Taka
AlteredTundra
Cyadical
Asura
Xiro Zean
Lemons
Izurich
ThatCharacter
Kero
Mcmolly
Dates: November 9th - December 6th
The silence was killing her.
To be fair, this had never happened before. Their study group consisted of Salem, Maxwell, and herself. All three of them were pretty on point with their work, getting things done efficiently. Of course, Lilie was pretty sure nothing she ever wrote was good enough for Count Sinnenodel--the highest she had ever gotten from him was a B+ and that had been the only paper not filled with a million remarks--but she actually liked working together with her group. She had opted not to use Aaron’s notes for their studies, but she did read them before and after to make sure she was well informed, and together their group assignments did well.
But that was all three of them together, and right now, it was just the two of them. Salem had urged them to study together today, and at first Lilie actually saw it as a good thing. They had known each other for almost three months, but she could count the number of conversations she had with Maxwell alone on one hand. Actually, that was generous--they had half a conversation when they first met and that was basically it. And Max was either willing to keep up the trend or unwilling to make conversation with her.
Lilie tried to think of something to talk about, lightly rolling her pen between her fingers. Deciding she may as well give it a shot, she sat up and gave him a smile. “So...how’s your affinity class going?” That was a pretty typical question people gave, right?
Max was seriously reconsidering why he even bothered showing up today. If Flower Boy was too good to be here, he didn’t see why he wouldn’t have an excuse to ditch too. Wasn’t like he gave a fuck about Treaty Law in the first place, and if he wasn’t halfway convinced Varis would physically show up at his doorstep to chide him for it, Max probably wouldn’t even turn in half the assignments they were given anyway.
And now this girl was forcing small talk. Great.
”Fine, I guess.” Didn’t help that his magic basically worked the opposite of everyone else’s, and even then he still wasn’t doing much besides drilling movement patterns for easier levitation. ”My expertise is apparently in room-shattering displays and not the kind of delicate crap they have us doing for control exercises.”
“Oh, wow, that’s--” Just as scary as he was! “--kinda cool. Already ahead of the curve!” Lilie replied, trying to ignore the slowly sinking feeling in her chest. Room-shattering? He was exaggerating, right? Or was he really that much ahead? Maybe he was lacking in the control department. That much she could actually relate to.
Fueled by the thought, she finished writing down a date before continuing. “I’m just starting to get a hang of doing shapes and stuff, too,” She told him, deciding to keep the conversation in that direction. “It’s okay, but I wanna try some fun stunts, like this one mage I saw on TV that could ride down a waterfall.”
Shapes? Fuck, he hadn’t even considered that. He was focusing too much on actually getting to the point where he could do what Feliks had done that he didn’t think about what came after. A water mage would probably know how to manipulate liquid, at the very least. Maybe she’d have a tip or two.
”I’m not even at shapes yet, I’ve only worked with solids. This one metal mage I saw could make bronze change state effortlessly, so I figure a head start on that couldn’t hurt, now that you mention it,” Max muttered thoughtfully, “There a trick to it?”
He’d pretty much given up on Treaty Law in favor of the much more useful topic at this point, and was now spinning his pen above his hand effortlessly.
It must have been different for each element. Then again, bending metal seemed difficult, though at least she could say she was impressed with his pen spinning more than their actual work. She wasn’t sure if she could do anything too impressive without getting overly excited and dropping water everywhere, but she had been practicing little tricks here and there.
As to his question, Lilie decided to demonstrate. She uncapped her water bottle, dipping her finger in, and once she pulled it out a stream of water followed her movements. “Esi says our affinities are just another part of us, that we can be one with them if we put enough magic into it,” She explained, tracing a circle into the air. The water followed dutifully, detaching from her finger and spinning with her movement. So long as she kept it moving, it’d stay that way.
“I’m hoping by the end of the semester I can do more complicated stuff, but every time I think I have it, I get too excited,” She admitted, gently breaking the circle and guiding the water back to the bottle. “I think it’s pretty cool that you can get stuff to levitate already. Is it hard?”
Max followed the circle with his eyes as she spun it. That didn’t look too complex, it was basically just levitating a solid with less rigidity. Maybe he could talk one of the alchemists into giving him some mercury to play with.
”What, like this?” The pen floated upward and swayed side to side as Max raised a finger and wagged it back and forth. “Easy enough. Harder when I have a couple different objects unless they’re all moving in the same direction. First time I ever used magic, I ripped a classroom full of chairs apart on accident.” Okay, it wasn’t entirely an accident. He didn’t mean to do it, but he definitely wanted to skewer that vampire somehow.
“You project energy into the water and then shape it, right? Well apparently I’m always projecting.”
Lilie watched with complete fascination, eyebrows raised as her eyes followed the pen. He made it look so easy. It took her way longer to get that much precision! At the mention of projection, Lilie placed a finger on her chin as she thought. Now that Max asked, she actually wasn’t sure. Would it be too weird to admit she didn’t think too much?
“So you’re like...constantly using your magic?” That much she could get, though. “I think I get it. Although wrecking a classroom isn’t too bad! No public property damage, at least.” And if it was here, then she was sure that the school was used to students doing things like that.
Huh, Max never really thought of it as using his magic. It just sat there. Come to think of it, how much energy was he actually wasting on every passing loser with a nipple piercing? It was bad enough he noticed it, let alone using what might as well have been a precious resource on that gross revelation.
“The teacher fixed the classroom with a single incantation. It was kinda impressive,” Max huffed with a dismissive wave, “But it’s not like I’m actively using magic. It just flows out and kinda… sits there. Okay, the easiest way I can think to explain it is imagine having a million arms, but your body only thinks it has two. Normally those arms don’t do anything and just feel everything in the room up or whatever,” The mage drew his fingers in toward his fist, causing Lilie’s pen to gently vibrate in her hand, along with a scraping noise from the plating on his chest and a jiggle from his phone on the desk, as if he’d just gotten a text.
“So you reach out to try and pick something up, and five hundred other arms also pick up whatever they’re holding onto too, and now half the room is floating. Picking things up isn’t the issue, it’s telling all the other hands to not pick something up in the meantime.” The vibration stopped with a downward gesture of Max’s hand on every object but his phone, which then floated about an inch upward off the table.
Lilie looked down at her pen as it moved. Huh, that was actually pretty amazing. The way he put it did make her feel like it was a little much to properly wrap her head around, but as long as he understood it, she supposed it didn’t matter.
“I guess that’s the difference between primaries and tertiaries,” She admitted with a small shrug. “At least it’s not affected by emotion or anything. Apparently primaries have to watch their emotions, too, since you have to feel the magic.” Ben would have a field day if he knew she was looking for ways to control her emotions better, her face souring slightly.
“I’m sure you’ll get it in no time, it’ll probably just take some getting used to, like...instead of letting all the magic flow, you’ll learn to use just enough that you only have as many hands as you need. Or something.”
Honestly, a primary sounded great to Max. Get mad, blow things up, great time all around. Then again, it was probably a pain in the ass when one wanted to blow things up while they were calm, or vice versa.
“Sorta. I make stuff vibrate when I get too pissy. Eris definitely noticed because I see him kinda glance at the nearest metal object when he tries to poke at me too hard.” Max shrugged. It wasn’t quite like the explosions he’d heard, say, pyromancers doing when they lost their cool, but there was a link somewhere. Or maybe his first instinct when he got mad was just to throw things.
“If you just relax you’ll probably do fine. Flow like water or whatever that corny magic fighting movie guy used to say.” It made sense, energetic water was frothing rapids, there wasn’t any structure or control to it besides the current. Calm water was easily managed and predictable. Except when it did that bullshit where it’d flow down the side of the cup weird when you tilted it. Damn, Lilie probably never had to deal with that. He wondered how impure water had to be to still be considered water; could she start making soda float too?
Lilie smiled at Max, nodding enthusiastically. She appreciated his words, though she couldn't help but smile to herself as she looked back down at her textbook. Well, at least they managed to have one nice conversation! She couldn't really ask for more, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to leave things quiet again. Contemplating the next subject, she watched Max for a moment.
"Um, this is probably coming out of nowhere, but...you remind me a lot of my older brother," She admitted. "It sounds weird, but...I mean, it's a good thing. He's kind of rough around the edges, though, but otherwise he's a good person."
What the fuck. Where did that come from?
Max didn’t have it in him to do anything but stare for a couple seconds, face scrunched into a mixture of disgust, discomfort, and pure befuddlement. Did he just get… brotherzoned? He felt like Aaron there for a second.
“Uh,” He started delicately. This one was fragile, he didn’t need her to start crying or whatever, because that’d probably piss him off more. “Yeah, that definitely sounded weird.” He didn’t particularly think of himself as a good person either, but that was beside the point.
Wrong direction, apparently. Lilie's face flushed with color as she shook her head, eyes darting down. Too weird, why did she say that? The look on his face was not a good one. She should've just kept talking about magic. Would it be too obvious if she shifted gears? Oh, she could just ask about his family and potentially rescue the conversation and take it away from her embarrassing statement.
"U-Um...I'm sorry, I guess I just miss him," She tried to laugh it off. ”Do you have any siblings?"
“If you’re hoping I have a little sister to project on you, no,” Max replied flatly. That was her best attempt at floundering for another topic? Really? There really was no good deed he could do that would be left unpunished around here. Did Ryner have some kind of fate magic weaved into this school designed to discipline anyone who wasn’t a cutthroat asshole?
He needed to get off this topic. What else did they have in common? He was pretty sure Eris somehow roped her into walking the dog for him, but he didn’t particularly have anything to say about the rat. Though it was an impressive feat, given Max was pretty sure Eris and her vampire subtextually hated each other. They both knew the same people, but he didn’t really wanna talk about them either. Pale girl didn’t seem like she even knew how to talk shit, let alone work up the balls to actually do it.
”So. Got an arcane major yet?” Given how much Aaron was talking about it, he could only assume the rest of the mages considered this a big deal. Max was content with just his affinity for now, but he wasn’t entirely certain what half the options even did if he was being honest.
"No, I…" Lilie's expression fell hard, though she tried not to look too disappointed. That wasn't why she was asking at all. Well, at least now she knew how other people felt when Ren got snippy with them. Oh well, that's what she got for floundering one silly question. She figured she'd just go back to the assignment at hand, though to her surprise, Max ended up asking about her major. She frowned to herself as she considered the question.
"I'm debating between protection and evocation," Lilie said with a small shrug. "I like the idea of offensive spells, but you need protection in order to duel properly, and I've been fencing for years so it seems like the next logical step." She looked at him curiously. "How about you? Have anything in mind?"
Huh. Max figured she’d be the type to go for something boring like charms or whatever. At least she wasn’t going for mental magic too. If he had to interact with any more of those, he’d probably end up in Ryner’s office getting scolded once a week. She was probably too busy and important to actually discipline people like a school principal, but it was a funny thought.
”I thought I did, but I’m having second thoughts,” He confessed, ”Transmutation seemed like the obvious pick for my affinity, but everytime I analyze that, it seems like a waste of time. Plus, chemistry classes. Ew.” The mage’s nose wrinkled in distaste. Even the stuff he’d gleaned from the internet on how metal works and all the complicated crap that went along with that was pushing the limits of his attention span, let alone if he was going to be tested on it.
Transmutation? Oh, to turn more things into metal! That was actually pretty clever. That said, it wasn’t what she had expected him to say, even if it made the most sense. She was still flip flopping between her two decisions, but if he wasn’t doing transmutation, then she wondered what he’d end up going for. If she had to guess…
“That’d probably get more tedious than helpful,” She voiced her thoughts. “Hmm...metal and…? I guess your affinity can do a lot of things, so if you aren’t trying to match anything, then...maybe evocation is more up your alley.”
She imagined it in her head: Max fashioning several blades as they hovered all around them, charging them with electricity before shooting them forth. Aw man, metal was an awesome affinity, too. It was everywhere! But if he was ever in a pinch, then maybe she could see him leaning towards other spells. “On weekdays, I watch some of the seniors spar--the spells they use are pretty neat. I can see you doing some of them.”
“Mhmm,” He hummed affirmatively, “I was thinking that too. Might be overkill, but whatever. Not like there’s anything I particularly need from arcane magic.” Protection was another contender, on the off-chance someone started flinging spells back at him, but he figured with the amount of armor he was toting around, the basic warding spells they taught to everyone would be sufficient.
“Is that your plan too? Smacking a guy with a pressure washer doesn’t sound too reliable.” Well it did, but not if they were a mage too.
Lilie laughed nervously, unsure how to take the comment. Well, at least the conversation had picked up again, so that was good. She scratched her cheek thoughtfully. “That’s pretty much why I wanted to go into evocation. I feel like water isn’t really useful as an affinity. It’s okay as something to use, I guess, but...I don’t think it would be very useful against vampires.” She sighed. “I don’t think vampires could drown, or even be very affected by a ‘pressure washer’ or anything like that.”
Max raised a brow at her comment. She’d never seen one of those videos? Damn, he needed to fix that. And the part about the vampires was curious too. Did she plan on going around and hurling energy bolts at - what the fuck did Eris call her leech? Benson? - Benson’s opponents? Or the count himself, maybe? There’s no way she’d admit that so casually if she did.
He picked up his phone and idly tapped at it while responding, “Nah, water at a high enough pressure is scary. Hang on.” Max turned the phone around to show her a video with an all-caps clickbait title. He skipped ahead past some obnoxious guy talking to an iron rod getting literally sawed in half by a jet of pressurized water. “Dunno how much pressure - or energy, for that matter - this takes, but it’ll at least hurt somebody. The evocation method definitely sounds easier, though.”
She gasped at the video, although the shock quickly turned into awe. Could she end up doing that? Granted, it was a human in the video, but if she could put that much pressure into something, then maybe her affinity wasn’t so useless after all. Her fingers tapped the table, her mind racing at the possibilities.
“At least my affinity is good for something if I can cut a vampire in half,” She muttered mostly to herself, letting out another sigh. “Whatever it takes to defend myself best is what I’ll go for. Either protection to protect myself, or evocation so at least I can do some damage.”
Max flashed a mischievous grin as he leaned in conspiratorially. “Oh? You planning on overthrowing the government or something? I don’t think mage-on-vampire violence is exactly encouraged in polite society.” She was probably just paranoid and didn’t want to feel helpless, but it was always nice to have mage friends that also didn’t like vampires. Talking to Aaron felt like he was trying to convince a fish to walk.
He had no idea what Benny’s deal was, either. If Flower Boy was bringing this up, Max would totally understand - that Astorio would probably have him hunting people for sport his first day out of the academy, but an Eve? What the hell did they even do? Aside from slowly waste away, if the rumors were to be believed. Maybe there was a concern the other houses would declare open season on them in the near future and she wanted to be ready for that.
Lilie blinked for a few seconds, only then realizing that what she said could have been taken the wrong way. She waved his words away, shaking head head. “As if I could,” She denied it, though she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t wish she could. “Vampires can’t be trusted. They’re petty, they’re liars, they only look for their own interests...and all they care about is what they want, everyone else be damned.”
She let out a huff, placing her chin on the palm of her hand. Hm, she did remember Aaron telling her that it was bad to talk about her own house. “I guess the vampire I have now is...fine. He’s stiff but kind. But every other one...for all I know, all I have to do is say the wrong thing or look at them when they’re in a bad mood, and they’ll snap me in half. Or worse,” Her disdain was crystal clear, speaking with a dim, but obvious hatred. “You saw how the Astorio approached me. And...yeah, he apologized, but what if he decides to do it again? And that Marivaldi one tried to talk to me, acting like she cared. I hate them.”
Max had to stop himself from laughing. That was unexpected; maybe he misjudged her. Even so, he couldn’t very well disagree with her. Most of them wouldn’t try making a move against her publicly, but unless she carried an escort around everywhere as a witness, accidents did happen.
“You know you’re like the first person at this school I’ve talked to with any sense on that matter.” Salem was alright on that level, he guessed, but he was still a shut-in from a mage family. Reform was a poor substitute for staking them all and being done with it. “These mages get into a fun little partnership with their roommate and forget the reality of the situation until Count Stick-Up-His-Ass snaps at them,” Max grumbled, “Or they were whipped from the start, but I can’t tell if that’s better or worse.”
Not to mention the mages he’d seen sucking face with their vampire on some bench for everyone to see. A leech using their mage for sex was no surprise, and showing a particularly attractive mage off like a trophy had to be a status symbol, but for the mage to be into it? Have some shame. Some of them were genuine too, and he couldn’t imagine their arrangement was as cozy as the viscountess Feliks had wrapped around his little finger either.
Lilie crossed her arms, letting out another huff of annoyance. “It’s because we’re raised to think that we should be grateful that we have such ‘honorable guidance’ and get on our hands and knees to thank them,” She said. “It’s not even real gratitude, people are being brainwashed!”
Feeling herself getting riled up, she noticed the water in the bottle stirring slightly. Carefully placing a cap on it, she rolled her eyes. “I’m from a small farming town, we don’t even see any vampires, honestly. Once in a while one shows up, but otherwise, it was good never having to bow or think about how I act or any of that dumb etiquette stuff,” She tightened the cap, placing the bottle on the table again. “I didn’t ask to come here. I had my own plans after high school, my own dreams...and now none of it matters because now I have the ‘honor’ of serving a vampire. It’s like...we’re just meant to be sacrifices so the rest of humanity can be in peace. But I still...I don’t like it. If vampires were different, maybe, but...they’re so cruel. I can’t possibly be happy about being bound to serve one for the rest of my life.”
Oh, jeez, Max couldn’t imagine having big plans only to get tossed in this dump instead. His own adulthood plans were… less than thought out by the time he awakened, and it wasn’t like he was enthusiastic about anything he came up with anyway. Floating along without a leech lording over him was preferable to doing it with one, but it was still just aimless existing. Not too much of a change, aside from the annoyance he was forced into living with.
“Well, you can embrace the stupid martyr ideal until you believe it if you wanna feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself,” Or whatever the fuck those career counsellors in high school used to say, anyway. “Otherwise, make the most of it, I guess. You can’t just be miserable forever.”
He really hoped she wouldn’t point out that the pot was calling the kettle black here. Since when was he an optimist? It was better than having to throw sympathy at her, in any case, that was just uncomfortable.
Why are you like this, Maxwell?
“That, or just be such a pain in the ass that they seal your magic and throw you back into the civilian workforce.” Or the mines, but he was an optimist today. Apparently.
There was no hiding the small smile on her face--she’d be lying if she said the thought of having her magic sealed never crossed her mind. But now that she had it, it felt so good to have. It was hard to explain, but it was like discovering an entirely new side to her. Max did have a point though: she couldn’t stay miserable forever. He really was a lot like her brother, but she would keep that to herself.
“You’re right. Thank you,” She said sincerely, straightening up in her seat. “For now I’ll just embrace the magic part of being a mage. It’s the best part, anyway.”
She paused. Anytime a thought came to mind, it always seemed to ruin the conversation, but she couldn’t help her curiosity. “Are you going to make the most of who you’re paired with, too?” She asked him slowly. “I mean, it’s probably a hassle to be paired with a celebrity, but Eris Samael seems okay whenever we interact. Or is he totally different from all the tabloids?”
That question might’ve been easier to answer if Max knew what the tabloids actually said. He had an idea, sure. And, honestly, it probably fit. Still, there was a fakeness to him whenever Max saw him interact with fans.
”Fuck, I dunno. Maybe? I don’t know how to read him. He’s got a bunch of other mages, so I can’t imagine he’ll work me too hard, but the guy gets his kicks from annoying people.” Max let out a slow exhale. The celebrity aspect was a solid negative; extra attention wasn’t something he was looking for. That being said, most of the eyes were still on Eris and not him. Eris himself somehow managed to be both a puzzle and remarkably simple at the same time. Ismene didn’t seem to mind him, in any case, and she was the one that did all the work around there.
”Right now, I think he’s in politicking mode, and he’s dragging me into it. That’s annoying.” This girl was still in Aaron’s pocket, which meant she was essentially in Varis’ pocket by association. Still, he could probably get by telling her the bare minimum. He didn’t think his little agreement with Aaron covered things the light mage learned secondhand from others, so he wasn’t keen on risking anything here until he knew Pale Girl was trustworthy.
Lilie was a little surprised by that, but after giving it some thought, she realized it actually wasn’t. “Hmm...he must have learned from his father,” She mused out loud. “Vincent Samael is a really savvy business man who gets involved in things like that, so hearing that Eris does it too isn’t that weird now that I think about it. His mom is the one with the name, but his dad was the one that knew how to make profits and deals.”
After a few seconds, she gave him a sympathetic smile. “He always has this image of this clean-cut, mysterious bachelor, so I wondered if it was the same behind closed doors,” She admitted that much. “If he’s dragging you into something, maybe it’s because he trusts you.” Not that she’d know anything about that sort of thing--Ben never really told her about things like that and had specifically forbidden her to go near his safe and desk. “It’s kinda optimistic, but I don’t know, it’s a nice thought. At the very least he’s good to look at.”
Max let out a ‘pfft’ sound. ”Eris is letting me in on it because I’m the only tool he’s got here, let’s not fool ourselves. Besides, he does enough looking at himself for the both of us. The amount of time that guy spends in front of the mirror every mor- evening is shocking.”
Now was probably not the time to mention the image of Eris between his legs was forever associated with being used as a food source and pretty much soured any sort of middle school celebrity crush fantasies he could’ve possibly cooked up anyway. If she knew about Eris’ dad, then she was probably one of his least favorite types of people at the moment - a big Eris fan. It made sense, she looked starstruck around him all the time, but he could’ve written that off as the simple novelty of meeting a celebrity.
