In the following days, the Multiverse Chandra lived in was more or less the same, as was Dominaria, Tolaria and even her neighbourhood, but her home was an entirely different place. She could sense the lingering coddling and hesitation from her family. No one seemed to want to discuss all the turmoil in the previous weeks, but that suited Chandra fine. She had no interest in talking about it, though not in the 'it's too painful to think about' kind of way. The torment had died down to an occasional brief jab and the positives of her life were outweighing it too much for her to care.
The best part of her newly found mental freedom was finally establishing a relationship with Liliana. They had found comfortable conversation; between the ordeals the two had faced and this new, relaxed vibe, Chandra was hoping her feelings for Liliana would make a full shift to platonic, but it wasn't working. Each passing day filled her with thoughts she wished she wasn't having – moreso when she was alone in bed.
Even this wasn't so bad though. Her mind was free to remind her that she had dealt with unrequited love before and this would pass like they always had.
It wasn't until their first day back that someone finally brought up Chandra's mood. "Are you sure you want to come to school early, or at all? I can stay home with you."
"The whole reason I'm coming with you now is to get used to being there before our class starts." Liliana had a class mid morning and their physics class wasn't until later, but Chandra, to her own surprise, felt herself longing to be at the university and wasn't interested in waiting any longer. To soothe her sister's nerves she added, "if I start to feel overwhelmed, I'll come home. I know my limits." This was entirely for Liliana's sake as Chandra was confident in her ability to tackle the day.
Once she was alone on the grounds, Chandra was a bit disgusted by the cliche she found herself in. The grass looked greener than she remembered despite the looming winter and everyone looked happier even though she knew this was one of the most stressful times of the semester. To cap this jovial moment, Chandra decided to do the most basic thing she could think of. I think I'll go get a beer.
"Indian pale ale, please," Chandra said as she presented her ID. She rarely drank beer and when she did, it was whatever someone handed her so she wasn't entirely sure what she had just ordered, but it was what the guy in front of her had asked for.
"Make it two." Before she could turn to face the voice, a bandaged hand placed down something that looked almost like school ID on the counter. Chandra had to look up to see it was Vivien. "I've got this."
"Oh, that's uhh...You don't have to do that." As much as she didn't want someone else paying for it, she desperately didn't want the company of someone she barely knew.
"Trust me. Now go find us a seat." Vivien seemed so pleased that Chandra decided not to protest further. The cashier went to swipe what she thought was a student card and she heard Vivien say softly, "add the usual tip."
I know we can get meal cards, Chandra thought as she searched for an empty space. But they don't look like that and you can't use them here anyway. The Short Shiv was the only spot on the massive campus with a liquor licence. It was obnoxiously small, spare seats didn't exist and alcohol couldn't leave the cafe, meaning she couldn't pretend she was taking this to go. Finding somewhere to sit was finding any small space on the floor not already occupied. In a stroke of luck, two adjacent ones stood out like bright lights.
Chandra claimed it and Vivien wasn't too far behind. When she was handed the drink, Chandra pulled out her wallet and said, "that was nice of you, but really not necessary. Let me-"
Vivien's spare hand reached out and pushed the wallet back. Until the arm brushed up against her, Chandra hadn't noticed how it and her other arm were very well defined and coated with tattoos. She thought the zoo of animals covering her arms was a little tacky but the look was still alluring and Chandra couldn't help but wonder if the sleeveless shirt in the day's chill was nothing more than an easy way to brag.
"The school pays for all my food. I think it's all kinds of messed up how well they treat athletes but I'd rather they buy you a beer than you give them anymore money than you already have."
"How much do they let you spend?"
With air quotes, she said, "just don't spend too much."
I'm going to remember this next time they raise our tuition. Chandra found Vivien's situation sickening, knowing full well that if she had kept up with track, she probably could have gotten the same treatment and how silly it would have been to give her free beer while more deserving students survived on water and noodles. "I wouldn't have thought there would be scholarships for archery...No offence"
"I was blown away when I found out, but I wasn't going to say no. They offered it to Lili too, but she turned it down. I told her to take it and donate the money but she said it was improper or some shit." That sounds like her. "She says you coulda' got one too."
"Yeah, track." Chandra took a sip of her drink and it was all she had not to spit the bitter mouthful back into the bottle. "Long-distance running."
Vivien seemed to enjoy her beer considerably more. "Why quit? Why pass on the free ride?"
Chandra felt a sting of guilt. The real answer was, because I don't need a free ride. "I hated it. When I learned to run, it was for a purpose."
"To dodge the cops?"
"I guess my sister is pretty chatty." Though she seems to know a lot more about me than I do about her
"I get it. When the fighting ends, nothing feels the same. Ya' feel great that the fear is over, but you still wish you could get that rush back."
Chandra had never heard her own feelings described so perfectly by someone else and suddenly, Vivien was a very intriguing woman. "So who were you fighting."
