Stolas knocked on Octavia's bedroom door before he cracked it open and peeked inside, only to see his daughter sleeping peacefully on her bed. He couldn't help but smile at the sight, and he quietly entered the room.
"Via, dear," he said softly, and Octavia let out a groan. Stolas chuckled. "I prepared breakfast for us, so come down when you're ready," he said, giving Octavia's leg an affectionate pat before he stood up.
He smiled at her one last time before he walked over to the door and left Octavia's bedroom, quietly closing the door behind him.
Octavia stayed in bed for a few more minutes before finally rolling out of bed. It was weird not hearing her parents screaming at each other, but it was a good weird.
She pulled her bedsheets straight when she was out of bed and then made her way to her wardrobe. She rubbed her eyes, letting out another low groan. She grabbed her usual outfit and put it on after she slipped out of her pajamas.
Octavia made her way to the kitchen, feeling different than she normally would when she woke up. She wasn't in as much of a bad mood as she usually would be.
Once she entered the kitchen, she saw her father putting food onto plates. "Hey dad," she said. Stolas turned and smiled at her.
"Good morning, Octavia! How did you sleep?" he asked with a cheerful smile, as he set a plate of food down at the table.
Octavia shrugged. "How come you're so happy?" she asked sarcastically, sounding gloomy as usual.
Stolas chuckled. "Well," he said, then paused for dramatic effect. "I've decided to take you somewhere, and I'm sure you'll love it! It won't be like Loo Loo Land, this time I'm sure it's up to your standards!" he enthused as he cheerfully set a plate of food down in front of Octavia.
She studied it for a moment before looking at her father, skeptical. "You're being... weird," she said, before picking up the fork that was on the plate and stabbing some random food of the variety.
The two ate together in a half-comfortable silence. Octavia shifted uncomfortably the whole time, hurrying to finish her food so she could go back to her room.
She didn't feel like going anywhere with her father today.
Once she finished her food, she stood up with her plate in her hand and set it in the sink before scurrying off to her room without a word to Stolas.
She locked her door and ran to her bed, burying herself under the covers in hopes that she'd fall asleep and her father wouldn't make her go anywhere.
Fortunately, she did fall asleep once more, but she soon woke up to her father knocking at her bedroom door.
"Octavia?"
She groaned quietly, her face buried in her pillow.
"Octavia, dear? Are you alright?"
She could hear the doorknob jiggling.
"Octavia? Via? Can you hear me in there?" His voice had a bit of worry in it.
The doorknob started jiggling more noisily and frantically. "Via?"
The jiggling stopped, and there was a sigh heard from outside Octavia's door.
"I'll be downstairs if you need me, darling," Stolas said softly, his voice full of fatherly affection. A series of footsteps that gradually grew quieter followed.
Octavia pulled her covers back over her head and buried her face further into her pillow, shutting her eyes as tightly as she could close them.
After about ten minutes of lying there, she rolled over, throwing her covers off of her face and letting out a sigh.
She reluctantly crawled out of the bed she had been so comfortably lying on, and walked over to her closet.
If we're going somewhere, might as well wear something less... bummy, she thought.
She changed into one of her favorite dresses, other than her bright pink starry one she wore all the time.
It was navy blue with small, sparkly stars all over it. There was a slight ombre on the bottom where the blue faded into a deep red. She put on a long, black cardigan over it and took a moment to admire herself in the mirror for once with a faint smile on her face before hurrying out of her room.
Maybe she'd like this day a little bit more than she thought.