Work Text:
It had all started because Ty had wanted to find lizards. Livvy had no interest in lizards but she did love her brother and so, she had accompanied him. With backpacks full of snacks, water and Ty’s identification guide, they had headed off into the desert. Ty had always been good with animals and so she had expected him to find one fairly easily and they would be back in time for lunch.
However, lunch had passed; they had paused under a rocky outcropping to eat a couple of granola bars and apples. Wavy lines of heat lay in the distance, the sun beating down upon them. Livvy was sweating, her hair sticking to her neck, her hat barely protecting her; it was so hot, it felt like the heat was leeching through the material into her scalp.
Ty was searching for a Baja California collared lizard. They were only found in California and Mexico but Ty had yet to see one; he had made it his current mission to do so.
“Shouldn’t we have found one by now?” She had asked, brushing another layer of sweat from her brow.
“Not necessarily; they’re pretty uncommon actually.” Ty said, moving ahead, cheerfully.
“Okay. Maybe we should look for another half an hour and then start heading back.” Livvy suggested, nonchalantly.
“I think we should see how it goes, maybe we’ll come across some more rocky areas; they like those.”
“Sure.” She sighed internally, wishing for a cold shower or to be sunbathing at the beach. Ty was the best person in her life, and they were so alike in so many ways, but she felt uneasy about being so far out into the desert.
Ty had gotten a little distance ahead and had stopped to investigate some more rocks. She walked faster to catch up with him.
“Did you find anything?”
He pointed at a spotted lizard with a dark tail, darting between the rocks. “It’s a desert grassland whiptail; I startled her. Did you know that they are all females and they reproduce by parthenogenesis, so they don’t need fertilisation from a male. But they still have courtship dances between females that enhance ovulation.”
“That’s really interesting.” Livvy smiled, suddenly very glad that she had agreed to come with him. “Now we just need to find the collared one.”
Ty took a few photos of the whiptail with his phone. “This is perfect; I can’t wait to put these in my notebook with the others!” For every topic that Ty was interested in, he bought a notebook. He would fill them with notes and observations, photos and quotes; anything that piqued his interest or reminded him of them. It was one of Livvy’s favourite things about her brother; that he was so excited about his interests. Once he moved onto a new interest, the notebook would find its way onto his shelf and would stay there, filled with all of Ty’s thoughts, lovingly notated.
“Let’s keep going, I don’t want to miss them.”
“Of course.” Livvy said, looking towards the sky. The sun was beginning to hang low, the rays still warm but less so than they had been at midday. “But we really should start heading back soon; if the sun goes down whilst we’re out here, we’ll freeze.”
Ty nodded. “You’re right.” He looked around and pointed to a pile of rocks in the distance, “that looks like a good place to find them.”
“Lead the way.”
They carried on through the desert, across the brush of yellowing plants and twigs so dry that they looked light they would catch fire if Livvy even thought about flames. At every pile of rocks, Ty stopped to examine them and they only moved one when he declared them free of lizards. On their way to the pile of rocks Ty had seen, they passed a few more lizards, common species that Ty had already photographed a lot at the edge of the desert, but that didn’t stop him from taking a few more.
Livvy smiled at the sight of every cactus they passed, just because it was green and not the same colour as everything else in the desert. She was getting hungry now, not having prepared for being out so long and she kept sending worried glances at the sun as it got ever lower in the sky.
At last, they reached the rocks; a large pile of orange stones that, Livvy had to admit, seemed like the perfect place for lizards to live.
“I’ll just search here and then we’ll go back,” Ty said, smiling at her. She nodded, sitting down to wait as she watched Ty climb onto them, peering into every crack, examining every nook and cranny. Pulling out her phone, she grimaced when she saw that there was no signal here. Of course there isn’t, Livvy. We’re in the middle of nowhere. Even so, she sent a quick text to Julian that they were still in the desert and would be back soon. Hopefully, there would be a spike in signal and he’d get it.
“Found anything?” She called over her shoulder.
“Not yet… I don’t understand, this is the perfect environment for them and it’s a good time of day, not too hot.”
“Maybe they heard us coming and hid.”
