Work Text:
“Well! What do you think?”
“It looks very pretty, Alice.” Nicole says as she looks up at her best friend. She lets her head fall back on the table with a sigh.
“Of course it does. I made it.” Alice says with a smug look on her face and walks up to where Nicole is sitting. “Tea?” Alice pulls out the chair next to Nicole who juts a thumb behind her shoulder.
She turns her head on the table to look at Alice’s dodoco sculpture which was placed next to the one Nicole was working on before Alice arrived and smiles. Alice quickly comes back with their signature teaset and sits beside Nicole.
“This tea is lovely,” Alice says with a hum.
“Yes, the Moon Goddess gave it to me. She said it was among the things Sandrone left for her. She gave some for everyone in the group.”
Alice nods and stares at Nicole for a brief moment “Okay, out with it,” she taps on Nicole’s head.
“What?” Nicole asks her as she sits up straight.
Alice raises an eyebrow and brings the teacups near the kettle, “You barely said a word to me while I was making that sculpture! Who are you and what have you done with my babbling Nicole?” she says and pours tea into both of their cups.
Nicole chuckles and takes one of the teacups from Alice, “Things at the border all good?” Alice takes a sip from her cup “Yeah, yeah, Barbie helped. Now stop deflecting the question and answer me.”
Nicole puts down her teacup with a sigh, “I was just thinking-“
“Oh dear.”
Nicole swats at Alice’s arm with a frown, “What? For someone called ‘The Guide Who Will Never Get Lost’ you get lost in your thoughts quite often.” Alice says with a shrug and brings her teacup toward her lips.
Nicole continues, “I was just thinking about The First Angel and The Voyager.”
“Hmm? Why?”
“The Traveler came by to help me here and I told them a little story. In the form of a fairytale, of course.” Nicole stares into her cup, her hands fidgeting with it’s handle.
Alice nods and looks at her tea for a long time before taking a sip. The two witches drink in silence until Alice refills her cup.
“Would you still love me if I was a seelie, Alice?”
Alice snorts into her tea. She was used to Nicole's habit of throwing random questions at her out of the blue, but this one managed to catch her off guard.
Nicole blushes and doesn’t give Alice enough time to process her words as she continues talking: “The Moon Goddess spent quite a long time next to Sandrone’s body.”
Alice looks at her with a small furrow in her brows, “Yes, I hear she’s very distraught.” she replies and Nicole, content with the change in topic, says “Did you know that the first thing she did with her Trilune authority was try to revive Sandrone?”
“Naberius would have fun with that. Do you think we should contact Rhinedottir?” Alice says with a smirk.
Nicole giggles as she picks up the kettle and pours tea into her own cup which was emptied “Reminded me a lot of you after Ivanovna’s death, actually.” She stops it at that, lest she stir up memories long buried in the past. She knows Alice wouldn’t be very fond of that—some grief is shared better when it goes unnamed.
Alice sighs with a sad smile on her face while Nicole keeps talking to prevent Alice from going back to their previous topic, “The first time she opens her eyes and it’s the corpse of her loved one that she sees,” she shakes her head. “Well, they’re sending her to Fontaine so it’s all good, I hope. Oh! Did I tell you that I was talking with Barbeloth before you came? She was gasconading on and on about how she got Columbina’s divination all-“
Alice puts down her teacup with a clink that stops Nicole’s rant. “Well that depends on who you fall in love with.” Nicole looks up at Alice with her eyebrows raised. “To fall in love so deeply that it breaks your elemental crown and makes you incite a rebellion against the Heavenly Principles? Pretty epic if you ask me. High standards.” Alice says with a shrug.
Nicole pushes away her half-filled teacup and lays her forehead on the table with a wistful sigh.
How stupid of me to think that Alice of all people would let it go...
After a brief moment of silence she hears Alice’s laughter and raises her head with a confused look. “You should’ve seen the look on your face,” she shakes her head, still laughing.
“I was kidding, Nicole. I don’t care who you fall in love with. Even if it’s the most mundane of loves, I would still carry you around-“ Alice frowns-How does one carry a seelie?-“I would still follow you around while you guide me to treasure chests.”
Alice sits back in her chair and folds her arms with a mischievous grin, “Maybe then I’ll finally be able to convince you to join me on my adventures and when night falls I’d set up camp next to your seelie court.” she snickers.
Nicole doesn’t have a reply to that and shakes her head, laughing along with Alice. Alice stands up as their laughter dies down, “Now, as much as I’d like to stay here with you, Windblume is coming up and I have to go collect the gifts I made for little Klee.”
Nicole nods with a genuine smile on her face. Alice steps away from her chair and takes a few steps down the stairs before turning back,
“Now, will you do me a favor and go talk someone else’s ear off while I’m away? I’d hate to see you moping around here and worrying your pretty little mind about remote possibilities, my dear Nicole.”