The cave was utterly silent, save for the muffled howling of wind beyond the door and the sound of Jack's stressed murmurs. Slowly cracking open a bleary, bloodshot eye, Flitter nuzzled against the warm body that she'd snuggled up with the night prior. His muscles were tensing and twitching erratically, and his face was coated with a light sheen of cold sweat. Furrowing her brow lightly, Flitter nudged his chin and sat up on his lap.

"Jack. Jack, wake up." She nudged him again, and found herself frowning harder when he wouldn't do so much as crack an eye open. Sighing quietly, Flitter head-butted him square in the chest. The large man jumped with a startled yelp; his limbs flailing outwards aggressively as his sleep addled brain flew into a frenzy as it tried to comprehend what was attacking him. Ducking under his flailing arms and pressing against his chest, Flitter nudged his chin again and spoke loudly and slowly. "Jaaack, calm, caaalm."

The man blinked slowly and lifted his arms as he looked down at his lap. Flitter's broken face smiled up at him as greeting, causing the hard lines etched into his face to soften. He closed his eyes and let his head thump against the bed frame behind him. A quiet groan slipped from his lips as he slowly moved his legs out to work blood back into his stumps. Now that Jack was awake, Flitter allowed herself to relax, if only slightly. I... Should probably get off of his lap. With it being morning and all. A sly smile split across her muzzle as she got comfortable on his lap. Jack squirmed under her, his morning predicament becoming more noticeable as she moved. He grunted quietly in defeat when he realized that Flitter wasn't about to move any time soon.

His hands searched blindly across the bed behind him, and thankfully tapped against his heavy composite helmet. His fingers traced across the auxiliary wire, and to his PDA. Only able to crack open one crud laden eye, he slowly tapped out a message for the mare making herself comfortable on his lap.

"You gonna stay there long?"

His message made Flitter smile a bit as she thought. This shouldn't be too hard, I mean, it's probably just like flirting with stallions, right? Just make the moves, put out the signs, bat your eye lashes and occasionally make some physical contact. Stretching out on his lap as she yawned; Flitter could tell he was watching her as she rolled over onto her back and curled her hooves up against her barrel. "You want me to move?" She threw in a coy pout for good measure, but stopped when the dull pain in her lips turned sharp.

Jack's shoulders slumped as he cleaned away a bit of fresh blood from her face. "Yes. I need to pee."

Feeling her hopes hit free fall, Flitter grunted in confirmation as she rolled to her hooves and stood. Her legs wobbled dangerously as her head swam violently, forcing her to stumble a bit on the rocks. Jack's calloused finger brushed through her fur as caught her mid stumble and pulled her onto the canvas cot. He patted her head lightly, before wandering off out the door. Barely a minute later he came barging back in, shivering and shaking as he frantically pulled up his fly. Flitter smiled as Jack stood near the bed, doing his morning routine. He stretched out languidly and yawned broadly before shaking out his legs and massaging his thighs.

Allowing the last remnants of his fight in Tokyo play through her idle mind, Flitter failed to stop the questions from rolling out. "Hey Jack... What happened to you after all the fighting?" She fidgeted when he turned his head towards her and perked a brow.

It took him a bit longer than normal to find his PDA again, and even longer for him to finish typing up his message as he stoked the fire to bring warmth back to the camp. "Before or after brass ripped my ass into a dozen pieces?"

Getting comfortable on the cot and wishing silently that he would join her; Flitter propped her head up on the pillow and sighed. "After. Pretty obvious you made it, even if you were reckless and dumb."

His expression turned mockingly foul for a moment as he rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, it got the job done. Shoulder wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was, only took about two weeks for the new muscle to get accepted. Back out in the field in two and a half. Course, they had to airlift me out of Tokyo and express ship my happy ass back to Berlin for the patch-up. Armour was beat to ratshit, so I got a new set." He jerked a thumb to his current armour. "Met up with Hans again in the Caucasus. Fun times."

Flitter smiled softly as he sat down next to her on the cot. He swiftly found his lap filled by fuzzy warm pony. His hands scratched into her fur, eliciting a purr of pleasure from the little mare. After a minute or two, she managed to ask her next question, despite the heavenly feeling that was currently working between her shoulder blades. "S-so, what happened to your friend Hans?"

