Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 12)

“Oh.” She switched back to shoving her hands deep in her pockets, not looking at him. Fine. Broth. Whatever. She could just gulp it and then envision Aleth threatening her to keep it down. That’d be miserable, but doable. She didn’t used to have a gag reflex. She had to be able to get that back, right? “Fine.”

Gaius hesitated. "Shall we hold each other to eating a quarter of our meals at each meal? I don't do that and Sera and Sara both insist that I should be eating more despite my issues. Perhaps this is a time for both of us to try and work on our eating habits."

Ky glanced at him, then quickly looked away, brow furrowing. That was a surprising offer. And confusing. Why would he… be willing to do something like that? For her? Why?

That was going to result in so much queasiness for him. Vomiting. Feeling like absolute garbage. At least it would if he was anything like her. And. Well. As much as she wanted to deny a statement like that, it did seem that they shared this unfortunate trait.

She doubted this offer could be coerced either. If Sara and Sera couldn’t force him to eat at baseline, they couldn’t hold him to a challenge like this. Which meant he was doing this more or less voluntarily. Even though he probably wasn’t thrilled at having to make an offer like this. It was clearly just desperation to make her eat. But why? He didn’t even like her. And he’d doubly hate her if she made him do something like this.

Still. It was almost tempting. For his sake, if not for hers. It wasn’t healthy he didn’t eat. His disorder was actually a problem.

But. But why would he offer this?

She was taking too long to answer. “… you’d do that?”

Gaius took a deep breath. "It's high time I conquered this. No doubt I'm permanently affected at this point, but if this was caused by what I suspect it was, then I need to double down and get through it." He thought for a moment. "We can have a wager, of sorts. A reward or a punishment for succeeding or failing each week. Otherwise I'm not sure I'll be able to do this."

Ky eyed him warily. “What sorts of rewards or punishments?”

She wasn't particularly interested in being told to think happy thoughts again, or whatever equivalent this would have.

He considered it. "We can decide what we want for a reward. It doesn't have to be the same thing for each of us. And the punishments...perhaps just refraining from something we'd like to do for one day. So I wouldn't read anything if I failed for the week."

Ky thought for a moment, then nodded. She wasn’t thrilled with the idea. But it was a reasonable proposition. Not something she could say no to without seeming defiant. “…okay… we can try it,” she said hesitantly. “At least for a week.”

He dipped his head. "A quarter of a full plate at each meal, three meals a day. The first week starts tomorrow, does that sounds fair?" He paused. "This won't be easy." He felt shaky just thinking about it.

“All three meals?” She wrinkled her nose. That sounded like a lot. To go from barely eating to three times per day. Especially that much.

"Should we start small?" he asked hesitantly. He really wasn't sure. He wasn't sure he could handle even one.

“…three is a lot…”

"Then let's say we have to eat a quarter of a full plate at one meal every day, but we have to eat at each meal every day."

Ky considered it for a moment then nodded. “That’s reasonable… should we make the punishment the day following a slip up, though? Instead of the end of the week? Cause if we fail tomorrow then what will be the motivation to try the rest of the week if we are already getting the punishment at the end regardless?”

"Good point." He dipped his head. "Let's do that, then."

“Okay.” She nodded. She wasn’t sure how she felt about this. But. Well. She’d agreed. So they’d see how it would go.

Although she didn’t have the first idea what reward she should pick. She could have anything she wanted already. And was still anxious about asking for things in the first place. “…what are you going to pick as a reward?”