Blood-Sucking Brother [Sumi and Dakol]

[Lord Dakol]

A sigh left the slightly bloodied lips of the eighteen-year old young man as he licked his wrist. Blood quietly poured from the two tiny holes on his wrist for a few minutes, but the wounds steadily closed up as if nothing happened, save for the stain of blood on his skin. Leaning against a wall in his bedroom, he looked at the ceiling in exhaustion. Long, messy black hair cascaded over the boy's shoulders, falling behind his ears and over his eyes. At the moment he was only dressed in sweats, exposing his lean, toned, and slightly-pale body. But knew he needed to get dressed;
his sister would be home soon. He stayed home from work that day, feigning sickness in favor wanting to feed on blood.

"I'll need actual blood soon..." Lucius Harx muttered, running his left hand through his hair before looking at the clock with his darkened eyes of gold; it was almost time for his twin sister to awake. He licked the remnants of blood off his wrist and stood up, stretching slightly.

Since he was born, it was known to both of their parents that Lucius was going to be a dhampir. However, his own sister had no idea of his race. Their mother - whom was also a Vampire - had fallen in love with their father, and were lucky enough to birth twins. It pained them each and every day to keep their origins secret, especially from a loved one. But it had to be done. She would know when the time is right.

Lucius walked over to the window and opened it, letting the dim rays of sunlight in through the open air. As the light hit his bare chest, his toned muscles contracted tightly to show the state of physique he was in. He then heard the front door open, telling him that his sister was now home.

____________________________________________

If there was one thing she wasn't good at, it had to be keeping a boyfriend. No matter how much she wanted to have a longer relationship there was always one matter that got in her way. What exactly was that problem, however, she was clueless about it. No, she wasn't ignorant, just purely too naive at times. Alexandra, was simply the type of girl that could flirt by mistake and then have no idea why the guys would hit on her. While her parents never thought their daughter was stupid, at times, there would be clear signs that she was too... let's say, innocent. Innocent to the point where the farthest she'd ever gone in a relationship was a french kiss and holding hands. It was no wonder that most of her ex-boyfriends ended up being frustrated enough to dump her, when she'd bluntly deny them more in spite of her playful teasing (again, something she was unaware of). The funny thing was, even with her sheer naivety, she actually knew what was sex about. Thing is, she rarely thought of that matter, even when she was in a relationship, mostly because it was always the wrong guy she would date and she would hold interest until a certain point.

Today, however, another date ended up as a major failure. What seemed to start as a successful one, turned out to be her ticket to being dumped like a pair of used socks. And at the very moment she really felt like a pair of used socks. Simply put, she felt horrible and miserable. It almost seemed like no relationship was meant to be, bringing her to the conclusion that maybe it was a better thing to remain alone for the rest of her life.

Yet, in spite of the way she wanted to keep herself calm, she couldn't help but blink repeatedly in order to keep in the tears threatening to roll down her cheeks, as she placed the key into the hole and unlocked the entrance door. But first things first, she made sure she didn't look too awful. Then again, there were slight chances for her twin to be at home right now. Thus, she finally entered the house and gave a deep sigh, pushing the door closed with her foot.

Tossing the little black purse somewhere to the side of the hallway, dark blue eyes glanced down at her own neat outfit and felt like cringing. There she tried her best to look perfect for this date and she screwed it up again. Her pretty little pale blue dress, her heels which added a couple more inches to her petite height, the long black hair curled at the ends specifically for this date, all went to waste. "Stupid Jake! Stupid heels! Ugh!" she muttered, taking off her shoes only to frown at the slight pain. Normally, she would have avoided wearing heels because they were uncomfortable, and now her feet hurt like hell after spending more hours with those.

_______________________________________________

Something was wrong. As a supernatural being, he had ways of telling. For one, his ears could pick up the unique, distinct sound of his twin sister's heartbeat from miles away. Then, his nose was able to smell her similarly-unique scent, making him sigh in comfort. He always felt better when she was in the area. But now something was bothering her, for now he could also smell the tears that she attempted to keep hidden. He frowned, turning around as he wiped his lips of blood, striding out of his room and forgetting to put on a shirt.

