Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s a strange sensation to be confused to wake up in your own bed. It wasn’t so much where he was that confused Elliot as much as it was the fact he was waking up at all, because he did not remember going to sleep.

Something smelled good and something smelled awful, and he had a bad feeling which one was him. An exhale confirmed it, his breath absolutely stank in a way it hadn’t since… Oh. Right. The party.

Elliot sighed, an act he instantly regretted when the smell reached him again. So, he’d gotten drunk last night. That explained why he was in bed with all his clothes on. 

Wait. Not all of them. Where was his left sock? He had both shoes on but only one sock. Oh well. That was strange, but nothing worth being concerned about. Probably.

That did leave the question of what the good smell was. From his position it seemed to be coming from his desk. Elliot decided it would probably be easier to figure it out if he opened his eyes, bracing himself to regret it.

The regret didn’t come. His shades were open, enough to let some of the bright morning sun stream through, but not enough to harm him. That was a pleasant surprise, drunk him never had that much foresight. Then again, he hadn’t been drunk in well over a year. Maybe age did bring wisdom. Maybe that meant he didn’t embarrass himself this time. Hope springs eternal.

Wait, he was getting side-tracked. Good smell, what was it? 

There, on his desk. Scrambled eggs and what looked like hash browns. Presumably Sharon’s work. She always was so thoughtful. It made him feel even worse for wearing his shoes in bed and getting dirt all over the sheets. He’d have to apologize to her for that. 

Elliot’s stomach rumbled as the sight woke it up. He wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t eaten anything during the party beyond a few handfuls of snacks. He rose from his mattress with a loud yawn, the smell once more making him cringe. First breakfast, then definitely brushing his teeth and a shower.

The food didn’t quite taste like Sharon’s usual fare, but Elliot was too hungry to care. It disappeared in an instant, fast enough to have gotten him chided by Fiona and an embarrassing proud pat on the back from his father. 

Feeling energized, Elliot was able to head to the bathroom and quickly get cleaned up. When the messy monster in the mirror looked and felt like an actual person again, he started figuring out his next move.

The party, one that had encompassed all of the Thors dormitories and most of Trista, hadn’t just been a teenage whim. It was to have one last night of fun before dead week, the week before finals when everyone would be spending all their time studying. 

Unfortunately, that meant today was the start of said dead week. Probably a good idea to go to the library and get to work. 

He got dressed and collected the dirty dishes from his desk, bringing them down to the kitchen sink. From the kitchen, he could hear a discussion at the dining table.

“Maybe Jusis?” he heard Emma ask.

“He doesn’t really seem the type,” Alisa responded. “At least, he wouldn’t just have her leave on her own.”

Elliot had no idea what they could be talking about. He tried to focus on washing his dirty plate, but figured he should say hello to be polite. 

“Good morning,” he said to the girls, seeing them sitting at the table through the open door. Along with Machias, who had a faint smile and was being uncharacteristically quiet.

“Hi Elliot,” Alisa replied. “Should we be congratulating you?”

Elliot froze. Oh God what had he done. “For what?” he cautiously replied.

“Huh, guess it wasn’t you,” Alisa replied. “Maybe Gaius?”

“Maybe Gaius what?” Elliot asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“When I woke up, I saw Dorothee leaving the dorm.”

“Oh? Oh.”

“Yep. Last night’s dress, heels in hand, the whole thing,” Alisa explained. “We were wondering who… you know.”

“Ah,” Elliot replied.

“Yeah. So, maybe Gaius?” Alisa asked Emma. 

“No,” Emma replied. “I saw him go to the Noble dorm with Lambert.”

“From the riding club? Huh. Well, good for him. So, it wasn’t Rean. Wasn’t Jusis. Wasn’t Gaius. And it’s not Elliot,” Alisa recapped. “Who does that leave?”

“Hmm…” Emma said, thinking.

“You’re Fie’s best friend,” Alisa said. “Do you think she could’ve-”

“Oh come on!” Machias said, finally speaking. “It was obviously me!”

Alisa and Emma turned to him, confusion on their faces. 

“...Really?” Alisa asked.

“Ugh,” Machias groaned. “It was bad enough from him,” he said, jabbing his thumb at Elliot.

“What did I do?” Elliot asked.

“But now you two too!” Machias continued. “Is it really that hard to believe?”

“No, no,” Emma said in a soothing tone. “Not at all. Dorothee’s a lucky girl.”

“Yeah,” Alisa added. “We just… Didn’t think you were the type for that sort of thing. You seem so… committal.”

“I can have fun,” Machias pouted.

“Of course you can,” Emma said. 

“Oh, that reminds me,” Alisa said, eager to change the subject. “I got a video message from you last night-”

“What?” Machias said, his face turning pale.

“Yeah, I never checked it. Sorry, I’ll do that right now.” Alisa pulled out her ARCUS.

Emma did the same, “I think I got one too.”

Machias practically leapt across the table, snatching the devices out of their hands. “No no no,” he muttered, frantically deleting the message.

“Machias, are you okay?” Elliot asked, drying off his now-clean fork. 

“Elliot!” Machias said, hurriedly walking towards him. “Elliot, where is your ARCUS!?” he asked, looming over him.

“It- It’s- It’s-” Uh oh. “I don’t know.”

Machias made a sharp noise of intense fear and frustration, somehow shoving every sharp consonant into a single syllable before charging up the stairs. “Jusis! Jusis! Give me your ARCUS!”

“...Is he okay?” Elliot asked. 

“Someone should check on him,” Emma said.

“...”

“...”

“...”

A Bang Bang Bang came from upstairs.

“I need to go find my ARCUS,” Elliot said. “I really need to start studying and It has all my notes on it.”

“You lost it? That was a dumb question, don’t answer it,” Alisa said. “Where do you think you might have left it?”

“I don’t know.”

“I can call it if you want,” Emma offered. “We can see if someone picks up who can tell you where it is.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. I’d really appreciate that Emma, thanks.”

“Jusis you useless scion of an outdated system, wake up!” Machias’s yell rang through the house.

Emma cleared her throat and quickly made the call, putting her ARCUS on speakerphone mode. They heard a voice almost instantly. Unfortunately, the voice said, “ The person you are trying to reach has a voice mailbox that has not been set up yet. Please try again later. ” Beep.

“Elliot,” Emma said with almost matronly disappointment.

“It’s on my to-do list,” Elliot bashfully replied, looking at the floor. 

“It’s fine Emma,” Alisa said. “Only spambots leave voice mail. Anyways, redirecting there so quickly means his ARCUS is off. Otherwise it would have rung longer.”

Elliot frowned. “I hope it’s not broken.”

“Regnitz, have you completely taken leave of your senses?!” They heard Jusis, sleepy and justifiably grumpy, shout. “I’m not unlocking my ARCUS for you until you tell me what all this is about!”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Alisa said. “ARCUSs are really durable.”

“Grah!!” Machias yelled. They heard something be thrown to the floor, followed by rapid and heavy stomping. “Stupid thing!!!”

“See?”

“I’ll go talk to him,” Elliot said. 

“No, no,” Emma said. “We can handle it.”

Alisa raised an eyebrow, as if to say “ We? ” but didn’t argue.

Emma continued. “You should go find your ARCUS.”

“I don’t even know where to begin looking,” Elliot said.

“Why not try retracing your steps?” Alisa suggested. 

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Elliot muttered, too embarrassed to explain why that wouldn’t work. “Do you know where Rean is?” Surely he had spoken to Rean at least sometime during the party.

“He’s at the park, helping with the clean up. You know, because of course he is,” Alisa said, rolling her eyes and smiling.

“Thanks, I’ll go talk to him,” Elliot said.

“Jusis give it back to me!”

“Stop denting my floor, you gibbering lunatic!”

“Graaah!!!”

“Come on,” Alisa said. “We should go up there before he tries shooting it.”

Emma nodded and rose from the table. “Good luck, Elliot.”

“I really feel like you two need it more.”

CRASH!!

“We need more than luck,” Alisa muttered.

Emma sighed. “I’ll get my staff.”

---------------

The park was, fortunately, not very far from the class VII dorm. But even on that short walk, Elliot could see the absolute carnage last night had wrought upon the town. Streamers everywhere, weirdly shaped stains spotting the sides of the road, hastily written signs trying to entice students to come party at the noble dorm, the commoner dorm, the academy field, and sloppier ones for the student union and the gymnasium, the latter two of which were definitely supposed to be off-limits, officially, but then again so was all the alcohol.

Judging by the sloppiness and messiness of the signs for the ‘restricted’ buildings, Elliot guessed they had been broken into well into the course of the revelry. 

He did remember the assembly which had been called the Monday prior to the event. Prince Olivert on stage with a massive grin, very clearly reading off of cue cards telling students that the faculty knows that grand party is a Thors tradition but to please remember, underage drinking is illegal, certain buildings were off limits, and everyone is expected to be in bed by the normal curfew time, in as sarcastic a tone he could muster, to the point speculation was immediately rampant about how, if he was able to get away with so clearly not being serious when the microphone was on, what had the prince said all those times they cut the mic. The faculty claimed it had been a spurt of technical difficulties, but no one bought it.

