The apartment over the main garage on Maple Grove had had a number of tenants over the years. Most recently, it had belonged to Caroline, to Des, briefly to Piper and Lyneth, all before Lucas had come to Rhy'Din. He'd lived there for a few months before the Storms had invited him to live with them; then he'd moved into his own home with his mother and brother. But too long away from them had made him independent, and after a few months of that, Lucas had come to the decision that he needed to live alone again. Hence, the garage apartment was his once more, and moving day was turning into something of a visitor circus.

Thankfully, Lucas didn't have too many belongings to pack up and drag over to the garage apartment, but it still took a few trips to get it all there. It would take a few days to get it all organized, but first, he and Fliss had decided to do a little painting and redecorating to make the place feel more like home. Of course, once their families found out, they all wanted to join in the fun, but thankfully, Johnny and Liv had somehow talked Alex and Maria out of it.

There was also the promise of better furnishings from the Old Man, but he'd agreed to hold off until the painting was done. The sight of Fliss wielding a paint brush was enough to scare anyone, and Johnny and Liv had already seen it once. Of course, she was sporting something else they hadn't seen before today, but she was hoping no one was going to notice the sparkle of blue at her belly button while there was busywork to be done. "Okay, so ....bagsy I don't do the white gloss stuff."

Lucas wasn't one to not notice something new about his girlfriend, but with the way people had been back and forth and in and out all day long, and how busy they'd been, he hadn't had a chance yet to ask her about it. Even now, when they were alone for the moment, the conversation seemed to revolve around painting more than anything else. "Bagsy?" he echoed, tossing her a puzzled look. He hadn't the foggiest what she was talking about.

She raised a brow at him, smiling at his puzzlement. "I don't want to paint doors and windowframes and skirting boards," she clarified for him. "I'm really good with a roller. And I promise I won't set anything on fire."

"Okay, but what does bagsy mean?" he asked further, as she still hadn't quite clarified his question. He didn't mind painting the trim, while she focused on the walls, willing to take whatever help was offered. He wouldn't have even minded Alex and Maria helping, but Liv and Johnny had distracted them with the promise of an outing.

"Bagsy, you know," she shrugged. "I bag this job, means that I want this one and I'm claiming it so no one else can. You never heard that before?" Curious, she flashed him a bemused smile. Being brought up by an American superhero and an English P.A. had brought an amazing mix of slang into Fliss' everyday speech.

"Who's Bagsy?" a familiar voice asked from the doorway. Apparently, Lucas' brother Matt had never heard that expression either. "Thought I'd come by and see if you need any help. Not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked, just a little more timidly than was the norm for him.

Twisting, Fliss smiled at her boyfriend's younger brother. "Slang my mom taught me that nobody else knows, apparently," she chuckled, glancing up at Lucas. "More hands, faster the job gets done."

"Grab a brush and join the party," Lucas told his brother, waving him toward the pile of painting supplies. "Fliss claimed dibs on the walls, so you get to help me with the trim."

Matt stepped into the apartment and took a brief look around. "Not bad. Mom said you lived here before you moved in with the Storms?" he asked, just making conversation as he got himself a brush.

"Yeah, I lived here for a little while, but it got kinda lonely," Lucas replied.

"And you don't think it'll get lonely again?" Matt asked.

"He should install a revolving door," Fliss suggested with a grin, bending to pour some of the paint into the roller tray. "Where do you want me to start this?" she asked Lucas curiously. "Are we meeting up in the middle somewhere, or working the way around together?"

"Uh, I thought you were doing the walls, and we're doing the trim," Lucas said, hoping to clarify what the plan was.

"Didn't really answer the question," Matt muttered, just loud enough for them to hear him.

Lucas turned to his brother, looking slightly annoyed. "What's the big deal" You and Mom aren't that far away."

Matt shrugged his shoulders before dipping his brush in the paint. "I don't know. You tell me."

"Okay, I'll just ....start, then." As nosy as she was, Fliss had a feeling she really shouldn't be here to listen to what sounded like an epic brother fight in the making. She'd warned Lucas to talk to his brother about it properly before making all the decisions to move out, but it seemed as though Matt was still holding onto some things that hadn't been talked out. Collecting her roller and the paint, she wandered to the other side of the room to start painting the rough edges with a brush - far enough to offer privacy while hearing every word.

