Finally, they were , walking along with familiars in tow, and more importantly out of Goodwyn House. It was always something of a relief for Cedric to be out of the damned place. Infernal. Goodwyn the Great, and terrible.
On the other hand, Cedric was feeling less sure about his decision to go along with this.
"Sooo...fia?" he asked, fidgeting with the dark blue uniform robe he'd finally deigned to wear in the cold weather. Maybe it was just that the robe wasn't as nice as his own favored one. Maybe-
No. He had to sort this out.
Before he managed to speak again, though, Wormwood landed on his shoulder. The raven didn't caw, giving Sofia a sideways glance, but murmured some things even Cedric could barely hear. Not that hearing was strictly necessary, the normal process of communication with Familiars - that was, without Talk to Familiar - was closer to telepathy than speech. Useful, if somewhat imprecise.
Cedric saw himself, sitting on the ground, heartbroken, looking up at a cruelly smirking Sofia, felt the shame and derision of her, and others, laughing at him. She's playing you for a fool, for the fun of it.
He saw himself and Sofia, older, in the tower he would someday take from his father. She gave him a cup of tea, and took a cup herself, but did not raise it to her lips. He choked on it, and fell to the ground, clutching at his throat. It was bitter, far too bitter for tea, and he recognized the taste of, fittingly, wormwood. She's using you, your position, your bloodline and the weak place you have in it.
He saw Sofia, hugging him, being friendly - but suddenly she was gone, the warm presence by his side, gone, replaced by nothing but a cold void. He was falling, falling far too long, but he looked up and could still see Sofia, someone else's arms around her, around her neck. She turned around and gave the owner of those arms a passionate kiss. His roommate, his oldest friend, his only other friend. She's in the thick of some plot to get close to Greylock, and will drop you without a thought the second she's done.
He saw the Sofia and himself sitting at a table, with a cake in the middle. They laughed lightly, each with a half-eaten slice on their plates. Sofia leaned over to wipe a fleck of icing from Cedric's mouth - and underneath Clover got into his bag, found the Family Wand, and took it. She feeds you sweets, keeps you happy, placated, while she damns you to hell.
Back in reality, Cedric was silent, but otherwise made no signs of his turmoil. No. She wouldn't. ...Would she? He couldn't really think that. Yes, he knew that being conjured from himself, Wormwood was nothing more than a piece of himself. Still, he couldn't… really think that… he couldn't.
Sofia said, "Yeah, Cedric? What is it?" and brought him out of his reverie.
Cedric steeled himself and finally continued, "What exactly are your intentions this evening?" He looked down at the girl by his side - who hadn't let go of his hand once she'd had it, though he didn't try very hard to wrestle it away. She looked back up at him with clear blue eyes.
"Intentions? I don't know what you mean."
All right, well, so much for not taking his hand back. He started massaging it. "I think you do," he said, nodding pointedly to his hands. Admittedly, after Wormwood's intervention, there were significantly more possibilities than 'this is a date' at the forefront of his mind, but he didn't want to betray his feelings on the matter. He would seem paranoid if they didn't turn out to be true, which would be quite bad enough - but also in case any of them were.
Not that that notion of paranoia would be unfounded, apparently.
Sofia laughed, though Cedric could not tell whether it was a dismissive giggle, light genuine amusement, or even nerves. "Honestly, I don't have anything specific planned. Yes, I know, for once. I just like hanging out with you, especially when you're feeling up to things like this." Whether he felt up to this anymore or not was in question, honestly. But Cedric didn't mention that aloud.
Instead, he was lost in thought. Did she really have to be coy like this? It would be so much easier if she had just come out and confirmed or denied romantic connotations to this 'not-a-date'. Why had he said that about the sounding like a date, anyway? Why had he said that? It was dumb. He'd been afraid, it sounded too romantic, wanted confirmation he was reading too much into things.
He was reading too much into things. Cedric was always a victim of over-thinking, but this was a bit much. He'd hoped for her to say yes, yes, Cedric I love you and I want to date you. To have this strange infatuation returned, to have it not wasted.
He wanted the feelings to stop, so he could maintain this friendship he'd fallen into by accident, by happy accident, and which would never happen again. He could feel it in his bones. She was wonderful, and kind, and cared about him, but had many other friends, and doubtless suitors. Lovers had spats, had fights, had big fights, broke apart. Friends were more stable, and he needed that.
He needed more. Not that friendship wasn't wonderful, deeply soothing in ways he hadn't known until he met Greylock, and even then it was with the prickly barbs of his jokes. He needed intimacy. The physical kind would be nice, but no, the emotional. Maybe people could be emotionally intimate with their friends, with non-romantic partners. Maybe that's all he wanted from Sofia.
...Maybe that's what he already had with Sofia? Then why the over-thinking?
Unaware of any misgivings, aside from Cedric's unease at the idea of a date from earlier, Sofia finally continued, "I like hanging out with you. So I guess my 'intentions' are to have a nice time tonight, and make sure you have one too."
Cedric bit his lip. That...didn't really answer the question he posed to her, but something inside him, that had been bending further and further - no, it didn't snap, but it started to splinter. His lips curled into a small smile around his teeth.
"Well, ah. Good to hear Sofia." Perfect response. "And it looks like we're here."
