#(1 hr later cut to toni floating in the waters of fontaine like a round balloon filled with too much cake)

[abyssmalice]

Since the child wanted cake, Arlecchino is happily carrying over a whole cake for Tonia. With ten melusines behind her, two each carrying five more cakes to go with the first.

"Here, child." Arlecchino says, without any trace of a smile. "You were correct in wanting cake. So, I'm going to sit here and watch you eat all six cakes, right here and now. I did make sure to buy a variety of flavors for your enjoyment." Now she's smiling. "Bon appétit!"

Appearing with so much cake in tow is very, very suspicious - so much so that it doesn't even need to be said, it's just obvious. So it's only natural for Tonia to squint at the Harbinger, wondering what the catch is supposed to be...

A pair of meulsines trot by with a strawberry shortcake. It looks expensive, all of them do - can only be from Fontaine's finest bakery. And that's promising actually, because the girl has already sampled some of their goods on a few prior occasions, and they've yet to disappoint. That said, Arlecchino being the one to offer so many delightful cakes is still questionable; there's an immediate doubt if these were tampered with somehow—

A mango cream cake trots under her nose as she thinks that. Then a serving of chocolate mousse, and another pair of melusines with a black forest cake, the red cherries making for a striking and tantalizingly-sweet contrast to the more muted hues of the red velvet cake that Arlecchino first brought in.

Tonia watches the last pair walk over with a mixed fruit cake and wonders what she was thinking of a second ago.

"Well," the girl says, sitting down after all the cakes have been set on a table. "I'm glad you understand then! Definitely smarter than my brother - he always likes to stop me from eating all the cakes and sweets I want. Not that you've earned any favors from me—giving me cake is only a natural thing to do, I think. Though I'll consider it if you need my help on anything in the future."

Not. Tonia is going to eat all of these cakes and then forget it all happened. As she said - getting cake is only a natural thing. She happily stabs a fork into all six of the cakes within the next five minutes, enjoying herself regardless of it all.

...Even if Arlecchino's watchfulness was honestly kind of uncomfortable at the same time. Actually, what the hell is her deal, watching her eat? Is she hoping she dies or something from cake overdose?

Well! Tonia stabs her fork into the strawberry cake a little harder. The juice of the fruit runs a very thin pink as it mixes with some of the pink icing between the layers. The girl eyes the Harbinger for a silent moment, not saying or doing anything, before she resumes eating her cakes. With a little more viciousness and a determined line to her face, as though she were trying to prove something in the process.

Spite and stubbornness isn't Tonia's favorite flavor, frankly. It's an antithesis to the very point of eating a nice, sweet cake. But if it gets her through all six cakes without any problems, then who cares?

(Maybe if she treats half of the cakes like an early dinner... yeah, she should be able to eat all of them in one sitting. Probably. Probably.)