Time for the dinner to begin! Alcea comes to visit Olivia, what will come from the dinner between these beauties?

KedharS: Nice to see them all hanging out together again, having fun.

Hellraiserphoenix: Interesting is a word for it.

Aquahaze675: To show off, probably.

Rosealine gold: I agree, Maddi seems more like a friend than a love interest.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 455

Alcea, wearing an elegant red dress that highlighted her voluptuous figure, walked into the building that was Olivia's private dormitory. Kate walked in after her, her head lowered, tugging at the hem of her violet-colored dress as she peeked out from behind her upperclasswoman, not exactly enthused at being in the presence of so many pretty people. The Empress made it a point to only keep the company of beauty, and walking alongside with a stunner like Alcea didn't exactly do wonders for her self-confidence.

Of course, Alcea was walking with the poise of a woman of her breeding, not bothered in the least by the surprised eyes of the other dorm residents falling upon her as she walked up the stairs. They had been met at the door by Ayame Toujou, the Empress's right-hand woman, and, more notably to Alcea (and certainly Kate) Blake's girlfriend.

Ayame was dressed up as well, though not in a dress, which Alcea found notable. She was wearing a suit, bringing out her refined, princely air, giving her the look of a distinguished butler. Even Kate felt her heart skip a beat when she met Ayame's eye, and that made her feel even worse. She hung her head in resignation.

Yeah, of course Blake would choose someone like her… compared to her, I wasn't even up for consideration…

Alcea caught wind of the negative aura emanating from her friend, and without breaking her stride she told Kate, "hold your head up, Kate. You have nothing to be ashamed of, is it?"

Kate gulped, and nodded, straightening up.

"We're here," Ayame said, stopping in front of the door. She turned the handle and opened it, gesturing for Alcea to enter.

"Thank you for escorting us," Alcea said, lowering her head and lifting the hem of her red dress in a light curtsy. She turned and stepped into the room, the scent of roses hitting her in the face. Alcea walked forward, not allowing herself to be caught off-guard by the all-too-familiar aroma wafting through the room. Maintaining decorum, she resisted the urge to glance around the room.

Kate did not have the same refined attitude. She stared gobsmacked at the den, her eyes wide with surprise. The walls were fancy paper in gold and crimson flowered patterns, and the rug was a finely woven pattern of red, violet, and blue. An electronic fireplace was crackling on the far wall, one of the only sources of light in the otherwise-darkened room due to the fact that the overhead lights were pointedly switched off. The only other light in the room was the soft flicker of two candles, standing tall on the table in the very center of the room, illuminating the gorgeous face of their hostess in a dim, eerie glow.

The table itself was small, only for two people. The cloth was a deep wine-colored brocade, the flowered pattern standing out with raised golds and fiery silvers, shining in the light. It was clear that a lot of care had been put into this presentation.

Olivia rose from her seat as Alcea entered. As the highest authority in the room, the hostess, courtesy dictated that Alcea curtsied to her, first. So she did. Olivia returned the greeting, though the tightness of her dress made actually raising the hem an impossibility. It was a gesture of courtesy, the fine details were not important.

She notably did not take the courtesy to pull back Alcea's chair, however. Demonstrating that an act of that sort was beneath her, she glanced at Ayame, who stepped up to the table and drew back Alcea's chair for her to sit in. Both girls sank into their seats, facing each other, leaving Ayame standing at attention beside the table while Kate hung back near the doorway, feeling entirely out of place.

Should I go? She asked herself. I mean, the invitation was for her highness, not me, even though it said her highness could bring an attendant if it made her more comfortable… but what am I supposed to do here?

It was Kate's first day back, and already this was more stress than she was used to experiencing.

"Would you like to start with a drink?" Olivia broke the silence with a gesture of refreshments, as suited for a hostess. "Normally, I would offer a Kalosian some fine wine, but I respect that you would not be the sort to consume alcohol while underage."

The words were respectful but the tone was snide, and yet subtle enough that it could be mistaken four genuine courtesy. Alcea chose not to comment.

"Oui, I would be delighted," Alcea replied with a nod of the head. "Tea, if you have it?"

Olivia's smile grew wider, and proportionally more menacing.

"I regret to inform you," she began, no part of her tone or expression conveying a single drop of regret in her words, "but we do not have any tea in stock. I'll be happy to brew a cup of coffee, if that would suit your tastes instead. I've prepared the finest beans for your perusal."

Ayame resisted the urge to roll her eyes. This again.

"…Coffee, is it?" Alcea mused, taking a pause to consider the most polite words to express herself. "I am afraid I must decline."

"Is it the caffeine? You needn't concern yourself my lady, but we have prepared decaffeinated coffee as well, as you wish." Olivia was not about to let Alcea weasel her way out of this one.