The scratching reduced as he used one hand to type out to her. Flitter arched her back ever so slightly, trying to get the most out of the attention. "Hans? I think he made it through alright. Really hope he made it." Jack set his PDA down and refocused on taking care of Flitter. Once again, his mind wandered to her wings. I wonder... His fingers strayed off course, and massaged deep into the sensitive tissue at the wings base. In a moment, her entire body had tensed as she squeaked loudly; her wings shooting out stock straight and locking. Having been taken by surprise, Jack failed to stop one of her wings from smacking him across the face and filling his vision with quivering feathers.

A fierce blush burned bright through Flitter's fur as she shivered and bit down hard on her tongue to suppress the noises that she wanted to make. Jack was trying to extricate her wing from his face, with little luck. As he tried to bat her wing aside, all he succeeded in was driving the poor mare up the wall. Letting out a stilted mewl of pleasure, Flitter squirmed in his lap and yelled. "J-jack, w-what was that for?"

Finally managing to extricate the wing from his now bruised face, Jack spat out a feather and coughed in embarrassment as the pair stared at each other. As Flitter bit her lip and shivered heatedly, Jack somehow managed to look even more embarrassed as he pulled his hands away completely. "Sorry."

A big part of Flitter felt an intense sense of sadness as his hands left her sides, but the burning blush on her cheeks and the quivering in her painfully erect wings argued that it was for the best. "I-its alright, that was just... Ummm... U-unexpected..." She squirmed on his lap and tried in vain to get her wings to cooperate as Jack coughed into his balled fist awkwardly.

"Yeah. My bad. Won't happen again." A quietly awkward silence passed between the two as Jack's fingers hovered above the PDA's screen and Flitter's mind rebounded back and forth between extremes.

Eventually, it was Flitter who moved first; slowly getting off his lap and stretching out before the fire. "I.... I'm going to check on Cloudy. Did she say anything when you took her home last night?"

The shot of foul emotions that flashed across Jack's face forced Flitter to pull back instinctively; he quickly rubbed at his face, masking the move as removing sleep crud and massaging his cheeks. "Yeah. Said to tell you that she was sorry. After the bull she pulled I think she owes a bit more than that, deserves a good cuff upside the head." Jack massaged his knuckles and frowned as Flitter sighed quietly.

"Jack, she's my sister. She's a bit bullheaded and has a small ego, but I love her." Flitter found herself frowning disapprovingly as Jack snorted derisively.

"She could have gotten you both killed going in there, and for what? She treats you like shit, steals from you and betrays your trust. Small ego my left nut." Jack's cheeks were flushed red from his anger, which had flared incredibly quickly.

Shaking her head as her new temper was tested, Flitter stood her ground. "Jack, I know how you feel about this, and I'm pretty aware of what she's done. I've forgiven her. "

Jack's features twisted into a hard, deep scowl as he shot back a response. "You don't treat family like that."

Flitter returned the scowl at full force as she growled in her own mind. Now you're being an asshole Jack. Just let it go, dammit. Taking a deep breath, Flitter shook her head, before pressing a hoof against her temple to try and suppress the inbound headache. "Jack, just drop it, okay? I get it, you're mad, but Cloudy is like my only family."

Throwing his hands up in exasperation, Jack stood and paced as he shook his head. "Flitter you're not this stupid. She's a bitch, and a danger to you."

Anger welled up inside Flitter's chest and burst like a geyser. "And you're a crippled psychopath! I don't care Jack, just drop it!" Looking up angrily at him, Flitter immediately felt the bottom of her stomach drop out when she caught the molten glare that Jack was burrowing into her. His face was nothing but hard, straight lines that furrowed deep into his features. He jerked his index finger toward the cave entrance; a clear gesture for her to leave. Indignation rose up with Flitter's hackles. "Fine, fine! I'll go! Maybe I'll come back when you've decided to stop being such an angry prick!" Flitter felt that incredible heat burning into the back of her skull as she got up and stormed out of the cave. The biting cold rushed in to replace the heat; Flitter pumped her wings hard and took off without a second glance back.

