when your thoughts turn sour make them sweet instead

[sentree]

[ That was...positively horrible? Ugh. After a few hours, notes are slipped under each person's door. They read, in a neat handwriting: ]

Banquet in Vanellope's honor in the dining room.

- Reyna, Sally and Thalia

[ You may not know what to expect when they say banquet, but it...really is one, isn't it? Thalia's main dish is cheeseburgers, so there are so many of those, but the table's positively covered in an arrangement of fruit and vegetables and all kinds of bread. Looks like they've gone all out.

What's really the cream of it all, though, are the desserts. Not a lot that's special, but there's a wide collection of cookies and cupcakes, and enough hot chocolate to feed an army. Maybe literally. There is a section that's particularly fancy, and that's the many candy apples, definitely courtesy of Sally. Along with a cute amount of peppermint bark. It seems like the food is unending, too, since there's the delicatible smell of baking cookies and simmering candy from the kitchen. Thalia and Sally are keeping you stocked, don't worry. ]

Comments

just. garbage (human) parents warning from this point in general.

[audentiae]

We... he kept us locked inside. We snuck out sometimes, but there was no way to... we weren't exactly able to go anywhere permanently, so we always had to go back eventually. To his fortress full of weapons.

[ She pauses, for a second or two. ]

Hylla protected me, for years. Even when he stopped... even when all his rage and paranoia finally overcame his humanity.

[ It's easier than saying mania out loud. ]

[sentree]

[ Jesus, that--

She recognizes the words without saying them. She recognizes them, because, just a few days before they were kidnapped, she heard them from a very different voice. ]

...Jason said...he met our mom like that too. In the last week of their journey.

[ Mania. Gods, she hates spirits...but probably not as much as Reyna. ]

Did she... Gods, Reyna. Did Hylla stop him? Or...were you the one...?

[audentiae]

He... threw a chair at Hylla, knocked her out. I grabbed... I grabbed a sword and I ran at him, it was all I could think to do.

[ Hi Thalia, Reyna looks actually close to tears rn, you're like the third person to see this. ]

I didn't know the sword was Imperial Gold.

[sentree]

[ There's a very distinct what does she do here, but suddenly, she's acting on instinct. It's like her adrenaline kicking in again, but this so far from a battle...in the traditional sense.

Her full attention's on Reyna now. It's...yikes. ]

You did the right thing. That...he wasn't your father anymore. He wasn't... He was never a man who could be called your father.

[ ...It's like she's back on the road with Luke. Bitching about their parents. Saying they'll change the world one day. Oh, if only they knew.

She rests a hand on Reyna's arm. ]

You and your sister are stronger than I could've ever imagined, Praetor.

[audentiae]

[ Were Reyna any other person, that would be enough. That would comfort her. It certainly wouldn't make her fists tighten, her whole body tense. ]

Thank you, but... it's hard to feel good about it when if I told anyone I'd lose my position.

[sentree]

...What? But you just... What you killed was a monster, at that point, one- who honestly doesn't sound like a cry better than old Preston, when he was alive. How could you lose your position for that?

[audentiae]

... no matter the reason, patricide is unforgivable in Rome. If anyone found out... I'd be executed.

[sentree]

...After all you've done for them.

[ Her voice is kind of hollow. ]

Strikes me as ungrateful.

[audentiae]

The law is what it is. I've gotten good at hiding things.

1/2

[sentree]

That so...?

[ Thalia is quiet for a moment.

...She glances at the bowl of cupcake mix on the counter, a spatula still sticking out of it. In a moment, she snatches it up, as if she's grabbing a knife, but the problem is, with that, a little goes flying... ]

2/2

[sentree]

[ ...and lands on Reyna's cheek. ]

...Oops.

Would...you believe that was intended to help you...feel better...?

[audentiae]

[ In the... absurdity of the moment, that actually gets Reyna to smile a little. ]

Not the kind of comforting gesture I'm used to.

[sentree]

It- people like cake batter! It's a proven fact, even the gods like cake batter!

[ She...did kind of need a break in the tension too. ]

[audentiae]

Not usually on their face, though.

[ She does reach up and wipe... part of it off, anyway, with her finger, and taste it. ]

Unless I've been missing out on something.

[sentree]

...Jason got it all over everything when he'd "help," so many there's an appeal to it.

[ ...There are enough cupcakes, why don't they just...she's going to get some spoons. They're eating batter. Demigods aren't afraid of salmonella. ]

You know, I didn't say thank you, for helping with all this. ...And for...the other thing. [ the whole beating the tar out of each other thing ]

[audentiae]

[ A Roman fears no raw egg. ]

She deserved this much at least. And... you and I both needed that.

[sentree]

...Mm. Yes to both.

[ ... ]

Is our arrangement still good? You don't...want some space tonight?

[audentiae]

[ Reyna nods. ]

I'm alright. Don't worry.

[sentree]

...Alright. Just making sure.

[ And so they proceed to eat cake batter, a childish action for those who never really had childhoods. ]