“You’re in the know, what’s up with him and Harmonica?” Max asked, knowingly butchering the leech’s sister’s name but not quite sure what the real one actually was. Of all the people in his family, Eris probably mentioned her the most. Not that it really meant anything, given how mundane the instances he spoke of his family were to begin with.
Her hand flew up to her mouth as she tried not to laugh too hard. Imagining Eris in front of a mirror admiring himself was definitely something she could imagine, and it was too funny. She recovered when he asked about...Harmonica? He meant Harmonia, right? It had to be, she didn’t know anyone that associated with Eris named Harmonica. How silly.
“You mean his sister Harmonia?” She asked, trying not to laugh again. “Um...well, they aren’t on the best of terms. She’s kind of...bad. I mean, she’s almost always causing drama and picking fights with people, and last I heard she got in a lot of trouble from...something. Apparently the two worked together on...what was the name of it…?” She paused to think for a second. “...it was a movie about a duke that was disowned by his family...yeah, they actually worked together in it. The one and only movie that had both Samael siblings in it--oh! I remember! It was For You, and there was a huge scandal that came out right before the movie was released where Harmonia had fed off someone else’s mage. It was a pretty big deal when it happened.” She grimaced, shuddering slightly. “She’s crazy. Or at least, she looks like she is. I mean, she’s pretty, but it’s never good news whenever her name pops up.”
Great. Another psychopath was just what he needed in his life. At least Eris apparently avoided her, if only to spare his own reputation. And if she was feeding off other people’s mages, his neck was probably going to be her meal at some point. Hopefully the sheer displeasure of meeting her would sour him up enough that she’d only make that mistake once, at least.
“I have no idea why they don’t get along, that sounds like Eris’ type of party,” Max groaned dryly. She probably had too much fun at his expense; Eris lost his touch quick if he was the one being annoyed and not the other way around.
“You think so?” Lilie was a little confused by that. “Well...they’re siblings after all, I’m sure they get on each other’s nerves a lot. That’s just a regular brother-sister dynamic, but maybe with vampirism and all that fame makes it like...a million times worse.” That was her best guess, anyway.
As she looked over at her water bottle, Lilie seemed to realize something. “I guess you aren’t into that kind of stuff, huh?” She guessed. “It’s silly, but he starred in my mom’s favorite movie, so I ended up being a fan of his from a young age. But you know, you could always look up stuff--the bad thing about being a celebrity is that anytime anything happens, everyone ends up finding out sooner or later. Since you’re his mage now, you might end up showing up in some of his pictures, too.”
”Oh, they’ve definitely caught wind of me by now. Maybe not by name, but they know I exist,” Max lamented, remembering that chucklefuck back home and how he was apparently the subject of gossip for the whole neighborhood.
”Let’s just say I’m putting off learning what the internet thinks about me for as long as I possibly can and leave it at that.” So many horny people. And some of them weren’t afraid to admit it. If Eris ever decided to take him as an escort in public, he needed to inform the leech very seriously that there could be a lawsuit on his hands by the end of the day.
Come to think of it, he really should watch an Eris movie sometime, but he had no idea when and where he could get away with doing it. He certainly wasn’t going to do it in the dorm where the leech might walk in on him - that conversation would be torture. Someone else’s dorm wasn’t much better, given that, A, he’d have to sit through an Eris Samael movie with other people forming their grubby opinions about why he wanted to watch his vampire’s movie; and B, it still might get back to Eris that he’d been watching it if the resident vampire of that dorm walked in and saw it. He couldn’t win.
Lilie nodded in understanding, pulling out her own phone as it gave out a small beep. She looked to see a voicemail--probably Ben letting her know they were going to go through etiquette lessons again. Being paired with a noble was just the absolute worst.
"Probably a good idea. The internet can get weird," She admitted, quickly sending Ben a message that she knew he wouldn't reply to anytime soon. Her eyes flickered to the time, and she realized a lot more time had passed than she had anticipated. Look at that, they managed to have a real conversation! Amazing! Swelling with pride, she tried not to look too silly as she smiled at her phone.
"At least you don't have hours of manners lessons," She told Max. "I think I'll pop in The Blood Wars on the DVD player in my--our dorm and hope it distracts the count." It probably wouldn't work, but she was still going to try. She'd do anything to avoid having to learn what each tiny fork did despite every fork serving the exact purpose. "Aaron apparently found the movie 'hilarious', but I think it's Eris' prime role for a good reason. It's an older movie, but it still holds up!" She never did ask him why he said that, did she? What a weirdo.
"I think we're almost done with our time, Salem never showed up, either," She said. "Oh well."
What the hell, maybe she didn’t need to major in mental magic, she was reading his mind just fine. Well, he guessed it was fair, they were talking about Eris. The leeching trying to put him through manners lessons of all things was a funny thought, though. Even moreso if putting a movie on was enough to get out of it.
”Didn’t peg your leech as an Eris fan. Anytime I see them talking, Eris has that ‘I want to gouge out your eyes’ smile on his face.” Blood War was the Landar movie, right? Aaron was probably losing his shit over his great-great-whatever the fuck being played by some campy drama queen. Max’s own opinion of Landar was precarious and he wasn’t sure associating him with Eris wouldn’t be the final push that tipped the man into Max’s disfavor. At least until the image of Eris lighting Nox on fire crossed his mind.
Lilie gave Max a slightly mischievous smile, lightly fiddling with her phone. True, putting Eris' face in front of Ben was a bad idea, but she couldn't help it. "He isn't," She admitted that much. "But maybe seeing Eris would launch him into another one of his lectures. Anything to get out of learning about how to 'properly place utensils on a plate' because...I really, really can't stand it." She really didn't mean to come off so catty, but between the extra etiquette stuff and the additional voice coaching lessons, she was very quickly finding herself dragging her feet on the way back to the dorm these days-nights.
"They're non-negotiable, though, so maybe it's not worth it," She sighed, organizing her notes and making sure she didn't mix them with Aaron's. "Oh well. I'll probably watch it on my own time, it's been a while since I've seen it."
Once she had everything in its place, she gathered up her books and folders, placing everything neatly into her bag. "I'll text Salem and tell him to write up his part. Sound good?" She asked.
As far as Max knew, utensil etiquette was pretty simple. Unless it got super elaborate at noble tables. Three forks was his cutoff, honestly. Then again there were probably a million rules on how to put things in one’s mouth and whatever. If she was going to watch a movie, that’d be an innocent enough way for him to watch it, right? Ugh, but then Lilie might think they were friends. Were they friends? He had no idea how to gauge that kind of thing anymore, ever since he got here.
”Sounds pointless. Especially since vampires don’t even fucking eat like people.” Seriously, did they really care if their pets ate with their hands or not, let alone with a specific type of plate? He hesitated a moment before continuing in a resigned tone, ”And tell me when you’re watching that movie, if your Count’s not around. I’ve never seen an Eris Samael movie and if I asked Eris to show it to me, I’d never hear the end of it.”
It wasn’t like this girl could stop him if he decided he’d seen enough and just left halfway through the second act, in any case.
Lilie stopped zipping up her bag, a little surprised at Max's request. Well, it wasn't so much a request as it was a statement. Her initial thought was to suggest making it a movie night, but considering he hadn't mentioned anyone else and she had already blundered once before and they were ending the conversation nicely, she opted to keep her suggestion to herself. Besides, a quiet movie night wasn't a bad idea.
"I'll let you know, then," She said, closing her bag.
To be fair, this had never happened before. Their study group consisted of Salem, Maxwell, and herself. All three of them were pretty on point with their work, getting things done efficiently. Of course, Lilie was pretty sure nothing she ever wrote was good enough for Count Sinnenodel--the highest she had ever gotten from him was a B+ and that had been the only paper not filled with a million remarks--but she actually liked working together with her group. She had opted not to use Aaron’s notes for their studies, but she did read them before and after to make sure she was well informed, and together their group assignments did well.
But that was all three of them together, and right now, it was just the two of them. Salem had urged them to study together today, and at first Lilie actually saw it as a good thing. They had known each other for almost three months, but she could count the number of conversations she had with Maxwell alone on one hand. Actually, that was generous--they had half a conversation when they first met and that was basically it. And Max was either willing to keep up the trend or unwilling to make conversation with her.
Lilie tried to think of something to talk about, lightly rolling her pen between her fingers. Deciding she may as well give it a shot, she sat up and gave him a smile. “So...how’s your affinity class going?” That was a pretty typical question people gave, right?
Max was seriously reconsidering why he even bothered showing up today. If Flower Boy was too good to be here, he didn’t see why he wouldn’t have an excuse to ditch too. Wasn’t like he gave a fuck about Treaty Law in the first place, and if he wasn’t halfway convinced Varis would physically show up at his doorstep to chide him for it, Max probably wouldn’t even turn in half the assignments they were given anyway.
And now this girl was forcing small talk. Great.
”Fine, I guess.” Didn’t help that his magic basically worked the opposite of everyone else’s, and even then he still wasn’t doing much besides drilling movement patterns for easier levitation. ”My expertise is apparently in room-shattering displays and not the kind of delicate crap they have us doing for control exercises.”
“Oh, wow, that’s--” Just as scary as he was! “--kinda cool. Already ahead of the curve!” Lilie replied, trying to ignore the slowly sinking feeling in her chest. Room-shattering? He was exaggerating, right? Or was he really that much ahead? Maybe he was lacking in the control department. That much she could actually relate to.
Fueled by the thought, she finished writing down a date before continuing. “I’m just starting to get a hang of doing shapes and stuff, too,” She told him, deciding to keep the conversation in that direction. “It’s okay, but I wanna try some fun stunts, like this one mage I saw on TV that could ride down a waterfall.”
Shapes? Fuck, he hadn’t even considered that. He was focusing too much on actually getting to the point where he could do what Feliks had done that he didn’t think about what came after. A water mage would probably know how to manipulate liquid, at the very least. Maybe she’d have a tip or two.
”I’m not even at shapes yet, I’ve only worked with solids. This one metal mage I saw could make bronze change state effortlessly, so I figure a head start on that couldn’t hurt, now that you mention it,” Max muttered thoughtfully, “There a trick to it?”
He’d pretty much given up on Treaty Law in favor of the much more useful topic at this point, and was now spinning his pen above his hand effortlessly.
It must have been different for each element. Then again, bending metal seemed difficult, though at least she could say she was impressed with his pen spinning more than their actual work. She wasn’t sure if she could do anything too impressive without getting overly excited and dropping water everywhere, but she had been practicing little tricks here and there.
As to his question, Lilie decided to demonstrate. She uncapped her water bottle, dipping her finger in, and once she pulled it out a stream of water followed her movements. “Esi says our affinities are just another part of us, that we can be one with them if we put enough magic into it,” She explained, tracing a circle into the air. The water followed dutifully, detaching from her finger and spinning with her movement. So long as she kept it moving, it’d stay that way.
“I’m hoping by the end of the semester I can do more complicated stuff, but every time I think I have it, I get too excited,” She admitted, gently breaking the circle and guiding the water back to the bottle. “I think it’s pretty cool that you can get stuff to levitate already. Is it hard?”
Max followed the circle with his eyes as she spun it. That didn’t look too complex, it was basically just levitating a solid with less rigidity. Maybe he could talk one of the alchemists into giving him some mercury to play with.
”What, like this?” The pen floated upward and swayed side to side as Max raised a finger and wagged it back and forth. “Easy enough. Harder when I have a couple different objects unless they’re all moving in the same direction. First time I ever used magic, I ripped a classroom full of chairs apart on accident.” Okay, it wasn’t entirely an accident. He didn’t mean to do it, but he definitely wanted to skewer that vampire somehow.
“You project energy into the water and then shape it, right? Well apparently I’m always projecting.”
Lilie watched with complete fascination, eyebrows raised as her eyes followed the pen. He made it look so easy. It took her way longer to get that much precision! At the mention of projection, Lilie placed a finger on her chin as she thought. Now that Max asked, she actually wasn’t sure. Would it be too weird to admit she didn’t think too much?
“So you’re like...constantly using your magic?” That much she could get, though. “I think I get it. Although wrecking a classroom isn’t too bad! No public property damage, at least.” And if it was here, then she was sure that the school was used to students doing things like that.
Huh, Max never really thought of it as using his magic. It just sat there. Come to think of it, how much energy was he actually wasting on every passing loser with a nipple piercing? It was bad enough he noticed it, let alone using what might as well have been a precious resource on that gross revelation.
“The teacher fixed the classroom with a single incantation. It was kinda impressive,” Max huffed with a dismissive wave, “But it’s not like I’m actively using magic. It just flows out and kinda… sits there. Okay, the easiest way I can think to explain it is imagine having a million arms, but your body only thinks it has two. Normally those arms don’t do anything and just feel everything in the room up or whatever,” The mage drew his fingers in toward his fist, causing Lilie’s pen to gently vibrate in her hand, along with a scraping noise from the plating on his chest and a jiggle from his phone on the desk, as if he’d just gotten a text.
“So you reach out to try and pick something up, and five hundred other arms also pick up whatever they’re holding onto too, and now half the room is floating. Picking things up isn’t the issue, it’s telling all the other hands to not pick something up in the meantime.” The vibration stopped with a downward gesture of Max’s hand on every object but his phone, which then floated about an inch upward off the table.
Lilie looked down at her pen as it moved. Huh, that was actually pretty amazing. The way he put it did make her feel like it was a little much to properly wrap her head around, but as long as he understood it, she supposed it didn’t matter.
“I guess that’s the difference between primaries and tertiaries,” She admitted with a small shrug. “At least it’s not affected by emotion or anything. Apparently primaries have to watch their emotions, too, since you have to feel the magic.” Ben would have a field day if he knew she was looking for ways to control her emotions better, her face souring slightly.
“I’m sure you’ll get it in no time, it’ll probably just take some getting used to, like...instead of letting all the magic flow, you’ll learn to use just enough that you only have as many hands as you need. Or something.”
Honestly, a primary sounded great to Max. Get mad, blow things up, great time all around. Then again, it was probably a pain in the ass when one wanted to blow things up while they were calm, or vice versa.
“Sorta. I make stuff vibrate when I get too pissy. Eris definitely noticed because I see him kinda glance at the nearest metal object when he tries to poke at me too hard.” Max shrugged. It wasn’t quite like the explosions he’d heard, say, pyromancers doing when they lost their cool, but there was a link somewhere. Or maybe his first instinct when he got mad was just to throw things.
“If you just relax you’ll probably do fine. Flow like water or whatever that corny magic fighting movie guy used to say.” It made sense, energetic water was frothing rapids, there wasn’t any structure or control to it besides the current. Calm water was easily managed and predictable. Except when it did that bullshit where it’d flow down the side of the cup weird when you tilted it. Damn, Lilie probably never had to deal with that. He wondered how impure water had to be to still be considered water; could she start making soda float too?
Lilie smiled at Max, nodding enthusiastically. She appreciated his words, though she couldn't help but smile to herself as she looked back down at her textbook. Well, at least they managed to have one nice conversation! She couldn't really ask for more, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to leave things quiet again. Contemplating the next subject, she watched Max for a moment.
"Um, this is probably coming out of nowhere, but...you remind me a lot of my older brother," She admitted. "It sounds weird, but...I mean, it's a good thing. He's kind of rough around the edges, though, but otherwise he's a good person."
What the fuck. Where did that come from?
Max didn’t have it in him to do anything but stare for a couple seconds, face scrunched into a mixture of disgust, discomfort, and pure befuddlement. Did he just get… brotherzoned? He felt like Aaron there for a second.
“Uh,” He started delicately. This one was fragile, he didn’t need her to start crying or whatever, because that’d probably piss him off more. “Yeah, that definitely sounded weird.” He didn’t particularly think of himself as a good person either, but that was beside the point.
Wrong direction, apparently. Lilie's face flushed with color as she shook her head, eyes darting down. Too weird, why did she say that? The look on his face was not a good one. She should've just kept talking about magic. Would it be too obvious if she shifted gears? Oh, she could just ask about his family and potentially rescue the conversation and take it away from her embarrassing statement.
"U-Um...I'm sorry, I guess I just miss him," She tried to laugh it off. ”Do you have any siblings?"
“If you’re hoping I have a little sister to project on you, no,” Max replied flatly. That was her best attempt at floundering for another topic? Really? There really was no good deed he could do that would be left unpunished around here. Did Ryner have some kind of fate magic weaved into this school designed to discipline anyone who wasn’t a cutthroat asshole?
He needed to get off this topic. What else did they have in common? He was pretty sure Eris somehow roped her into walking the dog for him, but he didn’t particularly have anything to say about the rat. Though it was an impressive feat, given Max was pretty sure Eris and her vampire subtextually hated each other. They both knew the same people, but he didn’t really wanna talk about them either. Pale girl didn’t seem like she even knew how to talk shit, let alone work up the balls to actually do it.
”So. Got an arcane major yet?” Given how much Aaron was talking about it, he could only assume the rest of the mages considered this a big deal. Max was content with just his affinity for now, but he wasn’t entirely certain what half the options even did if he was being honest.
"No, I…" Lilie's expression fell hard, though she tried not to look too disappointed. That wasn't why she was asking at all. Well, at least now she knew how other people felt when Ren got snippy with them. Oh well, that's what she got for floundering one silly question. She figured she'd just go back to the assignment at hand, though to her surprise, Max ended up asking about her major. She frowned to herself as she considered the question.
"I'm debating between protection and evocation," Lilie said with a small shrug. "I like the idea of offensive spells, but you need protection in order to duel properly, and I've been fencing for years so it seems like the next logical step." She looked at him curiously. "How about you? Have anything in mind?"
Huh. Max figured she’d be the type to go for something boring like charms or whatever. At least she wasn’t going for mental magic too. If he had to interact with any more of those, he’d probably end up in Ryner’s office getting scolded once a week. She was probably too busy and important to actually discipline people like a school principal, but it was a funny thought.
”I thought I did, but I’m having second thoughts,” He confessed, ”Transmutation seemed like the obvious pick for my affinity, but everytime I analyze that, it seems like a waste of time. Plus, chemistry classes. Ew.” The mage’s nose wrinkled in distaste. Even the stuff he’d gleaned from the internet on how metal works and all the complicated crap that went along with that was pushing the limits of his attention span, let alone if he was going to be tested on it.
Transmutation? Oh, to turn more things into metal! That was actually pretty clever. That said, it wasn’t what she had expected him to say, even if it made the most sense. She was still flip flopping between her two decisions, but if he wasn’t doing transmutation, then she wondered what he’d end up going for. If she had to guess…
“That’d probably get more tedious than helpful,” She voiced her thoughts. “Hmm...metal and…? I guess your affinity can do a lot of things, so if you aren’t trying to match anything, then...maybe evocation is more up your alley.”
She imagined it in her head: Max fashioning several blades as they hovered all around them, charging them with electricity before shooting them forth. Aw man, metal was an awesome affinity, too. It was everywhere! But if he was ever in a pinch, then maybe she could see him leaning towards other spells. “On weekdays, I watch some of the seniors spar--the spells they use are pretty neat. I can see you doing some of them.”
“Mhmm,” He hummed affirmatively, “I was thinking that too. Might be overkill, but whatever. Not like there’s anything I particularly need from arcane magic.” Protection was another contender, on the off-chance someone started flinging spells back at him, but he figured with the amount of armor he was toting around, the basic warding spells they taught to everyone would be sufficient.
“Is that your plan too? Smacking a guy with a pressure washer doesn’t sound too reliable.” Well it did, but not if they were a mage too.
Lilie laughed nervously, unsure how to take the comment. Well, at least the conversation had picked up again, so that was good. She scratched her cheek thoughtfully. “That’s pretty much why I wanted to go into evocation. I feel like water isn’t really useful as an affinity. It’s okay as something to use, I guess, but...I don’t think it would be very useful against vampires.” She sighed. “I don’t think vampires could drown, or even be very affected by a ‘pressure washer’ or anything like that.”
Max raised a brow at her comment. She’d never seen one of those videos? Damn, he needed to fix that. And the part about the vampires was curious too. Did she plan on going around and hurling energy bolts at - what the fuck did Eris call her leech? Benson? - Benson’s opponents? Or the count himself, maybe? There’s no way she’d admit that so casually if she did.
He picked up his phone and idly tapped at it while responding, “Nah, water at a high enough pressure is scary. Hang on.” Max turned the phone around to show her a video with an all-caps clickbait title. He skipped ahead past some obnoxious guy talking to an iron rod getting literally sawed in half by a jet of pressurized water. “Dunno how much pressure - or energy, for that matter - this takes, but it’ll at least hurt somebody. The evocation method definitely sounds easier, though.”
She gasped at the video, although the shock quickly turned into awe. Could she end up doing that? Granted, it was a human in the video, but if she could put that much pressure into something, then maybe her affinity wasn’t so useless after all. Her fingers tapped the table, her mind racing at the possibilities.
“At least my affinity is good for something if I can cut a vampire in half,” She muttered mostly to herself, letting out another sigh. “Whatever it takes to defend myself best is what I’ll go for. Either protection to protect myself, or evocation so at least I can do some damage.”
Max flashed a mischievous grin as he leaned in conspiratorially. “Oh? You planning on overthrowing the government or something? I don’t think mage-on-vampire violence is exactly encouraged in polite society.” She was probably just paranoid and didn’t want to feel helpless, but it was always nice to have mage friends that also didn’t like vampires. Talking to Aaron felt like he was trying to convince a fish to walk.
He had no idea what Benny’s deal was, either. If Flower Boy was bringing this up, Max would totally understand - that Astorio would probably have him hunting people for sport his first day out of the academy, but an Eve? What the hell did they even do? Aside from slowly waste away, if the rumors were to be believed. Maybe there was a concern the other houses would declare open season on them in the near future and she wanted to be ready for that.
