Pandora's Box || Coriolanus Snow

Chapter 4 - Tensions

Coriolanus

    When Coriolanus arrived back to the Plinth estate, the last thing he expected was to be greeted by a back and forth between Strabo and his daughter. In the few months that he had been there so far, he never so much as saw Pandora tell off those insubordinate avoxes of theirs, much less raise her voice to her father. Really, all he wanted was to finish off his perfect day with the perfect sound of silence that usually haunted the estate. Was that too much to ask for?

    "You always do that, you always twist my words," the girl's hands flew into the air with exasperation, "I never said that I wasn't grateful. You know that I am. I just don't think it's fair to throw me into a nearly year long internship without my go ahead first."

"Pandora Plinth, I am your father. The last thing I'm looking for is your okay on any matter, especially ones regarding your future. This whole thing is entirely ridiculous." He ridiculed her from the couch, still clearly holding the power in the conversation despite her looking down on him.

    Ah, the internship. Of course this was about that. Whatever, she'd have to get used to her father arranging things without asking. Really, an internship was the least of her worries, but he did find it amusing how upset it made her. He hung up his jacket in the foyer, and decided that if he was truly to be engaged to this girl sometime within the next year, then he'd have to learn how to diffuse her anger eventually, and there was no time better than the present to start trying.

When he walked into the family room, Strabo let out a sigh of relief. The looks on their faces were juxtaposed as Pandora furrowed her eyebrows, and while Coriolanus already knew why she was seething at the sight of him, he feigned confusion.

"Coriolanus! Perfect timing as usual," exclaimed Strabo as he beckoned him farther into the room. As usual, the man was excited to see him, "Would you please explain to my daughter that her internship is nothing to be this, well...angry about?"

He could think of plenty of reasons why this internship was a good thing, but none of them really benefited her in a surface level way. Actually, her situation was less than desirable. Gaul already was planning on 'keeping an eye on her' since she was friends with Clemensia—and even though he didn't empathize with avoxes in the slightest, he could still remember how jarring it was to see what the woman had done to them his first time there. He could hardly imagine what Pandora's reaction would be, considering her bizarre infatuation with their happiness. He'd always been good at twisting the truth though, so that's what he'd do for the time being.

"Oh, the internship at the Citadel?" Strabo nodded, playing along. The two of them had discussed this in detail, but what she didn't know didn't hurt her, "Yes, Gaul spoke to me about it this morning. It's a great opportunity, really." Of course, Gaul hadn't been the one to bring it up. He did, but specified that if anyone asked, her father was the one to make the recommendation. He wasn't sure why he didn't do it himself actually. Pandora was his daughter after all.

    Pandora scoffed, "If I was actually working under the women in charge, yeah. It's nothing personal—it's just that she's, you know, a doctor and you're hardly a year older than me."

    At this point, he was fighting the urge to call up Gaul and tell her to give the Plinth girl the Clemensia treatment. Really, was it so hard to just gratefully accept something like this? He knew the Plinth kids were spoiled, but he at least thought that Strabo would have taught them some manners. He guessed all the Plinths taught their kids was how to commit treason and spread precious food onto dead bodies. He could hardly believe that this was the family that nearly surpassed his own.