The eatery wasn't very large, or very nice, or very well priced, and it didn't accept student meal plans. But it did allow interyear, interhouse, coed dining, wasn't restricted to students, the tables were cozier, and the food was...somewhat better.
They didn't talk much while in line, focusing on what they were wanting to get. When they finally reached the counter to order, Cedric stepped up and asked Sofia, "What is it you want, then?"
Sofia answered, "Hmm, I guess I'll probably be getting the veggie burger, chips, and malt."
Cedric nodded, asked the clerk if they'd gotten that, and added his own order of fish 'n' chips, 'n' crisps for the hell of it, and tried to order a glass of wine, but the café was 'fresh out', so settled for tea.
"How very Enchancian of you, Cedric," said Sofia lightly, eyebrow raised but smiling, "those stereoty-hey. Wait just a tick-tock. What are you doing ordering mine?" The grimace growing on her face looked very real.
"Whatever this excursion is or is not," Cedric started quickly, "I wanted to pay. I knew you'd refuse if I asked. So I took the initiative." There. She should like that, shouldn't she? That's largely what she did with him. As for the reason, well, it was practical. She wouldn't accept being paid for just because he has more money sitting around, but that's all it was. So, well, he had to disguise that, right? This wasn't about it being a not-date. Even his interest in Sofia's funds were purely practical, of course. Of course. If she ran out of funds to keep her happy and healthy, she would run out of grades, out of scholarship, and he would run out of...student? Tut-ee? What was the inverse of the word 'tutor' anyway?
Sofia did smile, she did laugh and accept his explanation as the truth. And technically, it was the truth. ...Perhaps more than just 'technically'.
"And anyhow," he added at once they finally sat down at a small table to eat, "I didn't get the stereotypical Earl Grey tea. Someone has made too many jokes about it, and besides it tastes like dirt. I prefer a witch's brew of ingredients, but I guess darjeeling will have to do." He stopped speaking, blinked, and added, "And anyhow, Sofia, aren't you also from Enchancia?"
Sofia laughed and nodded. "Not blood-tied, but yeah, I lived in a village called Dunwiddee for a while. And it was hardly stereotypical at all."
"Yes, well. The royals do like their stereotypes." Cedric huffed and took a bite of his fish.
Apparently the hint to stow it had been received, as Sofia asked no more. It was hard to say how much she knew of his family, of his bloodline and his status within it, but he didn't want to talk about it ever, let alone what might otherwise be a really nice evening.
They ate in silence for a few minutes, until Sofia asked, "So, how is your thesis coming?"
"Ah, yes, it's… going. It's rather hard to-" Cedric stopped suddenly and blinked.
His thesis on artefacts was why Cedric had had the book, had known the signs, to recognize the Amulet. Which would have been fine and dandy, if knowing what he knew about it, and knowing that the artefact was, sometimes literally, just within reach, hadn't consumed him with envy and less than noble ideas. Even now, it lurked under her blouse and blazer.
Sofia looked at him oddly, and he realized he'd stopped in the middle of a sentence. "It, well, you know how it goes! Lots of research! It's slow going, and not very interesting really. You know whose thesis is interesting, though? A girl in my year, uh, Calem or something? She's doing hers under, ah, Professor Layton's friend. Sycamore? The dandy from Kalos, Life Sciences professor. It's half-experiment, really, something about connection to Mithril - you know, what most magical artefacts are made from - and Familiars. More than one with their use, specially tempered bits that can make them stronger, do more things, do their own magic - that's interesting, right?" Cedric had only ever listened to the
girl's talk about her own project because the animal aspect seemed like it might interest Sofia, and well, when he was trying to deflect interest from his own work, this was the perfect time to bring that up, right?
"Really? That does sound really cool." She looked to the side and nodded her head thoughtfully. "I'll have to ask Layton if he knows who you mean after history. I still can't believe I had his name wrong for several months."
Cedric just gave her a pointed look, to which Sofia said, "Hey! That was only one month." She pouted dramatically at him, and he couldn't help but laugh, but that died down when she continued, "But what was that about Mithril? I didn't know there was any specific material for magic stuff."
Lurline's Lemons, she was determined. "I don't know much about it myself, really. Not my field. ...Maybe I ought to change my Advising professor to Layton, I suppose I'm in something like Archeology?" ...Wait. He was supposed to be moving away from his subject until he could think of a good cover.
"But yes, as, ah, I recall," Cedric started again, "that's why the student and professor are collaborating. Her interest is magic as it relates to geology. So largely Mithril, though other rocks too, probably. Her advisor had the theory about the Mithril and Familiars, but wasn't able to complete much research on his own for… whatever reason?" Cedric shrugged. "Rather odd, I thought, that he'd go to a student rather than a fellow professor or sorcerer for help with that, but their whole relationship is-" He stopped talking as he realized he was getting heavily into gossip territory.
"Point is," he said, recovering after a moment, "as far as rocks go, I know enough to know which ones I should use in my potions, and a few different names for the same thing when it comes to common ingredients." He then took a large bite of his fish and chewed slowly, to use the time to think of a quick cover for his thesis, a lie he could build on later.
Throughout all this, Sofia listened intently, nodding occasionally, her bright blue eyes rarely leaving his, at least as far as he could tell while looking nearly anywhere but. It wasn't anything against her, and he was sure her eyes were lovely… when they were looking anywhere else. Often it was an issue of attention, his thing with eye contact, but he wanted Sofia's attention.
