The door to Cedric's tower study room banged against the wall when Sofia threw it open, causing her to flinch. "Sorry," she said, breathing hard. "Both for being late, and, uh-" She started to close the door behind her, gently this time.
Cedric was looking at her with wide eyes and a slight scowl, but took a deep breath and let his shoulders fall to where they usually hung. "Leave it. And yes, well, you needn't be so dramatic about all that. Regardless, what would you like to study today?"
"I didn't mean to startle you," Sofia said apologetically as she sat down. "I was just-" How could she word this… "I really needed to give back something I'd borrowed, as soon as possible." Trying to make things better with Cedric managed to make things worse, though, given how on even an average day Cedric could get huffy about her being late.
Cedric did give something like an irritated, well, huff, but his next words were, "Right. Anyhow, we're here for tutoring. Are you struggling with anything in particular?"
Sofia shrugged. "I'm getting a bit behind on history, but I don't need help, just need to sit down and read that. Sooo, probably just more control practice. How are you doing, though, are you… doing all right?" She bit her lip, hoping she wasn't being inappropriately peppy or something, given last night.
Cedric stood up and kicked the chair he'd sat on backwards. "Control practice it is." He gathered up his books and papers and stuffed them messily into his bag, unintentionally reminding Sofia how she'd gotten his journal to begin with.
Soon enough, they were in the doorway, and Sofia was aiming her wand at a textbook on the table. Cedric leaned against the frame, rather than standing slightly behind and next to Sofia as he usually did, where he could direct her hand movements if necessary. "Did anything happen today?" she asked, trying to start some sort of conversation, even if not about what she'd like to talk about.
"Are you quite ready to attempt?" Cedric said.
Sofia nodded her head and whispered the incantation and moved the wand just so, and managed to lift the book - and only the book - off the table. She grinned and glanced at Cedric, before looking back to the book, and even placed the book back down onto the table without issue.
"You've gotten the levitation spell under your fingers, good." It didn't sound very much like praise, the way Cedric said it. "Try a witchlight," he said, and stepped back into the room.
Before Sofia could respond, the sound of footsteps came echoing up the stairwell. She moved out of the way of the door, wondering who it could be - and nearly facepalming when she saw that it was Greylock. Just because today was… odd wouldn't mean he wouldn't still study here. Nor would much of anyone else want to, honestly.
Greylock smiled at Sofia as he passed her to sit in one of the chairs, which he pulled closer to the fireplace. "Don't let me interrupt," he said, and dug out his own homework to start on.
He didn't have an extra coat on, so he'd probably gone back to his and Cedric's room to put it back. No telling what he'd done with the journal, though.
Cedric cleared his throat, and Sofia looked back at him in mild surprise. "Well? I'm waiting on the witchlight."
"Not even a 'hello' to Grey?" Sofia asked. Cedric just raised an eyebrow in response, so she cupped her hand and and whispered, "Lux." A ball of light, approximately the size of an plum, popped into existence and floated in her hand.
Cedric said, "Good. You won't need my help much longer, at this rate."
Sofia couldn't help a sharp intake of breath at that, even if Cedric's tone wasn't emotional. "Cedric, no, I-"
He interrupted, "Now that you've firmly grasped control while limiting casting components, we ought to focus on turning that control inward. Dismiss the witchlight, and cast again - but louder."
With a sigh, Sofia said, "Lux." This was going to be a long lesson.
"Heeey," Star Butterfly said when Sofia entered the History classroom the following morning. "So, you know, Candy said she saw Greylock going into Crage House yesterday, but didn't see him leaving so she didn't know if she had the coat back, and I said, well obviously that's why he'd be there, except for that time when he wandered in there or at least someone saw you and him coming out, but your coat was still there, so that's a thing," and finally paused a moment for air. Before Sofia could get a word in, she continued, "But this morning they all said that the extra coat was gone, but that was after you'd already left, so did Grey ask for his coat back, and you would have told us if, uh, the creepy one, tall, weird hair? You'd have told us if he caved and asked for the book back, right?"
Finally, finally, Star actually let Sofia answer, though Sofia needed a moment to process everything she'd been bombarded with. "Actually," she said after a moment, "I asked Greylock there myself, to give it back. I also returned the journal, without prompting." Sofia gave a shrug and turned to go to her seat.
After a moment, Mabel arrived, and Star shared the information, and both went to Sofia's side. Before they could say anything, Sofia said, "Can we not? It was cute to start, but-" But Cedric was very much Not Okay, because of her. Because of the light-hearted way she'd treated what she read, the way she'd treated his private thoughts in general. She couldn't very well say that, though. She swallowed and finished, "But honestly the whole thing was a bit crass, and I shouldn't have condoned it in the first place."
Sofia barely registered what the other girls said before they walked away.
It had been two days since Cedric last saw Sofia, two and a half since The Tea Incident, as Cedric was starting to think of the whole… ordeal.
This was for the best. By the end of the semester in a few weeks, Sofia would likely officially be caught up enough. And then she'd be free of him.
