Private Tales In The Hush

[Serelai Virelle]

Public Library, Elbion, Early Evening​

---

The stacks felt like another world, quiet and cool and carrying that faint, dusty scent she’d grown strangely fond of over the past week. Serelai slipped into it with a soft exhale, letting the hush of it settle over her shoulders after days of noise, sweat, and too many drunk men thinking they were being subtle.

It had been well over a week now. It hardly felt real that it had already been that long since she and Lilette Blackbriar arrived in Elbion together, only for Serelai to be instantly swept up by the tide of the city. Every morning she had gone to the College and its endless forms, interviews, tests, reassurances, and the slow, grinding wait between each step. Being here in person helped, of course, but the process still demanded patience she only barely possessed.

The evenings had been easier in their own way. The tavern near the riverside had taken her in without much fuss, and the coin, though modest, felt like a small victory each night. The work was loud, fast, full of wandering eyes that she’d learned to meet with a razor smile. They made comments; she made far sharper ones. Watching their dopey, semi-stupored faces drop had become its own kind of sport. At least it paid, and at least it made her feel like she wasn’t entirely drifting.

Still, in the rare quiet moments, her mind drifted to the pale nun she’d stumbled upon in that vast desert. She wondered if Lilette was doing alright with whatever business she had with the College. She wondered whether she’d been eating properly. Whether she was avoiding temples altogether or had found comfort in one. The thoughts came in brief flashes, slipping away before she could linger on them for long.

Today was the first day she’d managed to claw free of obligations. No forms to fill. No shift to run. No one demanding she present herself, justify herself, explain herself. Just a few hours to breathe... and to study. If she could find anything in these shelves that might give her an edge with the College, she’d take it gladly.

So she wandered the long aisles of the library, fingertips brushing the spines as she passed. Heavy tomes on theory. Narrow volumes on elemental structure. Treatises that looked dry enough to turn her to dust if she opened them. There was not a huge deal of interesting works here. She assumed all the good stuff was kept by the College itself under strict lock and key. The idle thought made her click her tongue once in protest as she continued browsing.

Her boots made soft sounds on the stone floor as she drifted deeper into the corridor, half reading titles, half lost in her own head. The city noise felt far away here, wrapped behind walls of paper and quiet.

Serelai let out a slow breath, turned another corner in the vast hall of the public library, and kept walking.

---

Lilette Blackbriar​

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

Spoiler: ♫ ♪

---

~Speak of a devil and she shall appear~​

Lilette muttered the title, pulling this strangely named book from a shelf. It joined two others in her arms while the girl searched for some quiet place to read. Books of curses, medicine and now monsters would be her study today, as were yesterday and the day before, so on and so forth.

She received many a glance; this strange nun dressed in the dark blue garments of the Celestial Church, sleeves accented by rings of stars and crescent moons.

And yet she walked with her chin up, steps unhurried. Even though her pale features and silver eyes seemed to glow beneath the magical crystal lighting and candles which did not burn, yet shone all the same, no one took notice of her otherworldly features.

In this city of magic, she was mundane and free.

Buckled shoes made barely a sound as she sat, carefully arranging the books in a semi-circle on the table, opening the closest so that she may read them one by one, left to right.

"Speakest thou of a devil, and she shalt appear."

She once more read aloud, almost soon as a familiar face rounded the corner to hear.

The young nun seemed oblivious to her presence initially, hunched over these tomes as she was, so absorbed in her studies as to fetch a pair of reading glasses from her robes.

"...by Anna Wheat...?"

---

Serelai Virelle​

 

[Serelai Virelle]

Serelai drifted down the narrow run of shelves, the bestiaries growing thicker and stranger the further she went. It was promising, if only she could find something actually useful buried beneath all the dramatics.

Her hand skimmed another spine, thumb testing the grain.

I swear, if this turns out to be full of children’s stories dressed up as scholarship-

She collided straight into someone.

A soft, mortifying yelp broke out of her before she could swallow it. She stumbled back a step, already drawing herself up with the sort of indignation she’d perfected over a dozen tavern nights. Someone was about to be told off for not looking where they—

"L-Lilette?!"

Her voice came out far too loud for a library, the name cracking in the middle from surprise. Her cheeks warmed instantly, an unmistakable flush creeping across her pale skin. She blinked at the nun in disbelief, then a little wonder, then something far too soft to show in public.

