Morningside Cuesta the music's too loud

the plot twist falls from haunt’s lips and vex, who’s had plenty of practice at keeping his face in some form of stony or haughty schools it from showing his surprise. he gives a sage nod of affirmation, figuring it was better than speaking up, especially because he’s already certain that arbiter was going to shoot them down. he gave haunt an a+ for effort but he also knew their mother. kigipigak picks up what haunt dropped and it took all of vex’s effort not to cringe as he tells their mother he thought it’d be ‘fun’ to take them. c’mon uncle, vex steps forward, stepping up. we conned you into it. she already knows how we are. her little devil children.

proving vex’s assumption right, arbiter cuts them down. still, assuming this was coming anyway hardly softens the stinging blow of it. he rankles, feeling like his suffocating leash is being pulled tighter. who’s to say if he leaves here without us that he’ll actually look, vex would shoot kigipigak an apologetic look but apologies weren’t really his thing ( except, it seemed, when it came to haunt ). what if dad didn’t leave us and something happened to him? because vex, bless his little dark heart, still wasn’t ready to let go of that thought yet. the truth was, they didn’t know that kaertok abandoned them. it was just the assumption everyone ran with. i want answers and i don’t want them two years from now. i want them now.

vex spares haunt a look before fixing his gaze upon their mother. i’m going with my uncle. he declares; surprised to feel the contended rumble of approval from sos, who shimmers like a hellbear just out of the corner of vex's eye.

word count: 292