Orin was surprised she hadn’t seen Finn and Sky wandering the halls, or that Sky hadn’t visited her. It still was hers and Finn’s first week here, so maybe that had something to do with it. Orin knew it was only a matter of time before the terrible twosome tried to hook her and Rhys back up. Orin sighed, and flipped through the pages of a book she was reading. She didn’t understand where the children were coming from. Rhys and her…weird. Orin snapped the book shut and started to head towards the exit.

Skylar had told Rhys she needed to meet her at the library before they their usual lunch date. Rhys was surprised that his baby sister would be in the library, but he assumed she was trying to sneak into the Restricted Sector of the library again. Which is something he'd probably have to talk to her about. Rhys needed to be a better parent to Skylar. But he just didn't know where to start. A part of him wished his uncles would show up and save the day.

"Oh, god... I'm so sorry." Rhys said to whoever he bumped into on his way inside the Library. He looked down and was almost shocked by who he saw. "Orin?"

Orin looked up when someone bumped into her. She could immediately tell that Rhys was more surprised to see her than she was to see him. Awkward, which was how things usually were with each other. Orin looked up at him for the moment and thought ‘so it begins’.

“Rhys, I guess Sky neglected to mention that I was working/attending school here. They’re already starting to keep tabs on us. So…you’re the school doctor?” Orin replied to Rhys, unsure of what to do or say. Why were things suddenly so awkward between them. She missed the time she had spent with him in Japan. Then things started to get weird once she started drinking, Orin could only imagine what she had done or said in her drunken state.

Rhys was going to kill Skylar... If he could. Which is probably couldn't. For one thing he was sure it was illegal to kill a child. And secondly, Skylar was his uncle's favorite. So... Rhys couldn't kill her. But he wanted to. When was Sky going to understand that Orin and Rhys were never going to happen. Orin had basically said so when she was drunk that one time.

"Hey... yeah well, Sky... she's a piece of work. Don't rightly know where she gets that from." Rhys teased. Then he realized that it was the Ice Queen, her Royal Frostiness that he was speaking with and she probably could appreciate the joke. So he added awkwardly. "Um... well... you look... like... you look g--- umm... you look nice.... Oh and uh... Yes, I am the School Doctor."

“Good to know. I suspect Finn will be living in the hospital wing very soon. You’ll have to let me know. I don’t really want him spending too much time there. I understand that it makes him feel safe, but…” Orin replied, trying to get around the awkwardness of Rhys’ statement. She wasn’t completely sure all the lights were on upstairs with Rhys sometimes.


“I’m the elemental TA and student. More student than staff, though. Congratulations on getting a job here, though. I kind of thought you would still be in Japan, or somewhere,” Orin replied to Rhys. She wasn’t completely sure why she said the last part. Was she fishing for something? She honestly didn’t know.

"But I'm a terrible influence, I know." Rhys said, hunching his shoulders. He liked Finn. Next to Skylar, Finn was like the coolest kid he knew. And if he felt safe in the hospital wing, then who was Rhys to stop him? He wouldn't/couldn't do that to the kid.

"Thank you and right back at ya... I'd have stayed in Japan but Skylar wanted to come here. And I couldn't say no to her getting a good education. Skylar needs to learn that just because she can end the world doesn't mean she should." Rhys said, looking around for Finn or Skylar. One of them or both of them had to been around here somewhere.

“She’ll probably just be able to create a new better one. But…I think I should probably say sorry about…whatever it was I did or said…those few nights. I honestly don’t remember a thing,” Orin told him. Figuring now was as good a time as any. She didn’t want to tell him this in some secluded area because she was worried he might tell her exactly what she had said and done.

“Well, I’m just glad nothing happened. I really don’t want things to get too weird between us for Finn and Skylar’s sake,” Orin told him. Yeah, the terrible duo was probably around the library somewhere. But Orin wanted to make sure that Rhys understood.

