#8E1717
Reese watched Artemisia's back from Freddie's lap as she confessed, her mouth slack and unable to summon a word of sympathy. She looked to Freddie, really looked, her chin tucked into her chest, eyes looking for something far, far away, but despite that distant look, she didn't seem sleepy or bored, her other two emotions. She was in deep somewhere she didn't like to go often. Reese only ever saw this a fleeting few moments around 3 AM when the high wore off and she didn't notice Reese had crept back from the bathroom. To Reese, Artemisia's tears for her brother were Freddie's too, even if they never showed. Reese sank her head back into Freddie's thighs, frowning at herself. And she would do anything to stop Freddie from going back. What an asshole.
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Lilith's spell was far stronger than the magic Reese had tasted from Artemisia. It felt as though she'd been submerged in a freshly carbonated Sprite, fizzy on her tongue, popping in her ears, caffeinating every single molecule. It even stung her nose like she'd washed it down the wrong hole. It tasted... not sweet and powdery like Artemisia's spell, it tasted like a northerly wind carrying sea salt and sweet peas on its wings - could you taste such a thing? She was far too sensitive to this, perhaps Reese had a magic allergy. Through the salty sprite sweet pea nightmare Reese could feel a maternal presence reaching for her. She squinted over at Lilith. Her back was turned, her hands preoccupied, but she was holding out something for her, her spirit or magic or something. Reese tossed her head away and begrudging let her siphon her magic for the spell. It was a weird feeling. Like she'd just thrown her soul like a crushed can without a care whether it got in the bin or not. It must have, because suddenly Reese was in the presence of a fairy.
She stayed behind the girls as the Fairy Queen graced them, looking around the place for most of the encounter. Maybe she was disinterested. Maybe she was embarrassed. She only zoned back in when Freddie's brother was mentioned. "...Can we bring snacks?" Reese slapped her on the back. "Whatever you wanna bring, Fred. Whatever you want," she assured flatly, "Your Nintendogs, too."
Then, Artemisia said something that completely threw her off. "...how badly my parents suffered..."
Reese snorted, loud, snapping attention to her. She followed her immediate reaction with a raspy, humorless chuckle, shaking her head. Her eyes snapped to Artemisia and her sniggers abruptly stopped.
"No you don't."
She approached her with her hands in her pockets, scrutinizing her with a mean little smirk. "You want to know? You really just have to know?” She stopped a foot from Artemisia and scrunched her face with mock-thought. "OK, well, my Mumsy was decapitated. You know, preeeetty sure you keep on blinking about five seconds after you’re separated from the spine." Her mouth opened in a faux gasp. "That means… the last thing Mother must’ve seen was her daughter’s face, and the look she had when mummy dearest rolled to her feet."
Reese dropped the pretense, glaring at Artemisia as she leaned in, "And you don’t want to know what happened to the old man." Her head tilted with a smile. "The only piece I found of him was his blood when I slipped in it.”
She stepped back, puffing her jacket up. "You want to know how they suffered?" she spat, "I can't get it out of my head." She tossed away with a frustrated sound, and dismissively declared, "OF COURSE Emperia's fine! They have a freakin' dragon! They don't need me."