Reunion at Sea

Talk It Out

When Red woke up the next morning, she couldn't remember why she wasn't in the castle. She slowly pushed the blanket to the side and stepped out of bed, noting that she wasn't wearing her boots and her hair was down. She sighed and walked to the door, opening it and gasping softly as she caught the scent of something delicious. Was that...blueberry?

She walked down the hall and looked around the corner into the kitchen, where Varian was humming as he cooked, dressed in a different outfit. She blinked, confused, having heard that he couldn't change clothes, and stepped out into the kitchen. "Uhm...Varian?"

"Yeah?" He asked, flipping a pancake.

"Uhm...what happened to your cape?" She asked.

"Well, I took off my armor." He grinned. "I finished translating the incantation this morning."

"And, tonight, we are going to Gothel's old cottage – alone." Clyde chimed in with a grin.

"Oh...shut up." Varian blushed.

"I won the wager~!" Clyde said in a sing-song tone.

"Yeah, yeah." Varian sighed. "Anyways, I have full control of the rocks now, so I got rid of the ones out in the town that were getting in the way of reconstruction. I'm going to go out and take down all the other black rocks after breakfast." He plated the pancakes. "So, Red, how are you feeling? Calmer?"

"H-Huh? Uhm, I'm feeling...fine." She glanced away.

"Red, I have truth serum and I will put it in your juice if you don't be honest with me." Varian said as he set the pancakes in front of an empty chair and nodded to it. "Eat up, we'll talk after."

"There's...nothing to talk about." She said, walking over and climbing into the chair.

Varian sighed. "Red, you were a giant wolf-girl last night. You have the mark on your cheek. What I didn't tell people was that the Wolf's Curse seeks out someone with a hidden, suppressed rage and take them as its host. Sooooo..." he poured juice for her where she could see it so she'd know he didn't drug it, "what's bugging you?" He set it down and then went to make his own food.

She looked at the pancakes and poked at them a bit. "Well..." She sighed. "It doesn't matter. No one hears me."

"Kid, when I felt that I wasn't being heard, I made truth serum, stole a flower, built automatons and kidnapped a queen. So far, all you've done is turn into a werewolf and bite Pete the Guard." Varian poured batter into the pan. "Best tell us what's bugging you before you do something worse, hm?"

"I bit someone?!" She cried in alarm.

"He's fine." Clyde assured her.

"Look, whatever is bugging you, we're here to hear you out." Varian assured her. "So...come on." He smiled encouragingly.

Red sighed and brushed her hair back. Varian walked over and grabbed a hairband from his pocket, gently braiding her hair back. "It's...it's complicated. It's my sister."

"Angry?" Varian asked.

She nodded. "She thinks that she knows what's best for me, so she's always talking over me and deciding things for me, just because I'm quiet." She fidgeted with her necklace. "But...I have my own opinions. My own ideas. And I guess I got...tired of being talked over." She looked up at him. "My name isn't even Red, I just...let everyone call me that because everyone all just agreed that's what I would be called."

"What's your name, then?" He smiled and stepped back, nodding with satisfaction.

"Catalina." She smiled a bit. "My name is Catalina."