Author: cardistry	It's three in the morning in the Swan household, and someone is crying quietly in the living room.
Author: lexicality	Lexi is the lightest sleeper in the house. She pads down the stairs. She looks quizzically at Brilliance in the dim light of the LCD clocks in the living room and the kitchen, the bar of moonlight from the window.
Author: cardistry	He doesn't immediately acknowledge her presence. It's possible he didn't hear her; he definitely didn't see her, huddled up like that with his face pressed into his knees.
Author: lexicality	"...D'you want me to wake up Bella for you?" Lexi asks.
Author: cardistry	He sniffles, and shudders, and looks up at her, and nods.
Author: lexicality	Lexi goes back up the stairs.
Author: incanted	A couple minutes later, Bella walks down the stairs, and into the living room. +Brilliance? What happened?+ she says, magephone to avoid disturbing Lexi's light sleep.
Author: cardistry	+I experienced people some more,+ he says wryly. +People are assholes sometimes.+ On close inspection, he's bleeding in two places, from a shallow cut under the line of his jaw and a deep slash along his hip that isn't quite lined up with the corresponding tear in his jeans.
Author: incanted	+You're -+ Bella reaches for a lamp, not the bright ceiling light, and flicks it on. +You're bleeding. You're hurt, what happened?+
Author: cardistry	+I got cut. With a knife. That part wasn't so bad,+ he says. +What happened afterward - that was bad.+
Author: incanted	Bella sits next to him on the floor. +Would - this be a good time for me to try a healing spell -?+
Author: cardistry	+I have a repair function, the incantation's 'Restore', I'm just too fucked up to cast it right now,+ he says.
Author: incanted	+Can I do it for you, will that work?+ she asks. +God, what happened, Brilliance?+
Author: cardistry	+I think it will,+ he says, hugging his knees. +You can try it.+
Author: incanted	"Restore," Bella incants in a low voice, mindful in case the spell - function - whatever - requires any more attention than will and word.
Author: cardistry	The spell-or-function-or-whatever gives her complete feedback on exactly what it is repairing, down to the last thread in his torn jeans. Apart from the visible cuts, there's quite a lot of bruising, and he is bleeding in... a few more places. Well, one more place.
Author: incanted	"Oh my god," Bella breathes aloud.
Author: cardistry	The spell completes its work. He wraps his arms around her waist and buries his head in her lap and sobs.
Author: incanted	+Brilliance - I don't understand - how - you can teleport, I would've warned you about sticking to decent neighborhoods or - or something if I didn't figure you'd just be able to teleport if anything happened -+ She threads her fingers through his hair. +How -+
Author: cardistry	+By the time I knew I didn't wanna be there I just - couldn't,+ he says helplessly. +Teleporting's not simple. I mean - it is most of the time, but not - not then.+
Author: incanted	Bella pets his hair. +I'm so sorry.+
Author: cardistry	He cries into her lap.
Author: incanted	Petting and petting and petting. +Is there anything I can do?+
Author: cardistry	+I don't know.+ He resettles a little, not clinging so much, now just resting his head in her lap and hugging himself. +You're already helping.+
Author: incanted	She settles her hands in his hair and leans her head back onto the sofa behind her and closes her eyes. +If there is anything, will you tell me?+
Author: cardistry	+Yeah.+ The crying is not so intense now, either.
Author: incanted	It's still about three in the morning. Bella's just gonna - +Is there blood in the carpet?+ she asks, opening her eyes.
Author: cardistry	+I dunno.+ He sits up and looks. +Yeah. Sorry.+
Author: incanted	+Don't be sorry. You don't have to be sorry. Can we fix it, though, this'd be kind of a mess to explain to Charlie?+
Author: cardistry	+Fuck, I don't know,+ he says. +You've been getting pretty good at matter manipulation - I bet you could do it with a long-form incantation.+
Author: incanted	Bella pets his hair and tries to think of something. Finally she says, "Banish yourself, blood, disappear from the fibers of the carpet."
