The Greater Bonesborough Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts and Natural History glittered white and gold in the afternoon sun as Luz and Azura approached from the north. They walked along one of the wide, tree-lined pedestrian concourses that braced the acres of lush greenery that the Museum faced, its well-manicured "Yard" crisscrossed with packed-dirt trails and dotted with thickets of oak and willow that grew dense in the park further away from the grand four-story building. The "Green" closer to the wide marble staircase was flat and open, the better for public gatherings or open-air performances.

"I don't know if they're actually named the Yard and the Green, but that's what Steve and Tía Lily always call them, and if anyone knows what they're talking about, it's those two." Luz hummed thoughtfully before glancing down at her quiet companion, "I'm not sure if Lilith will be here today—her schedule's odd 'cuz she's a big shot—but Steve is always around. He's great." She squeezed Azura's hand lightly before gently adding, "You can go to him for help too, cariño." Azura watched the shadows from the trees slide across the brown-haired girl's features as they walked until Luz happened to meet her eyes, and she jerked her gaze away to the Green beside them. Luz smiled and looked back to their destination, and didn't see the light-pink blush spreading across pale cheekbones.

Luz pointed out a patch of lawn where she and her family had sat for last year's fireworks display, and she described an arts and crafts fair the Museum had hosted there just the month before. "Extraño," Luz gestured toward the far edge of the Green, "I wonder what that's all about." A stage had been constructed with its back to the Museum, facing out into the lawn. Workmen in grey uniforms and purple hard hats were busy unspooling electrical cables, and mounting lights and speakers around the performance area. Everything was decorated in greens: swirls of sharp mint, delicate sea foam, and a deep forest green. There were accents in gold and purple, and the visible electronics on-stage all sported a similar purple and gold aesthetic. Small signs had started to appear beside the pavement, set into the edge of the lawn. Some read Siren of the Green, others were printed with Siren at the Met. Azura turned her nose up at the placards, but Luz pointed at the first style and chuckled, "Hey look, it is called the Green."

They reached the pavement at the end of the lawn and walked across the four-laned street separating the Museum building and the park, joining the small stream of other patrons as they moved up the stairs. Luz craned her neck to look up at the enormous Siren at the Met banner strung across the Museum portico, while Azura huddled close to her shoulder. The bottom of the banner caught Luz's eye and she muttered aloud as she read: "Sponsored by the Fine Arts Programme of Blight Industries? Huh, I thought they were just in manufacturing." She looked down at the quiet girl holding her hand and elbow and gave her a smirk, "Ah, corporations, right? It's probably just a tax write-off." Azura huffed and shrugged, and Luz's eyes softened. "Not a fan of crowds, huh?" Luz asked and Azura gave a quick shake of her head. "Just stay close to me while we get through security, then we can take it easy."

Azura looked more and more uncomfortable as they neared the doors, and Luz felt a swell of concern for the pale girl. "Mi compañera, get under here," Luz smiled as she tried to lift her arm and the shorter girl let go long enough to slide up against her side, before she tucked Luz's arm over her shoulders. The brown-haired girl chuckled as she patted Azura's arm, "Don't worry, here's what'll happen." She pointed up the stairs to the long line of glass doors, "We'll go in any of those middle doors, then there'll be the metal detectors in the middle of the lobby," Luz looked up for a moment as she thought, "There's four of 'em. We'll put our bags through the conveyor belts and one of Steve's guys will wave you through, it'll be fine." Azura shook her head and pointed at her throat, and gave Luz a worried look over her sunglasses. Luz grinned, "I was thinkin' about that on the way here, and I have a plan." She sounded exceptionally confident when she said that, which sent Azura scrambling to pull the notebook from Luz's backpack.

WHAT PLAN

"It's a surprise."

WHAT PLAN was given two question marks and an underline.

"Look, mi compañera, your reaction will help sell it, it's all a part of the magic of show biz—" Luz trailed off as she pushed through the doors. The Museum lobby had changed in the last few days. Azura stopped short next to Luz, before both girls were forced to continue moving with the other museum patrons. The clunky old dark gray metal detectors in the middle of the rotunda had been replaced with an array of sleek, deep purple and black machines. Eight conveyor belts hummed a constant drone of background noise, while a small army of black-and-purple uniformed security officers managed the crowd. There was a shiny chrome sign set up beside the retractable belt barriers leading up to the security station. "Museum security upgrade courtesy of Blight Industries?" Luz scoffed, "When did this happen?!" Azura looked worried as Luz pulled her toward the shortest line on the far-right edge.