Well, not right now, actually. He'd like to sort out a good lie to tell her regarding his thesis first, or manage to actually get off the topic.
Aside from that, though, he liked when she listened to what she said, it was just better if she was following along in a book, or doodling, or occupying her hands and her eyes somehow that wasn't at him. Oh well. At least she didn't begrudge him for not returning the eye contact… Unless she did. She might, and just not say anything. She might say something to Greylock, in the form of mockery, they'd laugh about it. Ugh, no, probably not. That was unreasonable.
And it's not like he never made eye contact, he'd had the habit of avoiding it whenever possible yelled out of him by enough professors. Still, it was uncomfortable, and harder to deal with when he was already uncomfortable.
Or feeling guilty.
...None of this was helping him craft that lie. Cedric finally swallowed his bite, and asked, "So, then, Sofia. How are your studies coming along? - Don't answer me as if we're in the study tower, that's not how I mean. Thoughts, favorite bits, whatever strikes your fancy to talk about." Okay, good. That actually came out rather calm, and should entirely redirect, rather than just poorly deflecting as before.
Sofia shrugged lightly. "Pretty good, I guess," she said. "I mean, as well as can be expected? I'm still having to work a lot to not just keep up with this year's studies, but also learn all the remedial things. I almost wish I'd been placed a few years behind, but I can't imagine that would make me any more popular, eheh."
Cedric's eyes knitted as he tilted his head to one side. "I thought you rather were popular, though? You seem to have plenty of friends." At least comparatively if nothing else.
With a sigh, Sofia answered, "Well, I certainly try. And usually people don't get in my face directly, a kind face helps, but… Mostly I'm just, I fake it 'til I make it. Haha… No, I'm pretty acutely aware of how far behind I am, and from what I can tell, a lot of my classmates are too." She heaved another sigh. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you."
Cedric knew that was in terms of his being her tutor, but it still felt very heartwarming. Of course, he managed to show this perfectly via blushing and spluttering a bit. "Well, I, uh," he said, trying to smile but keeping his eyes steadfastly away from hers, from her general direction even. "That's, I'm, well. It's good that I am here, then, as… your tutor. Yes. Good." Wonderful.
Sofia giggled, and Cedric turned even redder. Of course she'd join the mockery some time, now as just as good a time as any. On the other hand, that was probably better than her praising him while he was still feeling guilty about what thoughts he'd been entertaining.
"I'm gonna stick yo you even after I don't need you anymore, of course," she said, and that was - well, worse and better. Of course she wouldn't need to see him for tutoring sessions eventually. She would catch up, she would stop seeing him, it… She just said she wouldn't. He wouldn't even have that chance to get rid of her.
On the other hand, that's assuming she caught up well enough to everyone's satisfaction by the end of the school year next summer. After that, he would be gone, regardless of anyone's progress. ...Hopefully. Probably! He had issues, he wasn't doing as well as he ought in his studies as he ought, and there were looming NEWTs, but he knew that the fear of failing those was probably just anxiety. He had trouble, but when push came to shove, he usually pulled through.
Which would mean that Sofia would be gone from his life for good in not very many months. Thank Ouranos! What an awful thought. The wonderful, awful, beautiful energy-sapping fun-giving girl.
"Ceeedric? Are you all right?" Her voice cut through his thoughts.
"Oh, yes, fine! Just, ah, thinking." Technically accurate.
"...I don't have to be your friend, stick around after I don't need tutoring, if you don't want. If I'm that much of a bother." She gave a small sideways frown. "I can stop asking you to hang out if you want. I mean, if you just feel like you've been bullied into this, and only bear with me so I won't, I don't know, whine too much during tutoring sessions."
Cedric's face fell. "No, no! I'm - well, I'm… aware I'm not the most steadfast when it comes to what I want to do… Something of a pushover, when it comes to you." Wait. Merlin's Mushroom that sounded almost romantic, sod it. "However. I still am capable of saying no, as it happens. I… I suppose there are things I'd rather not do, and then things I won't. With you, those 'rather nots' do have a tendency to become 'that was fun, actually's." No that still sounded romantic, what was he doing. "To be entirely honest, yes, you are higher energy than I might have picked for myself in a friend. That does not mean that I find you irritating, that I want you gone." ...He was intending to lie, to mollify her, partially for the exact reasons she feared. But now that he said it aloud, he felt the words were truer than he thought.
He'd never been liked much, had much of anyone to talk to and be with, to share time with outside of classes. He'd had a few roommates over the years, shuffled first because he didn't get along and then after - well, after a certain turning point he didn't like to think about much, when things occasionally got violent… He gulped to himself and pushed his thoughts away. Now he had Greylock, irritatingly cheerful but by far the best student he'd roomed with, and Sofia, gratingly optimistic. And both seemed to care for specifically him. Not… not only him, but not having more than a few friends was rare, he could hardly blame them for that.
Sofia smiled at his words, and though he knew it couldn't possibly be true, Cedric felt like that radiant smile was also directed at his train of thought. "Thank you, that's good to hear. Even the criticism. I'll try to go easy around you, I do anyway, but I'll try harder."