Whatever it was, Mueller had been positively seething by the end of the assembly, looking very much like he would rather jab Olivert with his sword as opposed to the finger he had unsubtly been using to force him back on track.

If Olivert’s endorsement had been thinly veiled, the veil was stretched completely transparent by the general mood of the staff. Them and a group of student volunteers, meaning the student council, meaning pretty much just Rean and sometimes Towa, spent the week before the event handing out flyers and putting up much more official-looking signs telling everyone what the emergency numbers were and where to find free condoms and placing temporary trash cans all over the streets with such regularity one would have had to make a deliberate effort to throw something away onto the sidewalk. 

As he walked, he tried to figure out what he did remember. He remembered all of class VII, sans Millium, being around the table at dusk and everyone having their first drink of the night together, some alcoholic, some not. Then they all split up.

“Elliot!” Rean said, snapping Elliot out of his thoughts. He waved at him with a sort of grabbing-stick contraption.

“Morning, Rean,” Elliot replied. He looked around, seeing nobody helping his friend. “Do you have to clean all this up by yourself?” he asked, concerned. Rean had a habit of putting the world on his shoulders, but this was a little much even for him.

Fortunately, Rean shook his head. “Towa told me a cleaning crew is coming around noon to tidy up the town. I’m just trying to make things easier for them when they get here,” he explained as he pulled streamers out of the park trees and tossed them in a garbage bag. 

“Did you have a good time?” Elliot asked him. “I know you were excited about you and Alisa finally having a date night again.”

Rean smiled. “It was amazing. I haven’t had that much fun since- In a long time.”

“That’s great!”

Rean nodded. “Yeah… I just wish she didn’t have to wait so long.”

“Rean…” Elliot said. He went up to his friend to give him an attempt at a supportive pat on the shoulder. “I’m sure she understands.”

Rean shrugged. “Yeah, that’s what she says. She says she understands and doesn’t mind but…” Rean sighed. “I don’t know. She deserves that type of night more than once every couple of months, and deserves to have it be a night where she doesn’t have to choose between partying with her friends or with me.”

Elliot didn’t know how to respond. Luckily the morning had given him a perfect topic to segue too. “Did you get a video message from Machias?” Elliot asked. 

“I don’t know. I turned off my notifications from everyone other than… you know. Work.” Elliot had never before heard Rean pack so much exhaustion and frustration into a single word. He didn’t know what to say, how to comfort him or take his mind off the subject. Luckily, Rean was happy to switch the conversation track for him.

“What about you?” Rean asked. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Am I feeling alright?” Elliot parroted, trying to hide his worry behind confusion.

“Yeah. Last night, you were pretty drunk,” Rean said, light notes of concern creeping into his voice.

Elliot buried his face in his hands and groaned. “Oh God,” he said, muffled by his palms. “What did I do?”

“Nothing bad!” Rean hastily said. “No, no, you were fine. You were just… well… Here, let me start at the beginning.”

“Since Alisa had made plans to enjoy the party with her teammates before we found out I was going to be free for the night, she decided to spend the first couple of hours with them,” Rean explained. “While she did that, I was in the common dorm, talking to Machias and helping Nicholas finish setting up the snack tables. You… Uh… Walked up to the tabl-”

“Rean,” Elliot interrupted. “Don’t lie to me. I can take it.”

“Right. Sorry,” Rean apologized, continuing. “You stumbled up to the table and nearly tripped on it, catching yourself just in time and started filling up some plates. I- We asked if you were okay.”

Elliot gave Rean a look, having noticed his slip-up.

“Okay, I asked if you were okay and Machias said the party had only been going on for forty-five minutes and you were already falling down, but he said it in a concerned way,” Rean said, defending their friend. “Anyways, you waved us both off with a cheese puff and said you were fine, just having fun walking funny, but you had this smile that honestly made it hard to believe you. Machias tried to tell you to go to bed but you shook him off and said you were fine and then proved it by cartwheeling over the table.”

“I what ?!” Elliot exclaimed.

Rean shrugged. “I don’t know what else to call it. You stood perpendicular to it, put your hands up and grabbed one edge, flipped yourself over the table, grabbed the other edge, held yourself up like a handstand, and then went back down the other side.”

Elliot groaned into his palms.

“Honestly it was really impressive,” Rean assured him. “I was going to ask you how you did that, but then you said, ‘Four years of dance lessons finally pay off!’ And I said I was surprised your dad let you take dance lessons and you said he made you take dance lessons, to help with your fee- footwork.” Rean saw Elliot preparing another look and cut him off. “Okay, what you said was that he said it would help you with your ‘Agi- agiilil- feetwork.’”

“Feetwork?” Elliot asked.

“Yeah,” Rean replied.

“Are you sure?” Elliot asked, his tone filled with wishes that Rean was mistaken and certainty that he wasn’t.

“I’m afraid so,” Rean apologetically said, making Elliot groan again. “Sorry. I remember it vividly because it’s what convinced me you were actually drunk. But you had more to say. You said you didn’t want to take dance classes, and that Fiona said it would help you get girls. And you got kind of upset, saying she lied and that you got zero girls and you kind of grabbed my shoulder. ‘No girls Rean,’ you said. ‘Rean. Rean you don’t understand. Machias.’ And you put your hand on Machias’s chest. ‘Machias, you get me.’

“And he said, ‘Excuse me?’

“And you said, ‘No girls, Machias.’

“And he said, ‘And what exactly is that supposed to mean?’”

“Oh Aidios,” Elliot said, cringing.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just…” Elliot sighed and looked up from his palms, giving Rean a tired look. “Something suddenly makes a lot of sense, and I have an apology to make. Keep going. Please.”

“Alright,” Rean said, seeming like he wanted to keep talking about Elliot's problem but respecting his wishes. “Well, you seemed like you were gonna say more, but then you perked up. Apparently you had made a promise to someone that you’d be back with snacks in a minute and the second verse plus the chorus of the song that was playing was exactly 57 seconds and you knew that off the top of your head somehow and knew there was just 10 seconds left for you and you grabbed your plates and went back into the crowd. I tried to stop you, but I guess those dance lessons did their job because you were able to zig-zag through the most packed part of the room no problem. And that was the last time I saw you last night.”

Elliot wished he had a second pair of hands to bury his face in even deeper. “I am so sorry, Rean.”

“No, Elliot, it’s fine. Really. Nothing was damaged. I had no idea you could do something like that,” Rean said, trying to encourage his friend.

“Thanks,” Elliot said, muffled by his palms. He sighed and looked up, his fingers sliding down his face as they pressed into his flesh, briefly giving him a melting look. “Do you have any idea where I might have gone?” Elliot asked. “Did I say anything?”

“No. I’m sorry.”

Elliot sighed again. “It’s alright. Thanks Rean. I appreciate the help.”

“There has to be something more,” Rean muttered to himself, thinking hard, nearly smacking himself across the face with the grabby stick as he crossed his arms. “Oh! You were filling up four plates, so maybe you would have been in a group of five?”

“Five?” Elliot said, confused. “Don’t you mean four?”

“No?” Rean replied, equally confused. “You plus the four people you were getting food for.”

“Wouldn’t one of the four people be me?”

“...Oh! Yeah, that makes sense,” Rean said. “Good point.”

“Thanks. Rean…” Elliot tentatively said. 

“Hmm?”

“Never mind.”

“No, no I can tell something is bothering you. What’s wrong?”

“It’s just… has anyone ever told you you might be too, you know. Too nice?”

“You know what, Alisa told me that just a little while ago,” Rean said. “When we were talking about how she was gonna spend half the evening with her friends and half with me.”

“Was that not her idea?” Elliot asked.

“Yeah. Well, she said yes to us spending time together and then said she’d just have to call her friends and cancel, and I knew she was too polite to say outright she still wanted to spend time with them, so I brought it up.”

“And that’s when she said you were too nice?”

“Yeah.”

Elliot blinked. “Rean, please tell me you have plans for breakfast with her or something.”

“Yeah, in…” Rean looked behind him at the tall clock in the park. “13 minutes. Why?”

Phew. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Rean asked.

“I’m fine. You have fun with that. I’m gonna keep looking for my ARCUS.”

“Oh, is that what you’re doing?” Rean said. “Hold on a minute, I’ll help.”

“Rean, go have breakfast with your girlfriend.”

--------------

Four plates. Three people, plus himself. There was just one situation Elliot could think of that would involve him and three other people that night, the only encounter he'd had planned ahead of time, meeting up with the rest of the wind orchestra at the academy field at the start of the party. 

Of course, that was at the academy field and Rean had said that Elliot was at the commoner’s dorm, so it was a flimsy lead, but a lead nonetheless. Luckily, the commoner’s dorm also happened to be where Hibelle, the bandleader of the wind orchestra, lived. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found, and Elliot couldn’t exactly just go around the dorm knocking on doors until someone told him where Hibelle was.

