Closed All These Nights

[Syenite Night]

Syenite's life had long been pervaded by a sense of longing for a family she'd been disconnected from. She had memories of her brother and her father from when she was very young, before her parents' divorce, hazy and blurred but held as treasures. She'd known for decades that she had family in New Zealand and closer to home, but she'd had no way to get in touch with them. And then the news had come that her brother and his wife had died, and before she knew it Sye had agreed to take in their daughter, and in the process she had at last managed to contact their distant family at the other side of the world. She had written to her uncle, and his letters spoke of a feud with her father, and a guilt that he'd never tried to mend it before it was too late. Syenite herself was flooded with a bittersweet and conflicting mix of emotion, sorrow for the brother she had never truly known, and a guilty joy at finally finding the opportunity to connect with the family.

Syenite sat in the window seat reading her book, only half-heeding the words before her. The distant sounds of her daughter's oboe practice drifted from upstairs. This was the day, she was coming. Syenite couldn't settle to anything properly, though it seemed that her daughter didn't feel the same. At last, she heard the familiar whoosh of the floo network, and immediately stood, hastily shoving a bookmark into her place. "Aegie!" she called up the stairs. "Come meet your cousin!" And then Shale was stepping out of the fireplace, and Sye felt a rush of sympathy for her, this poor girl who now had no one but a family she'd never met. She approached her at once. "Hello! You must be Shale. I'm Syenite. I'm so sorry to hear about your parents."

 

[Shale Night]

Shale knew she was supposed to feel some sense of permanence and stability about this new move, but by now she was just frustrated. Just when the foster home was starting to feel familiar, she had to be whisked away to some aunt she had never met, as if that was going to be any better. Nothing had felt permanent, or stable, or even really real to her for a long time now. She lived a normal routine, sure, but day to day she felt as though she was drifting.

Maybe this really was going to change things. Shale didn't know. But as she stepped through the fire, into her new home for the first time, she felt the familiar sense of unfamiliarity that she associated with the foster home. Nothing was really different. And looking at her apparent aunt, Shale didn't feel anything different than she had felt for the people who had been caring for her the last few months. And of course, the woman immediately had to say how sorry she was. After so much time, Shale still hadn't figured out what to say to people who said that kind of thing, so she simply shrugged. "Where's my room?" She grumbled slightly, looking away from the woman.

 

[Aegerine Night]

Aegerine had no interest in meeting unknown family members. As far as she was concerned, it was just her and Mum and visiting Dad on weekends and holidays, and she was entirely content with that. The only part of the concept of having long-lost relatives that had sparked her curiosity at all was the lost part, which appealed to her sense of mystery, but there wasn't even anything particularly mysterious about it. Just some family feud between people she'd never met, and some uninteresting mess that happened when her grandparents broke up. But now Mum was adopting one of her cousins whose parents had died in some uninspiring way, and she was talking about moving to New Zealand to be with the rest of the family Aegerine didn't care about, and nothing about this boded well.

So Aegerine sat in her room and played her oboe and sulked. She deliberately sought out the more slow and brooding pieces of classical music in her repertoire, to suit her mood. When Mum called her from downstairs she was tempted to ignore her, pretend she hadn't heard, refuse to meet this cousin who was to invade her home. She hesitated, but curiosity drove her out. As much as she wanted nothing to do with this stranger, she would have to meet her sooner or later. It may as well be now. She descended the staircase, and paused dramatically on the bottom step, looking the stranger up and down inquisitively. "Greetings," she said, trying her best to sound grandiose and mysterious.

 

[Syenite Night]

Syenite couldn't help a degree of disappointment at Shale's lack of reaction to her welcome, but the girl had been through a lot recently. At least she was here and safe at last, after all the legal wranglings it had taken. Trust would come later. In time, Sye hoped, Shale would come to consider their little family home. But that would come later. For now, Syenite would try her best to make this a welcoming place for Shale, somewhere she could relax, not worry for a time about the uncertain future or the frightful past.

