FALLOUT [Index One - Part Two]

Chapter Four

Elle and Arinoi were sitting on the bed, staring at the ceiling silently. After having a long conversation about Arinoi's new royal status, they had been quietly thinking it all over.

Well, Elle was thinking it over. Arinoi was actually just studying Elle, watching her chest rise and fall as she inhaled and exhaled a steady rhythm, biting her lip as she thought. Her eyes flashed around the ceiling, occasionally narrowing as the girl came to a small conclusion, only to flutter open again as her mind sped off to another thought process. Finally, she opened her mouth, turning to Arinoi.

"So... The coronation's in a month, right?" Arinoi nodded - which was sort of awkward to do, since the two of them were on their sides, but she tried nonetheless - and Elle continued. "Do you have it planned?"

She frowned a bit, not having considered her question before. "...Not really."

"Are you excited?"

For the first time in a long time, Arinoi didn't have an answer. "Uh..."

"Alright..." Elle rolled onto her back. "Picture something for me. And tell me what you're thinking."

"Okay." Arinoi followed suit, studying the wooden slats above her. 

"Have you ever been to a coronation before?"

"...I was at Nadia's."

"Oh. Right."

A long pause. "In the back. So she wouldn't see me."

There was silence for a second. Then, right before Arinoi could add something, she felt Elle reach for her hand and squeeze it just for a second, stopping the words in her throat. Sort of. Instead of anything coherent, a small, blank sound emitted from her mouth.

"You alright?" Elle asked, slightly concerned.

Arinoi sat up quickly, lacing her fingers together and tucking them under her chin. "What as it you wanted me to imagine?" she muttered, looking away so that Elle couldn't see her turn red.

Elle folded her arms behind her head. "Well..."

The two went on to talk for an hour or two, until finally Elle had some sort of idea in her head of what Arinoi was picturing.

Nothing bigger or messier or fancier than it needed to be. The bare minimum. Doing what needed to be done.

As for Arinoi's feelings on the matter, Elle wasn't quite sure. All her answers seemed vague in that regard, and she quickly switched topics whenever Elle brought it up.

"...You should probably get going," Arinoi finally said. "Do you have homework?"

Elle frowned. "Yeah."

Arinoi smiled for a second, finding her friend's frustration a little bit cute, blowing a strand of hair from her face out of annoyance.

She slid off the bed, holding her hand out to Elle. They hadn't trained or practiced at all since Nadia's disappearance. Elle was the first and only person to survive being submerged in the magical, inky water for that long - and, to Arinoi's knowledge, at all. She didn't want to bring it up, though, since Elle seemed fine enough, and she didn't want to annoy her, so she kept ger concerns in her head.

Arinoi grasped her hands, pulling her in slightly before shifting them both back, landing slightly off-balance in Elle's room. A startled yowl emitted from her cat as it streaked out of the room.

A small smile crossed Arinoi's face as she watched Elle giggle before turning to her. "You gonna be okay?"

She slowly nodded, studying Elle quietly. "Yeah." A second, smaller smile.