“Maybe.” He reappeared from around the stone, face downturned in disappointment.
“How about we get back and we can always come back out tomorrow, but a little better prepared.” She suggested, hating that he looked so sad.
“Really?”
“Sure.” She smiled, “anything beats lessons on demon languages.”
Ty sunk to the ground, putting his hands over his eyes. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have dragged you out here. I know you don’t care about lizards and you’ve probably been miserable all day. It’s just… I thought I could find them.”
“Hey, don’t worry about me. I had a great time because I was with you. Sure, deserts and lizards aren’t my thing, but they are yours and I’m really glad you let me share that with you.” She said gently, placing a hand on his arm.
As she did, a quick movement behind Ty startled her and she saw a lizard, black bands on its body, limbs yellowing towards the ends.
“Ty,” she whispered, “the lizard is behind you, be very careful not to scare it.”
Without looking, Ty asked, mimicking her whisper, “does it have a black collar?”
“Yes.”
Slowly, both of them holding their breaths, he turned and Livvy managed to catch the moment where his face split into a grin.
“Hello, little one.” He pulled out his phone and took a few photos as the lizard stared towards them, head raised, staring unblinkingly into the camera.
“I can’t believe it,” said Ty. “You actually found one!”
“Well, technically, you knew exactly where it would be and I guess it needed a moment of stillness to reveal itself to us. But it was you who found it, Ty.” She grinned.
After a little while, the lizard turned, clambering up the rocks and out of sight.
“That was amazing.” Ty said, the smile permanently etched onto his face.
“It was.” Livvy agreed, surprised that she actually meant it.
A cool breeze washed over them as they got to their feet and left the shelter of the rock. The sun had almost completely set now, long shadows trailing after the rocks, the orange light disappearing underneath the horizon.
“We need to get back,” Ty said and Livvy nodded, she looked around and was struck by panic.
“Wait, where are we? I can’t remember where we came from?” She said, shielding her eyes from the last rays of light. “It’s going to be dark soon and what then? We’ll be stuck here all night.”
Ty furrowed his brow for a moment, and then turned, pointing in a direction. “We came from that way.”
“How do you know?”
“We were walking towards the sun as it was setting so if we go that way, we should come out of the desert, hopefully somewhere near the Institute.”
“Are you sure?” She didn’t know why she asked; she trusted Ty and she knew that he was logical and reasonable. It was a perfectly good deduction, yet she was worried, unable to get swirling thoughts from her mind of not seeing her family again, of never watching Julian make pancakes or watching horror movies with Dru or reading bedtime stories to Tavvy.
“Of course.”
“Then lead the way.”
The trek through the desert felt a million miles longer on the way out. Livvy shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, even with the thin sweatshirt she had been wearing around her waist all day, she was cold. At night, the desert was freezing, made of buffeting winds dragging up dust and dirt from the ground, whistling between the rocks.
Ty led the way, illuminating a path with the torch from his phone. They had decided to use one at a time in case the batteries died and they were left without any means of light. His headphones were unusually silent, sitting around his neck as they were mostly when only she was around. Goosebumps were scattered across his arms but he never complained once, just set on getting them both home.
“Are those lights?” Livvy exclaimed, forgetting the cold and pointing towards them, grinning.
“We made it!” Ty said, hurrying forwards a little faster.
A beep from Livvy’s phone caught her attention. Pulling it out of her pocket she saw missed calls and worried texts from Julian, Emma and Diana. She clicked the call button and held it to her ear.
“Livvy, where are you?” Came Julian’s panicked voice.
“We’re okay, we can see the Institute now, we’re coming from the desert.”
“I’m on my way.” She heard the sound of running on the other side of the phone and Julian shouted for Emma and Diana.
When they emerged from the sandy wasteland, they saw the three figures rushing towards them.
“Jules!” Livvy shouted, and forgetting the light, she rushed forward into his arms. He scooped her up and held her to his chest.
“Are you okay? What happened?” She felt the fast heartbeat against her cheek and he pulled away to check Ty over and hold an arm out to him.
“We’re okay, Ty got us home.”