Chapter 71: The Ultimate Test of Patience

For once, it was a relatively quiet morning in the neighborhood.

No noises worse than the birds chirping, no needing to fret over a schedule, or school work, or any pressing obligations.

For Leo, it was as simple as getting up, having breakfast, and doing whatever he wanted afterwards.

His mom would be coming home later this evening, and he had already planned to make her a nice salad with a side of tea using oriental leaves he picked up from Maria two days ago.

The perfect mix to get her aches to die down.

After cleaning up the dishes he sat on the couch and watched a little news while glancing at Serra doing sit-ups in the middle of the living room.

"Do you have any plans today, Serra?" He was curious.

"Not really!" She proclaimed between breaths, "Why? Want to do something?"

Leo shook his head and leaned back into the couch, "Not particularly. I think I'll just enjoy the day off."

Serra hopped back up on the cry of "200!" and dried the sweat off her face with a towel, "Well hey! That's great! You deserve it!"

Before she went sprinting off to their room to grab her coat, he turned his head back and wondered, "By the way, have you loaded your clothes in the laundry?"

"Ack! Slipped my mind! I'm on it!" And off she ran, and he heard the washer lid get slammed moments later.

Then she put her coat on and continued doing sit-ups. She enjoyed that little extra pressure the folds of it put on her back while working out.

Not that it sounded right, but what was he going to say? "Stop"? No. No point.

He pulled out his phone and plugged in his ear buds before browsing his pictures.

And he immediately jumped to the post-performance batch between him, Bang, Lyra and Violet.

They had a nice celebration at the deli that weekend, with Lyra still riding high off the exhilaration of tearing her throat out in the name of rock and roll.

Apparently, someone had recorded the performance and put it on YouTube. It didn't get too many views, at least by today's standards according to Violet, but he valued those thousand people who gave her efforts the time of day.

He flicked through images of Bang forcing him to take a pic together, of Anthony accidentally getting soda splashed on his face due to Violet and Bang roughhousing, Lyra and him eating the same type of sandwich…

And then there was a picture taken by Violet in the aftermath of their performance, where Lyra was smiling so bright her teeth were like diamonds, and the sweat of anxiety and excitement came together to make her cheeks positively radiant.

He adored her smile, but lamented that she wasn't allowed to enjoy what she looked like…

He thought and thought, and told himself, "Is there something I could do to help?"

A bold step, but one too far…

There was a way. But that would involve revealing his powers. Even his dad wouldn't budge on that rule.

But he was surprised he even considered that.

So surprised, in fact, that he then caught himself off-guard a second time by remembering that he DID in fact have something planned today.

It took a bit of effort (mostly on Lyra's part), but she'll be coming over here in the afternoon driven by her dad.

And so panic set in immediately as he got up and made sure that everything was clean enough. He used a wet napkin to sweep up a few crumbs and got some dust off the counters.

Upon which Serra stopped another set and asked with a perky smile, "If you're that bored, we could play a game!"

"It's not boredom, thank goodness…" Leo tossed the napkin into the trash, "Lyra's coming over, so I want to make sure the place is…presentable."

He gestured to the house in an awkward, worrying manner. All the while Serra fluttered her eyelashes and then chuckled, "But Leo, she's blind."

Leo flinched and upon facing his sister and her harmlessly blunt comment he remarked, "T-That's…beside the point."

"Well you do what you want! I won't get in your way!" Serra indeed made good on her word and went back to doing sit ups.

"She won't be here until the afternoon, so it's fine."

He did one more scan of the living room and then with a relaxed sigh he prepared to sit down when he heard a rambunctious knock on the door.

Serra hopped back up with a grunt, "You sure about that?"

Leo was sure that he had the time right, so he approached the door with the concern that something unexpected was about to happen.

And who better to represent the unexpected than Samantha, who announced her presence with a guttural declaration of relief, "Oh thank god, someone's home!"

She invited herself into the house, "Leave it to your dad to forget his phone whenever something urgent's come up."