"We came all the way here to be with you, and we no sooner get here and you move out. How do you think that makes us feel?" Matt asked, even as he dabbed paint onto the window sill.

"You didn't come here to be with me. You came here because Dad was being an ass and Mom has family here," Lucas replied, though there was a little more to it than that, and they both knew it.

"No, we came here because you're here," Matt insisted. "And now, you're moving out."

Lucas sighed and turned to his brother again. "I'm in walking distance of the house!" he pointed out, clearly annoyed.

Across the room, Fliss winced, trying not to butt in. This did not sound like the best start to what was supposed to be a productive day of getting the job done.

"Yeah, but ..." Matt started, unsure how to respond to that. His brother was right. He was only a short distance away. What was the big deal, anyway' He darted a glance at Fliss, as if he'd almost forgotten she was there before going back to his painting.

"This doesn't have anything to do with you or Mom," Lucas pointed out, as patiently as possible. "I just need to be on my own. That's all."

"Nah, it would be like kissing my sister ....if I had one," Matt replied with a grin, though he was probably just saying to make her feel better. Whether he had a secret crush on Fliss or not was for him to know and them not to find out. "You do know paint is flammable, right?" he asked, as he turned back to his painting of the window frame.

"I only set fire to the paint in my mouth, didn't I?" she pointed out with a cheerful chuckle, squeezing Lucas' hand to reassure him she was all fine now. Turning back to the wall, she set about with the roller once again. "I solemnly swear to use the stepladder and not my flame to get up to the ceiling."

"I think your Dad might kill me if we set fire to the garage my first day here," Lucas remarked, though it was more than likely to be Humphrey who killed him. Or her. Or them.

"Maybe you should solemnly swear not to get paint in your mouth," Matt teased, smirking a little as he eyed the couple from where he was lazily painting the window frame.

"What do you want me to do, wear little booties filled with water?" Fliss asked a little defensively. She'd solved the problem the quickest way she knew how, without hurting anyone else, but the boys seemed to be fixating on the fact that she might have set fire to the garage.

They weren't, really; they were just having fun teasing her, which wasn't very often possible, as it was usually the other way around. "If you did that, you would slosh," Matt remarked helpfully, tossing a wink at his brother, who hadn't missed the defensive tone in Fliss' voice.

"It's okay, Fliss. We're just teasing," Lucas told her, tossing his brother a pointed look.

Everything else about Fliss was fair game for teasing, but the flame" She could be as touchy about it as most other girls her age were about their hair or make up. Reassured, she nodded to Lucas, returning to the walls to keep going. "Hey, Matt, have you been to the aquarium yet?" she asked suddenly, not entirely sure why that had popped into her head. It might have something to do with the fact that the last time they'd all gone to the beach, he'd disappeared under the water for hours and not come back until the tide changed.

"The aquarium?" Matt echoed, curiously. "Why would I want to go there when I can see all the fish I want without having to look through the glass?" he asked. All he really knew of aquariums he'd learned in San Diego. Granted, he'd always had an interest in the ocean, which seemed to have somehow manifested itself in his mutation, but all the aquariums back home were boring compared to actually exploring the sea for yourself.

"Uh ....so that you know what you're looking at when you're actually under the water yourself?" she suggested mildly. "They have these interactive talks, and they ask for help to feed the sharks sometimes. You know Professor Granger, Dom' His sister works there sometimes, she's a professor, too."

"I forgot about that," Lucas piped in. "I think she takes apprentices, too, doesn't she?" he asked further, though he wasn't too sure himself. "I think there's an oceanography class at Bristle Crios," he suggested further, though he wasn't sure exactly what his brother was considering for a career, and he certainly had plenty of time before he had to decide.

"Sharks!" Matt exclaimed. "That's awesome!" While most people would be terrified by the thought of meeting a shark up close and personal, Matt thought it was the coolest thing ever.

"I know she does those research trips," Fliss confirmed to her boyfriend. "You know, the Old Man went nuts over the last one because they got shipwrecked." She giggled, remembering the affectionate bollocking Ashlyn had gotten for worrying her great-uncle so badly. "She goes to the aquarium pretty regularly herself, you know. She dives with the turtles to check on them and stuff, and she gives talks."

