Chapter Text
Lady Lesso set her teacup down with a thunk.
“Is something wrong, darling?” Clarissa asked, swallowing a sip of mint tea.
“Those damn kids. Look,” she gestured with her cane, “over there.”
From the office window, she could see a single light on among the dark towers of the School for Evil. If Lesso squinted, she could make out the silhouettes of at least 8 Nevers. If her memory served her correctly, and it always did, that room, Room 34, had no students assigned to it. So, there were no reasons for students to be there, unless, of course, they wanted to break curfew for the sake of ‘fun’.
Clarissa sighed, “I suppose we should go send them to bed.”
“We?”
“Alright, you should go send them to bed. I’ll just stand where they can’t see me.”
“You’re coming?”
“Of course. Just because we’re being interrupted doesn’t mean I can’t keep spending time with you.”
Clarissa smiled, and Lesso turned into the shadows to hide the blush creeping across her face.
“Here,” she passed Clarissa one of her coats, “This way you won’t stand out as much.”
“Thank you.”
Clarissa slipped the dark grey coat over her yellow silk gown, buttoning it up with her dark, slender fingers. Lady Lesso had never wanted to be a button so badly.
“You look good in my clothes,” she said with a proud smirk as she grabbed her cane. “Let’s go yell at some children.”
“Don’t yell at them, they’re just having fun,” scolded Clarissa, adopting her ‘serene fairy godmother’ tone.
“Alright princess, I won’t yell at them…too much.”
She chuckled as Clarissa playfully hit her on the arm. After pushing the door open, the two of them stepped into the dark hallways of the School for Evil.
“Where are we going anyway?” Clarissa was eyeing the hallways like they were some frightful new beast. Oh right, the Dean of Good had never been in this part of the School for Evil before. Clarissa knew how to get to Lesso’s office and some of the classrooms, but she’d never been to the kids’ rooms before.
“Room 34. It’s that way.” She gestured vaguely upwards to her left.
They spent the rest of the walk in silence, and Clarissa slowly looped her arm around Lesso’s so they were walking arm in arm. It struck Lesso that her lover was holding her the same way a princess would hold onto a prince. Clarissa clung a bit tighter to Lesso when they passed open dark hallways or frightful paintings. Maybe they should do this more often.
They turned a corner, and ahead of them were dorm rooms 30 - 40. Light glowed from inside Room 34, and they could hear student’s laughs and delighted shrieks.
“What are they doing in there?” asked Clarissa, still attached to her darling’s arm.
Lesso shrugged, “Let’s find out. Can I have my arm back?”
“Sorry,” Clarissa said, letting Lesso go.
“Don’t be sorry.” Lesso rolled her shoulders, and smoothed out the creases in her coat. “You stay over there where they can’t see you.”
“I could just use magic.” The glow of Clarissa’s finger glow shone through the dark hallway.
“Oh, right.”
Clarissa vanished into thin air, as Lesso got ready to put on a show.
Lady Lesso walked towards the door, her high heels clicking on the cobblestones. All chatter in Room 34 stopped. A smile danced across her lips. As she stretched out her steps the light in the room dimmed, and students began to whisper to each other in the dark.
“Isn’t this a bit dramatic?” an invisible Clarissa asked.
“No.”
Lesso nudged the door with the tip of her shoe, and it swung open revealing an ‘empty’ bedroom. Resting her cane on the ground, she stood tall, imperious, and completely still. There were quite a few blankets covering student-sized lumps in the room; what a coincidence. In the center lay a smooth glass bottle, its contents long gone.
About 5 seconds later, Lesso decided to speed up the process. She could feel Clarissa’s eyes on the nape of her neck, and figured she might as well make this more fun. Slowly stepping inside, she pushed the door shut with a click.
Students threw their blankets off in relief, only to have the colour drain from their faces as they saw Lady Lesso standing there. She smiled at them like a cat who finally had a little mouse in its claws.
“Good evening.” She savoured every syllable as they rolled off her tongue.
“Lady Lesso,” stammered a flustered Nevergirl, “We…we were just, I mean, we….” she looked to her classmates for help, only to find them paralyzed in fear.
“Remind me, what are the rules surrounding curfew? Anyone?” The following silence stretched out for an eternity, until one Neverboy raised a shaky hand. “Yes?”
“All students must be in their rooms for curfew at 10:15.”
She nodded sharply, “and what time is it?”
“...1 in the morning?”
“That’s right. So,” Lady Lesso stepped to one side, “you should all get TO BED!” The students jumped as she slammed the door open, and they scurried out as fast as they could. A few made eye contact with her. She glared at them, and they quickly looked away.
“That was a tad harsh, darling.”
Lesso smelled Clarissa’s perfume before she saw her. Honey and roses. The scent clung to everything that spent more than a day in Clarissa’s presence, which, on more than one occasion, included Lesso herself.
“They’re Nevers, they won’t learn if they aren’t scared.” She knelt down and picked up the bottle, her coat sweeping the ground. “Look at what they were playing.”
“Spin the bottle?” A warm smile spread across Clarissa’s lips. “I remember that.”
“Mmm.”
An idea stuck her, and Lesso set the bottle down on a table. With a flick of her wrist, she sent it spinning.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m spinning the bottle, princess.” It stopped, pointing at the wall. “Oh look,” Lesso nudged the tip of the bottle towards her lover with one glossy nail, “it landed on you.”
“What a coincidence.” Clarissa kicked the door shut. “Well,” she continued, her voice low and smooth as she took step after agonizlingly slow step towards Lesso, “I suppose I have to follow the rules.”
“You are the Dean of Good.”
Lesso snaked her hands around her lover’s waist.
“And you’re the Dean of Evil.”
Clarissa’s breath warmed her skin.
They moved together as one.
Lesso pulled Clarissa against her chest as Clarissa placed her hands on either side of Lesso’s head, her fingers tangling in her darling’s red hair. The kiss was wonderful, as they always were. How were Clarissa’s lips always so soft and sweet?
Panting, Clarissa broke the kiss. Her chest heaved a little, and Lesso had to remind herself where her lover’s eyes were.
“We should break up student parties more often.”
Clarissa smiled, and leaned forward so she was resting her head on Lesso.
“We really should, my darling.”