Chapter Text
“They actually gave you bathroom duty at your boarding school as well?” Kat asked, more playing with her stew than actually eating it. She sat across from Lucy, who was similarly digging her spoon through her bowl. Lucy nodded, smiling as she looked up at Kat.
The two had just spent the last half hour working in Kat’s small kitchen set up, preparing a meal fit for two. It seemed, however, that the two weren’t feeling particularly hungry that night, despite all the training they had done that day. They were far more content digesting each other’s stories than the food before them.
Lucy nodded.
“Yancy wasn’t exactly the most accepting place for some of my… habits,” she said, stuffing a spoonful of stew into her mouth. She disliked going on about herself, it felt like she was giving someone a burden. But Kat had asked, so she spilled her guts.
“Helping people, yes?” Kat then questioned, confirming her suspicions. Lucy nodded again, her spoon touching the edge of her bowl. “Hmph, makes sense. A boarding school isn’t exactly the best foundation for being a hero.”
Lucy nearly spit out her half swallowed stew, laughter forcing it back up her throat. She paused for a few moments, taking the chance to swallow before finishing her hearty chuckle. Kat looked on at her house guest before laughing along with her. She found Lucy’s laughter to be contagious.
It was the first time in a long time she had someone she could laugh with.
Their laughter slowly petered out as it began to die naturally. They looked at one another, bearing smiles that they thought would’ve been impossible a few hours ago. Yet, as both found no natural point to look away, they became content to just keep looking.
Despite her earlier issues, her unfortunate discomfort with looking at Kat, Lucy could now hold a gaze with the girl unflinchingly. That was good, she thought. Before she was being rude, now she could treat Kat right. Lucy had to admit, Kat’s complexion made her unique. It was pretty.
…
Lucy bit down hard on her spoon.
Kat stared back at Lucy, trying her best to hold an observational gaze.
Fine, you invited her for dinner. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get some important information out from her. Like what she remembers about her mother, or how her life was before coming to the camp, or why she’s so caring, and helpful, and—
Kat stopped herself, finding herself drifting. She had been doing that a lot lately, almost exclusively around the topic of Lucy. She couldn’t help it, however. There was some aspect of Lucy that made her concentration melt and caused her heart to flutter.
Maybe it had something to do with how Lucy was the only one in the camp who seemed to legitimately like her.
Now it was Kat who took a bite of her spoon. The two looked down in unison, locking their sights on their food. It was right there and then both decided they felt plenty fed. Lucy was the first to stand up, followed by Kat seconds later.
“Here, let me help you by washing the dishes. You cooked so I should clean,” Lucy said, approaching. Kat opened her mouth to point out that Lucy had done almost half the cooking. Unfortunately for her, Lucy had already reached forward to take her bowl of stew.
Lucy’s hand wrapped around Kat’s own as she attempted to pull away the dish. Without a second’s pause, Lucy turned with Kat’s bowl in her hand. As she stepped away, bringing the dishes to the sink, Kat stood there frozen. Her lips were pursed shut and she was glad that the heat in her face didn’t appear as red on her cheeks.
Was she really reacting like this? To a simple moment where their hands met? Was she so touched starved that a single point of contact could make her heart soar and her knees weak?
Kat dragged her seat out from the table and sat down with an audible thud. Biting down on her pointer finger, she did her best to try and stop thinking about the rapid beating in her heart. Despite her attempts to do this, however, she couldn’t stop herself from staring at Lucy as she got to work washing the dishes.
Kat felt dirty, looking on Lucy for pleasure rather than for the pure unfettered analysis she was assigned to do. Every logical part of her said to pull away, to not get so attached to someone who might abandon her in the future.
Kat’s lips pursed tighter. She had to admit, Lucy wasn't making her feel particularly logical today. She had a nice—
“I don't think I'm going to be welcomed back at Cabin Eleven,” Lucy said suddenly, not turning away from the sink. She had more announced her statement, rather than actually stating it. “Cae— The others, already had a bad opinion of me as it is. What happened isn't really going to make it better.”