Lilie blinked for a few seconds, only then realizing that what she said could have been taken the wrong way. She waved his words away, shaking head head. “As if I could,” She denied it, though she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t wish she could. “Vampires can’t be trusted. They’re petty, they’re liars, they only look for their own interests...and all they care about is what they want, everyone else be damned.”
She let out a huff, placing her chin on the palm of her hand. Hm, she did remember Aaron telling her that it was bad to talk about her own house. “I guess the vampire I have now is...fine. He’s stiff but kind. But every other one...for all I know, all I have to do is say the wrong thing or look at them when they’re in a bad mood, and they’ll snap me in half. Or worse,” Her disdain was crystal clear, speaking with a dim, but obvious hatred. “You saw how the Astorio approached me. And...yeah, he apologized, but what if he decides to do it again? And that Marivaldi one tried to talk to me, acting like she cared. I hate them.”
Max had to stop himself from laughing. That was unexpected; maybe he misjudged her. Even so, he couldn’t very well disagree with her. Most of them wouldn’t try making a move against her publicly, but unless she carried an escort around everywhere as a witness, accidents did happen.
“You know you’re like the first person at this school I’ve talked to with any sense on that matter.” Salem was alright on that level, he guessed, but he was still a shut-in from a mage family. Reform was a poor substitute for staking them all and being done with it. “These mages get into a fun little partnership with their roommate and forget the reality of the situation until Count Stick-Up-His-Ass snaps at them,” Max grumbled, “Or they were whipped from the start, but I can’t tell if that’s better or worse.”
Not to mention the mages he’d seen sucking face with their vampire on some bench for everyone to see. A leech using their mage for sex was no surprise, and showing a particularly attractive mage off like a trophy had to be a status symbol, but for the mage to be into it? Have some shame. Some of them were genuine too, and he couldn’t imagine their arrangement was as cozy as the viscountess Feliks had wrapped around his little finger either.
Lilie crossed her arms, letting out another huff of annoyance. “It’s because we’re raised to think that we should be grateful that we have such ‘honorable guidance’ and get on our hands and knees to thank them,” She said. “It’s not even real gratitude, people are being brainwashed!”
Feeling herself getting riled up, she noticed the water in the bottle stirring slightly. Carefully placing a cap on it, she rolled her eyes. “I’m from a small farming town, we don’t even see any vampires, honestly. Once in a while one shows up, but otherwise, it was good never having to bow or think about how I act or any of that dumb etiquette stuff,” She tightened the cap, placing the bottle on the table again. “I didn’t ask to come here. I had my own plans after high school, my own dreams...and now none of it matters because now I have the ‘honor’ of serving a vampire. It’s like...we’re just meant to be sacrifices so the rest of humanity can be in peace. But I still...I don’t like it. If vampires were different, maybe, but...they’re so cruel. I can’t possibly be happy about being bound to serve one for the rest of my life.”
Oh, jeez, Max couldn’t imagine having big plans only to get tossed in this dump instead. His own adulthood plans were… less than thought out by the time he awakened, and it wasn’t like he was enthusiastic about anything he came up with anyway. Floating along without a leech lording over him was preferable to doing it with one, but it was still just aimless existing. Not too much of a change, aside from the annoyance he was forced into living with.
“Well, you can embrace the stupid martyr ideal until you believe it if you wanna feel like you’re part of something bigger than yourself,” Or whatever the fuck those career counsellors in high school used to say, anyway. “Otherwise, make the most of it, I guess. You can’t just be miserable forever.”
He really hoped she wouldn’t point out that the pot was calling the kettle black here. Since when was he an optimist? It was better than having to throw sympathy at her, in any case, that was just uncomfortable.
Why are you like this, Maxwell?
“That, or just be such a pain in the ass that they seal your magic and throw you back into the civilian workforce.” Or the mines, but he was an optimist today. Apparently.
There was no hiding the small smile on her face--she’d be lying if she said the thought of having her magic sealed never crossed her mind. But now that she had it, it felt so good to have. It was hard to explain, but it was like discovering an entirely new side to her. Max did have a point though: she couldn’t stay miserable forever. He really was a lot like her brother, but she would keep that to herself.
“You’re right. Thank you,” She said sincerely, straightening up in her seat. “For now I’ll just embrace the magic part of being a mage. It’s the best part, anyway.”
She paused. Anytime a thought came to mind, it always seemed to ruin the conversation, but she couldn’t help her curiosity. “Are you going to make the most of who you’re paired with, too?” She asked him slowly. “I mean, it’s probably a hassle to be paired with a celebrity, but Eris Samael seems okay whenever we interact. Or is he totally different from all the tabloids?”
That question might’ve been easier to answer if Max knew what the tabloids actually said. He had an idea, sure. And, honestly, it probably fit. Still, there was a fakeness to him whenever Max saw him interact with fans.
”Fuck, I dunno. Maybe? I don’t know how to read him. He’s got a bunch of other mages, so I can’t imagine he’ll work me too hard, but the guy gets his kicks from annoying people.” Max let out a slow exhale. The celebrity aspect was a solid negative; extra attention wasn’t something he was looking for. That being said, most of the eyes were still on Eris and not him. Eris himself somehow managed to be both a puzzle and remarkably simple at the same time. Ismene didn’t seem to mind him, in any case, and she was the one that did all the work around there.
”Right now, I think he’s in politicking mode, and he’s dragging me into it. That’s annoying.” This girl was still in Aaron’s pocket, which meant she was essentially in Varis’ pocket by association. Still, he could probably get by telling her the bare minimum. He didn’t think his little agreement with Aaron covered things the light mage learned secondhand from others, so he wasn’t keen on risking anything here until he knew Pale Girl was trustworthy.
Lilie was a little surprised by that, but after giving it some thought, she realized it actually wasn’t. “Hmm...he must have learned from his father,” She mused out loud. “Vincent Samael is a really savvy business man who gets involved in things like that, so hearing that Eris does it too isn’t that weird now that I think about it. His mom is the one with the name, but his dad was the one that knew how to make profits and deals.”
After a few seconds, she gave him a sympathetic smile. “He always has this image of this clean-cut, mysterious bachelor, so I wondered if it was the same behind closed doors,” She admitted that much. “If he’s dragging you into something, maybe it’s because he trusts you.” Not that she’d know anything about that sort of thing--Ben never really told her about things like that and had specifically forbidden her to go near his safe and desk. “It’s kinda optimistic, but I don’t know, it’s a nice thought. At the very least he’s good to look at.”
Max let out a ‘pfft’ sound. ”Eris is letting me in on it because I’m the only tool he’s got here, let’s not fool ourselves. Besides, he does enough looking at himself for the both of us. The amount of time that guy spends in front of the mirror every mor- evening is shocking.”
Now was probably not the time to mention the image of Eris between his legs was forever associated with being used as a food source and pretty much soured any sort of middle school celebrity crush fantasies he could’ve possibly cooked up anyway. If she knew about Eris’ dad, then she was probably one of his least favorite types of people at the moment - a big Eris fan. It made sense, she looked starstruck around him all the time, but he could’ve written that off as the simple novelty of meeting a celebrity.
“You’re in the know, what’s up with him and Harmonica?” Max asked, knowingly butchering the leech’s sister’s name but not quite sure what the real one actually was. Of all the people in his family, Eris probably mentioned her the most. Not that it really meant anything, given how mundane the instances he spoke of his family were to begin with.
Her hand flew up to her mouth as she tried not to laugh too hard. Imagining Eris in front of a mirror admiring himself was definitely something she could imagine, and it was too funny. She recovered when he asked about...Harmonica? He meant Harmonia, right? It had to be, she didn’t know anyone that associated with Eris named Harmonica. How silly.
“You mean his sister Harmonia?” She asked, trying not to laugh again. “Um...well, they aren’t on the best of terms. She’s kind of...bad. I mean, she’s almost always causing drama and picking fights with people, and last I heard she got in a lot of trouble from...something. Apparently the two worked together on...what was the name of it…?” She paused to think for a second. “...it was a movie about a duke that was disowned by his family...yeah, they actually worked together in it. The one and only movie that had both Samael siblings in it--oh! I remember! It was For You, and there was a huge scandal that came out right before the movie was released where Harmonia had fed off someone else’s mage. It was a pretty big deal when it happened.” She grimaced, shuddering slightly. “She’s crazy. Or at least, she looks like she is. I mean, she’s pretty, but it’s never good news whenever her name pops up.”
Great. Another psychopath was just what he needed in his life. At least Eris apparently avoided her, if only to spare his own reputation. And if she was feeding off other people’s mages, his neck was probably going to be her meal at some point. Hopefully the sheer displeasure of meeting her would sour him up enough that she’d only make that mistake once, at least.
“I have no idea why they don’t get along, that sounds like Eris’ type of party,” Max groaned dryly. She probably had too much fun at his expense; Eris lost his touch quick if he was the one being annoyed and not the other way around.
“You think so?” Lilie was a little confused by that. “Well...they’re siblings after all, I’m sure they get on each other’s nerves a lot. That’s just a regular brother-sister dynamic, but maybe with vampirism and all that fame makes it like...a million times worse.” That was her best guess, anyway.
As she looked over at her water bottle, Lilie seemed to realize something. “I guess you aren’t into that kind of stuff, huh?” She guessed. “It’s silly, but he starred in my mom’s favorite movie, so I ended up being a fan of his from a young age. But you know, you could always look up stuff--the bad thing about being a celebrity is that anytime anything happens, everyone ends up finding out sooner or later. Since you’re his mage now, you might end up showing up in some of his pictures, too.”
”Oh, they’ve definitely caught wind of me by now. Maybe not by name, but they know I exist,” Max lamented, remembering that chucklefuck back home and how he was apparently the subject of gossip for the whole neighborhood.
”Let’s just say I’m putting off learning what the internet thinks about me for as long as I possibly can and leave it at that.” So many horny people. And some of them weren’t afraid to admit it. If Eris ever decided to take him as an escort in public, he needed to inform the leech very seriously that there could be a lawsuit on his hands by the end of the day.
Come to think of it, he really should watch an Eris movie sometime, but he had no idea when and where he could get away with doing it. He certainly wasn’t going to do it in the dorm where the leech might walk in on him - that conversation would be torture. Someone else’s dorm wasn’t much better, given that, A, he’d have to sit through an Eris Samael movie with other people forming their grubby opinions about why he wanted to watch his vampire’s movie; and B, it still might get back to Eris that he’d been watching it if the resident vampire of that dorm walked in and saw it. He couldn’t win.
Lilie nodded in understanding, pulling out her own phone as it gave out a small beep. She looked to see a voicemail--probably Ben letting her know they were going to go through etiquette lessons again. Being paired with a noble was just the absolute worst.
"Probably a good idea. The internet can get weird," She admitted, quickly sending Ben a message that she knew he wouldn't reply to anytime soon. Her eyes flickered to the time, and she realized a lot more time had passed than she had anticipated. Look at that, they managed to have a real conversation! Amazing! Swelling with pride, she tried not to look too silly as she smiled at her phone.
"At least you don't have hours of manners lessons," She told Max. "I think I'll pop in The Blood Wars on the DVD player in my--our dorm and hope it distracts the count." It probably wouldn't work, but she was still going to try. She'd do anything to avoid having to learn what each tiny fork did despite every fork serving the exact purpose. "Aaron apparently found the movie 'hilarious', but I think it's Eris' prime role for a good reason. It's an older movie, but it still holds up!" She never did ask him why he said that, did she? What a weirdo.
"I think we're almost done with our time, Salem never showed up, either," She said. "Oh well."
What the hell, maybe she didn’t need to major in mental magic, she was reading his mind just fine. Well, he guessed it was fair, they were talking about Eris. The leeching trying to put him through manners lessons of all things was a funny thought, though. Even moreso if putting a movie on was enough to get out of it.
”Didn’t peg your leech as an Eris fan. Anytime I see them talking, Eris has that ‘I want to gouge out your eyes’ smile on his face.” Blood War was the Landar movie, right? Aaron was probably losing his shit over his great-great-whatever the fuck being played by some campy drama queen. Max’s own opinion of Landar was precarious and he wasn’t sure associating him with Eris wouldn’t be the final push that tipped the man into Max’s disfavor. At least until the image of Eris lighting Nox on fire crossed his mind.
Lilie gave Max a slightly mischievous smile, lightly fiddling with her phone. True, putting Eris' face in front of Ben was a bad idea, but she couldn't help it. "He isn't," She admitted that much. "But maybe seeing Eris would launch him into another one of his lectures. Anything to get out of learning about how to 'properly place utensils on a plate' because...I really, really can't stand it." She really didn't mean to come off so catty, but between the extra etiquette stuff and the additional voice coaching lessons, she was very quickly finding herself dragging her feet on the way back to the dorm these days-nights.
"They're non-negotiable, though, so maybe it's not worth it," She sighed, organizing her notes and making sure she didn't mix them with Aaron's. "Oh well. I'll probably watch it on my own time, it's been a while since I've seen it."
Once she had everything in its place, she gathered up her books and folders, placing everything neatly into her bag. "I'll text Salem and tell him to write up his part. Sound good?" She asked.
As far as Max knew, utensil etiquette was pretty simple. Unless it got super elaborate at noble tables. Three forks was his cutoff, honestly. Then again there were probably a million rules on how to put things in one’s mouth and whatever. If she was going to watch a movie, that’d be an innocent enough way for him to watch it, right? Ugh, but then Lilie might think they were friends. Were they friends? He had no idea how to gauge that kind of thing anymore, ever since he got here.
”Sounds pointless. Especially since vampires don’t even fucking eat like people.” Seriously, did they really care if their pets ate with their hands or not, let alone with a specific type of plate? He hesitated a moment before continuing in a resigned tone, ”And tell me when you’re watching that movie, if your Count’s not around. I’ve never seen an Eris Samael movie and if I asked Eris to show it to me, I’d never hear the end of it.”
It wasn’t like this girl could stop him if he decided he’d seen enough and just left halfway through the second act, in any case.
Lilie stopped zipping up her bag, a little surprised at Max's request. Well, it wasn't so much a request as it was a statement. Her initial thought was to suggest making it a movie night, but considering he hadn't mentioned anyone else and she had already blundered once before and they were ending the conversation nicely, she opted to keep her suggestion to herself. Besides, a quiet movie night wasn't a bad idea.
"I'll let you know, then," She said, closing her bag.
Smoothing out the tablecloth, Lilie took a step back to look around as she grabbed the broom off the wall. Having people over used to be something common for her, but now that she thought about it, she hadn’t really hosted in a while. Not that this was exactly ‘hosting’--she wasn’t sure if having one person over counted. That said, Ben definitely treated it like it was, instructing her to order a small platter and have a tablecloth over their dining room. It made her just a little more nervous than she probably should have been, and she did admittedly make sure she was a tiny bit above casual in her long dress, but otherwise she was looking forward to it.
Despite his initial preference, Ben had an uncomfortable time feeding from Lilie. She didn’t really see it as a big deal anymore--she actually kinda liked the relaxing feeling after the sting--but he was always hesitating. Didn’t he know this was only weird if he made it weird?
Either way, apparently he had also offered to give her blood away (something that bothered her a little more than she wanted to admit for some reason) but neither one of them could make any sense of the contraption that could draw blood. Ben said his mages were taught by other mages, and Lilie clearly hadn’t ever donated blood or had any need to know before coming to the Academy, so they were both at a loss.
Luckily, Salem was coming to save the day. And so Lilie had set the table, gone through one last cleanup, and now eagerly awaited her friend. Putting all the cleaning supplies away, she checked her reflection one more time, lightly running her fingers through her hair.
Salem had gathered what he could from his dormitory. He'd dealt with difficult patients before so he knew a thing or two about attempting to calm down a mage or human for phlebotomy procedures. There was a gnawing pit in his stomach however as worry grew about what was about to transpire. Although a fairly simple and straightforward procedure, doing it wrong could cost a mage a wealth of blood and potentially even their life.
He shook his head and let his worries melt away as he called out to Victor in the house. "I'm heading out, I'll be back later." With that he exited the Astorio dorm and took the short walk over to the Eves. There was hesitation as he stood at the door, staring silently for a moment before knocking in the hopes that Lilie would answer over her partner Ben.
Luckily for Salem, once the door opened after a few seconds of rapid footsteps approaching, the white haired mage was revealed in full. She beamed happily, stepping to the side as she opened the door entirely. It was always nice to have friends over, and this time, she was going to make sure he had a pleasant time--she still died on the inside remembering her drunken ranting at Ben when Aaron had been attending to her injured foot.
“It’s good to see you! Please, come in,” Lilie urged him, taking a step back as she looked over her shoulder. “Our guest is here!” She called out before ushering Salem into the Eve dorm.
“Follow me, please,” She said cheerfully, leading him to the dining room where she had the tray and tablecloth set up. “Thank you so much, again, you’re really helping us out here.”
Salem beamed when he saw his favorite water mage standing before him. He had begun to feel closer and closer towards her the more that they continued on with their exercises. Normally there would be a wave of unease within him as he wasn't too fond of being anyones guest. Now more than ever with the growing amount of times that his mind was invaded by mind mages. However he felt no such trepidation at this moment, his full trust being placed in Lilie.
Salem chuckled slightly as he took a step into her dorm. "There's no need to be so 'formal'. Honestly it's no issue though Lilie. You know I'm always here for you." He followed her towards the location she had set up for them, placing his bag down as the sound of jostling glass emanated from it.
Lilie flashed a grin at Salem, shaking her head. “Hehe, I know, but someone insists that we ‘treat every guest with honor’,” She lowered her voice, though she held no ill will as she immediately perked up. “Besides, you’re doing us a favor, the least I can do is make sure you have a nice time.”
Taking a seat, she glanced over towards the bedroom door. “I’m sure he’ll be out any second now,” She said, smoothing out her skirt. “I’m so glad you agreed, though, we were in a real bind. Turns out neither of us are good with needles.”
Salem took the seat next to her, placing on hand over hers as he flashed her a warm smile. "I am always having a nice time when I'm with you Lilie. Whether it's dancing, talking, working out or even...phlebotomy. Being with you is all that's needed to turn anything sour into sweet." He glanced over at his bag at the mention of what they were about to do. His eyes lifting and trailing towards the room where Ben presumably was.
After a moment Salem removed his hand from hers, not wanting to see how Ben reacted to such a scene as he placed them on his lap. "Now there are a few disclaimers I should give you before Count Eve arrives. Just things for you to take note of. You cannot take any relaxants, teas, or pain relievers before doing this. Most of them can thin your blood and you may lose too much. Another reason being we will need to know if ever you're in pain, that way the procedure can be stopped and we can see to you. Understood?"
Lilie couldn’t help but smile at Salem’s statement. He was so sweet, it was hard to believe that she got lucky enough to have such a good friend. She was about to squeeze his hand before he lifted it, and she noticed him looking towards Ben’s room, though there wasn’t any time to think about it before she listened to his explanation. The warning was appreciated, she loved her morning teas, so she would make sure she didn’t have any.
At the mention of pain, however, Lilie blanched slightly, letting out a nervous laugh. “Is...is it that painful…?” She asked nervously, a little antsy at the idea.
Salem gave a polite chuckle towards Lilie. "It shouldn't be hurting, so no worries there. That's why you can't take medication because we need to know if it was done improperly. But given Count Eve's pretanatural senses and fair complexion, it should be exceedingly easy to learn how to do this and what's more, actually do it. Worst you'll get is a small mark from where the needle has been injected over time. But with you bottling the meals he shouldn't have need to do it everyday."
Salem extended his right arm forwards, showing her a small dark mark that appeared like a freckle. "This is all you'll get. About a week of having no need to help him feed as well as a small freckle from incision. Trust me its how I've been doing it all these years."
She couldn't really hide her sigh of relief, though she did perk up considerably. Good, she was afraid she'd end up chickening out of this. The idea of having a mark from doing this didn't exactly endear it to her, either, but it was just something she was going to have to get used to sooner or later. If only there was a way she didn't have to do this at all
"That makes sense," She replied, hands on her lap. "I was nervous it was going to hurt a lot...I'm not really a big fan of needles or getting shots, honestly."
The thought made her feel cold, but she ignored it for now. "You're used to this from your family practice, right? Or is it because you grew up with a vampire family?" She asked him.
"It's a mixture of both I suppose. I've done demonstrations before to show patients how it doesn’t hurt, bottling my blood for later use back at home. Seeing as how my blood can't be donated or used for humans and my vampire family didn't allow for me to have any other use other than their feeding. I've definitely gotten used to it and it's how I've kept the fangs off me, really I don't know how you and Count Eve have done it so long. I've never experienced it myself."
Was now a good time to mention that she only got used to feeding because of the other Eves? She supposed that the initial idea had scared her, but there was this feeling after the bite that she really, really liked. It was weird, she didn’t give it too much thought, but now it did seem strange.
Playing with her necklace, Lilie gave Salem a sheepish shrug. “I kinda got used to it and was too scared to try the...thing, so…” There really wasn’t much excuse, but she didn’t know what else to say. “Mariette preferred drinking directly from me. But before that...well, I never really thought I’d ever have to do this.”
Not in a million years. “I’m from a small farming town called Glendale that’s pretty far from here. There’s a vampire that owns the territory, but seeing one is usually a pretty big deal--we were mostly left alone, with a few mages visiting every now and then to maintain things, but even their visits were pretty rare. Believe it or not, I’m the first mage to come out of there in almost thirty years,” She explained, frowning to herself as she looked at Salem. “I never imagined that I’d come here...it never even crossed my mind as a possibility. Me, serving a vampire? I can barely talk to one, let alone live with one.”
Her expression fell as she paused, looking down at her lap. “I Awakened the day before my birthday, but it took a long time to accept it as my new reality. Sometimes even now, I catch myself thinking I can go home after all this, but....” She trailed off, her hands lightly grasping at the material of her skirt.
