Chapter Text
Having a car again was nice. It was also nice to not constantly think about escaping from an angry horde of idiots.
Having returned to Solistia about two months ago, Throné was back to the ‘normal people’ problems. Scheduling her days, going to the store for Ice Cream (or as Throné liked to call it, Therapy), and being there for her lovable, aggravating, broken mess that was Temenos.
Walking out of the store, she sat down in her car and put the keys in the ignition. She laid the baggie of Ice Cream pints on the passenger seat beside her. Her phone began to ring as she pulled out of the driveway. Without looking at it, Throné flipped the phone open and held it between her cheek and shoulder. “Hello?”
“Hello, Throné. I trust everything is well?”
“Hello, Mindt. I’m doing okay,” Throné replied. She turned out of the lot, squinting as the afternoon sun blinded her. “How’s your, uh… business?”
“Going smoothly,” Mindt said. “Kazan is still in charge of Connect, but it’s going just like you said. The bureaucratic side of it is giving him all kinds of trouble.”
“I told you that would happen!” Throné laughed. “Wait a minute, how are you calling me? I thought Connect didn’t have service in your region of Totohaha.”
“Teletie came back. Partitio didn’t come along for obvious reasons, but he directed the project remotely,” Mindt answered. “Roughly three-quarters of the island now has access to surprisingly cheap telecommunication, myself included.”
“I see- SHIT!” Throné slammed the brakes as a left-turner came barreling through a red light and into the intersection. “Fucking idiot.”
“Everything alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Throné grumbled. “Some people shouldn’t be allowed near a car.”
“I see,” Mindt said. “I don’t miss THAT about Solistia.”
“By the way, what did you do about the Scarlet Moon?” Throné asked. “Your whole scripture is based on the scarlet moon bringing about the end times or something, but how are you going to maintain in since you already faked a Scarlet Moon?”
“Oh, there’s no need to worry. I took care of that already,” Mindt chuckled. “‘We have uncovered glyphs that have forced us to reconsider our calculations!’ The flock eats that up.”
“I see. If he was a decent person, I’d feel bad for Kazan,” Throné sighed. “He must be incredibly angry.”
“You don’t even know the half of it,” Mindt confirmed. “He looks at me like I’m the devil when I enter the room.”
“From his perspective, you might as well be. You literally took everything from him,” Throné pointed out.
“I suppose I did.”
“As much as I’d love to poke fun at the bastard, I need to get off the phone. I have a best friend to look after,” Throné said. She parked on the curb outside the familiar apartment building.
“You mean Temenos, right? Is everything okay?” Mindt questioned.
“He’s not doing so great. His boyfriend broke up with him,” Throné explained. “Temenos came a little too clean about what went down in Totohaha, and the guy realized that Temenos had no issue endangering himself. Crick decided he didn’t deserve to have to worry all the time.”
“Oh, dear. How long ago did this happen?” Mindt asked.
“About three days ago. He’s taking it pretty hard,” Throné answered. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Goodbye,” Mindt responded. The phone gave a little ‘clack’ as it was forced shut. Throné stepped out of the car, plastic baggie in tow. She unlocked the door, heading up the stairs and letting herself into Temenos’s apartment.
The place was a sight to behold. It hadn’t been cleaned in a while. Dishes laid undone in the sink. Takeout boxes littered the tables. Temenos laid on the couch, cocooned in blankets. His eyes displayed very obvious bags. Old American westerns played on the TV.
Throné put the baggie down on the kitchen counter and washed two spoons. She brought the pints of ice cream over to where Temenos sat. “I got you some Vanilla,” she stated. “You’re going to eat this whole pint.”
Temenos looked at her for a moment. He took the pint and spoon from Throné, mumbling a quiet “thanks.”
Throné sat next to him, breaking open her pint of Dulce de Leche. She leaned against him, trying to make her presence known. It wasn’t very effective, but that didn’t bother Throné. If Temenos didn’t want to express himself or talk at all, that was okay. She wasn’t going to make him.
So she remained silent.
Bzzzt
Something vibrated in Throné’s pocket. She took her phone and stared at the message. It was from Ochette. Throné had forgotten that she recently got service.
O: How’s Temmy doing?
Throné suppressed a sigh. She typed her response.
T: Not great. I don’t think he’s gotten any sleep in the last couple days.
O: That’s awful.
O: Is there anything I can do to help? I know I’m kind of far away, but there could always be something!
T: I appreciate the offer, but there really isn’t all that much you can do from there. The only thing that can heal an emotional wound is time.
O: I really hope it doesn’t take too much of it. I’m worried about him.
T: Don’t be worried. I’m here for him.
O: I know, I know. I’m just frustrated.
O: I want to be able to do something, but I’m just so helpless.
“Tell Ochette not to focus on me,” Temenos said suddenly. “Worrying about things outside of your control is pointless.”
“How did you know I was texting Ochette?” Throné asked. “You can’t see my phone screen from there.”
“She’s the only other person that knows what’s going on,” Temenos responded. He turned his attention back to his Ice Cream. Throné grinned slightly. At least his observant nature hadn’t been diminished.
T: Temenos says not to worry about things you can’t control.
O: Ha! Even he’s on my case.
O: Not that it’ll stop me worrying about him. Can you keep me updated?
T: Of course.
Throné started to put her phone away, but stopped. She began typing a question of her own.
T: Is Castti still angry?
She waited with bated breath.
O: Yeah. I don’t get why, though.
O: I’m an adult. Getting involved with your thing in Totohaha was my business!
Throné sighed. Of course. Why did she expect anything different?
T: Not to Castti.
T: In her eyes, you’re still her kid. Your well-being will always be her first priority, so of course Castti would be livid when someone she trusted put you in danger.
T: She’s hurt by what Temenos did.
O: Then why isn’t she mad at you, too?
Throné blinked. It took her a second to type the next message.
T: She’s not mad at me?
O: Nope.
Throné felt a small weight lift off her chest. She typed quickly.
T: Why not?
O: I dunno. She knows you were involved, but she’s still not angry as far as I can tell.
T: Ah.
T: She probably figured that Temenos dragged me along.
O: Yeah, that’s a Temenos thing to do.
T: If you see a chance for them to make up on your end, let me know.
O: Aye-aye, Captain!
Throné put her phone away. She sighed, letting her shoulders relax. That was a much better answer than she expected.
Her ice cream was half melted. This wouldn’t do. She began quickly digging into it, determined to save the rest.
Relationships are complicated, she decided.
Temenos opened up the blanket, placing his empty pint on the coffee table. Throné used the opportunity to snuggle up to him. “You’re going to have to sleep at some point,” she said.
Temenos laughed. “How did you know I haven’t slept?” He asked sarcastically.
“Of course I know,” Throné replied. Her tone carried some sass. “That’s what assassins do, detective.”
“You’re not an assassin anymore, ex-assassin.” Temenos yawned. “Besides, an assassin’s job is to assassinate. It’s a spy’s job to know things.”
“Shut it.”
They share a light chuckle, turning their attention to the show. Neither of them could tell when exactly it happened, but the sounds of TV gunfire eventually carried them off to sleep.