Lucina spends an hour and a half getting Cynthia to help pick out her outfit for her date. They end up with Cynthia looking at her friend's wardrobe and shrugging helplessly with her hands up.

She flops onto Lucina's bed. "I guess dress like you normally do, and hope for the best?"

Lucina holds her face in her hands. "Are my clothes that bad?"

"No! Just...not date material. I think. I don't know." Cynthia rolls onto her stomach and huffs into Lucina's bedsheets. "The sweater with the silver cats is cute."

There's a knock on the door, and Morgan's voice calls out. "Hey, Mom's wondering if you and Cynthia want dinner."

Cynthia perks at the sound of his voice. "Oh! Morgan! Perfect timing! We need help!"

Lucina mouths a "No!" but Cynthia's already bounding to the door and tearing it open. Morgan stands there in a blue hoodie, looking confused. She grabs him by the wrist and drags him over to the wardrobe.

Cynthia gestures to the clothing in front of them. "Which outfit do you think makes your sister look hot?"

Morgan goes green while Lucina settles for a mortified mauve. Cynthia realizes what she said and quickly changes gear. "Oh! No, no, no, no, no! Not like that! I mean, for a date! Your sister has one tomorrow."

After the greenness dissipates, a look of triumph emerges on Morgan's face, and he crows, "I knew it! Who?"

Lucina looks away, the flush still on her face. "I'm not telling you."

Cynthia cuts in. "Severa Faulkner. Sorry, Lucina, but it's an emergency," she says after her friend gives her a betrayed look.

Morgan looks surprised before whistling in awe. "Oh, wow. Severa's hot. Kind of a...prickly person though. But really hot!"

Cynthia glances at him with disgust on her face. "Umm...do you and your sister purposefully forget the part where she's mean to everyone?"

"Well, she really isn't to me. Just really touchy, especially about her cooking." Morgan peers at his sister's wardrobe for a minute. "Umm...where are you guys going? That might help narrow down your options."

Lucina drops her face into her hands. "I don't know."

He suggests, "Maybe call her and find out?"

Morgan waits and looks at her expectantly before Cynthia coughs and elbows him. "Uh...I'll be eating dinner while you do."

"Yeah, I'll join him. Tell me what she says later!" Her friend herds herself and her brother out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Lucina stares at her phone for a long minute before she picks it up with slightly shaking hands and miscalls two people. When she finally does dial correctly, her heartbeat feels like it's trying to race out her throat.

Severa answers, sounding irritated. "I just talked to you two hours ago."

Lucina lets out a breath. "I know, but I wanted to apologize. For the way I treated you earlier. I shouldn't have yelled."

Severa is silent for a while before her voice comes out in a soft grumble. "No, that's okay. I can be stupidly stubborn sometimes." A pause. "Was that all?"

"No. I'm kind of having trouble finding clothes for...for our date tomorrow." Lucina sits down. Her legs are failing her. "What would you recommend?"

"Depends on where we're going. What did you have in mind?" Silence. "You did have a plan, right?"

Lucina chews her lip. "I do," she says, slowly. "I noticed that you're always so conscious about the clothes you wear, and you look really good in them. I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping tomorrow and maybe give me some tips."

"You're asking me to go shopping for a date?"

Oh no. She already messed up. "If you don't want to, we could always watch a movie or go for a walk somewhere."

A long pause. "No, it's fine. And we can use this as a good opportunity for us to get you some new clothes."

"What's wrong with my clothes?"

There's a snort on the other end of the line. "Your outfits look like a guy with no fashion sense picked them out sometimes."

Lucina supposes she may have to ask her father to stop buying her clothes.

"There's a new mall near Regna Ferox that I've been dying to check out for a while. We can go there after practice."

"That sounds great." Lucina tugs her fingers through her bangs. She's surprised to see them lightly tinged with sweat. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Bye, Lucina."

"Bye."

For something that lasted three minutes, it feels like it took 13 years off of Lucina's life.

She puts her phone away, takes several deep breaths, and makes her way downstairs. Cynthia and Morgan give her curious glances over the dinner table that are badly concealed if her mother's raised brow is any indication. She signals to Cynthia that she'll tell her later while pointedly ignoring her brother's impatient pokes to her ribs.

Her mother looks at all of them and sighs, putting down her utensils. "All right. What are you guys all hiding?"

"Nothing!" Lucina and Cynthia chorus simultaneously.

Morgan opens his mouth to answer but freezes under his sister's glare. He gives a weak shrug. "You know, school stuff. Homework."

Robin raises an eyebrow. "You do realize that I manage a school of 300 teenagers. I'm well aware of what most think of homework." She picks up her fork and resumes eating. "Now, if it were something else, that would make more sense."

"What could it be, Mrs. Flynn?" Cynthia pipes up, sounding overly cheerful. "We're all such wholesome students with nothing planned whatsoever!"

