Indistinguishable From Magic
Chess and Dinner Dates
This was originally supposed to be more emotional and focused around Julia's inner turmoil, but it became something different. Hopefully it's not too all over the place. Also I finally got Quentin into a chapter so that's a plus. I was listening to Vegas Skies by The Cab while writing this.
It started with a game of chess of all things, believe it or not; it certainly took Kady long enough to figure it out. They had been having a good time testing various strategies on the 8x8 chessboard that comprised the field of battle. Chess as it turned out was one of Julia's favorite stress relievers and Kady, though she wasn't exactly playing the game constantly, thought her skills would at least be able to match Julia's.
It had been going well actually, maybe not so much for Kady's pieces or competitive spirit, but at least Julia was smiling and having a good time which was still a pretty rare occurrence, even in the wake of Reynard's defeat. "Checkmate" Julia had called out as she moved her Knight into position to take Kady's King and Kady being the sportsman that she was bowed out gracefully without protest. That's where it had started to go downhill.
"You know at Brakebills they have this game called Welters," she had blurted out in her infinite wisdom. "It's sort of like a giant game of chess except you are the pieces and you have to use magic to advance yourself."
That wasn't exactly how it worked, she knew, but it was a pretty apt description that didn't overwhelm Julia with unnecessary details, at least that's what she had thought when she said it. Under ideal conditions the statement would have been innocuous and innocent, maybe even welcomed as playful banter, but for Julia it had apparently triggered something. One look at the other woman's face told Kady all she needed to know, at least on the surface, about what she had done wrong.
"J, you know I didn't mean anything by it," she said trying to reign the situation in. "Who needs Brakebills and their stupid games anyways."
"No," Julia said raising her hand in a stop motion. "Just don't."
With that Julia walked out the door of their apartment and disappeared from Kady's view. She had briefly considered the idea of following the other woman, but quickly thought better of it; Julia was the kind of person who needed time alone when they were going through something, the kind that would come back for comfort when she was ready. So Kady waited on the stone, front steps of the building where their apartment was located and watched the snow fall in the symphony that was a winter storm.
Snow had always fascinated her, something that could come down in flakes where no two were ever the same was something truly magical in her opinion. For all she knew, there actually was some sort of magical process or person behind it, but she wasn't about to ruin the mystery by trying to find out. Maybe there was a real Elsa out there and this was just them letting off steam or whatever. In Kady's experience though, even if there was really an Elsa type witch out there she was probably a bitch. No the snow just being snow was just fine and served as a welcome distraction while she waited for Julia's return half an hour later.
As Julia bounded her way towards the door Kady slowly patted the space on the stairs next to her in a welcoming gesture. The other woman looked semi-reluctant, but eventually lowered herself down onto the stone. They didn't say anything for several minutes before Julia broke the silence.
"My jeans are probably going to be wet from sitting here," Julia observed absentmindedly.
Kady let out a small laugh at that before responding, "I had to sit out here for thirty minutes, I think you'll live."
Another silence settled over them and Kady could see that Julia had a lot on her mind, so being the ever helpful person that she was she prompted, "Whatcha thinking about?"
There was another short lull in conversation before Julia responded with a huff, "Brakebills."
"What about it," Kady asked.
"Just wondering about what kind of person I was in the other 39 timelines without all of this shit happening to me," Julia answered honestly. "Was I a better me in those other timelines?"
"Hey," Kady said grabbing Julia's hand with her own and beginning to rub it casually with her thumb. "You're you, the most you you've ever been right here and now."
"Those other Julias," she continued after a breath. "They may have gotten into Brakebills and they may have not had to deal with Reynard the Fox or even Marina for that matter, but that doesn't make them better than you."
"Maybe they had their own shit to deal with and maybe they didn't," she continued because she might as well keep going if she's on such a roll. "But that doesn't mean anything because they weren't you, you're you because of what you've been through and don't you ever forget that."
"Are you always this good at knowing what to say," Julia said with a smile as she laid her head on Kady's shoulder.
"No," Kady said because there was no point in getting her hopes up. "So don't get used to it."
"I think you're selling yourself short," Julia said her smile widening. "But thank you anyways."
