Chapter Text
Lydia wished she could use the sewing machine. The constant rumble of the machine would have been just what she needed and she would’ve gotten things done much more quicker. She needed something to drown her thoughts in. Lydia was desperate for something new to play on repeat in her head. Something better than “There is nothing we can do”.
But she didn’t want to wake him up. A sleepless night was the last thing he needed now. So instead, Lydia had put all of her focus into making the stitches as even and as beautiful as she could. She tried to hum a little. It helped a bit and her stitching continued. It needed to be perfect. Lydia was an accomplished tailor and her knowledge on fashion was impressive. And she was well aware of that fact. It was one of the ways she had been able to keep herself and her brothers alive. “Even when you are struggling to have enough food for next day, you can still try to look good”, Edward was always saying.
Edward had had a job at the local theatre, working with makeup and lights, but they had found someone more talented. And it was better when at least one of them was able to be at home all the time. When Lydia was able to stay at home, Edward’s days had usually consisted of running around town, looking for clerics and healers that would be willing to help them. Many of them had been kind-hearted folk, some had sold him some herbs and some had even paid a visit to try and see what was going on. But too many refused to take Edward’s money. The two of them were not really the most liked elves in town, and many had their fair share of suspicions on where the elf had gotten the money. Many people considered it too late for the twins to start acting all humble and good-willed now.
Lydia pulled the needle through the fabric one more time, before tying the thread with a secure knot behind the lace. She bit sharply on the thread, cutting it from the base. Lydia stood up and looked at the suit, posing in front of the mirror, holding it to her chest. It was a bit slimmer than her own silhouette, and a bit too short as well. Which meant it would be perfect for Keats. She took in a shaky breath. The vest looked beautiful. It was one of Edward’s older ones that Lydia had just sewn to fit Keats. She felt kind of bad for reusing old clothing, but it had to do. And Edward hadn’t been wearing the vest for years, he wouldn’t mind. The deep blue fabric felt silky under Lydia’s fingers as she traced around the suit, making sure the seams were secure. She had sewn beautiful strips of lace around the collar of the vest and at the ends of the sleeves. Silvery buttons went down in the middle. With pride in her eyes, she traced over the snake she had embroidered on the fabric. It slithered between the buttons, its head coming to rest on the shoulder. She still wanted to work on the details of the snake, but other than that she considered the vest ready.
A small knock on the door woke Lydia up from her daze. Without waiting for an answer, Edward stepped in. He was wearing rugged, grey sweater, he had not even bother to put any makeup on. But it was late; it was not like he had the most interesting nightlife. Actually he shouldn’t have any nightlife at all.
“ What are you doing here? You should be watching over Keats” Lydia almost hissed. She didn’t want her work to be interrupted like this.
“ He is sleeping already Lydia. The real question is, why are you still up at this hour?“ Lydia could hear the tiredness in her brother’s raspy voice. She sat back down at her desk, reaching for the needles and the light blue thread. Blue details would work perfectly on the snake.
“ As you can see, I’m trying to work” Lydia murmured, holding the needle between her teeth.
“What are you working on? “ Edward asked quietly, making it seem like he didn’t actually care for an answer as he pinched the sweaters sleeve between his slender fingers.
“ A surprise for Keats. Remember when he saw that one suit I made for that tiefling last week? I’m making something similar for him” Lydia explained, holding her breath as the thread went through the eye of the needle.
Edward leaned on the doorframe and just watched quietly as his sister started to carefully pierce the indigo fabric. Lydia could feel her brother’s stare on her back. It was irritating, to say the least.
“ Did you have something important to say? If not, can you please go watch over Keats? ” Lydia sighed, feeling her ears twitching under her brother’s attention.
“Why bother?” the elf barely whispered, turning his gaze to the side, leaning his forehead to the cool door frame. The needle was halfway through the fabric when Lydia froze.
“What did you say?“ Lydia asked she turned sharply in her chair to face her brother. He didn’t move, didn’t answer. Just stared blankly at the floor.
“Edward, say that again! “ Lydia hissed sharply.
“I said why bother “ Edward lazily murmured to the wall. Lydia turned back to her work, now making stitches in a much faster pace.
“Lydia you heard what that cleric said” Edward said raising his voice a bit. Lydia just concentrated on the stiches. She could feel small tears starting to gather on the corners of her eyes. The constant repeating of the clerics words started to play in her head once again.Lydia quickly sniffed and wiped the corner of her cheek. It didn’t really help as the tears blurred her vision more.
“He is dying Lydia!”
