Salem's anxiety shot up even more, practically pushing him into auto pilot as he made his way towards the front door. As he opened it up, he stood to the left of it giving her a half bow while waving her in with his injured left hand. "Welcome in Lilie. I hope you're doing well” His voice was soft and serene while the one in his head was much louder What're you doing you idiot? Are we really hosting? Is this how these things go? Salem's eyes opened slightly and he realised he was still wearing his plant pajamas from earlier in the night. His cheeks began to blush as he cleared his throat a bit. ”Sorry for my appearance, to be frank I was expecting you to decline as Aaron had.”
The white haired girl brightened up, though her expression turned to one of concerned as she noticed the hand he waved had bandages around it as she entered. As Lilie wanted to inquire, she found herself a little confused by his statement. Maybe she was just used to pajamas at this point, though she did give him a small smile, shaking her head.
“Oh, it's okay, I was a little eager for some company,” Some human company, to be exact. Lilie tried to blame herself for rushing over, though she paused for a moment before continuing with, “I ran into Aaron earlier, he did seem busy.”
”Sounded like it. His…master was none to pleased with his performance last night at dinner. But then again, there is no pleasing a Sinnonodel.” Salem spat the word like venom, uncomfortable with the idea of a ‘master's and servant approach to the partnership. As Lilie came in, Salem closed the door behind her and escorted her into the living room/kitchen where there lay two trays for tea on the coffee table. ”I'm not going to lie to you, I'm new to having...friends...over. I typically host guests and attend to their needs. I'm not sure if that is how people interact when they're hanging however.”
Master? What? Lilie raised an odd eyebrow as Salem spoke, a little confused by both his tone and what he was talking about. Was it typical for mages to call vampires that? Maybe that's just how things worked around here. Aaron never did divulge any details about what had happened. As she took a seat, she found herself grinning as he mentioned her as a friend. Yes! Two friends! Putting that aside for the moment, she wondered which topic she should address first.
“Well, don't worry too much about me, like you said, we're just hanging out,” She replied, hands lightly tapping her knees as she thought to herself for a moment. Would Salem be honest with her if she asked? Only one way to find out. “But, um...what did happen last night? It certainly seemed eventful for the Queen to suddenly show up out of nowhere.” Testing the waters, she watched Salem cautiously.
”Hmmm. Well, as I mentioned earlier I am under investigation now. I'm not quite sure how much I'm allowed to say, or if anyone's even listening right now.” Salem went and sat next her to as he poured her a cup of tea and then one for himself from a different pot.”Spellman tea, grown by us and using secret techniques and recipes for it.” he gave Lilie a small wink and then stared into his cup for a moment.
”I was getting ready for a relaxing evening, waiting for Lucan to come home, I hadnt really seen him since the Arena and we hardly got to talk. All of a sudden there was a knock on my door, asking me to get ready to meet the Queen for dinner. As I've mentioned I typically host parties, I am not a guest at them…” he stared a while longer at his cup again before continuing along.
”The car took me to her mansion where I was met by the Princess as we awaited the other guests and Lucan, whom I assume was the main reason I was invited. Once everyone had arrived we made our way into the dining hall where we spoke on some subjects and i said some controversial thoughts on how i believe we should move forward as a society. That's...that's when things went weird. Someone invaded my mind and began to pour through my thoughts, it was obviously magic and also an invasion of privacy. When it finally ended I had accused a council member of having done it seeing as how a mind mage was present at the time. The chalked it up to me being rebellious and stated I had no proof of the accusation to which I recounted my experience and they agreed it was a high form of interrogation. However they believe at some point along the lines I may have unknowingly encountered a member of some group and that they had planted this seed of interrogation in me and chose to trigger it while in their presence. Thus my current investigation where I am now cut off from my entire life outside of these school gates. Aaron's views and mine didn't exactly align, putting us on opposite ends. But we both agreed to help each other see other others side.” Salem took a sip of his tea and looked at Lilie with a ghost of a smile. ”Honestly I'm surprised Aaron didn't mention anything to you, you did say you spoke on the matter.”