"You shouldn't hold those other yous in such high esteem anyways," Kady said a half smile on her face as well. "They all got themselves killed one way or another so they couldn't have been all that."
Julia let out a laugh at that before saying, "It's just sometimes I wonder what it would have been like, to go to Brakebills, to have all the experiences the rest of you did."
"You're here now," Kady said. "That's all that matters."
"If I had to die 39 times just to be here with you in this moment then I guess it was worth it," Julia said leaning up to kiss Kady softly on the lips.
"Do you have any idea how cliché that just sounded," Kady said.
"You started it," Julia said.
"I did not," Kady said defensively.
"You're here now, that's all that matters," Julia repeated soaking every bit of cliché tone out of the words that she could. "If that doesn't sound like something out of the next hit rom com I don't know what does."
"Fine," Kady conceded. "Just don't tell anyone."
"No, I think I'll keep soft Kady all to myself,' Julia said playfully.
"Call me that again and I'll show you how hard I can be," Kady said.
"Was that innuendo," Julia said barely containing her laughter.
"Your mind's always in the gutter isn't it," Kady said.
"Only when it comes to you," Julia said smirking.
"Maybe we should do something about that," Kady said already pulling them up from their sitting position.
"Maybe we should," Julia said challenging.
"I'm going to wreck you so hard," Kady said as she began walking towards the door.
"Nothing too crazy K," Julia said. "We have to meet Q and his new "date" at the restaurant in two hours."
"Like I'm going to miss that clusterfuck," Kady said as they made their way up the stairs to their floor. "You'll still be capable of walking and forming coherent sentences, don't worry."
"Someone's confident," Julia said as Kady fumbled with her key.
"You of all people should know I never bluff about anything," Kady said as the door opened much too slowly for her liking. "Especially sex."
With that she was on Julia in a fever, the other woman barely having time to kick the door closed. They eventually made their way to the bedroom where Kady proceeded to show Julia, again, just how much she didn't bluff about sex. Later as they stood at the entrance to a fairly upscale restaurant in the center of town eyeing the booths as they looked for Quentin, Kady found Julia grabbing her hand much like they had done on the front steps earlier that day.
"Really thank you for earlier," Julia said. "I know I'm a little emotionally out there sometimes, but you're always there to bring me back; I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Life would probably be a lot less interesting," Kady said drawing another chuckle from the other woman. "And don't mention it, I'd do it again in a heartbeat."
"I know," Julia said smiling.
"There they are," Julia said pointing in the direction of a booth in the far corner.
"This is going to be fun," Kady felt a smirk appearing on her lips.
Upon their arrival at the booth in question Quentin gave them a short once over before saying, "Hey guys, this is Whitney."
The beautiful blond haired woman, atypical of Quentin's usual fare recently, reached out her hand for a shake.
"She's a nymph," Quentin said almost as an afterthought.
Yes, Kady thought, this was definitely going to be an interesting night. At least Julia's most recent emotional crisis was in the bag and she was back to her usual, quiet but bubbly self. She and Whitney seemed to be hitting it off quite well actually. A very long night, Kady thought, as she tried not to let her jealousy flare up onto the surface. She sat back in her seat taking a sip of her soda, alcohol definitely wasn't a good idea right now. She could probably beat this Whitney at a game of chess if it all came down to it.
She felt Julia squeeze her hand as she whispered in her ear, "After what we just did I can't believe you're jealous."
"It's not every day you start competing with a nymph," Kady said in a hushed tone.
"You've been staring at her more than I have since we got here," Julia whispered. "Maybe I should be the one that's jealous."
With that Kady flushed and quickly tried to find somewhere to put her eyes that was nowhere near the nymph sitting across from her.
"You're so cute," Julia said before leaning up and giving her a quick kiss.
Maybe not such a bad night after all, Kady thought, as she turned to see the properly chastised looks on Quentin and Whitney's faces.
"Are we just ignoring the ground rules about PDA now," Quentin said and Kady chucked a piece of bread at him.
Not a bad night at all.
So in my opinion a nymph fits Quentin pretty well. I don't like him and Alice, I think she's too good for him, and I'm not on the whole him and Eliot train so if I write something with him having a significant other it will probably feature Whitney. I just have to do a little bit more research on nymphs before I give her a full character. I hope you liked it.