Luke's footfalls made no sound, so he was as silent as a ghost walking down the stairs to Alexandra's position. He ran a hand through his thick, long hair and inhaled softly, searching for her location. When he did, he walked over to the front door, seeing her remove her shoes. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "I take it that the date didn't go well?" he asked.

It was common knowledge in his family that Lucius was not a kind of man that dated anybody. Of course, he was interested in women, but for the most part, shied away from girls and females in general. Except for his sister. But unbeknownst to her, something happened in Luke's past that scarred his experience and confidence with women, making it so he was perpetually afraid of the opposite sex. Again, other than Alexandra. But he never brought it up, and he wouldn't, not in a million years. At least, as far as he knew.

_____________________________________________________

As silent as he was, and as upset as she was, Alexandra didn't even notice her twin was there. At least, not until she heard his voice anyway, which only startled her, causing the brunette to raise her glance and then quickly avert her eyes as she reminded herself that she still looked like she cried. "W-what makes you think that it didn't go well?" she quickly retorted, somewhat ashamed with her new failure and thus, attempting to cover her mistake with a weak lie.

However, as much as she wanted to make herself look like she was alright, she couldn't. Because she really wasn't alright with this situation. It almost annoyed her how many guys had dumped her until then, even though she tried her best to keep the relationships alive for longer than two months. "... It's not my fault. They are simply some scaredy cats who can't stay faithful to one person for more than a couple of months. All guys are the same! Why else would they dump me? I did everything, yet it was still not enough." she complained in the end, though mostly everyone knew that that 'everything' went as far as kissing and nothing more than that. Still, what made the other guys actually ask her out was the mere idea that if they could bed her they were awesome. In short, she was sort of like a challenge for the player guys out there who wished to test their charming skills. It was only Alexandra who had no idea about this, completely oblivious to her surroundings like a little kid learning about the world for the first time.

"But leaving that aside, weren't you supposed to be at work today? What are you doing wasting your time around? Cause' I doubt you'd actually have something good enough to do to skip work. I take it you didn't suddenly find yourself a girlfriend. Or did you?" she pointed out as she walked towards the living room, only to stop and look back at him. She shook her head with a little smile, as if that was the only thing able to make her forget about her own problems. "Who am I kidding? Your case is even worse than mine." she remarked, sitting down on the plush couch in front of the TV, knees brought up to her chin, regardless of the dress that couldn't hide her legs completely or even her white panties. "Lucius, do you by any chance like guys better?" she asked, obviously teasing him, just to let out some stress.

___________________________________________________

His eyes tracked hers as Alexandra looked up in surprise, then looked away in a hurry, as if to hide her sadness. When she replied, he said nothing, instead crossing his arms further over his chest, waiting for her to continue. There was no way to successfully lie to Lucius, she very well knew. When they were children, she frequently attempted to take his toys, and that resulted in a fight. Then, he was always able to make her tell the truth. The truth was important to him. But unfortunately, he had to hide the biggest truth from the one he cared most about.

Lucius frowned as she spoke, his eyes narrowing in sorrow for her as he listened. "Some men don't want a good relationship. Sometimes, all they want is sex," he answered, shaking his head. Men were so foolish sometimes; here was a perfect girl like Alexandra, and they didn't know any better than to think of her for sex. He sighed; it was ironic, but if she wasn't his twin sister, then he would have done his damnedest to get her, and to keep her.

The young man rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the wall, scoffing. "I didn't feel well enough to work today," he explained. It was the partial truth; he hadn't gotten any true blood that wasn't his own in weeks, and for that, his body had weakened, and so had his self-control. It was at an all-time low. He followed her into the living room, sitting down and leaning back with a sigh, glancing at her, his eyes trailing down to see her tight white panties that covered her intimate parts. For some reason, he swallowed quietly and looked back up before she noticed, hearing her tease him. He smirked, "Pretty sure I don't. Always had an interest in girls," he said, then laughed. "But if you'd like, you could always try me, darlin'." Lucius grinned at his joke, though he wasn't really sure about the truth of it.