Of course it had to be her. Of course she had to run straight into her like a fool.

She tried to gather herself, glancing around as if the shelves might help her recover an ounce of dignity. When she looked back, she caught the sight of reading glasses perched on Lilette’s face, delicate little things that somehow made her look... unbearably sweet.

The blush deepened.

"You..." Serelai cleared her throat, her gaze darting downwards as though studying her own boots. "You look ridiculous in those."

It came out as a weak jab, barely held together, her mouth twitching as though she couldn’t decide between a smirk or a nervous smile. Her eyes lingered on the glasses for a heartbeat longer than she meant them to, warmth flickering in her chest before she dragged her gaze away entirely. She swallowed once, quieting the flutter in her ribs.

"Honestly," she muttered, a softer note slipping in despite herself. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Serelai shuffled, eyes skittering anywhere but Lilette’s face, fingers brushing the edge of a nearby shelf as if it might steady her.

"Are you... Are you well?" she asked, low and a little awkward.

---

Lilette Blackbriar​

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

"Woaah—"

The young nun nearly tumbled over, awkwardly hopping on one foot to preserve balance whilst her books clattered to the floor.

"—A thousand apologies!" she said, dropping to knees before the literary pileup.

Pointed ears twitched to familiar rhythm, drawing mercurial eyes upward. Grey brows arched in pleasant surprise, but seconds passed before she managed a single word;

"Serelai." she said, more softly than the half-elf.

Her growing smile and thoughts were interrupted only by the shrill shushing which Serelai had drawn upon herself from deeper in the library, and only then realized she knelt in a discordant ring of strewn books and pages, not least of all her own research.

"Oh-oh dear, forgiveth me mine blind fumbling," she sighed "hast thou dropped anything?"

She set about stacking book scattered books and pages, seemingly searching the contents carefully, until Serelai commented on her glasses.

"Do they...?" she adjusted the crooked pair, "I hearest tell the Drow craft finer spectacles than these."

"Hmm..." Lilette pressed her thumb to her lips.

Perhaps she could do with a more fashionable pair.

"Oh, I hast been better, though so too hast I been worse."

"Bloodwork, thou see'th," she rubbed at her arm and smiled awkwardly, "In yon college."

"Tis not what I expected, not at all."

"Ah but what of thee?" her tone turned curious.

"I've seen naught of thee since the inn. 'tis a fine thing to see thee in good health."

---

Serelai Virelle​

 

[Serelai Virelle]

Serelai blinked at the mess between them, realising a heartbeat too late that she’d just stood there gawping while Lilette scrambled on the floor. A small curse caught behind her teeth. She dropped to her knees as well, gathering up stray pages and stacking books with a care that didn’t quite match the rush in her chest.

"Sorry, here, let me..." Her voice softened as she passed a volume back to Lilette.

"I’ve been... alright," she lied, as her shoulders tightened slightly. "Just... busy. The College is a nightmare. I don’t know when, if they’ll actually decide something."

A small sigh pressed out of her, brow furrowing as she slid another book onto the pile.

"But I’m... really glad to see you."

The truth of it sat warm and unspoken beneath her ribs, stirring more than she was possibly ready and able to name. She didn’t dare add the rest - I’ve missed you - even though the thought tugged at her.

She stood, brushing dust from her knees, and held out a hand to help Lilette up.

When their hands met, something in her chest stuttered. Lilette’s skin was impossibly soft against her own roughened palms, her freshly forming callouses catching lightly on that gentleness. Serelai drew a shallow breath before she could stop it.

Their eyes lifted at the same time, emerald catching quartz, holding for a moment that stretched just a touch too long. A quiet thrum passed between them, warm and fragile, and far too easy to fall into.

---

Lilette Blackbriar​

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

"Bureaucracy?" she scoffed, "I know thine struggle all too well."

"Ah, but thou'rt a mage of some skill, no? thou wilt pass."

Lilette took her graciously offered hand, the contrast in their lifestyles evident by touch. The half-elf's were course and rough, but not unpleasant. So different from the nobles of her home!

She looked up at Serelai and rose slowly.

They way she looked at her, even that fragile gasp, there was something to it she could not name nor tear her eyes from. She could hear the woman's heart beat against her ribs, feel her quickening pulse at her fingertips. It made her delicate grip tighten ever so gently.

