It began as scribbles in the margins. That was how all stories began, but when they came in the middle of Lotte's History of Magic class, she wondered when she'd be able to turn them into an actual story. The homework from various classes was piling up as the midterms were nearing. All Lotte wanted was a chance to let her mind rest, and to twist those words sprinkled across her notebooks into a new story.
It wasn't just any story. It was Night Fall fanfiction. Lotte had written a small story about Belle and Arthur that had absentmindedly been left in the school library. Much to her relief, it wasn't a teacher who found it. Since she had written it on the back of a test, the front side had her name in the upper corner. She had found it returned to her dorm room the next evening, with a small note written at the bottom.
"I really liked it! Please write more!" with a little smiley face.
The story had been written on a whim. Its prose was more florid than any of her school assignments, but Lotte didn't think it anything special. While she was embarrassed that someone had discovered it, the fact that they liked it was enough to calm her frazzled nerves. Who could have sent her that message?
Akko was too much of a Shiny Chariot fangirl to have time for fiction. She was more interested in real exploits. If it had been Sucy, the writing would have been more venomous. It couldn't have been Diana. The idea that someone of her caliber, from one of the oldest magical families in the world, would be interested in reading fanfiction from a bodice-ripper romance/time travel series was close to impossible.
The only way to make sure was to do it again. Lotte reached into her notebook and found an outline for a different story, this one focused on shipping Edgar and Arthur. The books had been dropping too many hints towards it, there was no way she wasn't going to have them engage in some man-on-man romance, even if it was unofficially.
She left the outline in the library, and returned to her dorm room. Once class had finished, she waited. Akko and Sucy eventually fell asleep. She was the only one up. The bedroom was illuminated faintly by the light of her skull lantern, casting her shadow on the wall. There came a knocking at her door. Lotte feared for a moment that it might be one of the teachers, but the voice on the other end proved otherwise.
"Lotte?" asked the voice. "I've come to return the paper you left."
"Jasminka?" asked Lotte, confusedly.
"Come back to my room," said Jasminka. "I want to show you something."
Lotte felt nervous walking down the hall at night. In a school as old and empowered as Luna Nova, she was almost certain something was watching her. Yet, the room of the troublemaker trio was not far from her own. Jasminka closed the door behind them, and opened her drawer on the desk at the room's edge.
"Where are...?" Lotte started.
"Amanda's off on another night run. Constanze is in her workshop. I don't think either of them are going to be back for some time," said Jasminka. "Let me see if I can find it."
Lotte looked at Jasminka's shelves. There was a strange device that looked like she had borrowed it from Constanze. A deck of Tarot cards with the name of famous American manufacturer. A field guide to mushrooms. On the next shelf over was a small book, the kind sold on Shiny Chariot's tours. Wedged in the back of the shelf was a paperback copy of Night Fall volume 31. Its previous owner had written in the margins. It wasn't Lotte's favorite book in the series, but it had contributed several recurring elements, some of which had remained to this day.
"What is all of this?" asked Lotte.
"I always want to know more about what my friends are interested in," said Jasminka. "I'm not deeply into anything besides baking, but I know about a lot of things. I was surprised you were writing fanfiction."
"It's kind of embarrassing," said Lotte.
"No, I think it's very you. You've always been a thoughtful person," said Jasminka.
"Even in centuries of writing, there are things the books would never go into," said Lotte. "I just wanted to picture a scene where Belle watches Edgar and Arthur talking about their love for her, and she feels all happy. Then they drop their underwear and start kissing passionately, their hands reaching for each others'..."
"No, go on," said Jasminka. "You're into that?"
"It was just fantasies, but lately I've been thinking about Frank's... you know," said Lotte. "I want to learn how to use magical tools. If you catch my meaning."
"Do you want to read together?" said Jasminka. "I'd love to ask the author herself about this. There are some references I don't understand."
"I drew a lot from later material," said Lotte.
Jasminka slipped out of her PJs, leaving her in only her underwear. She unhooked her bra, letting her bosom hang freely on her chest. Lotte had showered with Akko and Sucy before, but this sudden stripping caused her to begin stammering, searching for the right word for this unusually sensual situation.
"C'mon, you too," said Jasminka. "We're reading naughty stuff."
Lotte followed, throwing her pajamas to the floor and unhooking her bra. Her eyes kept darting about in her glasses, going up and down between looking at the page and admiring the shape of Jasminka's breasts and stomach. She was a stocky girl, especially in comparison to Lotte's rather petite form.
"Do your fingers... wander?" asked Lotte.
"All the time," said Jasminka.
Lotte smiled widely. "I'm really happy you enjoy my stuff. Akko's so focused on the Seven Words she doesn't have time. Sucy tried to read it once, but kept making fun of me. It's good to have some attention paid to someone with so little presence like me."
Jasminka reached into her drawer and produced two small bags of jellybeans. "I don't have much presence, either. But Lotte, you have to do what makes you feel happy. Do you want to be a writer?"
Lotte told Jasminka the story of sneaking out to attend the release of the latest Night Fall volume. She had been offered a chance to essentially publish fanfiction professionally, but declined for multiple reasons. She had been surprised that Annabel Creme was a girl close to her age, going through a similar rut of self-doubt.
"It doesn't have to be Night Fall. There's probably a story in you somewhere that's just as hot as this," said Jasminka. The spot underneath her was already growing slightly damp, with a similar enthusiasm matched only by that of a good meal.
"Do you want a reading?" asked Lotte. "It always sounded much better in my head."
Jasminka nodded in anticipation. "I'm happy if you remain Lotte. Your headcanon is really sweet and erotic. If you want to share these stories with someone, my room is open any time," said Jasminka. "Maybe in the future, you could become the next Annabel," She leaned into Lotte's ear and whispered, "because your stories make me cream."
Her face turned bright red, overcome with embarrassment and joy. Lotte began to read.
"Edgar was enjoying himself in his wooden bath, as vampires liked to..."