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Lyney wasn't used to silence.
He grew up with dozens of other kids in the orphanage, and even after that he's always shared a home with Lynette and Freminet. Neither of which were very loud or talkative, but there was still life inside the building. And then Lumine joined their little family as well! Silence just wasn't something that was ever in abundance.
That day was unusually quiet, despite it being the middle of the summer holidays. Freminet had left early that morning, diving gear in tow. Lynette and Lumine were off on what Lynette called a “girls trip.” And suddenly, Lyney had the house all to himself.
Usually if he ever found himself bored at home alone, Lyney would go out. He loved the bustling city streets, where he could socialize with others, or even put on spontaneous little magic shows for groups of kids. Originally that had been his plan for that day, but instead Lyney found himself lazing around the house. Maybe he was finally coming down from the high of the performance he had that weekend, because he was unusually tired. He found himself watching the cat asleep in the windowsill and envying its freedom to take naps as it pleased.
It was just a little past 1 pm, and Lyney had sprawled himself out across one of the black leather living room couches. He had one arm folded over the armrest, with his chin resting on it, lazily watching the TV.
The sudden ringing of his phone made Lyney jump. He stifled a yawn as he sat upright, feeling around on the coffee table for it. To his surprise, Lynette's name was on the screen. He picked up.
“Hey Lynette.” Lyney stifled another yawn, leaning back on the couch. “Have you just interrupted my movie marathon to tell me how much fun you gals are having on your girls trip?”
“Very funny.” His sister's blunt voice responded through the phone. “I'm calling to hear if you could perhaps come pick Lumine up? She's not feeling well.”
Lyney’s face fell, and he immediately sat up straight.
“What?” He asked, his voice suddenly serious. “Is she okay?”
“And he's fretting. I won this one, Navia, you owe me five bucks.”
“Lynette!” Lyney scoffed. “Is Lumine alright?”
“She's alright, she's just been feeling a little off. She said she'd rather go home.”
“I'll be there as quickly as I can.” Lyney was already getting to his feet. “Where are you guys?”
“Tell him if he speeds, I'm strangling him.” Lumine's distant voice was heard in the background.
“Heard that? She's telling you to stop freaking out.” Lynette said. “We're at the mall right now. I would have driven her home myself, but Furina gave us all a lift here and of course she had to bail to run a quick errand.”
“Alright, alright, I'll stay calm.” Lyney had the phone between his ear and shoulder as he locked the front door back up. “I'll be there in a bit.”
Reluctantly he hung up, shoving his phone in his pocket.
On the drive to the mall, Lyney's mind raced a little. Lumine hasn't really gotten sick since they've started dating, save for one or two mild colds. Lyney hasn't had much of a reason to worry about her at all. Now of course, he was borderline panicking. And he didn't even have a real reason to!
It wasn't a long drive to the mall, ten minutes give or take. Their town had a pretty large mall with two stories and large glass windows. The front entrance of the mall was made up of a pavement square with a fountain, some seating, and a food court off to one side. Lyney conveniently found a parking spot close to the entrance.
He was trying to reassure himself as he parked the car, telling himself that Lynette had said Lumine was fine. She was probably just tired, like he was! Maybe she had a headache, or she was having a bit of an off day, it wouldn't be something to worry about. Lyney was sure she was talking and laughing with the other girls while they waited for him to show up and made bets on just how much he was overreacting.
Lyney breathed out slowly, nodding to himself. Yeah, he was sure that was the case!
He must've been getting himself unnecessarily worked up, because he almost felt a little queasy getting out of the car. It was just stress, surely.
As Lyney began to approach the building, his eyes caught sight of the familiar group of girls. There was a head of pink hair that could only belong to Charlotte, standing with her back in his direction. It looked like Lynette was the person standing next to her.
Lyney's stomach knotted slightly. The other two people in the group were sitting down on a stone bench. Lumine was sitting next to Navia, who had her arm around Lumine, letting her head rest on her shoulder. Lyney broke into a jog.
Lynette heard his footsteps first, glancing over her shoulder as he approached. “Oh, Lyney!”
In unison, Charlotte, Navia, and Lumine all turned to look towards him as well. A tired smile spread across Lumine's face and she sat up, lifting her head off Navia’s shoulder.
“Hey guys.” Lyney greeted, a little out of breath. His eyes immediately went to Lumine. “Are you okay? You're a little on the pale side, my love.”
“I'm alright.” Lumine said, accepting Navia’s help to get to her feet. “I've just been kind of nauseous on and off.”
“We thought it was food poisoning at first, but none of us are sick.” Charlotte said.
