Chapter Text
Sonata wakes and wobbles in the early-morning sun glowing around the purple curtains hanging down across the windows of their tour van. She stumbles to the kitchen, her hazy memory of their van's layout helping her navigate the clutter strewn across the van's floor. A sleepy smile sneaks across her lips as she takes the bread from the cabinet underneath the counter and slips two pieces into her beloved toaster.
She hears Aria waking up and sets three plates, getting new slices ready to replace the toast that's soon to come.
First for Aria, then for me, since Adagio's out. Breakfast in bed!
Or... near bed.
Man I'm good.
Aria, her hair a sea of teal-streaked amethyst, huffs and tries to press the curtains against the window to block out the light seeping through the edges. Giving up, she turns, and Sonata sees her favorite thing for just a moment, though it's a favorite thing she can never tell everyone about.
Unlike tacos. Everyone needs to know about those.
For just the tiniest littlest bit of a second, Aria's eyes are kind and warm and her lips almost curl up into a smile.
It's the little things in life Sonata likes, and that itty bitty split-second is probably about the biggest of the littlest of the things she loves most.
It's gone quick though, as Aria sees who's there.
Heh, if I was someone else, I bet she'd be happy all the time!
“Toast again?” Aria grumbles, searching for a drink. While their van has some electricity—Sonata's not totally sure how, but Adagio mentioned something about taking the idea from whatever an RV is—it doesn't really have enough for a fridge, which means the canned coffee Aria pops open isn't the coldest.
But it's definitely the canniest, Sonata guarantees!
“Yep! It's the...it's the toast of the morning to ya!” Sonata giggles as the toast pops out and she slips it onto the plate expertly.
Putting toast on plates is one of her many finely honed skills. Not that she'd brag of course.
Much.
“What?” Aria takes the plate that Sonata hands to her and turns away, munching with a grimace. “Way to be weird first thing. Not even awake and you're already giving me a headache.”
Sonata smiles, turning away from Aria and back to the counter, and puts the next two slices into the toaster. They'd be for her, unless Adagio comes in pretty soon. She'll be excited for toast, Sonata's sure of it!
She's a little confused though.
Her chest hurts and tears are falling on the counter. They couldn't be from her, though.
Definitely...definitely not.
But words escape her lips before her mind even thinks them, and she wonders where they're coming from. “Why do you do that?”
Behind her, Aria doesn't say anything, and Sonata turns. Aria's look of blank confusion turns to something else when she sees Sonata's face, but Sonata can't see it clearly through the tears.
“Well?” Sonata's voice is weak and cracking, more a squeak than the firm follow-up she'd intended, but it seems to do the job of getting a response.
Aria's eyes, wide with surprise, narrow as she turns away. “Do what?”
“Why do you always have to... I dunno. Act like I'm just annoying and dumb?”
Aria sighs and walks the two steps to the couch set up in the back of their van. She turns and sits on it gently, setting the plate on her lap and the toast atop it as she looks away and speaks in a mumble. “Because you are dumb?”
“Why do you hate me?” Sonata whispers through her tears, wiping them away and being super duper glad that she hasn't put on her makeup yet today.
Thank goodness for small blessings!
“It's too early for... whatever this is,” Aria says, closing her eyes and holding a hand to her temple as she eats. “Just go back to sleep, we'll—”
“I wanna make everyone breakfast.”
“It's just toast, we can—”
Sonata isn't sure how she ends up on the floor, hugging her knees and sobbing into her pajama bottoms. Maybe this is just life now.
It feels about right.
She's lucky she's wearing her P.J.'s today though. Even though Aria and Adagio say she's too old for them, they're a heck of a lot better at soaking up her tears than her super unfluffy knees.
But pajamas don't make all the hurt go away. Her chest hurts. Her head hurts. She wants to crush herself smaller and smaller but she's as small as she'll go, and in the back of their van it's just so, so cold once you're out of the blankies.
Aria and her sleep side by side, and Aria even says it's okay if she cuddles up on the really cold nights.
Sonata can't tell anyone though.
Sonata wonders who would care.
She glances up and sees no one coming around the counter to tell her it's okay.
But that's okay.
That's how it always is.
No one's coming around the mountain, when she comes...
No one's coming...
The side of the van slides open and Sonata knows it's Adagio. No one else would hear Sonata crying and then sigh, walking to the front of the van to wait it out. No one else would slip their headphones on, and maybe this time the headphones will actually be playing music and not just be there for show!
Or maybe...
Maybe everyone would. Why would anyone care, if the two closest to me don't?
“Fine,” she hears Adagio grumble, and she peeks over the counter and, to her surprise, sees both of them coming from the front of the van. Adagio glances over and meets Sonata's eyes for a moment, her gaze tired and distant. “What is it, Sonata?”
Sonata looks down. Her knees don't hate her.
They're a little crampy, she guesses, but that's probably not hate.
“I just wanted to make breakfast.”
“So go ahead,” Adagio says, her voice carrying the faintest hint of something that might be kindness. “No one's stopping you.”
“But... but Aria said I'm dumb.”
“No, you said you were dumb,” Aria growls, crossing her arms. “I just agreed, since you're right.”
Sonata looks back down into her knees and closes her eyes.
No one hates her in her own head.
Well... only one person. But that person isn't much anyway. That's person's dumb. Annoying.
Childish.
Clumsy.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Adagio whispers something to Aria and Aria huffs, leaning across the counter.
“Sonata, I'm sorry. Thanks for breakfast.” She turns and heads back to the couch, and Sonata thinks maybe she hears the sound of Aria eating toast.
That makes her smile, just a little.
It doesn't even hurt that Aria's apology sounds forced.
Sonata smiles, just a little, and gets her legs under her, rising back up into a stand. It seems a little harder to stand back up each time she does it, for some reason.
The floor seems safer.
Not as far to fall.