Barbara twiddled her thumbs behind her back as she waited for Lotte at their usual meeting place. She paced around the familiar alcove as she waited anxiously. It was a warm evening although the alcove was significantly cooler, which was rather pleasant to Barbara. Despite this, the raven haired witch was partial to taking strolls on warm nights. She loved the chorus of softly chirping insects, how the gentle breeze played with her long, dark hair, and the sensation of heat that lingered from a hot day. Barbara sighed in frustration as she stopped in her tracks and sat down against the cold stone brick wall. She hugged her knees as her mind began to wander.
It has been a year since Lotte and Barbara started their nightly ritual of reading a single volume of Nightfall every night and tomorrow will be the release of the latest volume. It seemed ridiculous at first, but they somehow made it through. That certain chilly night stuck to Barbara's memory however. Barbara shut her eyes at the thought of all the silly attempts she made to confess her feelings to the bespectacled witch since then. There were times where she would walk Lotte back to her dorm room, only to freeze in place in front of the doorway, afraid that Lotte's roommates would overhear her. Other times, before they part, she would hug Lotte. Her lips would move, but her words would descend into inaudible stammering. Eventually, the only thing she would be able to stutter out was quiet "good night, Lotte."
"Good night, Barbara." Lotte would reply and she would hug her back. "Sweet dreams!"
Barbara blushed. She put her hands to her cheeks and shut her eyes tight, as if to hide her embarrassment from someone. She shook her head to clear up her thoughts. Since this was to be the final night of their ritual, she resolved to admit her feelings to her companion. Tonight will be the night, she thought. There will be no more turning back.
"I'm so sorry I'm late, Barbara!" Lotte gasped for breath as she reached the top of the stairs.
Barbara squeaked at Lotte's sudden appearance. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even hear as Lotte made her way upstairs. She stood up so quickly that it made her dizzy and almost made her lose her footing.
"L-Lotte! I'm glad you made it!" She exclaimed with an eager smile as she wobbled to the shorter witch and grabbed her hands in excitement.
The other witch looked at Barbara quizzically. "Is there something wrong? Your hands are all shaky."
"N-nothing! Nothing wrong at all and-" Before Barbara could finish her sentence, Lotte's eyes widened.
"Oh no! I dropped the book!" Lotte noticed her robe pockets being unusually lighter. She tried to break free from Barbara's grasp in an attempt to rush back down the stairs but Barbara held her tight.
"W-wait, Lotte! Th-there's something I want to tell you before you go."
Lotte stopped in her tracks and gave a puzzled look to the raven haired witch. Her direct stare made Barbara feel even more anxious than she already was. She looked away and cleared her throat. No more excuses this time, she thought. No more stammers or dry throats. No more fears of other witches overhearing. She's going to do it.
"L-Lotte the thing is... I..." Barbara tried to focus and prevent herself from her stammering. She tried to see Lotte eye to eye, but it only made her embarrassed, so she lowered her gaze. She observed Lotte's freckled cheeks and amused herself at the thought of poking, pinching and even kissing them. The thought of running her fingers through her short, orange hair followed soon after. No, she needs to fulfill the task at hand. No more distractions!
Before she could say another word, a soft tapping noise echoed from the stairwell. It was the unmistakable sound of shoes stepping on cold, hard floor. Barbara could feel her muscles tense and the hair on the back of her head stand. She looked at Lotte, who had a very similar look of apparent dread in her eyes, visible even through her thick lenses.
Could it be a professor making their nightly rounds? But Lotte and Barbara were sure that no professor made their rounds at this part of the tower and at this time of night. Barbara's eyes darted from side to side in an attempt to search for a place to escape or hide. Finally, she came upon a broom closet on the other side of the alcove. Without hesitation, she pulled Lotte as quickly and as quietly as possible towards the storage closet, opened the aging door and darted in with her friend without disturbing any of the brooms that hung on the walls. Somehow, Barbara managed to softly close the broom closet with trembling hands.