((OOC: Feel free to come up with anything))

"Um... Yeah, no need to apologize. You were a little drunk. And other then telling me I was cute and in the same breath an idiot-child, it was your typical drunk-girl stuff." Rhys said. He grinned. He knew that Orin admitting that he was attractive was a point for him. Though he was pretty sure that points-wise Orin had a commanding lead over him. "I was a complete gentleman. But you're right. We're got enough weird. Don't need to add to it."

*NEAR THE RESTRICTED SECTION*

This was f#(&ing lame-sauce, Skylar thought as she watched the train wreck unfold. Her brother was such a doofus. Any one with eyeballs could see that Orin was in like with him. Skylar swore to herself that she was either never falling in love or when and if she did, Skylar swore she'd never be as stupid as these two were being.

"Weak. Totally f#(&ing lame. This is bulls#!t."

“Good, thanks for that. I hope that won’t happen to us, well me, again for your sake. I think you’ve become my favorite target,” Orin replied to him. She managed not to smile. But she did look over at him. Orin wasn’t completely sure what was wrong with her when it came to Rhys. Orin knew she just had a soft spot. “So…what were you doing in the library anyways?”


*NEAR THE RESTRICTED SECTION*

“I agree, but I am not sure what to do. I don’t think a love spell would be good. We just need to get them to hang out more alone together,” Finn replied to Skylar. He wanted his sister and Rhys to be together because he knew it was supposed to happen.

“And somehow I knew I’d die horribly if something did happen between us that night. But if you show up on doorstep drunk again, I’m going to just fix you a cup of coffee and call you a cab.” Rhys chuckled. He could have commented on the fact that Orin had said he had become her favorite target. But he figured that was too easy. Which is possibly why nothing happened between them that night. Rhys didn’t like to win that way. It was cheating.

“One half of the terrible twosome told me to meet her here. Since you’re here I can only glean one possibility, Sky has been trailing you all day… I think we’ve been Parent Trapped again.” Rhys whispered the last part because he knew Finn and Skylar were close.

*NEAR THE RESTRICTED SECTION*

Skylar rolled her eyes. Finn and his morals. If Skylar had his powers she’d have a cast a love spell and Rhys would have had Orin upside-down and half-way to happyland right now… Well, hopefully not here, ‘cause eww. But still. She sighed and thought of something else. “What did people do before there were love spells and potions? They got f#(&ing trashed. It’s almost worked in the past. It would have worked if Rhys wasn’t such a chickens#!t.”

Orin was relieved that nothing happened. Why? Well, she would say it was because she really couldn’t stand Rhys. In reality, she was pretty sure she would want to remember if anything romantic happened with Rhys. Orin wouldn’t admit to that, ever. So she just nodded at what he would do the next time it happened.

“I am pretty sure you live here at school, and so do I so…I think it’d be a rather short cab ride.”

Orin nodded, knowing full well this was the work of Sky and Finn. “I am sure we have been. They’re getting better at this, just not quite good enough. What have you been up to, anyways?” Orin asked.


NEAR THE RESTRICTED SECTION

Finn cringed at Skylar’s language. He wasn’t allowed to talk like that. He wasn’t completely sure what would happen if he did, but he knew there would be consequences that he wouldn’t like. “Well, since that plans not going to work we need to figure out something else. I think they need to spend more time together,” Finn told Sky.

“All the more reason to give you some coffee and send you on your way. I mean, think of the scandal.” Rhys teased. It was his way of keeping his guard up. Can’t bring a funny man down. Besides, flat out rejection always stings. So Rhys would keep it light. No need to ask Orin of her true opinion of him. The truth was too scary. Ambiguity, now that was safe.

“No, not quite good enough. But give them time… What have I been up to? Uh… you know the usual, trying to raise Skylar and failing miserably. Now, I’m trying to set up my office and be head of House Demeter.” Rhys said. “How about you?”


NEAR THE RESTRICTED SECTION

Skylar sighed, rolling her eyes. Finn was just as fraking lame as her brother sometimes. “Well they’re not going to do it on their own. So that means, we have to be the reason they hang out. At least at first… So I vote we go to the zoo… Or the arcade… Or some place else I can convince Captain Dumb@$$ to spend a butt-load of cash on us.”

