Chapter 10

Tue 9th August

Valkyrie looked herself over in the full-length mirror once more and spritzed on more perfume to be sure. The restaurant Militsa had picked was fancy, or so Skulduggery had told her, so she'd gone for tight, dark blue jeans, a flowy dark grey top that showed her arms nicely, and formal black shoes without any heel or straps she didn't want to deal with. She had thought of looking for jewellery but the thought of trying to sort through it all when she knew it was a tangled mess was almost enough to make her cancel entirely so she didn't bother.

One thing she did make sure to grab before she could overthink it was her old black ring Solomon had gifted her for her eighteenth birthday. She had a feeling Militsa would enjoy that.

Brushing through her hair and using a lint roller for Xena's stray fur one last time, she grabbed her phone, keys and full-length coat and left.

She listened to soothing classical music Skulduggery preferred to relax her nerves and drove to Roarhaven. She was fortunate enough to get a parking spot not far from the restaurant and, after pocketing her phone, which she could pay with, and keys, she stepped out.

"Valkyrie!" Militsa called from down the street. Valkyrie closed her car door and turned to her. Militsa walked with a bounce in her step, black cloak around her shoulders clasped at the neck, and under that, a black dress that almost reached her knees and tights underneath. She'd paired it with black heels, and she'd painted her nails a deep green. "Hi! I'm so excited for this, are you?"

She smiled politely. "Of course. You look lovely Militsa." Militsa blushed and Valkyrie laughed. "Oh wow, I didn't think you could go that red!"

She looked at the orange sky in exasperation. "Don't tease me, Miss Cain, not when I'm taking you to dinner."

"I can buy if it means I get to mess with you," she smirked back.

Militsa spluttered for a moment and then backhanded her arm lightly as they moved to the entrance of the restaurant. "You're such a meanie, you know that?"

Valkyrie hid her grin by biting her lip and held the door for her new friend.

"Welcome to 寿司屋–" Valkyrie had no idea what that meant but it was obviously the name of the restaurant, "–do you have a reservation with us this evening?"

"Yeah, under Gnosis?"

The host looked at his tablet for only a moment and then looked up, smiled at Militsa and gave Valkyrie a small glance. "Ah, yes, this way please."

He brought them through the packed restaurant to the back corner behind a screen with gorgeous artwork hand-painted over it. Valkyrie took off her coat and hung it on the back of the chair, letting it drape over the floor. He gave them both a menu when they sat. "Can I get you ladies some drinks this evening?"

"Could I have a small rosé please?"

"I'll have a lemonade thanks."

The host went through some options with Militsa for wines and once she had picked, he smiled and left them.

"This is nice," Militsa grinned at Valkyrie. "I haven't been to a fancy restaurant in forever and all my friends have been busy for months. This is fun!"

"It's good, yeah," Valkyrie agreed, looking over her menu. Everything was written in Japanese but there was minuscule writing in English under that described what was in it. As far as she could tell, everything on the menu was sushi. She could be very wrong though. She hoped it was all sushi. "Do you go for sushi a lot?"

"Once in a while. It's up there but pizza is my favourite overall."

"Oh, same," Valkyrie remarked.

She grinned. "Really?"

She shrugged. "I love pizza."

"It's funny, I never really envisioned someone like you eating pizza." She looked suddenly horrified. "I mean because you must watch what you eat and work out a lot! Not because of anything else! I just, because you're strong and stuff, I thought maybe you wouldn't. Like you could have just eaten healthy stuff."

Valkyrie put a hand up to stop her. "It's fine, really. You don't need to trip over yourself to clarify things to me. I eat lots of pizza and I work out a lot too."

She nodded quickly. "Yeah, I just worry that I'll put my foot in it. I've done it before, so I sometimes panic."

Valkyrie smiled slightly. "I know the feeling." They looked at each other for a moment and Valkyrie broke it to look down at her menu. Militsa's hair had golden hues below the rich redness. "What are you thinking of getting?"

"Hm, I was thinking we could share a platter. They have a good variety we could share so we don't need to have just one thing," Militsa suggested.