"Your generosity astounds me," Alcea said, Olivia detecting the faintest hint of sarcasm in her bedroom voice. "However, I simply have never acquired the taste for such things, is it?"

"Too strong?" Olivia asked. "I must apologize. I did not mean to be a discourteous host."

"Your apology is unnecessary," Alcea said, shaking her head and holding up her hand, giving the Empress a polite smile that did not come close to touching the rest of her face. "I am the one who has been impolite, rejecting your kind offer."

The two smiled coolly at each other, and the atmosphere in the room dropped another couple of degrees.

"Kate," Alcea called to her friend without even turning to look at her, "please, the white rose, if you would?"

Kate nearly jumped out of her skin at having attention brought to her, but she nodded shakily, reaching into her bag and fidgeting around for the proper strain.

Alcea gave Olivia a polite smile.

"I brought my own favorite brand," she explained. "I had been hoping to present it to you this evening as a gift, but if you would not mind so terribly, perhaps we could share a pot right now? I can assure you of the flavor, is it?"

Olivia worked hard to not let her anger show on her face. That damn rose bitch! She knew full well that Olivia would rather drink motor oil than any tea she might serve, and yet she prepared something like that? As a gift? Well, Olivia knew full well what she would be doing with THAT gift, that was for damn sure.

"A gift? Your generosity is astounding!" Olivia gasped, holding her had to her mouth and widening her eyes, putting exceptional care into looking as honestly touched at the gesture as she could, swallowing her impulse to vomit on the table. "I'm overwhelmed, truly, but it is too late to drink tea for me. A gift of this caliber should be properly enjoyed, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oui," Alcea said, nodding. "Then, tea for me, coffee for you, is it?"

"That sounds perfect," Olivia said, nodding.

Both girls smiled at each other, and turned to Ayame and Kate, respectively.

"Kate, if you would?"

"Aya, the usual, if you please?"

Ayame nodded obediently, resisting the urge to flip the table over. It should NOT be that difficult for two high schoolers to place a drink order, and yet with the two of them it was like pulling teeth. She turned to Kate and beckoned the girl to follow after her, leading her through the door into the small kitchen attached to the room.

…

Who was Ayame kidding? This was the servant's entrance, where the two of them would prepare the beverages for their respective "mistresses".

Ayame was content to not spare the prickly brunette sharing the hot water beside her a second thought. She had coffee to brew, after all, and Olivia's preferences were strict. Two teaspoons of sugar, two shots of cream. And not the kind that came in those convenient packages, either, no, those were too "pedestrian" for the Empress.

It was Kate, however, who broke the silence, much to Ayame's surprise.

"Hey, um… Ayame Toujou, right?" Kate asked quietly.

"Yeah, what?" Ayame grunted, glancing up from the pot.

"You, you're, um…" Kate's face was red, and she looked down bashfully, not sure what she should say to the older girl. She wasn't even sure if Ayame knew who she was. Sure, she had been there back with the whole issue where Blake was engaged to her highness, and there was that thing with Blake's Skorupi, but there was no way Kate would have been remembered after all this time, she was just a bystander. After all, Ayame Toujou was Ayame Toujou, and Kate, well…

Kate was just Kate.

"Speak up," Ayame grunted. Contrary to what Kate's insecurity was telling her, Ayame knew full well who Kate was. Blake had spoken up about her more than once, and she was someone that he cared about. At one point, Ayame even felt a little jealous about the fact that she had been referred to as 'Kate the Second' by Blake back when they had first met, like she had somehow come up short (which would be a first, that was for sure!) in comparison. She'd been around Kate plenty of times, and yet the girl still seemed to be treating her like a stranger. They weren't friends, but Ayame at least thought they were relatively close.

"You're Blake's… girlfriend, right?" Kate asked. She gasped, her blush deepening. "Blake Harker, I mean! I-I don't know him very well, of course, you know, just… just gossip, I guess."

Gossip. Kate had been in the room with Blake when they were discussing Ayame's birthday party, and she was trying to play it off like gossip.

"I know you two are friends," Ayame replied. Tonight had enough bullshit coming from the two ladies in the other room, she wasn't about to put up with any of it coming from fucking Kate Nomia on top of that. They'd met before, did she just forget that whole thing? They'd had a frigging conversation on the topic of Ayame being Blake's girlfriend, why was she acting like a complete fool? Because she was acting like she'd never met Ayame before, for some reason, and Ayame didn't know why.

"O-Oh!" Kate gasped, her eyes widening. "Th-that's, uh… that isn't what I… I mean…"

Ayame rolled her eyes.

"We're just friends!" Kate swore, shaking her head, her voice frantic. "I promise, Ayame, there's nothing going on between me and Blake! There's nothing to be worried about, you don't need to concern yourself with me!"