“Yeah and we wouldn’t want another one of those. I can already hear our immortal relatives knocking down the walls of BTA to get to us,” Orin teased. She knew that some of her family members would have a problem with her dating Rhys. She knew her father, especially, would be most annoyed with the prospect. Good thing there was nothing going on with them.

“I’m just a Poseidon TA and finishing up on some missing school work to earn my GED. Then hopefully I’ll be able to attend a university around here…but head of house Demeter. I never pictured you to be that ambitious. How did that happen? Was it just handed out freely to you?” Orin asked, not realizing the undertone in her words. She didn’t even comment about his parenting of Skylar, because, yeah, she thought he could do a lot better by his little sister.

NEAR THE RESTRICTED SECTION

Finn could tell that Skylar was displeased. He didn’t understand why, though. They couldn’t control everything. Sometimes they needed to let certain things happen. Finn was worried about pushing too hard and having it backfire on them.

“I’ve been wanting to go to the Arcade but Orin makes me do homework instead. Then maybe we can get lunch…” Finn suggested. He figured with the two of them playing video games, Rhys and Orin would have to interact.

"You mean your immortal relatives coming after me. My uncles like you. Probably more than me." Rhys knew that he was pretty much everyone's least favorite. He also knew that out of all of Orin's relatives Bella was probably the only one in Rhys' corner. But that was partly due to the fact that Orabella knew that Rhys feared her wrath more than his uncles'. Bella was flippin' scary.

"Hey, I have ambitions. And they have nothing to do with me being a rock star that lived on the moon... At least not since I was 20. Anywho... I asked for the job and they said yes because there was no one else." There was no telling with Rhys what was truth and what wasn't.


NEAR THE RESTRICTED SECTION

Sometimes Skylar thought that the world would run better if she ruled it. Then she thought how much she hated just about everyone. So there'd probably be a complete redo. Yeah... Skylar knew she should never be given power. Like ever.

"Well do your stupid homework. I'll do mine, so Orin doesn't have any other excuses."

“I wouldn’t doubt that, Rhys. I do like you more than Castor,” Orin told him. A part of her felt a bit bad for what she had said to him. It was true, she did like him more than Castor. Actually, she liked him better than both Polly and Cass, but she wasn’t about to admit to that.

“And we both know that 20 was so many years ago for you. You’re getting up there, Evans,” Orin teased Rhys. She could see why Rhys had gotten the job. He was very disarming and would be very fair with the students, probably just too lenient for her liking.

NEAR THE RESTRICTED SECTION

“Ok. When should we meet up?” Finn asked, wanting this to work out well. He wondered why Skylar was always so angry. He had never used his magic to try and find out. They were friends, it would be too intrusive. Still, he wanted her to be happy. And he wasn’t sure how she was going to get that.

"That's funny because I like me more than Castor, too." Rhys LOVED to tease Orin. He'd say because it was funny when she got mad or even better embarrassed, but it was more than that. He liked to keep her interested him... their relationship... uh... just interested in general.

"Yeah. But so are you. I mean you've come a long way from trying to encase me in ice. I'd say we've both grown as people." Rhys said, with his usually smirk.

NEAR THE RESTRICTED SECTION

"Come by our quarters after you're done with your homework. Say you miss Rhys or me or whatever. I'll hopefully be done with my homework and playing Dead Island, that's when I'll put it in Rhys' head we should go to the Arcade, eat dinner and go see and movie or something." Skylar replied. She hoped Finn would make it sound convincing. She was totally a better lair than he was. But he had her on politeness. Skylar knew she was a little brat.

Orin just shook her head at Rhys. He always had to joke. She wasn’t sure why he had the pathological need to always say something funny. Orin wasn’t completely sure he could be serious. Not that it should matter to her. She tended to be the opposite, never joking. Sometimes she did with Rhys and Finn but it was pretty rare.

She actually smiled at his last remark. “I still think you would look better as an ice sculpture. I am just saying,” Orin replied.

NEAR THE RESTRICTED SECTION

“Ok, I can do that,” Finn responded. He knew he should be able to get things like that done. Besides, he was pretty sure he could make Orin feel a little bit guilty. She was working an awful lot.

