Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Zestiria.
Chapter 4 – The Morning After
On an ordinary day Alisha would find the sound of birdsong to be pleasant, relaxing even, but today the incessant twittering only aggravated her already aching head. Last night had been pretty bad, she had barely slept a wink; instead she had spent the night tossing and turning, unable to stop thinking about Rose's confession. Every time she closed her eyes she could see it again, the uncharacteristically bashful look in Rose's blue eyes, the feel of her hand on hers.
Just the memory of it caused Alisha's heart to flutter, but what did that mean? Was it because it was Rose, or was it just because of having someone confess their love to her?
Now here she was sitting at the breakfast table chewing half-heartedly at her food, and barely tasting it. The tightness in her stomach did not make it easy. Once she had eaten as much as she felt she could take she pushed her plate away and rose to her feet, preparing herself to start her day in earnest.
That was when Rose entered the room, and Alisha stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of her. The redhead looked like she had barely slept too, it was subtle, but Alisha could see the faint redness around her eyes.
As she looked Rose, Alisha could not help but notice little details about the other girl that had managed to escape her attention until then, like the small imperfections in her skin that had probably come from years of rough living. Yet despite those imperfections her skin looked quite smooth and soft, her hair was a lively and vibrant shade of red, and her lips pleasantly full, even inviting...
"Hey," Rose said.
"Hey," Alisha echoed, suddenly snapping from her reverie. Oh goodness how long had she been looking? And just what had she been thinking about?
A uncomfortable silence descended over the the room, Alisha felt a desire to break it, but she was not sure what she would say, what she should say. With every second that passed she could feel the tightness in the pit of her stomach worsen, and a slight tingle ran over the surface of her skin.
"Listen," Rose began after a few moments. "Um, look I've decided I'm gonna go find and inn after all. I mean, thanks for the hospitality and everything - "
Wait, what?!
"You're leaving?" Alisha interrupted. "Why?" She knew as soon as she asked that it was a stupid question, there could only be one reason why.
"Well, you know," Rose responded, fidgeting. "I just didn't wanna keep staying here if it was gonna make you uncomfortable."
"You don't make me uncomfortable," Alisha replied, shaking her head.
"Liar," Rose said, although she was smiling and her tone was soft.
"Rose please," Alisha said, grabbing Rose by the hand. "I don't want you to leave."
"Alisha, come on..." Rose muttered, staring at their conjoined hands.
Alisha stared at her for a second, saw the way her eyes shifted, and the faint hint of redness in her cheeks. Suddenly it occurred to her that the reason Rose was leaving was because she was the one who felt uncomfortable, and Alisha supposed she could not blame her. Not after the way she had simply left her there after she had opened up to her.
Yet, she could not simply allow her to leave and stay at an inn. Not only would she feel bad about that, but she still remembered the time she had went to see Rose at the inn in Lastonbell, only to find she had left without a word.
Now she too was very aware of their hands touching, of the feeling of Rose's skin on hers; almost subconsciously she rubbed her thumb over the callouses that came from years of hard living. She Rose suck in a sharp breath, and it took more than a little self-discipline for her to not tear her hand away.
"Rose listen," she began, then she took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing. She just needed to be forthright, direct, get straight to the heart of the issue and make her point. Preferably before she lost her nerve.
"I won't lie, when you confessed your love to me yesterday it surprised me."
She was saw the faint touch of red on Rose's cheeks deepen.
"Yeah," she replied. "I'll bet."
"No one has ever..." Alisha continued. "That was the first time anyone has ever said something like that to me, and it was from another woman at that."
"Really?" Rose asked. "Like no-one?"
"Never," Alisha confirmed.
"Wow, that's kinda strange," Rose said. "I mean, you are kinda really pretty."
Rose's eyes widened as thought she had just realised what she had said, and Alisha felt the heat growing in her own cheeks; she coughed into her hand.
"What I mean is, um..." Rose continued, clearing her throat. Then she fell silent.
"Be that as it may," Alisha said, rushing to fill the silence. "The point is that I did not know how to feel about that, and I still don't. I want to give you a proper answer Rose, but I need time.
"Oh?" Rose responded. "How much time?"
Alisha chose to ignore the sarcastic edge in Rose's voice, she did not one such an important conversation to devolve into a fight. Besides which that was a fair question, she could not expect Rose to wait around forever, especially not when she was the Shepard.
"A day," Alisha replied after a couple of seconds. "Give me one more day and I'll give you a proper answer."
For a moment there was silence, and Alisha could hear nothing but the beating of her own heart. Still, she made the effort to look Rose in the eyes and ignore the growing anxiety in her chest.
"Alright, one day," Rose answered. "But after that I really am outta here."
"Agreed."
Alisha could not help smiling, and the sight of Rose's cheeks going red as she turned her head to the side only made her smile wider.