Author: cardistry	The spell gives her feedback about all the vanishing blood. There's a fair amount of it, but when it's gone, it's gone. Brilliance hugs her.
Author: incanted	Bella hugs him back nice and snug. +I'm so sorry.+
Author: cardistry	He presses his face into her shoulder and sighs, +I love you.+
Author: incanted	Bella leans her head back on the sofa again. And closes her eyes again. +I'll wake Lexi if I go back up. I'm gonna sleep here. Can you - wake me up at six? In three hours? Please?+
Author: cardistry	+Sure,+ he says, cuddling up.
Author: incanted	+Thanks,+ slurs Bella, and she nestles her head into a sofa cushion and sighs and sleeps.
Author: cardistry	Brilliance leans on her comfortably for three hours. Then he says, +Hey, wake up.+
Author: incanted	Bella shifts and yawns awake. +Morning, Brilliance.+ She lifts her head and winces and rubs the back of her neck.
Author: cardistry	+G'morning,+ he says, hugging her.
Author: incanted	One-armed hug because she has an awful crick in her neck. +Hope I didn't pester you talking in my sleep.+
Author: cardistry	+Nah, it was cute.+
Author: incanted	+Okay. How're you doing? Do you need anything? I don't know what to do for you.+
Author: cardistry	+I think... I don't wanna be cards again for a while,+ he says. +I'll go wander around your planet while you're in school.+
Author: incanted	+Okay. Be careful? Please? I don't want anything else bad to happen to you.+
Author: cardistry	He sighs, and hugs her.
Author: incanted	Hugs. +Please.+
Author: cardistry	+I'll try,+ he says.
Author: incanted	+Thanks.+ Bella slips out of his arms and upstairs. A few minutes later she's down again, sighs at the clock, and starts fixing pancakes because she has time and might as well.
Author: cardistry	+Ooh, pancakes.+
Author: incanted	+Yeah. You want chocolate chips or apple or banana slices on yours?+
Author: cardistry	+Is this an inclusive or?+
Author: incanted	+I can make you one with each. There's not really enough surface area on a pancake to effectively combine them.+
Author: cardistry	He grins. +Go for it! I love you.+
Author: incanted	+You keep saying that,+ muses Bella, and she starts peeling an apple. This job goes much faster when she doesn't have to worry about slipping.
Author: cardistry	+It keeps being true,+ says Brilliance.
Author: incanted	Bella thinly slices the apple, peels a banana, slices that too. +Does it bother you that I don't say it back?+
Author: cardistry	+Nope.+
Author: incanted	+Okay, that's good then.+ Bella gets out a bag of miniature chocolate chips, and then measures wet ingredients into her pancake batter.
Author: lexicality	Lexi wanders down the stairs. "What was up last night?" she asks.
Author: incanted	+You want to answer her or should I?+
Author: cardistry	+You can.+
Author: incanted	+Okay, but do I tell her what actually happened or be vague about it?+ Bella eats an apple slice to cover for her lack of immediate reply.
Author: cardistry	+You can tell her what actually happened,+ he says, rubbing his face with both hands.
Author: incanted	Bella picks up her pancake batter bowl and moves closer to Lexi and murmurs in her ear, very softly.
Author: lexicality	"Oh my God," says Lexi, less softly. "But why wouldn't -"
Author: incanted	"Because teleporting's not simple," murmurs Bella.
Author: cardistry	He sighs.
Author: incanted	Bella deems her batter stirred enough. She gets a pat of butter and plops it into the frying pan and turns on the stove.
Author: lexicality	"Are... you okay?" Lexi asks Brilliance haltingly.
Author: cardistry	"Probably not."
Author: lexicality	Lexi obviously didn't think that far ahead.
Author: incanted	Bella dollops batter into three spots on the frying pan. "There's only so much that can be done," she murmurs.
Author: cardistry	He smiles wryly. "And there's pancakes! My life can't be all bad if there's pancakes in it."