Weak though it was, Lilette's own pulse began to race for reasons beyond her understanding.

"Miss Serelai?" she said shyly.

"Thou'rt staring. Art thou feeling unwell?"

The elf began leading her by the hand towards a seat, tugging along perhaps more assertively than one would expect from one so lithe as she, even herself.

"Prithee sit awhile, I wilt tend to mine books later."

She laid her hands gently on Serelai's shoulders, ready to guide her with gentle concern should the woman fall. She was close now, enough to catch the faint scent of lavender perfume.

"Easy, I've got thee." she whispered.

---

Serelai Virelle​

 

[Serelai Virelle]

Serelai went still beneath Lilette’s hands, the soft pressure on her shoulders sending a flicker of heat down her spine. Whatever faint concern the nun voiced, Serelai couldn’t answer it, at least not properly. Her body wasn’t unwell. It was... something else entirely, something she didn’t have a name for and wasn’t sure she wanted one for.

Lavender drifted from Lilette’s robes, warm and light, brushing against her senses. Serelai’s own jasmine curled up to meet it, and the scents tangled between them like a quiet braid, soft and sweet and close. It felt absurd to Sere, how easily the world thinned around that moment. The shelves, the books, the lanternlight, all of it faded until there was only the woman in front of her, silver eyes and steady hands and that impossible softness.

Her heart hammered far too quickly, a pace that didn’t fit the calm she tried to hold. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but the words broke apart before they made it out. Her breath caught. A faint pink rose across her cheeks.

"I... I’m fine," she managed at last, though it sounded thin even to her own ears. Her gaze dipped to Lilette’s hands, then lifted again, caught in that quiet pull.

"Thank you," Serelai whispered, so soft that only Lilette could possibly catch it.

---

Lilette Blackbriar​

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

Lilette paused. something about that whisper, guarded from all others, like a precious secret kept between dearest friends, or even-

"Anytime, Miss Serelai." she breathed.

And that was it.

She let go, tucked a lock of ashen hair behind her ear, and turned to collect her books.

The young nun couldn't bring herself to look up, unknowing why, or how her chest felt tight around lungs that needn't breathe. She circled the table to which Serelai was led, separating their books into two stacks. One of her own had ended up in Sere's pile and vice versa without the blank-eyed girl having noticed.

She made the full circle after, pulling out a seat on the same side as her companion, though with breathing room between them.

"Well, if... if thou'rt well, then."

"I uhm," she tapped her fingers, "I am joyed to see thee in kind, if I've not said."

Lilette wore a nervous smile, slowly growing distant on those pale lips. Another series of rhythmic taps against the oaken desk were herald to more thoughts—so many thoughts—until one of them slowly took to the air.

Finally she allowed herself to look fully.

"I've thought to giveth thee mine apologies, wert we to meet again. I left the inn with such haste, 'twere my thinking that I'd return upon the morn, thou see'th, but—"

Her breath caught, then sighed.

"Forgiveth me, Serelai. I should'st have been more diligent in keeping touch."

"I am sorry."

---

Serelai Virelle​

 

[Serelai Virelle]

Serelai caught the look when Lilette finally lifted her eyes. There was guilt there, sitting in that pale silver gaze. Something in Serelai softened immediately. Her emerald eyes gentled without her telling them to, her posture loosening as she watched the nun struggle through the apology.

She’s so delicate.

The thought came unbidden. Not weak, but sincere in a way that left her open, vulnerable. The next realisation followed a heartbeat later, brief as a spark.

She's so... beautiful.

It startled her enough that a faint pink warmed her cheeks. When Lilette finished her apology, Serelai’s breath caught.

"N-no," she said quietly, then steadied herself. "I’m the one who should be sorry."

She shook her head, gaze drifting to the books for a moment before lifting again.

"I knew you were busy. With all of your business with the College and such. I just..." Her fingers curled vaguely at her side. "I didn’t give myself enough space to come and find you. My job at the inn, all the stuff with the College application. I let it... run away with me."

Her voice softened.

"I’m sorry."

Silence stretched between them, not empty, but unsure, filled with all the things she didn’t quite know how to place. Serelai shifted in her seat, clearing her throat.

"This library’s starting to feel a bit suffocating," she said with a half-awkward, half hopeful smile. "Maybe we could get some air?"