Cedric smiled, and finally met her eye. "Thank you," he said. "I'd appreciate that.." Hmm. So, then, Sofia. I know I'm more the delicate flower in the relationship-" Why did he keep using romantic language. "-the frienship between us, but I suppose I still ought to ask - is there anything I can do to better suit you? I - I make no guarantees I'll do as much. Still, I might. Attempt." There. Proper emotional distance achieved via snark.
Sofia pursed her lips as if kissing the air as she thought. Stop it, Cedric. "I… don't think so. No one's perfect, admittedly, but to me you're prefect as you are. And I'm not as easily bothered by things as you are." She blinked and put a hand over her mouth. "...I'm sorry, that came out badly. I didn't mean it like that. Just, well, I've got pretty thick skin, from living in Dunwiddee and all. And you, well." She took a breath. "Sorry."
It… did sting, admittedly, but he also had to admit she was right. "It's not a problem, Sofia," he said, in a voice more sullen than he intended. "I know what you intend to say." He sighed, then looked up with a pasted-on smile. "At least I don't have to put in any extra effort!" he said, too cheerfully. Sofia laughed, but didn't seem entirely mirthful either.
They ate in silence a bit more. Sofia fed some of her food to Clover, which was silly, Cedric thought. Familiars are just a figment of the self, but not physically attached. It might feel good to indulge in their physical "needs", but they didn't need anything aside from their caster's mana, but food fed to them would absolutely disappear. ...Maybe he should ask that Sycamore about how that even worked. Of course, this was just a passing interest, not an actual investment.
Wormwood landed on his shoulder again, and showed him the last scene from his thoughts earlier - where Sofia fed him sweets, but the imaginary view focused in on Clover stealing the Wand.
Cedric glared sideways at his raven. "I haven't even got the Family Wand, you nincompoop," Cedric mumbled to himself. And Wormwood, but that was still technically himself. Heh.
"What was that?" Sofia asked.
"Oh, nothing, nothing!" Cedric shoved Wormwood off his shoulder, who protested with a caw. "Just trying to get Wormwood to stop bothering me." All sorts of technical-truths seemed to be spilling from him today.
Cedric looked around for an explanation, and found the food in front of him. He shoved one of the last of his chips toward the raven's mouth, saying, "There, if I give you some of these, will you leave me alone?" The raven actually did take the chips into his mouth and flew to perch on one of the support beams for the café.
Not much later, Sofia said, "Well. I'm done. Any idea how long you'll be, Cedric?"
He looked down at his food, poking at his last strip of fish. "I suppose I'm not very hungry, I can't seem to bring myself to eat this." He wrapped the fish and his last few chips in the newsprint they were served on, and crumpled that into a ball.
Wax paper and newsprint wrappers discarded, Sofia and Cedric left the café and started to just amble around the grounds. The light was getting dimmer, oranger, slanting.
Cedric broke the companionable silence. "Do you mind, Sofia, if I ask how it is you came to own your, ah. Costu...no. Fam...no, not that either. Er… A Certain Possession."
Sofia giggled at Cedric's halting speech, or at least he assumed it was that, but kindly, it seemed. She answered, "No, I don't mind, though it's not particularly easy." She sighed and looked around the courtyard they were in. Not the one with the clock tower, that was over to the west, this place only had a small fountain for decoration. It was still warm enough to leave water running, apparently, or perhaps just that no one had gotten around to winterizing it yet.
Sofia led Cedric in the direction of the fountain, and sat on the generous ledge. She took a breath, and began. "My father, a fisherman, found it and gave it to me. His story is that it came up with a netful of fish, and that it was so beautiful I ought to have it."
Cedric nodded. "That does make sense. Its last known location was 'lost at sea', according to my research on various artefacts. ...So why do I hear a 'but' somewhere in there."
With a weak chuckle, Sofia answered, "But, if he found it honestly, why did he give it to me? Why didn't he sell it? We were making living then, with him working his trade and Mom working hers. It was decent, by our standards, but it wasn't very good, even then."
"I see what you mean," Cedric said, "at least partially. I think. What point are you leading to, though?"
"Honestly?" Sofia looked up at him with somewhat teary eyes. Oh. Oh no. These weren't even manipulative eyes, this was genuine heartache. What on Gaia's green earth was he supposed to do with that.
She let out a breath and turned to face away from him. Oh no he'd blown it. "I think he was a pirate. I don't know if mom knew, suspected, or was in the dark."
Cedric took a moment to collect his thoughts and respond. "While I don't necessarily agree to jumping to the conclusion that he was a pirate, the evidence given about the Amulet in my notes can't contradict that theory - though of course, there's always the possibility my sources are just wrong. It's, it's happened before."
With a nod, Sofia continued, "Well, there are two understandable reasons my father could or would have given me the stone, rather than sell it, were he a pirate who had stolen the amulet."
She took a breath, and it hitched a little. "One: The Amulet was too widely known and and recognizable to be able to sell. This is probably true regardless of if the other is or not, assuming the pirate thing is right in the first place. And two: he had plenty of other plundered treasures to sell, and so one little amulet was hardly worth the trouble."
Cedric tilted his head. "Now, if that were true, wouldn't you have been living considerably better?"
"I can see you've never fenced anything, Cedric." Sofia's gaze was… intense, but intensely what Cedric could not say. "I haven't either, honestly. But I had enough friends…" Cedric had never thought of her optimism in that light. Young sorceresses and such, whose lives were guaranteed save for major political upheaval, could afford to be optimistic with little cost. Cedric hadn't ever separated those sort from her actual origins in his mind, before.