He wasn’t quite ready to call the lead a dead-end just yet, mostly because he had no idea where to look next, so Elliot set off on another lap of the ground floor of the common dorm. He wasn’t looking very closely though, certain that Hibelle hadn’t been hiding in any cupboards or under any tables just waiting for Elliot to check them a third time. So really, it was less searching and more walking in a circle feeling sorry for himself until someone called out to him.

“Och, if it isnae th' dethroned king!”

Or at least, someone called out in his direction. And he was the only person there. But if it was about him, that sentence made no sense. 

Oh God, what had he done last night?

He ignored the voice, hoping that Becky was just talking on the phone at a louder than normal volume. That sounded plausible. 

“Oi! Elliot!”

There were other people named Elliot. He didn’t own the name. 

“What're ye doin' 'ere, ya wee matchstick? A'd offer ye another pint, but they drank me clean out last night. Na small thanks tae ye, Craig!”

Elliot cringed. Delusion can only be stretched so far, despite his best efforts. He sighed and turned to face Becky. Thankfully, she was smiling. Beaming, really. He tried to smile back at her, despite apprehensions over his potential past actions.

“Good morning, Becky,” he said. “You seem happy.”

“Ah am happy! Ah’ve not had a challenge like that since Ah left Celdic! Ah cannae even count it as a real win, even if ye did cheat! We'll have tae do it again some time.”

“S- sure,” Elliot said, uneasily, having no idea what he agreed to.

Becky chuckled at him, but it seemed to be friendly, not teasing. Elliot nervously laughed with her.

“Ye don’ have tae pretend, Ah know th' look o' a man wi' some pieces missing. Ah’ve lost some o’ last night meself!”

Elliot thought he knew what she meant. Hopefully he was right. “Yeah, I’m sorry, I don’t remember what happened between us. Could you fill me in?”

“Absolutely!” Becky happily dove into her story. “Ah was trynna have a good night, finding th' noble’s tha had provided th' swill they were swallowin’ at their little party 'n' telling them Ah could fin' them something actually worth th' money they were throwing aroond, fur a wee finder’s fee o' course, when that rat fink Hugo started trying to muscle in on mah deals!

“Ah couldn’t just stand around 'n' let him take all mah clientele, but Ah knew there was no way Ah could best him in a bidding war, not when Mr. Moneybags has direct lines to th' distilleries 'n' could get his commissions for any sale with no fee in sight. So, Ah challenged him to a duel! Loser left th' winner to get on with her rightful business.

“And th' fool agreed! So Ah let him set th' terms, do it all proper-like, 'n' that’s when he made a fatal mistake. Ah ne'er lose at beer pong laddie. Ne'er. Not since Ah wis a wee one 'n' we were playing it wi' soda. And guess what th' absolute fool challenged me too?”

“Beer pong?” Elliot guessed.

“Beer pong!” Becky said, almost shouting with the glee of a spider remembering the occasion when an entire frog stumbled into their web. “There was a table set up in th' next room, so we went over there 'n’ Ah was all ready to crush him, but there ye were, damp as a rag 'n' absolutely dominating! Ye 'n' that lass, Fie. Ach, she was brilliant too!”

Elliot tried to interrupt her, but Becky didn’t notice. “The two o' ye had taken down six pairs, 'n' that’s damn impressive, even if ye were cheating, drinkin’ for her 'n' all. But, unfortunately for ye, in order to settle mah honor, ye would have to be taken down so Hugo 'n' Ah could have our duel.

“Oh, a proper nailbiter it was!” Becky’s eyes almost literally sparkled as she reminisced about their game. “Yeh got us down to our last cup! Then ye whispered something in th' lass’s ear 'n' covered yer eyes. Ye took yer shot, 'n' 'twas damn close laddie, ye had me worried! But we weren’t playing horseshoes, now were we? A miss is a miss 'n' luckily Hugo was good for something 'n' managed to put ye two away. We shook hands 'n' then th' two o' ye left. We took on th' next challengers 'n' th' next and…” Becky stopped in her tracks. Elliot could almost see gears turning in her head. “And… Oh god, Ah ne'er actually played Hugo!” That one was a shout, followed by Elliot nearly being bowled over by Becky zipping past him.

“Sorry ta cut and run, lad, but Ah got ta go!” Becky yelled as she ran out of the dorm. “Good luck with your- thing!”

“Thank you!” Elliot said, but she was already gone. 

He had gotten two things from Becky’s story; the shameful knowledge that he had apparently gotten drunk right away and then just kept drinking, and a name. 

Fie. 

He had spent time at the party with Fie. That was good to know. Of course, he had also apparently tried to show off for her and failed right away. That was less good to know, but about in line with what he expected of himself.

So, he had a lead. He needed to find Fie. That would be easy, it was still pretty early in the day. Every morning, Fie was guaranteed to be at one specific place. He’d definitely be able to find her there.

------------------

“Sorry, Elliot. You just missed her.”

Damnit.

“Oh, but while you’re here,” Edel said, digging into her bag. “I have to return this to you.” She pulled out a sock and offered it to him. “Don’t worry, I washed it and everything!” she added, apparently mistaking the confusion on his face for… Elliot didn’t even know, maybe disgust?

“No, no, it’s okay,” Elliot said, taking it from her. “I’m just… surprised you have it,” he said, trying to put his feelings as diplomatically as possible. She didn’t need to know how deeply concerned he was about what he possibly did that ended with Edel having his missing sock.

“Well, I couldn’t just leave it there. What if someone stole it?” Edel said. She blushed lightly. “And, also… Thank you. I should have thought of it myself. It could have been really bad otherwise.”

“No… problem. Happy to help,” Elliot said, trying to act natural. He looked down at the sock and muttered to himself something he had meant to leave as a thought. “Why is it stretched?”

Edel’s blush deepened. “It was… difficult, getting it off. You tie really good knots.”

“Uhh, thanks. My dad taught me.” It was clear to him that whatever had happened, Edel was deeply embarrassed about it. He couldn’t just ask her to tell him what went on, no one needs to relive unpleasant memories. And surely he didn’t leave his ARCUS and his sock in the same place, wherever either of those places were.

Elliot realized they were just standing across from each other, no one speaking, while he blankly stared at a sock. To say it was awkward would be an understatement. 

He cleared his throat and changed the subject. “Fie was here, you said? Do you know where she went?”

Edel, equally happy to be talking about someone else, enthusiastically pointed at the gymnasium next to them. “She went in there! Said something about… Uhm…” Edel cleared her throat and blushed again. “Well, she can tell you. It’s really not my place.”

Elliot’s face heated up too, just from his imagination. Some thoughts were pleasant, very pleasant, but most were just trying to determine what possible horrible things he could have done that Fie might be trying to deal with.

“Thanks,” Elliot said. “I’ll go look for her. Good luck with your flowers.”

Edel waved goodbye, a little too enthusiastically, clearly just as relieved as him to leave the awkward conversation.

--------------

Finding people with only a general location to go off of was proving to be much harder than Bracers made it look. Elliot was a half-second away from just calling out for Fie like a lost pet, when he saw a familiar bun emerge from the men’s locker room, an area he hadn’t checked for obvious reasons. 

“Gaius!” he said, happy to have at least found someone, if not his exact quarry. Gaius looked up and saw his ginger friend waving to him from the balcony above the pool.

“Hello, Elliot,” Gaius replied, his voice carrying despite not raising it. “I hope you’re having a pleasant morning.”

Elliot shrugged. “Do you know where Fie is?”

“He?” Gaius asked. “If you’re looking for Machias, he ran off after deleting something off my ARCUS.”

“What?” Elliot asked. “No, not Machias. Why was he even here?”

“Fie?” Gaius asked. “Sorry, I don’t know why Fie was here, I saw her leaving right when I arrived.”

“What?” Elliot asked, then shook his confusion off. He had gotten the information he was looking for, albeit in a roundabout way. “Okay, that’s good! So Fie was here?” 

“Yes, Machias was indeed here. I told you that already.”

“What?”

“What?”

“Where did Fie go?”

“I don’t know. Machias said he was going to find Rean, so I’d guess the academy field.”

“What?

“It’s the dirtiest place, so I imagine Rean is helping to clean it up.”

“What?”

“What?”

Elliot sighed. “Hold on, I’ll come down.”

Gaius gave him a nod.

One quick trip down the stairs, sprint across the hallway, very careful power walk along the side of the pool, and thorough explanation later, Elliot and Gaius were finally face to face and on the same page.

“Sorry, I should have come down right away,” Elliot said as they left the gymnasium.

Gaius shrugged. “We are equally at fault. I could have come up.”

“Yeah, but I started the conversati-” Elliot could feel the beginning of an apology loop and stopped it. He’d had enough of those this year. “Do you know where Fie is?”

“Unfortunately, I do not,” Gaius replied. “Why are you looking for her?”

“I lost my ARCUS and apparently I was with her last night and I’m hoping she might know where it is,” Elliot explained before looking down. “And… I think I might need to apologize to her for putting up with me. From what I’ve heard of how I acted last night, I was probably really obnoxious and I can’t even remember.”

“When I saw you both, it was fairly late in the night,” Gaius said. “And she didn’t seem upset.”

“Really?” Elliot said. “You think so?”

