Hiraeth: Bonding (III)

Chapter Two

"The curse is in Idyll now," my mother grumbled as she came into the kitchen. Work was over, and I had already started on a pasta dinner. "Some idiot didn't listen to their doctor and came over here for business. Now practically the whole company's infected."

I groaned and asked, "Which company?"

"Alden Inc. Can you believe that? Poor Aka's parents."

A curse had been spreading throughout Drift since Spring. The continent was on lockdown in most places, but business still had to be done. Even though big companies had put routine tests in place, I wasn't surprised that someone wiggled their way through and got to Idyll infected.

It was a flare-predatory curse. So far, cases of infection showed symptoms ranging from full-on loss of Magic to slight malfunctions and failures of spells. It was mostly targeting the elderly, but there had been a few younger cases.

"What's Green gonna do about it?" I asked nervously.

My mum shook her head. "I don't know. She has a meeting with all the Idyllian mayors tomorrow morning. Hopefully they can figure something out."

That means Mike's gotta miss school again... Second time this season and the year barely started.

"Poor Green," I sighed. "First the Bancroftians, now this."

"I know. It's crazy."

We finished dinner and sat down to eat, the news channel going on our television as usual. There currently wasn't any coverage on the curse.

"So, Roxie," Mother began, "Since Vincent's sleeping over at Miles's, why don't you tell me about your date yester-Day?"

I swallowed a big bite of pasta, suddenly feeling very warm. "Uhm, what do you wanna know?"

"Just tell me how it went! What did you get to eat, what film did you watch?"

"Oh. We got to-go from the Old Town Diner and drove in to watch the Prince Groom."

"That's nice." We ate in silence until my mother dropped the age-old question, "Was there any... canoodling?"

I coughed, the noodles suddenly a struggle to chew. "What?!"

"Oh, c'mon, Roxie! Don't think I don't know what goes on between you two!"

I took a big drink of water and covered my burning face. "Muuuum!"

"I know Mike's a very... unique boy, and so I can't really guess what his approach to such things might be... But, uhm, just let me know if you're feeling pressured into anything. Although, he doesn't seem like the type to do that."

I chuckled. "Oh, no, he's quite the opposite actually."

"He doesn't like kissing?"

My ears were hot now, too. "No, uhm, well, you see-"

"-So you two don't share physical affection?"

"No! It's just that I kinda... Oh, whatever. We don't kiss very much anyway."

Mum raised an eyebrow. "Ah. So you kiss him."

I slammed my head onto the table, flustered and confused. "Aaaagh!?"

"I was just curious! You know, you can talk to me about these things, Roxie. I'm not going to get mad or 'judge' you. I was a teenager once, too."

I nodded, groaning quietly to try and distract from my swirling thoughts.

"But you know what I always say. The more affection between two beings, the more attachment there usually is to one another."

"I know, I know."