Chapter Text
Tap tap tap.
Lux rolled over in bed.
Tap tap.
She opened her eyes. It was the middle of the night.
Knock knock knock.
"Luuuuux," Rio groaned. "There's someone at the doooor."
She prodded Lux until she got up. Who could be there at this hour? Lux stretched and yawned. She snapped her fingers once, twice, until a dim magelight floated from her fingers. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light.
Lux opened the door and confirmed it was in fact the middle of the night. She didn't see anyone at first, until she looked down. Rya, a girl from the young class, stood at the door, anxiously wringing her hands and shivering. Lux was suddenly sharply awake.
"Rya!" she said in a half-whisper. "What's wrong?"
Rya tugged at her shirt and stared at her feet. She hadn't seemed to be expecting Lux.
"I-is... Rio there?" she said in a tiny voice.
Lux glanced over her shoulder. Rio sat up in bed, awake now too.
"Uh-huh," she said loud enough for Rya to hear.
Rya glanced up at Rio's voice, but looked away again when Lux looked back at her.
"Do you want to come in?" Lux said in as gentle a voice as she could manage. Rya nodded and Lux stood aside. Rya hastily ran past her, bare feet slapping against the wooden floors. She jumped up on the bed with Rio and rubbed her arms.
Lux and Rio exchanged a glance as Lux walked back over to the bed. She sat down next to Rya, but let Rio do the talking.
"What's up, kiddo?" Rio said. Rya curled inwards a little.
"I..." she glanced at Lux but then back to Rio. "I had a nightmare..."
"Ohh," Rio said, softly putting a hand around Rya's shoulder. Rya began to softly cry as she hugged Rio. Rio rubbed her arms and held her.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" she whispered. Rya just shook her head.
Lux sent warmth into her hand and set it against the back of Rya's neck. She shivered at first, but relaxed as the heat soothed her. In a few minutes Rya was warmed up, and had stopped crying, but made no indications of leaving.
"Do you want to stay with us tonight?" Lux asked.
Rya looked anxiously at Lux. But when Rio gave her a light nod, she quietly said, "Uh-huh..."
Lux extinguished her light as they settled in. Rya snuggled up to Rio, but Lux had the impression the poor girl was nervous to be at her teacher's house, so she stayed a little bit back.
Rio also seemed to notice the tension, so she said, "Hey, did you know that Lux has nightmares too?"
Rya looked up with awe in her little eyes and like they were sharing a secret, she whispered, "Really?"
"Oh yeah. She'll wake up screaming, hands shining so bright I think the sun's come up!" Rya giggled a little. "And so do I for that matter. I get nightmares all the time, about my family, about my home."
Rio said, "You know what we do when one of us has a nightmare?" Rya shook her head and Rio said, "We snuggle close to each other until we fall back asleep. Like this."
She put an arm around Rya and pulled Lux in closer, so that little Rya was sandwiched between them. Rya seemed to have gotten over her anxiety about Lux, because now she was snuggled up between them happy as could be. She was asleep in minutes.
Lux smiled lovingly at Rio and mouthed, "Great mother." Rio rolled her eyes but could not hide her smile.
Word about Rya's sleepover quickly spread, and nightmares were very common in Terbisia. Now on any given night, up to four children could be found piled up together with Lux and Rio in their little bed.