Back in the cave, Jack watched the door for a long moment, before yelling wordlessly in frustration and anger as he booted a rock across the cave. He ran his hands through his greasy mane of hair as he shivered with anger. Stupid. Stupid stupid stupid. This is how I get treated, save their ungrateful asses and this is what I get. Assholes. Ignorant fucks. Jack growled openly and forced his breath through his nostrils. Inhale, count to four. Exhale, count to four. The anger boiled inside his chest, causing his whole body to quiver and shake. Grabbing his sweater and rifle, Jack forced his anger down and bottled it up tight as he threw his pack over his shoulder and made a beeline towards the human encampment. The cold bit harder than normal, causing him to shiver and pull his sweater closer. It helped little as his implants began to frost over, chilling the flesh they touched to the point of it becoming intense and painful. The winter was blatantly getting worse, and he didn't have the right equipment to deal with it properly.

The ramshackle camp came into view by the time that Jack had managed to stuff his fury down deep and smother it out. The tribals chirped at his appearance, and seemed to relax shortly after. Their fire was burning away merrily with the cover of large rocks and fallen trees. Akasha approached him, chirping softly as she reached his side.

Jack smiled weakly to her and patted her shoulder. Yeah I know. I look like hammered shit. How are you? Oh, you're doing great, that's awesome. Jack's one way mental conversation with Akasha was put on pause when she grabbed his hand and led him toward the hut with the wounded in it. Oh, no it's alright, I don't mind working right now, I could use the distraction. The woman ducked in with Jack in tow, and stared at him as the two injured humans gave him varying levels of attention.

Setting down his pack, Jack began rooting through it, placing his pre-packed supplies on the fur floor. A basic trauma kit, a small stolen pot, and a box of soup stock that Flitter had bought him during their little shopping trip. Jack scowled at the memory, before sighing softly. Maybe she's right. I'm just a crippled psychopath. Asshole, murderer. He pushed the thoughts away before they could trail any further along. Standing wearily, he treaded out of the hut and began preparing a bit of soup. With snow melting away in the pot and a bit of manticore meat thawing on the rocks, Jack scratched at his bushy face and scanned the camp. The hunters perked up at his gaze; the prospect of another hunt sending their hearts racing with excitement. Akasha's son was running about, pestering who he could. Jack furrowed his eyebrows; a curious thought crossing his mind. I haven't seen a single one smile so far... And that kid.. Blunda, was it? He ain't laughing. Playing kids laugh. Strange... Shaking the thought from his mind, Jack caught sight of Algeron. The mountain of a man met his gaze for a moment, and received a single second of Jack's bottled anger, focused solely into his gaze. The massive man's shoulders sank to make him seem smaller, and he quickly slunk off to sulk.

Just beyond the treeline, Jack spotted the briefest shimmer in the air, hiding up in the tree branches. He lifted a hand in greeting to Field Note, before ducking back into the small hut. Turning his attention to the small wounded woman, he beckoned for Akasha to bring him his trauma kit. After a long moment of deliberation, the woman managed to select the right thing out of the pile, and brought it over to him. Jack broke a smile, and scratched the top of her head. Akasha made a face, and tilted her head at him, as if the action were an alien one to her. Turning his attentions away from the naked nomad next to him, Jack began to look the woman known as Tanja over. She squirmed at his pokes and prods, before whimpering quietly in defeat as Jack pushed her back down gently. His eyes went down her legs, to the one foot she obviously favoured.

Furrowing his brow, Jack grabbed her leg and lifted it up so he could see her foot. The woman cried out in pain and tried to squirm away from his clamped down hands. As best he could, Jack motioned to Akasha to hold her down. The tall woman seemed to hesitate, before jumping to action when Jack grunted loudly at her to drive the point home. Tanja squirmed and mewled in pain as Jack hefted her foot up and took a closer look at it.

