a ship in the harbor | c. grice

XXI. Dinner

a/n: lol SitH hiatus over???

"Please!"

"No."

"But —"

"Gabi!" you cut her off. "I hardly think I would be welcome, regardless. You should really check with your parents first."

"No, there's no need! It's at my aunt's house, and she would love nothing more than to host you. You know, she thinks you're really cool! And I always talk about you at home, my parents know all about you," she said excitedly, chattering like a little bird. "So, see, you'd be entirely welcome! Please come, Y/N, please oh please oh please!"

You sighed. "I'm not really the sort of person you'd want as a dinner guest."

"Why not?" she said, all wide-eyed innocence and open-mouthed wonder. "You're so beautiful and smart and talented!"

You scowled. "You sound like Colt."

"Huh?" she said. You waved her off dismissively.

"Don't worry about it. But, really, I'm hardly all of that; I just happened to win a war and you think I'm wonderful for that fact. Well, I'm ashamed to admit that I'm not above flattery; if you can come up with one nice thing about me that even I cannot refute, I'll go," you said.

Her face scrunched up in intense concentration; she, along with the others, were well accustomed to your frank assessment of your own abilities. What you had given her was a sort of impossible condition; there was no compliment you would accept, and yet that very elusive thing was what she had to come up with if she wanted you to attend the Braun family dinner she had been begging you to go to for the past hour.

"Oh!" she said, face lighting up. "I've got it!"

"I doubt it," you said, feeling altogether very amused and pleased with yourself for having figured out such a clever and graceful way of getting out of the event.

"There's nobody in all of Liberio who can run faster than you!"

And that was how you ended up pacing in front of your closet, wondering what, exactly, you ought to wear to the Braun family dinner.

"Ugh!" you said, stamping your foot rather petulantly, given your supposed maturity, "This is stupid! Father! Please come to my room!"

"What?" he said, appearing almost immediately, crossing his arms over his chest. "I could hear you stomping around from a mile away."

"I can't figure out what to wear to the Brauns' house tonight," you said.

"Why are you going to the Brauns' house tonight?" he said. You puffed your cheeks out.

"Gabi invited me. I tried to say no, and then I told her I'd go if she gave me a compliment I could agree with — and really, I thought this to be entirely foolproof, but then she had to go and comment on how fast I run!" you said. "And I do run fast!"

My father snickered. "You should be happy about this, really."

"Why?" you said.

"Anything to ingratiate yourself with your future in-laws, eh?" he said.

"You — that is just nonsense!" you snapped. He let out a full on laugh at this, brushing past you to pull out a skirt and shirt at random.

"I know all about your little crush on Reiner Braun. Though I expect you'll leave more than a few broken hearts in your wake, my business is to care about you, not them! And if it's Mr. Braun you want, then it's Mr. Braun you shall have," he said.