Lyra could have lingered in the warmth of Rhea's embrace for hours on end. However, years of sisterhood taught her not to ignore her senses, and right now her senses cried out toward danger when the clambering of small feet was nowhere to be heard. Soft airy whispers, bubbling from cauldrons and crackling flames aside, there was a distinct lack of her brother's presence. 

Damiano was many things but quiet was not one of them.

On her guard, Lyra carefully eased away from Rhea, narrowly avoiding a press of the other woman's lips to her temple. The light brush catching Lyra's attention briefly and she gave an apologetic smile, squeezing Rhea's upper arm. 

"We should share the news with Dami," Lyra muttered softly, her eyes half-lidded as Rhea leant closer, their noses brushing and lips barely touching. Rhea's warm breaths mingling with her own and a smile curved Lyra's lips as she raised a finger, firmly pressing it between them to stave off her advance. "He'll be eager to know that you're staying, and if you train properly, after dinner we can talk." 

Rhea blinked owlishly then rolled her eyes to the ceiling, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Making me promises already?" She asked, pressing a light kiss to Lyra's finger, the touch cool against her heated skin. 

With a soft hum and hike of her shoulders, Lyra stepped back out of her embrace, tracing her fingers along the curve of Rhea's jaw as she passed her by. Damiano's silence persisted and though gnawing worry didn't fill Lyra's gut, curiosity and apprehension to the trouble the boy had gotten into had. Ambling down the narrow hallway barely lit by the lanterns buzzing with chattering fire sprites, she tapped her fingers along the glass and the glow concentrated where her fingers touched.

"Do you all know where Damiano went?"

A few soft buzzes, flickering lights, and then the joint movement of every sprite to the right of the container. Glancing down the hall, several of the other sprites followed the same path making a line pointing toward the staircase leading to the second floor where another procession of fire sprite lanterns lined the wall.

"Thank you," Lyra whispered, a silvery light outlining her fingers and the fire sprites cheered at the sight of it, uproarious buzzing following her as she strolled to the foot of the staircase.

Rhea's heavy footsteps thumped along behind her, a soft touch to Lyra's lower back drawing her attention as Rhea brushed past her. 

"He might have gotten distracted," Rhea said, tilting her head toward the doorway a few inches from the foot of the stairs where two wooden training swords laid in a heap along with a pair of sandals and Rhea's boots.

Lyra sighed fondly, resting her hands on her hips. The second floor was fairly silent but now it wasn't as stifling. Climbing the staircase, she held her hand out to Rhea and led her up with their fingers interlaced, her free hand holding onto the banister. "Mother did give him a book of his own and he's been excited to fill it with everything that interests him."

"A book?" Rhea asked, mystified and squeezing her hand lightly. "Isn't he too young for that? Your great grandmother said..."

"All come to it in their own time," Lyra recited, glancing at her from over her shoulder. "Damiano reached his eleventh sun, Rhea. And he's more than eager to make up for anything he lacks."

Rhea squeezed Lyra's hand and bowed her head, eyes closed. Their hands clasped and footsteps slowing until they stood on the same steps with the buzzing of the fire sprites and whispering wind spirits filling the silence. Lyra tucked a lock of hair behind her own ear, watching as the pale amber lantern glow outlined Rhea's strong profile. She hadn't changed much in the months they'd been apart but she had gained quite a few new scars. It was hard to see them all, but they were darker than her sun-kissed brown skin. Her fluffy dark brown hair brushing shy of her shoulders, broad and lined with tension. 

Even now, you're lost in thought. Where is it that your mind is taking you when you've come home to us — to me? 

"Nowhere."

Lyra startled. Rhea's deep voice and her brown eyes snapping her from her thoughts. She brought her fingers to her lips, covering her mouth as if it would draw those words back. Rhea's brow furrowed and Lyra squeezed her palm around her lips, dropping her gaze to the small space between them. With a light shuffle and a knock of her foot against the side of Lyra's own, Rhea closed the distance. It must have looked awkward for the two of them to hold hands whilst standing side by side on the step, half-way up the banister and beneath the dull pale amber glow. 

But to Lyra, it was the closest thing to perfection.  

"Will you cut my hair later, Lyra?" Rhea asked, her voice softer and if not for how close she was, Lyra might have missed it. Peering up at her, Lyra sighed at the pale light shining in brown eyes and her reflection in their depths. Almost reminded of the shy girl offering her flowers beneath a clouded winter sky. 

