A Light in the Shadows.

A Ball and Rejection

That went differently than I expected. I went back to the castle, cuddling with Bananas and wasting the day away. At night I decided I wanted to visit Jelequi.

I flew to the shop. I could see Jelequi's window open. I flew to it, wiggling through as always. Jelequi looked over as i got in. Jelequi smiled, running over to give me a hug. I hugged her fiercely. "It's great to see you!" Jelequi smiled at me. "Yeah!" I agreed, leaning my head on Jelequi's shoulder. "How are you doing?" Jelequi asked. "Good. goldarn doesn't want to kill you apparently. I warned him to stay away from you though." I said. "Oh, you talked with him?" Jelequi asked. "Yeah, he has a whole bunch of orphans that surprisingly like him." "Oh, interesting." Jelequi mumbled. "Yeah... either way, i'm glad its done." I admitted. Jelequi smiled, "Yeah..." I smiled. "Want to sit down?" Jelequi asked. "Okay" I agreed. We sat down onto the bed, still hugging. Jelequi smiled. I closed my eyes, my head still on Jelequi's shoulder. Jelequi grabbed one of the books she had, "Should we read?" "Okay" I agreed. Jelequi smiled, opening her book. I pulled out a book, quietly reading. We both read in comfortable silence for a while. It was late, the moon nearly past the window. "It's getting late." Jelequi mentioned. I looked up and nodded. "Should we head to sleep..?" "okay" Jelequi smiled, placing down her book. I got up to lie on the floor. Jelequi yawned, laying down. "Good night..." Jelequi mumbled. "Goodnight" I said, curling up on the floor and pretending to sleep. Jelequi closed her eyes. I listened to her breathing steady, and opened my eyes, gazing to nowhere. It was dark, the moon gleaming through the open window. I sighed, as I let the night pass.

The nightmares were back. I dreamt that Jelequi and I went to find the source, but when we got there, she was gone. It was midnight when I woke up, and decided to give up on sleep and just lay there.

The morning soon came, the sun peering through the window. I closed my eyes, pretending to sleep as Jelequi stirred. Jelequi soon yawned, sitting up slowly. I yawned and stretched, opening my eyes. "Good morning, Seraphina." Jelequi said. "Good morning," I replied. Jelequi got up, walked over to me. I got up, turning human at the same time. Jelequi smiled, hugging me. I hugged her back smiling. Jelequi leaned her head on my shoulder, "How was your sleep..?" Jelequi asked. "Fine!" I said, clearly lying. "Are you okay..?" Jelequi asked. "Fine," I replied. "Alright.." Jelequi mumbled. "How was your sleep?" I said, diverting the topic away from myself. "It was alright." Jelequi said. "That's good," I replied. Jelequi smiled, "Should we head to my shop?" Jelequi asked. "Okay" I replied, grabbing my book on the way. We headed down, going into the shop. Both Xentri and Amharic were sitting in the shop. "Good morning you two!" Amharic said happily.

"Good morning," I replied. "How are you?" Amharic asked. "Good" I said convincingly, now that I wasn't answering to Jelequi. "Mhm!" Jelequi hummed. "Very nice!" Amharic smiled. "How are you, amharic?" Seraphina asked them. "Good!" Amharic said. "Good" Seraphina said back. Xentri looked over, "So, what have you been doing lately?" Xentri asked me. "The usual, trying to stop my kingdom from crumbling, having nightmares, the usual teenage stuff." I replied casually. "Makes sense." Xentri replied. Jelequi looked to me, "You've been having more nightmares..?" "I always have nightmares. Every night." I said blankly. "Why do you think i hate sleeping?" Jelequi hugged me close. I hugged her back, saying "it doesn't matter" though clearly saying 'i don't matter.' "Of course it matters!" Jelequi said. "Never mind," I said dismissively. I thought she either knew or wouldn't make so much of a big deal over it. I honestly kind of liked it, but my nightmares were a dangerous subject. Jelequi smiled, "It's okay, if you even want to talk about your nightmares, or anything like that, you can always come to me." Jelequi said happily. I nodded, letting go of Jelequi and taking her hand. Only if they're not about you. "Do you plan on doing anything today?" Xentri asked. "Who are you asking?" I said. "You two." Xentri said, nodding towards me and Jelequi. "Not that I'm aware of," I replied. "Yeah, same." Jelequi said. "Alright." Xentri replied. "What about you guys?" I asked. "Other than training later today, no." Xentri said. "I have no idea! I'll probably visit Stevini tonight." Amharic said. I nodded. "Nice." Jelequi said. "Mhm!" Amharic smiled. I smiled and muttered "adorable." "You and Jelequi adorable as well!" Amharic said right back to me. "Says the one who's dating" I replied blushing. "You two are still cute." Amharic said. Jelequi looked to the side, blush over her cheeks as well. "Why does the conversation always circle back to this?" I asked. Amharic shrugged. "This is Amharic." Xentri mentioned. "Fair point" I agreed. Amharic seemed annoyed. "What, it's true?" Xentri said, looking over to Amharic. "Well it was my fault anyway" I said, trying not to offend amharic. "Yeah, why are you picking on me!" Amharic told Xentri. "One, I've known you longer. Two, it's funnier." Xentri said. "Okay, let's just stop" I interjected quickly. "Yeah, sure." Xentri muttered. "Mhm!" Amharic said. I giggled slightly. "You guys are funny!" Jelequi laughed slightly. I hummed slightly. "Well..." Xentri mumbled, as it went mostly quiet, "What now?" I was quiet. Amharic shrugged. Everyone was quietly, nobody talking. "If you guys want you could take a break" I said, looking at Xentri and Amharic. "Alright!" Amharic said. "I don't need to." Xentri replied. "Okay" I replied, getting out my book and sliding down onto the floor to read. Amharic exited the shop, to take the break I suggested. Xentri stayed, taking out a book of her own. We read in silence for a while. "Xentri, what book do you have?" Jelequi asked. "A random book I found in my dad's room." Xentri said, "I'm not exactly sure what it is. I just started reading it." "fair" Xentri looked back to her book. I did the same. Jelequi smiled, sitting on a stool there. The day passed fairly quickly, and soon I looked up. Jelequi looked over to me. "I have to go..." I said, knowing bananas would find some way to kill me in my sleep if I didn't return. "Oh, alright.." Jelequi mumbled, hugging me. I hugged back, reluctant to go. Jelequi let go, "Bye... see you soon?" "soon." I promised. Jelequi smiled disappointedly. I flew away. I got back, and, as I predicted, bananas was mad at me... oh well. After his initial rage he cuddled with me. I soon fell asleep.