Author: incanted	"There will be pancakes very soon," agrees Bella. She spreads fruit slices on two of them and sprinkles chocolate chips on a third; apparently this batch is for Brilliance. She eyes the frying batter critically, then flips them, one-two-three.
Author: cardistry	Brilliance beams.
Author: incanted	Bella gets out plates, and slices another pat of butter for the next batch of cakes, and peers under the edge of the banana pancake with a nudge of her spatula, and taps her foot, and then plates the pancakes, one, two, three. "Syrup in the fridge if you want it," she tells him, and she melts the new butter. "Lexi, apples, bananas, chocolate?"
Author: lexicality	"Apples," says Lexi, sitting down. "Thanks."
Author: cardistry	Of course he wants syrup. Pancakes!
Author: incanted	Lexi gets her stack of apple pancakes in due time, and by then Charlie has wandered in, pleasantly surprised. He gets the rest of the banana slices on his pancakes, and Bella makes herself two apple and one chocolate.
Author: cardistry	Nom nom nommmmmmm.
Author: incanted	The twins finish eating, and pack up, and go to school. Partway through the day, Bella notifies Brilliance by magephone that she won't be home till about five, as she is going home with Angela, +and I do want to be her friend and that implies a certain amount of hanging out.+ When Bella gets home, she fixes dinner, and then the family plus Brilliance eats, and then there is some time for magic practice before it is the girls' bedtime.
Author: cardistry	Magic practice, yay!
Author: lexicality	And at night, at about one a.m., Lexi wanders down the stairs. She's a little surprised to see Brilliance hanging out in human form, but not enough to say anything about it. "Hey, um," she says. "I can't sleep. Thought I'd go flying. How do I - invisible? I know how to fly, Bella showed me, I don't know how to invisible."
Author: cardistry	"You cast a barrier," he says. "Shouldn't need much of one if it's just for yourself. Barriers are what make things invisible; what's outside can't see what's inside. There's no incantation, but I bet you can do it anyway."
Author: lexicality	Lexi thinks. Eventually, she manages it. "Like - that? Am I invisible?" Oh, he's not there anymore. Lexi figures that probably means it worked. She goes out the door and lifts up onto her toes and says "flight" and heads up towards the stars. She flies for a long time, slow lazy circles over Forks. It's peaceful and easy and it's pleasantly chilly up there, even though she got her coat on first and her slippers are usually toasty. Eventually she thinks she'll be able to get back to sleep, and she heads back towards the house. It's been a little too long. Her mana supply shorts out, and she's not conscious when she lands at the end of the lawn with a thump.
Author: cardistry	...That wasn't a good thump. Brilliance goes outside.
Author: lexicality	Lexi is crumpled in a shape humans do not healthily occupy, passed out, a heap of parka and tangled brown hair.
Author: cardistry	"Awww shit no," mutters Brilliance, crouching down by her side. "Awwww shit no." His spell diagram unfolds beneath them. "Be okay," he says desperately, and casts. Lexi glows like a tiny sunrise. The spell pours through her, absolutely without finesse, soothing and repairing all the damage it can find. It barely asks for any supervision. He does the best he can with what little it needs.
Author: lexicality	Lexi: is okay. "...I'm on the ground," she says.
Author: cardistry	"Yep," says Brilliance. "You fell there. Got kinda fucked up when you landed, but I fixed you." He looks tired.
Author: lexicality	"I - fell? Why'd I fall?" Pause. "Thanks for fixing me."
Author: cardistry	"Dunno," he says. "I didn't see. Maybe you ran out of mana; you've been flying for a while."
Author: lexicality	"Is that a thing? Bella didn't tell me that was a thing." Lexi sits up, slowly, and shivers a little and gets to her feet.
Author: cardistry	"That's a thing," says Brilliance. "Wonder why she didn't."
