Sigh. "Yeah..."

Nod. "We're going to do better, though."

"Always improving."

"Trying to. Together."

She smiles at her sister and takes her hand, squeezing it.

Luna pulls them into more of a relaxed conversation after that - and she readily lets Layla dominate, allowing Samira to fall into the background when she wants. 

Samira's met Luna once, and Layla's good at talking. She answers questions when asked and tries to contribute where she can but doesn't steer the conversation.

Luna bids them a good night after a little bit, explaining she needs to be in the Silver Chair soon. (And not mentioning that Layla is clearly getting tired.)

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Thanks for talking to us."

"It was my pleasure."

And she leaves. 

Micqui ends up taking over a lot more of - everything, over the next few years.

Their mothers increasingly aren't around, really, emotionally or sometimes even physically. Gleam's trying, but... Micqui can tell mama's stressed and having trouble.

Elathea is...

Micqui starts mourning the idea of the twins ever knowing the same mom she did within a few months of Samira Exalting. Mom might as well be on the other side of Creation, and Micqui struggles to handle training Samira herself without alienating Layla.

They manage. Micqui's sixteen, now. Past the age of responsibility, not quite at the age to found her own household - but she's been old enough to help out for a while, and plenty of people outside of the upper echelons of the Deliberative are parents at her age, and they have an entire massive estate full of potential helpers. (An estate Micqui increasingly starts running - mama's always been bad at this part, and mom's now just... Not participating at all.)

(At least the oldest retainers are too well trained to look at her with pity. And they could keep the estate going even if the entire family vanished, so... It's not too hard.)

(And as their mothers' fuses grow shorter - well. Micqui's a practical girl. The loyalty of servants can mean a lot.)

(And of course, it's only a matter of time before - before that means something.)

(Micqui doesn't even wait for the fight to start. She sees Gleam stalking off toward Elathea's workshop, buzzing with anger, and she begins to act. Her sisters - there's secret paths through existence, ones she was warned to never tell non-Sidereals about, but she doesn't fucking care and shoving two thirteen year olds through a door isn't really telling, anyways. She prays to Luna. Everyone else - she warns them, gets people clear, and then puts her own body between her mothers and the estate.)

(Luna's always going to be Micqui's favorite god, she decides, as the deity pulls through - stops the fight cold - and saves them.)

(Her mothers are... Sorry, they say. There's something different, something changed - Micqui almost dares to hope, lets the servants know the coast is clear, sets the senior retainers to straightening things out - )

Something is wrong with Exaltations.

Micqui takes the news in stride. Starts further contingency measures - realizes with a sinking feeling her Exaltation might be 'wrong' too - starts trying to figure out what the best way to put contingency decisions in Layla's hands will be.

Her mothers don't even try to attend to the household in the aftermath. Micqui handles that, too. (She wouldn't want to hand over this influence even if her mothers tried to get it back, she thinks. It's too useful.)

(Luna's initial tests of their family's Exaltations are... Stressful. Micqui doesn't like the changes in Samira, ones she'd been blind to before now - doesn't like the expressions on her little sisters' faces as Luna tests Micqui's own Exaltation.)

It's late when they finish, and Layla at least is practically vibrating with worry - almost by rote, Micqui rises to shepherd them out, saying -

"I think it's getting pretty close to bedtime, girls."

"Kay. Good night," she says to her mothers.

"Goodnight, dear."

"Sleep well."

"Night."

And off to the twins' room - where Layla dramatically flops on her bed instead of starting getting ready for sleep.

"You're upset," Samira observes.

"Yeah."

"Mostly worried." She stares at the underside of Samira's bunk.

"...And angry."

Samira crawls into Layla's bed to flop next to her.

She rolls into her sister, snuggling, then glances at Micqui.

Who comes to curl into Layla's back, arm over both her sisters.

"I am too," she says, softly. 

"This is all..." Vague gesture. "...A lot."

Solemn nod. "It is, and it's terrifying, and it makes me want to find whoever's responsible and hurt them." Her voice stays astoundingly even.

She gently pats Micqui's arm.

She curls her arm a bit tighter. "I want to protect you," she says, voice nearly a whisper.