It quickly became apparent to Luz why this line was so short when only one family made it through in the time it took three groups to move on from each other lane. She snorted in surprise when she recognized the security guard standing beside their metal detector. "Ugh," she groaned in disgust, drawing Azura's attention, "Now I know why this line was so short. Hi Matt on-a-mule," she sneered.

The guard looked up at her and clenched his fists, "Oh god, why," then he pointed at her and snapped, "I'm not short!"

"That's exactly what a short person would say," Luz barked a laugh and looked down at Azura's confused expression. She jerked a thumb at the short, gangly brown-haired man sporting a perpetual sneer. "I went to school with this guy," the taller girl confided with a half-smile, "Totally not surprised he's a rent-a-cop now."

"I'm not a—" the guard shut his mouth and his eyes and breathed out through his nose. "Empty your pockets into the tray, please, bags on the conveyor belt," he ground out through clenched teeth in a reluctant display of professionalism.

"Sure thing Matty-boy, listen," Luz began as she dropped her keys and her phone into the metal tray, "this is my friend's first time here at the Met so go easy on her, alright?"

Azura put Luz's messenger bag on the conveyor belt as the guard made an ugly sound, "Noceda finally got a friend?" He took a half step back when the pale girl turned a fierce glare on him. "Whoa, chill, sister. Let's go," he waved. Azura looked back at Luz in concern, and the brown-haired girl smiled back before she mouthed It's okay. The machine made a funny noise when Azura stepped through, and the guard pushed his hat up by its brim as he looked up at the screen on its back panel, setting his hands on his hips. "That's weird," he muttered, scratching at his temple while Azura worried her fingers at the bottom of her borrowed letterman's jacket.

"Did my keychain set it off?" Luz asked with a wink to Azura as she rattled the metal tray holding her items.

The guard looked down at the palm-length diamond-stamped metal tube. It had a notched metal ring at one end attached to a pair of metal tubes that fed into the handle, and a carabiner clipped to her keyring at the other end. He laughed, "What the hell is that, anyway?"

"Oh, this beauty?" Luz dragged a fingertip across the matte-black finish, "It's a flashlight and rape whistle combo, bro. You should buy some for your lady friends, they make great stocking stuffers." Matt's face turned pink in embarrassment as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the doors, "Eda makes 'em for the shop. Wait," She raised her voice in alarm as she took a step forward, one hand raised in concern, "do you have any female friends?"

The guard growled at Luz as her messenger bag trundled out of the machine at the far end of the conveyor belt, and Azura quickly picked it up and put it on. "I might need to confiscate this, Noceda," the guard said, staring at the keychain while Luz laughed and placed her ice-cream backpack on the belt.

"Nah, Steve's cool with it," Luz answered as she stepped through the metal detector, the green lights flashing. She waved to the lobby security desk where Steve stood, nursing a cup of coffee. He took a sip then raised his cup in her direction.

"I'm serious! I—I need to check the handbook," the guard walked over to where his partner sat, the uniformed lady watching the backpack pass through the scanner. The machine made another funny noise as he crouched down to pick up a notebook.

"Hey Matt," Steve yelled across the lobby, drawing their guard's attention as the lady stood up to examine one of the screens, "I'm cool with it." The other guard patted Matt's shoulder and pointed to the scanner and made a comment in his ear.

Matt walked back over to where Luz and Azura stood and held the tray out to the taller girl, "Fine, whatever, but what's in the backpack? It tripped the machine."

"Couldn't you see in it on the thing?" the brown-haired girl waved at the purple and black scanner, then rolled her eyes. Luz nodded toward Azura as she slipped her phone back in her pocket, "I'm carrying her other coat around, en-bee-dee. Probably just her keys."

The guard swiveled on the pale girl, and she took a step back, startled. "Did you leave keys in there? What's in your coat?" He asked, a slight note of fear in his voice.

