After dinner confrontation

Not long after dinner Vel found himself hobbling towards his favorite balcony again. Cane in one hand, book in the other. To his surprise though, he was waylaid en route by Lynn. “Hi, Vel. Hi!” She caught his attention from a side hallway and gave him a kind of nervous wave. Even a nervous little smile to go with it. Vel hobbled towards her. “Hi, Lynn. Did you want something?” She gave a brief and kind of twitchy nod. “Yeah, uhm, I wanted to thank you. For this morning, for starting my… My punishment. I really appreciate it, you know, the chance to make things right.” Chielynn was thanking him for abusing her. He was instantly rock hard. Vel had an inkling that she had maybe sought him out for more than just that, though, perhaps she was hoping for some acknowledgement of what happened during dinner. “You’re welcome, Lynn, I’m kind of proud of how well you bore it. And I’m proud of you for standing up to Dina at dinner too, that was well done. Couldn’t have been easy to face your fear like that.” Lynn blushed and beamed at him. Well, she beamed at him very briefly before looking down and beaming at his feet. “Thanks, Vel. I just thought it was a chance to be better th-“

She was cut off midway through the sentence by an angry bark. “What in the hells is this?” Amordina was stalking towards them down the hallway from behind Lynn. Poor Lynn jumped and looked scared. Vel could feel himself getting angry. This was the second emotional moment with a better sister that Dina had interrupted today.

Their oldest sister came to a halt just a couple of feet away from Lynn, who was in between her two siblings now. “What are you up to, Lynn, are you losing it? First you defend this trash at the dinner table and now I find you having a nice chat with him in the hallways. What could the two of you even possibly have to talk about?” She was getting worked up, growing louder and inflating her chest. Chielynn seemed to be shrinking in on herself, Vel could tell she was terrified. He didn’t think Dina would get violent, Lynn probably didn’t either, but this was a situation she had feared since childhood. He felt himself growing furious, and an overwhelming urge to shield Lynn welled up inside him.

Vel stepped forward, placing himself between the sisters. This put him very close to Dina, pretty much up in her face, as there wasn’t a lot of space between her and Lynn. She was fuming, without even reaching for her mind Vel could feel the anger radiating off her. “Back off, Sis.” He did his best to radiate calm that he wasn’t feeling. He was angry too and a part of him was hoping for an escalation. That part of him was stupid though, he couldn’t win a fight against Dina. He was questioning how smart it had been to follow his protective instinct when he felt a delicate little hand grab his upper arm and hold on tight, as if seeking comfort. He reached for Lynn’s mind. Gratitude and love stood out, as did admiration. She was definitely drawing comfort from holding onto him too. His doubts vanished; this had been the only right move.

Dina unknowingly interrupted another emotional moment. She looked more confused than angry at this point. “What is going on? You’re defending Lynn now? Have the both of you gone mad?” Vel snorted. “Lynn decided she didn’t want to be a terrible sibling anymore; I suppose that might look like madness to you. As for me standing up for her, I do that when someone is being treated unfairly, for some unfathomable reason that really gets to me.” Lynn briefly squeezed bis bicep a little harder, it felt like an acknowledgement or a thank you. Dina’s face switched from confused back to furious. “You dare? After everything you’ve put this family through?” That was too much for Vel, he was not going to let her blame him for anything this family had been put through. He might do that to himself on occasion when he was feeling low, but Dina didn’t get to. “There’s only one person to blame for what we’ve been put through, Dina, and yet you seem to idolize him.” He was reaching for her mind as he spoke, she was angry indeed. “Father isn-“ Vel cut her off. “But you know what? No matter how hard you work to please him, nothing will be good enough. You’ll never be the heir he wants; you can’t be. Just like I can’t, because we were both born with defects in his eyes. Me missing a leg, you a cock.” That would cut deep, Vel knew, he’d seen how Adi’s words had affected her just a few days ago.

Vel saw it coming before Dina even moved, her emotions made it quite clear she was about to get violent. He watched her tense up and slide one foot back a bit before angling her body slightly sideways. A right hook was coming for sure. Predictable, but from someone like Dina it would no doubt be effective if allowed to connect with his face. He fought the urge to flinch or dodge away, and instead raised the hand holding the book to swat her first away. Thanks to his early warning, he pulled it off with seeming ease. Dina looked stunned and Lynn gasped. Vel was livid but **** a chuckle. “Wow, what happened to that warrior’s honor you like to go on about, Sister?” Dina looked crestfallen. “Tell me, what’s more dishonorable, trying to hit a cripple and failing or successfully hitting a cripple?” For a moment, Vel thought she would try to hit him again, but instead she just turned on her heel and stormed off.

Vel looked back at Lynn. “Well, that was… Something.” In another surprising turn, Lynn rushed forward and hugged him. Vel was initially too stunned to hug her back, and Lynn almost immediately broke the hug and started apologizing. “Oh, I’m sorry, Vel. I didn’t ask if it was okay to do that, I was just grateful and-“ Vel pulled her back into the hug and she shut up. They were quiet for a moment. Vel saw a great deal of gratitude and love in her, but also shame and guilt. She didn’t feel she deserved him standing up for her. She felt the need to voice those feelings. “Thank you, Vel. I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve you protecting me.” Vel squeezed her tighter for a second before breaking the hug and making eye contact.” Maybe not, but you’re actually trying to make things right, and that counts for something. Besides, you don’t deserve to be treated like that either, especially not for making amends.” He took a little breath before continuing. “I couldn’t just stand by and watch my sister get treated like that.” A couple of tears rolled down Lynn’s cheek.

“I can’t believe Dina actually tried to hit you. I wish there was something I could do to show you how grateful I am, Vel.” Oh, there was something. “Well, coming along for your second punishment would be a start.” She looked scared; he could feel her fear. But there was excitement there too. She still wasn’t looking forward to being punished of course, but he got the sense she was eager to take the next step towards earning forgiveness. “Right… Right now? Already?” Vel raised his eyebrows “Do you not want to? What happened to anyt-“ She quickly interrupted him. “No, no! I want to, I do! I just wasn’t expecting to… For you to give me the next chance so soon. Thanks.” She genuinely was feeling gratitude too. She was grateful he was ready to **** her again. That was hot. “So, where to, Vel?” He gestured back the way he had come, the balcony and the book completely forgotten. “Back to my quarters, there no one should hear you scream.”