Salem watched as her mood changed into a more somber tone. Her hands fidgeting with her skirt and her gaze cast downwards. He listened intently to what it was she had to say, offering neither frown nor a smile and thinking of what would be best to say in this situation. As much as he wanted to tell her to take his hand and leave this establishment behind, he knew that it was impossible and that it would only further complicate her life. He could just tell her that it was rough and to move one either.
He began to focus on what positives he could gleam from his time with his family. It felt rather somber to be thinking of good memories while their fates lay dangling from a string, missing his mother and aunt terribly. "Hey, chin up Lilie. It’s not all bad." He lifted her chin up to match his gaze, then took her hands in his.
"You will get to go back home. One of my Aunts, she didn't exactly turn out to be a plant mage and there isn't much one can do about that. So my vampiric family sent her out to another family who sought a fire mage. However, she still gets to come back home and visit us whenever she's free. Sure you may not live with your parents anymore but its more like you're moving away to start a career. You get eight whole weeks of vacation that you can spend visiting your family. Sure its spread out in week periods but that means you can probably catch eight birthdays or more if they line up appropriately. "
At that moment the door to the count’s bedroom opened. Ben was dressed down considerably from the norm yet still wore a polo and a pair of slacks—he was uncomfortable in anything less—and was all too excited to host the Astorio mage. The remnants of their conversation had come through the door and he made a note to bring it up to Lilie privately. It had certainly explained a few things and brought up a few questions for the Princess’ choice.
However, this was not the place nor time to discuss it. Instead Ben offered Salem what he hoped was a welcoming smile.
”Good evening, Mr. Spellman,” Ben said. ”Thank you again for coming on such short notice.”
Salem immediately stood. His knuckles stinging slightly as he recalled his lessons with Julian Noila and gave Count Ben a bow at a 45 degree angle. He held it and stayed quiet until Ben had stopped speaking, having been addressed he was now free to speak. "Its of no trouble at all Count. To have the pleasure to serve such an esteemed individual is truly an honor." Salem continued to hold his bow until either the Count sat or Salem was instructed not to.
Lilie watched Salem, wanting nothing more than to believe him. She really wished she could see things the way he did, but she supposed there was no point in wishing things were different. Deciding to take a page out of his optimism, she nodded, though him suddenly standing up surprised her. He was so formal, it reminded her a little of how Aaron acted around the princess and his vampire. Was Salem always like this around vampires? She couldn't remember, but seeing him be so formal made her realize she should probably take a page out of his book, standing as well and giving Ben a quick curtsey and an apologetic look.
"Um, why don't we all sit down?" She suggested, trying to ease some of the tension rolling off Salem.
Oh how the princess sought to test his patience—it appeared their etiquette lessons weren’t sticking to his mage as well as he would have hoped. Ben found his smile thinning as he looked at Lilie but would otherwise take up her solution. He made sure to remain cordial as he gestured for the two mages to take their seats, taking his first as was customary. He folded his hands on the table as he looked at Salem.
”From here on, speak freely,” Ben urged. ”My mage’s safety is my top priority and I would like to learn as much as possible. I understand that it will take some time to get used to but I am hoping at the very least we can get at minimum a bottle before the Sinnenodel soiree.” He chuckled.
Salems chest tightened as Lilie spoke up. He hadn't met Ben yet and had no idea how he would react to her suggestion. If he was anything like Varis than this could spell trouble for Lilie, though given her past three partners hadn't seemed like the type. As soon as Ben had spoken and asked for them to sit and speak freely, his chest immediately began to loosen and relax as Salem tried hard not to give a sigh of relief.
"Then it would appear we have that in common Count Eve. I am here not only to teach you the ways of phlebotomy but also to insure you're both aware of potential risks as well as how to avoid them. As I was discussing with Lilie earlier she cannot draw her blood if she has recently had tea, pain relievers, or any form of relaxants. That includes being mesmerized by vampiric influence. She needs to be completely coherent and it's always best to remain calm while doing this."
Oh boy, Ben was doing that thing with his face when she did something wrong but he wasn’t going to address it until later in a lecture. Lilie held back a small groan, instead sitting down as quietly as she could. Smoothing out her skirt, she opted to try to practice her posture--because sitting up straight with her hands on her lap was ‘proper’ and sitting casually against the seat or with her elbows on the table looked ‘sloppy’--as she listened to the conversation.
She did notice Salem relax, happy to see Ben treating him kindly. Salem had nothing to worry about, the only person Ben seemed to have an issue with was her randomly (and over dumb stuff like etiquette and mannerisms and things she said). At least he acted the same around other mages. Once he laid down the rules, she realized she had nearly forgotten all about vampiric influence.
“Sounds easy enough, right?” She asked Ben cheerfully.
Ben made a note to recall that information for the future. Whatever it would take to keep from any accidental bloody mess would be taken seriously. He had little reason not to listen to the young man speak, giving him his full attention. He did nod in response to Lilie's statement as he made sure to push up the portion of 'speak only when spoken to' lessons sooner than later; bless the child for trying to break the ice but subtle social cues were not her specialty. Instead of dwelling, however, he decided to push on.
"Indeed. Let us begin, then, if you would," Ben said. "I will follow your instructions precisely and will take no offense to any corrections. For all intents and purposes, you are at home here."
Salem nodded at the pair before opening up his bag and placing a few supplies onto the table. There was a glass jar full of cotton balls, gloves, a bottle of 70% rubbing alcohol, the sterilized needles, a tourniquet, and several wine bottles that were all empty and dry. "These will be all the supplies you'll need for the purposes of bottling. Now Lilie will need to be laying down on her back." He gestured for her to do so as he slipped on some gloves and offered Ben some.
The vampire took the gloves wordlessly and put them on with a satisfying snap. He gestured for his mage to stand. Lilie shot him a strange look, but did as she was told. Once she did, he helped her onto the table. For a moment Ben felt like a surgeon's assistant as he stole a glance at the numerous supplies Salem brought out. How curious, he thought that Lilie would avoid wine, and yet Salem had brought out alcohol. Perhaps he was demonstrating what to do in the worst case scenario. Salem was brilliant if that was the case as being fully prepared was excellent foresight. Ben was impressed.
He brought himself back to attention as he gently pushed Lilie's ponytail aside and out of the way. "Should she be laying down every time?" Ben asked.
"Yes." Salem paused for a moment, having never fully thought of the question. It was much like asking someone how to breathe, something done so naturally that you almost don't question it. "So this position is called the Supine position. By having her lay down it ensures that the bloodstream is even and flows alongside its fluids. If she were standing or sitting for prolonged periods of time then her blood would become more concentrated in areas."
Salem tried to ignore Ben having placed his gloves on before helping Lilie, not having him change them but sending a verbal reminder. "Now typically if you were to help Lilie lie down or move her hair, you would do so before wearing your gloves to ensure they stay sterile." Salem ran his finger over Lilie's upturned arms, making sure not to actually touch her but just demonstrate on her visible veins.
"There are two locations to be extremely aware of. The first is the anticubital vein." His pinky hovered above a vein that sat near where her elbow creased. "This is where we will be drawing blood. It is the easiest to see, lies between muscles making it simple to puncture, and is not near any dangerous arteries. This vein has the least likelihood of causing any pain, or damage."
Ben had gotten so caught up in his excitement over snapping the rubber gloves against his skin that he hadn't considered his excitement premature. He did make sure to remember it for the future (after exchanging the pair for that second snap that delighted him so) and stood opposite of Salem, content to watch for the moment. The anticubital vein, he could remember that easily with his mortal biology lessons behind him.
"And the other?" Ben asked.
"The other is the basilic vein." Salem's pinky glided down towards Lilies wrist where another prominent vein was presented. It tended to be a feeding spot for vampires and thus had to be addressed. "Now, while feeding from this location is fine. It is only because a vampire is capable of mending their own bite wounds. This spot is particularly sensitive because it runs through an artery as well as a nerve and could cause long lasting damage to either or. You are to never draw blood from this location, only the anticubital vein I showed you earlier. Aside from that it is also extremely painful."
Lilie felt a little weird just laying there on the table--she always thought she felt like little more than a meal before, but she definitely felt that way now. She tried not to move too much, watching Ben and Salem look her over. This was so weird.
At the mention of pain, Lilie let out a nervous laugh. “No pain, please…” She joked.
Ben listened seriously and only paused as Lilie spoke. She had nothing to fear, as pain had a tendency to sully the blood and would be entirely counterintuitive to their task. Sour blood pleased few people and he preferred her neutral, sweet taste to serve others. It would likely only appeal to few, but he was certain it would do well to certain connoisseurs.
"No pain," He promised.
Salem was more than pleased to see that Ben took what he had said to heart. Not only did it appear that he was listening intently, but he was reassuring Lilie that she had nothing to fear. "Now that we have that out of the way we can begin. So for this vein in particular we will use this needle size." He pulled out a sterile needle, showing Ben the side with its appropriate size measurement so that he knew for future reference which one to choose as it varied from vein size. "Needles vary from size to size in accordance to the veins size. Being that you will use the same vein each time you need only recall this size."
Salem placed the sheathed needle down and picked up the tourniquet. Measuring out four finger widths from the vein upwards. "You will apply the tourniquet four finger widths above the incision area and then tie it off. This will help the vein be more prominent and easier to puncture "
He opened up the alcohol container, pulling out a cotton ball and pressing it against the rim of the alcohol bottle and tilting it so that the alcohol was applied. "We will press and clean the area where the needle will enter for 30 seconds. Sterilizing it and allowing for the alcohol's quick evaporation before using the needle. Any questions thus far?"
The procedure seemed simple enough in theory. Ben wondered if it would be just as simple in practice, but so long as he followed the instructions, he was sure it would be alright. He gave the bottle Salem used an intrigued look and once the opportunity came, he thought he should ask about it. Perhaps Salem meant no alcohol should be in her veins and anything outside of it was alright? That would make more sense, he supposed.
"I am with you so far with one exception," Ben said. "If there is no clear alcohol, is wine or rum a good alternative?"
Salem blinked once, then again. Letting the gears in his mind grind for a moment before he realized he was being asked a serious question. "The alcohol i am currently using is rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol. It's used in sterilization and disinfecting. This particular bottle is 70% alcohol. I would recommend using this and only this. You can find it roughly anywhere that general medical supplies are sold. Trust me my father has it in as many stores as possible. As for if you could use drinking alcohol...i don't recommend it. Purer versions could work in a pinch such as Ethyl Alcohol or other grain alcohols, or Vodka so long as they have extremely high proofings. Wine and Rum however have a lot of sugar, flavourings, and other outside factors that could actually infect the wound and create a worse environment. So I'd stick to this as much as possible, I'll even leave my personal bottle here for you."
He spoke as politely as he could and kept a smile on his face. Having to recall that everyone started somewhere on there journey of knowledge and that there was no such thing as a stupid question. If anything he was glad Ben had asked instead of potentially infecting Lilies arm and causing something worse. He for a moment to see if Ben understood and was ready to move on.
There were different types of alcohol it would seem. What a marvel. No time to dawdle, however, instead Ben would gesture for Salem to carry on.
Salem nodded towards the count and proceeded forward. "You will place your thumb gently beneath the incision site and hold her arm. This will anchor the vein so it is easier for you to puncture. I will now ask Lilie to form a fist with her hand, and it will cause the vein to bulge for us. Lilie if you would."
Lilie was too busy trying not to laugh at the whole alcohol confusion, though she snapped to attention as she realized that they were talking about her. She took in a deep breath, looking between the pair before realizing she was being addressed. Making sure her arm was still facing upwards, she closed her hand into a fist. “Like this?”
"Perfect. Now I'll insert the needle at a 30 degree angle and allow it to move along the vein." Before doing so Salem made sure to have the plastic tube attached to the needle and flow to one of the empty wine bottles. He then inserted the needle and allowed for a clean visual for Ben to see how far it had entered. "That is as far as it needs to go. As you can see the blood is now flowing and moving up the tube and into the bottle. We now remove the tourniquet, and want to make sure it isn't on for any longer than two minutes. On top of that we will always remove it before the needle, never after. So while we wait for this to fill do either of you have any questions? Also make sure you don't bend your arm at all Lilie."
Ben took a few notes in his head as Salem demonstrated the process beautifully. He made it look so effortless! With practice he was sure that he would be completely at ease with it as well; Salem's instructions were clear, concise, and well thought out. He did have some minor concern as he watched the blood come out, however it all went straight into the bottles. It seemed like more than a usual drink. How much was he supposed to take out, he wondered.
"How much blood can one draw a day?" He asked.
"Pardon, I had forgotten you were not part of our conversation beforehand. You need not draw blood every day, it is actually suggested that one doesn't. You may however draw one wine bottle worth of blood. This bottle shall be enough to sustain you for several feedings and allows for Lilie to have more...freedom during meal times as well as yourself. You may simply pluck the bottle from your shelf, pour your desired amount and drink whenever you wish regardless of her presence or absence. It also helps store different flavors based on emotions in case you are feeling a particular blend one day or the next. I suggest drawing one bottle a week at most."
Ben understood and watched Lilie while the process continued. He was aware that feeding directly was normally painless but he truly believed this was for the best. The extra free time would benefit them both as well. There were a few people he had in mind that he knew would appreciate a sweet taste and he himself looked forward to experiencing her blood chilled. He never was comfortable during their feeding sessions and found himself truly grateful for Salem's assistance.
"I will endeavor to limit it to that," He said. "I presume at some point Lilie will be able to do this on her own?"
"If she feels comfortable doing so then I don't see why not. I draw all my own blood and bottle it, so I could see her brilliant mind being able to do the same." Salem shot her a smile before glancing over at the bottle to check and see how much had been filled.
"Was that your only concern Count Eve? Lilie did you have any?"
Lilie realized she had somehow gone through life without drawing blood. Aside from a brief moment in her childhood, she never really had to deal with hospitals or needles. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little afraid of the one Salem held, but he had urged her to be calm. It hurt just a little, but she couldn’t say it continued. It was uncomfortable, but not bad. That said, she couldn’t really look at it for too long without feeling a little squeamish.
She did her best to stay perfectly still, looking up at Salem as he complimented her. She tried not to grin too widely--Ben definitely had mentioned that she should always be humble--but she was flattered he thought she’d get it. Hopefully he was right, this was something that could turn out dangerous if she messed up.
“Should I always do this laying down?” She decided to ask.
"It is preferred that you do it laying down. Part of the reason that I suggest you lay down as well as why you need to keep your arm straight is because if you bend your arm you have the chance of causing haematoma. Basically there's the chance of causing trauma that will make the blood continue to pour out. That is why once we finish here you will place pressure onto your arm to help stop the bleeding before you are able to bend your arm."
Salem grabbed another cottonball from the glass container, holding it with his left hand as he removed the needle with his right. He pressed the ball against the small red dot, applying pressure and turning to Lilie, asking her to hold the cotton ball with her other hand without bending her left and applying pressure to it.
Oh, bleeding out, that was a thing. And Ben wanted her to do this regularly! If Lilie wasn’t worried about it before, then she definitely was now. She was all too happy to be free, almost getting up before Salem reminded her not to bend her arm. After this, she would recommend that they either do this on the couch or her bed, her back was starting to get stiff.
“Okay,” Lilie replied, applying pressure as she watched Salem. “So...that’s it?”
"That’s it. Not so bad right?"
Kinda? Well, there wasn’t much she could do about it until she got used to it. Trying her best to keep her arm straight, Lilie sat up, though a wave of dizziness hit her. Actually, she felt more lightheaded than anything, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to see if it would go away.
“It’s...going to take some getting used to,” She admitted.
Salem reached into his bag and pulled out one final container. Opening it as the scent of chocolate chip cookies wafted into the air. He pulled one out and hand it to Lilie. "Here, eat something sweet and sugary. It'll help afterwords."
Lilie perked up considerably at the sight of the cookie, taking it happily as she smiled at Salem. Having something sweet and sugary wouldn’t be an issue at all, luckily, though she would definitely keep that in mind. “Thank you! You’ve really thought this out, huh?” She asked.
Salem froze for a moment. Thought this out? He hadn’t really thought of that. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he chuckled. "I didn't really think of it much. Its more second nature to me at this point." He wasn't sure how well Ben would take that answer, seeing it either as a weakness or perhaps a strength.
Ben watched as Salem instructed Lilie and paid careful attention. Salem meant well, of course, but he would make sure that he was around for the first few sessions for safety purposes. He looked at the young mage curiously as he froze at Lilie's comment. Salem went above and beyond but he seemed surprised nonetheless. Perhaps this was common for someone in his field; he was aware of the Spellman presence in the medical field so the process must come second nature to him.
"I have to say I agree. You have my thanks as well," Ben said. "We will have to make sure to lend a hand if Mr. Spellman requires it, won't we Lilie?"
Lilie stopped midchew as Ben spoke, eyes wide as she realized he probably wanted her to say something. She hastily finished, clearing her throat as she nodded. “Yeah, of course,” She agreed cheerfully, nudging Salem with her elbow.
Salem smiled at the pair, nudging Lilie back. "Being in both of yours presence is more than enough. But I certainly appreciate the gesture. Perhaps we could meet up more often over a cup of tea or sweets? My dorm will always be open to you Count Eve, and to you as well Lilie."
Lilie was all too happy to agree. “He makes the best tea,” She told Ben, pausing as she realized what she said. “...not that you could have any, but take my word for it, it’s great. But we’ll definitely have to come over for a cup!”
Despite his initial preference, Ben had an uncomfortable time feeding from Lilie. She didn’t really see it as a big deal anymore--she actually kinda liked the relaxing feeling after the sting--but he was always hesitating. Didn’t he know this was only weird if he made it weird?
Either way, apparently he had also offered to give her blood away (something that bothered her a little more than she wanted to admit for some reason) but neither one of them could make any sense of the contraption that could draw blood. Ben said his mages were taught by other mages, and Lilie clearly hadn’t ever donated blood or had any need to know before coming to the Academy, so they were both at a loss.
Luckily, Salem was coming to save the day. And so Lilie had set the table, gone through one last cleanup, and now eagerly awaited her friend. Putting all the cleaning supplies away, she checked her reflection one more time, lightly running her fingers through her hair.
Salem had gathered what he could from his dormitory. He'd dealt with difficult patients before so he knew a thing or two about attempting to calm down a mage or human for phlebotomy procedures. There was a gnawing pit in his stomach however as worry grew about what was about to transpire. Although a fairly simple and straightforward procedure, doing it wrong could cost a mage a wealth of blood and potentially even their life.
He shook his head and let his worries melt away as he called out to Victor in the house. "I'm heading out, I'll be back later." With that he exited the Astorio dorm and took the short walk over to the Eves. There was hesitation as he stood at the door, staring silently for a moment before knocking in the hopes that Lilie would answer over her partner Ben.
Luckily for Salem, once the door opened after a few seconds of rapid footsteps approaching, the white haired mage was revealed in full. She beamed happily, stepping to the side as she opened the door entirely. It was always nice to have friends over, and this time, she was going to make sure he had a pleasant time--she still died on the inside remembering her drunken ranting at Ben when Aaron had been attending to her injured foot.
“It’s good to see you! Please, come in,” Lilie urged him, taking a step back as she looked over her shoulder. “Our guest is here!” She called out before ushering Salem into the Eve dorm.
“Follow me, please,” She said cheerfully, leading him to the dining room where she had the tray and tablecloth set up. “Thank you so much, again, you’re really helping us out here.”
Salem beamed when he saw his favorite water mage standing before him. He had begun to feel closer and closer towards her the more that they continued on with their exercises. Normally there would be a wave of unease within him as he wasn't too fond of being anyones guest. Now more than ever with the growing amount of times that his mind was invaded by mind mages. However he felt no such trepidation at this moment, his full trust being placed in Lilie.
Salem chuckled slightly as he took a step into her dorm. "There's no need to be so 'formal'. Honestly it's no issue though Lilie. You know I'm always here for you." He followed her towards the location she had set up for them, placing his bag down as the sound of jostling glass emanated from it.
Lilie flashed a grin at Salem, shaking her head. “Hehe, I know, but someone insists that we ‘treat every guest with honor’,” She lowered her voice, though she held no ill will as she immediately perked up. “Besides, you’re doing us a favor, the least I can do is make sure you have a nice time.”
Taking a seat, she glanced over towards the bedroom door. “I’m sure he’ll be out any second now,” She said, smoothing out her skirt. “I’m so glad you agreed, though, we were in a real bind. Turns out neither of us are good with needles.”
Salem took the seat next to her, placing on hand over hers as he flashed her a warm smile. "I am always having a nice time when I'm with you Lilie. Whether it's dancing, talking, working out or even...phlebotomy. Being with you is all that's needed to turn anything sour into sweet." He glanced over at his bag at the mention of what they were about to do. His eyes lifting and trailing towards the room where Ben presumably was.
After a moment Salem removed his hand from hers, not wanting to see how Ben reacted to such a scene as he placed them on his lap. "Now there are a few disclaimers I should give you before Count Eve arrives. Just things for you to take note of. You cannot take any relaxants, teas, or pain relievers before doing this. Most of them can thin your blood and you may lose too much. Another reason being we will need to know if ever you're in pain, that way the procedure can be stopped and we can see to you. Understood?"
Lilie couldn’t help but smile at Salem’s statement. He was so sweet, it was hard to believe that she got lucky enough to have such a good friend. She was about to squeeze his hand before he lifted it, and she noticed him looking towards Ben’s room, though there wasn’t any time to think about it before she listened to his explanation. The warning was appreciated, she loved her morning teas, so she would make sure she didn’t have any.
