Raphael's Castle

6 || icing on cake

She shrugs. "I think it's a bad idea going around and eating everything we see no matter what world you live in."

"Hey, your name is Raphael, right?" Tessa calls. She holds up another fork, gold and shiny, up in the air. "There's room enough for two." 

"Don't," Vivre starts, but Raphael is already moving forward. He sits at the edge of the table and plucks the fork out of Tessa's hand, slicing the cake into a neat little triangle. Instead of it eating himself, he offers it to Vivre. She shakes her head. "No, thank you."  

"Are you not even a little hungry?" He coaxes. 

"I am," Vivre admits. "But, come on, they've laid out a plethora of food for us. This is too suspicious." 

"Imagine if we did manage to navigate our way to the exit," Raphael sets the fork back down on the platter. "Would you really want to leave on empty stomach, hungry, tired and weak?"

"Totally," Tessa agrees. "Poison or starve to death? I know which one I'd pick." 

"It's a risk worth taking," Raphael adds. "I ate grapes. Tessa ate cake. And we both seem to be fine." 

"Fine," Vivre drops her arms to her side. She doesn't know if she's giving up because she agrees with or if she's too tired to fight. "But I'm not going to eat the cake. I need something that gives me energy back. 

"Like I said," Tessa whispers to Raphael. "Bo - ring." 

Tessa's comments dig under her skin. When she and Lincoln were still a couple, Tessa used to do the same thing. Little, one or two word remarks about Vivre's looks or personality, usually under her breath. 

Like always, Vivre doesn't call her out. Pretending not to have even heard her, Vivre takes an empty plate and skims the options. 

The table has several mouth-watering entries. Vegetable soup, with bundles of hot steam rising from it. An entire roast pig. A basket of apples, each one perfectly ripe and red. Vivre decides for the safest option. Mashed potatoes, draped with warm gravy. She scoops some of them up and begins to the methodically chew through them.

The three of them chew in silence. Tessa, having polished off her cake, has started on a banana split. She consumes everything but the banana. Meanwhile, Raphael, despite his earlier urgings, barely eats anything. 

Vivre's mood improves with each bite she takes. Her limbs feel lighter and it becomes easier to think. Now she's thirsty. Vivre pours herself some lemonade. It's saltier than it is sweet, but it pumps her full of energy. Full and clear-minded, she puts her plate down and looks around. 

"I still need shoes," Vivre remembers. 

Tessa snorts. "Shoes?" 

"Vivre woke up without any," Raphael explains. He has the paper fan in his hand. 

"Okay, I get that... but dude, come on," Tessa licks the blue frosting off her fingers. She motions to the room with the other hand. "What's taking you so long? We're literally surrounded by bitches with shoes." 

"I don't want to take their shoes," Vivre says. 

"Why not?" 

"It feels too obvious."

"What's wrong with obvious?" 

"Nothing, I guess," Heat creeps up Vivre's neck. Even to her, she sounds dumb. How can she explain what she's feeling? It's like when you're trying to solve a math problem and the solution is to easy. You know you're missing something, but you don't know how to find it. From the way that Raphael and Tessa are watching her, Vivre knows that they're getting annoyed. "Maybe we should go back to that other place, with the mannequins."