Wow, that was a lot to take in.
Lilie was grateful for the tea, but she hadn't quite had a taste as she chose to listen carefully instead. Talk about an eventful night. As Salem addressed her, she found herself drinking at last, the flavor of the tea calming her somewhat. What could she even say to any of that? Well, aside from all the craziness she wasn't expecting Aaron and Salem to have been on opposing views so quickly.
Lowering her cup, Lilie cleared her throat. “No, um...he didn't mention any of that,” She replied softly. “He mentioned you were there but...didn't say anything else beyond that.”
And apparently for good reason. It was a lot to take in, but she didn't think Salem was exaggerating or anything. Not to mention she had seen Lucan last night, operating on the Marivaldi residence, so it just seemed like a night of madness in general. As she thought about how to respond, she did recall waiting for Aaron to text her back, but he never did, did he? The time stamp had shown some time between hers and his.
“Well, I guess that's my own fault, I got so absorbed in my own house's rotating door that I didn't get a chance go ask for a lot of detail, there was a bit of a commotion outside of the noble dorms,” He had shared what happened with him, she may as well return the favor. “I actually saw your partner--Lucan--along with Princess Nox. They had been arresting someone, and, uh...shoot,” She looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember through her panic what little she had learned. “...someone got arrested, accused of...something I can't remember. It was pretty serious, I don't believe I had ever seen the princess so...terrifying.”
Salem raised an eyebrow as Lilie mentioned how Lucan was at the noble dorms last night. Whatever had happened, it must have cleared out by the time he arrived back. Although, why invite Lucan to dinner if he was doing business? Something didn't sit right with him, was this happening behind the Queens back? Calm yourself Salem, no more baseless accusations.
”Sounds like you had quite the evening as well. Though I suppose it's somewhat comforting to know Lucan is just caught up with work and isn't just avoiding me.” a small awkward pause filled the air as Salem searched for what to say next ”Sooooo, you excited for class?” Really Spellman? That's your big move?
Despite the sudden change of topic, Lilie nodded enthusiastically. Whatever was going on with the royal members was far above her head; no need to think on it too much right now. Taking a second to have more tea, she seemed a little more energetic as she spoke. “I can't wait for class, I'm so excited to finally get into magic and controlling my affinity,” She admitted, bouncing slightly on her seat. “There's really not a lot of magic where I come from, so it's all new territory. Not that I mind! I was pretty studious in high school, so studying magic is just exciting for me. How about you? Are you excited for class?”
”Very excited. I can't wait to see what all I can learn from this academy.” Salem leaned in close and began to whisper to Lilie "Between you and I, this tea will help us focus our magic much better today.” Of course that was a lie, but a little placebo never hurt anyone. ”What class are you in? Maybe we'll be in the same room!”
Lilie suddenly felt very much like a child, having to stop herself from outright chugging the rest of the tea. After a few seconds of successfully holding herself back, she giggled to herself, mentally chiding herself for getting overexcited. She'd end up exhausted at this rate. When Salem asked for her classes, she fished out her schedule, neatly unfolding it for Salem to see. “With Sariel's tour yesterday. I might actually not be completely lost,” She joked, pointing to the rooms. “I got lucky, two of the classes I have are at the Rose Hall so that will be easy to memorize. Aaron and I have Treaty Law, Spell Theory, and Self-Defense, I'm hoping we have some shared classes, too. Maybe we can all sit together?”
Salem chuckled at her joke of Sariel, who in and of herself was practically a joke. ”Maybe, let's see I have…” he realised his schedule was no where near him so he got up and began walking towards his room, gesturing for Lilie to follow. ”Schedules in my room on my desk. Feel free to come in.” As he walked into the room he could be heard saying "Morning cricket. I have company.” As she walked in Salem began to read his schedule to Lilie. ”I have Affinity Mastery in Ceruleum Hall, then Treaty Law in...Vilbrek, Spell Theory back in Ceruleum, and Self Defense. Oh...and at some point I have to take etiquette classes to learn how to properly speak to royalty.”