"Does she live at the Grove?" Matt asked, trying to contain his excitement and not look too excited. He'd vaguely heard mention of her, but he didn't recall ever having met her, even in passing, but then he hadn't been in Rhy'Din very long.

"No, she married a pirate and they live on a ship right now," Fliss offered, absentmindedly scratching her head with one paint-covered hand as she racked her brains for the answers Matt might be looking for. "I think they're moving into some house north of the city, something her husband had built for her or something. She's attached to the university, so she's around the city a lot."

"A pirate," Matt echoed. "You're kidding me, right?" Wait until he heard just what pirate she'd married.

"Um, Fliss?" Lucas started, glancing over to see her getting paint in her hair, chuckling a little at his girlfriend's clumsiness. She did look pretty cute with paint in her hair, so he decided to let it go, so long as she didn't set fire to her hair. "Why don't you take him to the aquarium while I'm at work sometime?" he suggested helpfully.

"Hmm?" Looking over at Lucas, utterly oblivious to the lovely new streaks in her hair, Fliss blinked innocently. "What?" she asked, half-smiling at his chuckle, though she had no idea why. The suggestion, however, was something she could pick up on easily enough. "Sure, that sounds like fun. What do you think, Matt' Think you can handle being all alone with the big scary Storm for a while?"

Matt was grinning for much the same reason as Lucas, though the suggestion of visiting the aquarium didn't hurt, and having Fliss all to himself for a few hours only sweetened the deal. "So long as you don't set my hair on fire," he replied, with that teasing grin of his.

"Singed, at worst," she promised with a sunny smile, oblivious to the possibility that Matt might have developed a crush on her. She was pretty sure he only tolerated her because she was always around Lucas. Glancing between the two brothers, her smile took on a suspicious edge. "What are you two grinning about' What did I do now?"

"Nothing!" Matt replied, snickering to himself as he turned his attention back to his painting.

Lucas - the kinder, gentler brother - took pity on her and gestured to his own head, careful not to touch his hair and do the same as Fliss. "You've got a little paint in your hair."

"Huh?" Raising her paint-free hand to her hair, she groaned at the feeling of the slimy stuff in her hair. "Well, I guess I deserved that," she sighed. "It's your fault, you both distracted me. So there." Grinning, she stuck her tongue out at them and turning back to her painting with a laugh.

"The closest we can come is the aquarium," Fliss chuckled. "Which isn't the same, is it' You have something that's all yours, that's pretty damn cool. So make the most of it and stop wanting to be different in other ways. Fire, wings" They're not all they're cracked up to be."

"Everything has its downside," Lucas remarked, though he wasn't quite sure what the downside of Matt's mutation might be, other than the fact that gills were a little hard to hide and some might find them repulsive.

"Yeah," Matt admitted. "You're right. So, will you take me to the aquarium sometime soon?" he asked, hoping to go before he got busy with school.

"Sure I will," Fliss agreed cheerfully. "We can go this week sometime, and we can swing by Bristle Crios too. I'll show you around, maybe that'll help you decide what you wanna study and where."

"It's a date!" Matt replied cheerfully. "Not a date date," he corrected with a smirk. "You know what I mean."

Lucas rolled his eyes, before going back to his painting to hide the smirk on his face. At least, the tension between him and his brother was easing somewhat, but Lucas thought Fliss was probably the reason for that.

"Hey, you know STARS is gonna have a few gaps this year too, right?" Fliss added, taking up her paintbrush to start the rough edges on the next wall. "I'm gonna be too old for it, so that's my place ready to go to someone else. Saturday mornings, get you out of the house, meeting more people your age. Could be fun." She flashed Lucas a grin as she spoke to his brother; she was getting better at being a big sister the more practice she had.

"STARS?" Matt echoed. "Alex has been talking about doing that." He'd always been more interested in sports than theater, but it might be a good way to meet girls, if nothing else. "Did you like it?" he asked curiously as he went about painting the trim, with the goal of meeting Lucas at the half-way point.

"I loved it," Fliss admitted with a grin. "I didn't think I would. I mean, it's not really my thing. But the singing is more complicated than you might think, it's a real challenge; the acting side of it is more like make-believe in the playground, but you get to show it off and learn how to do it differently; and the dancing" It's a workout." She laughed, shaking her head. "Seriously, I've been doing it for a year, and my confidence is through the roof. I'm happier to be me because now I know how to pretend if I'm not feeling it. Does that make any sense?"

