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Guinevere woke with a start and immediately looked at the alarm clock that was blaring with an awful racket.

Grumbling, she sat up and planted her palm on top of the offending machine, immediately silencing the loud buzzing.

"Brilliant, Gwen," she reprimanded herself. "Only you would forget to turn off the alarm on a Sunday."

She stood and stretched, wincing at a dull soreness in her thighs. They felt like she had run a marathon without warming up.

"How is that even possible?" She wondered out loud. "Ugh, must've slept in an odd position again."

She got up and padded to the bathroom, pausing in front of a full length mirror on the way. She looked at herself, noting the way that her hair resembled like a cloud around her head. She sighed, knowing that there really wasn't anything she could do to tame it. She really wasn't a vain person, but she thought that a day where she didn't have to torture her locks into submission wasn't such a big favor to ask of the universe.

Guinevere hummed a little tune as she puttered around her apartment. Today was a Sunday, her one day to be selfish and hoard a little me-time. But today was a special day as she would spend it with her brother and "a special guest."

Guinevere chuckled a little. Elyan had become so secretive about his personal life lately that there was no doubt in her mind that a woman was involved. She would have been intrigued if not for the fact that she was more relieved than anything else.

Elyan still refused to talk to her about what happened after he left military service, but that he is encouraging a romantic life is heartening to Guinevere

'Maybe she can draw him out,' she mused as she went about preparing for the day.

Soon, she is out the door and making her way to the coffee shop she has become a regular patron of. She can't even remember how she found the place, but it was cozy and served amazing brews so she wasn't going to question her luck.

The weather was still warm and Guinevere is starting to long for the bite of autumn. She'd always liked colder weather; she liked being bundled in scarves and boots and her fascination with cold-weather attire has led her to seek out capes and cloaks.

"A red one," she told Elyan the other day when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas and she had replied that she wanted a floor-length cape. He had just sighed and shook his head.

She walked the few blocks to the coffee shop, her hair blowing in the wind and her mind traveling back to the lovely dream she had the night before. She remembered a sun-dappled clearing in the middle of a forest, a small stream, and the flowers that carpeted the ground. She had woken up before the dream could progress, but it was a nice thing to recall.

Guinevere entered the coffee shop and breathed in the familiar comforting aroma of roasting beans and baked goods. She was a fairly good baker herself and her coffee was nothing to sneer at, so she appreciated places that paid as much attention to their wares as she did.

Elyan was had yet to make an appearance so she ordered her usual brew and sat down at the table she always occupied. She had a lot of time to herself these days, her dad had sold their old house—something that had pained her in the beginning, but she couldn't begrudge her father the chance to travel. Already, she has received postcard and several letters from Avignon, a place that knows holds a sentimental place in her father's heart as it was where he met her mother.

She took a sip from her cup and saw that she was being observed by a young man who occupied a table directly across hers. She held back a smile. She had noticed this particular young man before, always just a little harried and with a mess of books, paper, and pens in front of him. A University student, she guessed.

Guinevere gave him a little salute with her cup and smiled wider when he blushed. A little too young for her taste, but she knew that he had his own share of admirers—if the young lady manning the till of the shop was anything to go by, at least.

She sat there for a while and waited. It felt nice to have this bit of time by herself, she just wished Elyan would hurry up and arrive already.