At the mention of pain, however, Lilie blanched slightly, letting out a nervous laugh. “Is...is it that painful…?” She asked nervously, a little antsy at the idea.
Salem gave a polite chuckle towards Lilie. "It shouldn't be hurting, so no worries there. That's why you can't take medication because we need to know if it was done improperly. But given Count Eve's pretanatural senses and fair complexion, it should be exceedingly easy to learn how to do this and what's more, actually do it. Worst you'll get is a small mark from where the needle has been injected over time. But with you bottling the meals he shouldn't have need to do it everyday."
Salem extended his right arm forwards, showing her a small dark mark that appeared like a freckle. "This is all you'll get. About a week of having no need to help him feed as well as a small freckle from incision. Trust me its how I've been doing it all these years."
She couldn't really hide her sigh of relief, though she did perk up considerably. Good, she was afraid she'd end up chickening out of this. The idea of having a mark from doing this didn't exactly endear it to her, either, but it was just something she was going to have to get used to sooner or later. If only there was a way she didn't have to do this at all
"That makes sense," She replied, hands on her lap. "I was nervous it was going to hurt a lot...I'm not really a big fan of needles or getting shots, honestly."
The thought made her feel cold, but she ignored it for now. "You're used to this from your family practice, right? Or is it because you grew up with a vampire family?" She asked him.
"It's a mixture of both I suppose. I've done demonstrations before to show patients how it doesn’t hurt, bottling my blood for later use back at home. Seeing as how my blood can't be donated or used for humans and my vampire family didn't allow for me to have any other use other than their feeding. I've definitely gotten used to it and it's how I've kept the fangs off me, really I don't know how you and Count Eve have done it so long. I've never experienced it myself."
Was now a good time to mention that she only got used to feeding because of the other Eves? She supposed that the initial idea had scared her, but there was this feeling after the bite that she really, really liked. It was weird, she didn’t give it too much thought, but now it did seem strange.
Playing with her necklace, Lilie gave Salem a sheepish shrug. “I kinda got used to it and was too scared to try the...thing, so…” There really wasn’t much excuse, but she didn’t know what else to say. “Mariette preferred drinking directly from me. But before that...well, I never really thought I’d ever have to do this.”
Not in a million years. “I’m from a small farming town called Glendale that’s pretty far from here. There’s a vampire that owns the territory, but seeing one is usually a pretty big deal--we were mostly left alone, with a few mages visiting every now and then to maintain things, but even their visits were pretty rare. Believe it or not, I’m the first mage to come out of there in almost thirty years,” She explained, frowning to herself as she looked at Salem. “I never imagined that I’d come here...it never even crossed my mind as a possibility. Me, serving a vampire? I can barely talk to one, let alone live with one.”
Her expression fell as she paused, looking down at her lap. “I Awakened the day before my birthday, but it took a long time to accept it as my new reality. Sometimes even now, I catch myself thinking I can go home after all this, but....” She trailed off, her hands lightly grasping at the material of her skirt.
Salem watched as her mood changed into a more somber tone. Her hands fidgeting with her skirt and her gaze cast downwards. He listened intently to what it was she had to say, offering neither frown nor a smile and thinking of what would be best to say in this situation. As much as he wanted to tell her to take his hand and leave this establishment behind, he knew that it was impossible and that it would only further complicate her life. He could just tell her that it was rough and to move one either.
He began to focus on what positives he could gleam from his time with his family. It felt rather somber to be thinking of good memories while their fates lay dangling from a string, missing his mother and aunt terribly. "Hey, chin up Lilie. It’s not all bad." He lifted her chin up to match his gaze, then took her hands in his.
"You will get to go back home. One of my Aunts, she didn't exactly turn out to be a plant mage and there isn't much one can do about that. So my vampiric family sent her out to another family who sought a fire mage. However, she still gets to come back home and visit us whenever she's free. Sure you may not live with your parents anymore but its more like you're moving away to start a career. You get eight whole weeks of vacation that you can spend visiting your family. Sure its spread out in week periods but that means you can probably catch eight birthdays or more if they line up appropriately. "
At that moment the door to the count’s bedroom opened. Ben was dressed down considerably from the norm yet still wore a polo and a pair of slacks—he was uncomfortable in anything less—and was all too excited to host the Astorio mage. The remnants of their conversation had come through the door and he made a note to bring it up to Lilie privately. It had certainly explained a few things and brought up a few questions for the Princess’ choice.
However, this was not the place nor time to discuss it. Instead Ben offered Salem what he hoped was a welcoming smile.
”Good evening, Mr. Spellman,” Ben said. ”Thank you again for coming on such short notice.”
Salem immediately stood. His knuckles stinging slightly as he recalled his lessons with Julian Noila and gave Count Ben a bow at a 45 degree angle. He held it and stayed quiet until Ben had stopped speaking, having been addressed he was now free to speak. "Its of no trouble at all Count. To have the pleasure to serve such an esteemed individual is truly an honor." Salem continued to hold his bow until either the Count sat or Salem was instructed not to.
Lilie watched Salem, wanting nothing more than to believe him. She really wished she could see things the way he did, but she supposed there was no point in wishing things were different. Deciding to take a page out of his optimism, she nodded, though him suddenly standing up surprised her. He was so formal, it reminded her a little of how Aaron acted around the princess and his vampire. Was Salem always like this around vampires? She couldn't remember, but seeing him be so formal made her realize she should probably take a page out of his book, standing as well and giving Ben a quick curtsey and an apologetic look.
"Um, why don't we all sit down?" She suggested, trying to ease some of the tension rolling off Salem.
Oh how the princess sought to test his patience—it appeared their etiquette lessons weren’t sticking to his mage as well as he would have hoped. Ben found his smile thinning as he looked at Lilie but would otherwise take up her solution. He made sure to remain cordial as he gestured for the two mages to take their seats, taking his first as was customary. He folded his hands on the table as he looked at Salem.
”From here on, speak freely,” Ben urged. ”My mage’s safety is my top priority and I would like to learn as much as possible. I understand that it will take some time to get used to but I am hoping at the very least we can get at minimum a bottle before the Sinnenodel soiree.” He chuckled.
Salems chest tightened as Lilie spoke up. He hadn't met Ben yet and had no idea how he would react to her suggestion. If he was anything like Varis than this could spell trouble for Lilie, though given her past three partners hadn't seemed like the type. As soon as Ben had spoken and asked for them to sit and speak freely, his chest immediately began to loosen and relax as Salem tried hard not to give a sigh of relief.
"Then it would appear we have that in common Count Eve. I am here not only to teach you the ways of phlebotomy but also to insure you're both aware of potential risks as well as how to avoid them. As I was discussing with Lilie earlier she cannot draw her blood if she has recently had tea, pain relievers, or any form of relaxants. That includes being mesmerized by vampiric influence. She needs to be completely coherent and it's always best to remain calm while doing this."
Oh boy, Ben was doing that thing with his face when she did something wrong but he wasn’t going to address it until later in a lecture. Lilie held back a small groan, instead sitting down as quietly as she could. Smoothing out her skirt, she opted to try to practice her posture--because sitting up straight with her hands on her lap was ‘proper’ and sitting casually against the seat or with her elbows on the table looked ‘sloppy’--as she listened to the conversation.
She did notice Salem relax, happy to see Ben treating him kindly. Salem had nothing to worry about, the only person Ben seemed to have an issue with was her randomly (and over dumb stuff like etiquette and mannerisms and things she said). At least he acted the same around other mages. Once he laid down the rules, she realized she had nearly forgotten all about vampiric influence.
“Sounds easy enough, right?” She asked Ben cheerfully.
Ben made a note to recall that information for the future. Whatever it would take to keep from any accidental bloody mess would be taken seriously. He had little reason not to listen to the young man speak, giving him his full attention. He did nod in response to Lilie's statement as he made sure to push up the portion of 'speak only when spoken to' lessons sooner than later; bless the child for trying to break the ice but subtle social cues were not her specialty. Instead of dwelling, however, he decided to push on.
"Indeed. Let us begin, then, if you would," Ben said. "I will follow your instructions precisely and will take no offense to any corrections. For all intents and purposes, you are at home here."
Salem nodded at the pair before opening up his bag and placing a few supplies onto the table. There was a glass jar full of cotton balls, gloves, a bottle of 70% rubbing alcohol, the sterilized needles, a tourniquet, and several wine bottles that were all empty and dry. "These will be all the supplies you'll need for the purposes of bottling. Now Lilie will need to be laying down on her back." He gestured for her to do so as he slipped on some gloves and offered Ben some.
The vampire took the gloves wordlessly and put them on with a satisfying snap. He gestured for his mage to stand. Lilie shot him a strange look, but did as she was told. Once she did, he helped her onto the table. For a moment Ben felt like a surgeon's assistant as he stole a glance at the numerous supplies Salem brought out. How curious, he thought that Lilie would avoid wine, and yet Salem had brought out alcohol. Perhaps he was demonstrating what to do in the worst case scenario. Salem was brilliant if that was the case as being fully prepared was excellent foresight. Ben was impressed.
He brought himself back to attention as he gently pushed Lilie's ponytail aside and out of the way. "Should she be laying down every time?" Ben asked.
"Yes." Salem paused for a moment, having never fully thought of the question. It was much like asking someone how to breathe, something done so naturally that you almost don't question it. "So this position is called the Supine position. By having her lay down it ensures that the bloodstream is even and flows alongside its fluids. If she were standing or sitting for prolonged periods of time then her blood would become more concentrated in areas."
Salem tried to ignore Ben having placed his gloves on before helping Lilie, not having him change them but sending a verbal reminder. "Now typically if you were to help Lilie lie down or move her hair, you would do so before wearing your gloves to ensure they stay sterile." Salem ran his finger over Lilie's upturned arms, making sure not to actually touch her but just demonstrate on her visible veins.
"There are two locations to be extremely aware of. The first is the anticubital vein." His pinky hovered above a vein that sat near where her elbow creased. "This is where we will be drawing blood. It is the easiest to see, lies between muscles making it simple to puncture, and is not near any dangerous arteries. This vein has the least likelihood of causing any pain, or damage."
Ben had gotten so caught up in his excitement over snapping the rubber gloves against his skin that he hadn't considered his excitement premature. He did make sure to remember it for the future (after exchanging the pair for that second snap that delighted him so) and stood opposite of Salem, content to watch for the moment. The anticubital vein, he could remember that easily with his mortal biology lessons behind him.
"And the other?" Ben asked.
"The other is the basilic vein." Salem's pinky glided down towards Lilies wrist where another prominent vein was presented. It tended to be a feeding spot for vampires and thus had to be addressed. "Now, while feeding from this location is fine. It is only because a vampire is capable of mending their own bite wounds. This spot is particularly sensitive because it runs through an artery as well as a nerve and could cause long lasting damage to either or. You are to never draw blood from this location, only the anticubital vein I showed you earlier. Aside from that it is also extremely painful."
Lilie felt a little weird just laying there on the table--she always thought she felt like little more than a meal before, but she definitely felt that way now. She tried not to move too much, watching Ben and Salem look her over. This was so weird.
At the mention of pain, Lilie let out a nervous laugh. “No pain, please…” She joked.
Ben listened seriously and only paused as Lilie spoke. She had nothing to fear, as pain had a tendency to sully the blood and would be entirely counterintuitive to their task. Sour blood pleased few people and he preferred her neutral, sweet taste to serve others. It would likely only appeal to few, but he was certain it would do well to certain connoisseurs.
"No pain," He promised.
Salem was more than pleased to see that Ben took what he had said to heart. Not only did it appear that he was listening intently, but he was reassuring Lilie that she had nothing to fear. "Now that we have that out of the way we can begin. So for this vein in particular we will use this needle size." He pulled out a sterile needle, showing Ben the side with its appropriate size measurement so that he knew for future reference which one to choose as it varied from vein size. "Needles vary from size to size in accordance to the veins size. Being that you will use the same vein each time you need only recall this size."
Salem placed the sheathed needle down and picked up the tourniquet. Measuring out four finger widths from the vein upwards. "You will apply the tourniquet four finger widths above the incision area and then tie it off. This will help the vein be more prominent and easier to puncture "
He opened up the alcohol container, pulling out a cotton ball and pressing it against the rim of the alcohol bottle and tilting it so that the alcohol was applied. "We will press and clean the area where the needle will enter for 30 seconds. Sterilizing it and allowing for the alcohol's quick evaporation before using the needle. Any questions thus far?"
The procedure seemed simple enough in theory. Ben wondered if it would be just as simple in practice, but so long as he followed the instructions, he was sure it would be alright. He gave the bottle Salem used an intrigued look and once the opportunity came, he thought he should ask about it. Perhaps Salem meant no alcohol should be in her veins and anything outside of it was alright? That would make more sense, he supposed.
"I am with you so far with one exception," Ben said. "If there is no clear alcohol, is wine or rum a good alternative?"
Salem blinked once, then again. Letting the gears in his mind grind for a moment before he realized he was being asked a serious question. "The alcohol i am currently using is rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol. It's used in sterilization and disinfecting. This particular bottle is 70% alcohol. I would recommend using this and only this. You can find it roughly anywhere that general medical supplies are sold. Trust me my father has it in as many stores as possible. As for if you could use drinking alcohol...i don't recommend it. Purer versions could work in a pinch such as Ethyl Alcohol or other grain alcohols, or Vodka so long as they have extremely high proofings. Wine and Rum however have a lot of sugar, flavourings, and other outside factors that could actually infect the wound and create a worse environment. So I'd stick to this as much as possible, I'll even leave my personal bottle here for you."
He spoke as politely as he could and kept a smile on his face. Having to recall that everyone started somewhere on there journey of knowledge and that there was no such thing as a stupid question. If anything he was glad Ben had asked instead of potentially infecting Lilies arm and causing something worse. He for a moment to see if Ben understood and was ready to move on.
There were different types of alcohol it would seem. What a marvel. No time to dawdle, however, instead Ben would gesture for Salem to carry on.
Salem nodded towards the count and proceeded forward. "You will place your thumb gently beneath the incision site and hold her arm. This will anchor the vein so it is easier for you to puncture. I will now ask Lilie to form a fist with her hand, and it will cause the vein to bulge for us. Lilie if you would."
Lilie was too busy trying not to laugh at the whole alcohol confusion, though she snapped to attention as she realized that they were talking about her. She took in a deep breath, looking between the pair before realizing she was being addressed. Making sure her arm was still facing upwards, she closed her hand into a fist. “Like this?”
"Perfect. Now I'll insert the needle at a 30 degree angle and allow it to move along the vein." Before doing so Salem made sure to have the plastic tube attached to the needle and flow to one of the empty wine bottles. He then inserted the needle and allowed for a clean visual for Ben to see how far it had entered. "That is as far as it needs to go. As you can see the blood is now flowing and moving up the tube and into the bottle. We now remove the tourniquet, and want to make sure it isn't on for any longer than two minutes. On top of that we will always remove it before the needle, never after. So while we wait for this to fill do either of you have any questions? Also make sure you don't bend your arm at all Lilie."
Ben took a few notes in his head as Salem demonstrated the process beautifully. He made it look so effortless! With practice he was sure that he would be completely at ease with it as well; Salem's instructions were clear, concise, and well thought out. He did have some minor concern as he watched the blood come out, however it all went straight into the bottles. It seemed like more than a usual drink. How much was he supposed to take out, he wondered.
"How much blood can one draw a day?" He asked.
"Pardon, I had forgotten you were not part of our conversation beforehand. You need not draw blood every day, it is actually suggested that one doesn't. You may however draw one wine bottle worth of blood. This bottle shall be enough to sustain you for several feedings and allows for Lilie to have more...freedom during meal times as well as yourself. You may simply pluck the bottle from your shelf, pour your desired amount and drink whenever you wish regardless of her presence or absence. It also helps store different flavors based on emotions in case you are feeling a particular blend one day or the next. I suggest drawing one bottle a week at most."
Ben understood and watched Lilie while the process continued. He was aware that feeding directly was normally painless but he truly believed this was for the best. The extra free time would benefit them both as well. There were a few people he had in mind that he knew would appreciate a sweet taste and he himself looked forward to experiencing her blood chilled. He never was comfortable during their feeding sessions and found himself truly grateful for Salem's assistance.
"I will endeavor to limit it to that," He said. "I presume at some point Lilie will be able to do this on her own?"
"If she feels comfortable doing so then I don't see why not. I draw all my own blood and bottle it, so I could see her brilliant mind being able to do the same." Salem shot her a smile before glancing over at the bottle to check and see how much had been filled.
"Was that your only concern Count Eve? Lilie did you have any?"
Lilie realized she had somehow gone through life without drawing blood. Aside from a brief moment in her childhood, she never really had to deal with hospitals or needles. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little afraid of the one Salem held, but he had urged her to be calm. It hurt just a little, but she couldn’t say it continued. It was uncomfortable, but not bad. That said, she couldn’t really look at it for too long without feeling a little squeamish.
She did her best to stay perfectly still, looking up at Salem as he complimented her. She tried not to grin too widely--Ben definitely had mentioned that she should always be humble--but she was flattered he thought she’d get it. Hopefully he was right, this was something that could turn out dangerous if she messed up.
“Should I always do this laying down?” She decided to ask.
"It is preferred that you do it laying down. Part of the reason that I suggest you lay down as well as why you need to keep your arm straight is because if you bend your arm you have the chance of causing haematoma. Basically there's the chance of causing trauma that will make the blood continue to pour out. That is why once we finish here you will place pressure onto your arm to help stop the bleeding before you are able to bend your arm."
Salem grabbed another cottonball from the glass container, holding it with his left hand as he removed the needle with his right. He pressed the ball against the small red dot, applying pressure and turning to Lilie, asking her to hold the cotton ball with her other hand without bending her left and applying pressure to it.
Oh, bleeding out, that was a thing. And Ben wanted her to do this regularly! If Lilie wasn’t worried about it before, then she definitely was now. She was all too happy to be free, almost getting up before Salem reminded her not to bend her arm. After this, she would recommend that they either do this on the couch or her bed, her back was starting to get stiff.
“Okay,” Lilie replied, applying pressure as she watched Salem. “So...that’s it?”
"That’s it. Not so bad right?"
Kinda? Well, there wasn’t much she could do about it until she got used to it. Trying her best to keep her arm straight, Lilie sat up, though a wave of dizziness hit her. Actually, she felt more lightheaded than anything, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to see if it would go away.
“It’s...going to take some getting used to,” She admitted.
Salem reached into his bag and pulled out one final container. Opening it as the scent of chocolate chip cookies wafted into the air. He pulled one out and hand it to Lilie. "Here, eat something sweet and sugary. It'll help afterwords."
Lilie perked up considerably at the sight of the cookie, taking it happily as she smiled at Salem. Having something sweet and sugary wouldn’t be an issue at all, luckily, though she would definitely keep that in mind. “Thank you! You’ve really thought this out, huh?” She asked.
Salem froze for a moment. Thought this out? He hadn’t really thought of that. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he chuckled. "I didn't really think of it much. Its more second nature to me at this point." He wasn't sure how well Ben would take that answer, seeing it either as a weakness or perhaps a strength.
Ben watched as Salem instructed Lilie and paid careful attention. Salem meant well, of course, but he would make sure that he was around for the first few sessions for safety purposes. He looked at the young mage curiously as he froze at Lilie's comment. Salem went above and beyond but he seemed surprised nonetheless. Perhaps this was common for someone in his field; he was aware of the Spellman presence in the medical field so the process must come second nature to him.
"I have to say I agree. You have my thanks as well," Ben said. "We will have to make sure to lend a hand if Mr. Spellman requires it, won't we Lilie?"
Lilie stopped midchew as Ben spoke, eyes wide as she realized he probably wanted her to say something. She hastily finished, clearing her throat as she nodded. “Yeah, of course,” She agreed cheerfully, nudging Salem with her elbow.
Salem smiled at the pair, nudging Lilie back. "Being in both of yours presence is more than enough. But I certainly appreciate the gesture. Perhaps we could meet up more often over a cup of tea or sweets? My dorm will always be open to you Count Eve, and to you as well Lilie."
Lilie was all too happy to agree. “He makes the best tea,” She told Ben, pausing as she realized what she said. “...not that you could have any, but take my word for it, it’s great. But we’ll definitely have to come over for a cup!”
The on-campus library really was a sight to behold. The flying books and shelves that wrapped up the walls and onto the ceiling—often with students milling around among them like ants in the bark of a tree—certainly took some getting used to, but even after the number of visits he’d made, it still filled Aaron with a muted sense of wonder. It was a testament to Ryner’s interest in magic, to be sure, and one he may never have been able to see had he not left the castle. He made a mental note to visit more often; he’d gotten so used to studying alone outdoors that the onset of cold weather had put him at a loss, with the dining hall too noisy and the courtyard too cold, and this was a perfect (and in retrospect, obvious) solution. Although, it did bring with it the risk that he’d spend all his study time contentedly watching the magic.
If he was being honest with himself, though, he’d have to admit that his slow and leisurely walk toward the exit was less about admiring the genius application of magic in the library and more about putting off leaving. The weather had turned nasty right after the practical and seemed to want to stay that way; just outside those doors the campus was being pounded with sleet and a wet cold that sank into the bones, and despite his general fondness for cold weather, Aaron was still in no hurry to get back out into it. But he’d found the materials Varis sent him to collect—though he did double- and triple-check the list just in case there was something he could dive back into the shelves for—and there was only so much stalling he could justify before he really had to get back to whatever vapid task awaited him back at the dorm.
But some star must have aligned just right that night, for just as Aaron was wishing for some, any excuse to stick around a little longer, he saw a flash of white in the corner of his eye. He almost walked past, but backpedaled, eyes widening when he saw, deep into a corridor between the shelves, none other than Lilie.