"Sort of," Matt replied, with furrowed brows that indicated he wasn't quite understanding her completely. "But why would you want to be anyone else, Fliss" You're awesome, just the way you are!" he told her, wishing not for the first time that she was closer to him in age than to his older brother.

Lucas said nothing, but only looked over at the other two with a small frown on his face, wondering how Fliss was going to explain that.

"Uh ..." Fliss paused, letting out a low breath as she glanced at Lucas. "Three years ago, I was really shy. I wouldn't even look people in the eye, not even people that I knew really well. Because ....well, all my life I've been shunted around from foster home to foster home, and then from orphanage to orphanage. No one wanted me. And then I started to make things burn. I didn't even like me. I thought just being around me was a death sentence. If it hadn't been for my mom and dad" I don't know what would have happened to me. They helped me learn who I am, but being around other people my age and doing fun things with them, like STARS ....that's what taught me that I'm not a curse, and I'm not trouble waiting to happen. But just because I know that, it doesn't mean that I don't still have days when I feel like I'm more of a burden and everyone would be better off if I disappeared. STARS taught me how to push that away and be myself, even when I don't really feel like myself." She laughed, shaking her head. "It's difficult to explain."

If Matt didn't get it, at least Lucas did. "I kinda felt the same way, especially when I found myself sprouting wings. I didn't tell anyone until it became so obvious I couldn't hide it anymore. You remember how Dad freaked out?" he said, glancing at his brother with a frown.

"Yeah, he wasn't too crazy about these either," Matt said, gesturing to the gills on his neck. "He wanted me to wear turtleneck shirts in the summer!" So, maybe Matt couldn't exactly relate to Fliss being an orphan, but his and Lucas' home life had been less than ideal. "Anyway, whatever you think, you're not a burden, Fliss. I think you're awesome."

"Thanks, Matt." She smiled at her boyfriend's little brother warmly, but the smile she turned on Lucas was all kinds of intimate. They understood each other in a way not many others could, after all. There was a reason they'd bonded so easily. "Anyway, how are you guys doing with the trim' I'm nearly halfway there with the walls here."

"Getting there!" Matt replied, as he went back to painting, feeling a lot better than he had when he'd first arrived.

It was Lucas who met Fliss' gaze and returned her smile warmly. "What do you say we finish this room and break for pizza?" he suggested.

"One room a day, we can have you moved in by the end of the month," Fliss agreed approvingly. "I think that's an awesome plan. And hey! I have actual money for once." She laughed. "Elena Donnelly took me on as a waitress at Incredible Edibles part-time, so I can finally stop scrounging off my parents when I want stuff."

"My treat!" Lucas insisted. "It's the least I can do to thank you both for helping," he said. After all, he had a job, too, and Tommy King had started giving him a small commission on sales.

"Whatever happened to the DJ thing, Fliss?" Matt asked, knowing she'd done a stint as an intern at WHAM 101, though he wasn't sure if there'd been any chance of it turning into a paid position.

"I will treat you another time, then," Fliss negotiated with a grin. Matt's question made her smile. "It was a lot of fun, but it's not really what I want to do with my life, you know" It was only supposed to be a summer thing, and I've been doing it for a whole year now. That, and ....it's not paid. It's not a job, I can't save up while I'm doing it. I learned a lot, but I definitely know I am not made to do anything in admin."

"Not gonna follow in your mom's footsteps as the Best P.A. on Rhy'Din?" Matt teased, having heard that through the grapevine, though he also knew her mother was on family leave or something or other right now.

"Fliss' mom once told me that a lot of people don't know what they want to do with their lives until they're older and that some people never figure it out," Lucas pointed out, as he and Matt were closing on in the last of the room's trim.

"My mom has an eidetic memory, no one is ever going to be as good as her," Fliss insisted stoutly, in awe of both her parents in their respective roles. She paused, smiling fondly as Lucas shared that little tidbit. She knew her mother had spoken to him a few times, and that he seemed to come out of those conversations calmer, but this was the first time she'd heard anything that had been said. "Yeah, she thought she wanted to be a journalist or a news anchor when she was in college. Now look at her."