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"I hope it's to your liking!" Krile studied Y'shtola as the mage rotated the tall, uniform cup in her hand, surveying its steaming contents. The coffee it held was a blend of Alexandrian varieties, brewed to the perfect temperature; the best one could currently find in Solution 9, many had claimed.
"We shall see." Y'shtola tipped the cup, and Krile watched her from the brim of her own cup with clandestine interest, fighting a private battle. One that she'd waged for years, weathering each new tide as it drew in and ebbed, until new circumstances brought it back to the fore; a war of attrition between what was best and the deeper desires she dared not name.
Blessedly, Y'shtola remained none the wiser as she mulled over the coffee.
"Not to your tastes, then," Krile ventured, smiling as she failed to conceal the mild disappointment and mirth in her voice. She didn't need her Echo to know how Y'shtola felt—her nose was scrunched up, and it reminded her of a cat she once saw in Sharlayan as it had sniffed at a fallen morsel of Archon loaf, only to recoil in undisguised disgust. It was a look she hadn't seen in a very long time, and the sight of it was as wistful as it was delightful.
"It was hardly the worst thing to assail my senses, but I remain unimpressed." Y'shtola brought the cup to her lips again, as though rallying to give it another try, only to think better of it and set the cup down.
"My apologies for putting you through this, then." The slight quaver in her voice made her cringe, though she was successful in betraying nothing of the latter.
"Don't fret on my behalf," Y'shtola countered kindly. "I've never been partial to coffee, not even at the Last Stand." She pushed the cup towards the centre of the table, gently punctuating her point. "One of these days, we should convene at the Rising Stones for a proper tea, sweets and all."
"I have found myself dearly missing a freshly brewed cup," Krile agreed wholeheartedly. "I managed to find some in Tuliyollal some moons ago, but it was so madly expensive…I'm sure Tataru would be more than glad to join us, as well. It's been far too long."
"That it has." Y'shtola's eyes had fallen half-shut; reminiscing those moments of repast, perhaps. The smile that accompanied it sent Krile's heart fluttering. Be still, she told herself, her fingers tightening around the cup between them.
There was so much Krile could say she appreciated about Y'shtola, were she ever forced to answer that question—her drive, her intelligence, her uncompromising radiance. The care underpinning it all. But it was these moments of simple, undivided time that she savoured the most, and she carefully committed each one to memory, that she might return to them in private moments; when weakness overcame her and she could no longer bear to look away from that which yearned to blossom.
They were colleagues first and foremost, and she'd never let herself forget that. But the years of common purpose and collaboration had nevertheless brought them closer. Krile still remembered how she'd first viewed Master Matoya's brightest pupil with something akin to reverence, feeling herself unworthy to stand beside such accomplished company. On the other hand, she could no longer remember the exact moment professional propriety had given way to the warmth of a new friendship—only that it had happened somewhere during those dark days at Rhalgr's Reach, feverishly tending to Y'shtola as she'd fought not to outlast the grevious injury Zenos gave her.
A flash of old resentment stirred, like magma beneath a volcanic skin. Krile had been privy to everything—the endless bloodied bandages, the restless pain. The waves of anger and disappointment radiating from Y'shtola herself, once she'd been lucid enough to ruminate. She had been so, so relieved when she'd finally recovered, for she had come to realise that she could not bear to lose another friend.
And even after everything he'd done to them, to her, she had still—
"Krile?"
Out of well-honed reflex, she took a long draught from her cup, trusting the large ears of her hood to conceal the rest. "I was just a little lost in thought, thinking about all that's happened. In Treno, especially."
Get a grip on yourself, Krile. It was in everyone's best interests that she did not dwell on it.
Even if…