Gwen is running around the library grabbing multiple magical texts, reading through her own notes from an earlier training session, and talking with Verdona at the same time. In short, she's definitely busy at the moment and it's not even noon.
Every text Gwen grabs and throws on the table, Verdona reads and skims quickly using her mana. Gwen is grabbing multiple books, scrolls, or parchments for Verdona around ten at a time. While Verdona takes between two to ten minutes per text, Gwen is going over her previous training and notes so she can keep herself busy and sharp in the small down time.
Upon arriving for her training that morning Verdona's face was set in a serious manner, one that Gwen wasn't used to seeing on her carefree grandmother. She demanded Gwen grab every magical text in the library for her so she can better identify what Gwen needs to know. Verdona may have lived much longer than many in the castle, but that doesn't mean she can't brush up on her knowledge.
"Wouldn't it be easier to teach me how to read that quickly than just you reading and regurgitating it back to me?" Gwen asks as she places another five books down in front of her grandmother.
"In theory yes, but we don't have that kind of time." Verdona pauses to read another book in the span of a couple minutes.
She sets it to the side and turns to Gwen, "We don't have that kind of time kiddo. We need to crunch down the basics so you can actually defend yourself against magic and do counter attacks. Especially since you know the Knights have at least one mage on their side."
Gwen nods her head and goes back to the book shelves to grab a handful of more texts.
The cover of one of the books she grabs is labeled in faded print, reads, Magical Transfiguration and Transformation. Gwen holds the book in her hands and starts skimming the insides, completely abandoning her task.
She's reading through the index to find what she's looking for. She finds Magical Transformation by: potions, elixirs, glamour, edibles, hexes, and curses. Her interest is peaked by one section. She skims through the hexes and curses, but all she finds are different ways to cast those spells, not undo them.
She huffs in frustration and goes back to the front of the book and looks for anything that references breaking transformation magic. Her eyes furiously look over the different sections hoping that she will find what she's looking for.
Verdona leans over her shoulder and Gwen doesn't even notice her presence, "Gwendolyn what are you reading? I told you to just let me read them."
She grabs the book out of Gwen's hands easily.
Gwen tries to stop her grandmother but she's already speed reading the book before Gwen can stop her.
Once she's done she looks at Gwen and smiles sadly at her.
"You won't find what you're looking for about Kevin in here." She tells her in a melancholy tone.
Gwen's face flushes bright red and she avoids her grandma's eyes.
"I've been searching you know, for something to help him or to even understand why he's been stuck that way." She clutches her fists tightly and continues.
"I can't figure out why his body hasn't run out of energy yet, it's like-" she starts raising her voice in frustration as she's struggling to really grasp what she even knows about Kevin's transformation.
"He won't let go of it." Verdona states softly, looking at Gwen with a sad look.
She reaches down and grabs her granddaughters' hands and gently holds them and turns her chin up to look at her.
"He's Osmosian, while he should just release the energy back out he can't. Well, more like he won't. He's trapped himself." Verdona says easily.
"What?" Gwen states in confusion.
"Osmosian's take energy and exert it back out. They aren't meant to keep holding it, I mean they can but it's heavily frowned upon. They eat the energy like you do with food or in my case mana. He's holding onto that energy. He has essentially trapped himself in that body. Unless he learns how to expel that energy he will be stuck in that form forever." She tells Gwen solemnly.
"But can't I do something? Can't magic fix this? I have to be able to do something!" Gwen exclaims in confusion.
Her grandmother holds her shoulders tightly and looks at Gwen sternly, "There is nothing you or I can do to fix this Gwendolyn, magic cannot fix something that didn't originate from magic or mana. This isn't a curse you can break and he is not a prince you need to save in a fairytale."
Gwen's eyes are wide in the realization of the weight of Verdona's word. She doesn't want to accept it. She can't accept that.
"Please, can't I do something?" she pleads quietly.
Verdona pulls Gwen to her and hugs her tightly. "You can't fix him Gwen."
Gwen clings onto her grandmother and shoves her face into her shoulder. She's so angry that her body is hot and she wants to scream until her lungs collapse. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. She's supposed to find a cure and heal him. Why are there rules for magic? She though the point of magic was that it could do the unthinkable.
"What's the point of having magic if I can't fix anything that matters!" She mutters in frustration.
Verdona rubs her head and pats down her hair, "Magic can't do the impossible, you get what you put out. I think humans call it as above, so below or equivalent exchange… but Gwen?"
Verdona pulls back and holds Gwen's face in her hands, "The connection you create with your family, chosen or not, is stronger than anything your magic and mana can do." She kisses Gwen on her forehead and pulls back again.
"Our bonds, the ones we willfully make with one another, is a magic all on its own and I wish I knew that sooner rather than later." She tells her softly. "You know the bonds of family much better than I ever did."
Gwen's face is defeated as she looks at her grandmother but takes a deep breath and nods her head.
"Let's keep looking at the texts and focus on what I can do." She says.
Verdona smiles broadly and smacks Gwen's back, "That's the spirit kiddo! We can't waste any time!"
Verdona glides across the room and starts reading through text again and Gwen starts running around again to grab more. She's determined to keep trying to help, it just won't be what she originally imagined. She wants the knowledge that her grandmother has. She needs to know more so she can do better. For herself and for her family.
She knows she can't do that in such a short amount of time but she'll be damned if she doesn't try.
Hours pass with Verdona and Gwen in the library but in the late afternoon Verdona leaves her to rest for the night.
