they'd have a cousin to interact with. No such thing here though.

Lemy spent the entirety of it planted in front of the tv with a controller in his hand, taking an extended break only when Lyra made lunch for the two of them. Their uncle didn't even eat lunch- one of the two or three times he got up in the span of six hours, he just returned to the desk with a bag of potato chips. Otherwise he sat there for the whole day, his arms the only thing moving and not paying attention or saying anything to the two behind him. He reminded Lyra of a cross between their aunt Lori- always absorbed in her work- and aunt Lucy- strangely still and silent.

It was the evening before he even said anything else to them or rose from the desk without immediately turning to head to another room. He stretched for a good minute, grumbling all the while. "You guys want dinner?" He asked. Lyra had spent the last hour on the couch, taking turns between reading and watching Lemy playing some game about shooting demons.

"Sure." Lemy didn't look from the screen.

"What are you making?" Lyra asked.

"Hmm." Her uncle thought for a moment. "Why don't you guys go pick out what you want for tonight?" He offered, a proposition that did get his nephew's attention. "Pick whatever you want and I'll make it. Just have to make a call first to your mother." He fished a cell phone out of his pocket.

The siblings got up and went to the kitchen, catching the first few words of the conversation behind them. "Luna? Yeah, they got here last night..."

"What's he got?" Lemy asked as his sister observed the contents of the fridge and cupboards. He really had stocked up, and with quite a variety too. Most of their meals on the road amounted to take out. The food they got at their aunts varied from well put together (aunt Lori, although her husband did the actual cooking) to tasteless and dull (aunt Lynn, but she always claimed it was healthy).

They settled on pasta. Lyra got all the ingredients and needed utensils out while Lemy sat at the table.

"I will." Lincoln moved into the kitchen doorway where they could hear him. "You want to talk to them?" Lyra stopped and looked over. Her uncle held the phone to his ear for a moment being extending it to her. She took it and stepped into the living room as her uncle took over dinner.

"Mom?"

"Lyra!" Her mom's raspy voice shouted back at her. From the noise in the background, it sounded like she was at yet another party. "How's my favorite dudette doing? I told you your uncle's awesome, didn't I?"

"He's very nice. We've already gotten settled in."

"Awesome. You guys are gonna have a rockin' time there, I promise." She said that about every visit, even to aunt Lucy.

"He even showed us some pictures he had of when you guys were still kids and I was born." Lyra went on, glancing behind her to see Lemy standing there listening.

"Aaaahhh." Her mother responded, quieter and more thoughtful. "He always did like keeping up with that stuff." Lyra felt Lemy pulling on her shirt.

"Lemy wants to talk to you." Lyra handed the phone to him. He took it and held it to his ear.

"Hey, mom." He said, quickly moving down the hall out of earshot of his sister. He always did that, and she'd respect his desire for privacy, so she went back to the kitchen to help her uncle.

"What'd you talk about?" Lyra asked, curious.

"I was just letting her know you guys got here safe. Where's my phone?"

"Lemy wanted to talk to her." Lincoln nodded in understanding. Her brother came back after about 5 minutes later and told her mom wanted to talk to her again. "Yes?" The background noise had gotten louder.

"Lyra!" Her mother had to yell again to be heard. "Just want to tell you to have fun, alright? And look after your brother." Pointless to ask since she already did.

"I will."

"Alright. I love you guys. Take care and I'll see you in a month."

"Love you too, mom. Bye." The call ended. Lyra looked at the phone in her hands for a moment and exhaled. Lemy had stayed to hear the end of the conversation and left when it was over.

"Something wrong?" Her uncle asked, unsure, as she handed him his phone back.

"No, everything's fine." She had no idea if he took her response at face value, but he didn't bring it up again.

Lyra asked to say grace before they ate. She rarely got a chance to do it while they were with mom, but her aunts usually let her. Her uncle was no exception. Otherwise, dinner was a quiet affair. Lincoln finished quickly and got back to work. He was polite enough to apologize and explain he had a lot of work to make up since he'd taken time off to get things ready for them to stay over. There was a moment or two while it was just them that Lemy looked like he was going to say something, but stopped himself. After dinner everyone just resumed what they'd been doing before.

Bedtime was one of the first powers of responsibility Lyra had ever been granted. Her mother had always told her to make sure her and her brother were in bed at a good time and then leave without actually making sure they did. But she never went against her on it. This hadn't been needed at any of their aunt's because they had their own children to send to bed. Even aunt Luan, who'd spend some evenings to go to performances, would warn them she'd know if they stayed up past bedtime because she had cameras around her apartment. It was an immature and unnecessary lie.

Hopefully a lie, anyway.

So as the clock ticked towards 9 o clock, Lyra kept an eye on her uncle to see if he'd say anything. But he never even looked up as it went past 9. She supposed he could be forgiven because of his work.

"It's late. We should go to bed." She said out loud. Her brother threw back his head and groaned in protest, something that cut off when he saw her looking at him.

"It is late." Her uncle realized. "You guys should."

"I'm not tired." Lemy complained.

"Bed." Lyra's tone left no room for arguments as she hoisted him up from his position on the floor. 10 minutes later, both were changed and in bed, one pointedly turned from the other with their arms crossed. "You were having fun." She said as she laid down after her prayer.

"I was."

"So you like it here?"

"I guess." He muttered, still trying to be difficult.

"Then stop being so rude." She told him. "He's trying to be nice to us and you're making him worry. Try to be polite." He grumbled something that sounded like 'fine' and pulled the blanket over his head. Feeling like she'd gotten her point across, Lyra laid back down and closed her eyes, ready to drift off to sleep. She was just started to get there where the mattress creaked and she heard her brother's voice.

"Lyra...? You still awake?"

"Hmm?" She opened her eyes and looked over to see he'd rolled over to face her.

"Can I ask you something...about those pictures uncle Lincoln showed us earlier?" He looked timid. It must've been important.

"What about them?" She'd thought he'd lost interest when he realized they didn't include him.

"I was just wondering...uhh..." He tripped over his words. "Never mind!" He suddenly turned back over and pulled the blanket back over his head, leaving his sister confused and admittedly curious. But whatever it was, he could ask her when he was ready. Lyra watched him try and stay perfectly still before reaching out and giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder over the blanket.

"Goodnight, Lemy." She told him before resting her head again and closing her eyes to drift off again.

"...Goodnight, Lyra." The muffled response came after a moment, and a slight smile graced her lips before she fell asleep.