Author: lexicality	"I guess she didn't - think I'd do a lot of magic?" Lexi tests her footing, and heads for the door. "I wasn't going to really - didn't plan this - thanks for fixing me -"
Author: cardistry	This time, he says, "You're welcome."
Author: lexicality	"Like, I know you don't like me that much, and you fixed me anyway."
Author: cardistry	He shrugs. "I don't not like you. And Bella would've been all kinds of fucked up."
Author: lexicality	"I'll tell her what happened. In the morning," yawns Lexi. And she pads to the stairs.
Author: cardistry	Brilliance goes back to his spot on the living room floor.
Author: incanted	In the morning Bella charges down the stairs to hug him. Hard.
Author: cardistry	"Hi," he says, hugging back.
Author: incanted	"Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you, I can't believe I didn't warn Lexi about mana, I didn't think she was going to decide to fly for hours in the middle of the night, thank you thank you thank you."
Author: cardistry	He hugs her some more. "I figured you'd be sad if I didn't, I didn't know you'd be so happy that I did," he says.
Author: incanted	"God, I would've been destroyed - if she'd gotten herself killed - god. I'm happy that I'm not destroyed over her, is what I'm happy about."
Author: cardistry	"I'm happy you're not destroyed too," he murmurs.
Author: incanted	Hugs hugs hugs hugs.
Author: cardistry	Lots of hugs!
Author: incanted	Yes. Hugs. And: "I'm gonna make you eggs for breakfast. Scrambled eggs with cheese in 'em."
Author: cardistry	"I love you," says Brilliance.
Author: incanted	"Don't say that out loud in front of Charlie ever, he'll be badly confused." She ruffles Brilliance's hair and gets up to make eggs-and-cheese.
Author: cardistry	Mmmmruffly. "Okay," he says, and follows her into the kitchen.
Author: incanted	Bella fixes eggs. Charlie wakes up and starts puttering around. Lexi lurches out of bed just barely in time to bolt down some of the scramble and hop into the car, letting Bella drive since Bella got a full night's sleep. Off they go.
Author: cardistry	Brilliance walks back into the living room. Or... tries to. This is not the living room.
Author: small_magics	Among others, there's one - familiar - face. She looks like she doesn't know where she is and doesn't care. She's got her eyes closed. There's a blank book open in front of her, and she has a pen, and she picks it up and draws one stroke of one letter and then opens her eyes and looks at it and puts the pen down and closes her eyes again. She shifts her head a little and her hair falls away to reveal a pointed ear.
Author: cardistry	"...What the fuck," says Brilliance.
Author: small_magics	The elf version of Bella twitches in response to the sound of his voice, like she can't decide if she likes it or not, and she opens her eyes and looks around. Her gaze passes over him several times before it settles there. And then she stares at him, and the echoes of very, very slow thoughts pass over her face.
Author: cardistry	Brilliance crosses the room and stops in front of her table. "What the fuck?" he repeats.
Author: small_magics	Elf-Bella stares at him. And goes on staring at him. "You look like him," she eventually concludes. "But - you aren't."
Author: cardistry	"Right back atcha," says Brilliance.
Author: small_magics	Elf-Bella thinks about this for an unreasonably long time. "- Is she okay?" she asks in a small voice.
Author: cardistry	"...Last I checked, yeah," says Brilliance.
Author: small_magics	Elf-Bella closes her eyes and bows her head.
Author: cardistry	"You're not," he observes. He sits down.
Author: small_magics	"No."
Author: cardistry	"Wanna talk about it?"
Author: small_magics	This appears to be too complex a question for Elf-Bella. She blinks at him.
Author: cardistry	"...Wanna hug?"
Author: small_magics	"I - don't know," says Elf-Bella. "What I want. Anymore."
Author: cardistry	"That sucks," says Brilliance.
Author: small_magics	Elf-Bella thinks about this, and then nods, once, slowly.
Author: cardistry	"I'm sorry," says Brilliance.
Author: small_magics	Elf-Bella nods that slow nod again.
