Weak To Fire

8

Y/N was leaning back against the tree stump. The day was way too hot to be out of the water, but here Y/N was, sitting out by a tree and watching Mereoleona train. She had tried to stay away from her, she really had, but she had seen her leave early in the morning and since it wasn't too warm yet, she had decided to follow her after a while. After all they were basically roommates, right? Yeah. They were roommates. Didn't matter that there was no actual room involved. The same concept still applied, they were sharing a living space with each other.

Mereo hadn't really minded her watching her train. She seemed almost a bit flattered. Y/N was sure that she was showing off a little with her magic. Or she just was that good. It was hard to say. Either way, Y/N was impressed. If Mereo was trying to show off then it had definitely worked. Y/N wondered why she was out here training, if she was clearly incredibly strong. Maybe she just really wanted to escape the capital... but what could be so bad that she ran away from it for months?

Slowly but surely Y/N was coming to the realisation that she basically knew nothing about Mereo. She had no idea how old she was, she had no idea what kind of family she came from (although she suspected that they were nobles), she had no idea what kind of life she was living. She didn't even know her surname or whether she had any siblings, whether her parents were still alive... nothing at all. She didn't know what she did to support herself (not that it looked like she needed to work, otherwise she'd have no time to live in the middle of nowhere for months).

Still, for now she was happy just to watch her train, watch the way she moved when she cast her spells, watch her practising the more advanced spells until she could do them with more ease. Honestly, Mereo was talented. Even a water spirit like Y/N who had had centuries to perfect her magic skill had to admit that. She was good at what she was doing and she put a lot of effort and dedication into it. It was no wonder that she had almost managed to beat Y/N in that fight...

Y/N was glad that now, when the day was hottest, there was some nice shade beneath the tree she was leaning against. It meant she'd be able to stay out here a little longer without feeling like she was parched. Y/N liked sunny days, but the sun really wasn't her best friend, if she was honest. She had to be really careful how long she stayed out in direct sunlight, because it was easy for her to just completely dehydrate which had much more severe consequences for a water spirit than for a human. Plus, the headache that came with it was a bitch.

But at least with a bit of shade under the trees the sun wasn't as much of a problem for Y/N. Plus, there was a mild breeze from time to time which helped tremendously. With the way things were going Y/N would probably be able to lounge under this tree for hours and hours before she had to go and get back in the water. She might even make it until sundown, which was what she'd prefer, because watching Mereo get all sweaty was honestly a treat for Y/N.

Unfortunately it seemed like Mereo was ready for a break. She turned around and gave Y/N that cocky grin she liked so much, before heading back to where she was sitting, a waterskin right beside her. As she was getting closer, Y/N could see some beads of sweat on her forehead. She was breathing heavily and her training clothes were soaked in it. Y/N felt a little bad for enjoying seeing her like this so much, but it was pretty satisfying to see one of the most attractive women she had ever seen so out of breath, while Y/N herself was fresh as morning dew.

"You still here?" she wanted to know. Y/N nodded and reached beside her to hand Mereo the towel she had brought, as well as the water skin. Mereo smiled at her and slung the towel around her neck, before starting to drink from the waterskin, as if she hadn't seen water in three days. She had to be completely parched.

"Yeah, I don't wanna risk walking back when the sun is burning down like that. Don't know if I'd make it in that heat." she answered. Mereo handed her back the waterskin and nodded slowly, before drying the sweat off her face. Some of her hair was still sticking to her forehead. Mereo sat down next to Y/N, leaning against the tree trunk and taking deep breaths.

"So you're really sensitive to the sun then?" she wanted to know, turning her head to Y/N, her chest still moving up and down heavily and some new pearls of sweat rolling down her temple.

"Y-yeah. Yeah, I... I guess you could call it dehydration." Y/N replied, realising just how ridiculous that sounded. A water spirit getting dehydrated. Y/N had to laugh to herself because of how stupid it sounded and to her surprise, Mereo joined in her laughter. She had a really nice laugh, loud and booming, sounding as if it was coming from deep within her belly.

"Sorry. Sorry, that sounded so stupid." Y/N said, while she was still chuckling. Mereo shook her head, her eyes looking Y/N up and down slowly, taking her in. Y/N felt both validated and vulnerable under her eyes at the same time. She was pretty sure that Mereo had taken just the same kind of liking to her that she had taken to Mereo, but she couldn't be sure. And she didn't want to make a move until she was sure. Or until she was really, really desperate about it.

"No, it wasn't stupid at all. It just sounded really funny. I didn't know that water spirits even experience something like dehydration." Mereo said to her.

"Well, it's not very common. Most water spirits never leave their bodies of water, even though they technically could. They just don't have the desire to leave the water. But if we do and we are out of the water for too long, or if there is too much heat around, well... then we can dehydrate. I haven't really experienced it fully, but it's pretty awful when it starts. Horrible headache." Y/N explained.

"Sounds pretty tough. I love bathing as much as anyone does, maybe even a little more, but... I couldn't imagine spending my entire life in the water." Mereo answered. Y/N chuckled and shook her head.

"No surprises there, with all the fire magic. By the way, I've been meaning to ask... I don't know much about you at all. Can you... can you tell me something?" Y/N wanted to know. She wasn't sure whether that was how anyone asked personal questions, but if things got too awkward she could just hide below the water surface in her lake until the end of days or something.

"What, about myself?" Mereo asked.

"Yeah... Like, about your family. What you do in the capital. Do you have any siblings or anything? Just... you know. A little bit about yourself." Y/N replied. Mereo sighed and closed her eyes, her head leaning back against the tree. Y/N wondered whether those questions were too personal or not, but then again she always had the excuse of not having spoken to anyone in a few years.

"There's not that much to say about me... I'm from the Vermillion family, I'm the oldest daughter. So we're nobles. I don't really work as such, I usually just train to get stronger most of the year and I travel to the capital when I need to. I have two younger siblings... Fuegoleon, who's 28, and Leopold, who's 15. They're both Magic Knights. That's about all I can think of right now."

"Why haven't you joined the Magic Knights?" Y/N wanted to know. Mereoleona sighed and gave her a smile.

"It just wasn't right for me, I guess. I didn't think I'd fit in well, so... I just didn't join. Sorry, it's a bit of a sore topic, especially with my family. But I think I'm happier on my own out here, anyway. Or with a water spirit living in the same forest, that works, too." she said with a smile. Y/N felt a tingle in her stomach as she said it. Did she actually enjoy spending time with her?

"Sorry. I didn't mean to pry. But I'm glad you don't mind me hanging around."