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Suzie’s hands moved quickly— one strand over the other, creating an even braid of bright blue and fading brown.
Alia tried not to fidget. She watched the manawisps float around the commons instead, straining to listen to the music of the carousel across the street.
“…Where are Duncan and Artur?” She mumbled, pulling her wand closer as she spoke.
The braiding stopped for just a moment, before resuming, slower.
“They’re doing boy stuff, I assume.”
“Boy… stuff?”
She heard Suzie nod. “Like throwing rocks at each other, probably.”
Alia didn’t reply for a moment— instead trying to crane her neck just enough to look back at Suzie, without pulling her own hair.
“You’re a… girl.” Alia tried. “So are we doing girl stuff?”
Suzie nodded again, faster.
“Well, braiding hair is very girly, yes!” She laughed. “You know… I’ve always wanted a little sister. I’ve been stuck between those two for years! Mindy and Regina are nice, but it’s not the same as having a little sister.”
Suzie smiled, and kept talking, halfway musing. “We should all have a sleepover some night. Oh, do you think when the undead calm down, Dalia could teach us how to do our nails?”
Turning her wand in her hand slowly, Alia shifted to try and face Suzie at least a bit. Suzie tried to keep a grip on Alia’s hair, but failed.
“And I’m… a girl too.”
That made Suzie pause. She straightened her back, adjusting her hat.
“I, ah— I assumed so.”
Slowly, Alia shrugged her shoulders, reaching up to run her hands through the half-done braid.
“…No one said I wasn’t.”
“Um, well—“ Suzie stuttered, glancing towards the waterfall. It took her a little while to think of a response.
“Sometimes people are… wrong. Do you want to be a girl?”
“I don’t want to be a boy.” Alia muttered.
“Okay. But do you want to be a girl?”
“…No.”
Suzie looked back towards Alia, as if that was the end of it. She smiled.
“Then that’s that!”
“—But I can’t come to the sleepover?”
“I—“
Suzie snorted, clamping her mouth shut. “No! Of course you can still come. We like you. That was silly of me to say only girls should come.”
“But what if Nolan comes?!” Alia suddenly replied. “He’s probably still mad ‘cause I bit him.”
Another laugh escaped Suzie, and she folded on herself, forehead hitting the grass. Alia jerked forward, slamming her palms on the ground as she leaned over Suzie.
“What— what’d I say?!”