Chapter Text
Triss watches Tissaia smoke her pipe, taking a sophisticated drag in the way only she can. Slow and concise, under her command an act that is brutish turns elegant.
After she's done, Tissaia rubs her temples with her other hand and if Triss looks close enough she can spot the blood underneath her nails. Her exhales of smoke is the only thing she could hear in Tissaia’s office beside the occasional footsteps of another instructor walking to their own.
She wants to squirm badly in her seat. She feels like a little kid again, being forced to wait while Tissaia conducts business. The nervousness is buzzing around in her stomach, her mind quickly thinking about all the things she could get in trouble for. There is quite a lot she has done in the past week that the rectoress could have summoned her for.
Triss wonders if she knows that she had accidentally mixed those two plants together and had quite a difficult time remembering much of the day after that. Or that she had skipped ahead of her class and almost set her room on her fire practicing her spell. Or that she had snuck out to-
“None of those, Triss.” The rectoress says, exasperated at the actions of her young charge. If it was anyone else she would have sent them away a long time ago. Triss knows this and gives her a bashful smile.
Tissaia leans back in her chair, expression unchanging, completely unamused by her antics.
She sighs before taking another drag.
Maybe I spoiled you a bit too much.
Triss wants to sink into her chair at the declaration. She wants to squirm again, but more than anything she needs to know why she is being called in here.
“I require your assistance.”
Her interest is immediately peaked. She leans forward with a thousand thoughts swimming through her head. Triss regrets the action immediately, feeling a puff of smoke hit her face. A slight twitch of her eyes is the only sign she gave that it bothered her, ignoring the burning in her lungs. Tissaia’s lips curl up slightly at her reaction.
“It’s about one of the new students.”
-
Triss hovers outside the door, shifting from side to side on cold feet, heartbeat racing.
She had heard the rumors already. Her lilac eyes and twisted spine were being whispered among the hallway but mostly it was about her recent...attempt. It didn’t take long for her to figure out where the blood on Tissaia’s hand came from.
It had been a couple of days of her gathering enough information and admittedly working her courage up to do this. She doesn’t know why she feels this sudden thumping in her chest. She has done much harder tasks than befriending a girl.
Maybe, it was the amount of pressure being put on her by her mentor. Triss will do anything to keep that disappointed look out of Tissaia’s eyes, shivering as she remembers the last time she was on the receiving end.
Triss stands up straighter finally finding the courage within herself to do this. She raises a fist to knock on the wooden door, when it suddenly cracks upon, revealing her new assignment.
Purple eyes consume her vision, reminding her of the violent flashes of lightning that sometimes swirls right outside of these brick walls.
“You want to gawk at me too?” the girl hisses out.
Her voice is laced with venom but she seems more afraid than anything. Most of her body is tucked back into the shadows of her room, and she was constantly glancing behind Triss.
It was then that she finally took in the girl’s bent back and crooked chin but none of that fazed her. It was her wound that captured her attention. The hand is lingering on the door and she could see the bandages on her wrist from where Tissaia had healed her. They desperately needed changing, the blood staining them harshly.
The mirror that is in her room is still broken and marks of blood still in the sink, but the glass was gone, Tissaia made sure of that. The thought of this girl feeling so desperate that this was her only option makes Triss’s heart drop in her chest, and that alone conquers the hesitation that she feels.
“No.” Triss says, hoping the sincerity is clear in her voice, looking at her new classmate right in the eyes, lest the girl thinks she would make fun of her. “Just wanted to check on you.”
This makes the girl pause, looking at her suspiciously. She couldn’t blame her. Her classmates were definitely not subtle about looking at her injury, and she was sure the glances became overwhelming. The girl’s fire dims at her question, looking away from her and down towards her wrist, inching back towards the safety of her room.
“I’m fine.”
The answer is curt and tense, and they both know she’s lying, but any answer is better than none.
