Fable - Ask Midnight Munchies Part Two

[Thraah]

*Why did you fucking ask then Liv?*
Thraah's thoughts turned bitter as she hopped onto the counter and kicked her legs.
With Gladys in her arms she focused on her instead.
"You get it, don't you Gladys?"
She asked the hen who gently clucked. Interpreting the single cluck as agreement Thraah bent over and kissed Gladys on the back of the neck.
"Thanks girl!"
Well what did she expect?
Liv was self centred and Stormy was, also not that interested in others it seemed.
Zin... shit who fucking was Zin?
Thraah observed the newcomer.
Apologise? For wanting to be there with Zin? Fuck, ZEPH! She wanted to be with Zeph not Zin!
How fucking useless.
She considered the door, just getting up and leaving but she doubted she would feel any better if she did.
Determined to ignore Liv she let the others answer the clumsy question which was clearly only asked to get her to stop talking.

Thraah's temperature increased another few degrees.
Gladys fussed, then settled in contented.

Houri
Livia Quinnick
Zinnia

 

[Zinnia]

Thraah seemingly ignored Zinnia once again and the other two girls seemed eager to move on. So move on Zinnia did.

"I'm actually...g-graduating at the end of this y-year, so...s-some sort of work study for Proctor Salak, I think."

No more holidays. Not that she got them for long anyways. Before the Revolution they didn't really give time for breaks at the Academy. The brief time where they were around was nice, but Zinnia just buckled down and continued working out through them anyways. One needed friends in order to spend such time on fun.

Speaking of which, Zinnia had begun flipping through the cookbook once more and landed on something that made her mouth water.
"Ooohhh..." she gawped before turning the book around and holding up a golden-colored illustration. "C-custard tarts?"

 

[Houri]

Houri subtly pushed a flammable bag of grain further from Thraah's reach with the tip of her foot.

"My mother wants me to visit her in Vel Vara," she answered simply to keep the conversation moving away from the dangerous subjects that might set the kitchen aflame. "I would rather be working," she missed the more dangerous missions she had gone on when still in the Asylum. Even if she had been little more than a tool brought out when needed it was hard to shake the remembered feeling of the excitement and thrill those missions had brought about.

"Maybe I can volunteer for something so I don't have to spend the full month away," concentrated doses of her mother never led to peaceful rests. Her eyes flickered to the cookery book when it was opened. "We've not tried pastry before... should be simple enough though."

 

[Livia Quinnick]

"Graduating!" Livia took the cookbook from Zinnia, skim reading the custard tarts recipe. "Goodness, I never quite know where I stand with Proctor Salak." She shrugged, looking around for something to mark the page for future reference. "You need a gift. A graduation gift. No need to protest, because I will not listen to any." Livia gave Zinnia a smile, using a spoon to bookmark the cookbook.

"Vel Vara sounds like it would be nice... I think I will go to Vel Odren, to our summer house. If there are no missions, then I need to start looking into the business I am inheriting upon my graduation day." Her brother left it to her, to give her something that would give her considerable income if she was not to be married off to a Great House and become their wife. A Quinnick always found something to do, and Livia knew a lot more about the pearl trade than her older brothers.

"If any of you wanted to, you can come with me." She shrugged. "You might meet my brothers, but really, they would only be there if our mother becomes insufferable at home. She loathes Vel Odren." And it became the sibling's personal escape house.

 

[Thraah]

This was terrible, not as bad as she felt it was, even Thraah could not convinced herself of that being true but even so. A series of upsets had left her feeling like she was a rotten tooth in a smile.
The others all had big plans, yep.
Careers on the go for sure.
Perrine's words echoed in her head.
"Lean on your friends..."
Thraah was not used to asking for anything, even when she wanted it. Now, necessity was about to drive her into an action she could only hope she'd feel better about later.
Before speaking she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"What-if-we-like-all-took-big-trip-like-everywhere-did-every-City-so-that-way-we-could-get-everything-done-and-still-get-to-move-on-when-we-want-to-and-we-could-keep-baking-and-shit-and-I-don't-know-but-we-could-do-it-together-with-a-bit-of-planning!"
She felt like she lost Zeph when they went on Vel Castere... when Thraah tagged along, unwanted.
If she was to make good and mend things with Zephyrine she needed to make sure she wasn't going to loose Stormy and Liv. Zin... Zin was gonna have to wait for Thraah to calm down.

