𝕻𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖚𝖑𝖚𝖒 - [𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲]

𝐱. 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐄𝐍 — the book of cagliostro

━━━━━━━

 𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 regretted agreeing to a spur of the moment training session with Mordo, for the rain was pounding, thunder was rumbling, and streaks of lightning would flash throughout the dark evening sky in sync with their punches.

 Emilia was sopping wet. Both she and Mordo had continued on, even after the rain had begun to slap against their warm skin. Her lips were tinged blue, and her robes were clinging to her in a rather uncomfortable manner. Yet they had continued on, punches and kicks had been thrown whilst droplets flew from them, joining the rippling puddles that splashed beneath their coordinated feet.

 "We are never doing that again," Emilia muttered as she ruffled her hair with a clean, dry towel. She was slowly walking beside her training partner towards the library where Stephen was awaiting Emilia's presence.

 It seemed that he wished for her to suffer in the pouring rain alone whilst he happily read through stained pages and filled his gut with honey and lemon tea, warm and cosy whilst Emilia gathered bruises and water.

 Mordo chuckled, his hands clutching at the towel he'd tossed over his shoulders, "You're the one who could have said stop, and you are the one who insisted on seeing Stephen before we changed."

 "Firstly, you never listen when I say stop, you just punch me instead." Emilia brumbled beneath her breath as she twirled her towel into a thin strip, "Second, I didn't insist, thank you."

 "Oh, no, of course you didn't insist." Mordo responded, a cheeky smile on his lips. Another, more boisterous chuckle reverberated around them as Emilia narrowed her eyes at him.

 "Just what are you implying there, Mordo?" Her hand lashed out, the end of her coiled towel smacked against Mordo's leg, causing the man to jump away to avoid another assault. His laugh boomed as loud as the thunder.

 "Absolutely nothing, dear Emilia," He drawled out, holding the door open for the woman who spun on her heel and once again, offered him a look, "I'm implying nothing."

 Emilia rolled her eyes, and rather than respond, she simply continued on through the library. Mordo however, grinned to himself. The pair of bright students had become far closer; it was impeccably obvious, it had been from the beginning, but for the past weeks it seemed as though their rather tight-knit bond had grown deeper.

 He would often catch the pair exchanging looks, ones that were far different from Emilia rolling her eyes at the former surgeon, and Stephen huffing in response. No, these looks told a different story, and those particular gazes, paired with the slight touches they'd offer one another — without even noticing themselves — was more than enough to convince Mordo that something had spurred such a bond to erupt.