Young Writers Society

Gaius was still lying on the ground when Sara arrived with Captain Bay beside her. She knelt beside him, and he turned his eyes to her with a sigh.
"Please don't make me do that again," he said. "I only make it worse."
"Are you alright?" Sara helped him sit up, letting him lean on her shoulder. "What are you at?"
"Eight and a little bit more. Sara, please. Please don't make me do it." He gave her a pleading look.
Bay crouched down. "Are you ready, sir?"
"Fine."
Bay gently got his arms under Gaius and lifted him up. Gaius whimpered, but he let Bay carry him toward the Keep in silence.
"You and Ky need to bond," Sara said as she walked beside him. She took his hand. "I'm not sure what keeps upsetting you two, but you're uncle and niece now. You're not like this with Lyra or the others."
"Lyra is more like me than either of her parents, and I've known the other Loquitur children all their lives," Gaius said wearily. "They're not afraid of me."

(I checked with my sister because she's known to have frequent lucid dreams and apparently she feels pain as well. So you aren't the only one!)

(Interesting! Good to know -- but also sorry for her haha is not a fun life)

Ky shuddered. She had to get to her room. She needed to get to her room. And before they made it up here. She knew, with 100% certainty, that Gaius and Sara and whoever else were going to be coming up this way, and soon. She needed to get out of sight before then. She was clearly upsetting Sara.

She started towards the stairs shakily.

(Yeah it sounds like not fun. She recounted getting her legs ripped off and I'm just sitting here with my fun sci fi-fantasy dreams like 0_0)

"So you should be working on fixing that with Ky, right?"
"I've been trying, in case you hadn't noticed. It doesn't seem to be working."
Sara sighed. "Alright. You and I need to talk about this a bit more."
"I suppose we do." He really preferred not to; he could easily just not ever see Ky again and avoid upsetting her that way. He could sequester himself in the library or in the countless hiding places he'd found over the years.

(Ooooof haha yeah the most annoying thing I think is how realistic my nightmares are. Like a lot of times I genuinely cannot tell if something was a dream or real. Once I had a vivid dream that my advisor kicked me out of my master's program. I could remember exactly where I was standing in his office. What shirt he was wearing. His exact words. And I woke up and was like "... that didn't happen... did it? He wouldn't have been that mean... unless he hates me." so I checked my messages to my best friends bc I figured I would have texted them in anguish if it was real and I hadn't so I assumed that meant it was just a dream but I very, very sheepishly went into the office that day and was like "heyyyy" and he was like 'hey' and I was like, trying to read him and was like '... how's it going?' and he was like "fine? Why are you being so weird? Get to work." and I've never been so relieved in my life to get told to work hahah)
(lmao Gaius hiding in his own home to avoid a 15 year old girl. Imagine them both trying to hide in the library at the same time)

Ky made it up the next flight of stairs and leaned against that wall instead, on the landing of the fourth floor, careful that she'd be out of sight from the story below in case they should look up. She needed to rest. But at least this way she'd be able to do it in privacy.

(The realistic dreams are the worst, worst dreams in the world. They're so hard to tell apart in the moment)

(Also dude where did Pratik go)

"Did it at least go a little well?" Sara asked.
"Mm. For awhile, yes. She calmed down. But then I undid it all somehow, and she's right back where she started." He tucked his chin into his chest. "I pray Mattathias and Marcella aren't this difficult."

(into the abyss of characters I don't know what to do with haha you want him yeeted into the scene? Cause I can do that lol)

She focused on getting her breathing under control, both so she wouldn't be so loud, and also so she could calm down. This panic wasn't helping her climb the last flight of stairs.

(Almost wanna leave her there to eavesdrop on him complaining about her, but don't gotta if you don't wanna. What are you feeling?)

(Not yeeted in but I'd love to see what he's up to at some point! We can work on some plot for him if ya like)

(Up to you! He's probably gonna shut up and try to shut himself down for awhile.)

"They'll be teenagers; of course they'll be difficult. But they'll have the benefit of having known you all their lives." They entered the Keep, went down the hallway, and started up the stairs.

(Oki... we will see what happens haha I'll leave her there and if they talk, they talk. If not she'll just be silent and let them pass)
(also just had an idea on how to bring Pratik in on this. But yes definitely down for some plot!)

Ky slid down the wall and sat with her knees bent, stone in her lap. She was disobeying. She knew she was disobeying. And she knew the consequences. But she wasn't sure her body was physically capable of carrying her up the last flight of stairs.

(Heck yeah!)

"She was worried about you," Sara said after a pause. They started up the second flight. "She thought you were upset with her for touching you."
"I hardly felt her," Gaius retorted sourly. "I wasn't upset with her for even a moment."
"Well, she perceived it as you being angry," she replied.
"Even if I told her I wasn't she wouldn't believe me. She walks on eggshells around me, like I'm going to snap." He hesitated. Why was that? He didn't think he was anything like Aleth. "Do I seem like that to you, Sara?"
"Not at all," she assured him. "But you're hard to read if someone doesn't know you."
"You're aloof," Bay added. Gaius raised an eyebrow. If that wasn't the pot calling the kettle black he didn't know what was. "You seem to be perpetually unhappy with whatever someone says, even if you aren't."

Ky's eyes went wide as she heard their voices echoing up the stairwell. They couldn't say that to Gaius. Did they want to make him angry? She focused on being very, very quiet. She knew she shouldn't be eavesdropping. But she wasn't capable of moving just then. And she was too afraid to let them know she could hear them, lest they turn the focus on her.

"I'm not sure I can be anything but how I am," Gaius said stiffly. "Smiles are lies for me."
"I know." Sara kept pace with him and Bay. "And I know why. But you can do better with conversation."
Gaius shook his head incredulously. "When I met you I hardly said a word, Sara. I've been doing wonderfully as far as I can tell."
"But there's still progress to be made, my love. Especially now that Ky's come to live with us. She needs a gentle touch, and a gentle touch doesn't always mean letting her soak in silence or letting conversation drop off at random points."
"I know that." He knew he was messing her up further by doing it, but conversation was exhausting.

Ky felt an immense amount of guilt. Gaius shouldn't be made to feel bad about himself on her behalf. She really shouldn't be here. Should she assure them he was just fine? Or should she attempt to leave? She was scared of making noise if she stood up. Hopefully they'd pass quickly.

"All I'm saying is you should approach her the way you approached helping Tomhas through the rough patches," Sara said.
"I suppose I can try." He glanced at the stairs. "But the last time I tried to help I did it wrong."
"I didn't say do it like Tomhas," Sara pointed out. "That was you trying to step outside of what you're good at. You were--are--a good sibling. Try to translate that to dealing with Ky instead of channeling your adulthood."
"Meaning?"
"Instead of trying to solve, listen and distract her. Tomhas or I can be the fixers, but you're not built for that."

Ky cringed. Deal with her. Fix her. Was she really that broken? She knew she was. She knew she was a burden. And this was proof of it. They pretended to her face that they didn't mind it, but they clearly did. She shouldn't be here. She teared up.

(Awww kiddo)

Gaius dipped his head in acknowledgement. "Fine, then. I'll try."
"We need to be safe spaces for her right now, especially without her parents here," Sara went on. "The poor girl only just got them. You'll get there eventually, Gaius."
"What she needs is to keep herself occupied," Bay said. "If she's anything like Tomhas and I, milady. Thinking doesn't do any good. In that case. Safe spaces are well and good, but nothing eases a hurting mind like a hobby."
"She's reading," Gaius pointed out. "She'll be training with you. And we can find her a horse to train on since that appears to be an interest of hers."