Following Salem as soon as she managed to down the rest of her tea, Lilie was surprised to see his room completely covered in plants. Ot was actually rather nice; everything was obviously well taken care of, though at the mention of a ‘Cricket’, she wondered what he was referring to until she spotted the caged animal, though she had to admit that she wasn't expecting an actual cricket named Cricket.
Giving Salem her attention again, she found herself getting excited again. “We have Treaty Law and Self Defense together at least!” She pointed out, pausing as she realized his schedule had more classes than she did. “Is that last one an extracurricular?” She asked.
”A punishment, one of the many I got for speaking out if turn at dinner. But I suppose its better than having my magic locked away, or execution, or many other things. By the way, this is cricket. My abuelita believes that he will bring me good luck at school and in my endeavors. I'd of brought cat but, well I don't think the school would've allowed it. Anyways, be careful of the plants please. They're not all friendly.” he said as he began to place his schedule into his bag and than sat on the bed.
What?! Lilie's eyes widened at his last statement, cautiously looking around the room with a concerned expression. ”Wh-Why aren't they friendly?! She squeaked out in slight horror, making sure she wasn't particularly close to anything and making sure she took up as little space as possible.
Salem laughed at her display, wiping an invisible tear from his eye and patting the bed next to him for her to sit. ”I make potions and tonics of many kinds. Sometimes to cure an illness you need poisons, especially to make anti-toxins. So excrete it and can be absorbed through skin, I try to keep them out of reach but curiosity has been the downfall of many people, and...I like you too much to let that befall you.”
Looking around at the room, Lilie realized she really couldn't tell what plant was alright and which wasn't. How did he live like this?! Well, this was the type of business he did, or at least that was what she recalled. For now, she wouldn't think too hard on it, instead carefully making her way to Salem without touching anything. As she would take a seat where he indicated, she finally stopped looking around the room long enough to look at Salem, breaking into a bit of a laugh. ”Thank goodness for that, then, otherwise I'd be in real trouble,” She couldn't help but joke, though his warning was appropriate for her curious self. Pausing for just a moment, she decided to go on her original intention for wanting to speak with him. ”Um...I'm really sorry for yesterday, at the arena. I promise, I didn't leave you on purpose,” She said, frowning. ”I was basically whisked away and...I tried to go back, but was denied.”
Salem's smile faded "That seems to be going around. Who was denying you access to go back? He began to wonder if the two students who had blocked Max off earlier were responsible for keeping others out while the altercation was dealt with. He couldn't quite fault Lilie or Aaron, as much as it hurt to be left by them, he did understand how some mages have more of a duty to their vampires than others.
Lilie wrinkled her nose, a small pout on her face as she remembered sitting there doing nothing until she was made to follow to meet Ike. ”It was another Eve, apparently she works in the school. Felt like I was a little kid being held at the principal's office waiting for a parent to come collect them,” She didn't seem too pleased with the experience, letting out a sigh. ”I got to see Arianna before she left, but...it's the worst feeling, getting passed around from one person to the next. Like you're not good enough. And all for nothing, after that show Ike left, too, so...”
A compulsion took over Salem, as if her feelings were in perfect sync with his. He quickly hugged Lilie tightly and held on for a brief moment as he said ”Don't ever think you're not good enough. You're more than that, you're amazing...I can tell.” Salem released her and gave her a warm smile, she may need a bit more self esteem help than he did. ”I'll tell you what. I know, a little bit of magic. Not much. But, just a smidge that may help, we just need that tea cup you drank out of. Care to see?”
