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"…I should go…I've already been gone far too long."
"It's late. Nobody will be here."
There was a laugh, with an edge of bitterness. "You'll be surprised." After a moment, however, there was a sigh, and arms wrapped around him. "I suppose…just an hour or two won't hurt."
Healer simply smiled as he kissed his Fount's brow before he sank into the softness of the bed and the warmth of his Fount's embrace, his eyes sliding shut.
What felt like moments later, he opened his eyes again.
The room was much darker now. Outside, if he craned his head to peek out the window, stars glimmered around the moon. There was a clock he had to squint to see- it had been five hours.
An hour or two indeed.
While Healer was happy to enjoy this, a need was pressing against him.
He gently pushed his way free of the Fount's arms and reached blindly to the floor. What he found was heavier than the light robes the Fount provided, a bit bigger, but it was fine. He couldn't go out naked, just in case. He slid the robe over his head and made his way out of the room.
Now, the bathroom was just this way, right?
He stumbled through the dark hall, eventually opening a door. A light flicked on, revealing a simple bathroom. He shut the door behind him as he entered.
After his business was done, Healer trotted back down the hall. However, in the darkness, making his already poor eyesight worse, it was hard to tell which door was which. He had never been in the Fount's bedroom before, so he had to guess.
"I think…it was this door?"
It was quiet, peaceful.
Myrtle curled up close to Vidya, more asleep than awake, enjoying the warmth of her fellow witch and the bed.
And then there was a musical ding! After a moment, the ding repeated, and repeated, all coming from an orb set on her desk. Myrtle sighed as her eyes opened.
There was a groan from next to her. "The spell's going off…"
"I know, I hear it," She sat up and got out of bed.
"Do you really have to answer? Surely it can't be that important…"
"I'm just checking." Her Fount was usually good at timing their talks. Sometimes, his schedule was a little strange, but he was helping people and teaching. Surely, that was the explanation. If he was calling now, there must be a reason. "I'll be done in a minute or two, don't worry."
Ding! Ding!
"I'm coming, I'm coming…" Wrapping the blanket around herself, Myrtle headed to the orb. Eveline would probably throw a fit if she saw her, considering her whole thing about how the witches should be worshipped, but it was her Fount. He wouldn't care. She yawned as she activated the spell, her eyes crinkling shut. "My dear Fount, what do you-"
She looked.
Her Fount did not stare back at her.
Instead, a blonde cookie with bandages falling around his face, revealing wide eyes, stared up at her.
There would already be several questions, most of them revolving around the fact that this area was the Fount's private quarters and she had never seen another cookie in that room. A few more popped up as Fount's robe slid down, exposing a thin shoulder.
"…Hello?"
The cookie shrieked and, despite herself, Myrtle shrieked.
Vidya sat straight up, looking wildly around. "Wha-Huh- What's happening?!"
In the orb, there were frantic footsteps before the Fount, a blanket wrapped around him, appeared in the doorway of the communication room. "What's going on?! Healer, what are you doing in here?!"
"I'm sorry, I thought this was the door to your room, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-!"
"Who- my Fount?!"
He shrieked as they made eye contact and grabbed the cookie, dropping his blanket at the same time. Another shriek escaped her as the blanket revealed his naked form, dropping her own blanket to cover her eyes. Before she could ask more questions, he pulled the smaller cookie out of the room, slamming the door shut.
Myrtle pulled her hands away from her eyes and blinked, as if something else would pop up.
"Myrtle? What happened?"
What had happened?
"…I think the Fount has a partner."
The next day passed in silence, followed by the next, and the next.
The Fount had never missed a meeting with her. He liked the daily meetings, according to him, because he got to talk to her. Myrtle also enjoyed it, because she got to make sure her creation was doing well.
However, he didn't appear. Neither did the other cookie. She found herself hovering by the orb, waiting.
She had other things to do, but this was important.
"Maybe he's just embarrassed," Brigid said during lunch that day, the thirteen of them seated together and eating. "He's never had a real relationship before, right? I would avoid my mother if she saw me naked with another person, especially if that was my first relationship."
"He shouldn't be naked with another person," Eveline said, huffing. "He's one of our emissaries. If he's off fucking-" A grunt cut off her next words as the table rattled, and Simcha, seated next to her, smiled around the spoon in her mouth.
"Herald has a few spouses, and he's doing a great job," she said. "He always tells me about them and how they're doing!"
"Oh, that's nice!"
"Yeah, most of them are pretty great."
"How did you start that conversation?"
"…I don't know," Simcha admitted. "I mean, it's probably different between a grown man and a teenager, right?"
"…Right."
"Maybe apologize for the whole incident?" Godiva offered. "Send a letter. Tell him you didn't mean to cause such an incident and that you would like to meet that cookie properly. I did the same thing when Master of Volition started talking about Rice Cloud Haetae a lot."
She nodded. "That's a good idea."
After lunch, Myrtle wrote a quick letter. She kept it brief, fighting the urge to make it more of an apology than it was. She let out a sigh as the envelope disappeared into the little portal before turning to her other work.
Hopefully, this would help.
The next day, there was a ding!
Myrtle almost dropped everything to rush over. "My dear Fount?!"
"My witch…"
The Fount appeared, fully dressed this time.
Next to him, almost hiding, was the blonde cookie. He wore elegant white and gold robes, with bandages wrapped around his eyes. He held a flower-shaped staff that seemed to stare up at her.
They stared at each other for a long moment.
The blonde cookie took the Fount's free hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
As if encouraged, the Fount cleared his throat. "My witch, allow me to introduce Healer. He has recently become a dear companion of mine, and serves the kingdom as a developer of healing magic." Healing magic? A mortal cookie had developed healing magic? Before she could ask more questions, the Fount looked at Healer. "My dear Healer, this is my creator, the Witch of Healing."
Healer stepped forward and bowed.
"My witch," he said softly, with a warm kindness baked into the words. "It is an honor."
She smiled as she nodded back.
"The honor is all mine."