Lucy sighed, gripping the edge of the sink. The sound of regret was dripping in her voice.
“It's going to be hard, going back tonight.”
“Maybe you don't have to!” Kat blurted out, immediately covering her mouth. Lucy froze for a moment before relaxing. As she began to turn, Kat pulled her hands away, not wanting to look like she regretted saying that.
Even if she did.
“What?” Lucy asked, rinsing off the last spoon. She placed it in the cupboard she had gotten it from earlier before facing Kat fully.
“I-I-I mean,” Kat began, trying to see if she could reword her outburst. However, it became quickly clear that the cat was out of the Kat. “T-This place was built to house a lot of people. You could definitely stay here, tonight, I mean.”
Lucy and Kat stared back at one another again, this time with far less comfort and far more intensity. All at once, Lucy removed said intensity.
“No, no. It's fine. You've done way too much for me already,” Lucy assured. For a moment, Kat could believe she saw a look of regret in Lucy’s face. “I'm in your debt already.”
“And I'll be in yours a hundred times over if I let you go and try to sleep in the Hermes Cabin,” Kat shot back. Despite being given opportunity after opportunity to have Lucy leave, Kat continuously found every chance she could to have her stay. She could practically hear the arcanist screaming at her, telling her to not screw this up. If it weren't for the fact that her gem wasn't attached to her pendant at that moment, she might've listened. “Please, stay the night. It's the least you deserve.”
Lucy froze up again, this time more rigidly than before. This worried Kat, who had begun to realize the true depth of how much Lucy's hero mentality affected her. It seemed like she thought anything done for her and not for someone else was some kind of affront to her morals.
Like she wasn't even worth the thought.
Yet Kat was left surprised as Lucy began to unwind. Her shoulders slouched and her posture degraded. She let out a sigh of relief as she closed her eyes. For the first time, Kat felt like Lucy was truly relaxed.
“Okay…” she said, bearing a smile. “Okay. I'll stay.”
Kat resisted the urge to leap into the air, instead restricting herself to merely standing up from her chair suddenly. She wanted to rush forward and give Lucy a sudden hug, but she held herself back and gave a huge grin as well. The two shared another long warm pause, gazing at one another.
“So, uh, where will I be sleeping?” Lucy asked, walking towards the table. All at once, Kat's smile melted away as she returned to blustering stutters. Lucy didn't say anything as she continued. “Cause I only noticed the one bed on our way in here.”
“Oh, there arrrrrrrre—” And as Kat turned and looked at her single bed tucked away in the corner, noting how empty and untouched one side was, she opted to make what was possibly the most impulsive decision of her life. “—arrrren't any spare beds. So we’ll have to share.”
And with that, Kat felt her only chance at making a real friend disappear.
She looked down on the ground, trying to hide her look of shame. How could she be so crass, so unsubtle in her interactions with Lucy? Even if it was appropriate for her to try to court Lucy, which it wasn't, why did she have to be so depraved about it?
Lucy was probably disgusted, Kat thought. Being her friend was one thing. That was another.
“Alright!” Lucy called, her voice filled with unbelievable optimism. Kat looked up, nearly on the verge of tears, holding what was a look of utter confusion. Lucy smiled at her before turning, approaching her bed. “I'm used to sleeping in tight conditions, so it's no problem!”
She picked up the corner of the sheet and straightened it out. Then, she turned and shot Kat another wide grin.
“So when are we heading to sleep?”
Kat felt like passing out.
Ψ
Kat couldn’t believe she was doing this.
She stared down at her thin bed, covers, pillows, and sheets removed. Her nightstand had been pushed off to the side, leaving the area to the left of the bed empty. She took a deep breath, getting ready for what she was about to do.
Despite her earlier impulsive desire to sleep in the same bed as Lucy, Kat knew that she couldn’t do that, at least not with the same proximity her mind had fantasized. Thus, she had to get to work expanding the size of her bedding to accommodate the both of them.
