you're incredibly wicked

22: waxing crescent in virgo

"I'm so glad that you're feeling better! Now, you can experience the highlight of some nights, parties!"

Lizzie dragged Serena out of her desk and her book fell.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Of course, trust me! Come on, let's get your ready to go!"

Serena did not say a word and just let Lizzie do what she wanted to do. After getting dressed up in formal clothes with minimal jewelry, soon enough the two of them waltzed out of the hall, before they had to sneak through the head dormkeeper.

The party was more then Serena was expecting, and there were so many students there. She watched as all of her friends came and soon enough, their soulmates came around as well. Yet, it pained Serena to see everybody had somebody to dance with, but her.

For a second, she thought she saw Nikolai in a corner, looking right at her. She just ignored him and went to go get a drink. Little did she know that the drink that she was drinking had some magic ale, and was also strangly addictive. 

She had more and more and soon lost count. The room around her was blurring in and out.

A sudden pang of lightheadedness woke her from her senses and she looked around. This was not her bedroom, instead it seemed like a private bedroom. There was one part that felt strangly familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

The door opened and Nikolai came in, bearing a cup of jasmine green tea.

"Good morning."

"What are you doing here?"

He laid down the cup on a desk.

"This is my room. And you're in my bed."

"Alright, let me rephrase that. What am I doing here? Isn't this not allowed?"

Nikolai sighed.

"Do you know how much you had to drink last night? Or what you drank?"

Serena shook her head and Nikolai sighed once more.

"You drank magic ale. Almost an entire bowl to be exact."

"Is that why my head hurts?"

"Yes, and you've been sleeping for 2 days."

"I MISSED LECTURES?"

Serena threw a pillow at Nikolai.

"I HAD AN EXAM, nooooooo!"

"Relax, jeez. I didn't think that you were THAT into studying. Don't worry, I contacted all of your professors and told them that you had a sudden family emergency."

"But, I didn't think that you wanted anybody knowing that we were soulmates."

"As your soulmate, I must always have an eye on you. In your case, I might have to have my full focus on you, you're a lot of work, more work then I expected, not that I'm complaining."

"You like me????" She teased.

He took a sip of his own tea and gave her a dead stare.

"If I'm being honest, you're better than being TOO good. Girls like that get too boring. You are an interesting one, to say the least. Now come on, let's get you something to eat. You must be starving."

Nikolai offered his hand and Serena took it with a hint of hesitation. Together, they left the bedroom and went into the kitchen where a cat was sitting on a windowsill.

"Rupert, seriously?"

Rupert meowed.

"You're allowed to have a pet?" Serena went to go pet the cat.

"3rd and 4th years have a magical companion that keeps them company. Rupert, however is a homebody and would much rather stay here than go to class."

"He's so precious. I love cats."

"You're a cat person?"

Serena giggled.

"Yes, they're so cuddly and calm!"

Rupert rubbed against Serena's hand and trilled loudly.

Nikolai just stared in amazement.

"Rupert is normally so shy and only lets me pet him like that."

"He must like me then!"

Nikolai went to refill his cup when his stomach growled.

"You must be hungry after sleeping for a while."

Serena looked at him.

"I guess so. Ugh, my head."

Before Serena collapsed, Nikolai quickly ran and pulled her into a chair with her tea.

"Just sit. You for sure need something to eat. Take it easy, I got this."

"You know how to cook?"

Nikolai nodded.

"Sure do."

"Wow, I was not expecting that."

"You won't expect a lot of things from me."

Nikolai started to prep a meal that Serena could barely make out what he was making. The way that Nikolai looked while he was prepping was as if he was doing this for years. Rupert came along and watched in awe too before jumping on the table and sitting next to Serena.

"What are you making for me?" She asked after a bit.

"It's a surprise."

"Come on, Nikolai. Can't you tell me?"

"Fine, I'll give you a hint: it's your favorite breakfast item. It's also mine as well."

Serena gasped in surprise.

"How do you-?"

By then, Nikolai finished cooking and a wift of vanilla bean waffles flowed through the room. With a nice drizzle of honey and a small garnish of cinnamon, Serena turned speechless at the food presented to her.

"Enjoy."

Nikolai placed his food down and they started digging in, both eating as if they never ate in 4 years.

At the same time, they finished their food and Serena gave a smile.

"I was expecting you to eat so gracefully."

"Oh, I was starving! That was the best breakfast I'd ever have! I wish I knew how to cook like you did!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, I made it just for you."

Serena felt her heart pound with a certain extremeness, almost as if she was in a frightening situation.

"How did you actually learn how to cook?"

Nikolai was silent for a bit.

"Cooking took me away from all of the negative situations in the world, it was as if I could go into a place where nothing mattered and create something that made me feel proud of myself. To make a meal for anybody that brings a smile to their face is my ultamite goal. If I didn't have to go to this stupid academy where they baby me, I would want to make a living out of cooking."

"I see, that's quite inspiring."

Serena and Nikolai got up from their chairs.

"You know, you didn't have to do this for me. All of this. A place to sleep, my favorite breakfast, I thought you hated me."

He took her plate off the table and looked at her.

"If I truly hated you, I wouldn't be doing this for you. In fact, I've grown quite fond of you."