 

[Sumi]

A frown showed on her face as she held the remote control and changed the channel, at the same time listening to what he had to say. "Yeah, well... I don't really get what's so good about sex anyway. In fact, I don't even understand why they are all so clingy to the point they almost stick completely to my body." she mumbled in return. Truth was, Alexandra never felt anything special whenever she would kiss her boyfriend. Not even one of her ex-boyfriends managed to feel all tingly inside and hot and bothered. At some point it almost felt like kisses, embraces and such were just some responsibilities. The real reason behind her endless need to have a boyfriend was simply to have someone to talk to and hang out with at any time of the day. To feel loved and cherished. Even if the guys weren't really cherishing for who she was, but for what she could offer.

Either way, the boyfriends were just a replacement if she were to think about it. Being twins was what kept her and Lucius close for a very long time. In spite of the occasional little fights between the siblings, they always stuck close to each other. That was probably why she needed so much attention now, when her brother would be busy with work and spend less time with her than the usual.

"Seeing how you walk around shirtless, I wouldn't doubt it if you caught a cold. At least wear a t-shirt, pervert." she nagged, tossing the pillow beside her towards him, continuing her teasing. Alexandra only averted her eyes from the screen of the TV when he spoke again, thankfully for him, after he looked away from her panties. "You say that, but you never actually had a girlfriend, did you? At least, not one that I know of." she pointed out with a smirk, before he added something which almost caught her off guard for a moment. That is, until her serious expression was ruined with a burst of laughing. "Are you trying to hit on me, Lucius?" she inquired sarcastically with a smile, raising an eyebrow at him.

 

[Lord Dakol]

It never really bothered Lucius that he was shirtless in front of his sister; they had been together since they were born, so they had seen each other naked. Not in years, though. A naughty, forbidden thought flashed through his mind about what she looked like without her clothes on; he immediately shook it off, mentally slapping himself for his stupidity. When she asked about having a girlfriend, he nervously cleared his throat and looked away briefly. "Er, no, never," he replied. And likely never will, he added in his mind.

Alexandra then started laughing at his comment, smiling himself as he grinned, resting his chin in his hand. "Perhaps," he said with a chuckle. Then, to take another step further, he leaned close to her ear, breathing softly on her ear and neck. "Mom and dad don't have to know . . ." he whispered, grinning slightly, waiting for her reaction.

 

[Sumi]

"See?" she added with a chuckle in response to his admitting that he really had no girlfriend before. Though, it kind of made her wonder why never had the luck with girls. It was almost weird how they were always the opposite of each other in some way or another, how even though they were twins, she had so many other boyfriends before, yet he had no girlfriend until then. It almost made her wonder if they were really were siblings, and twins at that. Besides, even their personalities seemed to be conflicting at times.

However, what seemed to disrupt her thoughts was when he suddenly leaned closer, feeling his breath tickling her skin and even finding herself shiver momentarily at the words whispered in her ear. For a couple of seconds, she wasn't even sure if this was really a joke or not. Still, in the end, she pushed aside her thoughts, figuring that couldn't be possible. There was no way her brother would spout such nonsense and be serious about it. Thus, trying to regain herself, she got a hold of another pillow and threw it in his face with a somewhat forced chuckle. "You probably have next to zero experience and you're trying to act all charming, huh? Tell me when you need some lessons from experts. Like moi, for example." she flaunted herself, even though the obvious truth was that she wasn't much different given her ex-relationships which failed miserably every time.

Yet, something just got stuck, and now she couldn't shake away the weird feeling. Did she actually consider what he said earlier somewhere in the back of her mind? Was she going insane over her failures and maybe that was why her brain came up with weird ideas? Maybe. Or so she hoped, that it was all because of her mistakes and not because she actually liked her brother. No, this was insane for real. She had to put a stop to overthinking things. Before she knew it, she was staring at him, mindlessly, only to finally avert her eyes as she came back to reality. She felt so stupid and embarrassed with her own thoughts that she could go and dig herself a grave. "I... I'm going to change my clothes. Mom called me earlier and told me that we should set up the dinner before they're back from work. And until then there's the laundry to take care of too and the usual stuff." she murmured, scratching the back of her head as she fixed her dress, before awkwardly walked back towards her room.