Kat glanced over her shoulder, where Lucy was watching with gleeful admiration. She wanted to see more ‘cool’ magic at work. Kat couldn’t fault that enthusiasm. Still, it was going to be rough.
After taking out the arcanist’s gem to look for Lucy, Kat had forgotten to put it back in at some opportune time. And since she didn’t want Lucy to suspect anything related to her… circumstances, she was going to remain without a gem for the time being. It wasn’t too bad, however. Despite the usually hollow feeling she was left with, lately she’d been feeling more… whole.
Perhaps that had to do with Lucy, she thought.
Kat shook her head, returning her attention to the task at hand: Increasing the size of her bed. Usually, she’d call upon the arcanist to ensure this would be done easily and without fail, but because of the earlier mentioned circumstances, that wasn’t possible. At least she’ll feel plenty tired when this was over.
“Σας διατάζω να γίνετε αρκετά μεγάλος για τρία άτομα.” The ancient greek escaped her lips. Her hands stood in front of her, channeling her energy, however little she had. For a moment, Kat struggled to hold on, fearing the spell would fail. Yet moments before she broke it off, she felt Lucy place her hand on her shoulder. Inhaling, Kat rebuilt her concentration and willed her energy to work.
The bed came to life, glowing for a moment with the energy Kat was pumping into it. After a few seconds, it grew and more than doubled in size. Exhaling, Kat took a step back, trying to catch her breath from the exertion. Lucy gave her a round of genuine applause as Kat sat down on the chair by the table again.
Panting, Kat gave a thumbs up, wiping her forehead with her other hand.
“You did amazing, Kat!” Lucy exclaimed, reaching over and grabbing the sheets from the table. “You’ve done too much already, let me handle the rest here.”
Kat nodded, not having the energy to argue with her houseguest. She sat back and caught her breath as Lucy got busy. Taking the fitted sheet, Lucy began to work it around the corner of the bed. These few minutes it’d take her to finish gave Kat a chance to think.
She wasn’t sure how successful her spell was. She had, of course, used the correct words and she’d certainly gotten a bigger bed, but the laws of physics still applied. That bed was half as dense as it was before, meaning it was a lot more fragile now. Not only that, she wasn’t sure if the amount of energy she had put into it would make it last the night.
A part of her wasn’t sure if she cared.
“Alright, that’s about done,” Lucy said, stepping away. “I’m sorry that it’s a bit rough.”
Kat looked on at the made-up bed, noting how clean and tight her work was. The pillows were perfectly pressed and tucked underneath her blanket and said cover folded over the sheet with angles that Kat doubted she could replicate with a protractor. She had never seen the bed as well made since the day she had moved in.
“It’s wonderful,” Kat said, standing up and giving Lucy a smile. “It’s a shame that you did it so well when we’re about to mess it up again.”
“Oh it’s fine,” Lucy said, waving her hand in front of herself. “You enjoying how well done it’s done is well worth doing it.”
She turned, facing the bed.
“Speaking of the bed, which side do you want?” Lucy asked, glancing over her shoulder and giving a small laugh. “And don’t tell me to choose, I’ll just say the same back.”
And at that moment, Kat, in her exhaustion ridden state, decided to make the second most impulsive statement she had in the last hour.
"Whichever side you can carry me to easier." No sooner did the words leave Kat’s mouth did she realize her mistake. Not even taking a moment to see Lucy’s reaction, Kat proceeded to cover her eyes and look down. “I-I-I—”
Lucy had to hate her now, she thought. Her earlier outburst could actually be taken as completely innocent. This couldn’t. Kat would open her eyes and Lucy would be gone, leaving with a huff. She’d probably sooner sleep on the ground than be around a reprobate like her.
Yet, Kat didn’t get the chance to open her eyes to see. She was sitting still one moment and swiped up from her seat the next. She drew a sharp breath as she felt strong sturdy arms lift her up.
