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SHE BEGAN TO FEEL A BIT RELIEVED WHEN FESTUS RETURNED THE NEXT MORNING WITH BREAKFAST. After he had left the day before, she immediately regretted how much she had spoken, she was almost certain her rambling had annoyed him, yet he returned with his trademark smirk.
He was one of only a few mentors to stop by on their way to the academy, and the only one to stay longer than it took to drop off food. "Have you been sleeping?"
She nodded as she picked at the muffin he had given her, mumbling another 'thanks'. Curiously he pulled a muffin for himself from his pocket and began eating it, leaned up against the bars. Truthfully, she had been reluctant to get up in the morning, warm under the heavy coat he had thrown at her.
"You don't have to stay, you know."
He responded with a shrug. "Academy isn't far, figured you would want to see me before lunch."
"You figured wrong," she mused, repressing a smile. "If anything, I fear my breakfast will come back up."
"Yeah, yeah." He grinned, "Listen, do me a favor while I'm gone?"
"Try not to miss you too much?" She guessed, "No worries there." Admittedly, she would miss him a bit. His presence gave her a chance to escape Tanner's incessant talking, as well as the puppy-eyes of Mizzen.
"See if I bring you lunch, then," he teased, "anyways, talk to Mizzen? Kid's been staring at me this whole time."
Hestia turned, sure enough finding the brown eyes of Mizzen set on the pair; they darted to the ground at being caught, feigning interest in the dirt.
"I will...but, not because you asked me," she clarified, reaching through the bars and grabbing his wrist, dropping the wrapper of her muffin in his hand. "Throw that away, please. Bye."
Her mentor threw his hands out in frustration with the abrupt exit, muttering to himself as he looked about for the nearest trash can.
Meanwhile, Hestia approached her district partner, who watched her out of the corner of his eye- does he not know people can see the eye when he does that?
She cleared her throat, Mizzen looking up as though he was surprised, "Oh, hi."
She did her best to channel her sister, wiping off the spot next to him and sitting, a forced smile on her face. "Hey...buddy."
The thirteen year old grimaced, "You're trying too hard."
Oh, good. "Look, I just wanted to talk about yesterday."
"Did Festus put you up to this?"
"...No." He turned away, panicking Hestia, "Look, Mizzen, I'm not mad at you, okay? I just...it hurt, what you said."
With his back still turned, he muttered, "I just wanted to help you."
"I-" she wanted to groan. Why is this so fucking difficult? "Look, I know, okay? I know you were trying to help, and I'm not mad at you. I didn't know that people thought that...imagine how you would feel." The boy considered this for a moment, dropping his head in shame. Oh, Poseidon, did I upset him more? "Look, you want to make it up to me?" He gave a weak nod. "When you get home, make sure everyone knows the truth." More likely than not, the rumor was only something believed by the younger population, but it wasn't something she needed the triplets to think as they grew up without her. They would watch her games, watch her kill, and associate their sister with not only the murder of other children, but a kind man.
