Chapter Text
The streets of Blytonbury were bustling and full of people, as usual.
Crowds of people shuffled along the sidewalks, in and out of shops and restaurants, off and onto buses. Others were exiting buildings, getting off of work at this hour, and intent on making their way home.
The buildings and streets were cast in the yellow-orange glow of the rapidly setting sun as it approached the horizon, giving the area a warm, welcoming feeling.
This, however, did not put Amanda at ease.
Weaving between the crowds of people on the sidewalks, Amanda rushed through the streets, broom in hand, giving off half-hearted apologies after bumping into someone, and narrowly dodging collisions with others as she fought her way out of one mass of people and into another. Occasionally trying to peek above the crowds to try to find a specific business out of the rest.
She was running late for a date, after all.
“Amanda, please calm down.” Jasminka had pleaded, watching her friend pace the small gap between beds in front of her.
When Amanda had been told by Constanze that she and Jasminka knew about her and Hannah’s…relationship, she’d been able to play that off well. But as time went on, she felt herself growing more and more nervous, more panicked about what she and Hannah were.
She’d never been in a serious relationship before. Flings and makeout sessions in janitors closets, yes. But Amanda O’Neill had never, in all of her years so far spent on this earth, been seriously committed to a relationship like it seemed like she would be now.
And that thought terrified her.
Sidestepping another group of people, and barely missing them with her broom, Amanda came to a crossroads. Looking about in every direction, she searched for any sign of the cafe Hannah had told her about. It didn’t help that her directions were vague, and the streets were crowded with people on this otherwise lovely Friday afternoon.
Picking a direction, she began walking again.
That pit in her stomach was still there, fear gnawing at her continuously with every step she took.
Constanze was staring at her, as if she’d done something incredibly stupid or avoidable. She probably had.
“I’m just...worried, okay?” Amanda had said, voice strained with panic.
“Of what?” Jasminka followed, her bag of chips having long since been forgotten about on the desk. Her attention was entirely focused on Amanda, who was continuing to walk back and forth between the bunk bed and Constanze’s bed rather quickly. A sour look of apprehension was what she had noticed upon the pacing girl’s face.
“It’s…” Amanda seemed to tense, as if the mere mention of what was causing her distress would bring her harm. “It’s Hannah.” she admitted, exhaling, shoulders drooping in what seemed to be defeat.
Constanze already had her board out, the soft tap of chalk against it was the sole sound filling the room at the moment, aside from Amanda’s sneakers plodding across the floor.
‘Afraid of Hannah?’ Were the words written upon it when she showed Amanda the small chalkboard.
A car was honking at her. Biting her tongue to keep herself from telling the driver just where he could shove his complaints, she ignored him and continued to walk further into Bytonbury’s packed streets.
They seemed to be slowly emptying, fewer people getting in her way as she weaved between masses of people going about their business. The buildings around her began to slowly light up from the inside, pinpricks of yellow or white light streaming from windows, or otherwise being hidden behind pulled shut curtains.
“Still can’t find this...stupid...cafe!” Amanda grimaced, having arrived at another intersection. “Alright! That’s it!” She yelled in frustration.
If she couldn’t find this cafe using Hannah’s way, then she’d have to do it her way.
Walking out into the street, she hopped on her broom, mentally chanted ‘Tia Freye’, and she was floating up towards and past the Bytonbury rooftops with ease. The street below became smaller and smaller for a moment before she stopped, a good ways above the rooftops.
“Cons, it’s not that simple.” Amanda had started, before receiving a somehow even grumpier look from the girl sitting on her bed. “It’s just...how do I know I’m not going to mess this up?”
Jaminka and Constanze were still for a moment, blinking, as if surprised by the comment. The former of the two spoke first.
“What do you mean?”
Amanda stopped pacing, finally sitting on her bed with a sigh.
“I just...don’t know what to do.” she exhaled, burying her face into her hands for a moment before turning to the other two.
Constanze scribbled another message down onto the chalkboard in her hands.
‘Not a ‘fling?’’
Amanda narrowed her eyes at Constanze. “No, of course not!” she said, exasperated. Receiving a questioning look in return.
“Look, Hannah’s...different..” Amanda tried to explain. “We’re...opposites. Complete and total opposites. She’s some prim and proper noble from some noble uptight witch family, and I’m, well, me!” She said with a smile. “Look, I know I’ve done a lot of flirting. Probably way too much flirting with probably too many people.” This earned an eye roll from Constanze. “But Hannah, she responds so differently! She usually doesn’t go along with it, if anything, she shuts me down!”