Oh well shit, no wonder you’re all jacked up... Jack shook his head as he turned her foot to the side, eying the nasty wood splinter that had buried itself deep into the bottom of her foot. The flesh looked like it was on the verge of becoming infected, or already was. Shaking his head, Jack broke open his trauma kit and unsheathed his small utility knife. A bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a set of sterile bandages were set down, and Jack pulled on a small sanitary face mask and a pair of rubber gloves. Sorry little lady, ain't got anything the for pain, and this is gonna hurt like a sonuvabitch. Jack removed his belt, and stuffed it into the woman's mouth to keep her from biting off her tongue while he worked. Dousing the small knife with peroxide, Jack rolled his shoulders and swept all of his thoughts aside.

Taking a deep breath, Jack shot Akasha a supportive mask covered grin, before deftly digging the sterilized knife into the revolting wound. The small girl screamed bloody murder through the leather belt as Jack worked to get the long wood shard out of her foot as intact as possible. Akasha seemed almost professional in her demeanor, pinning Tanja down and holding her there so Jack could work. The wound made a wet sucking noise as the shard came out, proving itself to be the length of Jack's middle finger. Blood poured freely from the wound as Jack set the gnarled shard aside and grabbed the bottle of hydrogen peroxide. If you thought that sucked, just wait.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The door to the cloud home closed quietly with a click as Flitter exited the swirling world of winter and anger; the wailing air being shut out the moment the door clicked shut. The house sounded dead, empty. Apparently Cloudy wasn't up yet, or had decided to go into town earlier. Slowly trotting up the stairs to her room, Flitter felt the weight of the world come crashing down onto her like the end of a high. What her sagging shoulders and blood matted fur called for was a hot shower and some nice, clean food. Slowly plodding into her small bathroom, Flitter threw off her beaten up and blood stained hoodie. The garment clattered as it hit the floor, drawing her attention. Peeking into the hoodie pouch, she found the mono-edged combat knife and it's sheath, waiting patiently to be used again. He must have put it back when I passed out… Shaking her head, Flitter let the hoodie fall back to the floor, knife included. The shower sputtered to life, and soon soaked her down to the bone with soothing warm water.

With the water pouring down around her, Flitter rested her head against the wall; wishing that all the weight crushing down on her would wash away as easily as the filth. The events of the night before began their playback, hoping to horrify her, break her down. Flitter closed her eyes and focused on the memories; each moment freezing before her. It was necessary. They deserved to die. Flitter slowly sat down, still resting her head on the wall. Is that me talking, or Jack? Does it matter? The answer evaded her, teasing her ruthlessly as guilt tanged her thoughts. "Maybe I was a little harsh towards him..." Shaking her head, she sighed and pawed at her bruised cheek. Pushing all the thoughts out of her mind, Flitter focused solely on getting clean.

Shutting off the water, Flitter stepped out of the shower and began drying off, just as somebody knocked on the bathroom door. Flitter perked a brow as she wrapped a towel around her damp body and opened the door. Cloud Chaser stood at the other side of the door; her eyes puffy and red from crying all night. Clamping her hooves around Flitter and hugging tightly, Cloud Chaser let out a weak sob as she held Flitter close.

The awkward embrace lasted too long in Flitter's mind; by the time that Cloudy released her, she'd become painfully aware of all of her bruises all over again. But when Cloud Chaser backed up a bit and asked "are you alright?" Flitter's mind hit a wall.

Am I alright?

Slowly nodding her head in affirmation, Flitter forced a smile as she patted her sister's side. "I'm alright. Me and Jack, we... Got into a bit of a fight, so I guess I'm just going to be hanging out at home for a bit."

Cloud Chaser nuzzled at her damp neck as she smiled supportively. "I hear you. Are you gonna go to work?"

Work.

Crap.

Grimacing as she remembered her responsibility, Flitter once again nodded. "Yeah... I guess... I really want to quit, they're driving me crazy. I mean, Field Note paid really well for my help and art, maybe I can talk to him..."

Cloud Chaser perked a brow in curiosity as Flitter pushed past her and trotted back into her room. "Who's Field Note? Please, please tell me he's not another psychopath..."

Grunting in acknowledgement, Flitter flopped down onto her big, soft bed. "He's a stallion. Human researcher from Canterlot, with some company named Dynamic something or other... I'd don't know..."