 

[Lord Dakol]

As Lucius began playing with his sister, leaning in close and whispering seductively in her ear, there was an urge just then. Subtly, and out of Alexandra's line of sight, his tongue slipped out, inching towards her earlobe. But, just before he touched her flesh with the long, wet muscle, he remembered himself, and quickly retracted it back into his mouth. He saw the shiver run through her body, and for a reason he couldn't figure out, it excited him. He leaned back, crossing his legs as shehit again with a pillow, making him laugh and smile. "Ha, you? I'm the older one, little sis. Trust me, I know much more than you do," he said, smirking.

That was the truth. Like a moment before, his body would instinctively try to do things he wouldn't necessarily try, like mating with his sister. He grimaced at himself for a short moment, thinking that. But, like it or not, he was a bit more experienced than her. At least, his body was, and he wasn't a virgin.

He then caught her eyes on him, making him quirk his eyebrow in question before she looked away and informed him that they should be doing chores before their parents got home. "Okay," he said. "I can make dinner, and likely do the laundry as well." He stood up, stretching slightly as he watched his sister walk down the sister. His eyes were trained on her legs, his mouth wondering how succulent the blood tasted down there... Shaking his head, he walked into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

A half hour later, Lucius finished making dinner, as well as getting the clothes out of the dryer as he hurried to get things done, restraining the use of his supernatural abilities to help. Then, he heard the door unlock and open, revealing his mother. Like Lucius, his mother was also a vampire. Slightly pale and utterly beautiful, she was a powerful, but sweet being that loved her family very much.

 

[Sumi]

Alexandra couldn't help but roll her eyes at his statement. "We're twins, Lucius . In the best case, you'd probably be older than me with a couple of seconds or minutes. That doesn't count as you being the older one here." she pointed out and shook her head with a shrug of her shoulders. Besides, even if he really was older, if he'd have the same attitude as now, he would still have no knowledge of what she was talking about. Even if she was a failure when it came to relationships, she somehow wanted to take in pride in the fact that she knew what guys were thinking. However, it was obvious enough that she was wrong about both. She didn't know everything about Lucius, especially because in the last few years he started to change a little bit, and before they knew it they weren't as close as when they were kids. Therefore, she had no idea whether he really had a girlfriend before or not, or whether he was experienced. As for the guys, let's say it would take a little bit more to make her realize how naive (or maybe stupid) she actually is for thinking that it wasn't sex what they really wanted but something else much more profound.

Either way, as soon as he assured her that he'd be taking care of those tasks, she made her way upstairs to her bedroom, a little bit guilty that she didn't even offer to help him, but figuring that she'd only act awkward if she didn't take a break to put her thoughts in order. After all, what person in its right mind would love a sibling? And not just a sisterly love, but something more than that. She shook her head and once she closed the door to her room, she discarded her clothes, dressing up with a loose big gray t-shirt, some charcoal-colored shorts and a pair of striped white and black stockings which hid her legs up to somewhere above her knees. This way she would not feel too hot or too cold.

The older woman whom they called mother was the type of person that would always be strict even around her kids, despising any kind of rule-breaking. It was no wonder that she was trying to raise her children as best as she could, avoiding any catastrophe that would ruin the family. And given their vampire nature (hers and her son's), it was bound to smell some possible trouble at some point. That was why lately she was more cautious than ever, trying to somehow separate the twins just enough so they wouldn't end up doing something regrettable. Maybe Alexandra wouldn't be smart enough to see through someone's intentions or be bold enough to initiate it, but for vampires it was something else entirely. She knew the best, since she was a vampire herself. She had to keep an eye on Lucius from time to time and make sure he wouldn't be tempted by his own sister.