A jolt of pain travelled fast through Lydia as she pierced her finger with the needle. Small red droplets of blood started to pool on her finger and when they weight of the drop would grow too heavy, it would drop to the fabric, coloring the blue scale on the snake’s head bright red. Couple more drops fell, before Lydia’s brain finally decided to register what was going on. She put the needle down and moved the vest away, making room in the table, so she could bury her face to her hands without worrying about getting tear stains on to the suit. She tried to muffle her sobs by gently biting down to her hand, an old habit. Lydia could hear her brothers footsteps come closer and closer, before she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.
“That’s just the facts…” Edward whispered. When Lydia didn’t shoo her away in her usual fashion, he continued:
“ So, why are you wasting your time? You… You need some sleep too. And we will need money for the funeral and all… I’ll try to get some money tomorrow but...” Edward said and lazily wrapped his arms around his sisters shoulders. Lydia squirmed from her brother’s grip, staring at him through misty eyes.
“ How can you say that?” she choked up, before pushing Edward away.
“ You talk he is already dead! We still have a chance, and maybe this suit will give him the power to fight on and…”
“ Lydia! Are you even hearing what you are saying?! A fucking suit is not going to magically cure him! Fucking nothing is!” Edward yelled, grabbing Lydia by the shoulders as she was trying to stand up.
“ Keep your voice down or.. “ Lydia was about to ask her brother to shut up but stopped when she noticed the tears streaming down his brother’s face.
“ I’ve tried fucking everything…. Nobody is helping us anymore…I’m… I’m so sorry Lydia!” Edward sobbed, his grip on Lydia shoulders tightening.
“ What?” Lydia whispered, giving Edward a moment to breath.
“ There has been rumors going on… They think we bring bad luck or don’t pay or other shit like that. You don’t know how much I had to pay for that cleric today” Edward’s knees gave out and he pretty much collapsed on top of his sister. Lydia instinctively wrapped her arm around the trembling elf.
“ The fucking cleric was right. We can’t do anything. We have to watch our brother die and just…” Edward sobbed to his sister’s shoulder. Lydia tried her best to get Edward to calm down, gently petting his matted hair he hadn’t bothered to wash for days.
For a good minute or two the two elves just sobbed in each other's embrace. They both knew that this day would come, sooner or later, not just this fast.
Their parents had pretty much just shoved Keats into their care without explaining the situation at all. It had always been like that. Even when they were little Keats could always be found in the care of his older siblings, rather than his so called “loving parents”. When Edward had tried to get in contact with them again, they had just told him that he was the one that had wanted a little brother. He decided not to call them again.
As the elves breaths started to get more even and calm, Lydia tried to talk again.
“ Edward, I’m proud of you. You’ve done everything you could. Don’t feel guilty. But I don’t think we should give up yet” Edward heard Lydia whisper. He eased his grip and wiped his face with the back of his hand.
“ Edward. I know this might not cure Keats, but it could make him happy. So let me do this” Lydia said, hugging her brother once more.
“ Okay…” Edward whimpered quietly.
“ Go to sleep. I’ll finish this tomorrow. I can go watch over Keats. Okay? “ She proposed smiling weakly. Edward nodded and started to walk towards his room, with wobbly legs.
Lydia took in a deep, calming breath and looked herself in the mirror. Tear stains covered her cheeks and a small amount of blood was smeared on her forehead from the cut in her finger. Lydia quickly wiped her face, before carefully folding the suit away.
Keats coughed. Loud and violently. He had been holding the coughs inside for so long. He hated hearing his siblings argue, but he also wanted to at least hear what they were arguing about.
It was not like Keats had not heard this stuff before. This was not the first cleric, healer, helper who had not bothered to make sure that their patient didn’t hear as they gave their death sentence. He had accepted the fact that he was going to die long ago. Keats could only hope that his siblings would be okay after his death. But judging by their reactions when he was still alive left him worried.
He could still hear Edward crying in the room next to him as Lydia stormed to the room with a glass of water in her hand.
“ Did we wake you up? I’m sorry, I’m sure Edward didn’t mean to. Are you okay Keats?” Lydia asked with a worried smile. Keats nodded and took the glass from her hands. Lydia pet his head as he tried to fall asleep again.
“Is Edward going to be okay?” Keats asked weakly as he felt Lydia casting a sleeping spell on him.
“We are all going to be okay. Everything will seem better in the morning. You’ll see. Goodnight Keats” Lydia smiled and planted a small kiss on his brother’s forehead. The brother smiled and weakly murmured to his pillow:
“ Good night Lydia”