The two looked at her as if she’d grown a second head.
“It’s been a challenge, getting her to open up. But...I like it. I like her. I like how different from me she is!” Amanda seemed to mellow out for a moment. “I think I’d like to be serious with her.”
Constanze was quickly tapping away at the chalkboard, before turning it around to show Amanda a new message.
‘Define serious.’’
Amanda seemed to pause. She ran a hand through her hair for a moment, trying to come up with a good answer.
“Like, remembering that it’s her birthday, and buying her a gift because I love her, not because I’m trying to impress her.”
Seemingly satisfied with that answer, Constanze nodded, giving Amanda a thumbs up. A sign that she approved. Or wishing her luck. Either or.
Continuing anyway, Amanda rambled on. “I don’t know, part of me just wants to hold her close, go on a nice walk with her, maybe kiss somewhere along those lines.”
‘I get it.’ Constanze wrote.
“And fall asleep resting on each other-”
‘You can stop.’
“And hold her hand as we walk through the halls-”
‘Amanda O’Neill if you don’t stop right now I will-’
Flying above the streets, Amanda kept an eye out for any sign of the cafe. A sign, a group of tables, anything. Even the sight of a yellow bow or a shock of auburn hair would have tipped her off.
Finally, she saw what seemed to be a cafe. Figuring it was as good a place as any, she flew down, making sure to land across the street in case it wasn’t the correct place.
As her feet touched ground, and she hopped off the broom, she looked over at the cafe across the street. The sidewalks had cleared out by now, so it was easier to see Blytonbury’s shops and locales.
The shop in front of her seemed to be a humble cafe. Tables on the inside and out, lighting on the outside, What seemed to be a good selection of muffins, tarts, and other delectables within, if her view into the shop itself was to be believed. Some music drifted from outside as well. Nothing too energetic, more relaxing than anything else.
Moving her gaze back outside once more, she scanned the crowd. There weren’t too many people around, a few waiters, a few couples and groups dining at the tables both within the cafe and outside of it.
And then she saw a head of auburn hair.
“But…” Amanda sighed. “I don’t know if she feels the same way.”
Jasminka tilted her head. “What do you mean? Didn’t you just say you wanted to ‘be serious with her?’”
“Well, yeah...it’s just, I know I want to be serious about our relationship, but what about Hannah? What if she just wants one date, and that’s it?” Amanda exclaimed. “I don’t know how to go about all this…”
“If I may make a suggestion?” Jasminka said. “You should treat it seriously.”
“You think so?” To which she received a nod in return.
“If she doesn’t want to pursue a relationship with you, she will likely let you know after. So there’s no harm in going anyway. Who knows, you two might even grow closer than before!”
Amanda thought about it for a moment, before opening her mouth, then closing it. As if she had something to say, but didn’t know how to say it. “But what exactly do I do?”
Jasminka seemed to think about it for a moment as well, before smiling at Amanda. “Be yourself!”
“Really? That’s it?” Amanda deadpanned. “Cliche, dontcha think?"
Constanze tapped her chalk against the board to get her attention. A new message was written in the old one’s place.
‘Why is she dating you?’
“I don’t know.” Amanda answered. “How am I supposed to know?” A new message was written a moment later.
‘Exactly.’
“What Constanze means,” Jasminka interjected. “Is that you aren’t going to know how Hannah feels about you unless you go on that date.”
“And besides, she said yes, right?” Amanda nodded. “Then that means she wanted to go out with Amanda. She probably likes you, you just don’t know it for sure yet.”
“Jasna?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome!”
Amanda stood up. “Well, that was...something. I should probably get going to the da-” She froze. The clock read 6:15 PM.
“I’M LATE!!!” Amanda went into a rush of activity, quickly casting metamorphosis so she could swap into something more formal-date looking, and sprinting out the door.
“Dummkopf.” Constanze muttered beneath her breath.
Amanda, now standing across the street from the cafe, took a deep breath. “Okay, just remember what Jasna and Cons said, just be me, or something, whatever.” She ran a hand through her hair, slicking it back.
And then she walked across the street.
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Hannah nearly spat out her drink when she saw Amanda.
Seeing that slicked back hair, cocky smirk, dress pants and that slightly undone button-up shirt made something in Hannah beg for another gulp of air, rather than tea.
Hannah did, however, feel her face glow a bright red. Whether it was out of embarrassment or emotion was unknown to her, though either one seemed likely. She smoothed out her yellow-orange dress, and smiled at Amanda.
“Ah, finally, you’re here!” she exhaled, glad to at least get the conversational ball rolling. “What took you so long?”
