Fate - First Reply Quieter Nights at Home

[Zinnia]

Cool, winter evenings, strong winds, and a bit of late night free time were exactly the right elements to produce one of Zinnia's favorite kind of nights. Missions were where some of the initiates always wanted to be, he that for adventure or excitement or experience. Others liked to spend their free time out on the town, in bars or brothels, taking advantage of their allowances and the amenities the Academy made for them. Zinnia preferred to stay in.

The Academy commons had seen quite some renovation since the revolution. With many if the other initiates out and about, she had the chance to really enjoy the space. Big, comfy chairs, some spare blankets, mugs for anything initiates might want to drink, and a big fireplace marked the center of the area, as well as the location that Zinnia had decided to post up for now.

It was late enough in the evening that she was effectively in pajamas at this point, minus the usual hood tucked over her head. She could never be too careful about that, even with a lack of other souls nearby. She'd curled up atop one of the chairs, wrapped in a blanket, and was holding a book that she wasn't really reading anymore; instead she just stared into the fire and considered recent days.

Much was changing in Vel Anir. Much was changing here, for the other students and for her. Rain pattered against the windows of the commons and the fire crackled, the only ambience that filled the area until she picked up the soft sounds of approaching footsteps. Someone else seeking to make use of the space? Looking for her specifically? Just passing through? Time would tell, Zinnia imagined. She just hoped it wouldn't be...confrontational.

 

[Aelita]

As the footsteps drew closer, the sound of Aelita humming a tune grew. The melody could be recognized as a popular winter festive song in Vel Anir – appropriate for the season. Fingernails rapped rhythmically on what sounded like a ceramic jug full of something.

Aelita entered the same common area as Zinnia did. She spotted the lit, warm fire.

“Ooo-“ she murmured.

In one hand, Aelita grasped a bottle with a cork stopple. No label. It appeared large enough to carry a liter and half of liquid. In the other, Aelita carried an aged tome.

Blue eyes spotted Zinnia’s hooded figure. Immediately upon doing so, Aelita hid her book behind her back with a slight blush. She leaned over to catch a glimpse of the other person’s face.

“Z-Zinny?” Aelita asked.

An awkward smile with pursed lips followed.

“Hope I’m not a bother,” Aelita told Zinnia.

 

[Zinnia]

Humming joined the rhythmic patter of footsteps and soon after Aelita popped into view. Nothing confrontational then, just someone else looking to make use of the space. They were the commons after all, and meant to be shared by anyone who so chose.

"Oh, h-hey Aelita," Zinnia greeted the other girl with a smile whilst nestling down further into her pile of comfy. A hand popped free of the blanket to gesture to some of the other nearby seats. "N-not at all, feel f-free."

After a bit of an awkward pause, the wallflower decided she should probably fulfill social obligations and attempt some small talk.
"...W-what have you got? I-if you don't m-mind me asking."

 

[Aelita]

Aelita’s gaze followed Zinnia’s gesture to the nearby seats.

“Ehm,” Aelita uttered.

Eyes widened when Zinnia asked about what she brought.

“Uhrrrmm...” escaped her mouth as her looked down.

“Nothinnng,” Aelita claimed, keeping her book behind her back.

“Oh, um, wine!” she then told Zinnia as she lifted the jug. She shook it.

slosh slosh

With several mugs laying in wait nearby, Aelita lifted the bottle toward Zinnia.

“You... want some?”

 

[Zinnia]

Right. Totally not suspicious. Zinnia giggled demurely despite herself.
"Y-you don't have to share if you d-don't want to." She chimed.

The big jug Aelita produced was a bit more concerning.
"Oh, um...I p-probably shouldn't..." Zinnia shrunk back a bit. The dreadful high she'd had inflicted on her at Lumen's Friendsgiving was still fresh on her mind, and she hadn't quite gotten over how ill that had made her.

Even so, she didn't want to restrict Aelita's fun (even though she was fairly certain they weren't allowed to have alcohol of their own on the grounds like this).
"You can though! I b-brought..." She leaned over and reached into a tote she'd brought along, then produced a small box. "Tea!"

 

[Aelita]

“Huh, tea. Right,” Aelita responded.

Glancing at the bottle, Aelita cheerfully claimed, “More for me, then.”

