Okay, maybe it was just a little bit. But there was curiosity in there too. Lottie had never been inside Deimos’ garage, hadn’t seen the cars he had hidden away in there. But if that gorgeous 1953 Holiday was any example of the quality of machinery that he had, Friendship had high hopes for what else might be in store. And she was just a little irked that he’d not shared it with her before.
Never mind that she’d come here to apologize to him. To tell him that he’d been right to lock her in that closet. Philotes sort of wished that her sister had never let her out, that she’d never gone to that party with Doc. Deimos and Nemesis had been right. She didn’t belong in the middle of a mess like that, and it had been proven by her actions both during and after the fighting. So after the mess of a family meeting, after the emotional rollercoaster that came with seeing Pothos again, and most especially after being urged to do this by Oizys, Lottie had come to make amends with her brother.
And oh, did she have some apologizing to do. Not just because she’d verbally fought him on the topic to such a point that he’d physically dumped her in the closet either. No, she’d gone beyond that. She’d hit him. When he was injured. He’d shown up bloody and messed up and she’d hit him. The recollection of fresh blood on her hands when she’d lifted them to touch Oizys was a strong one, thoroughly reinforced by the violence of the party so close afterwards. Lottie wasn’t so naïve as to think that she’d actually done damage to somebody as tough as Deimos, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that she’d done it at all, that she’d raised her hands to a sibling that was already hurt. That she’d raised her hands to Dei.
So she needed to say she was sorry, but the first opportunity for distraction and she willingly gave into the urge to delay the meeting. Well, to be fair, the distraction in question was a bunch of classic cars that she’d been dying to see. But deep down, she knew that she was just stalling to avoid facing him and seeing the disappointment in his eyes when he looked at her. A look like that from a brother she loved and respected so much would flay her heart, but she knew she’d deserve it. Still, she found herself beside the garage and once there, the temptation was too strong to resist.
She had expected there to be some sort of security, an alarm or something. More than just some simple locks on the door, so she half winced in anticipation as she broke in and let the door swing open. But no blaring klaxon started up, no attack dogs came rushing at her, no… nothing. Lottie quietly slipped into the garage, her hand feeling along the wall for a light switch. But as soon as the overhead lights began to flicker on, the silence was broken by a sharp gasp.
“Oh, hello, babies,” she breathed out on a low sigh. Another step into the garage and she entirely forgot her reason for being here, getting lost in the chrome and the glass, breathing in the scent of metal and oil. For the first time in days, maybe weeks, Philotes was happy.