Two Eyes Cenote Shaken, not stirred.

The family was changing.

The two boys were raised up to the ranks of mazoi without fanfare. While Kiyya had anticipated this and previously been filled with a gleeful determination, on this day he was only worried.

He could not stop seeing the scene in the prison. Khusobek bloody, beaten, struggling against the outsider, the bad man, the demon; repeating with such frequency that Kiyya's personal light had diminished.

He did not venture out of home base (his typically affectionate title for their rendezvous), and stuck close to Inji, showing more lethargy about daily tasks than before. He ate, he slept, he tidied the space, and listened to his mother.

the girl had finished her second round of cleaning the mazoi chambers for the day. away from their home chamber, and often stuck shadowing the other fellahin (who had made their disdain for her attitude very clear), tiye had planned to make a beeline for her bed and nap.

she also noticed a shift in their home, and another is due soon. her eyes accidentally meet kiyya's as she steps through the mesa frame.

you'll be alone forever.

her brothers were leaving, trailing behind the footsteps safiya had left in the sand for them. though they were the same age, the both had massive holes to fill. and they were leaving her behind to do so. at first, she didn't care, but where that pounding rage in her skull tempered, regret replaced it. perhaps the stink of the mazoi was getting to her, but at the sight of her brother tiye nearly caved. she couldn't say sorry to one anymore, so she should at least say sorry to the one she still has.

without a comment she assists kiyya in tidying and cleaning. it made good practice, even if she was tired.