Leo rubbed the back of his head at his dad's expense and then remarked, "So what's the problem?"

Samantha finished greeting Serra with a tight handshake and then wagged her hand behind Leo, "Take a guess."

Leo turned around and none other than Sol and Ana were standing at the door looking up with dull expressions.

Leo felt a twitch in the back of his neck, "Ah, I see…"

He tried to handle the twins in a fond manner, "It's been a little while. You two sure have grown."

"We're-"

"-trying." They responded with their eyes closed proudly.

Samantha then grabbed him on the shoulder and looked him square in the eyes with a smirk, "Yeah, everyone else must've gone and made plans, cause you're the only one I've been able to get a hold of. And well, I can't exactly take these two to a bar."

Samantha glanced at them, "Not after last time."

They raised a tiny smirk, which she responded in kind with a soft head bob and a blunt "Uh huh."

Leo shook his head slightly and murmured, "Wait, what about your husband?"

Samantha sighed, "Eh, he got called to Canada for a big job."

Leo didn't even bother getting into it any further. His good nature took over autonomously and all he had to offer was a mildly reluctant sigh, "There is no one else."

She patted him hard on the shoulder and snickered, "It'll just be a few hours until Moons gets off work."

She was already out the door after patting her kids on the head despite their squirming, annoyed faces, "Now don't hassle them too much."

"Hmph." The twins pouted.

"Wait…" Leo remembered his obligations for the day but alas, Samantha was on a one-way road to her car and was driving off before he had a chance to get out the door.

And when he turned around the twins were a little more perky, creasing their lips into a mischievous smile.

"Well, it's not like I can't handle them. It's just…" He pulled out his phone and kept it out of their reach while he checked the time, "Lyra will be here in a couple of hours…"

He lowered the phone a bit and contemplated his options, "I should call her and explain what's going on. Cancel the get together…"

"Hmmm, but she's probably been looking forward to this all week. I'd hate to disappoint."

His deep hums got the twins giggling. So for the time being, he looked them in the eyes and said calmly, "Now. Please be on your best behavior, you two."

"Still as boring-"

"-as ever." The twins remarked.

He tucked his phone away and followed them back into the house. And it wasn't very long before they were asking, "So where are-"

"-the games?"

Leo leaned a hand on his hip and said, "Dad took them with him on his trip."

The twins gleamed at him over their shoulders with distrust, "All of-"

"-them?"

Leo waved his hand around and sighed, "You know how he is."

They nodded, "True."

In truth, the consoles were upstairs in the closet, but he wasn't about to be strong-armed into fulfilling their desire to do things they couldn't get away with at home.

…Even if that meant fibbing.

Samantha probably just expected him to try and keep them low-energy until Lunis takes over.

As he tried coming up with ideas, Serra blitzed past him towards the door, causing him to stir with surprise, "W-Wait, where are you going?"

Serra turned and waved him farewell, "I just remembered! I was gonna hang out with my Buddy at the track today! Later!"

Much like their fiery bartender friend, Serra was out before Leo got a word in edgewise. All he could do was close the door slowly, accept his fate, and sigh.

"That flighty sister of mine…" When he looked back at the twins, now their smiles were really on full display.

"You just lost-"

"-your last line of defense."

Leo immediately put a pin on their mischief by remarking, "I hope you realize my mom is coming home today, so you better not put any dents in the house."

The twins briefly pouted before getting up to their usual barbed words, "An expected response-"

"-from mama's boy."

Leo took that to his heart like a cactus needle, "I'm not that bad…"

The twins then closed their eyes and remarked, "Fine-"

"-we won't cause any damage."

But their eyes were fixated on him like a couple hungry hyenas looking at fresh meat.

Leo checked his phone again and upon seeing only a couple minutes had passed he sucked in his gut and decided to message Lyra letting him know what was going on.

Disappointment weighed heavily on his shoulders as he pressed "Send" and forced his attention onto the twins, who had gone and jumped on the couch, occupying all the space in a sprawled out, clunky fashion.

