[[𓆩⟡𓆪 𓆩⟡𓆪 𓆩⟡𓆪]]
“Sometimes life does not make sense” That was a line the Starling sisters often used towards themselves. It had first been used by one of Thalia’s sisters-Calista. For many, the concept of invisible strings conjured images of destined soulmates from fairy tales, inexorably drawn together. However, for Thalia, these strings evoked memories of being thirteen, feeling an unseen force pulling her apart from her sisters. During those times of confusion and estrangement, Calista had casually dismissed her concerns with a roll of her eyes, saying, “Sometimes life doesn’t make sense.” That line stuck with Thalia, and years later, at eighteen, when she alone was accepted into Wyndham, her sisters challenged the fairness of it. Thalia had retorted with the same words Calista had once given her, and now, she found herself using them again, this time directed at Desdemona. “ “And I wasn’t drunk,” Thalia denied, “Just slightly… tipsy.” she smiled sheepishly.
Desdemona had noted Thalia’s absence from the ball, prompting Thalia to explain that she had been with Inessa. In response, Desdemona hinted at a connection between Inessa and another acquaintance, casting a veil of implication that Thalia couldn’t ignore. Though the urge to deny it outright bubbled within her, Thalia resisted, realizing that it would only raise suspicion, especially since Thalia was quite sure Desdemona had noticed the way Thalia’s eyes had widened when she had insinuated a connection between Inessa Dunman and someone else, thus what was the point of outright denying it when Desdemona remembered bits of the conversation from last summer. See, during last summer, the conversation between Thalia and Desdemona had taken place during the summer, fueled by a few cocktails that loosened Thalia’s tongue. Desdemona had probed about Thalia’s history, her life, being insanely curious about her and Thalia had recounted all her past relationships and encounters (at least the one’s she could remember) Few names were mentioned, only three former lovers came to mind. Thalia couldn’t recall if Renlin’s name had been among them, but she distinctly remembered referring to him as Inessa’s brother before impulsively diving into the swimming pool, the alcohol coursing through her veins, lending her a sense of exhilaration.
shxt, Thalia was really hoping Desdemona had not remembered that conversation, because Thalia had not, at least not until now. “Don’t think too much about it,” Thalia had said, ruffling Desdemona’s hair with tired hands. She had leaned in to plant a kiss on Desdemona’s forehead as she continued, “I’ll get mad if you hurt you’re pretty head focusing on the unimportant,” Thalia had grinned as she placed their foreheads together, squeezing Desdemona hands, "Let’s just focus on each other right now… and forget the rest, " Thalia finished, her voice a soft murmur , "My head really hurts,’ Thalia confessed, their foreheads still touching, she pulled away from Desdemona, placing a finger on top of Desdemona’s head, "How does yours feel?‘’ she asked before she had shifted the conversation into asking where Desdemona was at the ball, to which Desdemona had said she was with a lot of people.
I saw a lot of people. Desdemona had told her, making Thalia giggle, “It is a ballroom after all,” she had commented, allowing Desdemona to finish the rest of what she was saying. Desdemona began to talk about all the people she had been with, she had mentioned Raven, a name Thalia could not say she was quite familiar with, then Atlas- someone Thalia knew but at the same time did not. She knew him because everyone knew Atlas, he was the childhood friend to Aurora Dear after all, both equally as irritating. Ok, ok, perhaps Thalia was not being fair when it came to Atlas, she knew nothing about him and she was judging him based on her dislike towards Aurora, but to be fair, anyone who was tight knitted to Aurora was bound to be as easily dislikable as her. There was another name that Desdemona had mentioned that made Thalia’s ears perked- it was the name Esther. Thalia knew Esther, they had once gone bird watching together. "She fainted?’ Thalia had asked, her eyes widened as she wondered what happened. Her mind went to many things, she could not help but to wonder if it had to do with the Miles thing, or the other thing. Thalia made a mental note to herself, remember this, there were several questions she had to ask Esther, because she had to find out…
“Love story?” Thalia said doubtfully.* Of course it was crazy, it was probably fake* “I think he was pulling your leg, Mona, I don’t really think Esther would associate herself like that with him.” Then again, perhaps she would, were they not in the same group after all? Still, from the way Desdemona had called it crazy, Thalia could tell that it was indeed falsehood. Desdemona began to dig deeper into Thalia’s events of last night leading to Thalia quickly changing the subject, asking Desdemona how she was adjusting to school.
“The green sounds lovely,” Thalia remarked, nodding in approval. “And don’t worry too much about the clash with Cipher’s theme. As long as it feels like home to you, that’s what matters most. Most people here dorms don’t even fit the theme” At least Thalia knew her room did not- her room was quite simple and a little bit messy with papers hanging on the walls but those papers were quite important and were their for a reason, she did not really feel the need to organize them and mess with what she had come to known. It always felt weird tampering with the way Thalia structured her things. “As for your magic, don’t stress it okay, you don’t have to use it the first day if you don’t want too. Give the professors any excuse and they will write you off, they are not the worst in this school,”
They entered the cafeteria, Thalia started to explain the breakfast routine at Wyndham. While detailing the process, she noticed Desdemona seemed unusually subdued. Concern flickered across Thalia’s face—had she said something wrong? Just as she was about to voice her concerns, Desdemona playfully waved some crushed beets in front of her. Thalia instinctively recoiled, nearly stumbling back. Quickly catching Desdemona’s concerned expression, Thalia hastened to clarify
that it had nothing to do with Desdemona but instead with the fact she does not do beets due to how the smell, and texture had always just irritated Thalia.
Desdemona nodded, taking some into her mouth and getting a pink stain on the corner of her lips, making Thalia comment on it and coming closer she had helped Desdemona clean it up. There, all clean, Thalia had said, with a smile, now let’s go meet Kiki, shall we? she had asked, as Mona replied okay happily, causing her smile to widen.
Thalia had brought the blueberries close to Kiki, causing her to snatchh the thing quickly, making Thalia blink. Desdemona had apologized about Kiki’s manners, saying she was usually better, leading to Thalia shaking her head with a small smile,
“No worries, it’s actually pretty cute how she just snatches it up like that,” Thalia responded, her voice warm and light, trying to put Desdemona at ease. “And besides, I’m sure my manners aren’t exactly perfect when I’m hungry either.” Thalia had chuckled along with Desdemona, "So what happened?’ Thalia had asked, remembering Desdemona’s unhappy expression, “You looked sad some minutes ago,”