@spacecour / PLOTTED STARTER ( for helene )
charles leans over to helene, whispering as her father tells the story of their family history. the mood seems . . . more somber than he expects from a game night. “ okay. so, if i pull out ‘monopoly,’ is your family finally going to like me, or is it just going to make everything worse? ” he tries to lighten the mood, but he notices the paleness in helene’s face, the moistness in her eyes. she looks more stressed than he’s seen her in a long time. he reaches for her hand underneath the table. “ are you okay? do you need to get changed or something? we can wait for you. i’m sure that’s fine. ”