They had seized the remote and started flipping through the channels.

Curious, he cautiously approached them and asked, "Anything you want to watch?"

"Not really." They said in unison.

They settled on a high-octane thriller about a race car driver who had to keep driving his car otherwise the engine would explode and take out a large chunk of the city.

Leo kept a watchful eye over them from a safe distance, and the twins seemed fine just settling down and enjoying the movie.

Well 'enjoy', their gazes didn't exactly spark much engagement with what was on screen.

In fact, Sol started grumbling, "Why doesn't he just drive the car into the water to dull the explosion, is he stupid?"

"Mmm hmm…" Ana nodded.

"Next…" Sol limply raised the remote and changed the channel to another movie. Both her eyes lit up at the next movie, which was animated.

Until Ana poked her in the side with her knuckles and remarked, "No, remember, this movie has that poo-poo plot twist at the end."

Sol turned and murmured, "You have to be more specific."

"You know, where it turns out the main character was a doppleganger the whole time?"

"Oooooh, yeah." Sol pouted and changed the channel again.

Leo found their behavior curious and decided to try and engage with them a bit. Maybe diffuse some of their mischievous urges, "You two have a rather particular taste in movies."

The twins glanced at him and turned on their smirks, "Well duh-"

"-it's fun poking fun of plot holes in everything."

Sol in particular gave a bigger smile while remarking, "Writers are total hacks these days."

To which Ana daintily nodded along with her eyes closed.

Leo rubbed the back of his head and commented, "Sometimes you need to accept flaws in a work of fiction."

The twins glanced at him and scoffed, "That sounds like cope-"

"You are a doormat."

Sol spoke up, "Sis, that's not that I was going for. Even though you're right."

Ana puffed her cheeks at Sol, "Maybe you should do a better setup."

They bickered for a little bit while Leo sighed and let them be, "How does Samantha manage to deal with them?"

With his efforts having backfired, Leo resumed being a silent observer, and they managed to stay out of trouble by continuing to watch and critique movies.

They were clearly bored out of their wits though after a couple hours, which in his mind meant they would try and pull something if he took his eyes off them for a second.

Fortunately, it was around lunch time, so he could distract them with a good meal.

"Are you guys getting hungry?"

To which they perked up and admitted, "Yeah."

Regrettably he didn't know their diets, so he popped open the fridge and asked, "What do you want?"

They walked around the corner and after a few seconds of browsing, they dove right into the fridge and pulled out a few random ingredients and the fresh loaf of bread.

Leo knew they would try improvising something for the heck of it. This was something he and Serra got up to when they were younger.

So it was nice to know how despite their attempts at being mature, they were still kids at heart.

They wound up making a big heap sandwich with a bunch of meats and foreign condiments slapped together.

They then rubbed their chins and nodded at each other, before holding one hand and putting their other one over the sandwiches.

Leo only had one second to think about this before they toasted the sandwich with a short burst of fire.

His eyes widened and his heart raced, "I-I'm sorry…?"

The sandwich gave off a slight burnt smell and there was a burn ring on the counter now. But they smiled and took the sandwich with them on a fresh plate, leaving Leo to deal with the mess.

Though he was more focused on their imprudent use of their powers, "...You two aren't using those out in public are you?"

"No-"

"-that'd be stupid."

They were absolutely lying, but fine. More importantly, he looked at the mess in the kitchen and told them, "After you're done eating, you're going to help me clean this up."

They twisted their mouths in disgust and grumbled, "No way-"

"-you're already so good at it, so you can do it."

Leo gave them a long blank stare as they went back to eating their bizarre sandwich.

He took another look at his phone and realized he still had a long way to go before they were out of his hair.

"Haaa, if Serra was around at least she would bounce off their insults with ease," He tucked his phone away and sighed, feeling a little stressed, "I'm honestly at a loss on what to do."'

He heard a knock on the door and had a brief reprieve from all this under the assumption that Serra had returned.

But upon answering he was met with the other blue-tinted girl in his life: Lyra.

