Brynna

Brynna sat on the narrow, hard couch in Thessaly's tiny flat, her knees pressed uncomfortably against the edge of the mermaid's coffee table. It seemed smaller than it had the last time she'd been here, before the turbulent travel of the last few months had taken them to so many increasingly generous hotel rooms. She sipped her tea, and wished – viciously, hard, for the first time in weeks – for the stinging tail of a strong spirit, or to have cards in her hand and release the spirit fire that still burned deep in her guts.

Thessaly finished whatever she'd been cleaning in the kitchenette – Brynna hadn't looked too closely, she'd learned that lesson long ago – and squeezed into the other end of the couch. "What's up?"

"I got an email this morning." Brynna found her voice heavy in her throat. "From Mynah Darling's management."

"What do they want?" Thessaly's posture closed up, her tone immediately hostile.

"They want to offer you a collaboration. With Mynah."

"I smell a rat." Thessaly didn't hesitate.

"In this apartment, sweetie?" Brynna said it without thinking, but it was the right thing to defuse the tension.

Thessaly giggled, "Hey, no fair, I'm not that bad anymore."

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"Listen, sweetie, you're not wrong to be suspicious. I'm suspicious. But think about the opportunity! It'll be a new song for you, great exposure, we'd have killed for a chance like this six months ago."

"A lot can change in six months, mom." Thessaly leaned on the last word in the way she only did when she was sure she wasn't actually acting the bratty child.

"True, true." Brynna nodded. "Obviously they wouldn't just offer this to us, no matter how well Tsunami's doing."

"So how are they going to use it against us?" The mermaid pulled her knees up to her chest, bare feet on the edge of the couch.

"They sent a contract template. It's… boilerplate, I didn't see anything in it that worried me, sweetie." She'd made very sure of that before even deciding to tell Thessaly about the offer.

"But you do think there's something sussy going on."

"Of course, baby."

"It'll be about Phoebe, won't it?"

"The contract they sent doesn't mention her. And there's nothing in it that would let them sneak it in, either."

"Then they'll try to play up the- the love triangle, right?" The mermaid probably thought she'd hid it well, but Brynna could see in her hesitation the depth of her feelings for Phoebe. It was hard to imagine she'd said the word 'love' in the dragon rider's hearing yet.

"I think so, sweetie." Brynna smiled thinly, lips pressed tight together. "I bet they'll come up with a song about two girls fighting over a lover."

"Uh-huh." Thessaly put her hand to her lips, pinched them between thumb and forefinger thoughtfully. "You still think we should take it, though."

"That depends on Phoebe, sweetie. How do you think she'll react?"

"I don’t know, I have no idea," Thessaly said, almost whining.

"Oh sweetie," said Brynna, putting her arm around her charge's narrow shoulders. "She really cares for you, even if she hasn't said it yet, I promise."

"That's why she hates all this stuff, this… drama." Thessaly leant her head into Brynna's shoulder. "What if she thinks we're doing this to take advantage of her?"