Truth and Dare

Elijah stared at Solstice in horror as she gave him the last dare of the game. Everyone in the same room was either amused or just straight out laughing. Brigitte was trying her best to stifle her laughter while Vulpes was already laughing hard at his predicament. Samsara was trying his best but was failing to hold his laughter in while Vega just looked thoughtful. Haru and Nicola were also snickering, extremely relieved that Solstice’s last dare was still directed at Elijah.

As he bemoaned his fate, Elijah thought of how Solstice managed to drag him into playing Truth or Dare with those who willingly participated.

~0o0~

It was just another normal day but Brigitte had invited the group over for dinner. Of course, to no one’s surprise, the three accepted it instantly. It was after dinner when the whole mess started. And, again to no one’s surprise, it was all Solstice’s idea.

“Hey, let’s all play Truth of Dare!” She suggested, bouncing on her heels.

“I’ll pass, thanks.” Samsara was the first one to respond without missing a beat, taking a seat on the right side of the couch in the living room.

“Ditto,” Vulpes seconded as she sat down on the other end of the couch.

Vega said nothing as he settled beside Samsara, embracing him with both his arms and wings. Samsara whispered something to him and he nodded.

“I would like to pass too...” He replied.

Nicola, on the other hand, agreed to the games rather quickly. Haru, worried for his boyfriend, reluctantly agreed as well.

“Sound like fun,” Brigitte smiled. “I’ll join as well.”

Then all eyes fell onto Elijah. He gulped, knowing nothing good will come out with anything involving the deer aestrolos.

“I’ll pass.”

“So are you afraid?” Solstice taunted him.

“What!? No!” He quickly turned defensive.

But at that point, Solstice had started making chicken noises, taunting him further. She was just tossing out the bait and hoping he would bite. And Elijah didn’t disappoint, he did.

“Fine! I’ll play!” He completely fell for it hook, line and sinker.

“Alright, let’s draw lots to decide on the turns!” Brigitte quickly followed up before Elijah could realize he was tricked into participating. 

She brought out a deck of playing cards, deciding that anyone who drew the highest could start. The order was Nicola, Elijah, Haru, Brigitte and finally, Solstice. 

Most of the truths and dares were pretty tamed and mostly consist of questions like “When was your first kiss?” to dares like “Eat the cayenne pepper cookies Vega and Solstice baked.” That was until it came to Brigitte’s turn.

“Sol, Truth or Dare?” Brigitte started.

“Let’s start with truth first.”

“What would you do if Elijah was your brother?” She asked.

Solstice looked at Brigitte with a completely straight face and answered. “I would jump off a cliff from second-hand embarrassment.”

Needless to say, Elijah was offended but everyone else found the answer amusing except for Vega and Nicola, they could relate to it. Vulpes found that answer to be hilarious, laughing her head off while Brigitte let out a snort. Samsara was struggling to hold in his laughter that his shoulders were shaking.

Then came Solstice’s turn. At this point, Vulpes and Samsara were thanking all the deities they knew of for sparing them from Solstice’s idea of fun.

“So Elijah, truth or dare?” The evil smug smirk Solstice’s face was the only thing that stopped Elijah from picking dare.

“Truth,” he quickly uttered.

“Who here would you most like to make out with?”

Elijah stared at Solstice and sighed.

“Probably...Haru...” He whispered in an impossibly soft voice.

Brigitte stifled a giggle while Solstice bit the inside of her cheek, refraining herself from making a snarky comment.

However, as the game continued, Elijah noticed that, even if she asked the others questions and gave them dares to perform, she seemed to be targeting him specifically. However, after the third round, Solstice and Elijah’s questions and dares to each other escalated to be both embarrassing and vicious.

Brigitte, Haru and Nicole had decided not to disturb them and watched on with both amusement and slight worry. During their turn, choosing each other rather than the two engaged in their own war.

Solstice had made Elijah do a chicken dance and speak like a gentleman from the Victoria era while Elijah retaliated with making her sing something in a very high and squeaky voice and act like whatever animal someone yelled out for the next minute.

At the last round, Elijah had dared Solstice to belly dance like her life depended on it and she was extremely embarrassed.

“Elijah, Truth or Dare?”

Against his better judgment and all the warning bells going off into his head, he picked dare.

“Become a vegan for a month.”

~0o0~

And that led up to the event up until now. At first, the room was so silent that they could hear a pin drop then Vulpes burst out laughing loudly. That pretty much defused the situation. Solstice turned to Brigitte, smiling.

“Mom, can I trust you to make him stick to this diet?”

“Of course, sweetheart. I’ll make sure he’ll follow it to a T.”

Elijah could only widen his eyes in horror. He couldn’t possibly see how he was going to survive the month as a vegan.