Author's Note: People always argue so much about whether Hamlet was actually crazy or just faking it, and if he was actually a depressed, angry prince, or whether we only get a glimpse of him after his father's been murdered and he's been sidelined from University and cut off from his friends. I figured I needed a decent amount of time to get to know Grace and her friends before the crap hits the fan, so their characters are more established. Makes any different behavior later on seem more obvious when you know what their personalities were like when they were happy!

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Act 1, Scene 2

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Jo opened her mouth to object, but Leith hushed her. "I haven't said anything before now because I figured it was just a phase. A crush you'd grow out of. But every time I come back to visit you seem more and more enamored with her, and it's a problem, Joanna."

A woman approached them and squeezed past down the hallway. Jo stepped aside quickly and looked down at the ground, hating the feeling of embarrassment that crept up her neck. Other than Grace, of course, her older brother was the last person on Earth she wanted to have this discussion with.

"Grace is not flirting with you, even if it seems that way," Leith explained unemotionally. "No matter how many times she sips out of your drink or puts her arms around you, she doesn't mean any of it beyond the affection of an older sister for one of her siblings. She's paying you as much attention as she would a puppy."

Jo's gut twisted, and she wished she'd refused the last drink that had been shoved into her hands.

"And even if she hadn't grown up thinking of herself as part of our family, she's not someone you should set your sights on. That silver spoon she was born with makes her virtually incapable of truly understanding what life is like for anyone at the Humanity level. Which, with your job in the farming sector, is what you'll always be." Leith noted the twitch under his sister's left eye. It was her tell: a small, unconscious signal that she was upset by the topic of conversation but unwilling to argue the point. He'd always wished he'd been able to open his little sister's eyes to the people of the world, but it was no use. Years of trying, and he still thought she was as naive and malleable as a child.

"Grace is a good person," Jo said quietly, refusing to look at her brother.

"Grace isn't a bad person," Leith corrected. "But she's toiling away at a masters degree in a useless, historical field; she doesn't work for a living; she doesn't help people." Leith ticked off his points on the fingers of one hand. "She's a Hammond, with Hammond money, and as such, she could play toy soldiers all day long for the rest of her life and still have more money than every other family in the Den. There is no substance to that girl," Leith said, gesturing back toward their table.

Another eye twitch.

"Joanna, I'm not saying this to hurt you," Leith said quickly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm saying this because I don't want to see you embarrassed. Which is exactly what you'll be if Grace finds out about your little crush. Even if she were an exemplary, mature human being, and even if she didn't think of you as her sister, you know women are not her type. You are setting yourself up for failure in several different ways, and mark my words: this is not going to end well if you tell her."

Jo shuffled her feet slightly and nodded at the ground.

"Okay?" Leith prompted.

"Okay," Jo hissed, desperate for the conversation to be over. She wished she had the courage to fire back at him that he wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know.

Leith nodded and turned away, walking back toward their table. Jo closed her eyes and leaned back against the cool stone wall behind her, counting slowly to twenty. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, looking for her Device, and her fingers brushed over a small, firm piece of paper. Jo's shoulders sagged as she pulled it out and reread the card that had been tucked into the bouquet delivered to her home that morning.

Beautiful flowers for a beautiful girl! Congrats again, Jo!
Love you to the moon and back,
Grace xoxo

Jo bit her lip, read the card one last time, and tossed it in the nearest trash can on her way back to the table.

"She's back! Finally!" Grace bellowed as Jo reclaimed her original seat, quietly slipping onto her stool as if she could join the party again without being noticed. "Here-this one was yours!" Grace leaned across the table to push Jo's drink toward her.

"Thanks," Jo said, forcing a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"So, Jo-" Rose noted the slump in Jo's shoulders, pausing slightly before continuing. "-you haven't told us what your new job entails!" she prompted brightly, hoping to nudge the new graduate's mood back toward what it had been before she'd left the table. "I know you'd looked into several different positions. Do you know yet which part of the Den's Agriculture Department you'll be in?"

Jo nodded, licking her lips. "The Free Pollination sector," she said, her voice barely audible above the loud music coming from the DJ at the altar. "Wildflowers... non-edible plants... bee hives..." Not meeting anyone's eyes, Jo shrugged. "I know it's not fancy, or-" She cut her eyes toward Leith briefly. "-or influential, but… I still think the work will be interesting."

