Fish - [7/100]

It had been a couple years, and Capricorn's Wish and Dusklight Rebellion were approaching adolescence. They were old enough to be taken to events now, despite their mother's reservations, and Capricorn (Senior, their dad) advocated for them. It had taken a while, but eventually, Curly'd given reluctant assent, and when they received an invitation to some sort of fancy, diplomatic party, the kids were dragged along with them.

Not that they minded. They were actually really excited to be going, though Rebellion was rather... rebellious when it came to the dress code.

She outright refused to wear any sort of dress- her aunt was really rubbing off on her. Apparently she didn't like suits much either, but she settled for one in lieu of a dress, calling such attire, quote, "horrid, stuffy, feminine-stereotypical bullshit," unquote.

So the kids were both stuffed in uncomfortable suits at a party which did not reach any of their expectations and was attended by nobody they knew. They were, understandably, quite bored.

"Where's mom?" Rebel asked her brother. "I wanna go home. This is boring as hell."

Wish shrugged and picked up a piece of shrimp for closer inspection. "I don't know," he replied absently, earning himself a groan from his little sister. "Hang on," he protested, knowing all too well that that groan would lead to further pestering if he didn't provide a satisfactory answer. Quickly, he looked up from the small, dead crustacean and immediately spotted the woman in question.

"Look, she's right over there, but you probably shouldn't bother her. If you wanna bug someone, dad is literally right there," he said, pointing to the other snack table a few feet away from them, where their dad was conversing awkwardly with some diplomat he'd met probably once before in his life.

At this suggestion, Rebel let out a heavy sigh. Wish furrowed his brows at her and crossed his arms. "Quit being so overdramatic! Being bored is a lot better than being attacked by something."

She rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the side, making him yelp quietly and shove her. "Pffft, like you're any better, dude!"

"I am, actually, right about now," he countered as they rough-housed. They were starting to draw attention, including a side-eyed warning glare from their mother which could mean nothing good for them, so they stopped, shooting each other irritated looks.

A thick silence fell upon them, and for a moment they shifted awkwardly in their places as people began to look away. Finally, Rebel hissed, breaking the growing chasm made by the lack of conversation. "I'm gonna go talk to dad."

"Fine," snapped Wish. It wouldn't have been obvious to anyone else, but both were glad she'd said something. As she walked off, he went back to inspecting the seafood.

It was a battle to get through the crowd, especially since it was made mostly of older folk who'd nag her ear off if she forgot to apologize or excuse herself, but she finally made her way through it. Unfortunately, she was on the opposite side of the table from her dad, but a minute of movement and "polite" shoving fixed that.

He was deep in conversation now, she noticed, ignoring the angry muttering behind her. She also noticed, with distaste, that this table was also filled out with seafood. Unlike the other table, however, this one appeared to have the larger options. A devious smirk appeared on her face, and she picked up one of the larger fish by the tail.

Just then, her brother looked up, and they made eye contact through the cracks in the crowd. His face fell, and she could see his groan. "Dusklight, no."

Rebel grinned. Dusklight, yes.

"Hey dad?"

The conversation was paused, and he turned. Wish's eyes widened in alarm. Capricorn didn't even get a full word out before face met fish, and fish met face.

A loud slapping noise rang through the room over the din, and heads turned to the source. Dusklight had everyone's attention. Her grin widened.

"This is the most boring event I have ever had the displeasure of attending. The dress code is a farce, and so is this supposed 'diplomatic party'. We live under a monarchy. What the hell is this."

There were murmurs of disapproval from the crowd, and she could feel the scorching heat of Curly's glare from across the room. Her dad still looked shocked, mouth hanging open in a fantastic impression of the fish he'd just been slapped with. And over everything, she still managed to hear Wish groan and grumble, "We are so grounded."