“What?” she said, looking up. Yet the moment she did, she found amber eyes looking back at her. Lucy was carrying Kat, bridal-style, as she was bringing her to the bed. “What?”
“You’re tired, really tired,” Lucy explained, pulling back the sheet she had just made. “If you need my help to get to bed, then I’ll do it!”
Kat looked up at Lucy’s wide smile, feeling like she was melting. She barely squeaked out a ‘thank you’ before passing out, partially from exhaustion and mostly from pure shock. Lucy didn’t pause as she tucked Kat in to the far right end of the bed.
Ψ
Kat stirred, her closed eyes clenching tighter as she began to regain consciousness. She had the strangest dream, where she had invited that girl she was observing into her house. She then proceeded to lose all sense of self-control and said an unbelievable amount of things with… dubious implications.
She was just glad that it was all a dream. That all of those bad innuendos and implications never happened.
Kat’s eyelids fluttered open. Her eyes traveled for a moment before she could focus them. It was at that moment that Kat realized her arms were touching something. They were touching someone. She sharply inhaled.
Lucy was right in front of her, laying on her side of the bed. Her side of the bed, that was suspiciously close to Kat’s. Their arms were entangled in one another’s, and Kat wasn’t sure where her hair ended and where Lucy’s began. Then, Kat realized.
Her magic had failed in the middle of the night, causing the bed to shrink back to its normal size. Kat and Lucy were inches apart, in bed, with the blanket covering them from the necks down. Oh gods, if anyone saw them now? What would they think?
Kat shifted, trying to not pass out again before she could get out of bed. She felt light headed, dizzy, and about a hundred other feelings she wasn’t comfortable addressing. Kat was so distracted by the emotions running through her mind, in fact, she didn’t even notice Lucy’s shirt and pants tossed to the corner of the bed.
Kat pulled up the cover they shared, looked down at Lucy, and immediately fell unconscious again.
Another half hour passed in silence, neither moving. Kat was more knocked out now than she was asleep at this point. Lucy, however, was sleeping naturally. After some time, she began to stir.
Her eyes opened all at once, focusing after only an instant. It took only a moment for Lucy to catch on to what had happened. She glanced between Kat, their intertwined arms, and the fact their hair had seemingly fused in bed.
She drew a sharp breath, for a moment overwhelmed. The logical part of her mind told her to get up, to avoid getting any pleasure from the sight before her. Yet as she looked down at Kat’s peaceful sleeping form, a new feeling filled Lucy’s body: Peace.
For one of the first times in a long time, Lucy didn’t feel the need to get up. She didn’t feel the desire to immediately put someone else’s happiness over her own. Lucy felt content, looking on at Kat with a smile, feeling at peace with herself for the first time.
Of course, a nice dinner and night in the same bed doesn’t overwrite years of training and conditioning.
Lucy stood up from the bed, quickly grabbing her day clothes. In seconds she had everything on, ensuring Kat would never see anything. Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Lucy took a few steps back. How could she do that, she thought. How could she have that moment of weakness.
Lucy sat down on the chair next to the table, inhaling as she pressed her hands into her face. That was wrong, she thought. What she did, those few moments she stayed and gazed, that was terrible. She shouldn’t have done it. A hero wouldn’t have done it.
Kat didn’t ask her to look, she certainly didn’t ask her to stare, and never in a million years would she ask Lucy to be pleased looking at her. Yet, at that moment, she did that. She felt pleasure looking at Kat peacefully sleeping.
Shaking her head, Lucy turned away.
She wouldn’t do it again. She wouldn’t allow herself to fail like that again. She wouldn’t, she couldn’t take advantage of someone who invited her into her home, gave her a meal, and even let her sleep in her bed. Doing that, it was one of the most villainous things she could think of.
Lucy raised her head upwards, looking to the ceiling. She promised to herself, no matter what, that would never happen again.
Lucy accepted Kat’s offer to stay again a few hours later.