“And I think you should smile more. But I’m not all pushy about it.” Rhys said, nonchalantly. Most of the things he said had a touch of glibness. It wasn’t that Rhys didn’t take things seriously. He worried about everything. The scared little child that said nothing had grown into a man who had the weight of the world on his shoulder. However, Rhys had to put on a brave face. And thus, Rhys the Jester was born. After his parents died it only got worse.

NEAR THE RESTRICTED SECTION

“Good. ‘Cuz I can’t deal with you and Rhys being all mopey ‘cuz Orin can’t see what apparently everyone else can see that she’s all mushy in the heart for Reese’s Pieces.” Skylar said, before she jumped off the balcony they were standing on. She was a daredevil, due to her gift and personality. Sky wasn’t afraid of death. Just of getting close to someone or feeling vulnerable. She reached out, grabbing the hanging light fixture and swinging outward, flipping in the process and making a perfect dismount.

“Count it! That was totally frakking ninja!” Skylar said landing next to Rhys and Orin.

Orin smiled for a moment but then stopped. She looked at Rhys and shook her head. He really needed to grow up. He had a little girl that he needed to raise. Orin wasn’t sure how or if he would ever grow up. He probably just needed some Susie homemaker to come in and fix everything. Orin scoffed at that idea. She didn’t like the idea of some other woman coming in and helping Rhys.

“Well, we can’t always get what we want, can we. And, yes, Skylar I think I would give that a 10-10 honestly,” Orin told the little girl as she jumped in. Orin knew that Finn wouldn’t be too far behind.

Finn sighed, walking out from near the restricted section. Skylar frustrated him sometimes. He understood that she was upset, but he wasn’t sure how she could get over it. Finn thought Sky was just too much for him at times and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

“Hey!” He said cheerfully to all as he walked over towards his sister.

“But sometimes you might find you get what you need. Which is apparently a constant barrage of witty barbs directed to my character.” Rhys said, glibly. He cracked a proud smile when Skylar jumped in. That was his sister. However, she was a completely different 10 year-old compared to him. Rhys felt it was his fault.

“Thanks, Orin. I do aim to please.” Skylar had cleaned up her language. Had to make her big brother look better.

“Sky…” Rhys began but stopped when Skylar put up her hand.

“It was reckless and careless. And if I want to seriously train like that then I should do it with adult supervision. Can Orin be the adult? Well, I guess you’d have to be there in case I injure myself or whatever… Seriously, bro when did you get lame?” Sky asked.

Rhys sighed when Sky spoke but perked up when Finn appeared. “Hey, how you doing Magic Man, long time, no see.”

“I can’t help it, Evans, you just make it so easy,” Orin replied to Rhys. She smiled at Skylar. The little girl reminded her of herself at that age. Of course, Orin’s father was more than encouraging for her to use her powers however she pleased. So it was up to child-her to create boundaries for herself.

“I’m good. I haven’t accidentally cast a spell on anyone in a few weeks,” Finn told Rhys proudly. He grinned over at his sister and wondered if he could make them all hang out for a bit longer.

“Your brother would have to be there, Sky. And I don’t think he plans on training unless it’s for a star wars trivia game or something,” Orin replied to Sky.

“Star Wars trivia game? I’m totally in.” Rhys blurted out. He looked over to Finn and winked. “That’s good, Little Buddy. But if you ever have any problems, my door is always open.”

“Yeah, I guess. I’ll just have to make him come… Oh I know, if he doesn’t come than he can’t stop me from telling you every little embarrassing story about Reese’s Pieces.” Skylar said, with her usual devilish smirk. She would too. Orin was her hero. She’d do anything for her.

“I am sure you would be. Maybe you should set one up for the students. I think they need to get to know each other a bit better,” Orin told Rhys. She already knew that alliances and cliques were being formed. Orin was so glad she had never gone through that phase. The ice-queen was glad she was technically more staff than student.

“Ok, I will. It’s still usually when my emotions get all weird that weird things happen,” Finn confided in Rhys.