Lyney held out his arms, and Lumine walked into them, letting him pull her into a hug and kiss the top of her head. There was a collective “aww” from Navia and Charlotte, while Lynette just lightheartedly rolled her eyes.
“You two are such a cute couple.” Navia said, clasping her hands together. “You'd make great parents.”
“I already told you I'm not pregnant.” Lumine argued, her voice muffled through the fabric of Lyney's shirt.
Everybody laughed, and even Lumine chuckled. Lyney could feel her leaning quite a bit of her weight on him, and he wrapped his arms behind her back for extra support.
“Alright ladies, enough joking around.” Lyney said, chuckling. “I'm going to take my lovely girlfriend home for some rest.”
“Rest sounds great.” Lumine said, standing up straight again. She waved a hand at the other three girls. “And don't you guys dare cut this day short, go and have fun without me. Furina will be back soon enough to take my place.”
“If you insist, but we're having a do-over at some point.” Charlotte said, crossing her arms.
Lyney put one arm around Lumine's back, almost protectively, as he lead her back to the car. Lynette, Navia, and Charlotte all walked with them. Lumine broke away from Lyney to pull open the passenger door, gratefully sinking into it. Despite her repeated insistence that she felt fine, Lyney didn't miss how she momentarily closed her eyes and drew in a long breath through her teeth.
Lyney quickly got into the driver's side, put on his seatbelt, turned the key in the ignition… and the car didn't start.
“What.” He blankly stared down at the steering wheel. “I just drove here, and it was fine.”
“Fantastic.” Lumine mumbled, sinking slightly down in her seat and pinching the bridge of her nose.
“I can take a look?” Navia offered. She was already beginning to roll up her sleeves. Lyney nodded gratefully, opening the car door again. He was a little embarrassed that while he was the only guy there, he knew probably the least about cars.
“I'll give Furina a call, see how far out she is.” Lynette said as Navia opened the hood.
Lumine begrudgingly got out as well, walking around to lean with her back against the car. Lyney reached over to squeeze her shoulder apologetically.
“I'm really sorry, this is the worst timing.” He said softly. The queasy feeling from earlier was back in his stomach. He was just worried.
“It's not your fault.” Lumine said, smiling faintly.
“It's your battery.” Navia announced, just as Lynette rejoined the group.
“This isn't the first time it's giving you issues either, brother, I said you should get it looked at.” Lynette said bluntly. “Furina should be here any minute, then we can jump start it.”
Lumine had grown grown quiet, resting her head in one hand while the others talked. She slowly lifted her head again, pushing herself off the car.
“Guys.” She mumbled softly. “I'm really nauseous.”
Lyney’s anxiety exploded.
“Here, I got you.” Lynette said, taking Lumine by one arm. “I'll take you to the bathroom.”
“Wait, wait, should I come-” Lyney asked, anxious beginning to follow after them.
“You can't go into the ladies room.” Navia said matter-of-factly, grabbing Lyney's shoulder to stop him. “Lynette's got her, she's okay.”
Navia’s words were almost instantly proven wrong when Lumine suddenly pulled away from Lynette. She had one hand up to her mouth, half-jogging to a nearby trash bin. Lyney rushed over, reaching her first. He quickly gathered back the two long strands of hair that dangled over her shoulders, putting his free hand on her back. Lumine gripped the sides of the trashcan with both hands, dragging in long, shaky breaths. Lynette motioned for the other two girls to take a few steps back, so they wouldn't be crowding her.
“You're alright.” Lyney murmured softly, rubbing Lumine's back.
“I- I'm not alright. ” Lumime breathlessly growled back at him, not opening her eyes. “I'm about to- to puke. In- in a public parking lot- of- of all-” Her words got cut off by a dry heave, and Lumine’s back arched beneath Lyney's hand. He swallowed thickly.
“Awh, Lumi, you liar, you said you weren't feeling that bad.” Navia whispered sympathetically, her voice just loud enough for the other two girls to hear.
Lumine gagged a few times, her entire body lurching with each motion. It took a few retches before she choked up a small mouthful of stomach acid. Lyney turned his head away, swallowing thickly. Lumine didn't bat an eyelid when he had food poisoning a couple of months back, she deserved the same from him.
Lumine coughed wetly, and Lyney caught a few curse words between her panting breaths. He made the mistake of looking, just as Lumine leaned forward with a guttural retch. Lyney only caught a glimpse of the yellowish liquid coming out of her mouth, quickly throwing his head back so he was looking up at the sky. His eyes were burning with involuntary tears, and Lyney swallowed a few times when he felt his mouth water.
“Okay, hold on there brother.” Lynette must've seen he was struggling, because she quickly walked over, taking Lumine's hair into her hands instead. “I got her.”