She, of course, was persistent.
Cedric was sure he was stubborn enough, though. And, he'd had an additional thought…
Sofia finally entered 'his' tower, thankfully more slowly than last session. Cedric hated his jumpy nerves, but years of unpleasant surprises were hard to unlearn.
"What's on the agenda for today?" he asked, what he hoped was tonelessly.
Sofia hesitated, then said, "More control practice, I guess."
Cedric nodded and stood up, but rather than gathering his things, he went to the door and closed it. He even pulled the heavy bar across to lock it in place, and Sofia gave him an odd look of… some kind, he couldn't tell what, exactly. "You've an unnatural advantage when it comes to casting and power," he said by way of explanation, "one that you're not guaranteed to keep forever. Given that I am the only other person to know of your possession of the Amulet, and I am here to guide your learning, it would seem wise to practice for some time without its aid."
Sofia mumbled something that sounded affirmative, and reached behind her neck to undo the clasp. She stuck out her chest just a bit as part of doing this, and Cedric had to momentarily avert his eyes, tried not to think about that at nearly eighteen years old the only person he'd intimately touched in any way was this girl before him. They hadn't even gotten very far with all that, honestly.
"Here," Sofia said, without enthusiasm but not quite as mopey as she had been when she entered, maybe, or maybe he was imagining that. Either way, he took the Amulet she held out to him.
He couldn't hold back a gasp as he felt the power of the raw magic pour into him. Even the breath itself was affected - the breath he'd drawn was deep, without any hitching on the way, and he actually felt sated when his lungs filled. A touch to his neck with his free hand confirmed that his pulse was also much slower than usual, probably at a healthy rate, and was strong enough to find easily.
Sofia, however, wasn't looking very well. "Would you mind if I sit down for this?" she asked, already leaning against the table.
"That seems reasonable," Cedric said. "Witchlight should be a good indicator of what your power is like without this."
A nod, a sigh, and then Sofia said, "Lux". There was a small spark of light in her hand, but had Cedric blinked he'd have missed it.
Interesting. "Do you recall the mental focus I asked you to try last time?" Sofia nodded. "Do the same now, but opposite. Imagine your magic as an entity, a fluid, and push it outward." Sofia nodded again. "And try again."
Sofia's eyes shone a bit as she said in a slightly strained voice, "Lux." The light was slightly larger.
She was clearly upset, probably. A positive word would probably help her not feel that way.
"Good. Now try again, harder."
It was a bright sunny Saturday morning, finally a rest from this week from hell. Granted, Sofia didn't think things were going to pick up soon - given how Cedric seemed to be avoiding her outside of their scheduled lessons, she'd probably managed to completely ruin that relationship, romantic or even just as friends.
Sofia sighed and closed the history textbook she'd been failing to read, and put it on the bench beside her. She did need to catch up, but getting distracted like this was getting nowhere. Instead, she took out the letter she'd received from home that morning, and read it again.
My darling Sofia,
How are your classes going? Are you learning interesting things? Have you made many friends, and when can I meet them? Yes, I say all this every letter, because I always want to know!
Business is doing very well. A rich client, who I can't name here, came by for a fitting and sale, and was incredibly impressed. He's recommended me to his friends, even! I'm able to make finer shoes, for fewer customers but higher price tag. I do worry about the folks here in Dunwiddee that need shoes, but I'm hardly the only cobbler in town.
On a completely unrelated note, I've met a delightful man. Rolly is such a dear. He's even a widower with children of his own, so he knows what that's like. I hope you can meet him over Wassalia, though he will probably be too busy with his own family matters, from what I gather. Still, I think you'd like him!
Please keep up with your studies. You're so smart, I know you can do it! And don't forget to wash behind your ears, keep plenty of clean underwear - all those motherly things. They're cliched for a good reason!
Love, Mom
Sofia sighed - happily? Wistfully? -glad to get a taste of home, anyway. She tucked the letter back into its envelope, and sat quietly for a bit. Feeling the sun on her face barely masking the cold of the nearly-winter air, smelling the cold and clean scent of everything just before a snow, hearing the occasional call of a winter robin. The lack of pain that Sofia once again wore the amulet… Not that the half-hour or so had been much compared to what it had been in the old days, but it seemed so much worse since she'd gotten used to not having it.
"Hey, Sof!" A voice called out and interrupted her from her reverie. Sofia looked up to see Shauna, Serena, and a male student Sofia didn't recognize. Shauna was waving frantically, and was the one Sofia knew best, so it was probably her that had called out.
With a small smile, Sofia said, "Hi there, Shauna, Serena -" She shrugged and nodded towards the last student, who waved awkwardly.
"I'll just… go on ahead?" he said in a much higher voice than Sofia had expected, and with a grin, was off.
"All right then," Sofia said, "That… happened. Friend of you guys'?"
Shauna shrugged and laughed. "Don't mind Calem, she's just odd sometimes. We all hang around Sycamore a lot - like, well, she's doing a senior project or whatever with him, but yeah, just odd with new people mostly."