“On second thought, I don’t think we’ll need Rhys there. He certainly wouldn’t be much of a help, unless we wanted to know the names of every movie Kurt Russell was in,” Orin replied to Sky. Orin respected Rhys, she just wanted him to be…more something. She wasn’t sure what it was, mature, probably.

“I remember that stage very well. I’m pretty sure I can help if you get overwhelmed. And I can talk to Professor Knightley if you want to learn some calming exercises.” Rhys offered. He put a hand on Finn’s shoulder and squeezed slightly. Finn was his little buddy. Rhys wanted to make sure he was getting settled.

“You wanna know all the dirt don’t ya?” Sky asked. She looked over to her brother and just grinned. He wasn’t going to like what Skylar was going to tell Orin. But she figured that Orin liked to make fun of Rhys and she needed more ammo. The more ammo she had, the less likely either of them would get bored.

“Escape from LA is the only one worth watching.” Rhys added, chuckling when Sky made a face. He knew how much she hated that movie.

“That would be good. I think I could learn them,” Finn replied smiling up at Rhys. After Rhys squeezed his shoulder, Finn gave him a big hug. He wanted Rhys to be his daddy so bad. The only way that was going to happen was if Orin and him ever got together. Finn was going to make that happen with Skylar’s help. Then they would each have two parents.

“I suppose I do. Since Rhys isn’t too keen about telling me,” Orin replied to Skylar. Orin shook her head at the escape LA remark. She had never seen it. But Orin didn’t really watch movies, unless she was sick. And she did remember being stuck in Japan, watching all of Rhys’ movie collection. That had been an interesting few months.

“I’ll talk to Master Rob after lunch. You’ll be just as good as Bella in no time flat.” Rhys said with a wink. He wasn’t put-off when Finn hugged him. He liked Finn. If Rhys had a son, he wanted him to be like Finn. His daughter/sister was already the kind of daughter he kind of dreamed of having. Aside from the constant swearing and her desire to push herself to the limits, Skylar was a good kid. He knew his parents would have been proud of her.

“Of course he does. I mean you would too if you were him.” Skylar said. When Rhys said something about lunch, Skylar added. “What are you two doing for lunch? I hope you’re not too busy to save me from having a meal alone with Rhys.”

“Ha… Ha… Ha-ha… You’re not exacting the most entertaining person in the world, lil’ sis.” Rhys said.

“Please, I’m the coolest friend you have aside from Orin.” Skylar scoffed.

Finn grinned up at Rhys. He was excited that he would be getting extra help with his magical abilities. He wanted to be as good as his auntie Bella. He knew he would one day, it was just far away from now. Finn grinned at Sky when she proposed lunch.

Orin looked down at Skylar. She didn’t want to say no to her. Orin just wanted to say no to having to spend more time with Rhys. The Ice-Queen didn’t like the crush she had on the idiot doctor. “I think we’ll have to save you from having lunch with Rhys, then.” Orin told Skylar.

Finn cheered. He was pleased. It was almost like they were a real family. He grinned over at Skylar. His mind wasn’t as devious as Skylar’s was.

Skylar smirked, looking over to Rhys to stick her tongue out at him. “Count it!” She said, with a snap of her fingers, pride bursting out of her.

What people didn’t know was the swearing and the daredevil behavior was more than likely just coded into Skylar’s DNA. After all, not many people knew about her immortal uncles. And honestly as males of the Evans family went, Rhys was pretty mellow and not nearly as slutty.

Rhys sighed, cracking a smile. “They grow up so fast.” He had no idea how true that statement was. He still remembered the day his sister was born. She was so tiny then, so full of hope. She had no idea that one day her parents would be taken from her too young some would say. And she had no idea that her brother would fail her in the worst ways. “Shall we? I could cook. Or we could get something eat. And before either of you says anything, I’m great cook, shut up.” He eyed Skylar and Orin as he spoke that last part. Rhys knew Finn was on his team. He’d back him up.

Orin just gave Rhys a teasing grin, that said she felt otherwise about his cooking skills. She could easily see Rhys playing Mr. Mom someday, if he ever grew up. Orin was pretty sure he would love to not work and stay at home with the kids, so he probably had culinary skills. The ice-queen would just pretend otherwise.