"…So you're saying that I should be concerned about other people, then?" Ayame asked, narrowing her eyes. She wanted to play a little bit of a mean trick on Kate, maybe scare her a little. But the way her face went pale made her feel guilty for the prank.

"N-No! I promise, that's not what I-!"

"You like him, don't you," Ayame once again cut through the bullshit, Kate's face somehow going even more pale.

"L-l-l-l-like?" Kate stuttered, shaking her head, her eyes widening, sweat pouring down her head. "L-like who? I don't know what you're talking about?"

It was like pulling teeth with this girl.

"You like Blake," Ayame said plainly. "My boyfriend, Blake."

"I-I mean, he's not the worst guy in the world," Kate deflected. It was still quite the compliment from someone like her who tended towards misandry as a default.

"Oh, please, don't even try with that 'yes, I like him as a friend' BS," Ayame snapped, shooting Kate a glare that nearly caused her to knock the tea kettle over. "I know full well you like him romantically, Kate, so just save it."

"H-He told you?!" Kate sputtered, worried that Ayame was going to beat her up.

Yes, he had.

"Yeah, but more than that, that look on your face told me," Ayame said, causing Kate to wince. She almost wished that the taller girl HAD slapped her.

"I-I don't know what you-"

"Oh, don't even TRY to backtrack, you just admitted it," Ayame said, Kate wisely shutting up. Ayame sighed. The coffee was done, and the tea was seconds away from whistling. Ayame put the coffee pot down, and turned to Kate, putting her hand on her hip.

Kate turned away, not even willing to look the other girl in the eye.

Ayame let out another sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose, irritated.

"Just look at yourself in the fucking mirror," she growled. "Not only if your face as red as your club president's hair, but every time one of us says Blake's name your mouth turns into this weird twitchy sad smile that only comes from a girl in love, and afflicted with a broken heart."

"That's…" Kate's voice trailed off. She lowered her eyes, unable to bring herself to say the words. So all she could do was nod her head.

Ayame didn't say anything, not wanting to make this any harder on the girl. She could imagine what Kate was feeling; Blake had rejected her, once, after all. And Kate had it even worse. Ayame had fully believed that she had a chance at holding a place in her heart.

Kate, on the other hand…

Kate's hopes had all been dashed by Ayame herself, the poor thing.

Kate finally turned back to Ayame, her face filled with desperation.

"Look, I swear, I don't have any intentions about Blake!" Kate said. "I don't like him anymore! I-I mean, I do! But it's not like I can help it, it just… it hurts a lot, and… and I promise! I'm not going to try and, like, take him, or anything! I-I would never do anything as cruel as that! I just, I-! I do, I promise, I would never, not once, not-!"

The whistle of the tea kettle drowned out Kate's desperate rant. She frantically turned and removed it from the heat, waiting for it to cool enough to pour. She was clearly about to pass out, that much was obvious.

"Girl, girl, take a breath," Ayame said, reaching out and placing a hand on Kate's shoulder. "You look like you're the one who's going to start steaming."

"S-Sorry, I just-"

"Kate? Can I call you Kate?" Ayame asked. Kate nodded. "Okay, look. I am very secure in my relationship with Blake, okay? I know he loves me. And I love him, more than anything. So don't fucking think this is some 'you stay away from my boyfriend you fucking bitch' moments, because it's not that. Okay? I'm not worried about what you're going to do with him."

"I-I'm not going to do anything with him, I promise!" Kate insisted, her eyes pleading with Ayame, Ayame sighing in response. She saw that Kate was still worried about what was going on.

"You like him, it's fine," Ayame insisted again, trying to keep her face and voice as kind as possible so that this girl wouldn't end up keeling over and dying out of fear. "I won't get mad if you tell him you like him. You can talk with him, hang out with him, it's fine. …Don't, like, assault him, though. That's something I'm not going to fucking tolerate."

"I-I wouldn't!" Kate insisted. "I definitely wouldn't, don't even worry about it, Ayame!"

"I already told you, I'm not," Ayame laughed, patting her on the shoulder. "Look, you're friends with him, it's fine. I don't mind you guys hanging out, trust me."

"…Okay," Kate said, nodding humbly. "But, uh… we don't. Hang out, I mean. N-Not, not anymore, anyway. Like, I mean, we used to, but ever since I confessed, well…"

Ayame blinked. She reached up and rubbed her temples, sighing.

"You confessed to him?" She hadn't heard THAT.

"Y-yeah, during our trip to Galar," Kate said, still looking as mousy and insecure as ever. "But, well… he dumped me. Said he wasn't interested in dating at the time."