Amanda took a seat opposite Hannah, rubbing the back of her head as she looked away for a moment. “Well, I might’ve gotten a little lost…” Hannah’s hand came up to greet her face. Amanda put her hands up. “Hey, I still got here, right?” This only earned her an eye roll from Hannah.
A waiter, spotting the duo, walked over to them, menus in hand. Setting them down before the two, they began rattling off the specials for the night. Amanda almost instantly was pouring over her menu, while Hannah listened attentively. After that, drinks were the topic of discussion, a refill of tea coming from Hannah, while Amanda asked to have what Hannah was having.
Writing the orders down, the waiter departed, leaving the two to themselves once more.
“Tea? I didn’t know you drank any.” Hannah asked, making some idle conversation.
“Oh yeah, I’ve had that iced powder stuff before.” Amanda said nonchalantly. “But I figured it can’t be bad, considering you were getting another cup of it.”
Hannah chuckled. “Powder mix tea is not real tea, Amanda.” she said confidently.
“Huh? Why not?”
Before Hannah could enlighten Amanda to the joys of proper tea, and how the stuff she was used to was inferior, the waiter appeared again, two cups of tea on hand, interrupting them politely by setting the steaming beverages down on the table. The duo gave their thanks, followed by the necessity for orders to be filled. Amanda poured over the menu again, while Hannah asked for what seemed to be her usual, given how easily she rattled it off.
“I’ll have...what she’s having, I guess?” Amanda said, seemingly giving up on understanding what any of the culinary words on the menu meant.
Hannah raised an eyebrow at that. ‘Is she being polite or does she not know what to order?’ Was what she was thinking about, before they handed the menu’s back to the waiter, who departed once more.
“Sorry if it seems weird, me ordering the same stuff as you.” Amanda sighed. “I didn’t understand a lot of that culinary mambo-jumbo anyway. Probably should have asked Jasminka before I left about that kind of stuff.” She went to take a sip of her tea, before recoiling. “Ow!” Amanda held her hand over her mouth, having burnt her tongue.
A laugh escaped Hannah. “Dummy, that’s why you wait for it to cool before drinking!” She smiled at the girl’s unintentional antics. Amanda laughed as well, before the two settled down, simply enjoying the silence between them.
Then a thought struck Hannah. “So, why did you accept Professor Ursula’s help? You’ve never taken anyone up on any such offer before.” The thought had occurred to her before, but there’d never been a good time to mention it to Amanda until now. It was a little strange to her, how Amanda O’Neill, someone well known in Luna Nova for actively avoiding academic responsibility, was attempting to do the exact opposite.
Across from her, Amanda leaned back, looking out towards the street. Another sigh seemed to escape her. “It’s...kinda dumb.”
“Oh nonsense! I’m sure you have a perfectly valid reason for wanting to study!” Hannah encouraged, calming sipping from her tea, which had cooled down by this point. Her eyes studied Amanda, noticing stress that seemed...odd. Amanda? Stressed? Something must be off.
“You sure?” Amanda asked cautiously. “It’s gonna sound really stupid, and really cheesy if I tell you.”
“I’m sure it will be fine, Amanda. You can confide in me.” Hannah said, bringing her full attention around to Amanda.
“Okay, here goes…” Amanda took a deep breath in, as if preparing herself.
“When I failed that last test in Ursula’s class, I kinda realized something. If I failed more of those, I’d probably get kicked out. And while the past Amanda might’ve been fine with that, or actively wanted it, I...I wanted to stay.” Amanda exhaled, shoulders relaxing as if her admissions were lifting a weight off of her shoulders. Hannah nodded for her to continue, listening just as intently as she would in a lecture.
“A-And the reason I wanted to stay, is because of...you guys. Jasminka, Constanze, Akko, all of them. I made genuine friends, and I didn’t want to lose them because of how much I hate school work. They’re my friends, and I can’t just leave them like that.”
Amanda reached a hand across the table, placing her hand on top of Hannah’s. “And now I have you too…”
Hannah blushed, embarrassed by the prospect that someone had seen Amanda’s confession. “I suppose I can say the same...I’ll admit I wasn’t the most...accepting, of you and your team, let alone Akko and hers, little more than a few months ago.” She shuddered, cringing at the memories that rose like floodwaters.
A small laugh escaped Amanda, her hand unmoving. “Well, I think you’ve become a better person since then.” A glint in her eye appeared. “Or at least you managed to get that stick out of your ass.”