Gaius nodded, but Elliot noticed his slight hesitation, and Gaius noticed him noticing it. “Admittedly, I was not paying very much attention to her. You were quite… boisterous.”

Elliot groaned deeply and seemed to want to sink into the ground. He started to apologize but Gaius held up a hand, cutting him off. 

“It’s alright. Really, I have to thank you. You raised my spirits and helped salvage my night as much as possible.”

“I did?” Elliot was doubtful.

Gaius nodded. “You say you don’t remember?”

Elliot shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Well, it was late. Some memory loss is understandable.”

Elliot made a noncommittal noise and changed the subject. “How did I help you?”

Gaius sighed and stared up at the clouds. 

Elliot understood and reached up as high as he could to pat his friend on the shoulder. “Linde?”

Another sigh. “I spent the whole night waiting for a sign from the wind to tell her how I felt. The sign never came, and she went to bed early.” 

“I’m sorry, Gaius.” Elliot tried giving his shoulder a supportive squeeze. “At least you’re trying.” Not everyone could say that.

Gaius gently shook his hand off. “It’s for the best,” Gaius softly said. “There’s nothing I can promise her. Or tell her. And now it’s too late to start anything.” 

Those words didn’t seem meant for Elliot, so he didn’t respond. They walked in silence for a bit, Elliot fidgeting as Gaius stared into the distance. “I’m sorry,” Gaius suddenly said, “That wasn’t what you asked about. Let me explain.

“I was sitting at the bar they had established in the noble dorm’s ballroom, staring at the bottom of a drink and trying to convince myself to not order another one, when I heard a laugh that sounded familiar but wasn’t. You came up behind me and threw your arm around me, with force that belied your frame. I wasn’t expecting it and knocked over my mug.”

“Oh Aidi- Jeez. Sorry about that,” Elliot apologized.

Gaius shrugged. “It’s fine. It was empty anyways, and Fie caught it before it hit the ground. Your arm slid off of me and you leant backwards against the bar, pointing at me and talking to someone, telling them that I was the reason you just had a single, funny story about falling off of a horse instead of several tragedies while gesturing for a drink. And then you laughed and it was the same laugh I had just heard.” Gaius looked at Elliot quizzically. “I’ve never heard you laugh like that.”

Elliot cringed, knowing exactly what laugh Gaius was talking about and who it reminded him of. “I… I try really hard not to.”

“Why? It’s a pleasant laugh. Honestly, it put a smile on my face. You patted my back and said you should introduce us. So I turned around and you introduced me to Lambert.” 

“Lambert?” Elliot asked.

Gaius nodded. “I didn’t know you were friends with him.” Elliot wasn’t. “He extended his hand to me and I shook it. You said I was the Gaius you had been telling him about and that I was the best riding trainer in Erebonia. I told you you were being hyperbolic, but you weren’t having any of it and said I was speaking nonsense. Your drink came before I could disagree and you started draining it. I thought it might be rude to speak with you while you were occupied, so I turned my attention to Lambert.

“He said he wished he had recruited me for the riding club, and I told him that while I would have been flattered by the attempt, I was happy being with the art club. That jogged his memory and he recalled seeing some of my work displayed in the school halls. We began talking about art, and sometime during that I heard you telling Fie that you had to go shopping for something and the two of you left. It must have been urgent, her drink was still nearly full.”

Elliot seemed displeased with himself. 

“What is wrong?” Gaius asked.

“I can’t believe I didn’t even let her finish her drink.” Elliot sighed. “Just something else to apologize to her about. How did things go with Lambert?” he asked, not wanting to admit he already knew the answer from over-hearing gossip.

Gaius shrugged. “It was fun. Maybe that type of thing is what has been ordained for me, non-committal encounters where no one can be disappointed.” It was clear the thought didn’t exactly thrill him.

“Maybe it’s just for right now,” Elliot said, trying to comfort his friend. “Whatever it is you’re going to be doing, it can’t last forever. Maybe the wind is… I don’t know, trying to keep you and Linde in each other's thoughts until you are in a place where you can make it something more.” To say Elliot felt more than a little awkward clumsily invoking his friend’s religion would be an understatement, but Gaius didn’t seem upset about it.

“Perhaps,” he said. His expression didn’t change, but his eyes focused, no longer looking off into nothing. “Have you tried calling Fie?” he asked.

“I don’t have my ARCUS,” Elliot reminded him. 

“Right. I do.” Gaius pulled his out and dialed Fie. The call rang. And rang. And rang. And rang.

“Mailbox full,” said the voicemail lady.

“That’s strange,” said Gaius. “Fie always answers.” Usually just to tell whoever it was to text her instead and then immediately hang up, but still. “Perhaps it’s off?”

“No, then it would have gone straight to the mailbox,” Elliot pointed out.

“Really?”

Elliot shrugged. “It’s what I’ve been told. But why would Fie just let her phone ring like that? Do you think maybe she’s taking a nap?” 

“That seems reasonable,” Gaius replied.

“Yeah. Well, thanks for your help, Gaius. Good luck with Linde.”

“Good luck with Fie.”

------------------

It was a simple plan, if he thought Fie might be napping, Elliot just had to go to where Fie liked to nap. 

Simple. 

Flawless.

Now, where did Fie like to nap?

…

In retrospect, it was a weird thing for Elliot to have just assumed he knew. Luckily, a flash of insight made him realize a better plan. Emma was Fie’s best friend, she would likely know where Fie liked to nap. If Machias had had the chance to harass Gaius in the locker room, it meant she was no longer restraining him. Maybe she was in the Literature Club room at the Student Union.

Truly, it was a combination of luck and intelligence that led him to this moment, this pivotal moment, the moment that showed him that bad luck is still luck and that sometimes you can be too smart for your own good. This moment where he opened the door to the literature club and saw the wrong member sitting at the table.

Maybe, if he was quiet, he could leave before she noticed him.

“Well, well, well.”

Curse you luck, you fickle bitch.

“Good morning, Dorothee,” Elliot said, bracing himself. 

“Good morning? Good morning? Look at all of this!” Dorothee said, gesturing to the intimidatingly high stack of paper next to her. “It’s a great morning! And it’s all. Thanks. To. You,” she said, spinning her finger around and pointing it at him.

“Me?” Elliot said, pointing at himself, horrified. “What did I do?”

“You resurrected my faith in this world, reinforced all my beliefs, you, you, you single-handedly helped me to see that I am on the right path.”

Elliot was horrified to say the least. No matter the context, those weren’t words you ever wanted to hear from a woman wearing last night’s dress with last night’s heels haphazardly strewn across the floor.

“Do you know how many pages I have dedicated to writing about Mac- about someone who is legally not Machias?” Dorothee asked. 

“No?” he said, hoping she wouldn’t tell him. Thankfully, luck took pity on him and she didn’t elaborate.

“Sure, he’s awkward, but I knew- I just knew he had a fire in him! And there was a moment last night where I was doubting that.

“There I was,” Dorothee said, both palms flattened on the literature club table as she leaned over it, staring directly at Elliot like she was a tiger coiling up to pounce. “At the academy field, where the music was loudest and the dancing was wildest, as I had hoped it would be. The freedom of not having any physical walls was letting people take down their personal walls. I was studying it. Studying them. Seeing how humans could truly be when they give themselves to their pure carnal urges.

“It was breathtaking. I had run out of space in my notebook and had had to take notes on myself. Look! Look at my arm!” Dorothee thrust her forearm at Elliot, showing him shaky sentences that were just readable enough to make him happy they weren’t. “The letters may be smudged and fading but the sights, the feelings that put them there will never be forgotten!

“And then, he came up to me. I could tell he was nervous. His shoulders were stiff as a board and he asked me to dance. I said yes. If you had asked me a minute later if I regretted it, I would have had to say yes.

“He was so slow, and stiff, his eyes everywhere but on me. I could see him trying and failing to count out the rhythm of the song as he took me through slow box step after slow box step. I turned around, put his arms around me and tried to grind with him, but he practically froze.

“And it worried me. This was beyond awkwardness, beyond nerves, he genuinely didn’t know what to do. And I knew it wasn’t a lack of interest, I could tell he wanted me. I could feel it. This dress really isn’t that thick.

“I had to wonder, was I wrong about him? I pride myself on my intuition, on being able to read people. But here I was, back to chest with an experience telling me that I was wrong. And if I was wrong about him, who knows what else I could be wrong about? I’m not an idiot, despite what some of my, shall we say, less than open-minded classmates say, I know I can’t be right about everything about everyone, but I was so so confident in being right about Machias.

“And then, I saw you. You and Fie. Like smoke dancing with a flame. You were whipping her all over, spinning her and lifting her, spinning yourself as well. I kept thinking you were going to fall down, or that she was going to throw up. 

“I looked up and Machias was looking at you two too. And I saw it in his eyes, the spark I had been starting to think was just a figment of my imagination. In my last, desperate attempt to coax it out of him, to turn it into the flame I knew he had, I asked him one question.

“Can you do that too?”

“And I will never forget the look on his face, the way his brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched with determination as he said, ‘Of course I can.’” Dorothee sat down, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes with a content sigh. She opened one eye and continued, in a far less dramatic tone. “Turns out, no. He could not. But we had fun trying.”