Sitting down next to her sister, Cloud nuzzled her side with concern. "Dynamic Research and Medical Sciences?"

Flitter lifted her head up to look at Cloudy with a look of confusion and a hint of suspicion. "Yeaaah... How did you know that?"

Smiling as best she could as she flopped onto the bed next to Flitter, Cloud Chaser sighed openly. "Well, I actually talk to mom, so she tells me what she's doing most of the time. She was on a tangent about her investments or some other crap. Small world I guess, huh?" Cloud Chaser giggled lightly. "Is he cute?"

Flitter deadpanned at her sister, who grinned openly. "Cloudy, you have issues."

The hoof to the chest hurt more than Flitter let on, her bruised ribs crying in protest as Cloud Chaser mocked insult. "I do not! You're the one who wanted to date a psycho human. I don't even see how that would be remotely better than Goldie. I mean, come on girl, have some respect for yourself. That human is rotten to the core."

Cloud Chaser's mouth shut with an audible click when Flitter snapped a smouldering glare at her and followed up with a curt set of carefully chosen words. "We're not going to have this conversation."

With her ears splayed back, Cloud Chaser nodded and scratch at the back of her neck. "I... Okay, um... Mom said she would be in town today-"

"Today!? I thought she was coming in a week!" Flitter cried out in indignation as a sense of dread overcame her. Her sister smiled apologetically as she fell back into her bed and groaned. "I'm just going to spend all day today laying in bed. I'm not doing shit."

Rolling her eyes at the melodrama, Cloud Chaser smirked as she stared at Flitter. "Not even gonna come out for dinner?"

"No."

Flitter's face was buried in her soft pillows when Cloudy laughed. "Ookay, how about for desert?"

"Nope."

Sighing in defeat, Flitter's sister shook her head and turned for the door. "Okay, I'll tell you when mom shows up, or if your psycho comes by to kill us all."

As her door closed quietly and Cloud Chaser clomped down the stairs, Flitter groaned as she curled up into a tight, warm ball in her covers. Mentally she was cursing up a storm. Today is just not my day... Maybe Jack was right... Ugh, I'll have to give him a bit of space before I apologize, let him calm down a touch. Maybe tomorrow... Still have to deal with work and mom and blarg... Flitter rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling as her sore body throbbed. I could go for a soft petting, or a massage...

I miss Jack.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The screaming had gone on until the little woman had shrieked herself hoarse and fallen unconscious. The wound still looked bad, but with a bit of luck she would be healed up soon. Jack pinned the bandages down and clipped them in place. He nodded, proud of his work. He could hear the water boiling outside, marking the soup as ready. He'd thrown the meat in after cleaning Tanja's gaping foot wound, and now it was properly boiled into the soup. Taking the pot off the fire, Jack's mind suddenly clicked in. I don't have any fucking bowls. He stared at the pot of hot soup, the tribe circling and chirping curiously. Smacking his open palm against his forehead, Jack groaned quietly and dragged his hand down his features. An idea struck, and he looked up into the trees.

One of the trees rustled a little bit more than the others, and Jack beckoned to that one with high hopes as he put the pot down on the rocks. The largest hunter stuck his hand in, and withdrew with a pained yelp as he clutched his hand. The rest of the tribe backed away from the pot as Jack shook his head and treaded to the edge of the camp.

The nearly silent rustling of leathery wings met his ears, and hoof prints appeared in the snow under the invisible batpony. "Yes Jack?"

His answer was curt and emotionless, thanks to the PDA, but Jack felt it almost appropriate. "I need bowls. Help me out?"

"I... Bowls? Alright. Can we talk sometime today? I had hoped to pick your brain a touch more." The air shimmered before Jack as he sighed and rubbed his face slowly.

"Hit me up tomorrow. I'm just gonna do me today."

The disappointment in Field's voice was blatant and it caused a pang of annoyance and guilt to appear in Jack's mind. "Oh... Alright. I'll be back in a few minutes." Jack shrugged, and waited as the shimmer in the air fluttered off. To Jack's surprise, something poked at his side as he leaned against a snow covered tree. Glacing over, he found himself staring down at the tiny red headed scout, Isotta. She had mud caked into her hair, hiding the possible luster. The small woman tugged at his hand, before inspecting it curiously. Raising a brow at the inquisitive scout, Jack simply shrugged it off and let her poke and prod at his hand.

