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Leaves crunched under her feet as Aranea made her way to the local pub. There was no mess hall dinner on Sunday nights - some local kids went home to their families, but many of them, like her, found food and companionship nearby. It was a rare point of contact with the outside world. She nodded at the hostess at the door and slid into a small table by herself. After three years at the nearby Academy, most of them knew her, and the red-haired bartender gave her a nod as she walked in.
The radio played the latest Totomostro match, and she was somewhat engrossed, excited for the start of a new season. The waitress who brought her a menu was striking enough to pull her attention away, however, and a surprised smile crept across her lips. She accepted the menu and waited eagerly for her to come back.
The brunette was a little flustered, and her wavy hair dropped down a bit in front of her face. When she pushed it away, deep brown eyes shone into sparkling gray ones.
“You new? Don't think I've seen you in here before.” Aranea peeked at her nametag. “Crowe. I'm Aranea.” She held out at hand, and Crowe wiped hers on her apron before returning a firm, warm handshake.
“Yeah, just rolled into the Academy a couple weeks ago. I've seen you around.”
“Plebe, hey?” A smile teased around Aranea's lips, and Crowe braced herself for teasing, while privately pondering the pink smoothness of those lips. “Don't worry, I can't haze you when we're off campus.”
A challenge crept into Crowe’s stance. “Looking forward to all the bullshit you seniors try to throw at us.”
Gods, she was cute. Aranea grinned again and gave Crowe her order, enjoying the way the apron wrapped around her hips as she walked away. She listened to the fight on the radio and pondered whether it was appropriate for her to fraternize with a plebe. She then pondered, defiantly, whether she cared.
Crowe came up behind her with a plate, reaching beside her to set it down - and if Aranea had noticed correctly, getting a pretty good eyeful of her rack. She smirked.
“Thanks,” she said, peeking up through her lashes and leaning back with her drink, toying with the straw a bit before delicately placing her lips around it.
Crowe winked at her and whisked off to her next table. Aranea's eyes danced, and she ignored the face Tredd made at her from behind the bar.
When she came back with the check, Aranea stifled her nerves and asked. “What time are you off shift? Would you want to hang out?”
“Ten. And yeah. Meet me here?” The grin that popped up on Crowe’s face mirrored Aranea's own. She'd thought the butterflies she felt would dissipate once she sucked it up and asked the question, but they only intensified. Man, she had it bad.
Their legs swung over the edge of the roof in the warm night air. “Thanks for bringing me a beer.” Aranea saluted Crowe and took a sip.
“No problem. Thanks for sneaking us onto the roof of the Draconian.” The massive building housed most of the cadets’ training exercises, and also happened to have a flat roof that was perfect for lounging.
Aranea pushed off from the hand she'd been leaning on and sat up. “It's peaceful up here. Shit gets intense down there.” She waved vaguely at the yard. “You ready?”
“Yeah. Not like I got a lot of other good options, but yeah. They came to Gralea and, like, tested us? And apparently I'm pretty good with these.” She wiggled her fingers.
Aranea's eyebrows disappeared into her bangs. All of the potentially suave come-ons and dirty jokes died on her lips, and she took a hasty swig of her beer. She came up coughing. “Mage, eh?” She managed to choke out.
Crowe cackled. “Yeah, mage.” She mentally checked “completely flustering a hot upperclassman” off her first year to-do list. She looked at Aranea out of the corner of her eye. “You? You look like some kinda badass warrior type.”
“Dragoon.” Aranea swaggered a bit over the word, trying to regain some of her footing. She looked down at Crowe’s boots swinging next to her own.
Crowe smiled around the neck of her bottle. “Cool.”
You should show me sometime.”
Aranea smiled. “You got it. But not tonight. You know your ass is getting woken up at 0400, right?”
Crowe sighed. “It begins.” Her smile lingered as she got up, dusted her pants, and offered Aranea a hand. She took it, and two sets of cheeks flushed under the open sky.