“Well… That’s…” Elliot didn’t really have any response in mind, nor did he want to give one, but Dorothee kept looking at him like she was expecting something. “I’m glad you two had fun?”

Dorothee blissfully smiled at the ceiling. “Oh, we did. Luckily, he was much better at dancing horizontally, if you know what I mean,” she said with a wink. “And on his own, if you know what I mean.”

On his own? “I really don’t,” Elliot said.

“Oh. Well, when we got back to your dorm, he-”

“Please don’t tell me.”

Dorothee nodded. “You want your imagination to fill in the blanks for itself, huh? I can respect that.”

Elliot was starting to doubt her supposed ability to ‘read people’.

“Personally, my imagination has been running rampant all morning, and I actually know what happened. I mean, I was there,” she said, giggling. “Ah, Machias and I had quite a bit of fun last night.”

“Yeah, so I’ve heard.”

“Really?” Dorothee said, her smile growing. “And I was trying sooo very hard to keep quiet.”

That wasn’t what Elliot had meant, but felt no need to correct her, especially since something was telling him in bright neon letters that she was lying about her supposed efforts. Maybe forgetting a night wasn’t always such a bad thing.

“Anyways, when I woke up I was positively filled ,” Dorothee said, “with ideas. They just wouldn’t stop coming. I had to rush straight here and start dealing with them.”

“Yeah, yeah I had figured as much,” Elliot said. “What with the dress, and the heels.” And the smell.

“And it’s all thanks to you! Thank you!”

“You’re… welcome?” Oh great, another thing to apologize to Machias about.

“And it wasn’t just being correct about Machias that inspired me, being wrong about you did too!”

“It did?” Oh no.

Dorothee nodded so hard Elliot was worried her head would fly off. “Oh how could it not? A meek young man who becomes an absolute animal when night falls! Tell me, where did you learn how to dance like that?”

“I took lessons for a few years- What are you writing?”

“Just some notes.”

“Notes for what?”

“Don't worry about it.”

Elliot was worried about it. 

“Now,” she continued, “have you ever thought about being a werewolf?”

“No, no I can’t say I have.”

“Well, think about it. Powerful. Agile.” Then, she got this look in her eyes and stared at his calloused right hand in a way that made him instinctively put it behind his back. “ Dexterous .”

“Uhm…”

“Aggressive. Hungry!”

“I- I’m gonna go.”

“Throbbing!”

---------------

“Yo, buddy, where’s the fire- Elliot!”

Hearing his name made Elliot stop in his tracks and look for the source of it. A young man with red hair and a black beanie sat at a table in the lobby of the student union, fiddling with a screen.

“Oh. Hi Rex,” Elliot said. 

“Yeah, hi, you okay man?” Rex asked with concern. 

“Yeah,” Elliot replied, standing up and softly panting. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Now that he was far enough to not hear about the… things he had inspired.

“Dude, I have to thank you so much for the assist last night,” Rex said. “I really owe you big time, man.”

“Uhhh… no, no problem,” Elliot hesitantly said. 

“Oh, Edel has the sock,” Rex said. “I can call her up, ask her to bring it here.”

“No, it’s fine, she already gave it back to me. See?” Elliot said, pulling his sock out of his pocket, still confused but trying to play it off. Rex seemed to buy it.

“Nice! Thanks again man. You know, I would have used my hat but then she put it on and, well, you know. A man can only take so much before he stops thinking,” Rex said, smiling with a mix of sheepishness and pride. “What brings you here anyways, man?”

“Uhhh….” Why was he here? Oh right, Emma. No, wait, “Fie!” Elliot blurted out. Got there. Unfortunately, he had said her name with enough force to make the photographer raise an eyebrow, causing Elliot to blush. “Uhh, I’m looking for her.”

“Ah, say no more man. Come over, I’ll try and help you out.” Rex pulled out the chair next to him.

Elliot wasn’t sure how, but he had no other ideas, so he went over and took a seat. Rex put the screen down between them and Elliot was treated to a breathtaking aerial view of Trista. “Wow,” he said.

“Hell yeah, man,” Rex proudly said. “”Check it out, I can mess with the focus and the exposure and the aperture, all from here,” he said, demonstrating all the capabilities. “Do you know where she might be?”

“Uh, no. No not really,” Elliot said, only kind of paying attention to Rex, his eyes locked on the ridiculous view. It seemed to be moving slightly. “I think she might be taking a nap.”

“Oh, sometimes when I’m taking shots from the roof, I see her napping on a bench up there. Let’s see if she’s there, shall we?” Rex tapped the screen and a control console popped in the bottom corner. He started touching it and the image changed, flying around in a way that was both amazing and a little nauseating. Elliot had to look away. Rex noticed his movement and sheepishly fiddled with the zipper on his vest. “Yeah, sorry, I haven’t quite mastered moving this thing smoothly. I’ve stopped it now though, you see her anywhere?”

Elliot looked back at the screen, now displaying Thors’ campus from above. It was strange to see the roofs of all the school buildings. Unfortunately, despite the strangeness, none of them were playing host to Fie. As far as he could see, she was nowhere around campus, not on the outside of anywhere at least.

He shook his head. “Sorry Rex, I can’t see her. Thanks for the help though.”

“Hey, it’s the least I could do, man.”

Elliot got up to leave, but just had to ask. “What is that anyways?” He gestured to the screen. 

“Oh this?” Rex said, holding it up. “It’s connected to a drone. Mint made it during the civil war and lets me fool around with it and take pictures sometimes.”

! “Mint?” Elliot asked. 

“Yeah, you know, the girl with the green hair? I think she’s in the wind band with you, isn’t she?” Rex said.

“She is. I’ve been looking for her too.”

Rex let out a low whistle. “Damn, two of them? You’re playing with fire my friend.”

“It’s not- Ugh,” Elliot groaned.

“Nah, I’m just messing with you man,” Rex said with a chuckle, giving Elliot a friendly slap on the back. “She’s over in the engineering building fixing some shit.” 

Elliot nearly rolled his eyes but didn’t. “Well, thanks. I’m gonna go talk to her.”

“Hey when you see her, tell her my offer’s still open!” Rex said as Elliot left. “She’ll know what it means!” 

Elliot could only pray it had to do with photography and not the other thing Rex was known for.

---------------

It really said something about Elliot’s recent life experiences that he found nothing strange about being greeted with a cheerful, “Well, look who’s still alive!”

“Hi, Mint,” Elliot replied to the friendly flutist as he walked into the engineering building. She was situated behind the counter, a pair of combat shells leaning against the wall behind her as she dug into the guts of a third. He frowned with concern. “Are you sure you should be doing that without gloves?”

Mint made a dismissive gesture. “It’ll be fi- Ow!” Mint’s hands flinched back from a small but audible shock. She shot Elliot a pleading look. “Please don’t tell my uncle that happened,” she said.

“Your secret’s safe with me,” he replied. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, just humbled,” Mint said, putting down her tools and going around the counter to grab a pair of gloves from a shelf. “Besides, shouldn’t I be asking you? Mr. Start-the-night-with-half-a-glass-of-straight-absinthe. I can’t believe you’re awake. The way you sounded in that call last night, I thought you’d be partying till dawn.”

Elliot let out an awkward chuckle. “Yeah,” he said, scratching his cheek. “Sorry about that.” If he had called her last night, he must have still had his ARCUS. At least he didn’t lose it right away. “Uhh, so, what are you up to?”

“The back-half of the little favor you wanted last night,” Mint replied, putting on a pair of goggles and returning behind the counter to resume her work. “You can’t just un-hotwire a combat shell, I’ve gotta basically rebuild half of this thing.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Elliot replied. “I shouldn’t have asked you to do… that.” Whatever that was. 

Mint shook her head. “It’s fine. I was nearby anyway and needed something to do to relax and sober up a little. Besides, if I’d known this was the present you were talking about, I’d have wired up ten for you,” she said, holding up a small device Elliot couldn’t begin to guess the purpose of. “Aidios, you have no idea how much easier it’s making this,” Mint said, gesturing to the shell.

“No, I definitely don’t.” Elliot replied, the one completely truthful statement he had said since his arrival. “Well… I’m glad you like it?” 

“Oh yeah, absolutely. I still have to wonder though,” Mint paused her work and gave Elliot a quizzical look. “Why did you need three? And why not come and pick them up?”

“Uhh…” Elliot tried to think fast. “I was… busy.” Nailed it. “And, honestly, I was really really drunk.” That much he was certain of. “Still, I should have come and gotten them. Sorry for giving you extra work.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s not like it was hard sending them to the gym, I was just curious. And from the background noise, it sounded like you were having a lot of fun. Though, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Uh-oh. “Why not?”

Mint tsk ed at Elliot. “Don’t you go and play coy with me,” Mint said in a tone somewhere between teasing and earnest. “Try and distract us with pretty speeches about enjoying our youth all you want; we all saw where you kept glancing. You know, when I’m done with my uncle and Instructor Mary, I’d be happy to give you a hand.”

