milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Carlotta is in the main bar, with her school report.

She has to laugh, just a little, when she sees her French result. Because of a certain bet she has with a certain king in the forge.

She looks around for him; she'll try outside if he's not in.

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"Yes." She smiles. "I'm not as good as with a longbow yet."

"Give it time. You'll get there."

"Thanks. I haven't had much chance lately because of all the stress and exams and things, but it was quite therapeutic. Especially since I've not even had time to see much of Will."

"Yeah, shooting things with a crossbow is a little cathartic sometimes..."

"What does cathartic mean?"

"It means venting your negative emotions, until you feel better."

Helena finds shooting things is good for that. Kicking and punching helps as well.

"Oh, yes, I do that often. Once I stuck a picture of a revolting dress my grandma wanted me to wear to the target."

She laughs.

"Was it really that bad?"

"It had frilly bits."

Helena makes a face and then laughs.

She's not overly fond of frilly bits either.

"I had quite a job going through my aunt's wardrobe when I first moved in; she didn't have good taste in clothes even considering they were twenty years old."

"I find aunts rarely do."

At least Helena's aunt didn't.

"It seems to have improved with age, for her age anyway."

"Are you close to your aunt?"

"Not really, I only met her twice. I don't know many of my relatives either side really."

That to Helena is strange - her house was always full of extended relatives: uncles, aunts, distant cousins, people who weren't related at all but you where always expected to treat as such and even call them Uncle... everything was about the Family. It was hammered into her that you always always always serve the Family first. Helena's not entirely sure whether that's an Italian thing or a Mafia thing. Hell, maybe it's both.

"Because you grew up in the circus?"

Carlotta nods.

"The relatives still living on Mum's side are all in Spain. Father fell out with Uncle Michael years ago for encouraging my mother to run off. And my aunt lives in France most of the time."

"I always had a lot of family around me when I was growing up," Helena explains. Something about the way she says it suggests that's not necessarily a god thing.

"The circus was like a big family." Carlotta says.

She does have the god thing, but she's not sure Helena would want to hear about that.

"I can imagine," she says with a wry smile.

"A great big, slightly dysfunctional family."

Helena knows a little something about dysfunctional families, having spent her entire childhood as part of one.

"Most families are at least slightly dysfunctional."

"Yes, I suppose it gives them character to an extent."

"Too much character sometimes..."

Helena is cynical about families. You would be too if you'd had her experience.

"Got to make the most of what you've got."