Even in the darkness, illuminated only by the soft glow of their golden markings, flitting fireflies, and hovering stars, Lumi can tell Ellie is trying to figure out what was different. She can only be grateful that in the darkness the shape is so easy to hide. As her shoulders strain in an effort to flatten them, she feels them brush against her spine, startling her.
As the small wings splay with the startled flutter, Lumi whips her head around to peer hard at wings that have - to her complete and utter shock - grown a bit larger in the time since she’d descended the mountain. The nubs now resemble something like miniature (though still completely useless) wings.
Flattening them against her shoulders once more, she turns her gaze back to Ellie, ears flattening as well. Her sister is clearly annoyed she’d pointed out how late she is, but Luminesce is equally annoyed at her accusatory question. “I didn’t do anything,” she replies petulantly, as though that were not a bald-faced lie made obvious by the new features now sprouting from her shoulders. “I could ask you the same thing.”
With her next snort, a bit of her annoyance bleeds from her features. With that annoyance gone, her stiff pride wilts. No matter how much they might bicker or tease, Ellie is still her closest friend and confidant. And young as she is, Lumi could never have hoped to keep her own dejection from her sister forever. So, finally, in a slightly wavering voice while refusing to meet Ellie’s eyes, she mutters, “I didn’t have a choice.”
@[Elegance]