Disclaimer: I do not own Chaotic
Intress was not happy. She had developed feelings for Maxxor long ago, and they had been growing stronger ever since. But no matter how hard she tried, he rarely showed any sign of returning them. Solans had been invested in getting just getting his attention, but he never seemed to notice the hints she threw at him. But this was different; this time Maxxor was just ignoring her. He had to be.
She stormed out of the palace, knowing she would be punished. She didn't care. She knew Maxxor wouldn't fire her, but at this point she was considering just quitting. When she got home, she paid no attention to her daughter, who was resting on the couch instead of doing her chores. She was too mad at Maxxor to say anything to Aivenna. Intress knew that once she started, she would have to get her anger out.
Aivenna silently followed Intress to their training room and watched as Intress busted a few punching bags open. Intress was covered in her sweat, but Aivenna knew her mother couldn't have been that tired just from throwing punches and kicks. Whatever was bothering her, it had to be addressed.
"Mom?" Aivenna said quietly, not able to hide the worry in her voice. Her tone was enough to make Intress feel a little guilty for concerning her.
"It's nothing" Intress lied. She knew Aivenna wouldn't believe it, but hopefully she wouldn't ask questions. However, Aivenna was always full of questions.
"If it's not important, then there's no need to hide it." she said, quoting Drabe
"I'm not hiding anything." Intress lied again "I just don't want to talk about this."
Saying nothing, Aivenna left the room. Intress had thought Aivenna leaving her alone would make her feel better, but instead, Intress felt worse. Unable to take anymore, Intress growled at herself and slowly made her way to Aivenna'a room. Intress wasn't surprised to see her laying on her bed, crying like she has just been dumped again. The sweet girl had always been a bit of a drama queen, but to say that she was simply being dramatic would have been a lie. Intress knew Aivenna loves her. They were close, and for Intress to suddenly not want to talk with her must have been hard.
"Aivenna." Intress said gently "I didn't mean to sound upset with you. You know I'm not mad at you, right?"
"Does this concern N-Nivenna?"
"No, dearest, why would you think that?"
Aivenna sat up and looked at the floor. Intress knew that was a sign to sit next to her daughter. "You came home really early." Intress's ears went back as she pushed the reason out of her mind "You didn't say anything to me, so at first I thought you were mad at me. But when I saw you break open those bags, I didn't think I could make you that mad, so I assumed it was because of someone who you hate. But you don't hate anyone from the Overworld, so it had to be someone from another tribe."
"So why would you just assume that it was about Nivenna?" Intress asked as Aivenna wiped her face with her hand
"I didn't." Aivenna explained "When you wouldn't tell me what was wrong, I assumed it was about her because she's the only thing I don't like to talk about."
Intress's heart broke at hearing that. She hugged her child, sad that she had done something to make her daughter so sad. "It's not Nivenna." Intress assured her "I'm just having some problems with Maxxor."
Aivenna hugged Intress back, not wanting to ask the question that was on the tip of her tongue. Intress sighed before continuing, "I just don't know how to get his attention."
"Do something he likes." Aivenna suggested
"I wear provocative clothing everyday and constantly try to get his attention. I don't think I can make it much more obvious."
"Just say it."
"I pretty much did." Intress admitted "I think he turned me down."
"And you can't risk being turned down again." Aivenna understood. She had watched for solans as Intress constantly tried to please Maxxor. Intress loved Maxxor too deeply to hear him say he couldn't return such feelings. "Do something he really likes. Something he can't turn down."
"Like what?" Intress asked, knowing her daughter was having an easier time with guys
She thought for a minute before asking "He likes sweets, right?"
"More than anyone else I've met." Intress grinned as she understood what Aivenna was saying. It was similar to the human saying 'the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach'. "I hope this works."
But as she set to work baking a fresh batch of cookies, Intress could not help but think if the years she wasted on her ruler. As she began to mix the batter, something caught her eye. On the counter was a jar of juice; the Perimian equivalent of prune juice. She tried to focus on just baking cookies, but she kept thinking about all the time she wasted. Couldn't Maxxor have just told her if he wasn't interested? She grabbed the juice and looked away as she poured it into the mix, knowing she was going to regret what she was doing.