"Hey man, hey," Luz said, stepping forward, "She broke her jaw, Matt, her mouth is wired shut. She can't play twenty questions right now." Azura huffed and stomped her foot, shooting a glare up at Luz as the brown-haired girl tried not to smile.

"But the machine just—" Matt started, looking up at Luz.

"—Look, man," She interrupted while she picked up the bag and glanced at Azura with a muttered, "Mall cops are bastards." Luz turned back to face him, "Run it through the machine again, it's just a coat," she scoffed as she held the bag out to him, then added, "or use the wand on it if your fancy new machine is busted."

Matt stammered as he glanced between Luz and Azura glaring at him, and Steve standing at the security desk, watching with a serene expression on his face. "Actually," Luz snapped, pulling the bag up on her shoulder, "I want to speak to your manager." She turned on her heel, grabbed Azura's hand, then spat over her shoulder, "And it's Noceda-Clawthorne, chiquito," before she stomped over to the security desk in the back of the lobby.

Luz pulled Azura to the raised black granite desk that came up to the pale girl's eyebrows, and they both looked up at Steve. Luz put her chin on the desk with a dejected groan, "Did you have to get your little brother a job here, my dude?" She looked up at the brown-haired man as he rubbed at his face and sighed. He ran his hand back through his hair, and Azura saw a scar high on his forehead, which had turned a patch of brown hair white after the injury healed. It looked like he had a horn.

"It wasn't my call," he said, glancing back out over the new security machines, resting his hands on his hips. "He's employed by Blight Industries, and they have the security contract. He works for them, not us."

"How is that even possible?" Luz motioned wide, sweeping her non-Azura-side hand out toward the crowded lobby, "You're head of security, how can some other company take over like this?"

"C'mon Luz, you know how this works." He leaned forward on his knuckles, pitching his voice low, "They gave the museum a lot of money. They're the new major donor, so they get to boss us around on some stuff." He groaned and straightened back up, rubbing at his chin, "It's all museum politics, anyway, making themselves look good. Major donors change every decade, it's a normal cycle."

"Oh hey," Luz perked up, and Azura glanced her way, "what's going on outside?" He turned his blue eyes on Azura for a moment, and she saw them soften.

"You don't know?" he asked the brown-haired girl with a smile in his voice.

"I wouldn't be asking if I already knew," Luz growled, "If I wanted the runaround I'd've stayed over there with Matt!" She glared over her shoulder at the high-strung security guard.

"Ah, well," he grinned, and lifted his coffee mug, "They're putting on an opera for the president or something, I dunno." He grinned and took a noisy sip of coffee as Luz spluttered.

"You're the head of security, how can you not know what's going on?" The brown-eyed girl fumed, "What if something happens—" The pale girl beside her went still, and both Luz and Steve looked her way. Luz snapped her fingers and said, "Right, gotta get something from coat check," to him, then, "Be right back, okay?" to Azura. Then she slapped her forehead, "Oh, soy una idiota, Steve, this is my new friend, Azura. She broke her jaw and her mouth is wired shut," the pale girl stomped her foot again and Luz struggled to keep a straight face as she shuffled her toes to safety, giggling, "So try to keep the questions simple, okay? Here you go, hiking buddy," she handed Azura the notebook with a wink, then turned and walked over to the coat check counter.

Luz grumbled under her breath from both her confrontation with a jerk from her past, and from hearing how a huge corporation was stepping all over one of her favorite people. She glared at Matt again as she sidled up to the counter, then turned to look at the kindly, rosy-cheeked old man sitting at the desk. He leaned back slightly in alarm, and she tried to smooth the scowl off her face with her fingers. "Sorry, Clifford, just heard some bad news," she said as she crossed her elbows on his counter.

"Oh, that's okay Luz," the portly man chuckled, scrubbing his knuckles under his bushy white mustache, "What brings you here today?"

"Can you hold onto this for me?" the brown-haired girl asked as she held her ice-cream backpack out for the old man.

He picked it up from her hands and turned it over to look at the logo, "Oh, how is this place? I never remember to get up that way."

"They have the best milkshakes, Cliff!" Luz exclaimed, "You gotta try one soon."

