It was dark and quiet at the company house, clearly past midnight. loud noises could be heard coming from someone's private chamber.
"Ugh, what is that damn kid doing?" the bronze skinned elezen woman sat up in her bed with a frustrated look on her face. "Wait... that's not coming from Laris' room? where is the source?" she wondered.
Leona got out of her bed and exited the room. The clashing and thudding noises were even more clearer now.
"Well, its not coming from Robin's room either. I thought maybe she had a special guest over.."
Leona slowly walked towards Gaius' chamber. "Perhaps Nutkin is on the loose. I should check."
The bedroom door opened, it was unlocked and it didn't creak at all. "No wonder Laris can get in so easily."
Leona peered into the scholar's room, and there was no sight of any ruckus going on. Nutkin was peacefully sleeping on the end of Gaius' bed, and he was out cold.
"Hmm. wrong again." Leona slowly closed the door.
She then made contact with the next door down the hallway. Faint yelling could be heard from inside the room. "Bingo." the brunette elf smirked and opened the door.
"Hello, my name is Leona Mercer. I don't believe we have met before?" she calmly asked the dark haired roegadyn woman in front of her.
"ARE YOU CLOSE WITH MR. NASSAU?!" the woman screeched as she turned around.
"N-no! I just look up to him! He's a great guy!" Leona spat out her words in distress over the woman's sudden outburst. "Calm down! Do you need help with something?" Leona asked.
"This may be my last hope. I'm completely out of options. All of my concoctions have failed me." the roegadyn said to herself.
"All you had to do was ask. There's no need to throw things and have a fit, okay? What is this even about?" asked Leona, as she grew more confused. "Also, please tell me your name."
"Paris. i'm Paris Na- i mean Winter." she said as she opened the tome in her hand. Leona could clearly see the words 'Mrs Nassau' written in various fonts and colours all over the page.
"Do you... have feelings for Gaius?" Leona asked Paris.
"YES! I WANT HIM FOREVER!" Paris threw her arms up with a big smile on her face. "He is everything to me. Ever since i joined the company and saw him with my own two eyes. I couldn't look away, it was like he had me spellbound..." she went on and on about the au ra man like he was god's greatest gift.
"What will you do if i help you get close to him?" Leona asked the lovestruck woman.
"Anything! Just get that man to love me!" Paris suddenly had a very serious look on her face. She was dead set on achieving this goal.
"Okay. you have a deal." Leona nodded. She had a few ideas in mind regarding what she wanted from this. Most of them including moogles.
"Alright. First things first. Gaius is terrible at acknowledging people's existence, unless of course the person bothers him a lot. like Laris." Leona explained.
"That stupid boy... stealing all of my man's attention! I'll curse him!" Paris scoffed.
"So, to get his attention and NOT be a pest like Laris, we have to organise.. you could say, an appointment. Then you would have his full attention." Leona continued.
"An appointment for what though?" Paris asked.
"Well, he loves to teach people how to do things so... is there anything you want to learn?" Leona replied.
"I am also a scholar just like Gaius. I just don't use it much. I prefer casting spells to harm not heal." Paris said.
"Perfect. Okay Paris, to get Gaius to notice you, send him a letter saying you want to learn the ways of healing." Leona smiled.
"Oh... learning to heal with Mr Nassau will most definitely heal my heart! It's like a dream come true. Only me.. and him.. together... ahaha!" the roegadyn woman began laughing excitedly.
A tall figure quickly jumped out of his bed and made his way to the front of the room.
"What is this?" He said as he bent over and picked up an envelope that was wedged underneath the door. He began to read the contents out loud.
"Dear Mr Nassau (the words 'Future Husband' can be seen crossed out on the other side of the letter) my name is Paris, i want you. Meet me in my chamber, it's right next to yours."
Gaius slowly lowered his arms and placed the letter on his work table.
"Interesting." a young man's voice could be heard just outside the door.
"What's interesting?" Gaius asked, as he left his room.
"It kinda sounded like you mistakenly got one of my fan letters. This woman sounds so demanding and powerful! I'm actually jealous. Ooh, you lucky man." Zaren sighed dramatically.
