"So, what's even in this?" Praxina squints at the glass, holding it up into the light. "I watched you make it, but it wasn't clear what anything was."
Nathaniel laughs, leaning into her space for a second to push a straw into the smoothie. "Strawberries, lime, coconut water, cranberries, grapes, pomegranate, and cherries. Don't you trust me?"
Praxina narrowed her eyes at him before shrugging and smiling. "Why not. Not like I have any other options."
He bumped her hip and she sighed, relaxing for the first time in what felt like months. Years, even, if she were being honest with herself.
Ever since… the battle on Ephedia, Praxina had been hiding out on Earth. At first she'd just been mindlessly raging, but then she had a good idea. Iris had taken someone from her, so she'd take someone from the stupid girl. The only difference between them was that Praxina wasn't capable of killing without reason.
Praxina had littered the world around the two lovebirds with her butterflies, frustrating Iris and driving the human boy crazy. No one else could see them, so it was kind of like a game. Praxina would set out a new butterfly, the boy would get upset, and Iris would clench her fists, freak out, and wait for Praxina to attack. Stupid princess.
The blow came when the human boy was alone, leaning out on the balcony he and his sister shared. The butterfly was on the railing before him, but this one stayed for a few minutes. Flapping her wings, slowly, letting him get a good look. Praxina teleported behind him and watched, fascinated, as he slowly offered the butterfly a finger and she crawled on. He'd turned around, jumped in fear and surprise, but the butterfly on his finger didn't disappear.
"Beautiful night," Praxina had said, arms crossed and nails, clawed under her gloves, tapping rhythmically. "Don't you think?"
"Whoa- where did you come from? How did you get up here?" He'd glanced around, but even when he looked back at her, the butterfly on his finger hadn't moved. Compared to the weeks of torture and barely seeing them from the corner of his eyes, she was sure this was a surprising change.
"Not important. Why don't we talk about what is important though?" Praxina had popped her hip and rested a hand on it, beckoning to her butterfly. "Your little pet murderer, Iris."
Her butterfly had flown and rested on her finger, his face shocked and confused.
"What? Iris isn't a murderer, she would never-"
"Ah bup bup, no interrupting." Praxina had narrowed her eyes. "I'm still getting used to this telling the truth thing, and this a very hard truth to tell." She'd watched her butterfly crawl into her palm, and closed her hand around it. When she reopened it, a crystal screen opened. She could see Nathaniel through it, but he'd been stuck seeing what she projected.
And then she'd projected it. What she'd seen happen to her brother, what Banes had seen happen to Gramorr, and Iris' hand in it.
The screen had clicked out of existence and the boy's face… The shock and pain was so familiar.
"Is that who you want in your bed?" Praxina asked, her single showing eyebrow arched. "Really?"
"Did… did she know what she was doing? Where was that, what was going on?" His voice cracked in pain, and Praxina had offered him a hand.
"Come with me, and I'll tell you everything."
She sips the smoothie, smile on her lips.
A lot had changed since then.
But one thing hadn't.
She still had Nate on her side.
He has an arm braced on the counter behind her as he watches her play with the straw on the smoothie, humming teasingly.
"So? Do you like it?" He asks.
Praxina giggles and sets it to the side, reaching up to cup the back of his head and pull him in for a sweet-tasting kiss. Short, sweet, hers.
"What do you think?" She whispers into his ear.
He slides a hand up her sweater, to cup the bare skin over her hip, and laughs. "I think you do."