"I'll do that, Luz. Want me to put this in your aunt's locker?" The man asked as he sat down at his desk, pulling a ticket stub from the dispenser when she shook her head. He ripped it in half, sticking one side in a clear plastic pouch on the bag, and handed the other half to Luz.

"Nah, it's alright," she glanced around, "You're the best, Cliff."

"If you say so," Clifford chuckled as he folded his hands, "Anything else I can do for you?"

She sighed and took a deep breath, This is for Azura, it'll be fine. Luz patted her fingers against the countertop as she leaned closer, "I forgot my bag the last time I was here, #1635? I lost my ticket, though, sorry."

Clifford chuckled and stood to walk over to the wall of lockers, "That's okay, kiddo, happens to the best of us." He pulled a small black cross-body bag out of a locker in the top row and laughed at the cloud of dust that fell out after it. He shook it gently as he walked back to the desk, brushing clumps of dust off his long sleeve white shirt and blue tie, and smiled, "The last time you were here? This thing is covered in dust."

Luz bristled at the jest, already on edge about dealing with one of Eda's goodie-bags. "Hey man," Luz snapped, "take it up with the cleaners if they're not doing their jobs!" and reached for the bag when Clifford held it out. The old man made a surprised huh, then brushed dust off his hands and sat down at his desk. He looked up to see Luz still standing there. She hopped from one foot to the other, holding the black bag at her chest, "I'm so sorry Clifford! I—I was trying to make a joke, but I didn't mean for it to come out so rude! I just ran into Steve's baby brother in the security lane, and he gets on my nerves so much." She buried her face in her arms and groaned.

The old man peered out at the metal detectors across the rotunda, "That idiot is related to Steve?"

Luz laughed, "I know!"

"He's been making a hash of things all day," He ran a hand through his thinning hair and made a surprised grunt, "I can't believe that's Steve's brother."

She groaned, "I hate him so much!"

Clifford chuckled and patted her head, "It's okay kiddo, you're never mean to this old fart, I figured you'd had a rough day."

"Omigosh no! Cliff, I'm having such a good day!" Luz made fists then shook out her fingers, "My heart is pounding like I'm on a roller coaster, what's up with that." She pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the security desk, "I made a new friend today and she's amazing, I'll try to introduce you later, okay?"

"Sounds good Luz," the old man smiled, "but if I don't see you later, have fun on your date!"

Luz laughed and rubbed at the back of her head, "It's not really a... oh." Oh. She waved goodbye to Clifford as she walked back to Steve's station.

~

When Luz walked away, Azura turned back to look up at Steve's kind blue eyes. "She doesn't know, does she?" he asked, and she shook her head as she tucked her sunglasses into her jacket pocket. She opened the notebook and wrote for a moment, then stood on her toes to hold it up where he could read it.

ARE YOU GOING TO TELL MY MOTHER?

Steve pulled a face and scratched at his neck. "Hoo boy, your mom is not a good person," he winced, then added, "Sorry to just put it out there like that, but... I'm pretty sure you already knew." She nodded with a sad tilt of her head, and he sighed. He reached into a small pouch on his belt to pull out a USB drive, plugging it into a slot hidden under his desk. He clicked a few buttons on his security console, then looked back at the silent girl. "As far as I'm concerned, we never had this conversation." He took another noisy slurp of coffee and grinned at the girl as she smiled with her eyes. Luz's laugh rang out over the lobby's noisy din, and they both looked over to see her chatting with the white-haired man at the coat check counter. Steve looked down to see the silent girl still staring and he chuckled. Azura looked back up at him, a pink blush crawling up her face.

Steve smiled kindly down at her and leaned forward on his elbows, crossing his forearms. "She doesn't know about that either, does she?" Her eyes went wide, and she shook her head as a dark red crept across her cheeks. He glanced back at Luz, and when he looked down at the girl, he could see the fear in her eyes. "Hey, don't worry. I'm not gonna say anything." He settled his chin on his forearms and scootched a bit closer as she curled her fingertips on the edge of the counter. "Did she tell you about me and her aunt?" he asked in a quiet, confidential tone. She shook her head, then scrawled a long line in the notebook, holding it up again.

JUST THAT YOU WERE A GOOD MAN. THAT I COULD GO TO YOU FOR HELP.

He stared at the notebook for a long moment, muttering, "That girl," then he