Truthfully, the woman looked good even at the present time, keeping the same facial features that she had when she was around twenty years old. The twins shared her looks, but even if she was proud to have her children look like her, she sometimes dreaded the fact that they didn't end up to be both humans like their father. It would surely be easier on her and her husband. "Doing everything by yourself? Where's your sister?" she inquired as she made her way towards him, slipping off her jacket and tossing it on one of the chairs around them. Taking her time to taste the dishes he cooked first, she nodded to herself. She never really enjoyed normal food, but it was better than nothing. Besides, she couldn't drain her husband of blood every single day. "Tasty enough. Speaking of which... How is it going with your hunger?" she suddenly questioned, the voice lower as to not be heard by mistake by the wrong person, meaning Alexandra in this case. It was obvious she was referring to whether he was getting enough blood or not.

 

[Lord Dakol]

Lucius looked over and tracked his mother curiously as she walked in. Like he, and every other vampire they happened to meet, she had a certain grace to her step, one that said to all predators, "I can walk on air, but I can crush your windpipe." He smiled tiredly to her as she walked into the kitchen, tasting one of his dishes; simple noodles with a herbal sauce. "She's upstairs; I volunteered, no worries. Her date went badly, so I thought I would give her a break."

He as well could never taste food that well, but he knew the necessity of it, and it certainly didn't hurt when he wanted something more substantial in his system. He was clearing the sink of dirty dishes when his mother spoke to him in a very low, quiet voice. A tone that none but vampires could hear. Lucius frowned, turning away. "I'm fine. It's getting harder to find good, nice prey around here," he answered in the same tone, drying his hands as he attempted to avoid the other half of the truth, which was . . . heavily desiring Alexandra's blood, among her other assets.

 

[Sumi]

"You're spoiling her too much. She should do something useful from time to time instead of lazing around." the older woman scolded, before be mentioned about his sister's date. "Went badly as in?" she questioned slightly curious, though in truth she'd be more worried if someone would have his way witb her daughter, because heartbreaks and such were just a joke for her. On the other hand, the way he tried to avoid her question made her frown, staring at him. Lately it was obvious that he wasn't as energetic, and her motherly instincts told her something was wrong. "You don't seem that fine to me. So you'd better find yourself a good girlfriend so you won't have to starve yourself to death. Or worse. And I'm not joking, Lucius. I don't want you to go after the wrong person in case you turn into a starved vampire. If that happens, you're out of my house." she whispered again, her tone showing she was indeed serious.

"What are you talking about right there? Keeping something from me?" Alexandra soon showed up as well, at which the older woman shut up for a moment and then turned to her. "We were dicussing how you never do something around the house." their mother answered, before the younger brunette pouted and scowled. "And here I thought you would organize some surprise party." The older one raised an eyebrow at her. "Your birthday is two months away." Alexa shrugged. "The earlier you organize things, the better it will be." she said with a grin at which her mother shook her head. When the door from the entrance creaked open again, Alexandra was the first to rush to her father's side, which only gave her mother a couple more minutes for her to discuss with her son. "Am I clear with what I just said, Lucius?"

 

[Lord Dakol]

"She is useful, mom. When I'm a work, she's the one that does this stuff, not me," he replied with a frown, then shrugged to her question about Alexandra's date. "I don't know; it may be something about wanting more in a relationship, or something." He turned back to the food, putting the finishing touches on every dish as he licked his fingers clean, then washed them. He tried to shrug off the eyes on his back, but for that reason he couldn't shake her. But when she brought up having a girlfriend, his body went rigid for a moment, then spun around, stepping in close to her face. Luke's teeth were bared, fangs extended as his eyes took on a hue of blood. "You know exactly why I cannot have a girlfriend, mother," he hissed quietly, his pupils slowly condensing into slits. It was a topic he hated to touch on, as she very well knew. It was over five years ago, but the memories still clung fresh in his mind . . .

Their father leading Alexandra to her mother, quietly telling his daughter that everything would be all right, and she would be back soon . . . Lucius and his father alone in the house, their eyes trained on each other as they waited at the front door . . . "Protect your mother and sister at all costs . . ." he said, before the door burst inwards, sending them bother onto their backs . . .

Lucius shuddered, closing his eyes and lips, just as Alexandra walked in. He turned around, chewing roughly on his lip as he set the plates at the table. Then, his father came home. His eyes flickered upward, the color back to normal as his sister rushed to their father. "Yes, mother . . ." he said quietly, keeping his tone as emotionless as possible.