Lyney didn't want to step back, he didn't want to leave Lumine in somebody else's hands, but his body was betraying him. He staggered a few steps away, leaning forward to rest his hands on his knees. Navia had hurried over, putting one hand on his back.
“Easy there, partner.” She told him. “You look like you're the one who's going to hurl any moment now.”
Lyney only shook his head, dismissively waving a hand at her. He didn't know what was going on, he wasn't usually this weak-stomached. The unusual queasiness that's been brewing in his stomach since he came to pick Lumine up, had suddenly escalated into full-blown nausea.
In the gentlest way he possibly could, Lyney pushed Navia aside, rushing back to the trash bin where Lumine and Lynette were. He made it just in time to throw up as well.
“For fuck sake’s Lyney, you too?” Lynette blurted out, wide-eyed.
Lyney panted shakily, leaning on the side of the bin when his vision swam.
One of the other girls, Lyney thought it looked like Charlotte out of the corner of his eye, had stepped forward to hold his hair for him. His face burned with shame. This was not the type of show he enjoyed putting on.
Lumine had started to catch her breath, and Lynette gently pulled her away from the trashcan to let her sit down on a nearby bench. Lyney vaguely heard Charlotte ask if he wanted to sit down too, but he only dizzily shook his head. He wasn't sure if he trusted his stomach just yet. After a moment, Charlotte's hand settled against the back of his neck.
“This one's running a fever.” She announced.
Lynette immediately brushed Lumine's bangs aside so she could rest the back of her hand against her forehead. She grimaced. “So is Lumine.”
“Oh brilliant.” Lumine mumbled, bracing herself with her hands on her knees. “We probably caught the same thing.”
Lyney only groaned softly in response, finally letting Charlotte pull him back from the trash can. She dug a wad of slightly-crumpled tissues from her pocket, offering them to Lyney.
“Yoo-hoo, I'm here!” Somebody suddenly called out in a cheerful sing-song voice, and everybody turned towards the new arrival in unison.
Furina stopped dead in her tracks, taking in the small group in front of her with wide, surprised eyes. Then she took a step back, folding her arms like she was analyzing the situation.
“I have two questions.” She said, raising her eyebrows as she motioned with one finger. “One, why is there a guy at our girls-only hangout?”
“That's your first question?” Navia asked, exasperated.
“And two, why does it look like the two of you-” Furina waved her finger between Lyney and Lumine “-both look like you've been crying your eyes out?” She gasped softly, covering her mouth with both hands. “Don't tell me you broke up!”
“Try threw up.” Lumime mumbled, turning her head to spit onto the ground.
“I am confused.” Furina announced.
“Furina, let me go show you where Lyney’s car is, so we can jumpstart it.” Navia said, gently grabbing Furina by the wrist and beginning to drag her away. “I'll tell you everything in a moment.”
Lyney blew his nose into the tissues, taking a few unbalanced steps toward the bench to sit down next to Lumine. Her eyes were a little watery and red-rimmed as she glanced over at him, and after a moment a tired smile formed on her face.
“Furina’s right.” She said, sniffing. “You do look like you've been crying your eyes out.”
“And you don't?” Lyney retorted weakly, wiping his eyes on the tissues.
“I'm not the one with black eyeliner running down my cheeks.”
“You both look like shit.” Lynette told them blankly.
Lumine chuckled softly, leaning back on the bench and putting her head on Lyney's shoulder. Lyney wrapped his arm around her back, drawing her into his side and letting his cheek rest against the top of her head.
“As soon as Navia gets the car running, I'll take you two home.” Lynette must've picked up on the fact that they were both feeling a bit lousy.
“I'm so sorry, Lynette.” Lumine said softly, sniffing again. “I didn't want to cut your trip short too.”
“That's not on you. Lyney was the one who was supposed to drive you back.”
“Hey!” Lyney lifted his head to scowl at his sister. “It's not my fault I'm sick!”
“I know, but I'd prefer it if Lumine was mad at you rather than herself.”
All three of them chuckled.
“I really am sorry though.” Lyney told Lumine, squeezing her shoulders. “I was going to take you home, fuss over you…” He trailed off to take a breath, all the talking was beginning to make him nauseous again. He'd really prefer to avoid making another scene in public.
“It's not your fault.” Lumine said softly. “Neither of us planned this.”
Lyney smiled faintly, closing his eyes for a moment. He was still feeling immensely guilty, but exhaustion and malaise were beginning to overwrite that. For the moment, all he wanted was to get home, away from all the prying eyes, and curl up somewhere with Lumine.