Private Tales The Kindest Devils

[Vittoria Larrainth]

"Honestly, I prefer that they stuck us both with the runts." Vittoria leaned back into her seat, blue-green eyes watching Initiate Eliza Wylls and Initiate Koen Reynard smile and laugh as they both held tankards of drinks for their table. The Dreadlords told the four Initiates to take up the table in the corner, keeping them out of their hairs as they drank, danced, and sang with the rest of the tavern. "It is embarrassing to watch them make such spectacle." After all, the mission was a success, but it wasn't on the highest of achievements both Vittoria and King shared.

"Remember that mission in the Falwood? The creatures that feasted on magic? If we did that again today, I would not be stuck at this table with Wylls of all people." There was a slight grumble to her words, a faintest of narrowed eyes as Eliza placed a tankard before Vittoria, and Koen doing the same for King. They both had began drinking as soon as they had sat down, and Vittoria had to fight for the attention for the barmaid to take their order for meals with the celebration going on. Crowds like this left her unsettled, and perhaps a rare scowl found home upon her facade as Wylls smiled at the Initiate she often butted heads with.

"Lighten up, Larrainth. Your food will be here any moment." Her words made Koen breath a laugh through his nose, already sipping from his tankard which was now a third finished.

Vittoria simply stared at the girl, at her pretty blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed to capture Reynard's attention this evening.

Sickening, Vittoria thought to herself.

Fabien 'King' D'Amour

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

"No decorum whatsoever," King agreed, sneering at their so-called "superiors" while they made fools of themselves amidst the common Anirian rabble. "It's sad, really."

The D'Amour boy took up the mug as though it was owed to him, without so much as acknowledging Koen's existence.
"Mmm, clever beasts. So clever that they choked on their wit and popped, as I recall."
Overfeeding was a hell of a way to die, but certainly they had not expected to be force-fed more than their bodies could ever handle. It was an ingenious maneuver that the two of them had pulled against the creatures, but recognition was often hard to come by.
"Shame the proctors missed it."

King let out a scoff at Eliza's little comment. He spoke loud enough that she'd be able to hear, but didn't give her the dignity of addressing her directly.
"'Lighten up,' she says. Like she wasn't actively dragging down everyone involved from square one. That's cute."

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

"Yes, how inconsiderate of her." Vittoria was still looking to Eliza, who's pale cheeks turned red.

But their food did arrive, placed before the Initiates in the middle of the table. Roast potatoes and roast pork wafted before them, and Vittoria lifted her fork and stabbed the closest steaming hot roasted vegetable. "Honestly, Eliza Wylls, not many in our class would have made a fumble as bad as the one you did today." Vittoria did not blow on the food to cool it before baring her teeth and taking a bite of it. It seared the inside of her mouth, promptly blistering, but she gave no hint that it bothered her. She learned to pick apart her reflexes, to hold it separate from her true self she projected. "At least you made Reynard look good for once."

Eliza's mistake had almost cost them their lives if it had not been for Koen Reynard using his air magic to stop Eliza's failure to keep hold of the stone floor above them that began to crumble down over the Initiates. Telekinesis was truly wasted on some.

"Lay off her, Larrainth." Koen attempted to defend the other girl, but Eliza simply stared at Vittoria oddly biting into her food once again. Such strangeness kept Vittoria in a different light to the other girls in their class. Some even thought it was her way of detaching herself from the figure of beauty she naturally was given. Not to be loved, but to be feared.

It worked.

"And still, she needs someone to protect her." Vittoria put on a drawl and turned to look at King. "She would make a great Fourth Level Dreadlord."

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

Vittoria had such a way with being unsettling. King so loved that about her. King, meanwhile, was much more meticulous with his food. He took up the knife that had been delivered alongside his meal and made clean, precise cuts through the pork, reducing it to perfect, even slices. He began to repeat the process with his potatoes.

Now Koen stepped out of place. King's knife screeched across his plate. That wouldn't do.
"You surprise me, Reynard. I would think that you'd want the spotlight on little Eliza. You know, to take the attention off of how staggeringly mediocre your track record is," he stared the initiate down, looking more bored than angry. Koen opened his mouth to snap something back, but King cut him off. "But I suppose when you're so desperate to get inside of someone there really isn't any place too low to stoop."