Then, Aelita moved over to a free seat. She sat the book down on a table next to the chair – the title on the cover facing down and the spine away from Zinnia. She then uncorked the jug, grabbed a mug, and poured a drink for herself.

Aelita sat down and took a sip.

“Ahhh!” she sighed with a smile.

The gentle fire reflected upon Aelita’s eyes. A window shook with a loud noise during a brief gust.

Tilting her head toward Zinnia, Aelita asked, “How’ve you been?”

 

[Zinnia]

"Ha, w-well, I m-might as well join you in s-spirit." Zinnia rose as Aelita sat and fetched a mug of her own, poured some water into it, then stuck a finger into the water and focused a small amount of fire into it. In no time the liquid bubbled with heat. Her bare feet pattered back across the hardwood floor as she returned to her seat, fetched one of the little pouches from the tea box, and began to seep it in the hot water. A few drops of honey later and the drink was ready.

Zinnia snuggled back into her blanket as she sat back down and sipped from the mug, steam rising into the air.
"R-recovering. Whatever Z-Zaire put in his d-dish at Friendsg-giving really m-messed me up for a g-good while..." She shook her head and sighed. "Other th-than that, fine...um...how ab-bout you?"

 

[Aelita]

Aelita took another sip of the wine as she watched Zinnia use magic to heat her tea.

“Oh, wow! Neat."

Then hearing Zinnia describe a bit of her Friendsgiving experience, Aelita said, “Hah! Yeah, I heard about that. It was gone by the time I went to get some so...”

Aelita shrugged. In the massive training fields, she did not personally see any of Zinnia’s shenanigans or the chaos that Zaire’s dish caused.

“I’ve been good. Been wanting to do some...”

A glance to the still unrevealed book.

“Reading. And been wondering what’re the next shenanigans the proctors will pull.”

 

[Zinnia]

"You...r-really weren't m-missing out on anything..." Zinnia murmured, really not wishing the experience she had on any of her brothers or sisters. A long, gentle sip at her tea reminded her that she was not still dealing with every object's outlines dancing around constantly.

Aelita had been a bit of an odd duck so far, but it was rude to call that much out. Instead, she simply tried to bridge the conversation.
"Oh, um...I like to r-read," She gestured at the book she'd set down on the end table next to her chair. "Anything c-caught your f-fancy?"

 

[Aelita]

A hum followed Zinnia’s question. Aelita glanced over at the still unrevealed book that she brought. Then, a sigh and a shrug.

“I found this,” Aelita told Zinnia as she reached over and picked up her book.

Then, Aelita gently tossed the dusty tome to Zinnia. On the front cover would be its title in fanciful font.

Making Your Love Come True​

Its contents would be a smorgasbord of “rituals”.

“It’s entertaining, at least.”

 

[Zinnia]

For a moment, Zinnia thought she might spill her now fresh, hot tea as Aelita tossed her quarry into her lap. Thankfully she'd had the good sense not to panic as the other girl had done so, merely slopping the contents of her mug around for a moment. She breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted at the moment was a crotch full of burning chamomile.

Zinnia blinked heavily at the cover of the book as it rested upon her thighs.
"O-oh...oh my..." She stammered with a blush. Was this one of..."those" kinds of books? "W-where on Arethil d-did you get th-this?"

 

[Aelita]

A second after tossing the book, Aelita saw Zinnia struggling to hold onto her tea and catch the tome.

“Oh, oops!”

A sip of wine followed as Aelita observed Zinnia’s initial reaction to the book’s title.

“Vel Draza,” she answered, “I don’t think anyone will miss it.”

In the mountains of Feldraza stood the Vel Draza fortress – a monastery that also served as a massive library for Vel Anir.

With a wave of her hand, Aelita told Zinnia, “Check chapter four!”

 

[Zinnia]

Zinnia wasn't wholly familiar with the place Aelita had mentioned as the origin for the book, but she had to admit that she was morbidly curious about the thing's contents. She set her cup down on the end table beside her and began to paw through to the chapter the other girl had mentioned.

She could feel her cheeks start to burn when she arrived there.
"...Oh..." She gasped, rotating the book to try and absorb both the descriptions and diagrams that were presented. "B-but, how do they...? A-and where is he p-putting--? Oh dear."