Thoughts raced in Barbara's mind. She couldn't afford to be caught now. There's no way she was going to miss out on the Nightfall event tomorrow. That and she didn't want Lotte to get in trouble either. She felt like Lotte would somehow take the fall for her just so Barbara wouldn't suffer through detention. She grit her teeth at the thought of that. If Lotte's going to get in trouble and get detention, then she will too! She's not going to leave her alone to clean troll bathtubs by herself. Just the thought of that made Barbara panic and she didn't realize that she was hyperventilating until Lotte covered Barbara's mouth with her quivering hand.
"Shh!" She could make out Lotte's silhouette put a finger to her mouth with her other hand. Barbara tried to calm herself. Deep, slow breaths. Just concentrate on breathing deep, slow breaths, she told herself. She tried to focus, despite her heart hammering through her chest. It felt so loud that she was afraid that it could be heard through the closet door.
Cold sweat trickled down Barbara's brow as she heard the faint footsteps growing louder by the second. A familiar incandescent glow, possibly from a wand, poured out from the door's cracks as the patrolling stranger inspected the alcove. The stranger stopped at the alcove and both Barbara and Lotte held their breaths. Seconds passed as Barbara tried her best not to move a single muscle. Her lungs burned and her temples throbbed as she prayed for the footsteps to never reach the broom closet. Finally, the stranger started to move again and the glow disappeared. They waited a few seconds as the sound of the soft tapping faded before finally breathing a sigh of relief.
Still, the two of them sat in that broom closet, motionless and wordless. They held each other's hands tightly and firmly, despite both of them shaking nervously. Lotte was the first to speak.
"Do you think it's safe to go out now?"
Barbara fidgeted with uncertainty. She shook her head. What if whoever that was is waiting down the stairs or at the entrance of the tower? Just thinking about that made her nervous again. Despite this, an idea cropped up in her head.
"Hey, how about we fly down? I don't want to risk finding out if whoever that was is waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs."
Lotte nodded in agreement. They took one of the hanging brooms and opened the door slowly. At first, Barbara opened it wide enough for her to see through the crack. She saw no one and continued to open the door, praying it won't creak. Once there was enough room for them to slip through, Barbara and Lotte slid quietly, broom in hand.
"Tia freyre!" Barbara whispered and the two witches were off.
Barbara wasn't used to having another witch ride with her, especially one that clung to her waist as tightly as she could. Nevertheless, she found it rather pleasant. She couldn't really complain about the warm evening air blowing through her cheeks, or the pale, moonlit trees waving their branches beneath their feet, or Lotte resting her head on Barbara's back as she hugged her from behind. To be quite honest, Barbara wanted this evening flight to last a bit longer.
Finding a clearing among the numerous trees, Barbara touched down and gave a long sigh of relief. No one seemed to have followed them and they just might have escaped the prospect of cleaning goblin toilets. She looked over at Lotte, who had a similar expression of relief. Barbara couldn't explain it, but she burst into laughter and Lotte followed suit. Maybe it was just her way of coping with the tension or maybe she liked it a lot when the smaller witch clung so close to her in their broom ride. She wasn't entirely sure. Before Barbara could reason any further, she felt her knees buckle and found herself sitting on the soft grass.
"Barbara are you okay?" Lotte sat next to the nervous witch and held her hand.
"I-I'm fine! That whole ordeal gave me a fright." Barbara reassured her with a smile. "I guess I'm glad we won't get in trouble and we can make it to tomorrow's event!"
"Geez, you always worry about the silliest things." Lotte giggled but then quickly paused.
There was a good amount of silence between the two of them. Only the whispering wind can be heard as it danced its way through the leaves. The warm breeze caressed both of their hands, which were still entwined. Barbara noted Lotte's small, cold fingers and how they trembled so slightly. She looked to the other witch, who looked like she was enjoying this shared comfortable silence. After a while, Lotte was the first to break the silence.
"Barbara, didn't you have something to say to me?"