"It's just a request for me to help?" Gaius said, confused with the elezen's words.
"Oh boy... I think you are the one that needs help with a little thing called love.." said Zaren as he snickered and walked away.
Gaius stared at the door in front of him, thinking about what he was possibly needed for. "Alright. I'm coming in." The dark haired au ra said as he opened the door. It was a small library. It almost looked like it belonged to the enemy with its dark aura and evil feel to it. Books could be seen in every direction. It was honestly every scholar and summoner's dream to own all this knowledge.
"Seven hells..." Gaius was completely amazed. "Just who is this Penny woman?"
"H-HELLO GAIUS!" Paris loudly stuttered.
"Ah. Are you Penny? the owner of this private chamber?"
"MY NAME IS PARIS!" she shouted.
Leona was hiding behind one of the bookshelves. "Shh! Don't shout that's weird! You'll scare him away!" She whispered as loud as she could at Paris.
"Oh, your name is Paris. I apologise for calling you Penny just now." Gaius walked over towards the woman. "So what is it you want from me? I can't imagine that you are stupid, with all these fantastic books in your possession."
"I-uh.. I require knowledge about healing. I have the books, but no actual experience." Paris awkwardly looked away. The love of her life was in her room, talking to her. It was an unbelievable sight.
"I see.. would you like to begin training with me? Also, i must warn you that my training is very strict." Gaius said with a serious tone.
"YES! I mean, yes that would be n-nice." Paris replied nervously as she looked in Leona's direction. Leona gave her new friend a thumbs up and grinned at her.
"It's settled then. Shall we leave to start now?" Also, its very dark in here. Could you please turn the light on so i don't trip on anything?" Gaius requested.
"Of course! I'm sorry!" Paris said as she hastily reached for the switch.
"Woah!" a young flamboyant voice filled the room as he tripped over his own tail and bumped into a bookshelf behind Gaius, causing it to fall.
"GAAAAAAIUS!" Paris screamed and dived underneath the falling books.
"Heeyah!" Leona quickly threw her lance, and it wedged itself between the shelf and floor for a moment, then her weapon snapped in half.
"Damn! Are you two okay?! Leona yelled as she hurried over towards her friends and lifted the shelf.
"I am alright, but my darling Gaius is hurt badly! What do we do?!" Paris was freaking out.
"Gaius is the only professional healer here and we don't have much time! Paris, you need to try and heal him." Leona looked directly into Paris' eyes.
"AHHHHHH! OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY! GAIUS IS GONNA DIE AND IT WAS ALL MY FAULT!" a blonde miqo'te boy was frantically running around and crying.
"Laris? what were you doing in my room?! Tell me later, now is not the time for you to die too!" Paris cried out as she began casting multiple healing spells.
"Hey, it's working!" Laris bursted into tears. "I'm not a murderer after all! No one was killed just because i wanted a cookie recipe!"
"Paris! He's waking up!" Leona said.
"Uhnnn... uh.. huh?" Gaius opened his eyes.
"GAIUS, MY LOVE! YOU HAVE RETURNED TO ME!" Paris yelled.
"You... wait.. what? Who healed me? I remember something large falling down behind me and that's it... Paris, did you bring me back..?" Gaius asked as he looked up at the roegadyn.
"Yes, it was all thanks to her." Leona replied, putting her hand on Paris' shoulder. "She was amazing."
"You saved me... Thank you. I don't know how to repay such an extravagant act." Gaius stood up and brushed himself off.
"Take her out to have some fun. Get to know eachother. You probably have stuff in common." Zaren said, as he entered the room.
"Hmm. I've never done that with another person before. Would you consider that a token of my upmost gratitude, Miss Winter?" Gaius asked.
"What about my healing training?" Paris replied.
"You clearly are skilled enough to save a life, so you don't need my help. Now i believe i should get to know you as a person, not an accomplice. I'm also interested in your tome collection. Do you mind if i borrow some of your knowledge?" asked Gaius, as he reached for a big red coloured tome that was titled 'Love'.