Chapter Text
I moved today, to a new state.
It wasn’t an exciting kind of move. Though it was my own choice, it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. It wasn't a rash decision either; I’ve been thinking about it for months-years, even! Still, the thought of leaving home is ice in my veins.
Wisconsin is far–an entire country apart from Tucson. Of the–only two–states I’ve lived in, I’d been thoroughly avoided by everyone, and I doubt Wisconsin will be any different. There's no point in dwelling on it now. I’m already here, with a grocery list in hand as I scan the signs above each aisle, trying to memorize the layout.
“That’ll be $12.75, ma’am.” The kind woman–whose nametag reads ‘Cindy’–at the register offers me a sweet smile, but only a sigh bothers to leave my lungs. “It’s sir.” I wasn’t really saying it to her, but much to my dismay, she hears it anyway, and continues on awkwardly. “S-sir? Oh, I’m so sorry! It’s just that-!” I show her some mercy by cutting her short with a shake of my head and a dismissive wave. “Yeah, it’s alright.” My denotation is a tad sour, but I really don’t mean to be rude. Getting called a woman isn’t fun when you know you look like one no matter what you do, sure, but I still try to avoid too much confrontation about it.
I attempt to tuck tail and book it out of the store before I start feeling guilty for my snark, but a light voice calls out behind me.
“Excuse me?” It’s another lady; her hair is brunette and shoulder-length, and she's got the happiest baby I've ever seen in her arms. “Well, hi! I’ve never seen you around before! My name is Karin, it’s wonderful to meet you.” She’s practically glowing, and I don’t really know how to respond. I dip my head in greeting, a bit delayed, I’m honestly still bewildered by her amount of energy. “Uh- yeah, yup. I’m new- here.” I trail off, trying to avoid embarrassing myself by talking too much. It’s only when the lady raises her eyebrows and leans towards him that he realizes that she was expecting him to introduce himself. “Oh! My- uh, I’m August- Sevilla. August Sevilla. Uh-” I pause, finally having the mind to look for my siblings. August’s head swivels around awkwardly, until he gives up and whistles their family tune.
Zeus is crouched down over at the gumball machines, and Wednesday is trying and failing to be discreet about looking at the toy aisle, as always, when they gravitate towards the familiar sound and take in the situation swiftly enough, greeting the lady beside me–Karin–as best as they could, “Hi! My name’s Wednesday.”, Wenz offers Karin a sweet, if not anxious smile, and “Hey, I’m Zeus.”, Juice simply waves and points to himself.
“Uhm- these are my siblings. This is Karin.”
The lady smiles enthusiastically all the same, nodding along with all of the introductions.
“And this is Elinor, my daughter. Say hi Ellie!” Karin gently grabs the baby's ravioli fist and waves it around and the baby giggles in response. My heart melts at the sound. Oh, I could never resist a cute baby. My lips quirk down in a smile-frown filled with adoration, which fails to curb my affectionate coos.
Wednesday is the one who speaks up next. “It's nice to meet you! We do gotta get going, though. Maybe we’ll see you around.” Their hands reach up our shoulders, cautious of the stranger speaking to us. They’re rightfully anxious about living in a new area, but I can’t help the quiet scoff at their overprotectiveness. Still, me and Juice follow their guidance. As we walk away, Karin chirps. “Me and my husband are throwing a barbeque for the 4th! I’d love to see you all there, you could get to know everyone in town. We live just by the lake, you wouldn’t be able to miss it!” We didn’t bother to stop our exit as Zeus craned his neck to nod at her affirmingly. “Sure, if we’re able to. Thanks, Karin.”
His words come out stiffly, if not because of the angle his throat is at, then it's because of our collective lack of social awareness.
Honestly, it’s a bit ironic the three of us were the ones to move out together. All of our social skills are pretty abhorrent, and combined, we serve as an ugly glob of awkwardness.
We make do; I don’t think that interaction was particularly unfortunate, though it could have gone better.
The situation catches up to me when I feel a churn in my stomach. Invitations always make me anxious, the expectation of my attendance feels crushing–for no apparent reason. “So, are we actually going tomorrow?” I whispered to our little group of three.
Zeus shrugged, “I think so. It’d be good to get to know some people.” Wednesday whines in response. “We hardly know her! I don’t think it's a good idea.” We both groan at their unnecessary amount of caution. I replied “Wenz, did we see the same person? She looked about as harmless as a marshmallow.” Zeus snickers as we climb into Wednesday’s car.
It would take very little for me to admit, the drive home is honestly breathtaking. Out the window, thin brush flies past us in a flurry, grayish-brown blend like paint on an overused palette, and I realize what my next painting will have to be.
Wednesday does a mediocre job of parking the car, and we all hobble out of the vehicle, our arms filled with grocery bags. We got the essentials for the next week or so: food, toilet paper, disposable bowls and plates, and a new air fryer since ours got busted in the move. Zeus also insisted on getting thicker blankets since he didn’t want to “hear Wednesday complaining all night about the cold.” It was a valid point, and it is damn cold this far North.
“... we also gotta make sure to get more copies of the key tomorrow,” Wednesday blabs on as they fumble with the small metal item. “Oh my god what if the door’s frozen-” Just as they blurt that nonsensical worry, the door opens without an issue. I spare a giggle at their expense.
We make a pile of stuff on the little counter, and Zeus takes several trips up and down the stairs with his arms full of either toilet paper or giant blankets.
“I want the blue one!” Wednesday shouts after him.
“I want the green one!” I yell a second later.
“I’m taking the blue one!” Zeus shouts from the second floor.
“Man…” Wednesday pouts, unhappy to be saddled with the last pick. “Why’d we get a yellow blanket, anyway?”
“So they don’t get mixed up,” I say as I pack the fridge. “And it’s brown, not yellow.”
“It’s not yellow??”
“NO.”
“It looked yellow in the cart.” Wednesday crosses their arms instead of helping put away groceries.
“No it didn’t.” I shake my head at them incredulously, continuing to do all of the work.
“Uhh- yeah, it did.”
“It’s brown,” I insist.
“If it’s brown, why don’t you take it?”
“Because I want green.”
“But you like brown. I don’t want a stupid brown blanket.” they pout immaturely. “You were gonna use it no problem when you thought it was yellow,” I gesture dramatically with the mayo. “Yeah, but that’s yellow. I don’t wanna sleep in a dookie blanket.” I crack up, which forces Wednesday to laugh too.
“So we’re going?” Zeus chimes in. He had taken the liberty of ignoring the idiotic conversation me and Wednesday were engaged in, and finally brought up an important topic.
I nod, “I’m gonna go,” and was cut short by Wednesday blurting out “Fine, I’ll go!” It seems they lost(won?) that internal argument. Zeus chuckles and nods. “Okay, we're all going then.
I do realize that I act differently around my sibling compared to most anyone else, more comfortably. I’m sure my personality won’t be too insufferable at the party, as long as we stick together.