The raven haired witch immediately felt her stomach turn and her heart race. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks again and immediately turned away from Lotte to hide her flustered face. Before she could say a word, she could feel two cold, trembling hands hold her cheeks and force her head to look straight at Lotte's face. It was subtle, but Barbara could make out the slight tinge of rouge on her cheeks, making her freckles stand out a bit more than usual.
"I... uh... I don't know wh-what to say." The instant confrontation made Barbara incredibly flustered.
"It's alright, just calm down." The other witch eased her with a soft whisper. "Just tell me everything."
Lotte's clear blue eyes stared directly into Barbara's. It was that familiar sublime, resilient look again. It was the kind of face that Lotte put up despite being bullied and despite finding herself in tough situations. Barbara recalled it so many times, but she finally understood in that moment that underneath that courageous facade, was a meek and wavering witch with trembling, cold hands. She was just like Lotte in a way, Barbara thought. She just lacked the strength to put up a brave face, but she was going to change all of that in that moment.
"L-Lotte, I uh... I want to spend more time with you. N-not just reading Nightfall!"
She felt tears well up on the corner of her eyes. The lump in her throat made her choke a bit. She fought them back hard.
"I want to do so many fun things and share a lot of memories with you! Like having tea, or watching movies, or going shopping, or going to the beach, or reading books when it's raining!"
Barbara was always easily scared. When terror gripped her, she would cling to other people like Hannah or Diana. She was never the type who stood up for herself. Somehow, Lotte changed all that. For once, she made something happen by herself. For once, she did something unexpected. For once, she won't let her cowardice get the best of her.
"And I... I want to know more about you! The kind of tea you like, or if you like horror movies, or if you like taking a stroll on warm evenings!"
Barbara watched Lotte nod at each silly declaration with an eager smile. She was practically yelling out each sentence and punctuating them with a gasp. She felt her chest tighten as she tried to squeeze out the last few words from her heart.
"Because I like you, Lotte!" She shut her eyes tight as she finally managed to pull out the words from her throat and say them as loud and as clear as possible. There was a few seconds of silence and she felt Lotte's hands release her cheeks. This prompted Barbara to open her eyes and be greeted by Lotte's simple, meek smile.
"See, it wasn't that hard, was it?" Lotte's hands moved down to Barbara's waist. She leaned towards the taller witch, wrapped her arms around her, and rested her head on Barbara's chest.
"I like you too, Barbara. I like you a lot." Lotte whispered as she nuzzled on the other witch. "It makes me so happy that you feel the same way, and I look forward to spending more time with you."
Barbara couldn't help but hug Lotte back. She felt so close and so warm. The familiar smell of her shampoo and her soft hair brushing against Barbara's cheek felt comforting. She didn't want to let go and Lotte had the same sentiment. Both witches indulged in each other's desire for closeness and the wordless embrace was a sign that neither would mind spending a few more minutes in each other's arms.
Just another reason why warm evenings are the best, Barbara thought.
Barbara quietly opened the door to her suite. It was pitch black, save for a light coming from behind the bookcase that separated Hannah's and her side of the room from Diana's side. In the dark, she could make out Hannah in bed, sleeping soundly. The sound of a page turning meant that Diana must still be awake.
Barbara sighed as she leaned on the door. She touched her cheek and realized that she must still be blushing from Lotte's goodnight kiss. She smiled at the thought of this as she walked towards her bed.
"Good evening, Barbara." Diana peered from the other side of the bookcase, whispering in order to not wake Hannah up.
Barbara nearly jumped at Diana's sudden appearance but stopped herself at the last minute.
"Good evening, Diana! Still studying?"
"Truthfully, no. I'm just doing some recreational reading with this book I found." The blonde witch lifted a familiar looking tome and Barbara's eyes widened. "It's a rather... fascinating read."
It was a copy of the 366th volume of Nightfall. Lotte's copy, to be exact.
AN: Thanks for all the kind words from the previous chapter. I originally planned on this being a oneshot, but I ended up writing this second chapter as a break from another piece. As such, there were some things I wasn't entirely happy with, but it's all for fun, I guess.