A goal which, it seemed, might be undermined by the theatrics of her own daughter. Syenite suppressed a sigh, and gestured her over to them. "This is my daughter, Aegerine." She gave Aegie a subtle, warning glance, hoping she would take the cue to at least try to get along. "Of course, you'll want to get settled in." It must all be so overwhelming for the poor girl. "Aegie, why don't you lead the way? I'll help you with your bags." Syenite had set up the spare room, upstairs next to Aegerine's bedroom, for Shale, trying her best to make it cosy while also leaving room for her niece to put her own mark on the space.

 

[Shale Night]

Shale had no idea what her cousin would be like, but the morose looking girl traipsing down the stairs defied all expectations. Shale could tell she thought she looked impressive, but Shale just found herself instantly sick of the girl's theatrics. It had been quite a while since she had made any new friends, but Shale could already tell she wasn't going to break that streak today. She rolled her eyes when her aunt instructed the girl to lead the way, snorting a little at the nickname the woman used. "Fine, lead the way, Eggy." She said in a challenging mumble.

 

[Aegerine Night]

It seemed that it had not been worth bothering to come down the stairs, as almost as soon as she did so, Mum was telling her to go back up them again. Aegerine wondered if she could get away with simply going back into her bedroom and closing the door. Mum was clearly trying her best to get along with the newcomer, as she did with everyone, but Aegerine had no intention of following suit. Her cousin certainly did not look promising, or even interesting. She turned, and was about to return the way she'd come when the newcomer said something truly appalling. Aegerine glared at her. Only Mum was allowed to call her Aegie, and this . . . this travesty was unforgivable. "Don't you dare to ever call me that again." Aegerine wished she could think of an appropriate insult based on Shale's name, but for the moment her mind was a blank. She swept back up the stairs, wanting more than ever to retreat into her room,, but Mum was probably going to try to make them get along, however clear it was that that was already impossible.

 

[Syenite Night]

Syenite glanced apprehensively between the two girls, hoping that they would get along, but it seemed that they had already got off on the wrong foot. Aegerine was trying her best to appear moody and unaffected, but Sye knew her well enough to tell just how angry she was at Shale's little joke. "Shale, be nice, please," she said, not wanting to be too harsh on the girl, but hoping to make it clear she wouldn't tolerate such behaviour. "There'll be no name-calling in this house." She took some of Shale's baggage and followed her daughter up the stairs, then put one of them down on the landing so she could open the door to Shale's room. "This one will be your room, Shale," she said, with a kinder note in her voice, ignoring her daughter standing stiffly outside her own door. "Aegerine is next door, and I'm down the hall," she added, gesturing to the relevant doors as she spoke.

 

[Shale Night]

Shale was pleased to find how easy it was to get under her cousin's skin, smirking slightly as the girl responded. She was disappointed when her new guardian picked up on it, but turned on an innocent face quickly. "I was just calling her the same thing you did." She said, one eyebrow raised. It was a relief when they reached her room. It wasn't ideal, having to be here, but at least she wouldn't have to share with that horrible girl. "Cool." She said, stepping into her room. "Bye."

 

[Aegerine Night]

Aegerine was torn between being grateful or annoyed at Mum’s intervention. She could handle this impudent stranger, and didn’t want to appear like she was hiding behind her mother, but on the other hand Mum’s authority might actually work to make her stop. Perhaps. Aegerine didn’t fall for her pathetic little excuse (it wasn’t even pronounced that way), and by the look on her face she knew Mum wasn’t either. But she had something more important on her mind: revenge. She racked her brains for the perfect reciprocal insult; preferably one more intelligent than Shale’s disgusting attempt. Aegerine had done some reading on geology, out of interest in her own name and the family tradition, so she knew that Shale was a type of mudstone. That was promising . . . Just before Shale shut her bedroom door, Aegerine got in her retort: “See you later, Muddy.”