"H-Huh?" He said, spooked.

She had come wearing a lightweight jacket and her dad was down on the street, waving him hello and goodbye all at once before leaving in his car.

After the initial confusion wore off, Leo stepped aside and let her tap her cane around before she came inside.

"Did my message not go through?" He wondered.

"It did, but I thought you could use some help." She said upfront.

Leo turned and saw the twins at the edge of the couch, peering over with big, smart-ass grins.

Leo rubbed the back of his head and whispered to Lyra, "Well…I appreciate the thought, but these two aren't easy to handle."

Lyra turned around and smiled, "Try me."

She then tapped her cane around and after knocking on a couple objects she remarked, "It's a little cramped in here."

But she smiled, "Reminds me of our last home."

As she tried to head for the living room she sniffed the air, "What's burning?"

"The lunch the twins made for themselves." Leo said honestly, relieved she can't see the burn mark.

"Ah," She said, "Am I going the right way?"

She tapped the side of the couch and then the table, causing the twins to giggle.

"Seems like it!" Lyra commented.

The twins got up and surrounded Lyra on both sides, making Leo nervous.

"They wouldn't…"

The two danced around her with their hands tucked back, "So how much-"

"-did he pay you?"

Lyra broke into a chuckle, "What's that?"

The twins said in a monotone but blunt voice, "There is no way-"

"-he'd hook a pretty lady like you."

Lyra blushed slightly and giggled, "You're right. I got him."

The twins turned on Leo and pressed their fingers against their smiling lips.

Leo was too busy appreciating her kind way of saying that to care, which annoyed the twins.

They stared up at Lyra and jumped to the worst sort of question, "Have you-"

"-kissed?"

They even smacked their lips to rub it in.

Lyra froze temporarily and turned to Leo, who hung onto a response on the edge of his tongue while rubbing his head, "That's none of your business, Sol…Ana."

"Ooooohhh…" The twins hung in unison, "Leo's upset."

As the twins giggled, Lyra approached him and gave him a gentle tap on the leg with her cane to call him aside.

Upon which she whispered, "How old are they?"

Leo was still a bit embarrassed, "Ten."

"Figures," She then flashed a brief and wily smirk, "We should kiss just to throw them off."

Leo blushed heavily, "You'd waste our first one on that?"

Lyra giggled, "I'm joking. See, that's a problem right there. You take these kids too seriously and they'll eat you up alive."

Leo pondered aloud, "How do you know that? I thought you were an only child."

"I used to babysit my cousins. Though these two seem more…impish than them."

Lyra turned around and whispered, "Did you try playing games with them?"

Leo curled his lips and hummed, "No…? I think that sets a bad precedent to reward them with fun for their bad attitude."

Lyra wondered, "Did they START off bad, or…?"

Leo thought it over, "Well…no. They just went over to the TV and started watching movies."

Lyra smiled, "Then let them play. What's the harm?"

Leo countered, "Look, I already told them there are no games here."

Lyra had a brief expression of…perhaps not disappointment, but disbelief, "You lied to them?"

The twins, as it turned out, were standing there the whole time, drinking from soda cans.

"It's ok-"

"-we knew he was full of shit."

Lyra gawked and upon turning to Leo her expression was slightly more cross, but he misinterpreted her as being upset at their swearing, "They got their mouth from their mother…and father…and the guy living in their basement."

"I don't care about THAT," She announced, "Leo! Lying to kids sets a MUCH worse example than video games!"

Leo gestured calmly and pointed out, "I get that, but they don't want to play games to alleviate boredom, they want to shirk responsibility and be catered."

Lyra flinched and then turned in the twin's general direction, with them giving a cocky shrug while trying to sound pitiful.

"If that's wrong-"

"-then we don't want to be right."

Lyra took a quick glance over at Leo looking like she was starting to regret getting passionate over this. She then took another long look at the twins and asked them a simple question, "Sol and Ana was it? What is it like at home for you?"

"Our mom is a relentless drill sergeant-"

"-and our dad hugs us like a bear would."