"That sounds alright," Valkyrie agreed, putting her menu down.

A waitress came over with their drinks a second later. "Do you know what you'd like to order?"

Militsa got them a large platter to share and a small selection of sauces the restaurant offered to dip their sushi into. The waitress thanked them, took the menus, and left.

There was a moment of silence and then Militsa spoke. "So, do you have any summer plans?"

Valkyrie sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, sitting back in her chair. "Not really. I might see my parents for my birthday, or maybe I won't. What about you?"

"I have a little holiday planned, I'm going to Mexico with my parents," she grinned. "I won't tan but I can lie in the sun on the beach and pretend I will!"

She smirked around a sip of lemonade. "Ah, that's too bad. I get to actually tan."

Militsa rolled her eyes happily. "I'm sure. But we can't all have perfect skin like you."

She raised an eyebrow. "I can't begin to describe how many spots I'm hiding under this foundation."

Militsa almost spat out her drink and looked around to see if anyone saw. No one could see around the barrier and Valkyrie knew that was the point. "Oh, I feel that! Once I had to do that for a spot on my nose and all the students noticed and for every class I had that day, they all pointed out how one side of my nose had foundation and the other half didn't. I thought I blended it, but apparently not."

Valkyrie chuckled. "I did that once. Tanith wouldn't let it go. I never half did my makeup again."

"Well, that's what friends are for."

"Oh, yeah."

"Have you seen her recently?"

She shook her head, looking down at the table. "No."

Militsa put her hand across, tempting Valkyrie to take it. "Did you have a fight?"

"No." She sighed and almost rubbed her eye before remembering her mascara and lowered her hand. "Just, after the war. I left without saying anything and we haven't spoken since. I don't know where we stand anymore."

Militsa nodded. "You could always text her?"

Valkyrie knew that. "I don't want to talk about Tanith."

"Sure. I can tell you about the time Fletcher's ex-girlfriend turned up outside the school," Militsa grinned, a mischievous glint in her eye.

That completely got her attention. "Tell me everything."

"Okay, so, it was two years ago and it was near the end of the school day. A student came running down the corridor and I was concerned so I opened my classroom door and called to them, saying 'What happened, why are you running,' that type of thing. They shout back, 'There's a crazy woman outside Miss, she wants Mr Renn!' Of course, I leave my class to go check what's happening outside, worrying it was something bad or something." She began to laugh. "I get to the front of the school and a dozen teachers are all pressed up against the windows looking at some woman throwing clothes across the front lawn! She was raving about how Fletcher had broken up with her and had gone on a date with someone else she seemed to know and she was throwing all his clothes everywhere."

"Oh my God." Valkyrie began to laugh.

"And then Fletcher turns up outside, teleports next to her, and they start screaming at each other! All the students were inside, so none of them saw, but oh. My. God. It was amazing. He teleported her away after a while, ran around after his clothes and teleported that away and then came back, and we were all wetting ourselves over it! He came in and saw us and he went so red! Valkyrie, I shouldn't have laughed, but I did, I laughed so hard right in his face!"

Valkyrie was roaring with laughter, hiccupping on her breath, tears in her eyes. Militsa laughed back and it was infectious, making Valkyrie laugh until she was out of breath and gasping laughter where she could. They only sobered when Militsa started fanning herself and looked away, blinking away tears. Valkyrie took a drink of her lemonade to calm down.

"That might be the best story I've ever heard," she told her.

"It was pretty funny," she giggled.

Not long later, the restaurant was out with their sharing platter of various sushi and sauces. Mounds of sushi covered the wooden platter, all colourful and fresh.

"This looks amazing."

"It does," Militsa agreed, getting her chopsticks ready. "I won't lie, I usually eat this at home so I don't know how to do it right."

"I don't think it matters. No one can see us," Valkyrie said, then gave her a look. "Speaking of, you didn't do this on purpose, did you?"

Militsa looked ashamed. "I was worried they'd be mean or cause a scene. I didn't want you to get upset so I checked if they would be okay with you here."

Valkyrie wasn't sure what to say, so she just looked at the food and nodded slightly. "Where do we start?"

