Merida hadn't intentionally avoided Toothiana for all those months, but it sure felt like forever since she'd seen the rainbow-haired woman. The Victory Tour had ended in February and since then, Merida's hands had been washed clean of all things Capitol related, and that included her former sponsor. So now, seeing her again, it feels, almost nice.
Almost.
It doesn't surprise her that the first thing that the woman says to her is about how she's dressed.
"Did you wrestle a hog or something?" She snips, thumbing her nose at the muddied gown that clings to Merida's body. "You look like a dusty, red, mop."
"I missed you too..." Merida mumbles under her breath as she stands on the platform, waiting for the train. The heat from the sun makes her sweat, but there is a breeze that tugs at the strands of her hair. Merida closes her eyes, breathing in the coolness.
Her peace is ripped away from her as she feels an immense pressure on her shoulders, dragging her backwards.
"Hubert," her mother's voice calls from behind her. "Don't jump on your sister. She needs to be in one piece when she arrives at the Capitol." There is laughter in her voice as she speaks. It's odd, that since winning the games, the Capitol has become more of a pest than a major trauma in their household. But not for Merida.
"Sorry Mer," Hubert sniggers, leaping off of her back. She rubs her shoulder and groans.
"You're such a pain," she grumbles, giving him a playful glare. "You know I hate that nickname!" That is only partially true. Her brother sticks his tongue out at her in return.
"Merida, dear," Eleanor breathes, pulling her daughter into a hug, and kissing her forehead. "Make sure to get plenty of rest on the train so that you're ready for your meeting with Pitch and the other mentors." Merida tries not to roll her eyes and bite back a snarky remark about the "meeting".
The only reason Pitch wants me there is to rub in my face how much control he has over me.
But she won't tell her mother that. She will continue to let them all believe that the are safe, and that everything is fine and dandy in Panem.
"I will Mom," Merida decides to settle on a simple response and smiles at her family. Her father stands behind Eleanor and nods, without a word. He isn't one for meaningless prattle, and for that, she is grateful.
The train whooshes into the station not a moment later, blowing Merida's already rowdy hair like a twister. She groans and decides that she just can't win and maybe she should have let Maleficent cut it off when she had the chance, back before the Games.
"Take care of Angus and Toothless for me, will ya?" She raises an eyebrow at her little brothers who all nod at the same time.
"We will," Hamish says without looking her in the eyes. Merida frowns, as she hears a nagging chirp from behind her.
"Merida!" Tooth calls in a singsongy voice. "Hurry up! We haven't got all day!" Merida rolls her eyes and huffs in defeat.
"Thanks you guys," she says, ruffling their curly, red hair and turning away from them.
She is ready to board the train when she hears the familiar jingling of bracelets and hair bells from somewhere on the platform. Merida swivels around in time to see Esmeralda cross her arms and sidle her way toward the train. She wears a sturdier face than the one Merida remembers seeing from this morning.
"Es," Merida says with a nod. "I thought you said you weren't coming..." Her former mentor takes a deep breath and sighs.
"I came by to remind you to try not to kill Toothiana while you're trapped in there with her for the day. Because trust me, the temptation is there."
Merida lets out a snort of laughter and shakes her head.
"I'll try my best," she says, sarcastically. The look in Esmeralda's eyes makes her want to pull her into a hug like they'd done earlier, but with everyone around, she knows that it would be less welcome. Instead, she puts a hand on her shoulder and smiles.
"See you later, Es."
Esmeralda doesn't give a verbal response, but she nods and slides out of Merida's grip, turning to stand beside Eleanor.
Merida sighs and boards the train not a moment before the door slides shut behind her.
"This train will get us to the Capitol in a few short hours," Toothiana says with a sigh and she flits around the car, dragging her perfectly sculpted fingertips across table tops and mirror rims. "Maybe, while we're cramped up in here, we can..." she turns to look at Merida and claps her hands together in excitement, "catch up!"
Already, she wishes she was somewhere else. The playful innocence in Tooth's eyes makes it hard for Merida to be her usual, snarky and disdainful self. This woman is naught but a fragile shell of the old Tooth. This Tooth has seen the death of a friend, and that changes a person.
I would know...
"Erm, that sounds nice..." Merida lies through her teeth and passes a wishful glance out of the window and onto the platform as the slowly chugs away. Just before the station is whisked out of her view, Merida thinks that she sees Astrid standing there, watching as they leave, but she shakes her head and the girl is gone, right along with the rest of District 10.
"Splendid!" Toothiana squeaks, raising her shoulders in jubilation. "I'll let you freshen up and then we'll talk!"
The bathroom on the train is much nicer even than the one in her own home. An entire wall is covered in mirrors and the sinks are large enough to hold three average sized cats. Not to mention, the bathtub is so extensive that Merida has to question how many people have been in it at once. She shudders, shaking the thought from her head and strips out of her gown, letting it drop in a pile at her feet. She kicks it across the floor and lets the water run into the tub.
Merida stands in her underwear and looks to the mirror wall with a sigh. Her scars and freckles make her feel ugly. Granted, she had never really felt the least bit beautiful, but here, fully exposed to her flaws, she feels absolutely hideous. She chews her lower lip as the thoughts that she has had since leaving the arena flood through her brain and make her clench her fists.
I wish I had died in that arena.