"Of course it'll be interesting!" Rose said, still attempting to coax a smile from Jo. "That was your first choice, right?"

Jo nodded, but said nothing else.

Grace frowned, confused. "What's going on, Joey-what's up? Your mood has just…" Grace narrowed her eyes and turned to look at Leith. "Did you say something to her when you left the table a minute ago? You've been here all of ten minutes, and you've managed to put your foot in it, haven't you? This is a graduation party, asshole, you don't corner the guest of honor as soon as you arrive and insult her-"

Jo was quick to jump in. "Grace, no, it's fine, he didn't-"

"She just won a Progression Award!" Grace continued, incorrectly assuming that whatever Leith had said to deflate his little sister so effectively had been in regards to her profession. Of course he didn't respect her chosen career, beekeeping in the Den; just like he didn't respect his father for working in a small habitat clinic instead of in the Medical Habitat. Stabbing a finger at him, she leaned closer over the table. "She's got a degree in something so technical that even when I'm stone cold sober I can't remember the details of it. Her research has already changed the way our plants are grown in the community habitats-"

"I'm aware," Leith said testily. "I've read her-"

"-she's not just out in the orchards picking apples, or planting kale; her work is important."

"You're right, her work is important-but so is farming," Leith interrupted and waved a hand at the food on the table. "What's wrong with picking fruit? You wouldn't be able to order your fancy kale chips if people weren't out there planting it in the first place. The traditional farming positions are a perfectly acceptable way to earn existence pay and monthly staples. Those people work hard for their living." Leith raised an eyebrow at Grace. "You should try it sometime."

Grace shoved back from the table angrily, and Wren made a grab for her arm. Jo shot up from her chair and moved quickly to stand in front of Grace, blocking her view of Leith.

"Let's dance! I want to dance. Grace-" Jo tugged at Grace's upper arm and looked at her entreatingly. "You keep saying this is my party, and I want to dance. Come dance with me."

"Jo,"Leith said sharply, shooting his sister a warning look. "I don't think that's a good idea-"

Ignoring her brother, Jo gave another pull on Grace's arm. "And Rose? Rose is going to come, too. Aren't you, Rose?"

Rose swallowed the last of her drink in one large gulp and pushed herself away from the table. "Of course! Yes! Look! I'm dancing with Jo-come dance with us, Gracey! Let's go…"

The two girls pulled Grace, still scowling over her shoulder, up the steps to the chancel and into the small throng that had formed in front of the DJ at the alter.

Wren sighed and shook his head, moving over to the stool next to Leith. "I know you and Grace have never gotten along, but you know her, man. You know exactly which buttons to push, and you had to know what you said was going to light her up."

"She's spoiled," Leith said matter-of-factly.

Wren bobbed his head and took another drink. "Yep," he agreed easily. "But the minute she's made aware of a deficit in someone else's life that she can fix, she does it. Whatever it is." Reaching into his pocket, Wren pulled out his Device. "She made fun of me for having an out-dated Device tonight. I said I like this old model." Setting it down on the table, he continued, "Within a month she'll have bought me the newest one. If I refuse the gift, she'll bug me until I accept it. She won't expect a single thing in return; she won't even see it as a big deal." Gesturing to the mess of empty glasses and picked-over plates of food on the table, he added, "She's the one who ordered most of this, and she'll pick up the entire tab tonight without even blinking, because she wanted Jo's graduation celebration to be spectacular. Because she wanted to spoil her." Wren took another swig of his drink and put it down on the table, slipping his Device back into his jacket as he stood. "She went to every ceremony and graduation event Jo had this week. This is the first thing you've shown up at. Now, I know-" Wren rushed on before Leith could interject. "-you've got a big fancy job, and you're needed in the Bol, and we're all very impressed, but…" Wren shrugged. "Grace has a good heart. And if nothing else, you should appreciate the fact that she absolutely adores your little sister, and has done everything in her power tonight to make her smile."

Wren reached across the table, grabbed Gordon's pod, and clipped it to his belt. "Now, we're going to go join the girls. I'd invite you to come with us, but I know you hate dancing, so you've just inherited the considerable honor of saving our spot for us." Wren stood as Gordon straightened through his stool, and the pair moved off toward the dance floor, leaving Leith alone at the table.

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TBC.