Fall Into Me

.VIII.

Avoiding Minerva was difficult, not that she was purposefully making it so. Esmé's house was much smaller than Minerva's castle, so Mona couldn't get away from her at all. Plus, they slept in the same room at night.

Not that she really wanted to avoid her, it was more of a reflex that she was trying to fight. Whenever Freya gave her affection, Mona would feel fluffy and warm inside. Inevitably she would push her luck and attempt for more affection, which made Freya inconceivably angry with her.

Obviously Minerva and Freya were two intensely different women, and comparing them was like looking at a luxury cruise liner and trying to say it was nothing more than a beaten up, rotting fishing boat with no floor. The only commonality was that they were women.

Mona was constantly reminding herself of that. The two were not comparable. Yet she found herself doing it anyway. Minerva was an enigma to Mona. The way she did things, the way she spoke, her mannerisms and gentle nature, it was all so odd for someone who had only been surrounded by harsh personalities her whole life.

Knowing that avoiding Minerva was technically breaking Minerva's communication rule had sent Mona's mind into a frazzled frenzy. Nerves jumped up and down her body, making her unnaturally jumpy and on edge. Every time there was a loud noise she jumped, if a cat meowed near her she jumped, a door shut, a coffee mug hit the counter, Ada laughed, anything and everything startled her.

Theo had noticed and pulled her away from the main house, down into the basement and to the small gaming room that Esmé had set up for their game nights. Mona hadn't partaken in the game night in such a long time now, and she missed it. Laughing with her best friends as they tried to survive a game and failed, when one came up with a half cooked idea that they all knew wouldn't work but they thought, screw it, let's do it anyway.

She truly missed it.

There wasn't a game set up in the castle, and Mona was hesitant to ask Minerva if she could do one in her wing. It was Minerva's private space, and Mona didn't want to ruin it.

Mona didn't stay down there long, her anxiety at having broken a rule too much for her to bear, forcing her to find Minerva and talk to her.

Going back to the main house, she found Esmé and Minerva in the living room. They were talking about Esmé, Theo and Ada coming up to visit.

"Everything okay?" Minerva paused the conversation, attention turning to Mona.

"Can I talk to you real quick?" She asked. Esmé got up, swiping their mugs from the table and leaving. Minerva gestured to the seat opposite her, watching Mona curiously. There was nothing angry about her. Relaxed on the sofa, Minerva had her legs curled beneath her, an arm resting on the back of the sofa, other arm draped across her lap. There was a calmness to her, and it helped Mona's nerves.

"Go ahead," Minerva nodded to the seat encouragingly. Mona took it, sitting cross legged on the seat.

"I'm sorry," she began, but froze at the confusion on Minerva's face. Did she not realise what Mona had done? That she'd broken her rule only a single day after being given it?

"Sorry?" Minerva asked, frowning a little, "whatever for?"

Mona stuttered over her words, unable to formulate a sentence. How could Minerva not know? To Mona it was glaringly obvious. She'd even made a point to sleep as far from Minerva as she could, almost falling out of the bed the past few nights.

"How- I mean- I've been avoiding you," Mona told her in shock, "I haven't been communicating, I broke a rule."

"Oh," Minerva's laugh was one of relief, "I thought you'd broken something."