Rebecca leaned on her chair, her eyes lifelessly staring at a giant spreadsheet. The spreadsheet stared at her back. "Temperature Distribution Model- Blood Moss," were written on the top center of the screen. Right below it, there was a little sentence in italics that stated, 'Do not procrastinate, Rebecca.' A small message from Lauren. The theurgist was finalizing her fifth collaboration project, and needless to say, this luxurious concept of 'sleep' had been unattainable for more than 31 hours.
The clock ticked 1 AM. Okay, make that 32 hours.
Frantically pinching her cheeks to stay away, Rebecca lethargically rummaged through numerous files to find the data for said spreadsheet. She was filling in the first column when she heard a light knock on her window. As she opened it, she saw a scene that was way out of ordinary.
Fog bombarded her balcony, and after a few seconds, Rebecca could make out a blurry red figure that resembled a flower. Indeed it was a flower- a rose to be exact. The smoke gradually faded away, only to reveal a tall, handsome figure with sleek sapphire eyes grinning at the exhausted life wizard. The gorgeous glow of aquamarine hair along with the slender yet muscular body indicated that the figure was none other than Kent.
"Kent." Rebecca sighed, slowly leaning onto the brim of her balcony. "What are you doing here?"
The thamaturge slowly rose. Apparently, she was sitting on a magically flying carpet that strictly reminded the life wizard of the tales of Aladdin. Hell, even the ice wizard's clothing seemed to fit into that category. 'Was she trying to cosplay Aladdin? Jasmine perhaps?' Rebecca wondered as she blatantly stared at the built stomach of her so-called 'friend', whose pale skin seemed to act as an illuminant in the sea of the starry night sky. The whole atmosphere seemed like a dream. Well, Rebecca wished it was.
Kent noticed how Rebecca gazed into her abs. She was surprised; Rebecca seemed to be more built than her, due to various reasons. Not that it mattered, though. The ice wizard sneered, as she gently pawed the sides of her stomach.
"You want me to provide you a full view there?" She chuckled. In return, the theurgist scowled, perching one hand on her forehead, brows furrowing. Kent did not seem deterred at all. After all, it was not the first time seeing Rebecca's sleep-deprived state.
"Come with me." The ice wizard flirtatiously whispered. She extended her right limb so that the tip of the rose was almost touching the theurgist's lips.
"No." Rebecca instantly replied, as she gently pushed the rose away.
"Rude." Kent's grin did not wear off. She, instead, shifted a bit to create some space in her 'magical rug'. "Hey now, there's plenty of room here. No need to be afraid."
The life wizard did not respond. She simply stared in an absurd way. The thamaturge shrugged.
"It's going to be a fun night, no?"
Still, no response.
'Lord. It's that bishie grin again,' Rebecca grimaced. She quickly tilted her head to the side, not to meet the ice wizard's gaze. The safest idea was to not look at Kent in the face, go back to her room, close the windows, and finish her work. Simple as that.
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have stuff to finish." Rebecca stood up, slowly stepping to the exit without looking behind. However, she was stopped by a pair of two cold yet soft hands gracefully holding her shoulders, giving a shiver in the spine.
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."
The grip on her arms only slightly tightened, but Rebecca was in no mood for bickering with this persistent 'friend' of hers. She simply slid out and, using her inhuman agility, went back into her room. The windows were shut and locked before Kent could even react. The thamaturge sighed, and disappeared into the darkness.
20 minutes passed, and Rebecca seemed to be on fire. No, she was not relying on coffee or any sugary material. The only thing she was relying on was her determination to finish this god damned project. Her fingers were trembling. She finished putting in the values, and was almost done with the calculations. All she had left was a graph, but her fingers were trembling even harder. 'Not now,' she thought, as she attempted to flex her hands. As expected, her hand coordination deteriorated due to fatigue.
"Not now. Not now." The theurgist murmured. "I'm almost done. Not now."
This was quite a peculiar occurrence, as stamina was one of her better traits. She had stayed up later than 1, obviously, but this time, the wizard felt numb. Her turquoise eyes headed down to her legs. Fortunately enough, the lower part of her body seemed capable of movement.