"The Nura," Vivien said so casually that you wouldn't have guessed she was talking about an enemy.
It took Chandra a second to search her memory, but when she found it, her chest became clinched with pain and discomfort. After fighting for her home plane, Chandra made it her business to learn about other worlds shrouded in violence and corruption and it was not a short list. The dictatorships of Kephalai and Amonkhet, the vast inequality of Theroes, Vryn and Innistrad – these among others were a tragedy but the disgusting states of two planes made the Consulate run Kaladesh seem like a paradise.
The genocides of Mirrodin (Chandra refused to call it New Phyrexia) were heartbreaking but there were times she wished she had never learned of Skalla – where Vivien must have been from. The Nura and Smaragdi had refused to adopt the philosophy of mutually assured destruction and their unending war had recently led to the death of most of its inhabitants as well as leaving the plane uninhabitable.
"God, Vivien, I..." Chandra wanted to finish her sentence but she could feel her body's skittish withdrawal and hear the gloom in her voice. She hated the idea of showing more grief than the one grieving, but it was too late.
"Don't even sweat it. It's just refreshing to find someone else that gets it."
"I wouldn't really say I get it. Yeah, things were bad on Kaladesh but relatively... You know?"
"Think about it from my point of view. When I came here, I got tossed in a fancy private school so they could watch the wild forest girl play sports – that's where I met Lili." That saves me the trouble of asking for an origin story. "And now that I'm here, all that blue blooded noise followed me. Getting to talk to anyone that has more fingers than butlers is a breath of fresh air."
Chandra exaggerated a shudder. "That sounds awful." She could see Vivien appreciated the solidarity, but Chandra still couldn't shake the idea of the powerful woman sitting across from her seeing them as equals. She didn't just look strong. Her smile was so self assured (and her scowl likely frightening) and as beautiful as her eyes were, Chandra knew they could portray a killer instinct at will; this aura of confidence made it clear that one of them was a knight and the other, at best, a squire. "But I wasn't even a fighter. I ran. I was literally a professional coward."
Vivien let go a deep laughter that should have attracted attention, but it sounded so natural that no one bothered to look. "I bet you think I'm tough stuff," she said as she tapped on a firm bicep. "I cried all through my last year of training. I was hittin' bullseyes before I could walk, so they moved me on to the advanced stuff way early."
"Was it that hard?"
"Only for my soul. Shooting a piece of wood did nothing for you in a fight, so they switched us up to moving targets and since none of those Nura were willing to help, we had to use animals." She clicked her tongue. "Hunting was one thing, but using those poor little things as fakes for the people trying to kill us was messed up."
Chandra chuckled awkwardly, "I don't know if I could have done that at all."
"But hey, what's the difference? They all would have died anyway. At least I have something to honour them with," she said, clearly referring to her tattoos."
Reexamining her arms, Chandra said the only comforting thing that came to mind. "Well, it doesn't look like there's too many atleast."
Vivien moved a hand up her arm to her shoulder. "You think these stop here?" Chandra's now busy imagination left a glaze over her eyes and if Vivien's smile going from cool to smug was any indication, she had noticed and wasn't surprised. "Enough of this depressing shit though. I'm actually glad I ran in to you."
"Didn't want to drink alone?" Chandra asked knowing that's what her own answer would be.
"Nah, I'm fine with that. It's about the day we met – I know I was pretty aggressive and Lili said that wasn't your speed, so I'm glad I get a chance to say sorry."
Chandra wanted to assure her that the only reason it bothered her was that she thought she was being mocked, but after her friends told her how stupid that was, she figured it best not to reveal that. "It's fine. I'm just not good with first impressions, or talking to people at all" This was followed with more nervous laughter.
"That's crazy. I think you're kickin' ass at it."
She was unsure what to say but was spared the need. Chandra had been so enthralled with the conversation that she hadn't noticed the people sitting next to them leave or the tall, slender shadow move over them. "What are you two doing?"
Vivien exploded, "Lili! Park yourself."
"I have no time." Looking down at Chandra finishing the last of her beer, she added, "neither do you. Mom needs to talk to us about something in her office.
"Oh, uh, okay. Is everything alright?"
"Yes, but we need to go."
Chandra shrugged, "I guess I'll see ya."
"You better."
As the two sisters walked away, Chandra asked, "have you been wandering around looking for me? Why didn't you just text me? Why didn't mother just text me? Liliana stayed silent until they were out of view from The Short Shiv
"Should you really be drinking?" It was a question but it sounded like an order.
"Uhhh." It's just one beer, is what Chandra wanted to say, but given what Liliana had been through recently, she wanted to be understanding of the concern; her sister wasn't entirely wrong either. "Maybe not."
"Was it her idea?"
"No, I had already ordered when she showed up. Shouldn't we be going?"
"I lied...Sorry." She didn't sound particularly guilty. "You can go back if you want."
I was having a nice time with Vivien, but you obviously need me more than she does. "Lets just go chill by class until it starts."