“No, no, no, that- that’s fine, really,” Elliot stammered. “I don’t need help.” 

Mint made a skeptical noise. “Well, maybe you don’t,” She said, turning back to the combat shell. “You’ve already got her making deliveries for you.”

“Delivery?” Elliot asked, hoping to change the subject.

“Yeah,” Mint said, pointing to the small device she’d said was making things easier. “How did you even get an orbal micrometer? These things are crazy expensive. And don’t try and pretend it wasn’t,” Mint said, cutting Elliot off before he could speak. “Fie gave me the receipt, too!” 

“Fie?” Elliot asked, all other confusion blown out of his mind by the sudden curveball. 

“Yeah, she brought it in case I wanted to return it.” Mint scoffed, gesturing towards a long, thin, white rectangle on the counter. “Fat chance of that. Soon as I’m done here I’m getting this thing tracker tagged. What brings you here anyways? You don’t want it back, do you?” she asked, her voice spiking with fear as she protectively put a hand over the little gadget. 

“No!” Elliot replied without thinking, his instincts leaping into action to stop someone from potential pain. He immediately regretted it when he recalled Mint mentioning how expensive the tool was. Now he couldn’t walk it back without seeming like an asshole. Hopefully it wasn’t too bad. “I’m just here to see if you might know where my ARCUS is. I lost it last night,” he explained, trying to get his mind away from potential financial injury.

Mint let out a small sigh of relief and returned to her work. “No, I didn’t see you after you came back with the snacks and left. Kind of wish you had stuck around to be honest. Could have drank the rest and saved me from myself. The first shot of absinthe was fun, but after that… Yow. You weren’t the only one chasing a fairy that night.” Elliot cringed but luckily Mint didn’t notice. “Oh, when you called me, you did mention something about your ARCUS nearly being dead.”

“Yeah, that checks out,” Elliot muttered.

“What was that?”

“Uh, Rex said his offer was still on the table,” Elliot said, putting his faith in Rex having reformed himself.

Mint made a dismissive noise. She straightened up and opened the door to the backroom. “He’s asked me that a dozen times, the answer’s still no. No matter how much he offers me.”

Oh dear God.

Mint continued, raising her voice to still be heard as she entered the other room. “That drone is a vital part of my portfolio and I’m not selling it until I’ve figured out how I made it work in the first place.”

Oh thank God. 

Elliot heaved a sigh of relief, happy to have not further contributed to harassment, and saw the receipt out of the corner of his eye. Gaius had mentioned him going off to buy something, and Elliot definitely hadn’t had a gift ready for Mint. The top of the strip said, in simple bold letters, Micht’s Pawn Shop.

“Hey, Elliot?” Mint called out. “I’m gonna have to start soldering these new wires in. It kind of takes a lot of focus.”

Elliot got the hint. “It’s fine, I was just leaving anyway.” He turned to head out, but hesitated. The receipt was right there. Might as well see the damage. For the sake of fiscal responsibility if nothing else.

…

He was never drinking again.

---------------

“And of course, the Reinford Group is more than willing to pay whatever it may take to secure exclusive access to this information. We see no reason for the Bracer Guild to get involved in such a private matter.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not for your boss to decide, now is it? Come on, Micht, just give me something to go off of. An address, a name, something .”

“Oh Lady Sara, do stop badgering the poor man,” Sharon said. “I’d like to remind you that the Bracers have no legal authority here in Erebonia, and as such he is under no obligation to tell you anything.”

“Well this isn’t just an Erebonian incident, now is it?”

“Ah, I see the issue. You seem to have been mistakenly informed that accepting a job in a completely different country suddenly gives you authority here. I am sorry to tell you that that is not the case.”

“Uh-huh. And what exactly gives you the authority?”

“Me? I never claimed to have any such standing. I am merely here to broker a deal, not browbeat a nice small business owner into breaking the trust of his clients and community for no gain of his own. Mr. Micht, the Reinford Group has a sterling reputation for confidentiality-”

Sara scoffed. “Oh, is that what you’re calling it?”

“- and we of course understand this sort of thing leaking could result in the loss of millions, even tens of millions, in potential revenue,” Sharon continued. “We are fully prepared to offer you a contract saying that if so much as a whisper of the information you shared with us gets out, the Reinford Group will repay every lost mira.”

“Oh god.” Sara rolled her eyes. “Look, I understand not sharing it with us, Micht, I just came to give it a shot. We both know who they’d have sent if they really wanted to get it out of you. But please tell me you’re not gonna give it to her- Hey, where are you going?”

Micht didn’t say anything, just kept walking away all the way into his office. Moments later a wire gate came down over the counter. Sara sighed and shot Sharon a disdainful look. “ Millions ? Really? Laying it on a little thick, weren’t you?”

Sharon smiled her condescending smile. “The Reinford Group believes in giving fair evaluations of value to our business partners. It’s such a shame the Bracers don’t.”

“Oh go straight to hell,” Sara grumbled. She turned around to leave and froze in her tracks. “Elliot? How long have you been there?”

“Oh, you mean you didn’t noti-”

“Shut up,” Sara said with a sharp glare at Sharon. The maid curtseyed and was vocally silent, her smile and eyes saying volumes. “Sorry you had to see that.”

“What was all that?” Elliot asked.

“Grown-up stuff,” Sara said dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. How’d your night go?”

“It was… fine,” Elliot replied. “What about yours? I thought you were still in Heimdallr?”

“Nah, I got back about fifteen minutes ago. Dropped Millium off at the dorm and came right here.”

“Oh, how was Millium anyways?” Sara had been left with watching the young secret agent last night, making sure she was kept far far away from the festivities. “I’m surprised you got her to go with you so easily.”

“Pff,” Sara let out an annoyed puff of air, moving a stray lock of hair away from her eyes. “Much as I’d like to take all the credit for that, I got an assist from our favorite government busybody.”

Favorite government busybody? “You mean Claire?”

“Unfortunately. She told Millium that I was going to Heimdallr to see about getting one of the Bracer Building illegally reopened and asked her to keep tabs on me.”

“Well that was nice of her,” Elliot said.

Sara rolled her eyes. “Sure. Anyways, we got some ice cream and caught a movie and I spent the night watching her to make sure she stayed in the hotel room.”

“Oh. Well, that explains why you’re so… tired.” And cranky, but Elliot kept that to himself.

“I had the same thought,” Sharon said, smiling at Elliot. She turned to Sara. “I know how hard it is to watch after a rambunctious child all night. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that milady was Lady Millium’s age. There’s absolutely no shame in taking a nap. Especially not at your age.”

“I’ll give you a nap,” Sara grumbled. “Anyways, we weren’t talking about me. What’s up with you? Don’t tell me you sold your violin to buy your girlfriend a comb?” she joked.

“Uhm… Well, you see…” Elliot tried to think up a lie. Unfortunately, Sara was considerably more perceptive than his schoolmates. 

“Oh, I get it,” Sara said, nodding. “The Craig Curse, huh?”

“What?”

“It’s okay.” Sara put a hand on Elliot’s shoulder. “Your sister was the same way. On the outside, she’d always seem to be the last one standing every night, barely seemed tipsy, but on the inside one drink and,” Sara snapped her fingers. “Blackout. I spent a lot of Saturday and Sunday mornings helping Fiona retrace her steps.”

Elliot sighed. “Yeah. I don’t remember anything from last night. I found a clue telling me that I was here at some point but…” He pointed to the fallen gate as he trailed off.

Sara winced. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” Elliot said, holding up a hand. “It just means I’m back where I was.”

“I also must apologize for impeding your search, Master Elliot,” Sharon said, her eyes losing their teasing shine. “If it is any consolation, I was fortunate enough to bear witness, at least partially, to your visit to this establishment last night.”

“You did? Do you remember any of it?” he asked.

Sharon nodded. “Oh yes, quite vividly.”

Elliot groaned, his shoulders slumping. 

“Oh, not in any negative way, I assure you,” Sharon comfortingly said. “Your skills as a performer never fail to impress.”

Oh God. “I played the violin here?” Elliot said, holding on to a faint hope.

Sharon immediately snuffed it out. “No, I am afraid not. But your ability as a humorist was certainly far from shameful. I had just entered this fine establishment-

“Looking for what?” Sara interrupted.

Sharon frowned. “Please, Lady Sara, I am trying to help Master Elliot. Where was I? Oh yes.” She turned her gaze back to the boy. “When I came in, I saw you and Lady Fie at the counter, having quite an animated conversation about something. She seemed to think something wasn’t her- Oh, please understand, when I say her in this instance I mean Lady Fie,” Sharon explained. “In her words she had said, ‘This isn’t really my color,’ referring to herself.”

Sharon paused, looking at Elliot until he realized what she was waiting for.

“I got it, Sharon,” he said.“Thanks.”

“Wonderful,” Sharon said with a smile and a nod. She continued; “So, Lady Fie said it wasn’t her color, and you said it wasn’t for her it was for you. You put it on and turned to face her and I saw you had put on a pair of calico cat ears, but backwards. I found it quite amusing, as did Lady Fie. You said it was so that you could hear backward, so no one could sneak up on you. Lady Fie seemed to agree with you. 