"Hot first, I think," Militsa said after a moment. "This one."

Valkyrie ate what Militsa did, a small amount of rice with some fish atop it and enjoyed the flavours. "I like that," she nodded. "Whatever it is."

"I have no idea," Militsa laughed around her mouthful. "Sushi is one of my favourites but I know literally nothing about it."

"Other than it's good."

"So good," she agreed, going for another piece.

Slowly, they ate through one piece at a time and compared how they liked it, until they found at the bottom of a stack, a piece of seafood atop some rice that neither of them liked the look of.

"It looks like a giant grub," Valkyrie said.

"It does."

"I don't really want it."

"It might taste good though."

"Eat it."

"I don't want to."

"I dare you to try it."

Militsa looked at her. "If I eat it, you have to too."

She thought about it and then nodded. "Fine. But I'm not touching it until you have yours."

Militsa nodded and picked up the white piece of nigiri, dipped it in soy sauce upside down, and bit into it without looking. For a moment she did nothing, and then she started chewing. "It's squid."

"It is?" Valkyrie asked, looking at the piece remaining. "It looks weird."

"But it tastes good."

Valkyrie held her resolve, copied Militsa by dipping it and ate it whole without looking. It was nice, Valkyrie liked squid a lot, but the idea of what it looked like dampened her enjoyment. "It's good, but I don't want another."

"That's them all gone anyway," Militsa nodded. "We have colder stuff now."

They began on them, Militsa regaling Valkyrie with a story from her childhood of how her friends reacted to her choosing to go live in the Temple and learn Necromancy. All of her friends had been fine with it, had missed her, and had been perfectly nice.

"I would have thought they would've been meaner. Necromancy has never been all that loved," Valkyrie said, picking out another roll.

Militsa shrugged. "I was thirteen and Morwenna Crow was an Irish Elder and a Necromancer. It wasn't that bad. Even in Scottland that counted for something."

Valkyrie frowned. "If she was still an Elder, how old are you? If you don't mind me asking."

"It's fine. I'm twenty-nine. Five years older than you."

"Oh," Valkyrie nodded. "How did your parents take it?"

"My parents were good with it. They were worried about me picking something and sticking with it, I was always flitting between ideas as a kid. It's no wonder I'm obsessed with Magic Theory now! They were happy I was happy and that was enough. They always encouraged me to look at all magics equally and give everything a try. It wasn't a surprise I went for Necromancy eventually."

"They sound great."

"They really are. My parents are amazing," she smiled. "I can't wait to go on holiday, we're going to have a great time."

"I'm sure," Valkyrie said. "How will you cope now staring at all the pretty girls on the beach though?"

Militsa noticed she was joking with her immediately. "I can control myself you know."

"Oh yeah? Could have fooled me. You've been staring at my arms all night."

Militsa flushed but didn't go bright red. "Shush. I have not."

She hadn't but Valkyrie knew enough to tease her. "What will you do if you see someone nice there with your parents?"

Militsa rolled her eyes and smirked right back at her. "I'll flirt with her. My Da's my biggest supporter and my Mum thinks it's funny."

Valkyrie grinned. "You'd just go for it, right there?"

She rolled her eyes. "Now you're being obtuse. I would flirt, I wouldn't have sex in front of them."

Valkyrie had to laugh. "I couldn't imagine flirting in front of my parents. I don't think they would know what to do."

"There's always a first time for everything," she mocked.

"Yeah, yeah, you got me. Are you going to eat anything else?"

"Oh, no, I'm stuffed. Have it."

Valkyrie smiled. "Thanks."

Militsa smiled and told her a story about funny students she'd had in class over the last year as Valkyrie finished, and then they moved over to the bar to give their table to the next person that needed it. They got a tall table away from the masses at the bar after getting another lemonade for Valkyrie and another wine for Militsa.

"I think I could come here again," Militsa smiled.

Valkyrie hummed. "I don't really go out much."

"Neither. But my friends like to visit new places all the time, so this will have to go on the list."

Valkyrie nodded. "Do you have a big group of friends?"

"Yeah, all over the world! I like meeting new people, even if I am a home bird at heart," she smiled. "I've been learning to speak French recently."