Her eyes flicked to Lilette, gentler again.

"Lilette, have you eaten today?"

---

Lilette Blackbriar​

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

Spoiler: Music

---

"So the fault is only mostly mine, ehh?"
Lilette tugged her wimple over her face, offering a shy chuckle that was only half genuine.

Failure to fill the silence between them gave her ample time to reflect. She didn't deserve Serelai's apologies, not when she—

"Lilette, have you eaten today?"

"w-what?" she managed.

The elf glanced hither and thither, wearing a pensive frown. Try as she might, there was no excuse to be made without lying, nor brushing off the poor woman. She hadn't eaten, not for almost a week, if bloodletting even counted as "eating".

In the end, she sighed, giving her friend, an awkward smile.

"Confessedly, I've not eaten a single thing this day. Silly me."​

She stood to join Serelai in search of dinner, assuming they'd make for some tavern or mayhaps the inn she'd spoken of earlier. Lilette couldn't help stealing glances, smiling shyly. Oh how she had yearned to simply walk with her fellow woman again.

"So, uh, where art we headed, Miss Serelai?" she said, scratching the back of her neck.



ljkdfkjlgjthhjklseldhlgfghjlifdufherrigisofuoigjhroim

---

Serelai Virelle​

 

[Serelai Virelle]

The air was warm still but easing now, brushing gently against skin. Twilight lay soft over Elbion, the sky washed in pale violets and gold, the last light catching on the water and breaking gently as the river moved.

For the first time in days, Sere's shoulders loosened.

They walked side by side, unhurried. The quiet rhythm of it settled something deep in her chest, the same calm she’d felt before the city had swallowed her whole. Lilette’s presence did that, she realised. Took the edge off. Made the noise... recede.

She caught Lilette looking at her and felt her cheeks warm again, the blush blooming without permission. Serelai ducked her head, covering it with a small, crooked smile that didn’t quite hide anything.

"Hm." She thought about the question as they went, eyes lifting to the soft glow ahead. "Honestly? I’m not sure." A quiet laugh slipped out, more self-aware than amused. "I haven’t... explored that much."

They turned toward the waterfront, the path opening up, lanterns beginning to glow along the stone. Water lapped gently nearby, steady and patient.

"There’s a dining precinct just ahead," she said, nodding faintly in that direction. "Nothing fancy. But... warm food. Somewhere to sit."

Her gaze flicked to Lilette again, softer than before.

"If... that sounds alright to you..."

---

Lilette Blackbriar​

 

[Lilette Blackbriar]

Lilette breathed in the evening air, and hummed sweetly.

She reached out to run her fingers through ashen locks that crept out of her wimple, allowing wide sleeves to fall to her elbows without fear of the sun.

"Mm. neither hast I, yet explorers art oft guided by starlight, so they sayest."

The sound of water gently lapping against brick provided a soothing backdrop, almost enough to cover the sound of Serelai's ever quickening pulse. The way it spiked whenever their eyes met excited her in ways the vampire could not explain, for it came without the previous pangs of hunger nor bestial adrenaline.

Lilette had fed, recently enough to rule it out.

So why-

"There’s a dining precinct just ahead," she said, nodding faintly in that direction. "Nothing fancy. But... warm food. Somewhere to sit."

The elf stopped.

All sound, save her companions voice, and the faint thrum of her own heartbeat, eluded her senses. The sunless breeze against her skin melted away, and afforded the faintest color beneath alabaster. The words "nothing fancy" were uttered as though she somehow deserved more, that this was a special occasion to Serelai.

"Ah, thou'rt asking me out for dinner, no?"

She immediately regretted the bluntness of her words, shifting from one foot to the other, hands raised defensively as she stammered through explaining herself.

"I... I only meanest, thou see'th, well, It doth sound..."

"...ugh..." she sighed, dragging knuckles across her forehead.

A moment passed, spent thinking up an excuse, silence broken only by the river's flow and little pebbles gently nudged about beneath her buckled shoes.

"Thou needn't spend o'er much for the likes of me." she finally said, smiling awkwardly.

"Tis not as though thou'rt a suitor come to treat me, nor I a noble maiden to marry, yes?"

"Unless thou'st inherited thine house since last we spoke...?" she said, (attempting) to tease.

---

Serelai Virelle​