That night Reina, Loupe and Hayun organized the loft. Since arriving their things had begun to accumulate in messy piles; unfolded clothes spilled from open suitcases, groceries were left in their brown paper bags on the counters, and computers, books, and lockpicks littered the table.

At first, Reina and Loupe only spoke to each other when necessary and always in short, snappy sentences. Hayun lit the woodburning stove and began organizing the groceries in the few cupboards while Reina set Loupe to sweep the floor and she unpacked their other belongings. Soon the loft was warm and clean and smelled of lemon from the candles Reina had lit around on the table, bathroom, and windowsills.

With the space tidy and clean the flame of their argument burned out quickly and by the time the sun had set so had their anger and hurt.

“Thanks Hayun,” Loupe said, pulling a chair over to the stove and reaching her hands out to the flames. “This is nice.”

“It’s the least I can do. I could make us dinner if you’d like?”

“Would you?” Loupe asked excitedly. “Don’t tell Reina, but her cooking is dreadful.”

This made Hayun smile. It lit up his entire face, rounding his cheeks and squinting his eyes to small slits. Loupe loved it instantly.

“How’s your cooking?” he asked as he searched the cupboards.

“Not much better,” Loupe admitted, laughing softly. She looked up and caught a glance from her sister who was waving her phone in a way that meant their parents were calling. “We’ll be right back,” she said, standing up quickly. “Just have to make a call.”

“Okay,” Hayun said, looking curiously at the sisters as they disappeared down the trapdoor.

It was dark under the loft in the main body of the building. Small strips of faded light from the street lamps and the rising moon illuminated patches of crumbling cinder blocks and splintered wood. The sisters picked their way through the rubble and trash to a far corner that looked out onto a street and sat on a slab of broken concrete. Reina linked the call from her smart glasses to Loupe’s and called Emiliana back. She picked up on the second ring, her’s and Ezra’s faces filling the screen.

“Hello darlings,” Mama crooned, her weathered face breaking into a grin. She wore her hair pulled back in a ponytail, but strands of it had fallen about in her eyes just as Reina’s did. Her dark hair was streaked with gray despite the fact that she was only halfway through her forties and she had wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. She had Loupe’s heart-shaped face and apple cheeks.

“How are my girls?” Papa asked, tying their wavy black hair back in a low ponytail. Their skin was darker and they had a close cut beard and scraggly eyebrows Emiliana was always trying to pluck for them. They smiled at them, their serious eyes softening on their daughters.

“Good, good,” Reina said, quickly.

“We’ve teamed up with two other people!” Loupe announced, earning an elbow in the side from her sister.

“What people?” Mama said quickly, her smile disappearing. It looked as though she was in the office tent lying on the floor on her stomach; Reina could see laptop and maps in the background. Ezra's side had such a bad connection they kept freezing, probably because they were outside and not connected to WiFi.

“Their names are Malak and Hayun,” said Loupe, the words tumbling from her mouth like a waterfall. “You know about Malak, of course, the best thief in Bardo. But we also met this boy about my age named Hayun. He’s from the countryside and had nowhere to live. And he’s agreed to help us with the mission. He wants to join the bandits.”

“What have we told you girls about letting strangers into your home?” Papa asked, their voice gentle but stern.

“He’s harmless, really,” Loupe continued.

“We couldn’t leave him,” Reina added. “It was raining and we didn’t have time to take him to one of our other locations.”

Mama smiled a sad sort of smile that Loupe saw more often than she wanted to. “Well, I’m glad you’re being safe and making progress with the mission. Do you need any supplies? What are your next steps?”

She was always asking multiple questions at once. Outside the world was sinking into night, the sounds of birds and pedestrians replaced by club music and sirens. Loupe shivered and scooted closer to her sister.

“No, we're all good,” Reina said quickly. “And we’re having a meeting tomorrow to go over a plan.”

The bandits did not have spare supplies, though their parents would go without if they ever so much as hinted at needing supplies.

“Sounds like you girls have everything under control,” Papa said, beaming at them.

Loupe couldn’t help but smile too. “Yep, it’s going good so far.”

“Okay, well we need to run, girls. But I’m so glad you got to the city safely. And keep me posted on these new colleagues, okay?” Mama said, looking over her shoulder as though someone off screen was trying to ask her something.

“Love you girls,” Papa said, logging off the call, their eyes already focused on something off screen.

“Bye, love you,” Loupe and Reina said in unison, waving and blowing kisses.

“I love you too,” Mama said.

The call ended.

“That wasn’t too bad,” Loupe said, turning to Reina.

“Hmmm humm,” Reina agreed, already making her way back to the trapdoor. “Let’s get back inside. It’s freezing.”

Inside the loft, Hayun was setting the table and the homey smell of oatmeal filled the room.

“Hayun, you are a proper housewife!” Loupe exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a quick hug.

Hayun blushed, his hands awkward around her waist and his chin tilted away.

They ate quickly and talked little, favoring their smartglasses over conversation after the long day. When Loupe got up to serve herself seconds she saw Reina typing a message one handed as she ate and she was still typing when Loupe returned to the table. Unable to help herself, Loupe glanced at her sister’s screen. She was texting Malak. She couldn’t make out the smaller print of the message, but it was obvious Reina was typing, deleting, and retyping the message, anxious to get the wording just right.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Loupe knew her sister had a crush on Malak the same way she knew her headache would be remedied by a good espresso and she guessed it started over a year ago. Reina didn’t catch feelings easily, but she had returned from her first solo mission heartbroken. She never told Loupe what happened between her and Malak. Loupe had tried to pry it out of her sister using everything she had from coercion to guilt until Reina stopped talking to her all together for a week. After that Loupe had let it go because she would rather have her sister and her secrets than not at all. Now she saw it starting again in the nervous wobble of Reina’s fingers over the screen and her teeth worrying at her lip and wished she could do something to stop it.