"Oh? Je ne parle pas beaucoup de français."

Militsa looked at her in astonishment. "I didn't know you could speak French! I have no idea what you just said."

Valkyrie couldn't hold in her laugh any longer. "I just said that I don't know any French."

Militsa threw her head back and laughed with her. "You know, I'm going to take it back. You are rude, Valkyrie."

She gave her a wink. "You love it."

She blushed again. "I hate it, thank you. And if you don't know any French, how did you know how to say that?"

"I meet a lot of people. Telling them I don't know what they're saying is useful," she shrugged. "I know a little French, but only how to ask for food and stuff like that."

"Same. I want to get better, I want to visit next summer."

"It's nice. Lots of museums and stuff."

"There are. I want to see the art galleries, I love stuff like that."

"That's my favourite type of museum. I like the old oil paintings," Valkyrie admitted. "Don't tell anyone I told you that."

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "Everyone thinks I'm this big strong woman that doesn't like anything but black clothes and punching shit. If they found out I liked ye olde oil paintings of trees and naked people I'd probably get mocked." She drained the last of her drink. "You wanna go for a walk?"

Militsa finished her drink and nipped to the loo, giving Valkyrie time to flag down their host and pay. The total was over eighty euros, which didn't surprise her at all considering how fancy the restaurant was. Militsa came back to see Valkyrie standing by the table in her coat, holding Militsa's out for her to get into.

"Oh, thanks." She put her arms in and Valkyrie shrugged when she was done, uncomfortable with the praise. "I just need to pay and we can go."

"No need," Valkyrie told her and turned on her heel.

Militsa caught up to her. "What do you mean? I was meant to be paying this time."

"Yeah well. I wanted to. So I did."

They left the building and Militsa rounded on her. "Valkyrie. I said I was paying this time."

"You were too slow."

"Too – oh my gosh Valkyrie, you can be very baiting sometimes, do you know that? I don't think I've bought a single thing in all the times we've hung out! I don't want to be a bad friend! It makes me feel guilty."

Valkyrie didn't feel guilty. "Okay. You can buy us coffee whenever we go out next. How's that?"

She seemed ready to argue and then paused. "Okay. Fine. I'll get coffee next time we go out. But I mean it, if you do it again I won't hang out with you anymore."

Her words shouldn't have made Valkyrie feel as sick as they did. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to step on your feet Mil, I just wanted to be nice."

She softened. "It's okay, I just want to be nice too. Why don't we meet up on Friday? As long as you don't have work. We could do something."

Valkyrie nodded without thinking. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Okay. Do you want to go on a walk then?"

She nodded and then began walking down the street.

"I like your coat," Militsa said after a minute.

"Thanks. Um, what're your plans? For tomorrow?" She asked, suddenly very unsure what to say. She was running out of material.

"I'm meeting some friends for lunch tomorrow and on Thursday I'm going for a bike ride with the same friends and some others too, and I'm getting a takeaway with my neighbours before they move out that night. And on Friday I'll be meeting you. And nothing for the weekend, so probably reading. Usually I don't do so much but it's the summer so everyone wants to see me before I leave. What about you?"

"I'll be working, hopefully I'll be able to see you on Friday, and then more work. I might do some training with Xena," she said.

She nodded. "What about fun stuff? Aside from seeing me."

"Training Xena," she repeated.

Militsa didn't ask her again and Valkyrie suddenly felt very stupid, for having nothing she did aside from work.

They walked in companionable silence, going around the block and ending up back outside the restaurant in almost no time. They stopped next to Valkyrie's car.

"I enjoy this," Militsa smiled.

"Me too. I suppose it's not bad having a friend to visit in the city," she teased quietly. "Do you need a life home?"

She got a grin. "You're so sweet. No, I'm alright, it's not a long walk. I'll see you on Friday unless you hear otherwise then?"

Valkyrie nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you then."

She nodded and stepped back. "Have a nice night!"

"You too." She closed the door behind her.

Militsa waited until she was gone and waved her away. Valkyrie raised her hand back but she doubted Militsa could see.