“‘My god,’ she said. ‘You’re invincible.’ And you gave her such a lovely smile. I got closer, taking my place in line behind you, and I saw a pile of similarly playful headwear. I believe I saw bunny ears, raccoon ears, a halo, a crown of flowers, and a butterfly. I must admit, I was curious to see what more you would do, but alas, it was not to be. 

“Lady Fie reached for something with one hand and I believe covered her mouth with the other, but sadly it was not clear enough from my vantage point to be certain. You responded by picking up the halo and turning to Mr. Micht and saying you’d just take that along with, quote, ‘The other thing,’ and he, in his infinite generosity, said you could have it free of charge if you left immediately, no doubt he was concerned for your well-being, being so young and up so late.

“You and Lady Fie took his words of wisdom to heart and left. I believe I heard Lady Fie say, as you left, something about she, she said ‘she’ so not herself, being lucky to get a gift from you.” Sharon’s tone shifted to apologetic. “I am afraid that’s all I was present for.”

“Fie really thought that was funny?” Elliot asked, doubtful. It didn’t sound very funny. It sounded like the type of thing that explained why when he came in, Micht took one look at him and left.

“Oh yes,” Sharon nodded. “I have never heard her laugh so hard.”

“Have you ever heard her laugh at all?”

“Details details, Master Elliot,” Sharon said. “I do hope I have been helpful.”

It was clear that he wasn’t getting anything else out of Sharon. “Yeah. Well, sort of,” he admitted. “I still don’t know where she is now. Do you?”

“Hmm.” Sharon furled her brows and thought. “No, unfortunately I do not. Please, accept my sincerest apologies for this failure on my part,” she said with a low curtsey.

“It’s fine,” Elliot said. “And, by the way, thanks for making me breakfast.”

Sharon raised an eyebrow. “I’m afra-”

“Wait,” Sara interjected. “You’re looking for Fie? Why didn’t you say so, I saw her at the dorm when I dropped off Millium.”

“What?” Elliot asked. “Are you sure?”

Sara nodded. “Yeah. It wasn’t that long ago, she’s probably still there.”

Elliot smiled, happy to have a lead again. “Thanks Instructor, Sharon. Bye!”

“Anytime, Master Elliot,” Sharon said, waving.

“Yeah, good luck,” Sara said before arching an eyebrow at the maid. “‘Infinite wisdom?’ Really? Do you really think he can even hear us all the way out here?”

“It never hurts to cover one’s bases.”

---------------

“Laura!” Elliot said as he saw the swordswoman exercising in the Class VII Dorm’s backyard. “Hi! Have you seen Fie?”

“Oh, hello Elli-” Laura found herself cut off by a yawn. “Elliot. Can I help you?”

“Uh, maybe,” Elliot said, looking her over. The young woman was leaning heavily upon her sword, its blade nearly a third of the way buried into the ground. Her eyes were barely staying open. “Are you alright? You look exhausted.”

Laura shook her head. “I’m fine, just a little tired. I lost track of time. Don’t worry, I intend to get some rest after some light stretching. Would you mind if I continue?”

“No, no, go ahead,” Elliot said. “Laura, are you saying you haven’t slept?” That couldn’t be all of it, Elliot had seen Laura go without sleep before, it took more than a single night for her to get this worn out.

“No, I haven’t,” Laura said. She held onto her sword’s hilt and started doing exercises that reminded Elliot more than a little of the things he used to see ballet classes doing with the bar against the wall. “I’m afraid I got carried away in the rush of physical activity. By the time we realized how long we had been going, it was well into the morning.”

Wow, Elliot never would have expected that type of thing from Laura. “Well, congratulations,” he said. “I hope you had a lot of fun.”

Laura nodded. “Indeed. Friedel proved to be a more than exceptional partner.”

Friedel? “Friedel?” he asked.

“Yes. We knew it would be our last time for the foreseeable future, and as such neither wanted to hold anything back.”

“Wow. I had no idea,” Elliot said.

“Well, we didn’t want to disturb anyone so she took me to a private area in the noble’s dormitory. Otherwise people would have heard us.”

“I’m surprised,” Elliot said. “I thought she was with Loggins.”

“Oh, of course Loggins was there too.”

What? “Huh?” Elliot asked.

“Unfortunately, he was not very interested in participating,” Laura continued. “He preferred standing on the sidelines and keeping track.”

Coming from anyone but Laura, Elliot would have been far too embarrassed to keep the conversation going. As things were, he was far too stunned to realize he should have been scandalized. “Keeping track?” Elliot asked. “What, like with a camera?”

Laura paused her stretching and tilted her head. “You know what, that would have been a good idea. I should look into doing that from now on, get a record of where exactly I falter and what I neglect and can improve.”

Elliot was speechless.

Laura resumed stretching. “But, to answer your question, no. He was acting as our scorekeeper.”

Huh? “What?” Elliot asked. 

Laura looked at him, a confused expression on her face like she was wondering where she had lost him. “Scorekeeper. For our duel.”

“Ooooh,” Elliot said. “You were dueling .”

“Of course,” Laura replied. 

“Yes. That makes sense,” Elliot said. “I’m glad you had fun.”

“Thank you. But I suspect you did not come here merely to congratulate me on a successful night of training. What is troubling you?” Laura asked. 

“I’m looking for Fie,” Elliot said.

Laura frowned. “Did she do something wrong?”

“What? No. At least, I don’t think so?” Elliot replied. “Why?”

“Machias was also looking for her.”

“He was?” 

“Yes, he asked me if I knew where she was after he gave me back my ARCUS.”

Oh, that. “No, this is something different. I’m actually looking for my ARCUS, and I’m hoping Fie might know where it is.”

Laura nodded and started stretching in a new position. “Well, unfortunately you’d know her location better than I would. I have not seen her since the two of you left the pool.”

“The pool?”

“Yes, in the gymnasium. I had heard that it had been opened up and went to take a look. When I got there, I found that maybe twenty, twenty-five of our classmates had already had the same idea. Presumably you did too. And I was fortunate you did.”

“Fortunate?” Elliot asked.

“Yes, without you bringing in the combat shells I would have likely spent the whole night making sure no one tried to jump from the balcony to the pool.”

“People were trying to do that?” Elliot asked, shocked. Even drunk, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t have done something like that. Pretty sure. 

Laura nodded. “Yes. Not many, thankfully, but I must admit that I was concerned. I believe that was why you both came over and asked me what was wrong.”

“Both?”

“Yes, you and Fie. I told you what I was doing and you said you had a great idea and left. Fie and I spoke for a short while, but you invited her away to join some others in jousting with pool toys they had found.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Elliot said. 

Laura shrugged. “It was fine. I was focusing quite hard on stopping would-be daredevils, and not on conversation. I even had to turn down Friedel’s initial invitations to competition, as I felt I could not properly compete and keep an eye out for any risk-takers. Fie did return later, and asked me how I was doing, and I told her I was doing my duty and keeping people safe. Moments later, you came over and she told you, well, the truth. That I was wishing I could have been enjoying myself with everyone else and accepting Friedel’s challenges as opposed to keeping watch.”

“Oh,” Elliot said, sympathetically. “I’m sorry you felt stuck doing that. I’m sorry I didn’t help you.”

Laura gave him another confused look. “You did. You said something about nearly forgetting something and left the room. When you came back, you were leading a trio of combat shells.”

“Ooooh,” Elliot said as it dawned on him. “Right. The combat shells. Of course. Uhm, wha- what did I use them for, exactly?” 

Laura frowned. “Do you not remember?”

“It’s… fuzzy,” Elliot lied. Laura clearly didn’t believe him, but saw no reason to press.

“You had two of them fly Friedel and me above the pool to dive in while you and Fie rode the third to keep watch over the balcony,” she explained. “It was thrilling, diving in front of everyone, competing with her, listening to the scores everyone was calling out. But I could tell it was not fair to everyone else who wanted to dive. I yielded to Friedel after the third dive, but she didn’t accept and yielded as well, giving us a draw. The crowd was disappointed, but they cheered up when you said they could take turns diving from the shells as well. I thanked you both as you came down and prepared to resume my watch, when Friedel had the idea of having the combat shell you and Fie were riding on keep an eye on the balcony.”

“That was smart of her,” Elliot said. “And you were able to relax?”

“Relax?” Laura said, saying the word like she had never heard of it.

“Uh, nevermi-” Elliot replied, stopping himself when he saw the small smile on Laura’s face. “Oh. Haha.”

Laura made a noise of contentment and continued her story. “It was quite relaxing though. Freidel and I continued competing in other ways until we grew tired of games and wanted to have a proper test of our skills.”

“Well, I’m glad I was able to help you,” Elliot said, and meant it. But the conversation had long since derailed from his question. “You said you saw Fie and me leaving?”

“Oh, yes!” Laura said, realizing how much of a tangent she had gone on. “I apologize. Yes, before I left, I saw you whispering something to her. She said something back, and you shook your head, touching her shoulder. She looked at you for a second and then went to the locker room. You came to me and said goodbye, asking me to ask Friedel to program the shells to go to the engineering building in the morning. You seem worried. Did the shells not arrive?” Laura asked, noticing the concern on Elliot’s face.