Betraying his good faith, the short scout popped one of the dirty digits into her mouth and lightly bit it. Jumping in surprise, Jack yanked his hand away from her and shook his hand. His eyes went wide with confusion as she closed the distance and started lightly headebutting his chest and arm, before slowly nuzzling her dirty cheeks against the fabric of his sweater. The tiny woman hummed softly with apparent approval and her hands started exploring.

With the initial shock wearing off fast, Jack gently tried to separate himself from Isotta as she rubbed up against him. Hey, hey, no. None of that, come on now- His train of thought derailed a bit as Isotta backed up a step and perked her slight chest while pouting. Oh. Mating, right... Alpha. Great. Jack smiled thinly and patted her on her head. This only seemed to offend the woman, who frowned and pulled at his sweater again, this time chirping and calling to him. Hey, trust me chickie, if you didn't have the mental capacity of a six year old, this'd be a different situa- A shrill chirp caused both Jack and Isotta to pause and look over at the source. Akasha was tromping over, looking highly displeased. To Jack's immense surprise, the taller woman hefted the red headed scout up, and tossed her into a snow drift. She chirped once, and planted her open palm over Jack's chest. The other women grumbled and whined, stepping back and slipping away.

Having made her point, Akasha looked to Jack, an expression of distaste sticking with her. I... Guess I've been claimed. Woo? The sound of clacking bowls drew Jack's attention to the snow behind him, where a short stack of bowls sat. They looked brand new. Throwing a half assed salute to the forest in the hopes of Field seeing it, Jack picked up the bowls and grinned at Akasha as he slipped passed and returned to the fire.

With the tribe eating sloppily from the bowls of soup, Jack carried two spares into the sick tent. With enough prodding, Tanja gathered the strength to eat on her own as she whimpered and fussed with her bandaged foot. Gover on the other hand, hardly moved when Jack sat down next to him with the steaming bowl of broth and meat. The sickly man mewled softly as he was picked up and pulled halfway into Jack's lap to be fed. Gover drank greedily when the bowl was pressed to his lips, so Jack had to slow how much he fed him at a time. Akasha watched the entire time, her eyes locked into Jack. Having finished the entire bowl of soup, Gover let out a weak, almost happy warble as he curled back up in the furs. Looking over the man, Jack's thoughts turned to the worst. I don't see any wounds, it's gotta be internal. Jack furrowed his brow and sat next to the sick man for a good long while, before laying down in the middle of the furs. Lacing his fingers together over his chest, he stared up at the fur hut's roof for what felt like ages.

I need to find a way home... How? How the hell can I get anywhere? Is there even a 'home' to go back to? What am I going to do if there isn't? Jack closed his eyes and cursed silently in his head. Fuck. This is a right FUBAR situation. I wish I had someone else here, Hans or Lee, or... Fuck, even Elissa.... He slowly opened his eyes. God I miss her... I just want things back the way they were.

I want to go home.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Daylight strained to peek in through Flitter's curtains, and even though so little of it reached Flitter's eyes, she cursed it all the same. Her curses grew grim as her door opened and a motherly voice called out.

"Flitter, sweety are you awake?" Before Flitter could groan or grumble her answer, her mother, Grace, strode in and flung the curtains open wide. With her eyeballs seared, Flitter retreated under her covers and bit back a violently worded retort. Grace filled the gap for her anyways. "Sweety, it's nine in the morning, you should be out looking for work! We've got plans today, so come on, out of bed! Come on, up, up!" She started poking and prodding at Flitter's bruised and battered form.

"Mom, I already have work!" Flitter curled up into a tighter ball and kicked at her mother's prodding hooves futiley.

Sighing in disapproval, Grace shook her head and moved for the door. "Your sister and I are waiting downstairs. We're going out as a family, so do try to make yourself presentable."

