hexes for exes

chapter twenty-eight, all the same but different

AMPHION CALVERT-EGERTON descended upon Livia's house at eleven o'clock the next day with no forewarning. Auntie Xu was the one who'd opened the door, so she was only alerted when a yell racketed through the house, calling for her.

She went down the stairs fully expecting the sight. Amphion talking to nai nai, a bright smile on his face.

Of course he'd come. Not too early that they might still be asleep, but not late enough that he might be interrupting lunch either.

"Livia!" He offered a grin as she approached. "I was just talking to your granny here."

Livia offered a nod in return. "You do that. I need to go to the bathroom quickly."

"Livia!" Nai nai scolded. "No way to treat your guest."

"He's been around enough times to know where to go," Livia said with a scoff. "I just need to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

She did actually need to go to the bathroom, which she was planning to do before he arrived anyways. So after quickly releasing herself, she went back out into the living room, where nai nai was trying to explain the convoluted plot of the Chinese show she was watching to Amphion.

"So, the female protagonist dies, but turns out she is actually the reincarnation of the primordial god whose memories are awakened, and she takes over the protagonist's body, yes?"

Amphion was furiously nodding, but Livia knew he didn't have a clue what nai nai was talking about. Chinese shows, especially xianxia and wuxia ones, were simply so difficult to explain to someone who didn't speak the language. There were too many technical terms that sounded ridiculous when translated.

"And so, the causes disruption in the three realms and this idiot of a male protagonist—"

Livia squinted at the screen. This wasn't some old show. This was recent. Very recent. "Nai nai," she began, "I didn't know you'd started watching recent xianxia shows. I must warn you, most aren't very good."

Nai nai casted her a glare. "I know, I know, but I'm bored and there's nothing else to watch. The female actress is very pretty, I must say. As pretty as Pamela, I think. Prettier than you."

"Ah, thank you."

Amphion frowned. "I think Livia looks perfectly fine."

"She looks fine," nai nai declared, "but the actress looks prettier. Which is expected, because she is an actress."

Amphion blinked, glancing at Livia, who shrugged from where she stood leaning against the wall. This was nai nai for him. This was most Asian parents, actually. Attacking their progeny's appearance was nothing out of the blue. It was pretty regular, all things considered. Livia learnt to stop caring around the time she was fourteen. It had been painful before that, especially since there was someone who lived up to all those beauty standards: Pamela.

Until she'd realised that they picked on her younger sister too. There was just less to criticise Pamela on, that was all. They still did it, and they called it love and care. Even if it never felt like it to the people on the receiving end.

But that was what every child of Asian heritage went through, Livia supposed, so she couldn't really complain all that much. It wasn't a good norm, but it was the usual thing. Nothing she could do about it. Livia didn't have a revolutionary bone in her body.

She was always a bit more of an Amy than a Jo March.

"Right." Livia offered a smile. "Anything else you wish to inform me about?"