His heart leapt in his chest. He couldn’t believe his luck! His free time was so constricted in recent weeks that he barely got to see anyone outside of class, let alone her, and while he’d latched on to every moment they got to spend together during school hours, there just wasn’t any chance to… to… oh, he didn’t even know what he wanted to do with her, he just knew the very sight of her brightened his night like the harvest moon.
Ugh, good lord that was corny. He really was spending too much time around Eris. And he was wasting time! He had a few minutes at best to take advantage of, and doom take him if he was going to waste them.
Looking around to make sure no one caught him ogling, Aaron leaned against the shelf for a moment, pretending to look through his little stack of books and covertly stealing a few more glances at Lilie. She looked like she could have fit in back at the castle, honestly—okay, maybe a little casual for that, but still—dressed appropriately in a long ochre skirt and black turtleneck, but something about that silhouette as she clutched a book to her chest and looked up at the shelf just did something to him. He could hear Eris in his head mocking him about eyeing up the maids, but chose to ignore it. She looked like… well, like a mage. She looked like she was coming into her own, and it filled Aaron with a warmth that meant more than just having something nice to look at.
She seemed less than pleased, though, staring daggers up at the shelf like that. Could she not find what she was looking for? Or could she not reach? She had a look on her face like his mother did when she looked up at the tall kitchen cabinets, and Aaron couldn’t help but smirk at the comparison. But he was pretty sure you could just call out for a book and it would float down from the shelf to meet you, so maybe she just wasn’t sure what she needed?
Just talk to her, idiot!
Aaron’s ears got hot, and he almost laughed at himself for his foolishness. That in mind, he finally pushed off the shelf and walked down the corridor, approaching quietly with his arms behind his back. When he got closer, he leaned a little sideways, looking between Lilie and the shelf, careful not to let his gaze linger too long.
He smiled kindly, gentle amusement clear in his eyes, and cleared his throat. “Fancy meeting you here,” he greeted brightly. “Doing some weekend studying?”
The white haired girl was so intent on trying to glare the book down that she nearly jumped in place, blue eyes wide as they stared up at Aaron. Aaron! Oh, no, did he see all her misguided jumps at the shelf? Lilie really, really hoped not, especially because she hadn't even come close to reaching what she wanted. Giving him a very sheepish smile, she couldn't help but steal a quick glance at him before looking back up at the shelf, trying not to look too conspicuous. Ever since that night outside their dorms, she had been a little...finicky? Was that the right word? Whatever it was, it was a warm but completely humbling feeling, gripping her even now as she dared herself to look at him. She was pretty sure she was blushing, though whether it was because she was embarrassed at potentially being caught or because she found herself having a hard time looking him in the eye, who knew.
"Hi! I mean...hello, hi," Lilie stumbled a bit over her words, clearing her throat as she tried to articulate herself. "How...um, studying, yeah, you can say that!" She clutched her book to her, hoping she didn’t look too conspicuous.
Aaron’s heart skipped a beat when Lilie whirled toward him, eyes all wide and blue and cheeks all rosy. Somewhere off in the back of his mind it occurred to him that he must have startled her to elicit such a reaction, but the result was so damn cute he couldn’t quite find it in himself to feel bad about it.
Her answer did sound like a sidestep, though—although Eris would probably smack him for stating the obvious—and he couldn’t help but grin, grateful his hair hid the redness he could feel in his ears. In his best attempt at playfulness, he tossed Lilie a wink. “It’s okay if you got sent here on an errand,” he whispered, producing his own books and tapping them. “I did too. Your secret’s safe with me.”
Lilie tried not to smile too wide, finding herself enjoying his playfulness. It wasn’t often that she got to see that side of him. There was a tiny thought that it was because she only ever saw him around his vampire, but since she didn’t hear any grumbling from the stingy teacher’s aide, she thought it was safe to assume the redheaded grump wasn’t around. Better yet, Aaron hadn’t seen her make a fool of herself jumping around!
Lilie shook her head, deciding to clear up the misunderstanding. “Oh, no, I’m here for myself, actually,” She gently corrected him. “Count Benjamin doesn’t usually ask me to do anything on the weekends—or, well, he doesn’t ask me for a lot of things in general—so I usually have a lot of time to come here and study on my own.”
A flash of jealousy shot through Aaron at that, but it didn’t linger long. Sure, he did begrudge his lack of free time—especially now after his performance in the practical, with his leash shorter than ever—but he was pretty sure he’d go just as crazy if Varis didn’t make use of his time. Besides… it was admittedly hard to be in a bad mood around Lilie.
“You know, I was just thinking I should come study in here more often,” he beamed, glossing over the topic. “I used to like studying outside, but it’s a bit cold for it now,” he chuckled. “Maybe I’ll get you to show me the best spots.”
“You could always study with me!” The words left her mouth so quickly that it took Lilie a few seconds to realize that she had definitely said them out loud. It was too late to renege on the offer, and she had to admit she didn’t want to, either. But she couldn’t just leave it at that, it was way too bold, way too assumptive!
After a few seconds she seemed to latch onto a thought, trying to be as casual as possible. “I mean, you’re always helping me out with your notes, anyway...at least this way, we could maybe do it together?” She suggested, trying to keep her voice steady. “Whenever you can, of course. I know you’re busy, but I’m usually just here. A lot. So...you know…”
If he wasn’t blushing before, Aaron certainly was now, his ears burning under his hair. Oh, how he’d take hold of that offer if he could! The whole reason he started putting the Treaty Law notes he made up for Lilie in her mailbox in the first place was because their schedules never seemed to line up, otherwise he would happily have tutored her in person—provided it didn’t get back to Varis that he was giving his time and effort away for free. Not that he felt that way; as far as he was concerned, the few study sessions he’d managed to get with Lilie back before his responsibilities widened had been more rewarding for him than for her. Luckily, she hadn’t noticed that the pauses he took in his explanations were usually because he got distracted by her eyes, or her hair, or her blouse…
“I’ll take you up on that when I get the chance,” he replied suavely, yanking himself out of his thoughts to focus on the woman before him. “Though, I suppose I would miss your baking,” he teased, recalling the time he’d opened his mailbox expecting returned notes and found a dozen cookies wrapped in a table napkin. He raised his hand, debonair attitude melting away as he tugged sheepishly on his ear. “I don’t know if you remember, but it was certainly a nice surprise.”
Having to hold herself back from blurting out something else silly, Lilie felt giddy nonetheless. She couldn’t help it, she loved the idea that Aaron actually liked her baking. She would’ve loved nothing more than to invite him over to demonstrate her cooking skills, too, but she figured it was for the best. Being too greedy with what little time he had was bad, she should take what she could get.
“I’m really glad you liked it,” She told him, swelling up with pride. “My family runs a bakery, so I have a lot of practice baking and cooking. I don’t get to do it too much on my own, but I was glad to do it. I almost considered asking what sorts of baked goods you’d like, but it definitely would’ve ruined the surprise.”
“It was well worth it,” Aaron assured her, a pleased warmth spreading through his chest. “And your experience really shows. Like with that cake—which, thank you, by the way,” he added quickly, tugging his ear once more. “I spoke to your Count when I returned the dish, but I realize I never thanked you in person. It was lovely.”
He paused for a moment before looking behind him for eavesdroppers and leaning forward, voice low. “Between you and me, I think it was so good it even tempted my Master.”
He snickered quietly, but straightened, clearing his throat. “But anyway, I guess that explains why I don't see you at the dining hall more often.” He flashed a mischievous grin—goodness, Eris really was rubbing off on him. “And here I thought you were avoiding me.”
For some reason hearing that her cake had tempted a vampire was almost too good to be true. But Aaron wouldn’t lie to her, so instead she took that as a great compliment. Lilie giggled, catching herself as he continued. “I wouldn’t avoid you!” She hurriedly assured him. “But once you get used to homemade cooking, it’s hard to settle for anything less.”
The thought gave her a tiny sense of longing for home, but she ignored it for the moment. “But thank you, it means a lot to me that you think so,” She cheerfully said. “If you ever have the time for a small study session, I’ll try to bring some cooking for you to try.”
Aaron smiled warmly, sharing in some of Lilie’s nostalgia, even if it wasn't quite as familiar to him as it probably was to her. He'd admit there wasn't a lot of cooking that happened back home—not outside of the staff kitchen, anyway—but Dora did occasionally (and emotionally) try her hand at it, and Clara had such a penchant for cinnamon pinwheels that she learned to make them herself during her fits of daytime insomnia. More than once he'd woken up to the smell of butter and cinnamon and a disaster zone of a kitchen; Clara knew perfectly well how to clean, but apparently opted to leave it for the servants nonetheless, much to Dora’s chagrin. Not that Aaron minded; a messy kitchen was a small price to pay for the chance to sneak a sweet before his morning training. That and his own occasional, covert little trips to the staff kitchen to nab a dinner roll as they came out of the oven made him hopeful that even though they came from totally different worlds, he and Lilie might still share some things in common.
“That sounds nice,” he answered wistfully, a little quieter than before.
Silence stretched between them for a moment until Aaron cleared his throat again, reluctant to let the conversation end so soon. So, he took a stab at a new topic, looking up at the shelf and asking, “So, were you looking for anything in particular?”
Lilie was a little confused by Aaron’s tone, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable, so she chose not to ask. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was too nosy. At his next question, her embarrassment returned in full, though she brightened up and gestured towards the book she had been staring at. "I was trying to get that book," She admitted, omitting her shenanigans. He didn't need to know that. "I saw Kanalie—my senior friend—reading it, and when she left, I followed it here. But I don't know what it's called, so I thought I'd just reach for it, but…" She gave him a small smile, scratching her cheek with her free hand.
Aaron’s smile returned in full when his change in topic was well received, and he followed Lilie’s gesture to the book in question, a leather-bound affair with the title stubbornly printed too small to read, tucked into the end of the shelf only a few books away from the wall. “Oh, that’s easy,” he stated matter-of-factly, stepping closer to reach for it.
Or, at least, he tried; the corner was a little more cramped than he realized, and his first attempt would have put Lilie’s face squarely in his chest had he not awkwardly abandoned his course. Chuckling sheepishly, he tried to sidestep Lilie, the pair doing what amounted to an awkward, uncoordinated little dance to manoeuvre around each other.
Eventually they managed, and Aaron was able to figure his way close enough to the shelf to pull the book down. The arrival of a self-propelled return cart in their aisle, however, further complicated things, and by the time Aaron got himself turned around with book in hand and his back to the shelf, he found himself just about nose-to-nose with Lilie. Or, rather, nose-to-hair; standing this close, the difference in height between them was staggering, reminding Aaron of the same realization back at the Revel. Lilie barely rose up to his chin.
Ears burning anew from the newfound proximity, Aaron had to chuckle again, offering the book to Lilie and hoping his blush wouldn’t reach his cheeks. “See, easy.”
Close! So close! Too close! In Lilie’s defense, she at least tried to move out of the way, only successful in bumping her back to the other shelf and moving without thinking as she didn’t want to get run over by the cart. That said, catching the faintest scent of what she swore was lavender hit her before she realized she was sandwiched in between him and the cart, nearly dropping her book from the clumsy attempt to move. Funny, it didn’t smell like detergent or soap, more like he had come in close contact with the actual flower. It was nice, but it was hard to think on it when she found herself staring up at him. He was almost a giant compared to her!
“Thank—Thank you,” She inwardly rolled her eyes at her little hiccup, taking the book gratefully and hugging both to her. If only she could make herself smaller, she felt like she was definitely invading Aaron’s personal space, but the cart wasn’t budging as it waited for every book on it to sort itself out.
Making an attempt to make some kind of space, Lilie tried to push the cart away, only to let out a squeak as it pushed back as if warning her not to touch it. Bumping back into Aaron, she looked up at him, mortified. “I can’t really move, sorry…” She apologized, hoping she wasn’t making him too uncomfortable.
Aaron couldn’t help but laugh, pressing himself back against the bookshelf as well as he could. “Don’t apologize,” he said without thinking, not realizing until a moment later what sorts of implications might be drawn from such a thing. He nearly choked, his shock at himself coming out as another sheepish laugh, and let his head fall back, clapping his hand over his eyes.
Shaking his head, he dropped his hand and glanced from the cart to the book he’d fetched—a tome on advanced Protection magic, apparently, quelle coïncidence—shifting as best he could to give Lilie a bit more breathing room. “Well, while we’re here,” he began with another laugh, nodding down at the book. He was momentarily distracted by the subtle scent of rosewater he was pretty sure came from Lilie’s hair, but he soldiered on. “Not to disappoint, but I think that book might be a bit beyond our purview. Good subject, though.”
Lilie let out a tiny hum, figuring she may as well just enjoy the moment. It wasn’t like it was entirely bad, and better with Aaron. Not that she would ever do anything like this on purpose! She was grateful for the subject change, albeit she did let out an embarrassed laugh.
“Yeah, but...no harm in taking a peek, right?” She raised the book a little before holding it to her. “Apparently we’re supposed to pick a major sometime down the line, and I was debating between Evocation and Protection.” She gave him a small shrug. “Evocation is all about offensive spells, but I was curious to see what sort of things Protection could offer down the line.”
“It’s definitely a useful path,” Aaron replied, as casually as he could manage for being sandwiched between a woman and a shelf, “I was telling Max that Evocation is a bit narrow in my opinion, and I guess Protection could be considered that way too, but if you ask me, I bet it’d be more useful with an affinity like yours.” He cracked a smile, doing his best to shrug. “Then again, I’m probably biased.”
Narrow? What did he mean by that? Lilie was a little confused as she tried to figure out what he meant. Did he already have something in mind? Well, she did have a tendency to fall behind on these sorts of things, so it wasn't too surprising. “My affinity is kind of boring, I thought maybe with some more offensive spells I’d make things more interesting, but Protection is the road to head down if you want to get into dueling,” She explained. “If you’re biased, does that mean you picked your major already?”
“Boring? Oh, I find that hard to believe,” Aaron answered brightly. “At the start of our first Affinity Mastery class, my professor turned himself into water and slid himself under the door just because he was a little late. Not to mention that Princess Ryner used to prefer water mages for her personal guard. I think there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye; I’m sure in a couple of years you’ll be up to things I can’t even imagine.”
As for her question, a bit of Aaron’s usual fatigue snuck back into him, though thankfully not nearly as pronounced as usual. Part of him wondered if he’d for some reason made some kind of back-of-his-mind mission out of telling his major choice to anyone who would listen, but he supposed he did walk right into this one. “Yeah, I have,” he replied, a little sheepish. “Against my better judgement, I’m going into Mental magic. I suppose the reason I’m biased is that Protection is a mandatory part of it.”
She’d have to take his word for it—aside from having fun in the bath, she didn’t really find a lot of application for her affinity. The idea of turning into water did grab her interest, but she was sure that would be many, many years down the line. Lilie’s expression did go blank at the mention of Aaron’s choice, with the girl considering something. She did drill Kanalie for all the options, so she knew Mental magic was a thing, but it seemed like taboo, invasive. It was hard for her to believe Aaron had willingly chosen it, with even him phrasing it that way making her worried.
Lilie opened her mouth but then closed it, and after a few seconds, she gave up. “I didn’t think that would be something you’d be interested in,” She admitted, trying to sound positive. “That’s surprising!”
Aaron met Lilie’s admirable attempt at positivity with a smile he hoped would look sincere, attempting another shrug. “This year’s been full of surprises,” he tried optimistically. At least that was true—and, given present company, it was true in more ways than one.
Ah, it really was hard to feel down on himself when he got a few minutes with Lilie—and a few minutes alone, even. But of course, as suddenly as it came, his chance was gone again, with the return cart emptying the last of its books and making its way steadily back down the aisle, releasing them.
“Ah, there we go,” Aaron commented with a sigh, admittedly not altogether thrilled that their little moment—if you could even call it that, good lord he was being stupid wasn’t he—was over. Still, he offered a grin, stepping to the side to finally give Lilie some room.
Lilie felt a little bad for her comment, feeling like she had somehow disappointed him. Maybe she had been too quick to judge. He obviously knew that Mental magic was an odd choice judging by his response—he didn’t seem very enthusiastic about it at all. Was Count Sinnenodel making him do it? He made him do all sorts of weird things, so maybe it wasn’t actually Aaron’s choice at all.
As he grinned, Lilie returned it with one of her own, perking up. The best thing to do was to be positive, if it made him uncomfortable, she wouldn’t bring it up. “Well, I’m sure you’ll be amazing at it!” She said as she was much more sincere with her statement. “I’m still deliberating...maybe I can do both? It would be pretty cool to sling fireballs and throw up a shield one right after the other!”
Giving Lilie a more sincere smile, Aaron crossed his arms, quirking a brow. “Really now? That’s very ambitious of you,” he praised. Extremely so, even. Judging by his limited arcane knowledge, the magical stamina that would take would be extraordinary—if she could pull it off, she’d be a force to be reckoned with. An impressive feat for sure, and undeniably endearing (or, more aptly, alluring) to think someone so unassuming had her goals set so high.
“It’s nothing you couldn’t accomplish, I bet,” he decided, putting a hand in his pocket. “A double major should be child’s play for someone who’ll soon be throwing oceans around.”
For some reason, Aaron’s resolute confidence stunned Lilie. There was a tiny thought that he believed in her more than she believed in herself, initially joking about it. But he talked about it like it was an absolute certainty, like he really believed she could do it. It really touched her to know that was what he thought of her.
Her gaze dropped downwards for a moment, a light blush painting her cheeks as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. As she looked up at him, she gave him a wider-than-usual smile, letting out a tiny giggle. “Ah, um...thank you,” She replied quietly, feeling completely invigorated.
Ugh, how did she do that? One look at that smile and Aaron could have melted, any lingering embarrassment or bitterness washed away like paper boats in a tsunami. Though, that wasn’t to say he’d only said what he did to elicit a reaction; that couldn’t be farther from the truth. To him, Lilie really was amazing. She had a resilience about her that Aaron could only assume came from her ground-in humanity; no matter how often she was knocked down, she jumped up again, ready and enthusiastic to give her challenges another go. It shone in everything she did, from something as big as getting tossed across the arena by a giant to something as small as adopting a new wardrobe. With that sort of determination, Aaron really had no doubt she’d someday move oceans.
But, of course, nothing good ever lived too long for Aaron. Just as he was about to scrape his brain off the carpet and try to come up with an intelligent response, a buzz on his wrist pulled him out of the moment, its distinctive ‘tick-tock’ pattern announcing precisely who’d come knocking to ruin his fun.
“...Ah,” he smiled sheepishly, checking his watch to confirm the sender before gesturing to it as proof. “I uh… heh, I have to go.”
He had trouble meeting Lilie’s eye, suddenly embarrassed as real life crashed back into place. He lifted his books again, awkwardly shrugging with a half-hearted laugh. “My Master is wondering where I am.”
Lilie was confused by Aaron’s sudden change in demeanor, though he didn’t leave her wondering why for long. She nodded in understanding, watching him gather the books he had, but she felt like she couldn’t just let him leave like that. But what could she do?
Fingers tapping her books, she searched her brain for something to say. “Okay,” She lamely said, mentally slapping herself. Was that really the best she could come up with?! Clearing her throat, she decided to try again. “Um...just think about my offer. Whenever is fine, really. Take it easy, okay?”
Aaron did smile sincerely at that, giving Lilie a grateful nod. “I will, thank you,” he answered both her questions at once, offering her a lame little wave before turning down the aisle toward the corridor, suddenly wanting to get out of sight.
Still, better judgement did not prevail, and despite his urgency, Aaron only made it a few steps before slowing to a stop, stomach quivering with nervous anticipation. He considered abandoning his little plan and moving on, but small and insignificant and probably-dumb as it was, it was now or never.
Tugging his ear bashfully, Aaron turned back enough to see Lilie over his shoulder, gesturing back to her. “You… you look really nice tonight, by the way,” he managed to tell her, wondering why it was these of all moments where he always lost his tongue. “Have a good one.”
What? Lilie was left in the dust, Aaron’s words echoing in her head. He thought she looked nice? In this? In what she felt like was old lady clothes?! Was he just saying that or...actually, no, he did like this sort of clothing, didn’t he? She realized he had said something similar back before their exam, too. She was lucky he was gone, her hand flying to her red face as she nearly dropped her books. Ahh, he thought she looked nice. Did he think she was cute? Was that too much of a stretch?
Before Lilie knew it, she was basically floating along, feeling on top of the world. She hugged her books closer to her than before, barely paying any attention as she checked them out. Her heart was beating something fierce, the girl having to take a few deep breaths to calm herself and earning a dry look from one of the librarians since she couldn’t stop smiling. Once she got her coat back, she bundled herself up, but even the cold stood no chance against the warmth of her cheeks and her chest.
If he was being honest with himself, though, he’d have to admit that his slow and leisurely walk toward the exit was less about admiring the genius application of magic in the library and more about putting off leaving. The weather had turned nasty right after the practical and seemed to want to stay that way; just outside those doors the campus was being pounded with sleet and a wet cold that sank into the bones, and despite his general fondness for cold weather, Aaron was still in no hurry to get back out into it. But he’d found the materials Varis sent him to collect—though he did double- and triple-check the list just in case there was something he could dive back into the shelves for—and there was only so much stalling he could justify before he really had to get back to whatever vapid task awaited him back at the dorm.
But some star must have aligned just right that night, for just as Aaron was wishing for some, any excuse to stick around a little longer, he saw a flash of white in the corner of his eye. He almost walked past, but backpedaled, eyes widening when he saw, deep into a corridor between the shelves, none other than Lilie.
