stress-baking | theyna

iv.

"God-fucking-damnit, why did I think this was a good idea?!" It was - yet again - another late-night excursion for Thalia, this time not going as well as the last. Her brother made a spontaneous trip to IKEA and returned with much more than he planned. The objective of the night? Make it through to morning without punching holes in the plastered walls.

At 12:24am, the Grace siblings decided it would be grand to put together a seemingly simple coffee table. At 2:09am, they realized their grave mistake.

Jason had passed out on the lumpy loveseat in their small living room, unperturbed by the curses flying from his elder sister's lips. He was asleep and was determined to remain that way.

Thalia looked down at the instruction pamphlet in her hands, marvelling at how she hadn't ripped it in half yet. She glanced back up the hapless coffee table, then at the wayward screws that flew themselves around the room. There was no way in hell this goddamn table would get built, not that night, anyway.

Thalia let fly another string of choice words, loud and unapologetically so. There was no fiber of her body that cared at this point.

An exasperated banging came from the door. "Come in!" Thalia growled.

"Are you fucking kidding me," an 85% irritated, 10% sleep-deprived, and 5% percent amused Reyna stomped into the dorm. Thalia practically squeaked as the short brunette plopped herself down next to Thalia. Sitting primly on her knees, Reyna's expression contrasted heavily with her polite and civil appearance.

Stormy eyes, dark circles like smudged makeup, bedhead worse than Thalia's ever seen, Reyna looked intimidating and pissed as hell. "What in God's good name are you doing at this hour of the night?" Her voice was raspy and low and Thalia couldn't deny loving it.

"I'm summoning Satan, thanks for joining me." Reyna chuckled lightly at Thalia's quick wit, too tired to respond back.

"But seriously, what the actual fuck is happening." The sentence was worded as a question, but sounded much more like a statement.

Thalia sighed, "Jace thought it would a grand-spanking idea to hit up IKEA this evening, then decides to pass out on the couch without helping me put this goddamn thing together."

"'Ight, let's get this shit done." Reyna picked up the instruction manual and the screws.

"I'm sorry? What're you doing?"

"Helping you finish this so you'll stop keeping me up at night with your colorful vocabulary."

Thalia almost cackled, almost.

They spent half an hour trying to undo the monster-piece that was Thalia's coffee table. When the pair finally started on Step One, Reyna realized they were missing a very crucial part for building the thing.

"How did you even make it past Step Three without a screwdriver?!"

"I just... used my... fingers?"

"Get up, get your car keys." Reyna stood up and walked towards the door. She looked back when she realized Thalia want following her. "What are you doing? C'mon, let's go already!"

"What are you doing?" Thalia asked incredulously. "What if I don't even have a car? This is New York City, after all. Most people don't own them."

Reyna flung out her hands as if the answer was obvious. "We're going to Walmart to pick up a screwdriver! Besides, I've seen you driving before."

"Wh-"

"Don't question me. I'm tired and irritable so if you wanna survive till morning just get your car keys and follow me."

Thalia gulped. Cute as Reyna might be, Thalia did not want to argue with that. She shot up like a bullet and grabbed her keys, leaving her sleeping brother on the couch. She had to run out the door and down the hall to catch up with Reyna.