Sofia took another shaky breath. "When you sell stolen goods, you have to lower the price a lot to get them to move. Being obtained at no cost, or cost of transportation, this still works out to a profit for the thief, but it's not exactly glamorous." A pause, then, "Though I suppose there's the possibility he squirreled enough away from decent turnaround, and that I'm not here entirely on scholarship. Though I suppose I'll never know for sure." She sighed. "Friends who steal to eat is one thing, but a pirate? I… I always thought so highly of him, and so did Mom. And I of Mom. Did she know? How could she condone that? Murder? He had to have. Not just the theft beyond, way beyond what is necessary to survive - which is such a gray area anyway, but we were doing well enough. Even after he died, we did well enough, and…"
Cedric's mouth pinched to one side as he thought for a moment. "Your father died? How?"
Sofia looked at him oddly, probably with irritation? "Cedric, that is not relevant or helpful right now."
Not good, but… "Helpful I don't know, but I do wonder if it might be relevant. Did you know anything about the amulet's name, its history, its workings beyond what you've experienced yourself?"
"...Nooo. Is there something you're not telling me?"
Cedric intoned the rhyme he'd looked at for… oh, too long. "With each deed performed, for better or worse, a power is granted, a blessing or curse."
Sofia's eyes widened, but didn't show any other signs of shock. "I guess I knew that. It likes some things, not others. But… it never occurred to me that it could be…" She apparently couldn't finish the sentence. Not that she needed to.
"Sofia, would…" Cedric gulped as she stared at him, significantly more teary than before, and a little runny of the nose too, but still able to look tense about what new horror he might bring up. What an awful date. Not-date. Well, he could… he couldn't fix the situation, not even remotely, but he could at least maybe make her feel a bit better. "Would you like a hug?"
Her face lost the wary reticence, and she was very quickly wrapping herself around him, curling up next to him, crying and sniffling and probably drooling a bit into the crook of his neck.
It was very strange. Not pleasant, but not especially unpleasant, either. He couldn't imagine how this helped, his thin arms snaking their way around her back, and occasionally a hand patted while he said "There, there." It seemed to.
Maybe, next time he was… No, no, when he was upset he was even worse with touch, not more okay with it, let alone needing it.
Eventually, Sofia pulled away, though not entirely. When she was face to face with the marks she'd left on the collar of Cedric's robe, she winced and grinned. "Oops?" she said, and chuckled weakly. She sighed, then, and said, "I needed that, thank you."
Only because I drove you to it, Cedric didn't say. She had to be thinking it too, he knew it, and mentally thanked her for not humiliating him like that.
Her hands had come unclutched from his sides, though they trailed away very slowly. "Cedric, can I… ask you something?"
Cedric raised an eyebrow. "Yes, you clearly can, you just did. And whether or not you may is irrelevant, as you must potentially violate the answer to find it out."
Oh good, she was laughing. He hadn't been sure if that was going to backfire. Once she finished, she took a deep breath… held it for a moment… and finally asked, "Cedric, may I kiss you?"
She what.
Sofia asked him what.
That was idle, inappropriate fantasy, wasn't it?
His eyes went down to the Princess. Vulnerable, still hurting, close, so close. Even Cedric could tell she… probably… wasn't trying to play a cruel joke. He couldn't rule it out entirely, but it was incredibly unlikely.
His eyes went up, up to the empty courtyard, the golden strings of light laced throughout the air, the faint shaking of dust off the buildings from the vibrations, the setting sun glinting off the windows. Back down to Sofia, her eyes sparkling like the fountain in the late afternoon light. He gripped her tighter as he felt his pulse quicken, his breathing hitch.
"Please do," he said, what he intended to be softly but feared came out more as weakly.
And then her lips were on his, and she was hugging him tightly, too tightly, but it was all right. He could barely breathe, he could barely think, she actually… She felt…
The kiss was deep, and felt very intimate, and passionate for sure, but not sexual. Neither side had roaming hands, they just clasped each other as their mouths - and admittedly tongues, being teenagers - met each other.
They broke the kiss after what felt like forever, yet was gone too soon. Sofia tried to put her face in the crook of Cedric's neck again, but found it was still damp from earlier. She laughed, and scooted over to use the other shoulder.
Cedric still couldn't believe this was happening. Hadn't he only last week or so been dreading she felt this way? But then, perhaps that had always been him rationalizing, projecting, trying to tell himself that she was the problem here. And even then, even in those worries, he'd never really quite believed it. It was morbidly fascinating to think about, when he'd still been convinced he had no such feelings of his own. How would it feel if someone had a crush, on him? Mortifying, awkward, terrible, friendship-breaking, he'd assumed. He'd worried, as he always did, but only as much as on any other technical possibility he knew was incredibly unlikely to unfold as he imagined.
Well, he supposed this hadn't unfolded as he imagined, anyway.
He stared at her, not quite meeting her eyes, his nerves so wracked he felt like the ground was shaking beneath him.