"Only if you try to forgive yourself for missing Damiano's nameday," Lyra offered, squeezing Rhea's hand when she glimpsed the flicker of pain. "You are here now. And he loves you just as much as the day that you left..." 

When Rhea said nothing, Lyra sighed and raised her other hand to grasp at Rhea's bicep, squeezing the muscle and hugging her closer. Her head tucked against Rhea's shoulders as she eyed the remaining stairs with a content smile.

"Call out to him. He'll answer you with the same excitement that he did when the door opened."

Rhea hesitated, tension building in her shoulders gradually loosening. A few failed starts of Damiano's name, the word caught upon her tongue and stifled with a cough or a frustrated grunt. Lyra squeezed her bicep and closed her eyes, silvery-light gathering around her fingertips and pressing to the fabric of Rhea's tunic.

"Call out his name," Lyra assured.

Rhea's hand clutched Lyra's own so tight that it was almost painful. Her inhale deep, swelling her chest and rattling the wind spirits nearby. Their wispy voices coming clearer and Lyra smiled faintly at the encouragements they volleyed.

"Damiano!"

At once, all sound within their home stopped. The fire sprites buzzing ceased, the wind spirits' voices fell away, and a gentle creak to the kitchen doorway followed by a soft clatter eased the pot's bubbling and fire crackling. Rhea sighed, her eyes wide and trained on the staircase landing. Inhaling deeply through her nose, she held her breath and Lyra smiled.

Seconds seemed to stretch on forever until a door slammed, startling them both upright, thunderous footsteps across the wood as Damiano's small frame appeared at the landing. Between his arms was a tome hugged close to his chest and his eyes danced in the light.

"Rhea! Rhea, look, look!"

As he took the steps one at a time to close the distance between them, Rhea released the breath she was holding and her hand slipped from Lyra's own as she moved to meet him. Standing back, Lyra watched Damiano nearly trip on one of the steps. His tome caught in the crook of Rhea's arm as her hand steadied him at the shoulders, easing him to sit down with a quiet reminder to take things slow. Damiano chirped an affirmative but his excitement hadn't dwindled at all as he ushered Rhea to open the tome and began to point out several things that he liked. 

Lyra crossed her arms beneath her chest and leant against the banister, watching as they exchanged words back and forth, Rhea pointing out a few of the details. Complimenting his drawings and bravery for some of the items he collected and pressed between the pages. Damiano practically glowed at every word, smiling from ear to ear, his feet kicking back and forth as he burrowed against her side. Rhea's hand settling atop of his head, flattening his curls and combing her fingers through them while they read together.

After a few minutes passed, Lyra lowered her arms and began her descent.

"Remember Dami, if you don't go train with Rhea soon, you'll have to wait until after dinner and you won't have much time before your bath," Lyra called up the staircase, stepping into the hallway when she heard the loud cry of remembrance. Shaking her head with a fond smile as Damiano's tome was slammed shut with a peal of laughter from Rhea.

"I was enjoying those stories," Rhea said playfully, glancing back at Lyra while Damiano tugged her down the steps with the tome tucked beneath one arm and her hand clasped tightly in his other. 

"Oh I'm aware," Lyra tried to hide her smile as Rhea blushed, nearly tripping over her boots until Damiano offered them to her with a huff. "But he'll pout all night if he doesn't get a chance to spar with you. Dami, leave your tome inside." 

"Hu—" Damiano twisted around from his spot on the floor as he tried to tug on his own sandals whilst rolling up the sleeve of his pants. The tome lying propped up against the wall, embossed letters glistening in the low light. Carefully, he gathered it up in his arms and stared down at it. His eyes crinkling at the corners as he hugged it tight to his chest then held it up to her. "Take care of it, Lyra."

Lyra glanced at Rhea, the proud smile on the other woman's face likely mirrored on her own as she took the tome with a nod. "I will. Try not to use artes too close to the gates or you're repairing them by hand." 

Damiano shuddered and nodded quickly, picking up his sword then offering the other to Rhea by its wooden blade. As she took it, Lyra stared at her in awe. The weight tested in a few flicks of the wrist and held with a solemness flickering in the depths of her eyes, her gaze trained on the sword long after Damiano opened the front door allowing the cool night air to breeze through. 

Lyra offered Damiano a tentative smile to which the boy shrugged confusedly.  

"Rhea..?" Damiano called, tipping his head to one side, the flat of his own sword across his shoulder. 

"Hm?" Rhea hummed, tearing her gaze away from the blade. 