But it doesn't do her much good now to wish death upon herself. Her family needs her.
But Panem needs Jack. And Mr. Haddock needs Hiccup.
Merida takes no time to remove her underwear and lower herself into the bathtub. The water is ice cold, but she doesn't mind. Actually, she prefers the cold. Everything is hot to her now. After being with Jack for so long in the arena, relying in his frigid touch to pull her along, nothing felt nearly as cooling anymore. The water calms her static heart.
The time slips away from her as the icy water soaks into her skin and hair. For the first time in a what feels like years, everything seems to stand still.
"Merida!"
Well it was good while it lasted.
The quick knock is only a preface to the door swinging open without permission. Merida turns bright pink and pulls her hands over her naked body.
"Tooth!" She gasps, "I- I'm naked!"
"I knocked." The little lady says with a shrug and steps closer to the tub, her feet tangling in the heap of dress on the tiles. She frowns and gives a small shake of her head. "You should take better care of your things, Merida, darling."
"Well don't step all over it!" Merida growls, forgetting to be hospitable. "It's not a door mat!"
But instead of reacting with more bitterness, Tooth simply reaches down and straitens out Merida's gown, hanging it over her arm.
"I'm sorry," she says, brushing it off. "I didn't mean to." It wasn't a particularly apologetic tone, but Merida took it as such, nonetheless. She sighs and relaxes her muscles. There was no point in getting snippy with her.
"No," she frowns. "You're right. I shouldn't have left it there in the first place." Tooth only nods, settling herself on the closed toilet seat, crossing her thin legs.
"It's a thing of the past." She chirps, dismissively, patting the folded gown. "You can't think too much about those things. It'll only make moving ahead that much more difficult."
The words pack a punch, straight to Merida's heart. All this time, wallowing in her selfish pity, forgetting to live...it was destroying her.
But do I really want to move on?
"So tell me dear," Tooth continues, accepting silence as a practical response. "What have you been up to lately?"
It isn't the most ideal of situations to be sharing her past year with the woman, stripped naked in a bath tub, but her former sponsor seems hellbent on making this happen.
"Erm..." Merida shrugs, the sound of the water sloshing around as she moves. "I haven't been doing much. Taking care of the horses with Mr. Haddock."
"Ah," Toothiana nods, her eyes flicking down to her hands, which sit folded on her knee cap. "How is Stoick doing? You know after..." She pauses and glances up at the soggy redhead for a split second before returning to her original posture.
"He's doing ok," Merida answers, aware of how difficult it must be for Tooth to recall the Games. "He has been getting some of our food shares from the Capitol."
"Well that's wonderful." The little woman gives a half smile, her eyes darting about the room. "How's your leg?" She changes the subject without much thought and Merida is stuck, looking for the right words.
"It's healing..." She sighs, shrugging, as though it were only a scratch.
Not much else is said. Tooth nods curtly and stays in her seat on the toilet. At this point, the awkward tension in the air has faded and Merida can peacefully continue her bath, kind of welcoming the presence of someone else. Toothiana must enjoy the company as well, for she never makes to leave.
Merida takes the bar of soap and scrubs her body, washing away the grime that worked its way into her pores. When she get to her arm, she sighs. The bare skin makes her feel incomplete. Where her temporary "brave" tattoo had been, now only freckles adorn her pale flesh. She runs her thumb along the empty space and chews her lip.
"Tooth," she says, breaking the silence. Toothiana looks up from her vacant staring an tilts her head curiously. "Will we have time to see Maleficent before I have to meet with Pitch?"
"You can't be serious!" Tooth gasps, staring at the green woman with wide and angry eyes. "A tattoo!? A permanent one!?"
"Oh hush up! I dye skin all the time." Maleficent rolls her eyes, examining Merida's arm intently.
"If I'd have known that this was your intent in coming here, I never would have agreed!" Toothiana glowers at Merida. "You're mother would be so-"
"I'm 18." Merida points out, using her best and most mature tone of voice. "My mother doesn't make decisions for me anymore. And neither do you."
The coolness of Mal's fingers feels good against her heated skin. She pokes with her long fingernails, dragging a dull pencil across the red-head's arm.
"You have to meet with President Pitch in a half an hour!" Tooth reminds them both, her face contorting in something resembling a frown.
"I only need 20 minutes." Maleficent replies with a triumphant smile. "Take a seat Mer-ih-da. I'll need to get you started right away."
Merida grimaces, not exactly fond of the woman's constant mispronunciation of her name, but complies.
"Now hold still, deary." Mal pulls out a thin needle and presses it, gingerly, against the inside of her patient's forearm. "There's no point in me lying to you. This /will/ sting quite a bit."
But Merida is used to pain. The needles hurt, of course, but it's nothing that she hasn't faced before. And even through it all, the only thing that she can think that distracts her from the sting and makes it all seem, almost sweet, is the look on Pitch's face when he sees what he should have seen in her all along. He never should have trusted her. And he never should have doubted how brave she really is.
Author's Notes:
TA-DA!
Chapter three was kinda short I think. I've been trying to work Tooth in a lot. Like as much as I can because I promise she's important later on.
Other than the tattoo and creepy Tooth... Nothing really happened in this chapter.
((Hey btw, I'm writing all of these WAY in advance. Like this is being finished on May 16th and who knows when I'll post it.))