Their father smiled tiredly at Alexandra, hugging her briefly but tightly as he set his bag down. "How was my baby girl today?" he asked, yawning gently before he ran a hand through his short, black hair. Glasses were set upon his face, enhancing the shade of green in his eyes. Though he was human, he was still plenty strong from his lean, toned form, mostly made from his endless night romps with his wife.

 

[Sumi]

It was obvious that the older woman couldn't accept something like this from her son. The disapproving cold stare met with one of his own, the sight of her own son barring his fangs at her making her blood boil. However, she couldn't make a scene out of this. And it was a good decision that she refrained from anything violent given Alexandra's sudden presence at the wrong time. Their mother, Lydia, wasn't the one to simply accept this impudence, but it was only because she was facing her child right there that she didn't spill blood. Besides, everything she was doing was for their own good. She was trying to separate them because she knew how risky it would be if these two would be close. Not only they would involve themselves into a taboo relationship, but they had no idea how many hardships there were in a relationship between a human and a vampire. Given that she knew the best what it was like to love a human in spite of being a vampire herself, she didn't want the same fate for them.

Nevertheless, once she made sure he did understand what she was saying and that he would do as she said, she calmed down, though, the expression on her face showed she was still irritated with his earlier reaction.

Alexandra smiled back, hugging her father just as tight as he finally arrived home. His question however, erased her smile, reminding her of the breakup. Curiously enough, that didn't seem to be as important as before. At the same time it worried her, now that she had something she couldn't take her mind from. For that matter, she almost wished she could skip dinner so she wouldn't have to face her brother. As embarrassing and awkward as it was, she felt too conscious all of a sudden, knowing well enough that he was just joking earlier, yet still pondering on that. Leaving those thoughts aside for the moment, she stepped back as she watched her father, and shrugged in the end. "Putting aside the fact that I was dumped at the end of the date... I guess it was fun to some point." she admitted, before shaking her head. "But that doesn't matter. You look pretty tired. Was work that rough on you today?" she questioned with a slight chuckle, before stepping towards the kitchen.

It took her a couple of moments to remember that Lucius was still there in the kitchen. Thus, as soon as her eyes fell on his form, she then averted her amber orbs, before deciding that she had to act normal instead of being a weirdo. Thankfully, their mother didn't pay enough attention to notice Alexandra's glances and instead smiled slightly at her husband's arrival.

 

[Lord Dakol]

Her father looked at her frown and grimaced, taking off his jacket. "He dumped you? Hmm . . ." Jack mumbled, cracking his neck out of habit. "Want me to go kill the guy?" He was mostly joking, but a part of him was absolutely enraged that someone would toss his daughter aside like she was nothing. "I'm all right, just chaotic at work today, that's all."

As Lucius turned around, he noticed his father in the kitchen and smiled softly, walking over to hug Jack briefly, then glanced at Alexandra before moving to the table.

"How was your day today, my dear?" he asked his wife, leaning over to give her a soft kiss on the cheek. His body shivered in excitement, and it was plain as day that, even after all this time together, Lydia still drove him absolutely wild.

Both men sat down at opposite ends, and patiently waited for the women to get food first. While they waited, Jack looked at his son. "Did you work today?" he inquired.

"No; wasn't feeling that well," replied Lucius, drinking some water and frowning. He needed something warmer, and thick with iron.

 

[Sumi]

Alexandra just let out a soft laugh at her father's solution. "Nah, no need, dad. Else I'll feel sorry for the poor guy." she replied in a joking manner surprised at how easy she could handle this matter now. Then again, it was because she never really held real feelings for that boy that she could recover in such a short time. Well, she couldn't say she didn't expect that answer regarding his work. She noticed that at times he would more tired than the usual, but she had no clue as to why was that.

Lydia on the other hand, had some ideas why he was sometimes that tired, because she was at fault too. There were nights when they would simply have sex for hours, and she had to admit that she had quite the libido. It was still a miracle how they could do it so silently that their children never woke up (or at least that's what they hoped). And seeing how her husband wasn't one to deny her demands, why would she give him a break? "As wonderful as every day spent in an office working with mountains of paper." the older brunette answered to his question, her own body feeling the same tingling sensation as he gently kissed her cheek.