Livia Quinnick Houri Zinnia

 

[Zinnia]

"V-Vel Vara?" Zinnia parroted. It was not a place she'd ever heard of, but she smiled all the same. At the very least, at the notion of Houri's agreeing to bake the tarts.

Zinnia was immediately distracted by Liv's next words, quickly becoming flustered once more.
"Really, Livia, th-that isn't--"

It seemed her refusal to listen to protest was just as she said, however, as Livia had already moved on to other topics. Zinnia sighed. A gift was really too much...she'd already received so much in these past few months, the excess would surely begin to spoil her. It was all far more than she deserved.

Thraah's following, rapid outburst snapped Zinnia out of her daze, however. This was...far more than she was capable of dealing with. All she could manage was to look to Houri and Livia and hope they'd know how to handle Thraah.

 

[Houri]

A stunned silence filled the room after Thraah's outburst that turned awkward with every passing second someone didn't speak.

I should say something, she thought but none of the voices answered to tell her whether that was a bad or good idea. She found herself oddly nervous about having to make the decision for herself. Maz would say something kind, her brother was a far better moral compass to be guided by than Shiva or Ahvdi.

"Sure," Houri shrugged in what she hoped was a casual way that wouldn't make Thraah feel stupid for her outburst. "Vel Vara is at the very Western edge of Aniria, my family would be able to send us back here on a ship. So it's just a matter of choosing where to stop along the way. I stopped at a few places on the way back from my last mission that you guys might enjoy..." her cheeks heated faintly at the memory of the road trip with Silas.

 

[Silas Artesto]

Gods, he was starving.

Silas had always been a heavy eater. When you could move as fast as he could, your metabolism had to pick up the slack to keep you from wasting away. With hunger pangs like Artesto's, even the middling kitchen-slop they served at the Academy looked like a banquet feast. Still, it wasn't like him to go hunting for snacks so late at night.

That would be Livia's doing. She'd shown up at his room a few hours ago and nearly pounced him clean off his feet. She'd do that sometimes when the mood struck her, but she'd been especially energetic on this particular occasion. By the time she'd had her fill of him, he'd spent so much energy that his growling gut was echoing off the walls of his room.

There was no way in hell he could wait until breakfast, he needed something now or he was going to die. So trudging toward the kitchens in a loose-fitting shirt and a tattered old pair of cloth pants wasn't nearly as embarrassing as it should have been to him. After all his life was on the line!

Of course, once he opened the door to the kitchen and saw the group assembled inside, he thought perhaps starvation wasn't the only thing that might be about to kill him.

"Oh--!" He stood there for a moment, saucer-eyed at the group of four women, a caterpillar and a chicken. Something clicked in his head now, a realization that this is where Liv had been disappearing to on those random nights. "I'm sorry, ladies. I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll be on my way, and..."

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Livia quirked a brow at Thraah's speedy thoughts being spoken, but before she could make comment on it for further clarity, Houri spoke.

"Charming places you have seen then, Houri? Well, it certainly seems to me that we are to depart here and make Vel Vara the last stop. Perhaps if Zinnia is stationed somewhere along the way we can surely pay vis---"

But the rest of her words caught in her throat. Alarm registered in her olive eyes, falling upon Silas. Had she been imagining him here? Her lack of sleep finally catching up to her to make her dream while she was awake that the boy that made her feel...

"What are you doing here?" Livia put on her best disapproving expression, giving away nothing to the other girls that she had been previously in Silas' room before this and had thought he had gone to sleep.

 

[Thraah]

Thraah wondered to herself why every time she tried to open up to people some unwanted person seemed to appear as if out of nowhere!
She swiveled on the counter top to face Silas with an accusatory look. The kind that was reserved for people who were going to terrible places when they died but then she happened upon a notion.
Her eyes flicked to Zinnia then back to Silas.
He was notorious for having lots of girls attentions.
"AHAH!"
Leaning back Thraah gave Gladys a confident stroke in her arms.
"I see what's happening here."
She had never been more sure of anything in her life than in what was about to come out of her mouth.
"You two are planning on meeting up down here for some messy kitchen fucks. Damn Zin, I didn't know you had it in you. Respect!"
She held out her closed fist to Zinnia for a fistbump.

Livia Quinnick
Houri
Zinnia
Silas Artesto

 

[Zinnia]

The world was suddenly a vague, unimportant blur as Zinnia heard the voice of the new arrival. She beamed, dropped the cookbook, and visibly perked up.

"Silas!" she exclaimed, dashing over to him and hugging him before he could retreat back into the safety of the Academy's halls. So distracted was she that she failed to notice the cold reception Livia had to offer him.