"Are you all right?" Sofia asked. "You don't look entirely well. Sorry, I didn't mean for that to last that long." She started shifting out of his lap, and Cedric pulled her - well, okay, he didn't manage to pull her anywhere, but he clung tighter around her sides and leaned forward, kissing her again. The sensation of it was so odd, so slimy and strange around his lips and his tongue, but not itself unpleasant. And her little squeak of surprise, the pressure as she leaned forward again and kissed him back… He couldn't do this forever as he'd be far too light-headed, and he needed to eat and sleep some time. But in a figurative sense, he didn't want it to stop.
At this point in his reverie, the vibrations through the ground got large enough that the two noticed them. Definitely, actually shaking, not just his nerves, not his imagination. There were ripples going through the water in the fountain, and each set was accompanied by a low whump. Each set? It wasn't a steady, mechanical vibration, which implied…
Cedric immediately went into panic mode. "There's no quick cover around here. We don't know what this is, so the fountain isn't necessarily safe. It, it's, it's probably a beast of some kind, with these periodic vibrations, but we don't know what magic it could have. We, we need-"
Sofia cut off his nervous rambling by pushing them both into the fountain. She pressed his chest lightly to keep him down below the rim of the fountain, but she peeked over to find the largest bug she'd ever seen. It looked like some kind of beetle, blue-black in color, and about thirty feet tall. Honestly, it was a wonder they hadn't seen it coming, though she supposed they had been rather distracted. By… a few things.
Before she could climb out of the fountain to talk to the poor thing, a pair of voices came into hearing. "Finally! Come on, just cooperate, will you?" That was a young man's voice, probably a student.
"Gotcha now, mister wogglebug! Grappling hook!" was definitely Mabel. So the Pines had it under control, good to know. All the same, Sofia tried to get out of the fountain and see if she could help - falling into it had probably not been her wisest decision ever - but, again, before she could do much, the insect was being shrunk down.
"No! Please! You see, I am not just Highly Magnified, but Thoroughly Educated! Don't make me the same size as an average bug again, please…" It was noticeably smaller than before, though not significantly, or likely to cause less damage.
Clover said from by her feet, "Well, maybe not other bugs, but he's gotta be made at least a lot smaller. Look - look what he did to that building just by knocking against it!" Notable pieces of masonry littered the ground around the shrinking bug, and correlating dents in buildings. It was now about as long as a horse and carriage.
Under the words, Sofia could hear the screeching, clicks and clacks that were surely all the twins heard. Wormwood, flapping in the fountain and trying to get his human out, cleared his beak of robe for a moment to caw, "Will someone stop that infernal racket!" The bug was the size of just the horse, no carriage, now.
"Mabel, no! Please stop, or Dipper, whoever's doing the thing." The shrinking seemed to be slowing down, but it was still already the size of a dog, large quickly shifting into medium.
"Ooo...kay." Dipper dispelled his witchlight, and grabbed a crystal out of the air. The bug finally stopped shrinking.
Sofia couldn't just talk to him, not with these two here. Especially not Dipper. She had no idea if he would or would not be interested in her Amulet, but she didn't want to find out.
Her other option was a bubble, which she used to corral and levitate the creature. She was glad that her wand wasn't ruined from the dousing, she hadn't even thought of the possibility until she used it.
"All right, so why do you want a big bug?" Dipper asked, perhaps more confrontational than he intended to sound.
"And why are you all WET?" Mabel added.
"Well, you seeee…" Sofia stalled for time to think of an excuse, but luckily, Cedric made his way to the scene at that moment. Also dripping wet.
"That's perfect for my project, actually," he said, and Sofia nodded, trying to play along. "Perhaps a bit small now, though. Any chance we could get one of those crystals you're using?" She wasn't sure that was necessary, but if it was part of the cover, it made sense. ...And, well, maybe this Mister Wogglebug or whatever could be a bit smaller.
Dipper shook his head in apology."No, this was mailed to us by our Grunkle. I don't know where in the world...s... he got it."
"Wow, nice going Sof! Question: redacted." Mabel smiled at Sofia, and didn't seem to have any malice whatsoever. Not that malice was characteristic of Mabel, just… Hexly Halls in general.
So Sofia laughed, if a bit nervously, and said, "Uh, thanks, Mabel." Cedric didn't seem to understand, at least, Sofia didn't think he'd appreciate...any of that. Though Sofia didn't know that Mabel could recognize Cedric on sight.
"Well," Cedric started, "I suppose I'd better ought to get this to my lab space. You can go, now, the two of you. I've got this under control."
Dipper didn't look very sure, but Mabel managed to drag him away - both literally and figuratively, through platitudes of "Dipper, it's FINE. He's, like, a million years older than us. I used to think he was a professor, even!" Now hey, that wasn't fair, his bangs were magic, not… but that was just Mabel's way, wasn't it. She didn't mean any harm.
Sofia turned back to face Cedric, who, happily enough, didn't look too upset by the remark, just wet.
When the twins were out of sight and, hopefully, earshot, he asked, "So, I presume you were saving this thing due to something it said?"
Sofia nodded. "He was pleading, begging not to be shrunk down, at least so much." She turned to face the bug. "Are you good as you are, uh…"
The bug, within her lavender bubble, answered, "Yes, I shall get along just fine like this. Much better, I do believe, than I had as that monstrous display before. Still, I'd rather be that than crunched beneath your feet."
Sofia nodded at all this. "If I let you go, will you promise to stay away from the school? I don't care where you do go, just leave here. Everyone here would try to put you back to rights, and probably succeed, but…" She was realizing as she spoke that there didn't seem to be a good option for the bug, he'd just be killed anywhere else. "Maybe just stick to the forest?"