She extends her hand, frowning when the girl flinches at the movement. Triss draws it away just as quickly as she offered it. She wasn’t offended by the action, sure that the girl has had a rough couple of days.
“My name is Triss.” she says, “I’m right down the hall.” she gestures with her head to not startle the girl in front of her. “Let me know if you need anything.”
She begins to walk down towards the kitchen, her bouncy hair following her form.
“Wait.”
She turns around and is met with the sight of the girl looking at her, with the same hesitant look in her eyes but slightly less guarded.
“Yennefer.” she calls out softly.
Triss smiles fondly, “See you around, Yennefer.”
A victory, a small one, but that was enough for her.
-
Whenever she sees Yennefer, she looks distressed, often lingering after the new group of girls. It probably had something to do with Tissaia being hard on the new mages again. It was common practice with the Rectoress, always preparing them for the harsh world out there. A test to see if they could fulfill her high expectations. The same lesson she herself has received multiple times(and still does). When they pass each other in the hallway, she always waves and she gets one back, albeit a hesitant one.
Triss is going to need a lot more interaction than that if she were to befriend Yennefer.
Triss waits for her by the door in the morning, offering to walk her to her lecture for the day. She nods, her mind elsewhere gazing off into the distance. Triss talks to her, about the weather, about the new magic she’s learning, even about Tissaia.
Triss can sense that her constant voice keeps Yennefer at ease, grounding her amongst these strange halls. The other girls wave but do not approach when they see them walk by. It’s probably for the best. Triss does not seek to smother her just yet, Yennefer still looks like she wants to crawl out of her skin.
She pauses at the door to Yennefer’s lecture, hearing Tissaia already yelling at poor Fringilla for something she had messed up.
“You're not coming?”
It's the first words she muttered this morning. Triss shakes her head no.
“No, my lecture is at another time.” Yennefer looks nervous, skittish, at the thought of being by herself again. “I’ll come back once you’re done.” She gently taps her hand against the back of Yennefer’s. She doesn’t flinch this time.
Yennefer nods, somewhat relieved at the declaration. She can feel her eyes burn into her back once she leaves but Triss knows she’ll be okay.
Yennefer learns to enjoy seeing her once she gets out of her lectures, it was nice to be met with encouragement and a kind face. They don’t speak about what happens there, instead choosing to focus on anything else.
Triss looks forward to seeing Yennefer as well. To see Yennefer’s eyes light up like she’s something special makes Triss feel something she cannot describe. Triss learns about the pits where Tissaia dug her up from, getting a bit more detail then the Rectoress had told her. If she were to be honest, the girl was better off here then slumming around with the pigs and far away from the cruelty of her family.
Triss responds in kind, telling her more about the history of Aretuza and her intense love of plants. The girl looks bored once she manages to go into the technical details of growing a moonflower but pretends to be interested for her sake. Triss finds it very endearing.
She shows her the library, watching Yennefer take in the towers of books on the shelves above them. Triss reads out of her favorite book, babbling about a challenging spell and watching Yennefer’s confused glance at the magic she hasn’t learned yet. Triss is all too happy to explain them to her and the girl's determined eyes soak all of it up, spending hours in the library pouring over everything until they get too tired to go on and then they retire back to their rooms.
Whenever she sneaks back out of her room, she waters her lilacs in her corner of the greenroom and thinks of Yennefer’s eyes.
-
A whisper runs rampant through the rooms eventually getting to Triss through Sabrina. It seems Yennefer wasn’t making too much progress in the weeks that had passed, not able to make a simple flower bloom or fully hear the other girls’ thoughts. Tissaia was probably giving her a hard time if she knew the rectoress. She could sense her overextending herself at night trying to reach out to someone. Maybe she wouldn’t mind a little help.
No luck?
She is barely on the outskirts of her mind but she can hear her surprise. Yennefer attempts to respond back but it's muted and gritty, seeming to try to force its way into her mind instead of letting it flow naturally. She has slightly improved from when she first arrived, but could still not fully see the depths of someone’s mind, only able to hear slight sentences while others in her class were able to capture full memories.
