Lapis would have found it much easier to hate Miss Altea if she was an evil old witch who only adopted them so they could do her dirty work - except she wasn't. Lapis was adamant that the Altea lady was going to be terrible, but he could not have been more wrong. Miss Altea was a kindly woman in her 50s with soft brown eyes and a beautiful smile. As soon as they had met, she sat them down and told the twins she didn't expect any sort of affectionate names if they were not ready to call her that.

She had told them the reason she had adopted them was because she knew what it was like to loose someone beloved to you ever so quickly.

Lapis had really looked at her then, and saw the pain she hid behind her calm persona. Lapis glanced to the right and saw Lazuli gazing at Miss Altea with admiration in her eyes. Lapis had smiled then, discreetly patting the pocket of his coat where Zack was hidden in his pocket - he would have to find a way to tell Miss Altea about the creature - and thought, 'Maybe, just maybe we'll be fine here'.


Oh, how wrong he was.


A few days had passed since then - the twins had settled down and unpacked their bags. Lapis had only taken an hour or so - he had only brought things that he deemed important - his clothes, his toys, Father's gun that he had asked Lapis to take care of until he came back, and of course Zack. His twin, however, took a few days to take out all her clothes, makeup, jewellery...

Lapis simply did not understand why she needed that many clothes!

Lapis rolled his eyes, thinking about how angry Lazuli got whenever he questioned her behaviour. 'That's girls, I guess.' Lapis thought as he stroked Zack's wet fur - he was yet to find out what creature it was - and jumped when he heard his name being called.

"Lapis! Come downstairs, we need to have a chat!" Miss Altea called.

Lapis set Zack down and whispered, "Don't start trouble now!" Zack simply stared condescendly as Lapis ran out of the door slamming the door shut. What a strange human, Zack thought.

Miss Altea smiled as Lapis ran into the room, shouting "I'm here!"

Lazuli simply rolled her eyes at the sight of her twin brother. Lapis sat down and waited eagerly for Miss Altea to speak.

She asked them, "So? How are you enjoying your stay so far?"

Lazuli smiled her prettiest smile and said, "It has been fantastic, and it's all I've ever wanted!"

Lapis wanted to roll his eyes - his sister was sucking up to Miss Altea so she could leech off her makeup products and belongings. It was true that Lazuli adores her, but she would never have another motherly figure after Mama.

When Miss Altea turned to him, he too, had a smile on his face and said, "Me too, Miss Altea!"

To be fair, Lapis hated it.

He couldn't go and play outside like he wanted to, Miss Altea claimed that there were "delicate objects important to her family" - then why are they outside then. He had wanted to say that, but had shut his mouth when he saw Lazuli glaring at him from behind.

But if Lazuli wanted it, then he would have to stay here.


At the dinner table, whilst Lazuli and Miss Altea were talking, all Lapis could focus on was making sure Zack wasn't seen as he fed him the yucky vegetables off his plate. It felt so strange, having to hide things from his sister, but if he wanted to keep Zack, he was going to keep doing it.

As Lapis looked to his side, he saw Lazuli beaming up at Miss Altea as they talked about modelling, blah blah blah. Why did Lazuli never shut up about it?? He never talked about animals as much to her !

Ok.

Maybe he did...

"LAPIS!" He jumped as he came back to reality. He whipped his head around to see the both of them staring at him.

He gulped, and replied, "Um, yes?"

Lazuli let out a loud groan. "Do you ever pay attention!"

"Now, now, Laz, don't be so rude to your brother," Miss Altea chuckled.

Lapis stared at her with his mouth open. Laz?? Since when did she call her Laz?

"WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT HER LIKE THAT?!" Lazuli screeched.

Both Miss Altea and Lapis jumped. Lapis shouted back, "What do you mean, you idiot! I ain't looking at her in a bad way!"

Lazuli made to stand up, but was stopped by Miss Altea's hand. Her eyes widened and she sank back into her chair, staring at Miss Altea with fearful eyes.

Lapis turned around to face Miss Altea and saw her staring at them in disappointment. She began, "I believe I told you about the rules. And one of them was to be civil when it is dinnertime. Now, if I wasn't clear-"

Lapis interrupted, "You were clear, but I don't care!" Lazuli let out a scandalised gasp.

"You know what! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR RULES! You think I can just follow them mindlessly like a little robot?! We've hardly been here for a week, and you're trying to make us do what you want! It's not cool! Mama would never-" Lapis fell silent.

Miss Altea looked at him with wide eyes, and as he paused for breath, her eyes narrowed in pity. She began, "Lapis, look-"

But Lapis was already out of the room.


I am not sure if this is a great place to end this chapter, but I really wanted to put something out so a certain somebody wouldn't keep annoying me...

Let me know what you think!