"But you are the only one who's spoken to me! How can a bug as Thoroughly Educated as me be content just to eat all day, no one to talk to, to share my thoughts with?"
Sofia sighed. "I'll think of something. Hang on tight until then. I'll go into the west part of the forest, the bit where…" Sofia went on to describe a specific spot, and how to find it. "Check… mornings, 6 am. You'll know when the clocktower bells ring six times in a row. If I'm not there on the dot, I won't be there at all. I might be early, though."
Finally, Sofia felt secure enough to let the bug go, and it buzzed into the middle distance.
"All that, for a bug." Cedric was shaking his head.
"Absolutely," said Sofia. "And thank you for saving me, that was so sweet, I could kiss you. ...Again." She giggled, a bit light-headed at the memory. "I'm still sorry about getting your robe all teary and...snotty probably."
"Yes, well, I'm rather more uncomfortable with the water from the fountain." Cedric wrung out some water from his robe for effect… and also because it actually needed to be done. He was shivering, probably had been for a while.
She was too, she realized. Of course they were, it was chilly enough to need their robes outside even while dry. They'd need to get inside, get dry before very long. At least she had some insulation, whereas Cedric was...wobbling. Very worryingly wobbling.
Sofia barely managed to catch him as he fell, and even then the best she did was slow his descent, not stop it. At least he didn't crack his skull on the concrete. Somewhere above, Wormwood poofed out of existence, and his rock reappeared in Cedric's pocket. That was good, at least.
Clover ran off somewhere as Sofia struggled to get her other arm under Cedric's knees and lift him up. He was...surprisingly heavy, for as thin as he was. Part of that was undoubtedly the fact that he was soaking wet, but even that didn't account for all of it. Nor could she use that to her advantage, because even if that wouldn't be indecent in a few different ways, she would still have to carry the clothes with her. ...Though, that was on her budget. Cedric had mentioned a few times that money was - well, not no object, but far from a concern.
Sofia slumped down, more heavily than she intended, possibly adding a bruise to Cedric's backside. Sorry. She set him the rest of the way down on the paving stones gently, and worked off the worst offender: the wool cloak. She tried to kick it to the side, but it decided to be a wet blanket and not move. That is, it was literally a wet blanket that had sleeves.
Now is not the time for levity. Levitation, maybe, but she'd just proved early that afternoon that that was a very bad idea. She shucked off her own robe as well, and left it on top of Cedric's, then struggled upright again. Her right arm cupped Cedric's back, and his head lolled backward, slack, jostled by each movement she made. His lips had a definite bluish tinge to them. Sofia's left arm supported his lower half by way of his knees, and his feet flopped. He was dead weight.
...Hopefully only metaphorically. Oh no, no no no, did he have some sort of condition? For the few months she had known him, Cedric never came off as a beacon of health, but she'd assumed that was poor sleep habits and anxiety. But this was - this wasn't normal, was it? She was used to dealing with the cold, she was better equipped to handle it, so it was no wonder she was doing better than him - but that was a few minutes at most. And yet, here he was.
She had barely made it out of the courtyard when she couldn't walk like that any longer, no matter how she tried, and ended up crumpling to her knees in the dying light.
All right, well. That wasn't working. No time to dwell. This was too front-heavy and straining on her arms. Right, right, Sofia had been filled with images of romance - both the 'romantic love' kind as well as romantic stories, of action and heroes saving their damsels in distress. But no. No, she needed to be more practical. Treat Cedric as if he were a sack of potatoes or the like. Not… not the rough handling, just that she needed to be pragmatic.
So she put her hands under Cedric's armpits and hauled him over her shoulder, too worried to be embarrassed that she needed to handle his rump to get him into position.
...It was still slow going. She had no idea how bad his condition was, if time was of the essence or if she was overreacting. He might be fine. He might not.
Soon, though, a figure appeared, carrying a lantern, something hopping at its feet - "Greylock! Help, Cedric, he, we-" She couldn't explain, she was too out of breath. "Hospital wing, carry," she finally managed, and he obliged.
She'd only meant for him to help carry, but he took Cedric on his own shoulder without hesitation, and Sofia didn't have the energy to stop him. He then grabbed her hand, and - well, it couldn't really be called running, not with dead weight on one side and a half-cooperative dragged weight on the other, but Greylock wasn't stalling. at any rate.
Even in the near darkness, with some of the school's lampposts still not lit, Greylock seemed to know his way around the grounds, as they were at the hospital wing of the school in not very long at all. Or was it? It felt so long, wanting to hurry, make him better, fix her mistake.
Inside, the nurses asked questions about his state, and since Cedric could not answer for himself, the task turned to Sofia. She knew it wasn't an interrogation, that they didn't think it was her fault - it was, though - and that she had to answer as truthfully as...well, as mattered. That she'd pushed him in, them both in, wasn't important. That he'd, they'd, been kissing moment before she pushed them in, wasn't important. ...Probably? The wogglebug thing happened, at least, so at least she could relay heightened emotions and what effect that might have on physiognomy without giving herself away.
Not that the nurses cared about who kissed who, but… Would Greylock?
