fandomhigh | Library, Wednesday, All Day

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Library, Wednesday, All Day

Sholeh had been excited to go to the library today. After two days of classes and with a plan to meet with Yeul had her more cheerful than she'd been in weeks.

...That cheer did not last long past her first interaction with flying, fire-breathing vegetables. She'd gotten chased all the way to the school doors after stepping outside of the dorms. She'd been dive-bombed, one of the ribbons in her hair was scorched, and it didn't matter how many times she glanced out the windows, they were still there.

Lurking.

Waiting.

Buzzing.

After recovering from her headlong dash, Sholeh marched right to the desk and started looking up ways to kill these nasty little things. She was going to try to invent some kind of spray-bottle flyswatter by the end of her shift if it was the last thing she did!

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Help her come up with blueprints!

"Hey girl," Emily called as she jogged in, looking slightly agitated. "Crazy weather huh?"

"Hi, Emily," Sholeh said, looking up from the 'blueprints' she was sketching out. "Ugh. They nearly set my hair on fire."

Sholeh wasn't even all that fond of her hair (who wanted to have red hair?), but losing it to fire was a BIT MUCH.

Emily thought her hair was nice. Red wasn't her color though, but Sholeh wore it well.

"I'm not even entirely sure they should be able to fly, leave alone breathe fire, but that's Fandom for you?"

"I don't even know what they are," Sholeh said, aggrieved. "I think they're a vegetable? But I'm not sure what!"

Not that it would make any more sense, whatever kind of vegetable they were. Veggies shouldn't fly or breathe fire!

"I'm not sure it really matters what they are. They just should leave already."

These were the times Emily thought about having some sort of power, but alas. Better not to think much about it. "What's that you're working on?"

Sholeh was right there with her on the frustrating lack of powers front.

She held up her picture and tried not to blush. "I'm trying to figure out how to combine a fly-swatter and a water bottle," she explained. "I was thinking it might be a way to kill them."

Fire-breathing vegetables were not even remotely weird to Yeul and she’d made the trip to the town and back without any surprise about their appearances. They weren’t like any monsters on Pulse but they were similar enough that it was… almost familiar.

When she arrived at the library, her clothes were a bit scorched. Her arms and legs would have been, but Yeul had guessed that the presence of burns would be distressing to Sholeh and, in deference of her friend’s sensibilities, had taken a Potion before entering the library.

“Hello Sholeh,” Yeul said cheerfully, “I brought you a drink.” A cinnamon hot chocolate, as Evan had told her Sholeh liked. She set it on the desk, keeping another drink for herself. “And cookies too.” Which she also set on the desk.

"You braved the...fire-things...to go get me a hot cocoa and cookies?" Sholeh asked, mouth agape. "I--thank you, these are wonderful, but you didn't have to! You could have been hurt!"

Could have been...had been...you know!

"Are you okay? Are you burned anywhere? Do you need to go to the clinic?"

"I am fine," Yeul said reassuringly, smiling. "It is only my clothes and I will change those when I get back to the dorms. I am unhurt." ... Now.

Healing herself had been the right idea, Yeul thought.

"I know I did not have to," she continued. "I wanted to."

And, well, if Yeul actually wanted to do something, it was going to be done. To Caius' unending dismay.

It had been, and had Sholeh known about it, she would have thanked her.

Or, well, fussed anyway, but the gist was clear.

"I'm glad you managed to avoid those things," she said, now able to take a sip of her cocoa with a clear conscience, knowing that Yeul hadn't been hurt on her behalf. "I don't understand where--ooh! You got cinnamon on it! Thank you! How'd you know?"

Her smile widened.

"I asked Evan," Yeul admitted. "I thought you should have a treat you would enjoy and he was happy to tell me."

Hey look! It was like Sholeh could blush on cue!

"Oh," she said, ducking her head a little to hide her blush. And dimples. "And he knew? That's really sweet. I mean, that you thought to ask."

And that he knew.

"I didn't think to bring you anything..."

"He knew," she confirmed. "I do not believe he had to even think about it before answering me."

Yeul lifted her own drink with another smile. "And do not worry yourself," she said lightly. "I brought something for myself which means neither of us will go without."

"Oh good," Sholeh said, focusing on Yeul's drink so that she didn't keep blushing. She did smile a small, secret little smile into her cup of cocoa, but that was different.

Somehow.

Really.

"I'm really glad you came," Sholeh said after she'd enjoyed a sip or two. "I'm only starting to realize how much I missed people while I was hiding away. The start of classes has really been good for me."

Yeul tilted her head slightly. "Have your classes been good to you because of the routine and having to get out and about?" she asked. "Or is it because they give you more to think about?"

Or all of the above?

"Yes to both," Sholeh said honestly. "But...more because it gets me out and around people again. I spent several weeks hiding and it's good to remember there are reasons not to hide. Like you and Evan and my other friends."

"I'm glad," Yeul replied gently. "You do seem a bit happier than you were on Monday."

"I am," Sholeh said firmly, with a nod. "I'm not hiding anymore. That in itself is better."

She'd taken a tentative step outside and, not only had the world not bit her, it had even welcomed her a bit. That boosted her confidence to some degree.

...Though the flaming jalapenos were making a decent case for hiding again.

The flaming jalapenos were nothing, Sholeh! Nothing!

"You make a case for it." She smiled and then sipped her drink slowly before asking, "What were you hiding from, Sholeh?"

Oooh, now there was the million dollar question. Sholeh's eyes immediately dropped and she began fidgeting. "Not exactly what," she mumbled. "More like a 'who.' But I guess a 'what' as well, since I was pretty scared of my own shadow for awhile there..."

She talked in circles for a few moments more before asking, "You remember the dungeons, right?"

Dumb question, but it made for a decent enough opening to toe at.

"I do," Yeul said gently.

She thought of adding more to it but, after a moment's reflection, decided that it didn't need more than that. Especially not when the dungeons had held no fear to her.

"I died in them," Sholeh said quietly. "I was...killed. By a friend."

She also thought that that needed no more explanation.

It didn't, really, and she was sorry for that.

She was sorry that it had happened too.

"Oh, Sholeh," she said, stepping around the desk in order to offer her a hug. "You should not have had to go through that."

Sholeh was happy to cling tightly back. She needed this. She'd cut herself off from most people, but she'd needed this. Even back home, her mothers had been there to hug her when she was hurting. Here--it wasn't accurate to say she had no one. She did--she'd just pushed them all away while she hid.

"It was terrifying," she mumbled, the words just coming faster now that she'd opened the dam. "He held me tight and I couldn't run, couldn't break away, and his teeth were in my neck and he just kept drinking and drinking and I got dizzy and weak and I couldn't stand and he just...followed me to the ground."

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