I’m shaking my head & locking the gates

Cocking a brow Edy looked towards Zariah. Going back a couple of years. Well...given the appearance of Jace and this apparent marriage it made sense that years had passed, and yet ... How was it that neither Edy nor Loren remembered any of it? "Okay...but how is any of that possible?" Still Loren seemed utterly un-bothered by the time-lapse, which actually was okay in her mind. That meant he was focusing on the real issue at hand, namely abandoning his whole family. That's how it felt anyways. "Well this isn't the Launceleyn compound." Edy pointed out with pedantic clarity. "It's the...uh..Launceleyn house totally different." The levity in her voice was unintentional, but for fuck sakes, Loren really was digging in his heels about this. And all over some relationship? As Loren said there were no houses, Edy visibly gaped. Looking towards Zariah with an unmistakably expression of okay I know shit has been weird, but that is really weird, right? before turning back towards her whatever-cousin-dipped-in-chocolate-twice-removed. "Uh. If you hadn't noticed we're in a house. One of many, specifically chosen because of all the extra rooms." The sweat was literally still drying on her skin from cleaning this place and Loren was trying to say that there weren't any houses? Unimpressed with what came out of his mouth next, Edy briskly licked the front of teeth and huffed. "Yeah but we aren't in Northaven. We have no one here except for each other, our magic has gotten fucked up, we don't know why or how we arrived, Zariah has apparently been fucking Neron and-" Realizing the mixing of swearing and small children, Edy shot Z a momentary apologetic smile before continuing. "-this is what we have. Each other." Huffing, Edy narrowed eyes dangerously close to tears. "In whatever way you can." She repeated incredulous, her voice surprisingly soft and low. "As long as that doesn't infringe on what you want, right? Cause boo hoo, things happened to you in the past and now we all have to pay for it, even though all we want to do is be a family." As Bea interrupted, Edy squeezed the girl's had silently encouraging her. Loren was being a jerk and despite Bea's inelegant phrasing (not that Edy had done much better), Edy found herself nodding along with every word the girl said. As the questions turned round to her, Edy looked down towards the upturned face. "Because Loren said we were bestfriends." She said with a simple note of finality, as if this decision of his was also a decision to end that. Given that he'd only mistakenly entered into it Loren probably wouldn't care at all. But the way Loren had behaved had meant something to her, and now, in a time when she felt utterly alone and was grasping all the harder to keep her family together, his rejection of that was felt all the more sharply. "Ahh right. Too new to introduce, but good enough to decide you'd rather not stay with us, huh." Edy sulked childishly. It was a low blow, but since she'd never been in a relationship, she didn't know what it was to covet the newness. Edy would happily bring round any sexual partner (and was going to, in fact) and answer any question anyone at all might have. Why it was so different for Loren, the older and wiser one, she didn't know. As Loren knelt to speak to Bea, Edy narrowed her eyes defensively. "We weren't mean to him Bea. But he's making us pay for it, just the same." Edrei Launceleyn loveable & obnoxious