She was not, however, so absorbed in his presence that her brain did not register Thraah's wild assumption. Zinnia dropped the hug, spun around on her heel back towards the other girls, and immediately turned beet red. She raised her hands in front of her and began to wave them back and forth as if trying to swat away a wasp, rather than return the fist bump.

"Wha-? N-no, I...I wouldn't--I mean we, we h-haven't--I'm still a v--I m-mean--!" she stammered clumsily, unable to process a fully formed reply and steadily becoming more embarrassed until at last a jet of steam escaped from behind her ears with a sound not unlike a brief whistle of a teapot.

All she could do after that was look to Silas for help.

 

[Houri]

When the door opened once more, Houri was ready to give the new intruder the sharp edge of her tongue. Zinnia was enough 'new' for this evening for despite her growing ability to cope with people wanting to be her friend, there was a hard limit to the amount of changes she could take in one go. However, she hadn't expected to see a face she had grown to care for as much as the girls gathered here. The irritation vanished and instead she found a smile creeping across her face.

It faltered at Livia's words, crumbled entirely at Thraah's, and was completely gone by the time Zinnia had finished squeaking. Her eyes flickered to the others in an attempt to understand if what her mind was leaping to was true.

"Are they...dating?" she asked Thraah first, who seemed the only one who wasn't staring at Silas with moon eyes, and tried not to let the hurt come through in her tone.

 

[Silas Artesto]

Perhaps Silas could have avoided Thraah's trademark vulgarity, Livia's iron stare, and the pain rising in Houri's voice. All the speed in the world wasn't enough to dodge the flying Zinnia that came crashing into his arms though; Artesto had to reach out and catch her or else they'd both be sent toppling out of the doorway together. That would have arguably looked worse.

"What? No! I-I think the wrong message is being conveyed here..." It wasn't often that Silas stumbled over his words, but the brazen accusation by Thraah only seemed to set the others into a frenzy, like sharks smelling blood, he briefly looked down at Zin and offered a smile before stepping back. "I just came down to get something to eat. I didn't know anybody was in here."

Well, he wasn't lying.

"So no, I'm not... sleeping with Zinnia, Thraah. Get a hold of yourself, would ya?"

There was an understandable layer of tension blanketing the room, with Silas and three of the girls he'd been romantically pursuing at one point or another. He and Zin had one hell of a night in town together, Houri had a chemistry with him like he couldn't believe, and Livia had recently taken their relationship to a much more serious level, dragging him home to meet her parents.

This was volatile, and he didn't know if an Archon could have survived the fallout if something set this situation alight.

"Is this... a regular thing?"

 

[Livia Quinnick]

Livia raised a brow seeing Zinnia spring forward and embrace Silas. She had not figured the shy Initiate to be so... embracing, but perhaps that was a sign of comfort. Friends, perhaps. A few weeks ago, Quinnick had told Silas about an Initiate she tumbled around in the sheets with at her family's estate, and he had been disappointed in her. If he had something else going on, he would have told her.

It would not make sense that he would emit something after she put herself in a vulnerable position. Of course, she had not told him a name.

The curious case was Thraah's wrong deduction. It made Livia snort loudly, as she could not see the quiet and bumbling Initiate called Zinnia St. Kolbe to be in such a position with...

But there was something tugging Livia's gaze to Zinnia.

Then to Silas.

His amber eyes were not on her, and instead looking to Houri. Jealousy spilled through her entire being. She sat up straight, looking as if the bench she sat herself on were a throne as she looked down her nose at Silas.

"Houri was just telling us about some places she thought we would enjoy. What about you, Artesto?" She fought past the dry lump in her throat, the sting in her olive eyes. For once, she had hoped her magic would stop when she wanted it to, but her need to know answers took precedence. It was a stronger need, and her magic was quick to point the needle between Silas and Houri.

"You know what, I am leaving. I am suddenly tired." Livia did not bother to make her lie believable as she slid from the bench.

Thraah Zinnia Houri Silas Artesto

 

[Thraah]

Zin denied it.
"Nice try Zin but I think it's pretty obvious."
Zin couldn't fool her, she was rumbled.
"Oh yeah I mean why else would they be down here?"
Thraah replied, letting her words do the thinking.
Until she looked at Houri and was struck cold by her incredibly serious tone.
"Hey, what's up?"
Silas tried to change the subject.
"Shut up Blondie."
She wanted to work on what was upsetting Houri. She was upset right?
She had been so dismissive of anyone dating before, why did she care now?
Thraah felt her mind crest over the horizon of an actual realisation before Liv interrupted her thoughts by, leaving...
With a bad lie as an excuse.
...
...
"Where do you think you're going Liv?"
What the shit was happening?