Bombarded by new information, Zinnia felt like a teapot that had come to a boil. Unbidden, she accidentally channeled a puff of steam from her hood, a slip of her magic that frequently seemed to occur when she got flustered. Slowly, she looked over to Aelita, still clutching the book.
"I, um...w-wasn't aware one c-could bend her b-body that way..."

 

[Aelita]

As she saw and heard Zinnia’s reaction to the book, Aelita began to cackle. She threw her head back in laughter and almost spilled a few drops of her wine.

“Bwahaha!”

A few kicks of her leg.

Pointing at the book, Aelita added, “And to think! Hah! The library put that in the magic rituals section!”

Another snicker.

“Next to a haruspicy book!”

 

[Zinnia]

Gently, Zinnia closed the book and set it aside.
"If the t-text is to be believed that w-was a magic ritual. I h-had no idea you could c-cast spells that way..."

Zinnia cocked her head curiously at Aelita's next suggestion.
"'Haruspicy?' Isn't that d-divination?"

 

[Aelita]

“Oooh yeah,” Aelita replied.

A long sip of the wine followed. The fire continued to crackle. A short gust shook the windows to the commons.

Looking at the fire, Aelita told Zinnia, “Seems that you can cast magic almost any way you want.”

Then, Aelita turned back to Zinnia.

“Just as haruspicy is divination...”

Then a motion of one hand as if Aelita held a knife – slicing the air before Zinnia.

“... by entrails.”

Another sip.

“And then there that!” she exclaimed between laughter as she pointed at Making Your Love Come True.

 

[Zinnia]

Zinnia cast an embarrassed glance at Aelita. She had to admit, it was rather fascinating.

"Y-you can divine the f-future through...intestines?" Zinnia wondered aloud. "...Do...do you think th-that's how Z-Zana does it?"

Zana Vjollca, the legend. The Butcher of Vel'Anir, the Hero of the Rebellion. It was known that she was a predicter, an oracle, that she had foreseen the events of the Rebellion long in advance. Such a powerful and instrumental woman...could it be that she was gaining her vision through the guts of other creatures?

Zinnia stifled a laugh as another thought entered her mind.
"Or...m-maybe she sees through her h-husband, with that!" She suggested, joining Aelita in her laughter at last.

 

[Aelita]

Zinnia called the name of Zana.

Another bit of laughter from Aelita followed Zinnia’s theories.

“Oh, careful! Say her name three times and she’ll visit you at night!” Aelita jokingly claimed.

Another chuckle. Another sip of the wine.

“But yeah, I could just imagine...”

Then a follow up as Aelita half-imitated one of the chapter four moves with just her hands and upper body. A playful scowl appeared on her face.

“Oh watch out, I’m the Butcher of Velll Anirr!”

 

[Zinnia]

The wallflower tucked her legs in tighter and stifled a laugh. Aelita talked of one of the heroes of Vel Anir as though she were some malevolent spirit.
"I th-think that's only a threat to loyalists." Zinnia began to reply. She nearly spit her tea out when Aelita did her impression, coupled with her ghostly "threat."

"Goodness g-gracious, Aelita!" She coughed out between a fit of choking laughter. "N-now that I think of it, w-we should be c-careful! Wouldn't want Zana to ap-pear and demonstrate her 't-techniques'..."

She could scarcely imagine it, but the scenario was so utterly ridiculous it stirred Zinnia to further fits of giggles and almost made her wish she'd shared in Aelita's drink. Picture it: one of the republic's greatest heroes bursting through a window, displaying lewd poses, and ripping out intestines in the name of somehow glimpsing the future. Her husband was either incredibly fortunate or the exact opposite!

 

[Aelita]

"Ooonnne mooorrre timmme and she'll appear to take your intestines!" Aelita teased as Zinnia said Zana's name once more.

Watching Zinnia devolve into a giggling fit, Aelita offered the jug of wine to her.

"Sure you want nothing?" Aelita asked.

"Nothing of what?" a male voice asked from the study's entrance.

As if a deer caught in the brush, Aelita pulled her arms back - the bottle with them if Zinnia did not have the chance to take it yet. She turned her head to see a familiar, stern face: Proctor Gamble.

He was doing nightly rounds when he saw the glow of the fire from the study, thus deciding to see what was happening.