His heart leapt in his chest. He couldn’t believe his luck! His free time was so constricted in recent weeks that he barely got to see anyone outside of class, let alone her, and while he’d latched on to every moment they got to spend together during school hours, there just wasn’t any chance to… to… oh, he didn’t even know what he wanted to do with her, he just knew the very sight of her brightened his night like the harvest moon.
Ugh, good lord that was corny. He really was spending too much time around Eris. And he was wasting time! He had a few minutes at best to take advantage of, and doom take him if he was going to waste them.
Looking around to make sure no one caught him ogling, Aaron leaned against the shelf for a moment, pretending to look through his little stack of books and covertly stealing a few more glances at Lilie. She looked like she could have fit in back at the castle, honestly—okay, maybe a little casual for that, but still—dressed appropriately in a long ochre skirt and black turtleneck, but something about that silhouette as she clutched a book to her chest and looked up at the shelf just did something to him. He could hear Eris in his head mocking him about eyeing up the maids, but chose to ignore it. She looked like… well, like a mage. She looked like she was coming into her own, and it filled Aaron with a warmth that meant more than just having something nice to look at.
She seemed less than pleased, though, staring daggers up at the shelf like that. Could she not find what she was looking for? Or could she not reach? She had a look on her face like his mother did when she looked up at the tall kitchen cabinets, and Aaron couldn’t help but smirk at the comparison. But he was pretty sure you could just call out for a book and it would float down from the shelf to meet you, so maybe she just wasn’t sure what she needed?
Just talk to her, idiot!
Aaron’s ears got hot, and he almost laughed at himself for his foolishness. That in mind, he finally pushed off the shelf and walked down the corridor, approaching quietly with his arms behind his back. When he got closer, he leaned a little sideways, looking between Lilie and the shelf, careful not to let his gaze linger too long.
He smiled kindly, gentle amusement clear in his eyes, and cleared his throat. “Fancy meeting you here,” he greeted brightly. “Doing some weekend studying?”
The white haired girl was so intent on trying to glare the book down that she nearly jumped in place, blue eyes wide as they stared up at Aaron. Aaron! Oh, no, did he see all her misguided jumps at the shelf? Lilie really, really hoped not, especially because she hadn't even come close to reaching what she wanted. Giving him a very sheepish smile, she couldn't help but steal a quick glance at him before looking back up at the shelf, trying not to look too conspicuous. Ever since that night outside their dorms, she had been a little...finicky? Was that the right word? Whatever it was, it was a warm but completely humbling feeling, gripping her even now as she dared herself to look at him. She was pretty sure she was blushing, though whether it was because she was embarrassed at potentially being caught or because she found herself having a hard time looking him in the eye, who knew.
"Hi! I mean...hello, hi," Lilie stumbled a bit over her words, clearing her throat as she tried to articulate herself. "How...um, studying, yeah, you can say that!" She clutched her book to her, hoping she didn’t look too conspicuous.
Aaron’s heart skipped a beat when Lilie whirled toward him, eyes all wide and blue and cheeks all rosy. Somewhere off in the back of his mind it occurred to him that he must have startled her to elicit such a reaction, but the result was so damn cute he couldn’t quite find it in himself to feel bad about it.
Her answer did sound like a sidestep, though—although Eris would probably smack him for stating the obvious—and he couldn’t help but grin, grateful his hair hid the redness he could feel in his ears. In his best attempt at playfulness, he tossed Lilie a wink. “It’s okay if you got sent here on an errand,” he whispered, producing his own books and tapping them. “I did too. Your secret’s safe with me.”
Lilie tried not to smile too wide, finding herself enjoying his playfulness. It wasn’t often that she got to see that side of him. There was a tiny thought that it was because she only ever saw him around his vampire, but since she didn’t hear any grumbling from the stingy teacher’s aide, she thought it was safe to assume the redheaded grump wasn’t around. Better yet, Aaron hadn’t seen her make a fool of herself jumping around!
Lilie shook her head, deciding to clear up the misunderstanding. “Oh, no, I’m here for myself, actually,” She gently corrected him. “Count Benjamin doesn’t usually ask me to do anything on the weekends—or, well, he doesn’t ask me for a lot of things in general—so I usually have a lot of time to come here and study on my own.”
A flash of jealousy shot through Aaron at that, but it didn’t linger long. Sure, he did begrudge his lack of free time—especially now after his performance in the practical, with his leash shorter than ever—but he was pretty sure he’d go just as crazy if Varis didn’t make use of his time. Besides… it was admittedly hard to be in a bad mood around Lilie.
“You know, I was just thinking I should come study in here more often,” he beamed, glossing over the topic. “I used to like studying outside, but it’s a bit cold for it now,” he chuckled. “Maybe I’ll get you to show me the best spots.”
“You could always study with me!” The words left her mouth so quickly that it took Lilie a few seconds to realize that she had definitely said them out loud. It was too late to renege on the offer, and she had to admit she didn’t want to, either. But she couldn’t just leave it at that, it was way too bold, way too assumptive!
After a few seconds she seemed to latch onto a thought, trying to be as casual as possible. “I mean, you’re always helping me out with your notes, anyway...at least this way, we could maybe do it together?” She suggested, trying to keep her voice steady. “Whenever you can, of course. I know you’re busy, but I’m usually just here. A lot. So...you know…”
If he wasn’t blushing before, Aaron certainly was now, his ears burning under his hair. Oh, how he’d take hold of that offer if he could! The whole reason he started putting the Treaty Law notes he made up for Lilie in her mailbox in the first place was because their schedules never seemed to line up, otherwise he would happily have tutored her in person—provided it didn’t get back to Varis that he was giving his time and effort away for free. Not that he felt that way; as far as he was concerned, the few study sessions he’d managed to get with Lilie back before his responsibilities widened had been more rewarding for him than for her. Luckily, she hadn’t noticed that the pauses he took in his explanations were usually because he got distracted by her eyes, or her hair, or her blouse…
“I’ll take you up on that when I get the chance,” he replied suavely, yanking himself out of his thoughts to focus on the woman before him. “Though, I suppose I would miss your baking,” he teased, recalling the time he’d opened his mailbox expecting returned notes and found a dozen cookies wrapped in a table napkin. He raised his hand, debonair attitude melting away as he tugged sheepishly on his ear. “I don’t know if you remember, but it was certainly a nice surprise.”
Having to hold herself back from blurting out something else silly, Lilie felt giddy nonetheless. She couldn’t help it, she loved the idea that Aaron actually liked her baking. She would’ve loved nothing more than to invite him over to demonstrate her cooking skills, too, but she figured it was for the best. Being too greedy with what little time he had was bad, she should take what she could get.
“I’m really glad you liked it,” She told him, swelling up with pride. “My family runs a bakery, so I have a lot of practice baking and cooking. I don’t get to do it too much on my own, but I was glad to do it. I almost considered asking what sorts of baked goods you’d like, but it definitely would’ve ruined the surprise.”
“It was well worth it,” Aaron assured her, a pleased warmth spreading through his chest. “And your experience really shows. Like with that cake—which, thank you, by the way,” he added quickly, tugging his ear once more. “I spoke to your Count when I returned the dish, but I realize I never thanked you in person. It was lovely.”
He paused for a moment before looking behind him for eavesdroppers and leaning forward, voice low. “Between you and me, I think it was so good it even tempted my Master.”
He snickered quietly, but straightened, clearing his throat. “But anyway, I guess that explains why I don't see you at the dining hall more often.” He flashed a mischievous grin—goodness, Eris really was rubbing off on him. “And here I thought you were avoiding me.”
For some reason hearing that her cake had tempted a vampire was almost too good to be true. But Aaron wouldn’t lie to her, so instead she took that as a great compliment. Lilie giggled, catching herself as he continued. “I wouldn’t avoid you!” She hurriedly assured him. “But once you get used to homemade cooking, it’s hard to settle for anything less.”
The thought gave her a tiny sense of longing for home, but she ignored it for the moment. “But thank you, it means a lot to me that you think so,” She cheerfully said. “If you ever have the time for a small study session, I’ll try to bring some cooking for you to try.”
Aaron smiled warmly, sharing in some of Lilie’s nostalgia, even if it wasn't quite as familiar to him as it probably was to her. He'd admit there wasn't a lot of cooking that happened back home—not outside of the staff kitchen, anyway—but Dora did occasionally (and emotionally) try her hand at it, and Clara had such a penchant for cinnamon pinwheels that she learned to make them herself during her fits of daytime insomnia. More than once he'd woken up to the smell of butter and cinnamon and a disaster zone of a kitchen; Clara knew perfectly well how to clean, but apparently opted to leave it for the servants nonetheless, much to Dora’s chagrin. Not that Aaron minded; a messy kitchen was a small price to pay for the chance to sneak a sweet before his morning training. That and his own occasional, covert little trips to the staff kitchen to nab a dinner roll as they came out of the oven made him hopeful that even though they came from totally different worlds, he and Lilie might still share some things in common.
“That sounds nice,” he answered wistfully, a little quieter than before.
Silence stretched between them for a moment until Aaron cleared his throat again, reluctant to let the conversation end so soon. So, he took a stab at a new topic, looking up at the shelf and asking, “So, were you looking for anything in particular?”
Lilie was a little confused by Aaron’s tone, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable, so she chose not to ask. The last thing she wanted was for him to think she was too nosy. At his next question, her embarrassment returned in full, though she brightened up and gestured towards the book she had been staring at. "I was trying to get that book," She admitted, omitting her shenanigans. He didn't need to know that. "I saw Kanalie—my senior friend—reading it, and when she left, I followed it here. But I don't know what it's called, so I thought I'd just reach for it, but…" She gave him a small smile, scratching her cheek with her free hand.
Aaron’s smile returned in full when his change in topic was well received, and he followed Lilie’s gesture to the book in question, a leather-bound affair with the title stubbornly printed too small to read, tucked into the end of the shelf only a few books away from the wall. “Oh, that’s easy,” he stated matter-of-factly, stepping closer to reach for it.
Or, at least, he tried; the corner was a little more cramped than he realized, and his first attempt would have put Lilie’s face squarely in his chest had he not awkwardly abandoned his course. Chuckling sheepishly, he tried to sidestep Lilie, the pair doing what amounted to an awkward, uncoordinated little dance to manoeuvre around each other.
Eventually they managed, and Aaron was able to figure his way close enough to the shelf to pull the book down. The arrival of a self-propelled return cart in their aisle, however, further complicated things, and by the time Aaron got himself turned around with book in hand and his back to the shelf, he found himself just about nose-to-nose with Lilie. Or, rather, nose-to-hair; standing this close, the difference in height between them was staggering, reminding Aaron of the same realization back at the Revel. Lilie barely rose up to his chin.
Ears burning anew from the newfound proximity, Aaron had to chuckle again, offering the book to Lilie and hoping his blush wouldn’t reach his cheeks. “See, easy.”
Close! So close! Too close! In Lilie’s defense, she at least tried to move out of the way, only successful in bumping her back to the other shelf and moving without thinking as she didn’t want to get run over by the cart. That said, catching the faintest scent of what she swore was lavender hit her before she realized she was sandwiched in between him and the cart, nearly dropping her book from the clumsy attempt to move. Funny, it didn’t smell like detergent or soap, more like he had come in close contact with the actual flower. It was nice, but it was hard to think on it when she found herself staring up at him. He was almost a giant compared to her!
“Thank—Thank you,” She inwardly rolled her eyes at her little hiccup, taking the book gratefully and hugging both to her. If only she could make herself smaller, she felt like she was definitely invading Aaron’s personal space, but the cart wasn’t budging as it waited for every book on it to sort itself out.
Making an attempt to make some kind of space, Lilie tried to push the cart away, only to let out a squeak as it pushed back as if warning her not to touch it. Bumping back into Aaron, she looked up at him, mortified. “I can’t really move, sorry…” She apologized, hoping she wasn’t making him too uncomfortable.
Aaron couldn’t help but laugh, pressing himself back against the bookshelf as well as he could. “Don’t apologize,” he said without thinking, not realizing until a moment later what sorts of implications might be drawn from such a thing. He nearly choked, his shock at himself coming out as another sheepish laugh, and let his head fall back, clapping his hand over his eyes.
Shaking his head, he dropped his hand and glanced from the cart to the book he’d fetched—a tome on advanced Protection magic, apparently, quelle coïncidence—shifting as best he could to give Lilie a bit more breathing room. “Well, while we’re here,” he began with another laugh, nodding down at the book. He was momentarily distracted by the subtle scent of rosewater he was pretty sure came from Lilie’s hair, but he soldiered on. “Not to disappoint, but I think that book might be a bit beyond our purview. Good subject, though.”
Lilie let out a tiny hum, figuring she may as well just enjoy the moment. It wasn’t like it was entirely bad, and better with Aaron. Not that she would ever do anything like this on purpose! She was grateful for the subject change, albeit she did let out an embarrassed laugh.
“Yeah, but...no harm in taking a peek, right?” She raised the book a little before holding it to her. “Apparently we’re supposed to pick a major sometime down the line, and I was debating between Evocation and Protection.” She gave him a small shrug. “Evocation is all about offensive spells, but I was curious to see what sort of things Protection could offer down the line.”
“It’s definitely a useful path,” Aaron replied, as casually as he could manage for being sandwiched between a woman and a shelf, “I was telling Max that Evocation is a bit narrow in my opinion, and I guess Protection could be considered that way too, but if you ask me, I bet it’d be more useful with an affinity like yours.” He cracked a smile, doing his best to shrug. “Then again, I’m probably biased.”
Narrow? What did he mean by that? Lilie was a little confused as she tried to figure out what he meant. Did he already have something in mind? Well, she did have a tendency to fall behind on these sorts of things, so it wasn't too surprising. “My affinity is kind of boring, I thought maybe with some more offensive spells I’d make things more interesting, but Protection is the road to head down if you want to get into dueling,” She explained. “If you’re biased, does that mean you picked your major already?”
“Boring? Oh, I find that hard to believe,” Aaron answered brightly. “At the start of our first Affinity Mastery class, my professor turned himself into water and slid himself under the door just because he was a little late. Not to mention that Princess Ryner used to prefer water mages for her personal guard. I think there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye; I’m sure in a couple of years you’ll be up to things I can’t even imagine.”
As for her question, a bit of Aaron’s usual fatigue snuck back into him, though thankfully not nearly as pronounced as usual. Part of him wondered if he’d for some reason made some kind of back-of-his-mind mission out of telling his major choice to anyone who would listen, but he supposed he did walk right into this one. “Yeah, I have,” he replied, a little sheepish. “Against my better judgement, I’m going into Mental magic. I suppose the reason I’m biased is that Protection is a mandatory part of it.”
She’d have to take his word for it—aside from having fun in the bath, she didn’t really find a lot of application for her affinity. The idea of turning into water did grab her interest, but she was sure that would be many, many years down the line. Lilie’s expression did go blank at the mention of Aaron’s choice, with the girl considering something. She did drill Kanalie for all the options, so she knew Mental magic was a thing, but it seemed like taboo, invasive. It was hard for her to believe Aaron had willingly chosen it, with even him phrasing it that way making her worried.
Lilie opened her mouth but then closed it, and after a few seconds, she gave up. “I didn’t think that would be something you’d be interested in,” She admitted, trying to sound positive. “That’s surprising!”
Aaron met Lilie’s admirable attempt at positivity with a smile he hoped would look sincere, attempting another shrug. “This year’s been full of surprises,” he tried optimistically. At least that was true—and, given present company, it was true in more ways than one.
Ah, it really was hard to feel down on himself when he got a few minutes with Lilie—and a few minutes alone, even. But of course, as suddenly as it came, his chance was gone again, with the return cart emptying the last of its books and making its way steadily back down the aisle, releasing them.
“Ah, there we go,” Aaron commented with a sigh, admittedly not altogether thrilled that their little moment—if you could even call it that, good lord he was being stupid wasn’t he—was over. Still, he offered a grin, stepping to the side to finally give Lilie some room.
Lilie felt a little bad for her comment, feeling like she had somehow disappointed him. Maybe she had been too quick to judge. He obviously knew that Mental magic was an odd choice judging by his response—he didn’t seem very enthusiastic about it at all. Was Count Sinnenodel making him do it? He made him do all sorts of weird things, so maybe it wasn’t actually Aaron’s choice at all.
As he grinned, Lilie returned it with one of her own, perking up. The best thing to do was to be positive, if it made him uncomfortable, she wouldn’t bring it up. “Well, I’m sure you’ll be amazing at it!” She said as she was much more sincere with her statement. “I’m still deliberating...maybe I can do both? It would be pretty cool to sling fireballs and throw up a shield one right after the other!”
Giving Lilie a more sincere smile, Aaron crossed his arms, quirking a brow. “Really now? That’s very ambitious of you,” he praised. Extremely so, even. Judging by his limited arcane knowledge, the magical stamina that would take would be extraordinary—if she could pull it off, she’d be a force to be reckoned with. An impressive feat for sure, and undeniably endearing (or, more aptly, alluring) to think someone so unassuming had her goals set so high.
“It’s nothing you couldn’t accomplish, I bet,” he decided, putting a hand in his pocket. “A double major should be child’s play for someone who’ll soon be throwing oceans around.”
For some reason, Aaron’s resolute confidence stunned Lilie. There was a tiny thought that he believed in her more than she believed in herself, initially joking about it. But he talked about it like it was an absolute certainty, like he really believed she could do it. It really touched her to know that was what he thought of her.
Her gaze dropped downwards for a moment, a light blush painting her cheeks as she tucked a stray hair behind her ear. As she looked up at him, she gave him a wider-than-usual smile, letting out a tiny giggle. “Ah, um...thank you,” She replied quietly, feeling completely invigorated.
Ugh, how did she do that? One look at that smile and Aaron could have melted, any lingering embarrassment or bitterness washed away like paper boats in a tsunami. Though, that wasn’t to say he’d only said what he did to elicit a reaction; that couldn’t be farther from the truth. To him, Lilie really was amazing. She had a resilience about her that Aaron could only assume came from her ground-in humanity; no matter how often she was knocked down, she jumped up again, ready and enthusiastic to give her challenges another go. It shone in everything she did, from something as big as getting tossed across the arena by a giant to something as small as adopting a new wardrobe. With that sort of determination, Aaron really had no doubt she’d someday move oceans.
But, of course, nothing good ever lived too long for Aaron. Just as he was about to scrape his brain off the carpet and try to come up with an intelligent response, a buzz on his wrist pulled him out of the moment, its distinctive ‘tick-tock’ pattern announcing precisely who’d come knocking to ruin his fun.
“...Ah,” he smiled sheepishly, checking his watch to confirm the sender before gesturing to it as proof. “I uh… heh, I have to go.”
He had trouble meeting Lilie’s eye, suddenly embarrassed as real life crashed back into place. He lifted his books again, awkwardly shrugging with a half-hearted laugh. “My Master is wondering where I am.”
Lilie was confused by Aaron’s sudden change in demeanor, though he didn’t leave her wondering why for long. She nodded in understanding, watching him gather the books he had, but she felt like she couldn’t just let him leave like that. But what could she do?
Fingers tapping her books, she searched her brain for something to say. “Okay,” She lamely said, mentally slapping herself. Was that really the best she could come up with?! Clearing her throat, she decided to try again. “Um...just think about my offer. Whenever is fine, really. Take it easy, okay?”
Aaron did smile sincerely at that, giving Lilie a grateful nod. “I will, thank you,” he answered both her questions at once, offering her a lame little wave before turning down the aisle toward the corridor, suddenly wanting to get out of sight.
Still, better judgement did not prevail, and despite his urgency, Aaron only made it a few steps before slowing to a stop, stomach quivering with nervous anticipation. He considered abandoning his little plan and moving on, but small and insignificant and probably-dumb as it was, it was now or never.
Tugging his ear bashfully, Aaron turned back enough to see Lilie over his shoulder, gesturing back to her. “You… you look really nice tonight, by the way,” he managed to tell her, wondering why it was these of all moments where he always lost his tongue. “Have a good one.”
What? Lilie was left in the dust, Aaron’s words echoing in her head. He thought she looked nice? In this? In what she felt like was old lady clothes?! Was he just saying that or...actually, no, he did like this sort of clothing, didn’t he? She realized he had said something similar back before their exam, too. She was lucky he was gone, her hand flying to her red face as she nearly dropped her books. Ahh, he thought she looked nice. Did he think she was cute? Was that too much of a stretch?
Before Lilie knew it, she was basically floating along, feeling on top of the world. She hugged her books closer to her than before, barely paying any attention as she checked them out. Her heart was beating something fierce, the girl having to take a few deep breaths to calm herself and earning a dry look from one of the librarians since she couldn’t stop smiling. Once she got her coat back, she bundled herself up, but even the cold stood no chance against the warmth of her cheeks and her chest.
Stretching her arms above her head, Lilie let out a tiny whimper as she arched her stiff back, relaxing as she walked outside. She was surprised to see it was so dark already as she was used to getting the mail while the sun was still out, but she had decided to get ahead of her schoolwork so she could focus on the voice and etiquette lessons for the week. The sky looked so pretty with streaks of red clashing against the darkening sky, distracting her before she even reached the mailbox.
After a few seconds of admiring the view, she snapped to attention as she heard a door open. Right, mail first, she didn’t want Ben to get up and not have it at his desk. She lowered the flag and pulled out the small bundle, admiring the calligraphy of his written name when she heard some footsteps. At first she thought it was Aaron, but the sounds came from her left--from the Marivaldi dorm.
Lilie blinked a few times as she watched the new Marivaldi mage, looking away when she realized it was rude. She was still a touch sensitive when it came to that dorm, only recently accepting the fact that Cassandra was gone, but having to confront that fact was something she was still working on. There was a part of her that felt she was being a little unfair; she regularly socialized with a lot of people, but she didn’t even give her neighbor the time of day.
