Work Text:
Therese listened to the sound of the tub filling as she locked the door to the bathroom. It was a pleasant sound. It was a sound that meant she was finally about to lie back and relax, after a long night of dealing with even more Fae bullshit. Her phone was turned off, and Demetrios had been given specific instructions: “if anyone from Marketing calls, Therese is busy, but you’d be happy to take a message.”
She considered the small container of bubble-bath on the counter. Why not indulge a bit? She deserved it after spending the entire night chaperoning Jenessa’s date. She poured half the container into the water and watched as the bubbles started to rise. And Homeschool too...he was supposed to be her boss, and yet she always needed to be watching over him. He’d see a painting, or a sculpture, or an antique chair, or a bloody dinner menu, and lose his focus entirely! It was a wonder he hadn’t wandered into traffic yet. Between Homeschool’s focus issues, Demetrios’s lack of survival instincts, Ophelia getting drunk every single Gathering...she should really change her title from “Diplomat” to “nanny”.
At last her bath was ready. Everything was perfect. Nothing would disturb her this time. No Fae dates to supervise, no one falling into the Echo Chamber, no weddings to disrupt, no unexpected frenzies...she sharpened her senses the way Homeschool had taught her, to enjoy this to the fullest. The water was exactly the right temperature. The bubbles felt soft and light against her skin. The house was silen—
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Bloody. Hell.
Heavy objects being knocked over.
She’d asked for just one hour…
Frantic footsteps running toward the bathroom.
Just one hour. Was that too much to ask for?
Someone pounding at the door.
Yes. Yes, apparently it was.
“Therese? Um, Therese? I’m sorry, I wouldn’t disturb you unless it were really important, but...”
No. She did not want to deal with anything. She wanted to relax, for once, and not have to deal with everything in this city falling apart at once.
“...but I was trying to cast that spell, the Rose Tint Reader...”
Of course. This was going to be added to the shower rules. ‘No magic in the house without Therese’s permission.’
“...and I needed to distill the result, so I was using the kitchen...”
She slid entirely under the water, watching the bubbles swirl and close over her face. Maybe if she ignored it this problem would go away on its own.
“...and I lit the stove but then I freaked out and...”
Or not. With a sigh she lifted her head above the water, shaking bubbles out of her eyes.
“...and now the kitchen is kind of, well...on fire.”
God. Fucking. Damn. It. She sat up and wiped the bubbles away from her face. “Kid! No! Why would you do that without telling me?!”
“I didn’t think you’d mind! I didn’t think anything would go wrong...the sprinklers came on and I think it’s out now, but I panicked and ran into the cupboard and then fell down the stairs and...”
She was really starting to wonder why she’d chosen to live in a Giovanni city. She highly doubted the Camarilla needed to have shower rules. She pulled herself up out of the bath and grabbed a towel.
“...so now most of the cooking utensils are at the bottom of the stairs and also there was a knife that landed on my foot...”
“Kid. Stop.” She wrapped the towel around herself and pulled open the door. Demetrios was standing outside with his braid singed and his clothes halfway off. “Kid. Why...why is your shirt off?”
“Well I was freaking out about the fire and then the sprinklers came on and I remembered the first shower rule said not to get your clothes wet while wearing them so...”
“Kid. STOP.” (He finally stopped babbling and took a breath.) “What. Did you do. To my house.”