As the door clicked shut, Flitter stared at her wall as she kept her features stone straight. "Oh, hi mom. How are you? Oh that's great, so nice to see you too, yeah I love our conversations. Yeah love you too. Ugh...fuck my life." Flitter swung her hind legs over the edge of her bed and groaned. A glance at her table side clock confirmed that she'd only gotten two hours of sleep before being rudely awakened. Her face throbbed painfully, but it was survivable. A short trip to the bathroom saw her cleaned up as best as she could; the bruising remained heavily noticeable, but the swelling had gone down. Sighing as she said a silent thanks to Jack's first aid treatment, Flitter looked around for the marine corps hoodie. She found it, cleaned and folded nicely by her door. Raising a brow in suspicion, she shrugged it off and pulled the hoodie over her lithe, abused frame. Now it just smells like daisies. Flitter grumbled to herself as she popped the hood up over her ears and began her gauntlet for the day.

Descending the stairs, Flitter could hear her mother and Cloud Chaser chatting idly in the living room. Taking in a small breath to steady herself, Flitter hit the landing and smiled weakly as Cloud Chaser turned her head. The smile died when Grace opened her mouth. "What on Celestia's green earth are you wearing!?" Grace got up from the couch, her eyes locked on the offending garment. "It's hideous, you can't even be considering wearing that out with us!"

Flattening her gaze, Flitter blew a lock of her now unruly mane out her eyes. "It was a gift mom, and I'm wearing it."

Blinking at the backtalk, Grace looked up at her daughter's face, only to reel in surprise. "What did you do to your face!?"

Flitter closed her eyes and breathed out slowly through her nose. I should have taken my chances with Jack. I might go crazy. "... It's nothing mom, I took a hard landing a couple days ago. It looks worse than it is."

Narrowing her eyes in suspicion at the excuse; Flitter silently said thanks as Grace rolled her eyes and threw on her designer scarf and beckoned towards the door. "Well? We've been waiting for a half hour, get those lazy bones moving missy!" Cloud Chaser's amused snicker did nothing to improve the mood that had been impressed upon Flitter. The outside world beckoned, and for once Flitter wished that she was outside a cave in Whitetail Woods, running her flank off.

With her mother and sister leading and chatting up a storm, Flitter fell into silent step with them and allowed her mind to wander aimlessly. When her mother yelled her name, she was forced to blink in surprise before looking over. "Huh?"

Grace frowned heavily as she stood with Cloud Chaser. "We were asking you where you wanted to eat, but since you don't even want to listen, we'll choose without you." Grace started looking around in search of a pleasant indoor place to eat. When her eyes fell on Founding Mares, Flitter's heart turned into a lead ball and sank fast. "This place looks nice enough. Let's go." Without taking in any additional suggestions, Flitter's mother trotted in through the front doors while Cloud Chaser cast a near apologetic smile back at her.

Closing her eyes to pray for a swift, painless death; Flitter trotted in slowly after her mother and sister through the doors of her workplace. Jewel glanced up from her morning paper; it being so early in the morning for work that the place was practically empty. The hostess smiled keenly, before spotting Flitter. She turned her attentions back to Cloud Chaser and Grace. "Good morning, can I find you two a seat?"

Lending Jewel a patronizing smile, Grace glanced over her shoulder at Flitter. "No, dear. A table for three please. It's my daughter's birthday"

Perking up, jewel once again looked to Flitter. "Oh? Sorry Flitter, I thought you were coming in for work." She beamed professionally at Flitter. "I thought it was weird that you didn't come in through the back. Happy birthday!"

Now all eyes were turning to Flitter, and she felt her cheeks ignite under her fur despite her own misgivings. Grace maintained her patronizing smile. "Baby, I didn't know you worked here! You should have said you were a waitress again. Cloudy didn't mention it in any of her letters."

Said mare coughed lightly, and opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by Flitter as she sat down heavily and opened the menu. "Not a waitress. I wash dishes." Her tone of voice did not suggest that she enjoyed the work, not the line of questioning.

Grace's smile faltered, and soon fell as she stared at her youngest. Frowning in disapproval, she opened the menu and began reading through. Jewel smiled sweetly, and looked over the group. "Is there anything I can get you all to drink? Oh, geez Flitter, what happened to your face?"

