Talks On The Lawn*

Outside the house, standing by himself on the lawn, Vander sighed before hanging up his phone and looking up at the gray sky. He adjusted his leather jacket once more before walking across the lawn toward the garage.

Hearing the porch door open and shut a second time, he glanced back and spotted Vi leaving the back door by the kitchen. She jogged to catch up to him.

Vander stopped and waited for her to approach. She too adjusted her sweatshirt around herself in the chilly mist, crossing her arms as she stopped and stood a few feet away from him, staring at him for a long time.

He figured he knew what this was about.

His foster daughter gazed up at him with that all too familiar expression on her face. The one that, truth be told, she shared with himself. A look that told him she wasn't done yet. A scowl like she was looking for something to prove.

"You always say we have to earn our place in the world," Vi replied flatly. "It's not a big deal to me if we need it."

Vander held a hand up. "I'm earning enough income at Benzo's shop–"

"Apparently not!" Vi shot back.

They both seemed a little shocked at what she'd said, both of their eyebrows shooting up.

Vi's face fell. "I'm sorry. I just… I don't want to be kept in the dark."

Pursing his lips, Vander shifted closer, putting a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"Yes," he answered, "the water damage and the fire from our other place has… made things a bit tight. But I promise you don't have to worry. We have enough. I've got savings tucked away. I'm going to the bank today to get it sorted out. You aren't missing out on anything."

Still, Violet frowned, gazing down at the ground. Her being silent felt worse than her arguing a point. Vander waited a long time for her to look up at him, but she didn't.

"Save your pennies for another rainy day, Vi," he said gently, "In the meantime, we'll salvage what we can. Like we always do."

Vander ruffled his huge hand on her head, messing up her hair, like he did when she was younger. Vi didn't fight it or resist like she used to. The tiniest of grins curved her lips but was gone with worry as quickly as it came.

"Try to focus on other things," Vander suggested, "Go have fun with your sister. I get the feeling she's gonna miss you once school starts."

He nodded to the house, letting her think about it, before walking away toward the garage. He doubted it but hoped to find the right tools to start work on repairing the wet floor and ceiling.

Once Vander left, Vi stayed standing on the lawn for a while. She smoothed back her hair and breathed a heavy sigh, rubbing a hand on the back of her neck.

When she turned and looked back at the house, Vi spotted Powder through a window in the drawing room, lying on the couch with her headphones on. Her little sister was drawing something in her sketchbook, frowning at the paper like it insulted her.

The corner of Vi's mouth tugged in a tiny smile.

…

Leaving Vander to his work, Vi crossed the lawn and came back to the house. She climbed the front porch and entered through the front door. Staying quiet, she entered the drawing room and crept over to the couch, watching over Powder's shoulder.

After a few minutes, Powder still had a white sheet of paper with 'Mist' written on it in one corner, in slightly wiggly letters resembling cursive.

"Hmm. Very modern, dear," said Vi.

Powder jolted a bit, looking up at her from the couch with a start.

"You scared me," she grumbled, lying back down, and glaring at her paper again.

Vi leaned over the arm of the couch, hovering above Powder's head, smirking down at her.

"Well, before you visit the neighbors, I wanted to know… where was that old well you wanted to show me?" Vi asked.

Powder looked up at her sister in surprise and grinned widely.

…

"It's at the top of this hill, back here!" Powder called as she led the way through the meadow and up the dirt path.

Vi followed close behind her, shielding her eyes from the overcast sun. Climbing the hill, she looked out over the valley with a contented sigh. "Oh, wow. You can see the whole property from here. It's beautiful."

"If you say so," Powder grunted at the gray clouds.

Vi shrugged, leaning back with her hands on her hips. "It'll look better once we plant those flowers. What were you going to get this year?"

"Tulips," Powder answered.

"That's right. Tulips!" Vi nodded.

"Anyway, it's over here!" Powder waved her over, through the dry apple trees.

Skipping ahead, Powder scanned the ground once she knew she got close to where the well was. She eyed the hill where Ekko came from, as well as the stump he had stood upon. Then Powder picked up a stick and poked at the ground, careful not to step on the lid this time. Vi watched her sister from a short distance as she worked.

Then Powder smiled widely as her stick hit something in the mud. She knelt down and scooped mud away with her hands to show her sister. Vi came closer and knelt beside her, touching the lid.

"Ekko said it was so deep that if you were at the bottom and looked up, you'd see, like, a bunch of stars during the day," said Powder.

Vi nodded, looking down through the peep hole. "No kidding, that does look deep."

"But I know that can't be true," Powder said, crossing her arms. "It isn't scientific!"

Vi merely shrugged, smirking at Powder's attitude. "I like him. He seems like a good kid."

"He's so annoying!" Powder exclaimed, throwing her arms, "He comes over here, like, all the time!"

"Maybe because he's excited to have friends that are his age?" Vi suggested, cocking her head to the side. "I think you might like him more if you focused on having fun instead of finding insults to tell him."

Powder scowled at first but softened slightly.

Maybe Vi was right. Maybe she was being too harsh on him.

Then Vi read her watch, her eyebrows going up. "Oh shit, it's almost lunch time! I gotta start the food!"

She started heading down the hill without Powder, only to turn around halfway and wave to her.

"I have to go into town and pick up some things! Are you okay heading back to the house on your own?" she called.

Powder huffed to herself and made a show of raising a thumb to the sky. Across the distance, Vi gave her a thumbs up in return and headed back toward the house.

Alone, Powder pouted her lips and kicked at a pebble.