Eliza flushed brightly at the crude statement, placed so bluntly, and Koen seemed like the Anirian language had suddenly vacated his skull. The D'Amour boy put a perfectly cut piece of meat and vegetable into his mouth, meeting Vittoria's glance with a wry grin.
"They're positively made for each other."

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

Vittoria smiled, even managing a light chuckle of amusement. It was oddly sweet of sound, but the empty stare of her eyes was just that touch of different that she was known for. If there was any true classmate that Vittoria loved to taunt, it was Eliza Wylls. The girl had been trying to compete with Vittoria since they were young, and even now, she had gone the easy way and became liked.

In Vittoria's eyes, being liked was a weakness, something to fill that void in oneself.

"Oh, like you two aren't fucking around." Reynard shot back. Of course, it was not the first time or an original thought many have had of Vittoria and King. The two were inseparable at times, and she could see the reason as to why they would assume that of the two Initiates. Vitt looked at King, pouting at him.

"Shut up, Koen." Eliza shot him a look. She knew Vittoria well enough to know the signs of when the cat would begin playing with the mouse.

Vittoria's lips twitched, now cutting into the roast pork. "It seems our table has reached a majority vote for you to no longer speak, Reynard."

"You can't do shit to us with those cuffs on. And this guy? Going to amplify her being a bitch?"

 

[Fabien 'King' D'Amour]

Koen's comeback earned an exaggerated eyeroll from King. Yes, yes, that was always the assumption, wasn't it? He and Vittoria had been the best of friends for quite some time, so clearly she must have been fucking him to keep his loyalty. Like two people couldn't just platonically enjoy each other's company, and have mutual interest in being better than everyone else.

The rolling of his eyes turned into an amused shake of his head when he caught sight of Vitt's insincere pout.

Despite Vittoria's most polite suggestions to the contrary, Koen kept running his mouth.
"Ooo, I do love these sorts of theories," King jested, leaning in and placing another measured bite into his mouth. "'Surely the best duelist at the Academy since his older sister attended won't gut me like a fish!' Or wait, let me guess: 'amplification magic? That sounds useless!' Tch."

 

[Vittoria Larrainth]

Eliza was notably quiet. She had looked between Vittoria and King before finding her tankard quite fascinating.

"You're both dicks." Reynard huffed.

Vittoria let her gaze fall onto him, lips skewing in a way to look like an odd pout. She was annoyed.

"You think the cuffs do much to stifle my magic, Koen?" Vittoria had continued to eat her meal, imitating the way King had gone about cutting into the cooked pork, and loaded her fork before continuing. "You never heard of those rumours that my magic is so potent, it can undo runes after a while getting acquainted?"

"I was there when she shattered her cuffs once..." Eliza mumbled into her tankard, and took a swig.

With her mouth full, Vittoria nodded as if they were having a discussion. A hand covered her mouth, as she waited to finish eating before continuing. "It is very good fun doing so. Sometimes they add on extra runes to confuse me, but I always find a way." She spoke cheerfully, fully aware that Koen was now staring at the silver cuffs dangling from her wrists. The Proctors wanted her magic controlled, to be used when they deemed it right.

They just did not know Vittoria had learned how to squeeze her hand through the cuffs to escape them sometimes.

"I am unsure if your sudden hostility and poor choice of insults is due to the fact I turned you down last week when you found me in the library. Did my rejection make you wonder if I have someone else? Perhaps, your ego is not all that strong if you crumble so easily..." She took another bite of a perfectly cute cube of roasted potato, smiling sweetly to both Eliza and Koen opposite the table from them. "You two ought to know me by now. I liked the old ways, and I liked the idea of fraternising with one another being prohibited."

Koen snorted, shaking his head, but glanced at those cuffs again. He folded his arms across his chest.

Eliza stared a hole into the table, flinching subtly when Vittoria accidentally dropped her fork with a clatter against her plate.

"There, quiet at last." She turned to King with a true smile. "Now, I had a thought. Did you see the bounty board on our way in? I think the Dreadlords are going to drink themselves to sleep, leaving us quite some time to so as we please. Fancy going on a hunt after dinner?" After all, in a town an hour out from Vel Zrada, they would likely be successful tonight. A win for the Terrible Two.