Gwen stays behind and looks into one of the books Verdona put aside that she deemed filled with important information that wouldn't hurt for Gwen to read. She buckles down and opens the large book and starts reading.
Kevin isn't surprised at all when he walks into the library in search of Gwen and sees her sleeping on top of a pile of books and dark circles under her eyes.
He hears her snoring heavily and he chuckles to himself. He knows she needs to sleep but the way her neck and back are hunched over the desk, he knows that she'll be sore if he doesn't move her.
He gently shakes Gwen awake and she stirs slightly but pushes her head deeper into her arms.
He scoffs at that and tries one more time, "Gwen," he whispers to her. "You can't sleep in here you need to go to bed."
Gwen groans and opens her eyes a crack and looks at Kevin. She sighs and closes her eyes again, "Five more minutes." She mumbles incoherently.
Kevin rolls his eyes and tries something else.
He lifts her gently up out of her chair and cradles her in his Petrosapien arm. He adjusts her so her bottom half is slotted in the crook of his arm, and her upper half is leaning on his torso up to his shoulder.
Gwen doesn't struggle against him holding her, in fact she seems to relax even more. She wraps her arms easily around his neck and presses her head into the crook of his neck. Gwen settles herself easily into his hold and he can feel her body completely lose all the tension her muscles were holding.
His face flushes and he refuses to look at her out of embarrassment. Not that her eyes were even open to notice. Kevin slightly adjusts her weight in his arm and carries her back to her bedroom.
Carrying her was easy enough, in comparison to half of the things Kevin's lifted, Gwen felt like a feather. What he wasn't expecting was how close she was to his face. He could feel her breath on his neck and her slight snoring.
Her body was warm too, which is something Kevin only thinks about when he's touching Gwen in some way. Kevin doesn't touch people, he hasn't been touchy with people since he was little, definitely not since he's been in this form. Gwen's the first person he's really let touch him and the only person he's wanted to as well. She's warm, always warm. He's unusually cold, except for his Pyronite arm, but he can't really feel the heat from that. It's also not the same kind of warmth. He would describe his Pyronite arm more as the kind of blasting heat that sun burns into you and leaves blisters. Gwen's warmth is like a blanket; soft, gentle, and soothing. Like when his mother would cover his face in kisses when he was going to bed at night.
Her warmth is human.
He tries not to dwell too much on the last time he felt that warmth in himself, instead he clutches onto Gwen's when he can and as often as she'll let him. She's the first person who's wanted to hold him and her touches linger a little longer than what should be appropriate for friends. He wonders if his greediness will snuff her out and one day she'll realize she wants nothing to do with him.
He pushes that to the back of his mind. Kevin doesn't want to dwell on that, or think about how if he could he would give Gwen anything she asked for if it meant she would stay with him. He knows he's in too deep and for only knowing her a few months he shouldn't want to risk everything for her, but he would. Hell, if he knew where the Forever Knights actually were he'd burn the place down and ripe it apart like the world was ending to give Gwen her brother back. He'd do about anything to see her happy.
Kevin shakes out of his thoughts as he approaches Gwen's bedroom. He just needs to put her to bed and he can run circles in his brain alone. Without the distraction of her nuzzling into him and the reminder of how close she is with her gentle breathing.
He pulls her covers back and gently lays her down but she keeps her arms locked around his neck.
He reaches back to unhook her hands but she's keeping and iron lock on him.
"No, not yet." She mutters out. "Just five more minutes, you're so comfortable." She slurs out refusing to let go of Kevin.
Kevin chuckles nervously to himself, "Gwen, come on. I promise your bed is much better." He whispers to her.
"Nuh uh. It's not the same." She murmurs.
Kevin gives up for the moment and sits on her bed as Gwen readjusts herself in his lap now.
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" he asks her, he's close to laughing at her as she squirms to find a comfortable position in his lap, on a body that Kevin knows is mostly sharp and hard angles. There's not a soft spot on him that would be comfortable. It's hilarious to him that she thinks he's cozy right now.
"My bed doesn't smell like you…" she drawls out yawning.
Kevin's whole body feels like it's suddenly on fire. Gwen doesn't say anything more after that and Kevin's body is frozen in place. He almost doesn't even breathe.
What is that supposed to mean? She likes how he smells? He can't think about this right now. He has to get up and leave. His head is spinning.
In theory, Kevin understands that on some surface level Gwen and him like each other. He knows he's in love. It feels like it's written on his face some days with how smitten he is and how he would literally move the stars if she asked. He knows that, it isn't news to him anymore.
He's just also resigned himself to loving her from afar. He's a monster, monsters don't fall in love and they don't ever get a happy ending. Gwen deserves a happy ending.
He isn't sure how Gwen feels and he isn't asking her. Nor is he about to tell her he loves her. They'll sit in this weird limbo until something ends or changes. Kevin's content with that.
He isn't ready, in fact he is severely underprepared, for the idea that Gwen could reciprocate those feelings.
Gwen's loudly snoring while Kevin's panicking and her snoring interrupts that flow. He realizes she's in deep sleep and he can pry her off now. He gently moves out of her hold and tucks her under the covers and goes to leave her room.
He needs to process this information and how he even feels about it. So, Kevin heads to the only place he can think properly, the training arena. He'll just hit some things and get the steam out of his brain. It's where he's always done his best in figuring out what he feels.
Yeah, he needs to punch something.
A/N: Hey all let me know what you think so far!
Also! small update for April- the 4th-10th I will be on a small vacation so I will not be uploading that week. Sorry!