Grunting quietly in response, Flitter set down her menu. "Coffee, and I took a hard landing a few days ago."

The mare lifted a brow. "Hard landing? Huh, guess that's why you haven't come into work these past few days." She smiled and took the orders from the rest of Flitter's family, before scooting off to leave Flitter neck deep in the mess.

"You haven't been going to work?" Was the first thing that came out of Cloud Chaser's mouth, destroying any notion of lying for Flitter in her defense.

Shooting a short, hot glare at Cloud Chaser, Flitter smothered the feeling of betrayal and smiled thinly. “I told you Cloudy, I'm talking to my… Friend, about work. Nothing to worry about.”

“Flitter.” Grace crossed her hooves on the table and gave her daughter a ‘I'm very disappointed in you’ looks. “You need to work harder. Nobody wants to hire a mare who has your attitude and work ethic. I didn't become the mayor of Cloudsdale for sitting on my butt drawing silly pictures and flirting with stallions.” The mare leaned back as their drinks arrived, her lustrous pink wings fluttering slightly. “I mean really Flitter, why can't you be more like Cloudy?”

The moment the words left Grace’s mouth, Flitter felt one of the little gears inside her head spring loose, allowing the machine of anger to spin freely. “Oh? More like Cloudy, okay.” Her sister shifted nervously, not liking the dangerous emotions that had taken root behind Flitter's narrowed eyes. “Alright, so I should slack off at work with my loser boss, go into debt with a gang to pay for a shitty house that my mom doesn't want to pay for anymore-” Grace opened her mouth to protest, only to be cut off by Flitter. “I'm not finished! And next, I'll steal from my broke little sister, and fuck her coltfriend while she's still in the house!” Cloud Chaser's jaw dropped and tears threatened her eyes as Flitter turned her smouldering gaze onto her. “Yeah, that's right, I know all about you and Goldie.” She bared her teeth in anger towards her sister as she spoke in a mocking tone. “She does what I say.”

With the initial shock still present from the outburst, Grace sputtered. “Flitter! You apologize to your sister right this instant! You're making her cry!”

“Excuse me?” Flitter turned in her seat to stare down her mother with white hot fury. “Sorry, I couldn't fucking hear you through all the bullshit spilling out of your mouth Mom! What, do you think I'm just another nobody that you can push around to get what you want, like you do in the career you won't stop talking about and comparing us to?” Flitter shoved her way up, her fur crawling as her skin felt ignited. “Well guess what, I'm done. I'm done with this family, I'm done with the lies, and I'm done with YOU!” Grace recoiled as Flitter's hoof jabbed towards her in a point. Turning on her hooves, Flitter stormed passed Jewel, who was purposefully hanging back to avoid the conflict. The mare flinched when Flitter scowled at her. “Tell Gaze I quit.”

As Flitter stormed out of the restaurant in a flurry of rage and indignation, Grace was just coming around to swallow what had happened before her eyes. She slowly turned to Cloud Chaser and crossed her hooves in front of her on the table. “Baby.” She shifted a bit, and levelled her stare as Cloudy slowly looked up and wiped her eyes. “Is there something I should know? Why is you sister acting like a maniac?”

Swallowing thickly, Cloud Chaser shifted uncomfortably as she weighed her options. “There's… a human… she’s spending her time with some human and a researcher out in Whitetail Woods. He… he scares me.”

Grace's eyes grew cold and her frown deepened. “I see. Is that where she got those bruises?” At Cloudy’s halfhearted shrug, Grace opened her saddle bags and began drafting a letter. “I will speak to a friend of mine at DRMSI. He’ll send someone to handle this. Cloudy, can you please see if you can find your sister? We’ll need to stage an intervention.”

Cloud Chaser slowly looked up, her features the picture of fear. “M-mom, I-”

“No excuses baby, this is being dealt with permanently tomorrow.” The finished letter burst into flame, and the ashes spend off out the window. “Dr. Maltenics is a good friend of mine, she’ll handle this.” She tapped the table with her hoof. “Those two will be dealt with and Flitter will learn her lesson. Mark my words.”