Lyra shifted back at Leo and tapped her cane on the ground with a fervent declaration of, "Let them vent off some steam, Leo! C'mon!"

Leo stared flabbergasted at her 180, "It can't have been THAT easy…"

He paused, took a step back, and tried thinking about this from Lyra's perspective.

"...She probably wants the twins to be able to enjoy their lives while they can, given her experiences…"

"Lyra," He said calmly, hoping she'll hear him out, "I'm sorry for lying to them."

Lyra curled her lips and nodded, "That's a start…"

"But…"

"But?" She said with a tone suggesting she had bad experiences with the word.

Leo carefully thought about what he was going to suggest next, "We all have to grow up someday. Much like my cousin Lunalei, I don't want to send children into the world thinking life will be easy-going or worse, letting them become troublemakers."

Lyra paused and wiggled her lips, then closed her eyes and leaned her head back to take a deep breath, "Leo, are you saying this because YOU think that, or because the twins' mother would want it that way?"

Leo nodded, "I believe what I'm saying."

"Ooookay," She exhaled in relief, "But…! It's just one day Leo."

Leo remarked, "You should know how much one day can change everything."

And upon that remark the silence was so damning you could hear a pin drop.

He had got so caught up in the natural flow of the conversation that he stopped thinking and made the most pig-headed statement he could've.

The twins were gleefully off to the side eating popcorn now.

Lyra squeezed her cane tightly and puffed her cheeks. Leo's mouth hung open. There was no response he could come up with that wouldn't sound desperate to take his stupidity back.

"Yeah Leo. I get it," She said tensely, "I know you're a stickler for the rules, and fine, responsibility is important. But it's not like I'm begging you to break the law! I want you to give in to your rebel's spirit just ONCE, and let these kids have a little freedom in their lives."

"Yeah Leo-"

"-have a little heart." The twins said.

Lyra was looking dead into his eyes with an expectation planted into his head that one wrong move, and he'd damage their relationship forever.

"...I was out of line. I'm sorry. Truth is, I guess I'm just a little…frustrated that this was thrust upon me at the last minute."

"All I wanted to do today…was spend time with you."

Lyra blushed and after loosening her grip a little stuttered, "I-Is this the first time you've been frustrated, Leo?"

She swallowed her words and then firmly spoke up, "W-Well! Sometimes life throws a surprise your way."

"..." She tapped her fingers down her cane and puckered her lips anxiously, "I…probably shouldn't have forced myself into this mess. Crap…"

"That's just part of your charm, Lyra," Leo said smoothly, "The rebellious spirit that has slowly loosened my shackles."

Lyra gasped like her breath had been taken away, commenting with loose lips, "Well Leo…m-maybe that kiss is coming sooner than you thought."

Leo got a heavy blush on his face that was stopped once he heard the twins giggling off to the side.

He then remarked, "We still have these two to worry about."

"Riiiight…" Lyra sounded glad to be off this subject.

Leo then looked the twin in the eyes and told them, "If I let you play games, you have to promise not to tell your mom."

"Sounds reasonable-"

"-we won't say anything."

They then cracked mischievous smirks and looked at each other, "If-"

"-you can defeat us."

Lyra chuckled, "Niiiiice try, you two. But Leo's not a gamer."

Leo turned and planned a rebuttal but really, who was he kidding? His tastes were as plain as his clothes.

He rubbed the back of his head and walked off to get the stuff necessary to have fun.

But before he did, he turned back and put his hand on Lyra's shoulder, "Really…I do appreciate you coming out here anyways."

Lyra proudly remarked, "What would you do without me? Heh heh!"

"Nothing…and perhaps…that's why I owe you so much more than simple 'thanks'."

But that was an issue to tackle…another day.

For now, he and Lyra had fun with the twins, and ended up enjoying their short time together rather well after they were gone.

…Though he definitely had to explain the burn mark on the counter to his mom when she got home.

Next Time: Even a Flawed Girl Can Be a Hero