"Are you alright? You kinda got far away there..."

"Oh," Rhea said airily, lowering the blade to her side with a slight shake of the head. "I'm fine, Dami. We should go now before dinner is ready." 

Damiano nodded and glanced up at Lyra with a slight smile before rushing out into the yard, calling for Rhea to follow him over his shoulder. Lyra held up her hand as Rhea moved to meet the challenge. Their eyes meeting and Rhea's softened, her free hand holding Lyra's own and bringing her fingers to her lips. A light press of her knuckles to Rhea's lips with a gentle squeeze.

"I'm fine, Lyra..."

Lyra hummed low in her throat, closing her eyes as Rhea pressed a kiss to her knuckles then let her hand go, stepping out into the night air and following Damiano into the open grassy area. Holding her lukewarm knuckles to her chest, the impression of Rhea's lips on her skin was a welcoming feeling when the dull ache in her chest was not.

Soon, dinner was finished and the pair returned inside with no small amount of scrapes and dirt clinging to them. Damiano lording his victory whilst Rhea casually reminded of all the times he was knocked from his feet. Lyra brushing off their bickering and directing them upstairs to clean and change. Dinner, a familiar loud exchange, between the spirits having their fill and Damiano regaling Rhea with tales of his mischief throughout the last few months. Any mention of his nameday was disregarded and Lyra rested her cheek against her palm, giving Rhea a look whenever the other woman would glance her way helplessly.

There was no easy way to broach the topic of Rhea's return because it would only be met by questions of her departure. But in the lieu of conversation, Damiano asked and when Rhea told that she would be staying for a few days, he stared at her quietly.

"But nobody said anything about you coming back, so why'dyou gotta leave?" 

Lyra gasped softly, looking to Rhea with a tilt of the head. That was a fairly good question. 

Rhea gathered the vegetables in her soup and laid them over her rice, calm despite the scrutiny on both sides of the table. "I was... distracted."

"Distracted?" Lyra prompted, curling her fingers into a fist and resting her chin atop them, a light flick of her index finger keeping the bowl dangling precariously at the end of Damiano's side of the table from falling. "By what?"

In the copper embers, Rhea flushed. She stole a glance from her food, first looking to Lyra then Damiano. 

Oh.

Lyra smiled, hiding it behind her palm as Damiano continued to ask what it was that distracted Rhea so. It must have been something important to knock her off her guard, he insisted. Rhea's flush deepened and she bowed her head, shaking off his questions with ones of her own about his adventures and the mischief he'd been making. 

Once Damiano was bathed and tucked in bed, a short story of Rhea's travels whisking him off to the realms of sleep, Lyra held out her hand and laced her fingers with Rhea's own as they wandered to the room at the end of the hall.

Lyra's hand resting on Rhea's shoulder as she guided her to sit down on the trunk at the foot of their bed, picking up a pair of scissors and starting to work at her hair. Combing her fingers through to undo the knots and the tangles.

"No matter how far you go, you're always missed, you know..." 

Rhea hummed low in her throat, her hand resting on Lyra's thigh squeezing. "It feels as if nothing's changed," she said, her voice heavy with reminiscence. "But it has, hasn't it?"

In the darkness of their bedroom with only the pale moonlight filtered through dark curtains and Lyra as witness, the tension in Rhea's shoulders eased completely. 

"Not everything," Lyra whispered, flicking her fingers through the air and a dull breeze lifted the shorn locks and joined them together in a small pile. The door opening and the pile was whisked out the doorway before it closed once again. Her arms eased around Rhea's shoulders, holding her close, nose pressed in her hair. "This is still your home, and we are still your family."

Rhea squeezed her thigh again, rough fingers gentle as they glided across her skin. Carefully, Rhea eased from hold and turned around, kneeling on the trunk and leaning close to press her forehead against Lyra's own. Her eyes searching for something and whether they found it or not, Lyra wouldn't have known as Rhea came closer and their lips brushed.

"And you?" Rhea muttered the words heated between their lips, trembling from the vibrations.

Lyra smiled, curling her fingers in the collar of Rhea's cotton shirt, leading her back onto the blankets and into her arms. "Yours," she whispered, delighted by the answering sigh as Rhea's hand tucked beneath her and pressed at the skin of her lower back. "And you?"

Rhea's smile was pleasant against her lips, and Lyra's eyes drifted shut as she let the words drift over her, drowning out the sounds of the night.

"Yours."