“No, no they did,” Elliot said, his voice making it clear his thoughts weren’t on the shells. “It just sounds like… Did it seem to you, maybe, that Fie wanted to stick around?”

Laura thought for a moment. “I could not tell you. I would not blame her if she did. I almost would have liked to stay as well. It was nice to see everyone having fun jumping from the combat shells. Your jump was quite the spectacle.”

“Mine?”

“Yes. I believe it is called a ‘cannonball’ but I am not sure,” Laura explained.

“How did I do a dive?” Elliot asked. “I didn’t have a swimsuit,” Elliot pointed out. He connected the dots moments before Laura spoke. 

“No one did,” she said.

Elliot made a noise like he was trying to say every letter in the alphabet and failed to say any of them. “You mean everyone was swimming… naked?” he said, nearly squeaking out the final word.

“Well, not everyone,” Fie said. “a few of us kept our underwear on.”

Elliot started to let out a sigh of relief.

“Not you and her though,” Fie continued. “You two were definitely naked.”

Elliot made that noise again. Wait. “Fie?” he said, turning to her. 

“Hi,” she replied with a small, two-fingered wave. “You’re a hard man to find, Elliot Craig. Then again, I guess it’s on me for not checking Laura sooner, given how you were looking at her last night.”

Elliot was so overwhelmed with surprise, he couldn’t begin to figure out what the undercurrent tone to Fie’s words meant, only that it wasn’t good. Oh, right, naked. Oh God. “Aidios, Laura, I am so so sorry,” he frantically said. “I didn’t mean to- I am so sorry.”

Laura waved him off, a gesture he almost missed through his babbling. “It’s fine, Elliot. You were a perfect gentleman.”

Elliot’s jaw clenched, like he was holding back more apologies. “Oh God, what did I do,” he muttered. He looked up and faced the two of them. “Was I there before you?” he asked Laura.

“No, you came sometime after me,” she replied. 

Okay, that was good, at least it meant he didn’t start the whole thing. “Please, please tell me I didn’t do anything creepy.”

“Not to my knowledge,” Laura said. 

Hearing he hadn’t started the skinny-dipping or leered at anyone allowed for most of the tension to leave his body, but now confusion flooded in to replace it. 

“When did you get here?” Elliot asked Fie. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Fie tilted her head slightly, which was the most confused she ever seemed to look. “Looking for me ? Why? I’ve been texting your ARCUS all day but none of my messages were getting through.”

“That’s why!” Elliot said, pointing at her in his excitement. Fie glanced at his outstretched finger and raised a single eyebrow. “Oh, sorry,” Elliot muttered, pulling his finger back.

Fie shrugged and blinked, her brow lowering. 

“Uhh, I’ve been looking for my ARCUS, I don’t know where it is, I was hoping maybe you did,” Elliot said, embarrassment making his speech speed up.

Fie’s brows scrunched as she thought. “Follow me,” she said, turning around and heading towards the dorm.

“Uhm, okay. Bye Laura,” Elliot said as he left. Laura started to return to farewell but found herself yawning into her fist instead.

“Uhm, it wasn’t just the ARCUS,” Elliot said to Fie’s back as he followed her through the building. “There were some things I needed to say to you.”

“Mm?”

Elliot took a deep breath. “I have to apologize. I’m sorry about throwing you around when we were supposed to be dancing, I’m sorry for losing the beer pong game because of my show-boating, I’m sorry I made you leave the pool when you didn’t want too, I’m sorry for not letting you finish your drink just because I was done talking with Gaius, I’m sorry for embarrassing you at the pawn shop and getting us thrown out,” he said, watching Fie’s shoulders for some type of a reaction and finding nothing. So he kept speaking. “And I’m sorry for making you spend the whole party making sure I didn’t do anything stupid. And thank you. Thanks for taking care of me last night. And this morning too, I’m guessing. I mean, Sharon didn’t know what I was talking about with the eggs, so I’m guessing those were you too-”

“Did you like them?” Fie asked him.

Elliot was so thrown by the unexpected interruption, the words didn’t quite register. “Huh?”

“The eggs,” she explained. “Did you like them?”

“Uhh, yeah,” he said. “They were good. And the hash browns- they were all good. Both good. I- I liked them.”

“Good,” Fie replied. She stopped walking and Elliot noticed where they were. The second floor, right in front of Elliot’s door. 

“Why are we…?” Elliot asked, trailing off.

“You really don’t give yourself a lot of credit, do you,” Fie said, opening the door. “I’m guessing you keep that whiskey your sister gave you somewhere in here?”

“How did you know about that?” Elliot asked.

Fie shrugged. “You might wanna go get it.”

Elliot started to ask more questions, but stopped himself. It was clear Fie wasn’t going to answer any at the moment. He went to his closet and rummaged around the back corner, finding the box he had hidden under a pile of clothing he didn’t particularly like. He opened it up and was surprised, but not surprised. It was hard to be truly surprised when it came to Fie. 

He picked up his ARCUS and spoke as he turned around. “How did you know it was-”

In Fie’s hands, she held an amber bottle decorated with a golden stag. “I didn’t,” she said.

“Where did you get that?” Elliot asked.

“You gave it to me,” Fie replied. Her eyes flicked up towards him, before focusing on the bottle. “Last night, after you walked me to my room. Machias messaged me and you took out your ARCUS thinking it was for you, then you laughed and told me you had forgotten your ARCUS was dead. You were still holding it when you told me to close my eyes and wait. I heard you leave the room. When I opened them, you were back, without your ARCUS, and with this bottle. I figured you had swapped one out for the other. It wasn’t much of a stretch, you also left Mint’s gift in my room.”

Elliot cringed. “Sorry about that. Thanks for delivering that for me.”

“Mmm.” Fie said, her eyes still on the bottle as she turned it in her hands. A moment passed.

“Thanks for helping me find this thing,” Elliot said, holding up his ARCUS and going to plug it in. “I never would have guessed to look for it there without you. I owe you.” He let out a semi-forced semi-genuine chuckle. “Even more, I mean.”

“Mmm.”

“Oh, uh, don’t worry about giving back the bottle,” Elliot said, nervously scratching his cheek. “I did give it to you, after all. And besides, it’s not like I’ll ever get any use out of it.”

“You said that last night, too,” Fie said, finally looking up. “You told me it was a present from your sister, that she gave it to you before you went to Thors. That she told you to use it as an excuse to get a pretty girl into your room. And then you said that it was wasted on you, that you’d never be able to get a girl into your room, and that I should have it so that it could be put to use.” She smiled faintly. “I think your exact words were, ‘so you could get a pretty girl into your room. Or a pretty guy. Or a pretty girl.’” 

Elliot blushed. “Sorry for forgetting about that.”

Fie made a little noise Elliot had never heard from her before. 

“Anyways,” Fie said, walking towards him. “You need to give yourself more credit. After all,” she had him cradle the bottle with his left arm, “You’ve already managed to get one girl in here.”

Elliot chuckled, Fie’s clear joke still helping to release tension he didn’t even know he had been holding all these months. “Th-” And his mind went blank.

Fie pulled back from him. “Thanks,” she said. She stepped back and took a breath, her gaze flickering from the ceiling to the bottle to him to the floor back to the bottle, avoiding his eyes. 

It was a miracle he didn’t drop the bottle out of shock. It had just been on the cheek, right at the edge of his lips, and if Elliot had the spare mental capacity to feel shame, he’d have been embarrassed about how electric it made him feel. The fingers on his right hand went up to touch the spot she had kissed. 

Fie turned around, her body language as nonplussed as ever. If Elliot didn’t know better, he’d swear the tips of her ears were pink as she left. 

The door closed behind her, leaving Elliot talking to an empty room.

“What?”

---------------

“How are you doing?”

“...”

“Enjoying the party?”

“...Not really.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just all… you know.”

“Overwhelming?”

“I guess. This tastes terrible.”

“Heh. Yeah, alcohol isn’t for everyone.”

“Mmm. I don’t really know what else to do though.”

“There’s tons of things to do without drinking. C’mon, I’ll show you.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“...I don’t wanna hold you back from having fun.”

He smiled. “It’ll be more fun with you.” Elliot offered her his hand.

Fie looked into his eyes, and took it.

Chapter Text

“Fie!” Machias said, running at her so quickly he almost left skid marks when he tried to stop. “I can’t tell you why but you need to give me your ARCUS!”

“Sure.”

“You’re the last one I need to delete and trust me you don’t- oh you said yes,” Machias said, taking Fie’s machine from her outstretched hand. He flicked it open, only to be greeted by the password screen. “Graaaaahh!” Machias let out a primal noise of frustration. “What’s your password!”

“...”

“Ugh, please ,” he said.

Fie nodded. “November.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Indigo.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Charlie.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Echo.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Lima.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Alfa.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Papa.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Delta.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Alfa.”

“Uh-huh.”

“November.”

“...”

“Charlie.”

“...”

“Echo.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“^^”

“Oh, shut up.”