Salem's hug came as a surprise, leaving the girl momentarily stunned. She couldn't deny that it wasn't unwelcomed, and his words sincerely made her feel a lot better, even if she still had some doubts. But that wasn't his fault; it was hers. The previously repressed anxiety crawled up on her, though she forced it away; no need for that, not now when there was someone else around. As she was released, there was no hiding the small look of joy in her eyes as he mentioned magic. Right, that was the whole reason she was here, to learn and improve herself. Everything else, specifically serving a crazy noble household, came second in her mind.
So Lilie nodded, curiously examining Salem. ”What're you going to do?” She asked him.
Salem quickly got up, asking her to wait there as he went to grab her tea cup. When he returned he held it up and sat back onto the bed, staring into the cup. ”You see this line here? It tells me that you're very determined. You seem to have an eagerness about you in wanting to learn as much as you can on how best to focus it. That curve there? That shows me the strength you have inside of you, even if you aren't aware it is there. And that odd shape, that shows your spirit, how well natured you are and sweet and it tells me you are someone worth being with. And I hope you learn to see these things too.” Now, while tea leaf reading wasn't a hoax, he never fully learned how to do it from his grandma. Most of that reading was him telling her what she needed to hear and he hoped there wasn't any nefarious signs in the leaves he didn't catch.
Listening intently to Salem's explanation, Lilie wasn't entirely sure what sort of magic this was. It must have been a plant mage thing, her eyes trying to follow what he pointed out, but having a harder time seeing the same things. Still, as he continued, she found herself smiling rather bashfully, watching Salem as he spoke and occasionally glancing at the cup. She supposed if it helped with magic, reading the leaves wasn't so far fetched. At least, not to her. She did find it a little incredible that he seemed to get a lot more information than she had anticipated, and whether she realized it or not, it really felt like a nice little boost of confidence.
”That's pretty amazing of you to see,” She told him, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as she straightened up slightly. "I didn't think you could garner all that from just a cup!”
”You can get a lot from nature, its information and skills are as bountiful as the things it can grow. Of course, it helps coming from a line of plant mages who eat, breathe, and sleep herbology, botany, and many other forms of plant based studies. Though there is superstition surrounding tea readings, one cannot read their own cups as it'll cause them to change. So this really only works in the company of others.” Salem chuckled a bit at the old superstition, yet it's one he never tempted to try.
”By the way, you were amazing in the ring yesterday. I'm sure Lucan would want me to pick up how to fight at some point, seeing as how he is a guard and all that. I'm thinking...whip. What do you think?”
Ah, yes, her public defeat.
Lilie averted her gaze, letting out a small, somewhat bitter laugh. Right, that was something she had completely forgotten all about. Salem's compliment was truly nice, but really, the spar hadn't ended the way she would have hoped. Not that she thought she would have cleaned the floor with him, but the way he ended it on his terms had been just a bit embarrassing for her taste. She could already hear her mother's sharp words critiquing her sloppy strikes, she could see her rolling her eyes at her hasty movements, she could practically feel the glare as she would chide her for not using enough technique against her opponent. They had the same length, but it was obvious who the superior swordsman was among the two.
Clearing her throat, she waved away Salem's compliment. "I, uh...yeah, a whip sounds really interesting, Sidestepping her defeat for the moment, she focused on Salem as she moved her arms, pretending to crack a whip. "It would be really cool if you could control it, making it wrap around people's limbs and then yanking them back, or hitting them super hard--those things hurt,” Dropping her arms at her sides, she grinned. "I wouldn't have expected that to be your choice of weapon, but maybe it's only because I can't see you fighting, you're just so nice!”
Salem leaned both his hands behind his back, looking up at the ceiling in a sort of dream state. ”I always thought they were so cool. The fluidity, the way the crack, but most importantly...the thought of crafting one with magic out of a rose's thorny stem. Then I'd really be able to control it and have it wrap around people. Maybe even have little Rose's bloom along its length as a display of victory” He sat up and cupped his hands around his mouth, mimicking the sound of an audience cheering him on. ”But you're right, I'm not much of a fighter. But if it's something my partner desires, then it's a simple demand.”