“Hey!” Hannah says, retracting her hand to punch Amanda in the shoulder from across the table, before beginning to chuckle, which grew into a full fledged laugh. It was apparently infectious, as Amanda began to laugh with her. This did get them a few looks from others around the cafe, but for once, Hannah couldn’t care less. Around Amanda, she felt...happier. A bit more free. And a bit more daring.
The waiter returned with their meals, which were eaten in content silence, only occasionally being interrupted with small talk of classes, plans, and how Akko blew up Professor Lukic’s classroom for the third time that month. The sun set peacefully behind the buildings of Blytonbury, as the moon began its equally monotonous rise and the stars began to shine above the two.
By the time the cheque arrived, the two of them were wrapped up in lively conversation, Amanda having ruffled out her hair into its usual style, while Hannah threw a coat over her dress.
“I’m telling you Hannah, I really did fight a possessed suit of armor at Appleton with a sword on top of a bridge!” Amanda regaled making sword motions with her fork while sitting in her chair.
“Yeah right, and I’m the Queen of England!” Hannah responded, not believing a word of it.
“Well, you’re the Queen of my England…”
Watching Hannah blush bright red and stutter out a “Shut up” got a chuckle out of Amanda, which was followed by Hannah’s pouting.
“Just because you’re good at flirting does not mean you win the argument!” Hannah countered.
“I don’t know, you seem to like the idea of me being your knight in a dashing suit.” Leaning back in her chair, Amanda grinned as Hannah buried her face in her hands, trying - and failing - to hide her embarrassment.
The cheque was placed in the middle of the table. The two of them reached for it, before awkwardly retracting their hands.
“I should pay…” They said in unison, before their jaws went slack, staring at each other.
Hannah managed to speak first after that. “It was my idea to come here, hence I should pay.”
“Nope!” Amanda said, popping the p. “It was my idea to go on a date in the first place, so I should pay!”
“Don’t be so stubborn Amanda, you can pay next time.” Hannah reasoned, already retrieving her wallet from a purse slung along the back of her chair.
“Nah, I’d rather you pay for the next date.” Amanda said, her wallet already out of her pocket. “Come on, I thought you liked your men chivalrous and knightly and all that-” The teasing of her tone grew as Hannah’s blush deepened.
“I-If I may...couldn’t you both pay?” The waiter cautioned, earning quizzical looks from both Hannah and Amanda. The latter of the two began to chuckle, and soon the former joined in, until they were both laughing.
“I can’t believe we were being so ridiculous about this!” Hannah said, while Amanda accepted the cheque. It looked as if she’d had a heart attack when she saw the price.
“O-On second thought, maybe you should pay this time.” Amanda scratched the back of her head, trying to ignore Hannah’s increasingly deadpan expression. “Alright, alright…” She relented, putting half of the required money in the center of the table, followed by Hannah doing the same.
After the meal was done and paid for, the two set off for the Leyline to Luna Nova. As the stars continued to rise above them, the lights of the town began to activate, shining the streets in their yellow glow, which also streamed from houses and businesses that stayed open through the night. They walked under the streetlamps and past still open stores, hands intertwined as they strolled through without a care in the world.
When they came to the outskirts of Blytonbury, Amanda came to a stop. “Hey,” She started, getting onto her broom. “Wanna go for a ride?” Her smile was infectious, as Hannah got behind Amanda, wrapping her arms around her.
“I’d love to.”
And like that they were off, the two of them soaring into the night sky, quickly gaining altitude with each passing moment. Hannah couldn’t help but squeeze her arms a little tighter around Amanda, looking behind her to see the lights down below grow further away, almost pinpricks on the earth below.
It was a rush. A terrifying, irresponsible, exhilarating rush, feeling the wind whip by her as they climbed higher and higher. She’d never flown this high before, for fear of admonishment from the staff. But now…
Now she realized they weren’t going as fast.
Looking around, she noticed that they’d slowed down a fair bit, hovering high over Blytonbury, just below the clouds. It was a breathtaking sight, being this far up, being able to see the world stretch on for miles around in every direction. She briefly wondered how Amanda felt about it, having undoubtedly flown this high more times than either of them could count. It was certainly a free feeling, being so far from the worry and necessities of the ground down below.
“Hey, Amanda?” Hannah asked, resting her chin on the other girl’s shoulder. Amanda looked over her shoulder in return. “Hm?”
“I love you.”
Hannah could only feel a warm feeling blossom inside of her as she watched Amanda blush. The two of them swung their legs over the side of the broom so as to sit on it, an air of warmth settling over them, in spite of the altitude’s chill.
“I love you too.”