Now it was Ayame's turn to be a little embarrassed. She had completely forgotten about the whole "started dating her less than a week after rejecting Kate" part of it, that had been a hectic day.

"S-So, yeah, about that 'not interested in dating thing'…" Ayame murmured, glancing down at the ground, scratching the back of her neck. "Look, you know, I mean…"

"I know that you started dating him right after," Kate assured her. "And yeah, that stung like a bitch I'll tell you that. But it's okay, like… Blake's happy and shit, so I don't mind that he started dating you right after you went out with him, okay? Don't feel bad for something like that."

"Oh, okay, but… but you guys don't talk anymore?" Ayame asked. "Just because you were worried about me dating him and getting jealous?"

The thought of that made Ayame feel even worse.

"…Yeah, kind of," Kate said, nodding her head reluctantly. "Things just got really awkward between the two of us, and he never reached out to me, and I didn't feel like reaching out to him, and we just sort of… fell out of favor with each other, you know? We're doing a little better, but we're still kinda... distant. But yeah. No big deal."

She glanced at Ayame.

"Hey, uh… does Blake… does he ever talk about me?" She tried to make it sound as subtle as possible, but of course it was obvious as hell with the eagerness caught in the tone of her voice, and the way she glanced furtively at the taller girl.

"Nope," Ayame said, Kate slumping over in disappointment. She didn't know why she hoped he would be thinking about her.

"Makes sense… I guess it's better to just leave things well-enough alone…" Kate sighed. "I was hoping he'd call over Winter Break or something, but, well... we might as well just move on…"

"Nope, not a chance," Ayame said, shaking her head. She glanced at the door, then back at Kate. "Look, the boss and Alcea Vermeil might have their issues-"

"Issues?" Kate interrupted her, tilting her head to the side quizzically. "What do you mean by issues? I know they aren't friends, but they seem to be getting along fine enough…"

Ayame opened her mouth to correct Kate, but shut it quickly after, shaking her head. Poor thing, I can't imagine someone actually being that oblivious…

"…But that doesn't mean we have to be at each other's throats," Ayame wisely moved on. She gave Kate a good-natured shake on the shoulder. "Look, I'll talk to Blake. I thought I told him before, not to ghost you, but I guess that didn't go over. So don't worry, I'll do it again, I'll get him to call you up and you guys can be friends again."

"No! …No," Kate exclaimed, shaking her head, before returning her voice to a more passable level. She sighed. "Look, I just… I'm venting, that's all, talking about my frustrations! I mean, still, I want to talk to him, but I'm not sure I'm ready to see him again. It's not his fault, it-it's mine. We've already made up, don't worry! We're good! Super-duper good! So, like… you don't have to make him feel guilty or anything, when I get over this broken heart, we can hang out with each other then."

Ayame nodded her head. That made sense to her.

"If that's what you want, then go for it," she said, nodding. "Still, I'm sorry that what happened between you and Blake ended up costing you your friendship…"

"N-No, no, nothing like that," Kate said frantically, shaking her head, offsetting her discomfort with an awkward laugh. "We're just on pause, that's all. Plus, well… it's not like we're the best of friends, you know?"

She followed up with a mutter, "I don't have many good friends, honestly…"

"Oh, come on, I'm sure you guys got along just fine," Ayame chuckled. She knew Blake, and he treated even people he didn't know well as good friends. Kate was probably just exaggerating.

"Yeah, well, I guess you could say that," Kate admitted. She scowled. "Still, he can be kind of a jerk sometimes."

"A jerk?" Ayame asked. She scowled too, "what did he do?"

"Can you believe this?" Kate scoffed. "Once, when we were clothes shopping, he picked out these super-skimpy shorts for me to try on, and then he blatantly ogled my ass! He's the ass…"

She kept quiet about how she had bought the micro-shorts for herself afterwards, she didn't think Ayame needed to hear that part.

"That does sound like him," Ayame growled, knowing a signature of Blake's preference when she heard it. "Wonder why he didn't tell me THAT little detail… He should know I'd be willing to try on those shorts if he'd asked, the jerk!"

"H-Hey, I didn't mean anything by it!" Kate stuttered. "I wasn't, like, trying to shit-talk him or anything! Don't, like, get mad at him over this!"

"Don't worry, I'm just playing," Ayame laughed, slapping Kate on the back and startling the girl. "Anyway, don't worry. I like teasing Blake."

She gave Kate a wink.

"Thanks for the idea, though. Micro-shorts, that's a pretty good idea," she purred. Kate rolled her eyes, suddenly not wanting to continue the conversation.

Besides, the drinks were finished, and they had to bring them to the two outside. This night was just getting started, and things were looking to be pretty stressful for all of them.

The cold war has just begun… Hopefully things will turn out for the best, we don't need more animosity breaking out across the school.