‘Partner’, not ‘master’. So at least Salem and his vampire saw themselves as partners. Lilie rested her chin onto her hands as she leaned forward, gaze unfocused as she thought ti herself for a moment. It was very admirable for Salem to want to learn something on his vampire's behest, but did Salem want to? Well, if he didn't, she was sure he would have said otherwise, or at least be less enthusiastic about it. Speaking of ‘partners’, though, she still wasn't sure how she was going to handle hers. What an issue. Clucking her tongue, she would sit up as she looked at Salem again, her hands on her knees.
"At least it sounds like you have a plan!” Better than her clueless self, anyway. "I'm sure Lucan would be happy to hear it, he really was something in his fight.”
Pausing for a moment, Lilie looked away from Salem, a question lingering on her mind. After a few uneasy seconds, she would finally speak. "Um...It's best to get along with your vampire, right? But…” Arianna's words still hung over her, and she ended up finishing with, ”That doesn't mean we have to trust them, right?”
Salem looked a bit shocked at Lilie, his head hung low as he searched for the right answer to say. Silence filled the air for what seemed like an eternity to him before he finally spoke. ”You should strive to get along with your partner, but I believe that trust is something of a different matter. In most cases I believe that distrust should be earned and that trust is a default you should fall upon. But that's a naive notion, if you feel like you can't trust them, you should talk to them about what it is that is causing this rift. But no, I don't feel like you need to trust them. Why do you ask?”
Lilie bit her lip, his initial shock already telling her she was treading dangerous territory. Right, no matter how kind Salem was, he was already integrated into this world. She kept thinking other mages would have the same kind of thought she had, but it was much too naive to keep thinking like that. Granted, despite Mariette's words, she had yet to instill actual distrust in her, but she just couldn't put her complete faith in her, either.
Knowing she needed to speak carefully, she decided she would not lie, but she wasn't exactly going to tell him why she said what she did. "Honestly...vampires are terrifying,” She admitted quietly as she dropped her gaze back onto her lap. "My hometown doesn't really see a lot of them, much less interact with them. Mages, yeah, they oversaw a lot of things, and I'm sure they visited at night, but...it's mostly farmland where I'm from, and honestly, the first time I had interacted with one was…” Her throat seemed to close on her as she inhaled sharply, a horrible memory threatening to resurface before she pushed it away. "Less than pleasant. So I guess maybe I have a bias against them. Not on purpose, I just...I don't know, I'm not sure I'm making much sense.”
”They aren't all great I'll give you that. But they aren't all bad either. The Marivaldi's been a good example of some you shouldn't fear. My family's own being another. Just as there are good people and bad people, human, mage or otherwise, out in this world, there are good and bad vampires too. You just have to trust in your gut that you can tell the difference. You mentioned you have an Eve?” Salem tapped his index finger against his lip thinking back onto the Eves. ”Their house is a bit...disorderly, but I believe most of them mean well. A house based on neutrality, regardless of one's personal opinions.”
Right, neutrality, Mariette mentioned something about that. Lilie slowly nodded, taking Salem's words to heart despite her mixed feelings. He did have a point, she supposed the best thing to do was to just keep her head down and hope for the best. "Yeah, I was partnered with the Eve house for...whatever reason,” She shrugged. "I don't really have any experience with nobility but...I guess we'll see what happens.”
”Trust me, there are far worse houses to be partnered with. But I suppose that means we're on the same boat huh?” Salem nudged her gently. "After all, I'm literally taking etiquette classes to learn how to behave around them, although it's much easier when the person in question isn't Varis or a Sinnonodel.” His feet began to sway off the edge of his bed as he looked off into the distance, after a moment's pause he said to Lilie in a soft voice "Thanks for being here with me. It means a lot.”
The white haired girl watched Salem for a moment, though she smiled as she nodded at him. "Of course. That's what friends are for, right?” She asked him with complete sincerity.
”Right.”
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