Dinner finished and they piled the dishes in the sink to be cleaned tomorrow and then took it in turns using the bathroom to wash up and change for bed. Loupe sang to herself absentmindedly as she got ready for bed, but that restlessness stayed with her even as she got under the covers and snuggled close to her sister. Hayun settled himself on the pink couch, using his coat as a blanket.

On some nights, like tonight, disaster felt close. Lying awake in the darkness Loupe thought should feel the breaths of the thousands of other people living in this city warming her neck. The mission weighed heavily on her chest. Images of wildfires, heart attacks, prisons, and quicksand flooded her mind ensuring her heart kept racing and sleep stayed away well into the night.

----------------------------------------

While charming during the day, the building had an eerie feel at night. Drafts of wind kept coming in from the open ground floor and from the cracks in the roof like cold fingers against Hayun’s cheeks. Cars passed outside, their headlights casting dancing shadows against the walls. He could not help the feeling that the loft might crumble out from under him at any moment.

Once he could hear the sisters’ even deep breaths, and Loupe had stopped tossing and turning, Hayun went to the window by the kitchen counter and opened it. Leaning out, he looked up. It was a cloudy night and most of the stars were hidden away behind wispy blankets. He had just managed to spot the North star when his phone vibrated in his sweatshirt pocket.

You ok?

It was Loupe. Hayun looked over his shoulder to see her laying on her side facing him on the far side of the bed, her face lit up by the blue light of her phone.

yeah

sorry

did I wake you?

No

I wake up in the night a lot its fine

oh i’m sorry

i just can’t sleep

Do you get nightmares?

sometimes

but that’s not why I can’t sleep

everything okay??

yeah

you guys are really nice

thank you for everything

Hayun closed the window and returned to the couch, laying down with one leg crossed over the other.

You’re welcome

But you gotta stop being so polite

It’s gonna get awkward

i’m sorry

im really awkward sometimes

It’s ok

So am I

shhhh you’re not awkward

youre actually vry cool

Thanks but that’s not true

You’re just saying that

i’m not!

sure

im just not sure aobut this

whole mission thing

if it makes u feel any better

u would be helping people

by stealing?

Carwyn has more money

than he or is family could ever spend

people really need that money

I guess you’re right

what are u thinking?

i’m thinking I’ll stay

never in a million years did

i think Id become a bandit

ur welcome :)

think u can sleep now?

Nope

Do you want some tea?

Why not

Getting back up, Hayun searched the cabinets and drawers for the kettle as quietly as he could until Loupe stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and picked it up from where it had been left on top of the stove. Hayun took it from her and put water to boil while Loupe pulled a jar of dried camomile from the shelf.

“What were you looking at?” Loupe asked just above a whisper as they waited for the water to boil.

“Nothing,” Hayun said, cocking his head in confusion.

“When you were at the window,” Loupe clarified.

“Oh,” Hayun said, glancing over his shoulder at the closed window. “I was looking for constellations.”

“Could you show me?” Loupe asked.

“Sure, though I couldn’t make much out; it’s pretty cloudy tonight.”

Hayun lifted the window open slowly so as to make as little noise as possible. Loupe came up beside him, resting her forearms on the windowsill and tilting her face up to the night sky seemingly impervious to the cold.

“That’s the North Star,” Hayun said, pointing to a bright star glittering just above the dark wave of tiled roofs.

“No, that one is,” Loupe said, forgetting to whisper as she pointed to another star a little to the left. “See, it is brighter than that one.”

“That’s Sirius. The brightest star in the galaxy, but not the North star.”

Loupe screwed up her nose at the correction. “Bullshit! Who taught you to read the stars?”

Hayun had to bite back a laugh. The moonlight shone bright on her skin, smoothing over all the edges and imperfections. They stood so close that he could feel the warmth of her body next to his. It made something deep in his stomach ache.

“I taught myself,” Hayun said, still searching the sky. “There isn’t much to do in the countryside after dark. Did you know that during the height of the Nation Days humans used so much artificial lights that at night they outshone the stars?”

“That’s insane! Outshine stars?”

“It’s true!”

“Could I draw you?” Loupe asked.

“Me?” Hayun gasped, but Loupe was already scooping her note book and pencil from where she’d left them on the table.

“Yeah, just keep standing there like before and act normal,” she instructed eagerly, settling herself cross-legged on the floor beside him. “What made you want to learn about the stars?” she asked before Hayun could protest.

“I uhh, got lost,” Hayun said with a soft chuckle. “When I was little I would run away to find my father. One night when I was seven or eight I made a wrong turn and got lost in the woods. Once I realized I couldn’t find my way out I climbed a tree and waited. My aunt taught me to stay put when you get lost so it is easier to be found.”

“She sounds like a smart lady,” Loupe said, her head bent over her notebook, hair falling over her face.

“She was. I was in that tree for almost two days before the search party finally found me. The very next day I went to the library and checked out every book on astronomy so that I would never get lost again.”

“You didn’t have a phone?” Loupe asked, raising one eyebrow.

“There is no service in the countryside or the woods. I didn’t get my first phone till I turned sixteen.”

“What are you guys doing?”

Loupe jumped in surprise, dropping her book and pencil which clattered against the hardwood floor. Hayun turned to find Reina out of bed, eyes puffed half shut with sleep and brows furrowed.

“We were just chatting,” Loupe said to her sister.

“Chat tomorrow,” Reina snapped. “It’s the middle of the night and people are trying to sleep.”

Loupe patted Hayun’s shoulder before joining Reina back in the bed. Hayun closed the window, turned off the now boiling water, and layed back on the couch. Now, sleep came swift and heavy as the tide, dragging everyone under.