Houri
Livia Quinnick
Zinnia
Silas

 

[Zinnia]

Zinnia quirked her head with a confused smile as Silas backed her away. He hadn't seemed the type to be shy about public displays of affection during their date...or ever, really. Was he feeling alright? Maybe Thraah's insinuation was as shocking to him as it was to her, but...he did have a reputation for being promiscuous, so that didn't make much sense either.

"You know what, I am leaving. I am suddenly tired."

A klaxon began to sound in Zinnia's head. Silas...did mention that he was..."exploring his options," was it? Was Livia one of those options?

Her gaze went to Thraah and again she shook her head in denial, but also gave her a pleading look. Then she looked to Houri. Houri looked so uncomfortable...didn't Silas dance with her before Zinnia? Oh...oh gods, was Houri one of those options?!

Zinnia turned back around slowly to look up at Silas, looking uncertain, frightened.
"...Silas?" was the only word she could bring herself to say, just his name in the form of a pleading question.

 

[Houri]

Houri caught Livia's eye when the other woman looked her way. It seemed her own turmoil of emotions were painted in the others eyes for her to see. It was confirmation enough. Silas had said they were not even truly friends but she supposed they didn't need to be friends to tumble in the sheets. She took a breath, tried to walk through the lessons she had slowly learnt this past year of being human again, and tried to rationalise it.

But when Zinna's smile faded the thing inside that she had just begun to believe was truly whole again... broke.

We told you, girl. We're not so easy to get rid of...

"Thraah, let her go," she choked out, ripped her eyes away from Zinnia and turned to the chicken instead. Fought desperately to cling to a tiny bit of sanity and save it. "We should all go. It's late."

 

[Silas Artesto]

Silas wasn't sure exactly what was happening, but he knew it wasn't good. Zinnia's embrace had seemingly set off a domino effect of emotions; the look of concern he'd shot to Houri had been caught by Livia, who looked between them with reddening cheeks and a sharpening gaze before she slid off of the bench and declared her leave in a huff. "Liv, what the hell are you...?"

Zinnia now called his name, looking up at him with confusion and fear in her stare. Silas looked down at her and bit the inside of his cheek, not entirely sure what it was he was supposed to say. He hadn't lied to any of them about his intentions or actions, but that didn't change that they'd all developed feelings for him, and he'd enabled it.

Poor Thraah just looked absolutely baffled by the whole ordeal.

"It's not like... I wasn't trying to..." He felt attacked and angry just as much as he did guilty. What had he done wrong? Looked for food? Walked into a room? How did he become public enemy number one in a matter of seconds? "I haven't done anything! I literally just walked in and--"

Save it, his mind told him. There wasn't anything he could say that would improve the situation, no matter how well-meaning his words were. Artesto had formed bonds with all three of them separately, through different avenues. Houri was the greatest dance partner he'd ever had, Zinnia was impossibly charming when she came out of that tight shell of hers, and Livia...

Well, she was Quill.

But it'd been naive of him to think they'd be able to coexist while they all vied for his affection, that they could set aside their feelings for his sake. Naive, and selfish. Somehow, by chasing his craving for a bite to eat, he'd alienated three people he considered some of his closest friends, perhaps more.

And they had every right to be upset.

"...Nevermind."

 

[Livia Quinnick]

"Liv, what the hell are you...?"

She paused at the door and pursed her lips before turning around to look at them all, but avoiding their stares all the same. "Please, do not let my absence ruin your night." The smile Livia wore was saccharine, entirely too out of place on her usual expression. "You came to the right spot if you were feeling peckish."

Her stare was withering.

One last look to Houri, Thraah, and Zinnia, her face fell and her eyes glinted with the beginnings of glistening tears yet to be shed.

She should not have gone headfirst with Silas. Should not have succumbed to him telling her to give in to this... to even open herself up vulnerably and be subjected to hurt. Livia had told Silas she loved him. Had told him there was a time she doubted it and found company with another... but something ate at her with the way Silas looked to Houri and Zinnia. It had reminded her of the night of the dance, in which she had tried her best to ignore the way he stared at his dance partners while she used Leander and Rowley to make herself feel better.

Livia felt defeated, at a loss.