On the other hand, Greylock was probably her closest friend, aside from Cedric. ...Or did Cedric not count, if they were dating? ...Could they be considered dating? At any rate, she didn't feel right lying to Greylock, and certainly no one else she was willing to admit her guilt to, were they even in a position to understand much.
After Cedric was put up, and the nurses finished questioning Sofia, one turned back around on he and bustled her into the bathroom with a dry change of clothes. "You're going to catch your death too, if you don't change, missy!" The clothes weren't terribly well-fitting, a bit long and baggy, not to mention the fact that they were a stranger's clothes, but they fulfilled their function.
Once the nurses left the students alone in the lobby, Sofia said, "It's my fault he's here, Greylock. Like this."
Greylock shook his head gently. "I know it feels like it is, like you could have prevented-"
"No." Sofia spoke a little more loudly than she intended, then walked over to Greylock to hug him. Next to his ear, she said, "I couldn't think what else to do, my head was still spinning from-" ...She'd tell him about the kiss, but in a moment. "From what we'd been saying, and then we realized someone's spell had gone wrong, that something magical was headed toward us. I mean, that's not usually a big deal, but this sounded big, and we had no place to hide, only the fountain. Cedric was too scared to do anything, so, I just. Sploosh. And now, because of me, he-"
...Carelessness that caused harm, especially of this scale, should have been enough to trip the Amulet. Helping the wogglebug shouldn't have done anything to nullify such a curse, either; the amulet had only ever decursed her when she had fixed the problem that gave her the curse in the first place.
That definitely had to wait until later, though. Greylock - probably could know. That was probably safe. But the more people knew, the more likely it was to get out, the more she'd have to worry, or not keep it with he for fear of it being taken, and… Later, maybe.
For now, though, she said, "He's like this. Because of me. And the thing wasn't even dangerous, just too big and too clumsy."
Greylock's strong arms gripped her back and held her as she held him. "You did what you thought you needed to, Sofia," he said. "You did the best you could, and when when you realized you couldn't do it alone, sent for me, and now we're here, and he's going to be all right."
Sofia pulled back to look at him. "I did...what? No, I just. I wasn't thinking very well, all I could do was try to drag him. ...I could have just shouted for help, even. It's not like we were in the middle of nowhere. Someone was bound to be somewhere, close enough to hear." She pulled away from Greylock entirely, sat down heavily on one of the chairs in the waiting room, and put her face in her hands.
Greylock sat down next to her, put a hand on her shoulder, and leaned forward to try to look at her face. "Clover found me. You came and found me, whether you thought about it or not."
Sofia lifted her face slightly out of her hands and looked sideways at Greylock. She didn't know if he could see her small smile from that angle, but it didn't matter. More importantly, she moved to put a hand over the one Greylock had on her shoulder, and gave it a light squeeze.
Even with her new, dry clothes, Sofia started shivering again at some point, and Greylock took off his robe and draped it over her. It was significantly too broad in the shoulders, but it fit and felt far better than the borrowed clothes. She nodded her thanks to him.
They sat in silence for some time. It was hard to say how long, ever since Cedric collapsed, Sofia couldn't seem to make sense of time anymore. Nurses and eventually a doctor came and went, though at least they didn't seem particularly frantic.
Eventually, she sighed. Time for confession number two. Honestly, it probably should wait, but Sofia had a feeling that if she put off telling Greylock now, she'd keep it from him until it turned into something big, something nasty that broke their friendship - not to mention, his and Cedric's - into pieces.
"There's something else I need to tell you, too." Sofia didn't look at him this time, though she could feel his eyes on her. "It's true that he was scared by the approaching danger, harmless as it turned out to be. Before that, though, he and I kissed. ...I don't know if it will happen again, honestly, especially not with this." She gestured to the door behind which Cedric lay. "But I thought you should know."
"Congratulations," Greylock said softly. Sofia finally looked at him, and he seemed… okay-ish. Perhaps sad, thinking he'd become a third wheel to a couple, but Sofia would never let that happen. On the other hand, he might be genuinely happy for them, with no reservations, aside from the fact that Cedric was currently mysteriously ill.
Or was it mysterious? "Does Cedric, that you know of, have any kind of condition that might cause this?"
Greylock shrugged. "Cedric keeps his health to himself. I do think he has something, though that's not based on anything but his behavior. If I did know, though, I don't think I'd tell you unless his life was in danger or he gave the go-ahead."
Sofia nodded. That was fair. "I wish I knew his boundaries, though. What to do in case something happens. I know there's his no-touching thing, but now I'm wondering what else there might be." She sighed. "I don't want to feel like I'm walking on eggshells with him, and I don't want him to think I am, I know that would hurt him just as much. But what do I do?"
"I am fully aware I'm pot calling kettle black here, but ask. Every time. Not literally every step, and there will still be situations like today where Cedric wouldn't be responsive enough to answer in time. Ask enough, you might get a feel for what is and isn't all right without doing so - like the pet names. They're not his favorite thing, certainly. And I drop them when he's upset, so long as I notice. He doesn't like them, but they're apparently within acceptable range. I think he figured out at some point that I don't mean them maliciously, that I was trying to share a joke with him. Maybe not, though." Greylock's voice started trailing off considerably towards the end there, and as he sank back in his chair he looked almost wistful.
Sofia wasn't sure how to respond to the last bit, so she just put her hand over Greylock's on the chair arm between them. He looked at her and gave a small smile.