Maybe this was a chance to correct that? The white haired girl tapped the envelopes as she deliberated, teetering between going back to the dorm quietly and just talking to the new girl. What if she was lonely? What if she needed a friend? She remembered how lost she felt when she first came here, and if it wasn’t for Aaron, she wouldn’t be nearly as okay as she was now. That and the guilt was enough to change Lilie’s mind, deciding to approach the other mage with a friendly smile.
“Good morning!” She greeted the mage cheerfully, giving her a small wave.
“Good morning.” Maddie replied with a matching wave, opting to match the white haired girl’s phrase. Maddie racked her brain for a moment, the caffeine not quite hitting her yet, and dredged out a name: Lilie. When she rolled unenthusiastically out of bed this morning, the only thing on her mind was how thankful she was that the dorms came with programmable coffee makers. If not, she would have had to see if they could requisition one and if not, awkwardly ask Amaris to fund one. Asking for things was still something she was adjusting to but ensuring her morning caffeine would be available without stumbling around more than necessary would have been worth pushing through it.
What she hadn’t considered was a chance encounter with the neighbors. Until this point, the only one she’d spoken to was Aaron. Lilie and the Astorio mage were still unknown to her and she regretted leaving her second cup of coffee sitting on the counter. She made a note to bring it in a tumbler next time. Still, she forced the remnants of sleep that clung stubbornly to her mind and mustered up a warm smile. “I’m surprised this is our first time meeting. I’m Madalyn.”
Lilie tried not to look too guilty at Madalyn's statement, trying to remain positive. No need to admit she hadn't really gone out of her way to introduce herself until now. She brushed her bangs off her forehead, deciding to introduce herself. "I'm Lilie," A funny thought in the back of her head noticed she actually managed to introduce herself properly--fifth time was the charm!--but she ignored it. "Well, I knew Countess Marivaldi's last mage, but with everything that happened, I didn't have too much time to come over."
“I heard what happened on the news. I’m sorry you lost a friend.” Maddie offered her condolences. She didn’t have a full understanding of the situation and honestly, she probably didn't want to have that knowledge, but she could still sympathize with the loss of someone. Amaris still wasn’t over what happened with her last mage either but she wasn’t about to offer that information out to a stranger, even if Amaris mentioned Lilie was pleasant.
The white haired girl frowned, though she wasn't sure how to respond to that. So Madalyn had figured it out, too? Or maybe the Countess knew the truth. Lilie didn't know what to think of that, but what little opinion she did have would have soured immensely if that was the truth. But she was just making assumptions.
"Thank you," Lilie sighed. She still felt like she was to blame for it, but for now, she would shake that feeling off. She had already spilled her guts to plenty of people, no need to worry a complete stranger. Instead, she tried to perk up. "But, um...this is a new experience for you, huh? Serving a countess?"
“I don’t come from a mage family so it’s quite a change of pace. I did have some training in human etiquette but I’m not sure how to translate to my new position.” Maddie admitted. And the Countess wasn’t exactly a reliable teacher with her lax protocol. Of course she answered any questions Maddie had but a little more proactive education would be appreciated. She was dreading the day she stumbled into something she was unprepared for. “I’ve been eyeing some books in the library but everytime I consider it, our common class reminds me I have a poor understanding of our society’s ideals.” If that came out more sourly than she intended, Count Sinnenodel deserved it.
“But I can’t deny I’m lucky beyond belief. The Marivaldis, and the Countess in particular, are well known for appreciating mages and their efforts.” Maddie laughed at some of the things Amaris was always eager to acknowledge and notice. “It’s a pleasant change from the doom and gloom my original school laid out for me. How about you? Has your new position taken some adjusting to?”
Madalyn said she didn't come from a mage family, but she really acted like one. At least more than Lilie did. Human etiquette? Like, human-human, or mage-human? Probably the latter, but now Lilie really did feel like dead last in the noble mage race.
“Yeah, it has,” No point in trying to hide it, really. “I kinda grew up thinking I was human, so this--all of this--was kind of a shock? Especially learning I had to come to the princess’ school and serve a noble. But you know, you just have to go with the flow,” She tried her best to play it off. “Anyway, lucky you! You definitely got one of the easier nobles to get along with, that must be a relief!”
"It has been easy getting along with the Countess. She's sweet so far but I always feel awkward running things by her. It's like a friend and a mom rolled into one person." Madde explained. It was weird after all. Amaris wanted them to be relatively friendly but she also had authority over her entire life. Mentally, striking a balance between the two sides was difficult.
"It is all about going with the flow and I'm glad the flow took me away from the Sinnenodels." Maddie agreed. "Ah, if you don't mind me asking, what is your affinity? I'm a life mage myself.”
Lilie’s eyebrows shot up as Madalyn noted that she was free from the Sinnenodels. No wonder she considered herself lucky, just having a Sinnenodel professor made Lilie flinch anytime she was reprimanded or glared at in class.
“Life magic is so awesome!” She told her. “I’m a water mage, but I’m only just now starting to get the hang of it. I can’t wait to learn more, though, magic is just great. I never imagined I’d be able to do all the stuff I’ve seen on TV, and I have a million ideas of things I want to try!”
“It’s amazing. Magic is capable of so much and I feel like we’re never going to have enough time to learn it all.” Maddie agreed, smiling at Lilie’s enthusiasm. It was refreshing to hear this kind of excitement in the evening. “And that’s not even considering arcane magic. They’re all so interesting. How do they expect us to settle on just one?”
"That's what I said!" Lilie probably should've toned down her excitement, but she really couldn't help herself. "We're supposed to pick one major, but why can't I have two or three or just all of them?" The temptation of picking multiple majors was very appealing if she was being honest. Why wouldn't she want to at least try out everything? There were way too many possibilities and only so much time in the day--she'd have to talk to someone about that.
"My older friends all specialize in different stuff, and it's great to watch what they can do," She told her, eyes lighting up as she got an idea. If the new mage just got here, she was sure that she might have been a little lonely. "If you ever have the time, you should come with me to the arena after class! They're all really friendly and I'm sure they wouldn't mind."
Maddie considered the idea. It would be nice to see some of the majors in action at the arena. WIth that, she might have enough practical knowledge to discuss the options with Amaris. And it would be nice to have a few more people to talk to than exchanging complaints about Treaty Law. “Thank you very much. I’d love to meet them.” She replied, finally popping open the mailbox and pulling out a few letters. “I haven’t really had the opportunity to explore the campus much outside of classrooms and the dorms. I keep meaning to head to town to check it out but there always seems to be something else. Have you been yet?”
Lilie was glad to see Madalyn agree, beaming at the other girl. At her question, she shook her head. “I haven’t really had any reason to go, if I’m honest. When I had a lot of time with nothing to do, I used to explore the campus and spent most of my time at the little beach nearby,” She admitted. “I was going to go a while back, but I had a partner switch, and whatever free time I had was filled with my vampire ‘culturing’ me.” She had to admit she didn’t sound enthusiastic about it, but it didn’t really bother her.
Taking out her phone, she went to offer it to Madalyn, though she paused, holding her screen to her. It would look weird to any stranger if they saw she had a picture of her and Aaron as the background, right? She opened up her contact list instead, opening a new contact before offering it to Madalyn. “Here, we can exchange numbers,” She said.
Maddie took the proffered phone and handed hers over as well, trusting Lilie to open a contact sheet herself. Maddie only had photos of her family on there and some pictures of her knitted products so she didn’t care if Lilie saw. She typed in her contact info, added her name as Maddie, and offered it back to Lilie. “That sounds like a rough time. If you ever need an ear to vent to, I’m always right next door.” Maddie offered with her own laugh.
“We should go to town sometime too. Apparently there is a pretty good bakery out there that even suits Sinnenodel tastes.” Maddie suggested, hoping Lilie would accept. It was a little less daunting to explore a new place with someone else and Lilie was easy enough to get along with. “That is if you can escape your “culturing” for a little while.”
Taking a second to look at the contact, Lilie nearly squealed when she saw the 'Maddie' name saved--that was so cute! This meant she could call her that, right? At the mention of a bakery, Lilie nodded enthusiastically, pocketing her phone. "That sounds great!" She agreed wholeheartedly. "After the party I think the Count is going to cut back on my voice coach, so I'll have more time." At least she hoped so, the guy was pretty intense as it was trying to whip her into shape. She was grateful, of course, but she definitely wanted both him and Ben to back off for a little bit.
"Oh, speaking of which...do you, um, know what that'll be like?" She asked curiously. "I know it's a small gathering, but I don't think I've ever been to anything that fancy. I'm trying not to overthink it, but….you know."
“Unfortunately, I’m not sure myself. This is the first time I’ll be around vampires in a formal setting.” Maddie admitted. They’d be learning together and hopefully they’d be quick enough on their feet to figure things out. “We could always ask Aaron. It would be better to go in with a better sense of how this could go. If we’re lucky, maybe they won’t need us for long and they’ll stay focused on each other. What to wear for it though is an entirely different thing though. I haven’t quite decided yet. What are you wearing?”
That made sense, though Lilie was glad she wasn’t the only newbie when it came to this sort of thing. She felt her heart all aflutter at the mention of Aaron, trying to stay casual as she messed with her ponytail. Once Maddie questioned what she would wear, Lilie did swell up a touch, eyes nearly sparkling. “My count brought in this super fancy dress from one of his other mages,” She said, trying to contain her excitement. “I mean, normally I’d go for something cute and frilly, but he said since I’ll be performing that I needed something that would ‘match the Eve standards’--which is still way too conservative for my taste--but I had a fitting and it’s this long, blue and green dress.” She moved her arms in a sweeping motion downwards. “I’ll text you a picture when we do the next fitting, it was kinda big on me but next time it’ll be done.”
“I asked for the Countess’ opinions on dress since I’ve never been to something like this but she had someone take my measurements and had something ordered apparently. I’m not sure what to expect.” Maddie admitted. She was a little concerned, honestly. She’s seen some of the outfits the Countess wore and Maddie had no issue admitting she didn’t quite have the confidence to pull off the less than conservitive options the Countess flaunted. They looked nice but they weren’t for her. “I can’t wait to see what everyone wears. The nobility’s dresses have always been beautiful.”
She glanced down at her phone and startled. She hadn’t expected a conversation with anyone and now she was running behind. “It was nice meeting you, Lilie! I have to finish getting ready but I’ll text you later!” With a wave, Maddie headed back up to her dorm.
“Okay!” Lilie gave her an excited wave, watching Maddie walk away before deciding to go back to her own dorm. It was too late to watch the sunset and she was sure Ben was up by now. Oh well, it was worth getting to meet Maddie, she was so cute!
After a few seconds of admiring the view, she snapped to attention as she heard a door open. Right, mail first, she didn’t want Ben to get up and not have it at his desk. She lowered the flag and pulled out the small bundle, admiring the calligraphy of his written name when she heard some footsteps. At first she thought it was Aaron, but the sounds came from her left--from the Marivaldi dorm.
Lilie blinked a few times as she watched the new Marivaldi mage, looking away when she realized it was rude. She was still a touch sensitive when it came to that dorm, only recently accepting the fact that Cassandra was gone, but having to confront that fact was something she was still working on. There was a part of her that felt she was being a little unfair; she regularly socialized with a lot of people, but she didn’t even give her neighbor the time of day.
Maybe this was a chance to correct that? The white haired girl tapped the envelopes as she deliberated, teetering between going back to the dorm quietly and just talking to the new girl. What if she was lonely? What if she needed a friend? She remembered how lost she felt when she first came here, and if it wasn’t for Aaron, she wouldn’t be nearly as okay as she was now. That and the guilt was enough to change Lilie’s mind, deciding to approach the other mage with a friendly smile.
“Good morning!” She greeted the mage cheerfully, giving her a small wave.
“Good morning.” Maddie replied with a matching wave, opting to match the white haired girl’s phrase. Maddie racked her brain for a moment, the caffeine not quite hitting her yet, and dredged out a name: Lilie. When she rolled unenthusiastically out of bed this morning, the only thing on her mind was how thankful she was that the dorms came with programmable coffee makers. If not, she would have had to see if they could requisition one and if not, awkwardly ask Amaris to fund one. Asking for things was still something she was adjusting to but ensuring her morning caffeine would be available without stumbling around more than necessary would have been worth pushing through it.
What she hadn’t considered was a chance encounter with the neighbors. Until this point, the only one she’d spoken to was Aaron. Lilie and the Astorio mage were still unknown to her and she regretted leaving her second cup of coffee sitting on the counter. She made a note to bring it in a tumbler next time. Still, she forced the remnants of sleep that clung stubbornly to her mind and mustered up a warm smile. “I’m surprised this is our first time meeting. I’m Madalyn.”
Lilie tried not to look too guilty at Madalyn's statement, trying to remain positive. No need to admit she hadn't really gone out of her way to introduce herself until now. She brushed her bangs off her forehead, deciding to introduce herself. "I'm Lilie," A funny thought in the back of her head noticed she actually managed to introduce herself properly--fifth time was the charm!--but she ignored it. "Well, I knew Countess Marivaldi's last mage, but with everything that happened, I didn't have too much time to come over."
“I heard what happened on the news. I’m sorry you lost a friend.” Maddie offered her condolences. She didn’t have a full understanding of the situation and honestly, she probably didn't want to have that knowledge, but she could still sympathize with the loss of someone. Amaris still wasn’t over what happened with her last mage either but she wasn’t about to offer that information out to a stranger, even if Amaris mentioned Lilie was pleasant.
The white haired girl frowned, though she wasn't sure how to respond to that. So Madalyn had figured it out, too? Or maybe the Countess knew the truth. Lilie didn't know what to think of that, but what little opinion she did have would have soured immensely if that was the truth. But she was just making assumptions.
"Thank you," Lilie sighed. She still felt like she was to blame for it, but for now, she would shake that feeling off. She had already spilled her guts to plenty of people, no need to worry a complete stranger. Instead, she tried to perk up. "But, um...this is a new experience for you, huh? Serving a countess?"
“I don’t come from a mage family so it’s quite a change of pace. I did have some training in human etiquette but I’m not sure how to translate to my new position.” Maddie admitted. And the Countess wasn’t exactly a reliable teacher with her lax protocol. Of course she answered any questions Maddie had but a little more proactive education would be appreciated. She was dreading the day she stumbled into something she was unprepared for. “I’ve been eyeing some books in the library but everytime I consider it, our common class reminds me I have a poor understanding of our society’s ideals.” If that came out more sourly than she intended, Count Sinnenodel deserved it.
“But I can’t deny I’m lucky beyond belief. The Marivaldis, and the Countess in particular, are well known for appreciating mages and their efforts.” Maddie laughed at some of the things Amaris was always eager to acknowledge and notice. “It’s a pleasant change from the doom and gloom my original school laid out for me. How about you? Has your new position taken some adjusting to?”
Madalyn said she didn't come from a mage family, but she really acted like one. At least more than Lilie did. Human etiquette? Like, human-human, or mage-human? Probably the latter, but now Lilie really did feel like dead last in the noble mage race.
“Yeah, it has,” No point in trying to hide it, really. “I kinda grew up thinking I was human, so this--all of this--was kind of a shock? Especially learning I had to come to the princess’ school and serve a noble. But you know, you just have to go with the flow,” She tried her best to play it off. “Anyway, lucky you! You definitely got one of the easier nobles to get along with, that must be a relief!”
"It has been easy getting along with the Countess. She's sweet so far but I always feel awkward running things by her. It's like a friend and a mom rolled into one person." Madde explained. It was weird after all. Amaris wanted them to be relatively friendly but she also had authority over her entire life. Mentally, striking a balance between the two sides was difficult.
"It is all about going with the flow and I'm glad the flow took me away from the Sinnenodels." Maddie agreed. "Ah, if you don't mind me asking, what is your affinity? I'm a life mage myself.”
Lilie’s eyebrows shot up as Madalyn noted that she was free from the Sinnenodels. No wonder she considered herself lucky, just having a Sinnenodel professor made Lilie flinch anytime she was reprimanded or glared at in class.
“Life magic is so awesome!” She told her. “I’m a water mage, but I’m only just now starting to get the hang of it. I can’t wait to learn more, though, magic is just great. I never imagined I’d be able to do all the stuff I’ve seen on TV, and I have a million ideas of things I want to try!”
“It’s amazing. Magic is capable of so much and I feel like we’re never going to have enough time to learn it all.” Maddie agreed, smiling at Lilie’s enthusiasm. It was refreshing to hear this kind of excitement in the evening. “And that’s not even considering arcane magic. They’re all so interesting. How do they expect us to settle on just one?”
"That's what I said!" Lilie probably should've toned down her excitement, but she really couldn't help herself. "We're supposed to pick one major, but why can't I have two or three or just all of them?" The temptation of picking multiple majors was very appealing if she was being honest. Why wouldn't she want to at least try out everything? There were way too many possibilities and only so much time in the day--she'd have to talk to someone about that.
"My older friends all specialize in different stuff, and it's great to watch what they can do," She told her, eyes lighting up as she got an idea. If the new mage just got here, she was sure that she might have been a little lonely. "If you ever have the time, you should come with me to the arena after class! They're all really friendly and I'm sure they wouldn't mind."
Maddie considered the idea. It would be nice to see some of the majors in action at the arena. WIth that, she might have enough practical knowledge to discuss the options with Amaris. And it would be nice to have a few more people to talk to than exchanging complaints about Treaty Law. “Thank you very much. I’d love to meet them.” She replied, finally popping open the mailbox and pulling out a few letters. “I haven’t really had the opportunity to explore the campus much outside of classrooms and the dorms. I keep meaning to head to town to check it out but there always seems to be something else. Have you been yet?”
Lilie was glad to see Madalyn agree, beaming at the other girl. At her question, she shook her head. “I haven’t really had any reason to go, if I’m honest. When I had a lot of time with nothing to do, I used to explore the campus and spent most of my time at the little beach nearby,” She admitted. “I was going to go a while back, but I had a partner switch, and whatever free time I had was filled with my vampire ‘culturing’ me.” She had to admit she didn’t sound enthusiastic about it, but it didn’t really bother her.
Taking out her phone, she went to offer it to Madalyn, though she paused, holding her screen to her. It would look weird to any stranger if they saw she had a picture of her and Aaron as the background, right? She opened up her contact list instead, opening a new contact before offering it to Madalyn. “Here, we can exchange numbers,” She said.
Maddie took the proffered phone and handed hers over as well, trusting Lilie to open a contact sheet herself. Maddie only had photos of her family on there and some pictures of her knitted products so she didn’t care if Lilie saw. She typed in her contact info, added her name as Maddie, and offered it back to Lilie. “That sounds like a rough time. If you ever need an ear to vent to, I’m always right next door.” Maddie offered with her own laugh.
“We should go to town sometime too. Apparently there is a pretty good bakery out there that even suits Sinnenodel tastes.” Maddie suggested, hoping Lilie would accept. It was a little less daunting to explore a new place with someone else and Lilie was easy enough to get along with. “That is if you can escape your “culturing” for a little while.”
Taking a second to look at the contact, Lilie nearly squealed when she saw the 'Maddie' name saved--that was so cute! This meant she could call her that, right? At the mention of a bakery, Lilie nodded enthusiastically, pocketing her phone. "That sounds great!" She agreed wholeheartedly. "After the party I think the Count is going to cut back on my voice coach, so I'll have more time." At least she hoped so, the guy was pretty intense as it was trying to whip her into shape. She was grateful, of course, but she definitely wanted both him and Ben to back off for a little bit.
"Oh, speaking of which...do you, um, know what that'll be like?" She asked curiously. "I know it's a small gathering, but I don't think I've ever been to anything that fancy. I'm trying not to overthink it, but….you know."
“Unfortunately, I’m not sure myself. This is the first time I’ll be around vampires in a formal setting.” Maddie admitted. They’d be learning together and hopefully they’d be quick enough on their feet to figure things out. “We could always ask Aaron. It would be better to go in with a better sense of how this could go. If we’re lucky, maybe they won’t need us for long and they’ll stay focused on each other. What to wear for it though is an entirely different thing though. I haven’t quite decided yet. What are you wearing?”
That made sense, though Lilie was glad she wasn’t the only newbie when it came to this sort of thing. She felt her heart all aflutter at the mention of Aaron, trying to stay casual as she messed with her ponytail. Once Maddie questioned what she would wear, Lilie did swell up a touch, eyes nearly sparkling. “My count brought in this super fancy dress from one of his other mages,” She said, trying to contain her excitement. “I mean, normally I’d go for something cute and frilly, but he said since I’ll be performing that I needed something that would ‘match the Eve standards’--which is still way too conservative for my taste--but I had a fitting and it’s this long, blue and green dress.” She moved her arms in a sweeping motion downwards. “I’ll text you a picture when we do the next fitting, it was kinda big on me but next time it’ll be done.”
“I asked for the Countess’ opinions on dress since I’ve never been to something like this but she had someone take my measurements and had something ordered apparently. I’m not sure what to expect.” Maddie admitted. She was a little concerned, honestly. She’s seen some of the outfits the Countess wore and Maddie had no issue admitting she didn’t quite have the confidence to pull off the less than conservitive options the Countess flaunted. They looked nice but they weren’t for her. “I can’t wait to see what everyone wears. The nobility’s dresses have always been beautiful.”
She glanced down at her phone and startled. She hadn’t expected a conversation with anyone and now she was running behind. “It was nice meeting you, Lilie! I have to finish getting ready but I’ll text you later!” With a wave, Maddie headed back up to her dorm.
“Okay!” Lilie gave her an excited wave, watching Maddie walk away before deciding to go back to her own dorm. It was too late to watch the sunset and she was sure Ben was up by now. Oh well, it was worth getting to meet Maddie, she was so cute!