'A tactical decision at a critical hour,' Rebecca thought, 'is to head down to the kitchen and get some energizer potions.' She swirled around, and steadied herself as she limped downstairs to only see empty containers in her potion stash.
"Looking for this?" A voice echoed. It was the same voice from less than half an hour ago.
"Kent!" Rebecca growled. "What are you doing with my potions?"
"So Chase was right. You and Lauren are the unhealthiest people in Ravenwood." Kent sighed. She was holding a giant container of neon liquid on her left side. "Theurgists…"
"You did not answer my question. What are you doing with my potions?"
"Confiscating them. I've heard stories, courtesy to some pyromancer I know."
Rebecca's eyes widened, expressing utter confusion. "Why in the world would yo-"
Kent only lightly smiled at her. The thamaturge's tall height shadowed the theurgist as the former leaned closer to have a look at the latter's face.
"Kent, what are you doing?" Rebecca asked with her voice low and hoarse.
"No need to have such a shit-eating expression there. Your lengthy under-eye bags don't help either."
Rebecca deeply exhaled. "Listen, I need my potions. If my fingers weren't numb…"
"Your fingers are numb?"
That was the moment when the life wizard realized she messed up.
"Well shit- that's not it. Look-"
Obviously, she didn't sound very convincing, from the looks of the ice wizard with her jaw slightly dropped. Rebecca found no point in denying the obvious fact. She was too tired, and she definitely needed her potions.
"The project you're working on-" Kent asked. Her voice was kept low, as if she was trying to coax a beast. "What do you have left?"
'That change in voice was completely unnecessary,' Rebecca thought. She still answered, though. "A diagram. I'm almost done."
Kent nodded, but the dubious gleam of her eyes didn't disappear.
"Fine, then. It seems like you're tired, though. Let me do the carrying."
"Hm?"
"Up you go. I told you; I'll do the carrying. I'm talking about the liquid."
"Oh-?"
It was that moment when Rebecca stepped back in her room when she realized that Kent was only carrying the large container of energizer potion. No, she didn't bring any cups. Nor any device that the theurgist could use to actually drink the substance. The life wizard quickly shot a glare at her friend, who just closed the doors. It didn't take her even a second to realize that the canister was nowhere to be seen. The ice wizard did not even bother to glance back.
"Not so smart when sleep deprived, eh?"
"You are simply ridiculous." The life wizard grumbled.
"You aren't the one to say."
Rebecca perched down on her bed, her eyelids gradually drooping. Her gaze faded, only to see the shimmering screen of her spreadsheet. If she would, she'd shove Kent out of her way and finish the project, but-
"Rebecca, listen-" Kent sighed. For the first time, she actually seemed like a serious person, which struck to Rebecca as something pretty… absurd. Everyone in Ravenwood believed that she was a cool and collected student, which was basically, her "charm". Bull-shit.
"I am not in the state to bicker with you, Kent. Now, if you hand me a cup of that drink-"
"To hell with your drink."
"Kent-"
"To hell with your project." Her voice grew lower and smoother each time she started speaking. The ice wizard grabbed a pillow and lightly shoved it in front of her 'friend'. She then made room for herself in the bed, lightly pulling the theurgist so that she was in a comfortable position. "You're almost done with the project, so finish it in the morning."
Both wizards knew that, in this situation, Rebecca would deck Kent in the jaw, had she been more energetic. This was nowhere near intimate, but Kent decided to pull her hands away, only to have Rebecca lie down in peace. Alone. Just as she liked it.
"I'm surprised Chase didn't tell you why I don't finish projects in the morning." The theurgist murmured. Her eyes were barely open at this point, and, although she felt the presence of a cold hand gently stroking her hair, she didn't bother to move. More like, she couldn't.
"He did, and I'll wake you up early tomorrow." The response was rather soft, like a lullaby.
There was a long pause, which was cut off by Rebecca's whisper.
"….us."
"Say what?"
"Your clothes are ridiculous…"
Despite the content of the statement, the voice seemed fairly fond. Kent considered that as a victory.