Lunar Chronicles One-Shots

Bets

Though it was early in the afternoon in New Beijing Palace, Cress felt utterly worn out. First, she had to save Thorne from making a fool of himself in front of her friends three times today, and then she had been chosen to babysit the kids so they wouldn't get into trouble. Sighing, she flopped on one of the big couches in the lounge room and put a hand on her forehead. She already wanted the day to end, but Thorne had called everyone up to the lounge room for an "extremely important meeting." 

"Owww, my elbow!" cried Winter as she walked in. She was rubbing her elbow that she had just hit on the doorframe and making pouty faces at it. And, of course, Jacin was only a few steps behind her asking her if her elbow was okay. Winter only smiled and pecked him on the cheek. Then she turned and saw Cress lounging on the couch.

"Hello, Crescent Moon!" she exclaimed after seeing her. Cress waved back at her and Jacin, receiving a smile from Winter and a grunt from Jacin. Then, Scarlet appeared out of nowhere and attacked Winter in a hug. 

"Scarlet-Friend! Where have you been all day? I was getting worried that you might have gotten lost within the halls of the palace", said Winter, her smile widening further.

"Nah, it's just that the twins were extra needy today. And don't get me started on Tom" Cress flinched when Scarlet mentioned her twins, and she immediately began to think of her children. Both Scarlet and Cress were blessed with twins each, Cress's twins about a year older than Scarlets, and always had so much on their plate. Scarlet had to deal with more problems because she already had an older son named Thomas, nicknamed Tom, and Cress got the suspicion that they named their son over Wolf's strange obsession with tomatoes. 

"So, what does Thorne have in store for us today?" Scarlet said, breaking away from Winter and looking Cress's way. 

"I'm just as clueless as you are."

"Hmpf, I really don't want to deal wi-"

"SCARLET LOOK WHAT I FOUND!!" Wolf yelled when he barged into the room, completely ignoring Cress, Winter, and Jacin. He was carrying a red pie in his hands along with three red cupcakes. He smiled, showing his fangs as he spread out the treats he had been holding, motioning Scarlet forward. Scarlet sighed and said:

"Tomato treats."

"Mhm!"

"From the kitchens?"

"Mhm!"

"Well, they probably aren't as good as mine, so you are in for a ride," she smiled innocently as she took a bite of the tomato cupcake. 

"This is actually good. What the-" Scarlet took another bite with a shocked look on her face, and the rest of her sentence was muffled. She sat down as she and Wolf exchanged awed glances, and Cress bit back a laugh. Her eyes felt droopy as she watched the couple eat tomato treats. Maybe she would close her eyes for a little while.

.............................................................................................................................................

"Cress, are you asleep?" said a soft, soothing voice. Something tapped her shoulder.

"Hmpf," she said, shifting away from the voice. She wasn't ready to open her eyes and expose them to the bright light.

"Cressssssss, waaaaake uuuuuup," sung the voice. The tapping on her shoulder transitioned to poking her shoulder.

"Leave her alone, Thorne. It's been a busy day for everyone", said a tired voice to her right. 

"Well, I guess we could continue without her, though it wouldn't be the same. Only my wife could provide a shy comment about anything", said Thorne.