A Clover and a Bee

Luna isn’t exactly shocked when she sees her little sister’s Simstagram post: a glass of wine with a fittingly somber black and white filter, followed by the description “should have seen this coming. #cursed” According to their brother Solaris, Nova’s boyfriend Mercury disappeared, leaving Nova no explanation for where he went. While Luna feels for her sister, she isn’t exactly surprised. Mercury didn’t seem like the reliable type the few times she met him. In contrast, Luna’s life is quite boring. She’s fine with it, though. She might be nothing more than a baby warden right now, but at least her life is uneventful. She’s more than happy to settle for uneventful--she’s seen the other side of that coin and she doesn’t care for it.

Luna managed to published her fantasy novel-- The Cursed Fae --before she gave birth to Luke and Lydia. And now Crimson is greedily devouring it while reclining comfortably in front the fireplace at Elysia’s house.  It’s been awhile since he’s had his sutures removed and he’s completely capable of taking care of himself at this point. But at night--when Clover’s absence is felt the strongest--Crimson texts Elysia and asks if he can go to her place, where there are no memories of his sister. She always says yes. Even if they aren’t in the same room, it’s comforting knowing someone is nearby. Tonight, he is reading while Elysia takes a long bath, part of her nightly ritual. He’s so engrossed in the book that he doesn’t notice the bedroom door open, or Elysia’s footsteps behind him.

Luna and Quentin cast long shadows as they stand on the beach. They decided to get married barefoot, next to the sea. It might not have been the most pragmatic choice--even though it is summer, the breeze blowing off the water is chilly and bitter--but it certainly looks romantic

Hi! :D I was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger award by Toxi (thank you :D). This is exciting! BTW, I have the "excitable" trait, if you haven't noticed. So here are the rule: Thank the person who nominated you and add a link to their blog. Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you. Nominate 11 bloggers and add their links. Notify the bloggers you included. Keep the rules in your post. The Questions 1. What did you have for dinner – or, if it’s not dinner time yet, what did you have yesterday? Was it good? Did you cook it yourself? I had this . It was a'ight--mostly I like it because it's cheap and simple. My husband made it, because I hate cutting onions. :p 2. It’s late at night in a small town and you’re heading home. You can either take a well lit detour – 30 minutes – or the shorter walk through the cemetery – 15 minutes. It’s pitch dark in there. Which route do you choose? I have horrible night vision, so the 30 minu...

The town is shocked. There’s never been anything like this. Aurora Skies is renowned for it’s lack of violence. Most police officers don’t even carry guns. There have been a total of something like two murders in the past ten years. And in one night, that record is met. The House of Ragnarock and Roll is closed off, the door covered with police tape. The Aurora Skies Police Department, unused to such violent crimes, has to call in forensic experts from other sectors. Even with the extra help, it’s difficult to piece together everything from that night. It doesn’t help that the two key witnesses were drugged. Two days after the murders, Quentin sits with a police officer in the local hospital’s cafe “I understand this is frustrating, Mr. Parker, but I just need you to go through what you saw one last time.”

Clover Byrd is cautiously optimistic. It hadn’t been that hard to lure her prey to her. She could probably do this for a living, actually, because so far, her plan was going off without a hitch. Well, she had to modify her plan just a bit. But discounting that, it was absolutely definitely positively going off without a hitch. Oh, and her good-for-nothing brother wasn’t answering his goddamn phone, but that’s not the worst thing in the world. She has another---she looks at her phone--another six hours before anyone is likely to even begin suspecting anything. It shouldn’t take that long, right? There were only two of them. She was really hoping Luna would have a large wedding, complete with an entire swarm of Bees. She could have just torched the place, and been done with them in one fell swoop. But she’ll have to settle for this. Her dad probably thought she could never do this. He’d always preferred Crimson, his precious son who would carry on his legacy. What was it he ...

The sun feels weaker in Aurora Skies than anywhere else Elysia has ever been, but she’s determined to find the warmest spot on the beach so she can sunbathe. It’s a ritual, something she does whenever her life feels like something is going terribly wrong. It makes it pretty hard to cope in the winter. Things are looking up, though. Elysia found a beautiful home in the center of town to rent, and she got a job as a receptionist at the spa. It was the only place she could find that would overlook her damning job history and pending criminal charges. And her house is close enough for her to walk to work, which is good because she doesn’t have a car or a bike. Everything’s fine. Just fine.

While Luna loves winter the best, spring is a close second. Her favorite part is the sea of wildflowers that are sprinkled across the hills of Aurora Skies. She picks one--an azalea--and breathes in its scent. Something is interfering with her olfactory enjoyment.

Luna regularly stalks her siblings on Simstagram, since they rarely call or text, and she's developed the uncanny ability to predict what each sibling will post. Solaris posts pictures of his wife and kids, Zenith of his guitars and (drum) kits. Nova posts pictures of herself performing daring feats of acrobatics, and Elysia almost exclusively posts pictures of food from exotic locations. Luna’s book (soon to be plural “books”) doesn’t translate well to social media so her feed is filled with snapshots of generic sunsets. # nofilter # blessed She feels a pang of jealousy when she sees Elysia’s newest upload: a picture of herself perfectly framed in front of a beautiful Egyptian oasis, no doubt the result of her newest travel writing gig. “Do you think I’m boring?” Luna turns off her phone and tosses onto a nearby shelf, out of reach so she won’t be tempted to check Simstagram again. “If you’re hanging out with the likes of me, chances are that you’re not very exciting,” ...

They sit in silence for a while. Crimson had invited her to take a seat and have another bubble tea while they talked. Luna thought about refusing until he explained himself, or loudly confronting and shaming him.  She decided that wasn’t worth causing a scene. So the two strangers stare at each other, then look away, then stare again until Crimson finally breaks the silence. “I’m very sorry for following you,” he mumbles. He’s afraid to look at her, but he forces his eyes to meet hers. He’s a little disappointed to see she’s wearing color contacts. He looks away again. “Yeah, why did you follow me?” In an attempt to hide her emotions, Luna’s voice comes out shrill. “I think you know why,” He gestures at himself, waving his hand from his face down his body. He smiles weakly, “I imagine you haven’t seen many people like us?” “Like us?” Luna cocks her head. She wants him to be the one to say it. She doesn’t know why, but she feels like she needs to be in control of thi...