It's hard to find true equilibrium.

[thesilentstorm]

Lindblum was, in Lumi's opinion, a singularly awful city.

Built atop a mountain, or possibly a cliff, it bore the sort of architecture that made it amply clear that it had been added to over time, that it had started off much smaller and had grown, almost organically, outwards and then upwards, like a particularly unpleasant fungus of mismatched brick and tile all contained within the immense castle's fortified walls.

Lumi's nose had wrinkled as they made the approach to the Falcon's Gate via airship. Even from a distance he could see that, without more space for the city to crawl beyond the walls, as most seemed to when they outgrew a castle's ramparts, it had just gotten ... taller. Idly, he had wondered how it would fare in the event of an earthquake.

Once the airship had docked and he and Marluxia had disembarked, he decided that the city was even worse than it had looked from their approach. The winding streets and irregular buildings did little but compound the fact that the city was not purpose-built. Some of the houses leaned like drunkards and some of them had larger, over-hanging upper floors, as though they had been added to at a later date by a less skilled builder. It looked disorganised, ramshackle and untidy.

With any luck, they wouldn't be there long.

They were in the city on a mission, or, at least, a favour. In deference to the alliance he had made with the most recently recruited of his old ... "colleagues", Marluxia had agreed to make a trip to Even's old home to pick up some items that he hadn't thought to bring with him on his would-be temporary relocation to Daguerreo. It wasn't safe for him to go himself, on any front, and Marluxia had the freedom of movement accorded to an established and voluntarily joined member of Clan Khamja.

Lumi stood in the street outside the Air Cab station, a frown on his face at the feel of the uneven cobbled floor under the soles of his shoes. It was a warm day, but it was growing clear that Summer was on its way out in this part of the world. The breeze that blew down the street carried upon it the scent of woodsmoke, hanging baskets and the promise of rain. It was, despite the pleasant day, cool enough to make Lumi stiffen where he stood. He scowled, looking up. The sky was, at least, still blue, though grey clouds were visible in the distance.

He looked to Marluxia for direction. It was he who had the address of Even's old residence.

Comments

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi didn't dispute Marluxia's implications.

He didn't like Even. He didn't much like anybody, but Even, during the brief period in which he had been forced to share his company, had been fussy, tedious and had reminded him of somebody he once knew. Given that Lumi almost loathed that person, it wasn't a particularly fond reminiscence. The notion of somebody electing to live with him seemed an odd one, in light of that.

He moved aside as Marluxia headed for the stairs.

"I'll wait here," he said.

He didn't much like the idea of both of them being on the upper floor in a strange building. There was something about it that he was sure would make him feel cornered.

[gracefuldahlia]

Marluxia nodded at Lumi's statement. Having Lumi watch the doors was better than him needlessly trailing upstairs after himself. Marluxia felt safe enough with Lumi watching his back, as it were.

At the top of the stairs the landing was small, and dark. Marluxia opened doors at random. One of them was a box of a room that, at a guess, was Saix's doghouse room. There was a sad looking single bed, and not much else. For someone that had lived on this world for some time, this room would be the one where all the accumulated nonsense would be stored, kept but never used. The room equivalent of that one drawer in the kitchen.

The bathroom was small, but clean. At a guess, the shower got used more often than the bath. The shared bedroom was more spacious than the other, and someone, Saix presumably, had taken the time to make and turn down the bed. He'd been careful, it seemed, not to give Vexen reason to be angrier with him than he already was.

The last room was Vexen's study. It was easily discerned by the sheer volume of books, a number of which had not been put away, the desk, and the general fact that Saix's cleaning rounds had deliberately spared this room. Marluxia walked in without a care. The only sign Saix had even ventured in here was the envelope on the desk, with Vexen's name written on it.

Marluxia picked it up and flipped it over. It was sealed, and he murmured amusement before slipping it into his pocket. He recognised Saix's handwriting, and no doubt Vexen would too, but the fact he'd bothered to seal it shut despite leaving it in his own house spoke volumes. Saix expected intrusions from someone other than Vexen, from the look of it.

Or he wanted to know if Vexen came home and bothered to read it.

Marluxia began by shuffling the papers on the desk together. Vexen could take the time to put them in order himself later. There was an open journal, too. Marluxia closed it around the papers, and then pulled Vexen's list from his pocket.

[thesilentstorm]

Lumi watched Marluxia ascend the stairs.

He stayed in the hallway, listening. He glanced up at the ceiling as he heard Marluxia walk around upstairs, the creaking floor giving away his position.

He didn't like the house at all. It might have been tolerable if it was newer, or modernised, but he doubted that there would ever be any sort of renovation that could shave enough years off the old brick and plaster to suit him.