FIX ME ▹ SOKEEFE

criminal (2)

Sophie and Edaline ended up being a few minutes late to the event, because Edaline had insisted that Sophie shouldn't be forced to interact with anyone before she was ready. Sophie had begrudgingly agreed, feeling more than flustered at how she felt so pampered; until she concurred that had probably been for the best because if she had had any run in with Dimitar a few minutes earlier, she would have had a breakdown.

So, when they strolled in five minutes late, hand-in-hand, Sophie was eternally grateful when dozens of eyes didn't turn to stare at her. That was credited to the dim lights, Sophie knew, but she still sent a silent thank you out into the universe.

When she met Mr. Forkle's eyes from across the room, she waved, blushing when she noticed his high eyebrows. He'd probably heard the random thank you.

She felt sound enough to turn away after he'd fluttered his hand back at her in greeting, shooting a smile towards Edaline.

"So. . . Three hours of standing."

Edaline laughed. "Or eating. You're still hungry, right?"

Sophie's stomach wanted to gargle and grumble just thinking about it. She followed Edaline's pointed finger to the long table filled with gleaming platters topped full of food.

Edaline laughed again, something whimsical, and kissed Sophie's cheek when she saw her eyes gleaming. "I'm going to go speak to Mr. Forkle, to make sure we haven't missed anything. He'll transmit to you if we need you, or I'll meet back and relay everything to you once you've eaten. Okay?"

Any other day Sophie would have accused her of acting suspicious, or of trying to have some secret conversation, but Sophie had gone tunnel vision, ready to drown any sorrows in food. "Okay," she said, mouth already watering.

Edaline smiled before pecking one last kiss to her cheek, walking away to join Mr. Forkle and Oralie, who were conversing on the other side of the room.

Sophie swallowed the urge to follow as she stole one last glance at Edaline reuniting with them, setting her feet in motion to carry herself to the food. As she got closer to the table, she remembered she wasn't familiar with half of the delicacies the elvin world had to offer, so she could only recognize a few dishes, like slices of mallowmelt and a few daintily decorated ripplepuffs. She wasn't craving desserts, but since she couldn't identify any of the main courses, she decided to play it safe and pluck a few sweets onto her plate.

She ended up walking away with three oddly-coloured ripplepuffs. She'd known humans used food colouring often, but this was a whole other level, because each baked treat was gleaming a different metallic colour. Bronze, gold, and silver. There had been other options, too, like vibrant ruby red and a deep sapphire blue, but she'd ignored them. She hoped that she'd chosen wisely.

Sophie settled into a chair on a far wall, steering clear of the clusters of people who were chatting, and the strobe lights washing over the dance floor.

Sophie was sadly disappointed to find that all three ripplepuffs tasted the same, and when she finished and her eyes landed on Edaline and Mr. Forkle talking, she shot up from her seat, not wanting to speculate what they could be discussing.

Sophie didn't even have the time to yelp as the toe of her high heel caught underneath her, body flying forward. Her chin crashed into a chest, two arms encasing her.

"Whoa, hey, slow there!"

Sophie scrambled back in their arms with a barked, "Shit!", eyes flying open. She gulped in air, and when her heart slunk back into her chest from her mouth. Her wide eyes locked with two ice blue ones, which were swimming with mischief.