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Lidia called them Juniper and Lilac, after Amata joked once, in the cafeteria, that they needed names. They were the first names Amata came up with, and they stuck.
Both Juniper and Lilac looked like snakes, magically animated ropes that coiled around Lidia’s arm, standing on their own as crutches.
The way they wrapped around Lidia was like a vine, one that spiralled in eternity. (They thought they’d have eternity)
After Lidia “left”, she stopped naming her aids. She didn't say Juniper and Lilac’s names aloud, after that, but they were simply a thought to be discarded. The ankle braces Fawkes found for her, warped gold that melded itself to the wearers, just called the braces. (She ignored how her heart ached).
When she heard rumours of an artificer, one who emerged from the underground and set up a network, Lidia knew. It was Amata.
Fawkes saw one of their caravans, once. ‘Juniper and Lilac Trade’.
Lidia didn’t think about that. She didn’t. (She did)