Relax. Don't overdo it.
She sends back, light and full of jest. The next word comes out just a little clearer.
Okay.
See. You’re getting it. Triss sends back, It would be easier for me to actually show you.
There is a pause before she feels a lukewarm acceptance of the idea. Triss opens the door to her room, peering around the hallway first.
After making sure the halls were empty, she walks over to Yennefers, the door already slightly cracked preparing for her arrival. Yennefer is on her bed, eyes closed but her brows furrowed as she focuses on gathering her magic. Her concentration is remarkable, not even moving when the other girl climbs on the bed next to her.
Triss offers her hands, knowing that Yennefer can sense the movement. Yennefer lays her hand in hers, her hands are calloused from working in the pens, a sharp contrast to Triss’s own soft ones.
Triss squeezes them gently before closing her own eyes and calling her own magic forth. Her magic comes to her naturally, bouncing eagerly towards her master. Yennefer’s is much more restrained as if it was a wild animal being able to step out of its cage for the first time.
She can sense Yennefer’s fear, it’s deeper than the pits underneath Aretuza.
Fear of being cast aside again, fear of being ridiculed by her classmate, the overwhelming fear of not being as beautiful as her fellow mages. She frowns at all these negative thoughts, swimming inside of her. It's affecting Yennefer’s magic, suffocating it. No wonder why she is having trouble performing spells. Even a seasoned mage couldn’t do anything if she was feeling all these emotions.
“You’re safe here,” she says, barely above a whisper. Yennefer’s magic seems to relax at that but it’s still hesitant to be set free.
Triss pushes Yennefer’s emotions away, gathering her own deep inside her. She guides her, towards her own maelstrom, teaching her the ways of this dance, little by little.
It’s a bright summer night and the moon is at its apex, its moonlight bouncing off the still water. Yennefer is with her, she is amazed at how beautiful it is. She pushes the smell of the ocean, the way the salt tickles the nose making you sneeze. The taste of the sweetest cakes at the extravagant dinners they hold. Yennefer has never had anything so good before. The feel of the blades of grass running through her fingers, gently swaying in the wind. Yennefer is beginning to sense it. Triss sends them faster now. Overloading, her magic until she’s forced to respond.
A picture of lightning violently flashing on the horizon lighting up the dark seas, followed by the plains that stretch for miles and miles, a red fox that scampers through a whispering forest, the process of ascension, how beautiful they all will be when they finally finish their training. It is on that memory that Yennefer latches onto, focusing all her might to capture that moment.
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
I want to be beautiful.
It’s a hunger that she can feel even stronger than the fear, it thrums throughout her. All of the pain that she was ever caused is because she wasn’t beautiful. Her thoughts became Triss’s own.
I can feel it all.
Yennefer’s voice is resonant, sounding throughout both of their minds. Her eyes open, to Yennefer’s own, full of joy and awe, relishing in this new experience. Through their connection, she can no longer hear her self-doubt, instead, the pride that she could do this echoing strongly through her mind.
For the first time, since Triss had met her a smile grew on her face. Triss can taste just how powerful she is, her magic whipping unrestrained just like hers if not more so. There is something dangerous there and Triss couldn’t help but feel addicted, their chaos merges until it almost becomes one.
They can feel each other fully now, their emotions swirling in between them. Yennefer can feel Triss’s excitement for her, relief that she was able to teach her, and the thought that she was already beautiful. Yennefer’s eyes soften at that, and she can tell the other girl means it.
Triss can sense the admiration that Yennefer feels for her. Triss’s face flushes, at the thought of being someone she looks up too. Maybe she could do this, maybe, this isn’t going to be as hard as she thought.
Thank you. Yennefer leans forward until their foreheads touch. The connection is overcome with gratitude and a bright sense of hope that maybe she does belong here.
Triss’s smile lights up the room around them, and the future doesn’t seem so scary anymore.
At least not when they are together.