“Where do you two want to go? Because I think we’ll just humor Rhys and let him think he’s a good cook,” Orin replied to Rhys, Finn and Skylar.

“Rhys can cook. I think he’s good at it,” Finn replied to his sister. He wasn’t sure why Skylar was always so hard on Rhys. Finn thought Rhys was the greatest guy ever.

“Pizza… Or burgers. I could go either way.” Skylar said with a shrug. She chuckled when Orin grinned at her big brother. This was going to be easier than she thought. Maybe. Rhys could still screw this up. Because it was Rhys and he was good at messing things up.

“Thank you, Finn. Have I told you lately that you’re my favorite?” Rhys asked with a wink. Finn was his little buddy, someone he could count on to have his back.

“Pizza, please! Orin doesn’t eat meat,” Finn told Rhys and Skylar, but they probably already knew that. He grinned up at Rhys, when Rhys joked about him being his favorite.

“Finn, I’m fine with going for burgers. Because you and I both know you want a milkshake and fries,” Orin replied to her little brother. She felt bad that Finn felt as though he needed to cater to her. Orin wanted it to be the other way around. She was the adult and he was the child. It should be her catering to him.

Finn nodded. It was true, burgers, fries and chocolate milkshake was his favorite meal. He walked over to Orin and gave her a big hug around her waist. He was more than ready to go and eat.

“He’s not the only one that wants a milkshake.” Skylar said with a big grin. She glanced her brother who only smiled. She knew that he knew she was up to something. So long as he didn’t pull a Rhys, Skylar knew she’d be in the clear.

“Alright. Burgers, Fries and Milkshakes it is.” Rhys said, with a grin as he walked toward the exit. He glanced at Orin and chuckled. Maybe he was a little attracted to her. Maybe… But he knew it would never be. Orin wanted Rhys to be something he wasn’t. He didn’t feel he’d grow up any time soon.

Orin knew there was some hidden innuendo in what Skylar was saying. The fact that Sky was 11 years old and saying things like that was disturbing for Orin. Or maybe Orin was just reading into things too much. What was Rhys letting Skylar watch? Orin doubted Rhys said anything like that to Skylar. So Orin knew he was not disciplining Skylar enough. It worried Orin. He really needed some help with this. Orin smiled back at Rhys but gave him a look.

“I can’t wait! I haven’t gotten to eat a hamburger in so long,” Finn said ecastatically. He grinned up at Rhys and then over at Skylar.

Skylar chuckled and run past her brother before he made it out the door. She slid between his legs and nearly knocked him down. She wasted no time as she hoped back onto her feet and ran off toward the parking lot. “First one there gets to drive the car.”

“You can’t even reach the pedals yet!” Rhys called after Skylar once he regained his footing. He chuckled, looking over at Finn and Orin. “Don’t worry. She won’t hot-wire my car. I finally broke her of that habit.”

“Finn go catch up with her and make sure she doesn’t,” Orin told Finn, and the little boy raced off to catch up with his friend. Once the pair was out of earshot Orin looked over at Rhys. It was clear that she was not happy. She was giving him the ‘disapproving’ face.

“Don’t get me wrong, Rhys. I love Skylar but you need to change your style of raising her. She’s about to be a teenager, Rhys. She shouldn’t be making comments like that. I don’t know how or why she knows what that means, but it’s really disturbing.”

Finn caught up with Skylar and looked at her. “Seems like my sister wanted to be alone with Rhys.”

"Orin... Don't take this wrong way but what the hell are you talking about?" Rhys asked, cocking his head to the side. He played back the last five minutes of conversation in his head and then grinned. "The Milkshake comment? Orin... I hate to break this to you but the only person that read something dirty in that was you. 'Cause I'm pretty sure Sky meant she wanted an ACTUAL milkshake."

