Coffee or Tea (Artskaf)

[Nora Saint-Clair]

Between the two of them, Claude had always been the polished one. He carried himself with the kind of understated grace that made everyone always comment on his charm and old ladies want to pinch his cheeks. He perfected the art of gentlemanly conversation, polite and genuine.

For Nora, subtlety wasn’t her style, and everyone knew it, Claude especially. He had a knack for catching her in her vagaries, and she could see it in the way his head tilted slightly, his eyes narrowing just enough to tell her he was already peeling through her every word. 

She loved her brother, truly. But sometimes, the way he seemed to know things, things she didn’t say, made her wonder just how much he guessed at.

“So long as you promise not to tell Mom and Dad,” she said, her tone light but not joking either. Claude would never rat her out, but it was still worth saying.

Grym flashed through her mind, always reclusive but now practically a ghost. The thought made her smile. “It’d be fun to sneak you out and surprise her,” she said, her voice brightening with the thought. Nora could already picture the look on Grym’s face. Grym wouldn’t be happy about the ambush, not one bit, but oh, how satisfying it would be to watch her sputter through the indignity. 

“How long are they keeping you here?”

She leaned back in her chair, cradling her cup in her hands. Her expression stayed light, almost lazy, but her foot bounced beneath the table—a restless tell she couldn’t quite suppress.