"So, can I get breakfast now?" Rose asked.
"Oh right, of course," Alisha replied, tearing her gaze away from Rose's face.
With that said she stepped aside so that Rose could proceed towards the dining room, and breakfast. She watched the other girl walk away for a moment, noting the shape of her shoulders beneath her blouse, and the swish of her hair as she moved. Her eyes were drawn downwards almost against her will, as their attention was caught by the slight sway of her rear.
She felt the heat explode in her cheeks as she tore her gaze away and planted it firmly on the wall. What had she been doing? She had been staring at Rose like some sort of pervert. Even if Rose had declared her affections, it did not give her the right to ogle her like that.
Quickly, before she could give-in to temptation again, Alisha marched towards the door and out into the fresh morning air.
Rose felt extremely agitated, like there was an itch just under her skin. She tore a bite out of her toast and chewed on it automatically, without even tasting it.
That wasn't how it had been meant to go, she'd just meant to make her excuses and get out of here as quickly as possible; not just out of the manor, but Ladylake itself. To run as far as possible and stay there.
Then Alisha had turned those brilliant green eyes on her, and told her that she might actually have a chance. For just a moment she could picture it clearly, the two of them together sharing food, or cuddling. It would be nice if she could get Alisha to smile more often.
Suddenly her daydreams were interrupted by something poking her in the side. She let out a sharp yelp, and almost fell out of her seat. After steadying herself she cast a quick glance around the room to see if anyone had seen her, fortunately, none of the manor's staff seemed to be present.
"Edna," she growled, rounding on the girl in question. "What was that for?"
"I've been trying to get your attention for the last ten minutes," the Seraph replied. "If you paid attention, I wouldn't have to resort to drastic measures."
Rose narrowed her eyes.
"Did you even really try to get my attention before stabbing me?" she asked.
"Of course I did," Edna replied, a sly grin on her face. "But you were off in your own little world, with the most disgusting look on your face."
"Hey! Rose protested.
"Come now Edna," Lailah interrupted. "Don't be too hard on her."
Rose head snapped around, and she saw the other Seraph sitting on the opposite side of the table daintily holding a cup of tea.
"How long have you been there?" she asked.
"Oh, I arrived when Edna did," she answered.
"Geez, you really were out of it," Edna said.
Rose forced herself to laugh.
"I was just thinking is all," she said.
"Yeah," Edna responded. "About a perfect, pretty princess."
Rose spluttered, fighting the brush that was threatening to spill on to her cheeks.
"I – I was not!"
"Yeah you were," Edna replied. "I could tell by the stupid grin on your face, you're turning into such a sap."
"I am not!"
Edna does not bother to reply, instead she simply takes a seat, a cocky smirk on her face. Rose glared at her trying to think of a comeback, but the seconds tick by and she knows she's missed her chance. She can't help huffing at the cocky grin that spreads across Edna's face.
"So," Lailah says, "What were you smiling about."
"I -" Rose begins. "It was nothing really, I just got to have a talk with Alisha is all."
Lailah immediately perks up, and Rose half expects her to start bouncing in her seat. She hears Edna snort, and immediately feels a desire to whack her over the head.
"Oh my," Lailah replies. "Do tell."
"There's nothing really to tell," she answered.
"Right," Edna drawled. "Last night you were all mopey, this morning your smiling, and you expect us to believe that nothing happened."
"She's right you know," Lailah supplied.
"Alright fine," Rose grumbled. "Alisha said … she said she was thinking about it."
"You mean...?"
"Yeah."
Lailah squealed and Edna put both her fingers in her ears.
"Please never do that again," the smaller Seraph asked.
For once Rose agreed, but she managed to keep her mouth shut as she dug her fingers out of her ears.
"Look Lailah," she said, with a sigh. "Just don't get your hopes up. Alisha said she'd give me an answer, it doesn't mean the answer'll be yes."
"Said the girl who was sitting there grinning to herself," Edna mumbled. "You trying to convince us or yourself?"
Rose ignored her, mostly because she wasn't sure herself.
"I know that," Lailah said, in response to Rose's caution. "But it's progressing smoother than you thought it would last night, is it not?"
Rose groaned.
"Lailah, can we please not talk about that?" she asked.
Last night after her confession she'd ended up crying into Lailah's shoulder, she'd wept like some spoiled, pampered noble girl. Frankly, in the bright light of day the memory made her chest heavy with embarrassment.
"Very well," Lailah answered. "Then let's talk about our plans for today."
Rose shrugged.
"Don't really have any," she replied. "Maybe just wander around the city, see how things are coming along. Maybe do some shopping."
"That sounds lovely," Lailah replied, with a smile.
Yeah it did, Rose thought. However, she could not help the thought that it would be even nicer if they bumped into Alisha somewhere along the way.