Rhys really hated when people told him he was being a bad father. They didn't seem to realize that he wasn't Skylar's father. He was her brother. Their parents had died, so Rhys was doing the best he could when he could. He couldn't be like Orin. "And if I need to switch up and learn to be more authoratize then you need to learn to ease up. Finn is about to be a teenager and you've got him walking around like a mini old man. Let him be a kid for a change."


"So then our plan is working. I think you're right. They'll be having babies by this time next year." Skylar said to Finn.

Orin rolled her eyes at Rhys, something she hated when other people did. But Rhys always made her roll her eyes for some reason. Maybe there was something wrong with her. Orin just couldn’t help it sometimes. She was extremely sensitive to anything that reminded her of sexual abuse. A little kid making an innuendo comment just set off light bulbs in her head. There was a look of minor guilt and embarrassment on her face, but that washed away when Rhys commented on her parenting skills.

“Yeah, Rhys, I really need to work on my parenting skills. It’s why all Finn’s teachers tell me he’s a model student. Finn’s attitude and demeanor are fine. I love Skylar but you need to set some limits, because she is still only an 11 year old girl. Cognitively speaking, she cannot completely understand the full range of consequences for her actions. I’m worried about her, Rhys. You need to step up your game, and stop doing this woe is me sh!t. You’re the one who agreed to raise your little sister, so start acting like a parent and not like a fun big brother. Whether you like it or not, you’re her father, biologically or not.”

“I hope so. I really want a little brother or sister.” Finn told Sky.

Rhys scoffed. Orin could say what she wanted but he fine with how Skylar was. Okay. Maybe not completely fine. She did swear a lot. And there was the fearlessness that she had that Rhys knew would get her at best into trouble and at worse seriously hurt. He would have admitted as much but Orin told him he get over his woe is me routine. After that Rhys’ eyes just narrowed.

“Who was supposed to take her in? Pollux? Was that before or after he is done saving the world? Or how about Castor and Bella, who have so many children they lose a few from time to time? Or how about foster care? Seriously, what was I supposed to do? Say ‘Sorry Sis, but I can’t take care of you because I have the emotional maturity of an amoeba. So good luck with that foster care situation. Hope the people that take you in aren’t complete monsters.’

“You might be able to do that. But back on Earth where people having feelings and hearts that aren’t made of ice, we can’t just detach ourselves. She is still grieving and so am I. I’m not making excusing that’s just the way it is. That being said, the last thing I need is you telling me how I should take care of my sister.”

Skylar heard voicing rising behind them and she took a deep breath. She knew that whatever elation her and Finn were feeling was about to be shattered. Sky could already feel her throat tighten and she, as a rule never let anyone see her cry. Why did grown-ups always screw things up? “If Rhys messed this up again, I’m f#(&ing out of here.”

Orin shook her head at Rhys, and glared at him when he told her about detaching. That was no what she had been saying. She stopped walking to look at Rhys and glared right back. “That’s not what I was saying, Rhys and you know it. So, stop trying to flip my words on me. You need to stop being the world’s biggest pansy! Tell her no for once. You’re not her friend, you’re her guardian. You’re not supposed to be friends. You’re supposed to be caring and protecting her, not letting her run around. Grief or no grief, you’re the adult, she’s the child. Get over it and grow up,” Orin snarled back at him. She wasn’t going to let the kids hear their argument. But she was sure they could already hear their raised voices.

Finn just heard his sister yelling at Rhys about something. He couldn’t really hear it. So he just turned quietly back to Skylar. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t just leave. Orin had told him not ot. And he was sure there would be consequences if he did leave and Orin found him.

“I’m her brother, I’m not her father. And she already has heard no enough for one lifetime. Are mommy and daddy ever coming home again? No. Can uncle Cas bring them back? No. Believe me I’ve told her no plenty.” Rhys hated when he raised his voice. He hated the way it sounded. He was supposed to be happy-go-lucky; constantly elated and never having a worry in the world. Rhys was far from that. However, he didn’t like anyone seeing him when he wasn’t on his game. “This was a mistake.”

A flood of emotions washed over Skylar’s face; anger, sorrow, pain, rage... “I’m gone. You can stay if you want. But I don’t want to be around when they tell us they’re not going to be friends or whatever anymore.”