𝐌𝐀𝐃 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 - 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘳

― 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐱

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chapter twenty-six: i like this one

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𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃, 𝐆𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎𝐍 𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐀'𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐓 𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐎'𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊. She runs a hand through her dry and brittle hair, then takes a second look at her outfit; a pale blue satin shirt tucked into white wide-leg corduroy pants. She's tried to make some effort with her clothing, to make up for her unruly hair and lifeless face. 

"If you're not out in ten seconds, I'm coming in!" Gideon's voice travels through the door, and Visha sighs. She strides over and unlocks the door, pulling it open with a scowl. 

"I hate you," she tells him. 

He sighs irritably, then nods his head at her to get out of the house. As Visha steps out and joins him on the doorstep, he presses his lips together, suppressing a laugh or a smile or something.

"What?" Visha demands. 

"You look much better than the last time I saw you." 

She glowers, and then stomps past him, up the Victor's Village to the left. Gideon calls after her, "You're going the wrong way!" Visha stops in her tracks, and turns to glare at the older man once more. Then, she follows him as he leads the way across the cobblestone path to Hunter's house which― she notices― is directly opposite hers. 

"Amazing," she grumbles to herself as they step onto the concrete porch. Gideon simply opens the door and walks inside. 

Visha follows. 

Immediately, she feels out of place. 

There are more Victors in Hunter's home than Visha has seen before, each one more formidable than the last. She loses Gideon within the small crowd. She spots Hunter talking to a dark-skinned woman with an intimidating gaze. He catches her eye, and grins. She averts her eyes. A second later, he is crossing the room to her. 

"Vish!" He smiles widely, enveloping her in a bone-crushing hug. When he pulls back, he holds her at arm's length and examines her head-to-toe. "You look good. How―" he clears his throat slightly, "How have you been these past few days?" 

She shrugs, not knowing what to say. "Okay, I guess."