The meal was pretty quiet, if not for the occasional chewing noise that came from Hector. Charlotte took her time, not even facing the table for her part. She spent the meal staring down at the wall, not necessarily looking at anything. Jon did notice that despite not eating a lot, she did have several full plates in front of her, so she probably intended to focus on her food at some point.

Hector’s food-bogged mouth then clamored for Jon’s attention.

“Jon?”

“Hm?” Jon looked up from his food.

“Do you really want me to make an exercise routine for you?”

Jon nodded with intent.

“Do you have anything specific you want to focus on?”

Jon thought about his answer.

“I want to be stronger.”

“In what way?” Hector asked, now gesturing. “Or, do you just want me to make a general flow chart with you, covering everything?”

He put his fork down and counted down a list by putting his fingers into his palm.

“There’s endurance… strength… reflexes… flexibility… technique…”

With each word, a moment flashed through Jon’s mind thinking of a point in time he could have used those things. Running through the forest. Fending off attackers who got closer to him. Protecting his friends without needing them to recover immediately.

“All,” he said, although he found that he was already favoring endurance and strength. He at least wanted to keep his mind open.

“Okay,” Hector affirmed, "we can start on all of them. Then, if you want, we can narrow things to what you want.”

Jon nodded.

“Now, Jon,” Hector continued, “all of these things… they’re not gonna get better overnight. I know you’ve done exceptionally well keeping up with everyone, but something tells me you don’t want to always rely on luck, right?”

Hector’s words resonated with Jon. He did feel like he was relying on luck to escape every encounter. Luck and his friends.

“Well, let me tell you something,” Hector waved his fork at Jon. “All that stuff that’s happening. It’s not luck. It’s you, Jon. All of these things you encounter… when you find a way out, it’s how the job works. It’s up to us to figure out how to solve things that no one else can. So, as far as anyone is concerned, you’re doing your job well."

Jon nodded slowly. He appreciated the kind words from Hector.

“That’s all to say,” Hector began, “all of this stuff is gonna happen over time. And you probably shouldn’t do it during missions. You want to be in top shape, but also, while you’re recovering, you’re getting stronger. And you’ll be less likely to hurt yourself.”

“Such wise words, Hector,” Charlotte said with an added damper in her voice. “Such a shame you don’t commit those things to yourself.”

Hector scoffed. “That.. that doesn’t count.”

“And why doesn’t it count?” Charlotte asked him, still staring into the void that was the space next to her.

Jon was curious. She did sound a little unkind in asking, but he waited to see what Hector felt about the question.

Hector looked like he had a hard time thinking of an answer, but he didn’t necessarily seem maddened by it.

“I… I don’t want to always just get by,” Hector said. “I just wanted… I mean…”

He bowed his head in shame and spoke in a low voice. “I wanted to take over Lana’s job. I wanted to be in charge… of the King’s Guard.”

Jon raised an eyebrow.

“Really?” Charlotte asked although she didn’t seem very surprised. “I thought you would have hated it.

Jon thought about it too. Hector didn’t seem to be the type to want to stay behind the table and hand out orders.

“I do… I don’t… I dunno.” Hector shook his head. “I mean, I always felt like, if I did my job here well, then the next obvious step would be to take over Lana’s place whenever she moved up in the King’s Guard. But that’s not what happened. Lana kept rising in the ranks… and then she just kinda stopped.”

Hector shook his head. “She’s been in that position for a while now. And I think they keep her in that position because they don’t think anyone could do her job.”

“It’s not about you, Hector,” Charlotte explained. “It’s the King’s Guard. They keep her there. She does such a good job, they want her to be in that position forever…”

“Watching her do it… I don’t know…” Hector grimaced. “It just made me think that I never wanna end up in that position. Stuck. I want to always be able to go out. Always be able to help people.”

He sighed. “Then, I realized, that as long as she stuck there, I’m always stuck here. And not only that, but I want to keep doing the same thing forever…”

He observed his hands. “So, does that make me stuck?”

“Hector, darling…” Charlotte’s voice had lost her earlier sweetness. “It’s not the same. You want to stay in the same position you are because you’re happy. You’re fulfilled. Lana… she puts other's wants before her own… she…”

This was when Jon finally notice Charlotte take a sip from a cup she was holding, while her body was still facing the wall. He wondered how long she was holding on to the cup.

“But isn’t it what she wants?” Hector asked. “Isn’t she happy in some way?”

“Lana…” Charlotte breathed a deep, long sigh. “Lana cares about the safety of her family above all else. Ironic because she’s sending them out as mercenaries into dangerous situations… but-”

“Then what should I want?” Hector pounded the table with his fist, but not hard enough to disturb the food around him. He even caught the cup so that it didn’t slosh around too much liquid. “Should I not want her job? And yet, I don’t want to be King…”

“Omigod, omigod, omigod, Hector.” This time, Charlotte threw back whatever liquid was left in the cup into her mouth. “How many times do I have to explain your life to you? A higher position in the King’s Guard means you did a good job in your position. A position as King… king…”

She began to trail off.

“All of that is to say…” Hector’s voice sounded like it was being directed back to Jon, and so Jon turned and made eye contact with him.“...is that I’m gonna impart as much as I can before I leave the job to you.”

Jon nodded swiftly. He didn’t think he could replace Hector, but he would do better to watch himself so that he didn’t have to rely on Hector’s help anymore. On anybody’s help.

He once thought that Hector held everyone to the same expectation as himself. Now, he understood that Hector put a larger amount of expectations on himself than he did anyone else. But the fact that Hector was showing more that he wanted to trust Jon made Jon happy. He liked thinking that someone expected more from him for a change.

Hector stood up with an accusatory stare towards his sister. “Are you drinking?”

“A, wha,- me?” Charlotte turned back to her brother. “Uh, not really.”

Hector started to look under the table, but Charlotte quickly snatched something up from her side.

Hector looked back up from the table.

“Are you gonna be okay? You-”

“Oh, please, Hector, I’ve been drinking all day.” Charlotte waved him away. “Just because you didn’t notice didn’t mean it wasn’t happening. You don’t notice a lot.”

Jon hadn’t noticed it either. He barely noticed it and he was sitting next to her.

“I think I deserve a drink anyway, I’ve worked up this whole dinner and whatever. I think I need a break…”

“And I wanted to spend the day with my sister sober,” Hector muttered.

“And you did!” Charlotte waved her hands in the air sarcastically.

“Were… were you drinking when we were fighting-”

“Hector! I’m an adult! I know how to control my drinking!”

Hector’s lips tucked in his mouth.

“Okay… I guess I’m going prepare for tomorrow then….” Hector took a look at Jon.

“Jon, don’t worry about trying to be the best,” Hector said. “Just worry about being the best you, and things will work out fine.”

“Yeah.”

Hector then spoke to his sister without taking his eyes off of Jon. “And don’t weird out Jon.”

“Jon’s fine!” Charlotte said, exacerbated. “He’s more fine than anyone of us here…”

Hector stacked his plates quietly, carefully observing his sister.

“Make sure she gets into bed, Jon,” Hector said quietly yet sternly before bringing the dishes to the sink.

“I’ll clean them!” Charlotte called out.

Hector barely stopped at the sink before leaving his dishes and heading straight into the hallway.