Meanwhile, Alexandra tried her best to act like nothing happened, noticing the short glance she got from her brother before he sat down at the table. Figuring she was reading too much into it, she finally sat down as well, along with Lydia, both of them on opposite ends.

It wasn't long before Lydia and Jack had started their own conversation, discussing the usual things like politics, news, and simply just subjects which would bore Alexandra. Not that she intended to stay for too long at the table for dinner. It was purposely that she didn't place too much food on her plate in the first place, so she could leave earlier. A total ditcher. In spite of that, even with her attempts to avoid any eye contact with her brother and instead look down only at her own plate, her foot brushed by his by mistake under the table. When she realize that, she quickly moved back her feet in the right place, deciding that she should stop swinging her leg even as lightly as she did earlier.

 

[Lord Dakol]

Lucius ate his food just as silently, his eyes upon the top of the table, his expression as if he was looking through it. He was certainly out of it; flights of fancy and daydreams took place in his head, with all of them being with his sister. Walking, talking, laughing, playing, eating, bathing . . . wait, bathing? Luke blinked in surprise at that one. He only imagined sneaking into the bathroom while his parents were asleep, and sneaking up on Alexandra while she took a shower, pressing their bare bodies against one another as he poised to bite-

He shook his head; where the hell were all of these coming from?! Before he had time to dwell on it, he felt something brush past his foot, and shivered gently. It was his sister's. She was the only one who swung their feet like that at dinner. A dark crimson blush flooded his cheeks, and dipped his head lower as he ate to hide his embarrassment.

A short while later, Lucius began to finish up, clearing his spot as Alexandra did the same. But before his sister could make a clean escape, Jack cleared his throat. "Alex, show your appreciation for the dinner that Luke made, and help him wash the dishes."

Lucius looked over at his dad, frowning slightly before he quietly moved past Alexandra into the kitchen, their shoulders lightly brushing against each other as he did so.

 

[Sumi]

Thankfully, for Alexandra, she didn't notice his blush, else she would have become even more self-conscious than she was already. Besides, even as it was, she felt like she needed to escape the kitchen as soon as she could, so she could go back to her room and do something to get rid of her own thoughts. Or even take a cold shower to clear up her mind, listen to loud music, read a book, anything. It was only because she was so focused on finishing the food on her plate so fast that she didn't see Lucius getting redder, though, she'd most likely blush as well if she did, which would be something quite bad, because they were still around their parents, and if they'd notice what was going on, there would be no turning back with Lydia's remarks and tantrum.

And then, finally, just as she finished eating and was ready to leave the room, she heard her father speak, scolding her about being ungrateful in a subtle way. She almost froze on the spot at the order-like speech and then reluctantly turned around, moving to wash the dishes. All she hoped now was that the older ones wouldn't keep an eye on her too. She could almost feel herself under pressure, taking her own dirty plate and fork to wash them. Just as soon as she thought about what bad things could happen, the next moment she felt her shoulder brushing against her brother's, she got so startled that she dropped everything from her hands, her first instinct being to catch the fork, ironically, instead of the plate which obviously shattered.

Lydia was the first to turn her head and frown at Alexandra, at which the younger brunette almost thought her mother read everything she was thinking on her face. The flushed face almost made her look as if she was caught doing the most embarrassing thing. "For Heavens' sake! What's wrong with you today? Can't you do one thing right?" she hissed, shaking her head and sighing. Alexandra seemed to relax somewhat all of a sudden, relieved that her mother couldn't read her mind or notice how guilty she felt for her own thoughts.

Crouching down to pick up the pieces, it took another minute for Lydia to wake up to reality and suddenly get up from her sit, alarmed. "Don't touch those!" Alexandra blinked at the older woman, dropping what she had picked up already, puzzled at what was going on and why was her mother yelling at her for. "What did I do now?" Lydia glanced at Lucius, motioning to help his sister, so she wouldn't get some cuts. Rolling her eyes, Alexandra continued with picking up the shatters, figuring that her mother was again too stressed from work and she probably needed to let off some steam by yelling at someone.