"I just... need to be anywhere but here." But she should not have spoken, for her voice changed and gave away that not everything was fine at that moment. Emotions were odd, running high ever since she dipped deep into the well of her new magic, and it fed on anger and negativity.

 

[Thraah]

*What the fuck do I do?*
This was getting too much. Intrusions, fine, SILAS okay but this? Thraah had no sweet idea what in Kress' wet stockings was going on. Houri was upset, out of nowhere, Zin looked like she was about to burst into tears. Silas was being useless, might as well be a broom in a fucking wig and Liv WAS leaving in tears.
The temperature rose about her another few points. Radiant heat could be seen above her warping the flow of light.
The cap on the proverbial lid of her pot was teetering dangerously, just like Vel Castere and this WAS NOT going to be like that. THAT could not happen again.

Thraah had worked too hard to let this all come crashing down about her because of... because of something dumb!
As she watched Liv turn and speak and start to cry and she felt powerless, worse than powerless.
She had taken the other girls hand, because the midnight feasts was where they first truly met, because they both had sat on the floor and eaten until they were so full they felt ill yet couldn't stop laughing and because Houri had been doing so well lately, eating more, eating better, opening up and Thraah was so proud and happy for her but she knew there was a fragility there, something that could be taken away if people were reckless. It came through in those quiet thoughtful moments.
"Stormy, what's going..."
Her own voice began to falter along that knife's edge between despair and fury.
"Cause-if-this-cunt-(Thraah pointed towards Silas)-has-hurt-you-I-will-kick-his-ass-up-and-down-the-hall-until-he's-so-sorry-he-won't-be-able-to-take-a-shit-without-asking-you-for-permission-and-LIV-(Her head snapped towards the door as her voice turned into a net as if to halt her in her tracks)-don't-keep-this-from-us-Circle-of-Crust-remember?-ZIN-(again her head swiveled like an owls in the night to the mousey one)-nobody-jumps-anyone-like-you-did-and-are-*just-friends*-okay-girl-you-caught-feels-KRESS-knows-why-you-got-em-for-this-walking-carnival-ride-but-there-ya-go-AND-YOU-(her gaze flittered to Silas as a tongue of fire spat from her mouth)-I-don't-know-how-you-fucked-this-up-but-you-did-so-fix-it-before-I-fix-you!"

She had failed to protect Zeph but she wasn't going to fail here. Houri and Liv were too important to her to let go like this.

Houri
Livia Quinnick
Zinnia
Silas Artesto

 

[Zinnia]

So...it was true. Livia was breaking. Houri was fighting back tears. Thraah was furious.

And Silas couldn't even spit up an answer.

Humiliation, guilt, and shame welled up inside Zinnia. A cacophony of thoughts and words and memories screamed a discordant symphony in her head. There was so much she could say, so much she could do, all of it potentially the adequate response to what was happening around her in that moment. Her eyes fell on Silas, teeth grit, chest tight, tears flowing far more freely than Livia or Houri allowed themselves to, and the only words she could find spilled from her lips.

"I'm...I'm so stupid. I'm such an idiot! H-how could I ever think that you--how could I th-think that anyone could ever--c-could ever--"
Zinnia choked on the words, on the feelings. There was nothing else her body nor mind would allow her to say, only loud sobs escaping her as she was blinded by her own crying. Instinct took her and she ran, shoving past Silas and anyone else who might happen into her path. She had to run, to flee back to...back to...

Back to her room. Quiet. Safety. Isolation. Aching loneliness. Alienation. The only companion that would never leave her. What she deserved. Where she belonged.

 

[Houri]

Houri felt as though she had stepped out of her own body and was watching what unfolded like a mummers play.

Livia went for the door, her response to Silas briefly making her doubt her own quick judgement. But no something so cold... Houri only recognised the signs of cold hurt because it was how she reacted too. It was hard to care when one was numb. Cold. Unfeeling. Like she should have clung on to. But these people - friends, Silas - had made her come out of that shell. It was their fault she did indeed wince as Zinnia's face crumpled and she fled from the room. Out of all gathered here, she was the sweetest and had managed to cling to the most of her humanity. It seemed unfair she should suffer in the same way she and Livia were.

An innocent.

The door slammed shut behind her and Houri took a breath, though it did nothing to ease the heaviness that sat on her chest.

"He did nothing," she repeated in that emotionless, detached tone, her eyes moving back to meet Silas'. "I made a mistake."

Bundling the chicken up against her chest the initiate turned and marched for the backdoor. "Catch you around, Thraah."