Author: cardistry	"You're an elf," he observes.
Author: small_magics	"You're a human," she observes back, less accurately.
Author: cardistry	"Nope. I'm a magical device. I'm just human-shaped right now. I can be other shapes too."
Author: small_magics	"Oh." She closes her eyes, smiles a little ghost of a smile. "He's a demon. Also a dragon. You look like the demon part."
Author: cardistry	Brilliance grins. "Cool. What's the dragon part look like?"
Author: small_magics	The elf hesitates, then picks up her pen and - something happens, something comes over her, suddenly she is doing absolutely nothing but drawing on a clear page, a sleeping dragon, curled up peaceful, and then touching her fingers to each space on the drawing and bleeding gradients of color into it. While she does this she is absolutely and perfectly focused; she doesn't even flinch when someone at the bar drops a glass and it loudly shatters. The end result is not photorealistic, but it's beautiful. She turns it for Brilliance to see. And then she falls out of whatever she did and she's back to being too lost to be frightened.
Author: cardistry	"He's pretty," he says admiringly.
Author: small_magics	"Yes. So pretty," the elf sighs.
Author: cardistry	"What happened to you?"
Author: small_magics	"They - they can't help it," she murmurs. "They try, they try not to - they can't help it."
Author: cardistry	"Can't help what," says Brilliance.
Author: small_magics	"The Bond, that's how it works, they can't help it, I had to, I knew it would hurt me but we did what we had to do first, the world is safe," murmurs the elf.
Author: cardistry	"Now that sounds familiar," he sighs.
Author: small_magics	"And now we're still Bonded and it's till I die and they can't stop," the elf whispers, "except when they sleep, and the dragon can sleep a thousand years but the demon can't, and when he's awake and I'm awake and neither of us concentrates - then - he reads my mind - and I can't think anymore, it hurts to think."
Author: cardistry
Author: small_magics	"He's asleep, now," she murmurs. "He might be able to sleep for a sennight. Sometimes he can. It used to help. It doesn't help as much anymore."
Author: cardistry	"I'm sorry," he murmurs.
Author: small_magics	"He is too. He wished I let the king kill him, last year -"
Author: cardistry	"I can see why."
Author: small_magics	"The unicorn stopped him." She shakes her head. "And I love them, and - and I love them."
Author: cardistry	"Seems like it'd be easier on you if you didn't."
Author: small_magics	"If anyone has to look at me like that at least it's them," she murmurs.
Author: cardistry	"Yeah," he says, "but if you didn't love 'em couldn't you just have let him kill himself?"
Author: small_magics	"I. I don't - think - we could have Bonded if we weren't going to love each other." She picks her way through this sentence like molasses, looking at her dragon drawing.
Author: cardistry	"Too bad for all of you, I guess."
Author: small_magics	She nods. And: "They don't have names."
Author: cardistry	"Mine's Brilliance," says Brilliance. "And my you is Bella."
Author: small_magics	"I'm Isibel."
Author: cardistry	He nods.
Author: small_magics	Isibel traces the lines of her dragon drawing with one finger gently, idly.
Author: cardistry	Brilliance watches.
Author: small_magics	Isibel has done more thinking in the last ten minutes than she usually does in a week. She closes her eyes and hums vacantly.
Author: cardistry	He doesn't really want to stay here, but he doesn't really want to leave her alone, either. He's sure this place would be fascinating if he didn't have something more important on his mind.
Author: small_magics	Isibel is (happily enough, considering) oblivious to the inner workings of his thought processes. Some hours later, she says, "I could sleep now. I'll go home."
Author: cardistry	"G'night," he sighs.
Author: small_magics	Isibel picks up his hand, and presses her cheek to it, and sighs, and then lets him go and pauses for a moment before remembering to pick up her book and pen. She goes to the door, and opens it, and goes out.
Author: cardistry	Brilliance hugs himself. He sits alone for a moment. Then he goes out the door and successfully locates the living room and flops onto the couch.