Sofia blinked. "I see," she said, wondering where she'd heard those names before. There was a definite sense of recognition, but… hm. "Anyway, what'd you guys want?"
Serena answered this time, "The three of us were going to have lunch at the café, along with some other kids we were going to meet there, we thought you might like to come along."
Oh, this just wasn't fair. Sofia bit her lip and put a hand to her collarbone as she called upon her willpower to resist- and… found that with her falling out with Cedric and the tension with Greylock, she really needed a friend. "Yeah, all right," she said, scooping her history book back into her bag. Sofia could feel a slight tingling at her neck, but she mentally told the Amulet to just shove it. There was plenty of weekend left, and by all the Princesses in the Pantheon, she needed some tangible, present, immediate positivity right now.
Lunch with Shauna and her friends had really improved Sofia's outlook, and improved her social circle to boot - they were all tied by an interest in various magical animals and especially Familiars, which Sofia didn't know much about but was curious about. They were even joined by Professor Sycamore himself, and Sofia had needed to stop herself from laughing as she recalled that Cedric had called him a 'Kalosian dandy', back.. When times had been better between them.
Sofia had even finished the homework she'd intended to, both caught up on what she'd been behind on and the assignments due on Monday. She fell asleep on Sunday night rereading the history textbook, trying to make sure it stuck.
Even so, Sofia hadn't been especially surprised when almost all of her teachers gave her a pretty healthy helping of homework on Monday. The curse would almost certainly persist until she tackled the homework without giving in to distraction. Given the amount, she'd probably have to do that even if there hadn't been such a curse. Damned if she did, damned if she didn't, honestly.
Given everything else that had happened last week, Sofia entered the tower with a heavy heart.
Cedric looked up from his own book, and said, "Are we to do control practice again today, Miss Sofia?"
So they were back to that, after all. Sofia sighed and leaned on the doorframe, not even putting her bookbag down. "Cedric, really, how are you holding up?"
With a huff, Cedric said, "Is that a yes or a no?"
That was a pretty clear answer, even if not direct. She'd been hoping for something different, but… Oh, well. "Should we stop having these sessions?"
"What?" That was the most emotion she'd heard out of Cedric for nearly a week, though she had no idea if that was a good or bad sign.
"It's obvious you don't want to be around me," Sofia said, "and these sessions have to be pretty terrible, right? I mean, I get why, I'm not mad or anything."
Cedric blinked, then stumbled to get his words out, "N-no, you can't just-" and cut himself off by putting a hand over his face.
Sofia looked away. "If it's a rules issue, I certainly won't tell anyone if you won't."
Cedric just shook his head, so Sofia continued, "And I- I can probably manage without your instruction?" But she worked so much better with a guide, and who else would have the patience to stay with her and talk her through the same spell over, and over, and over… Well, she'd have to manage somehow.
There was a moment of silence that dragged into a minute or more. Sofia shifted uncomfortably as Cedric looked like he was about to speak several times, only to close his mouth again.
It didn't look like he was going to manage anything. "I guess I'll just go then." Sofia stood straight again and turned to go down the stairs, but stopped, and looked back at Cedric. "You know, I didn't actually know, before, if what I felt for you was 'love,' but-" Sofia swallowed back tears that had been threatening to come for a while, but were only just now pounding against the insides of her eyes. "This is way more painful than I imagined it would be, you know?"
Sofia managed to get around the corner of the spiral staircase before Cedric's voice echoed through the stairwell, "D-d-don't leave!" She turned around, wanting to fill with hope but trying to tamp that down with realistic cynicism.
Cedric stood in the doorway, and made eye contact with Sofia for a moment as she came around the corner - but quickly looked away. That wasn't especially odd for Cedric, but hurt more than usual at the moment. He said, "You- you're better off without me, you're not wrong about that, but-" Cedric cleared his throat. "I know how I am, I, I know, I know I kn-" His hand forcefully covered his mouth, and Cedric sighed. "But I can't- I thought I'd at least have a few weeks to get used to the idea that you'd- leave. I won't stop you, I'd, I'd just like to ask for a little more time."
"No, Cedric, no…" was Sofia's first reaction, before she could think of the right way to say anything.
Still not looking at her, Cedric responded, "...Go on then."
"No, I never wanted to cut ties, Cedric," Sofia managed, and took a few steps closer to him. "I thought you wanted me gone, but you'd get in trouble if I reported anything up with tutor sessions."
Cedric glanced at her, then back away. "I, I thought I did."
Sofia swallowed again, but the tears were starting to come anyway. "I never meant to hurt you. I'm so sorry." ...is a phrase that's often heard, Sofia remembered, but actions speak louder than words. "If you're willing to give me a chance, I'll make it right."
Cedric looked at her and - well, it wasn't really eye contact for very long, but he at least looked at her chin, or something, and it was clear he was trying. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out; instead, he took hold of Sofia's hand and gently tugged, leading her back into the study room.