Myranda had the hardest time with concentration for the rest of the day since her run with Metas. The way he smelled, the way he spoke with charm - and how handsome he was to boot.
"Ahg, this isn't right either" she cried out in frustration as she took out yet another batch of tart puff pastries that failed to rise properly. Her head found its way to the wall as she smacked her forehead against the smooth rock.
"I'm going to lose my job," she whined out to herself. "Come on, get it together Myra. We've had worse and way weirder days than this. Just pick up your head, and we'll just try again....just one more time"
She felt like if she could bust herself into a million little glass shards, she would feel some kind of release from her inner turmoil. Had she not been so proud, this wouldn't have been so hard.
Just as Myranda went to start another round of dough, the familiar sounds of the doors being opened caused her to look towards the entrance - which then caused her to knock over the metal measuring cup she had on the counter. She didn't see anyone, and now felt like she had wasted her time and ruined the flour she had just retrieved.
"Aww, come on!" She screamed.
"Oh...bad time?" Came the voice of her brother.
"Agh, Jyriah!" Myranda shrieked in a surprised horror. "Fucking shit! You sent my soul flying out of my body. It's gone now - and it's all your fault," as always in their family, she deflected the anger into sarcasm and jokes.
"I'll make sure to send out all the invitations to all of the no friends you have," he shot back, but realized a little too late that he had said something far meaner than he meant.
"Ow...You know what? Don't lob factual statements at me as if they're insults, how about that?" She tried to mask the actual hurt he had caused her, because truthfully - Myranda did not have any friends other than her siblings. She had always been a bit of a loner, and she had rather liked it like that.
....and then Metas made her question all of the comfort zones she occupied. Myranda knew without any doubt that she was lonely, and craved love just as anyone else - but she also didn't want to be hurt by another 'divine joke'.
"What are you doing here, don't you have drills or something because you got into trouble?" She lobbed with a little anger in her words.
"Hey - I didn't mean what I said," Jyriah offered in a heavily implied apology.
"Yeah, you did - but it's whatever. The truth is the truth, and you didn't answer my question. You didn't get in trouble because of last night, did you?" Myranda felt awful even before her big brother answered, even though she was still very upset at his jab.
"Don't worry about it. Silas said he was going to work on it. I didn't want you to freak out about it if you heard it from Syrana before you got the news from me. You did nothing, I did nothing - it's just the politics up there" Jyriah said with a soft tone of comfort that had not elevated her mood or changed her stance.
"Are you sure Prince Metas isn't behind this? Like some kind of creepy ploy to make me dependent on him? Hmmm?" She speculated with a little bit of a waver in her voice as conspiracies and fears filled her head.
The few times Myranda had been vulnerable with others - it had always bitten her in the tail-end in some fashion. Sometimes it was a joke, sometimes someone lied to her -- and worst of all, she'd get gaslighted and dismissed when her feelings were perfectly valid.
Her past being so mottled with deceit, it was impossible for her trust anyone. Everyone was an enemy, and everyone was out to hurt her.
It seemed that just two bad coincidences was "evidence" enough for her to throw away all the progress she had made with Metas this morning.
"Myri...do you need a hug? You seemed really on edge when I walked in. Did something happen?" he consoled her as he approached her and hugged her before she even answered him.
"It's just been a bad day, Jyriah - one of those where nothing has gone right, you know? Including this, and that...and everything in between" she burbled on with a broken tone that was low and filled with disappointment.
"You aren't supposed to worry about me, little pup. I'm supposed to worry about you. I'm your big brother, and it's my job. I love you and the last thing I want is for you to be sad about something you have no control over. I promise it will work itself out somehow," he reassured her with a look of care and compassion.
"You literally just got promoted and I-"
"Myranda. You didn't do anything. Just stop it. Mom and dad aren't here anymore to blame their problems on you, and Syrana and I would never even dare. You're our baby sister and you are completely innocent," he lectured sweetly.
It was really hard to deny the alleviation his words brought her. Jyriah had always been nothing but the perfect brother, and she trusted him enough to know he wouldn't lie to her about something so very important.
Myranda finally hugged her brother back and let out a soft cry of sadness that toppled off her shoulders from the weight of everything else today had brought her. It was nice to let it all out, and not alone.
Then came the intrusive thought that approached her mind over her shoulder like an evil little love demon, 'I wish this was Metas...' she thought mournfully until Jyriah let go of her and looked down at her shocked face. 'No, no I can't wish that! That's not happening - none of this is happening' the panic within her continued.
"Myri?"
"I didn't say anything - and it was a lie anyway!" She replied suddenly with bewilderment and a deep red in her cheeks.
"What?" Jyriah blurted out confused, and looked down to his sister with worry. "Are you okay? Did I just break your brain?"
"Huh?" She paused and shook her head. "No - I was just.. I didn't say anything!" She exclaimed again and changed her face into one of stone. "I have baking to do - lots of baking. Baking and... baking" she excused hurriedly and tried to hide the nervous laughter that was bubbling in her chest, but failed with flying monochrome colors.
"Suuuuure...hey, I'm just gonna hang out around here to make sure you're okay and then I'm going to head home. You look like you could use some help. What do you need?" His worry only deepened when she hurriedly started to try to do three things at once - beat flour instead of the egg, add sugar to the egg instead of the flour - and tossed in berries as though that were the proper steps to take.
"Nothing - I just - I need Metas to go away. He's behind this somehow, I just know it" she said with paranoia.
"Ooookay, and you're done for the day. I'll take over, and for the love of the Goddess, go get some sleep. You look like you didn't have a wink, and then went out for a morning jog or something," he said this with having absolutely no clue about the time she spent with the prince.
"What!? Who told you that? They're lying - I didn't even go out into the woods!" She denied with flying words that ran into each other the second they left her lips. "You're crazy, haha - me go running in the woods early? Haha..." she trailed off as she watched his face contort into that of complete delight as he put everything together very quickly.
"You didn't! Oh my Goddess - you did!" He started with accusations that piled up in his mind.
"Yup - you're right, I didn't do anything - nope not me" she reached over into the bowl of berries and flour and then threw it on herself and exclaimed, "Oh noooo - oh look, I'm a mess. I need a shower. I'd better go do that before it gets worse!"
"You cheeky little runt. You need to tell me every single detail!" He called after her as she walked away and replied with an obvious lie that he laughed at.
"Sorry, can't hear you over the sound of the shower, lalalala!"
"You're not even in the bathroom" he pointed out aghast.
"YoU'rE nOt EvEn In tHe BatHroOm. That's you, that's what you sound like!" The little sister served back immaturely and slammed the door to the bathroom out of embarrassment, and not anger.