Lucina groans, internally. "Really, Mom, it's nothing. I'm just meeting a friend tomorrow, and I don't know what to wear."

"But why is your choice of clothing so important in that case?"

Morgan blurts, "Because Lucina's got a date!"

Lucina slams her palms on the table and stands up. "Morgan!" That blabbermouth! She looks at her mother and clears her throat. "It's not a date. I'm just hanging out with Severa tomorrow."

Robin raises the other eyebrow. "I see. I didn't realize that Severa has become so social lately. I should tell Cordelia about this. She'd be quite happy." She takes a bite of her chicken and waves her hand. "Have fun on your not-date, Lucina. Don't worry. I won't tell your father about this one."

Lucina contemplates whether it's possible to die of embarrassment. "It's really just hanging out to do some shopping." When her mother merely smiles at her, she excuses herself from the table with Cynthia and Morgan following shortly behind. They make it up to the second landing before Lucina whirls around on her brother, and Cynthia quickly steps between them.

Cynthia pushes Lucina backwards, "Hey, I know that was a jerk move on Morgan's part, but you don't really want to strangle your brother, do you?"

Lucina has to think about her answer.

"Oh, man. I'm so sorry." Morgan runs his hand through his hair. "But I couldn't keep it in. You have a date with one of the hottest girls in school, and I don't know how you even did that. Please teach me your secrets."

Lucina glares at him, but Cynthia cuts in before she can respond. "Apparently, yelling at people you like across a soccer field works wonders." She gestures to Lucina. "See exhibit A."

Morgan genuinely looks like he's taking mental notes, and Lucina has to step in. "Okay, none of this is helping. Morgan, in general, yelling at girls doesn't get you dates. You can do what I did, but I can't guarantee you that it will work and it's better to ask respectfully. Also, please don't tell anyone else about this."

Cynthia strikes a pose with her hands on her hips. "You don't have to worry about that! You've got some awesome friends who can keep your secret." She pauses. "Well, you don't have to worry about me anyway."

"Hey!" Morgan pauses. "Actually, I deserved that."

"Just please don't let this get out. I don't want Severa to have second thoughts."

"Well, if she does, I'm available as an option for her," Morgan volunteers. "Er...if it's okay with you, Sis," he adds hastily at Lucina's glare.

Cynthia clasps an arm around her friend's shoulders. "Let's get back to your room and craft our strategy for making Severa fall absolutely head over heels for you."

Morgan points out, "Not to be the party pooper, but I don't think anyone here is the expert on how to make any girl fall for us."

Oh Naga, he's right.

Lucina is so doomed.

Cynthia grins. "Hey, no problem. I've got a copy of Dusklight that we can watch for ideas." She pitches her voice low and raspy. "'I wanted to know how it felt to hunt. To taste human blood. All the men I killed were monsters. And so was I.'" She pokes her friend. "Isn't it such a great line?"

Lucina imagines that it wouldn't exactly sweep Severa off of her feet. "Umm...thanks, Cynthia, but I think I'll just talk to her as I've been doing."

"Fine. I find your approach boring, but I support you as your friend." Cynthia turns to Morgan, jabbing him hard in the chest. "And you, if one word of this slips past your lips starting tomorrow, I'm going to get on your case so hard that you're going to wish that all I'm going to do is knee you."

Morgan goes slightly pale. "Yeah, okay. That sounds good. Lips are sealed."

The two girls bid him goodnight and go upstairs to watch Dusklight, quickly realizing that using any of the romantic lines would be a bad idea.

"Just don't get cut on her edges?" Cynthia suggests while Lucina sighs and considers praying.

The next day at school is largely uneventful, save for Severa actually showing up to history class.

The irritated redhead rolls her eyes at Lucina's stare. "You act like it's shocking when I attend class."

Well...it is.

Severa pulls out a notebook with a blue cover. "Did you finish the reading on the Jugdral Crusades?"

"The one about the heroes who fought against the Lopto Empire and their child hunts?"

"Yeah, using their magical weapons given to them through a blood bond with a god." Severa snorts, "I swear if I didn't know any better, I'd think that we were studying mythology."

Lucina actually likes the story. "It's sort of romantic, isn't it? To believe that there are holy weapons blessed with the strength of something bigger than us? That we have heroes whose footsteps we can follow?"

"Yeah, but we live in the real world. That sort of stuff doesn't happen here." Severa lugs out her history textbook from her bag.

Lucina carefully checks her reply. She asks, "How did your essay go then?"

"It's done," Severa grumbles. "That's all I'll say about it."

There are students who are staring at Lucina and Severa talking with each other casually, and, honestly, the former doesn't blame them. Especially when Lucina can't seem to help herself with the way she touches Severa's hand to get her attention or when she leans in close to ask a question. Severa gives her a pointed look and gestures with a head jerk towards the whispering crowd in the back. Lucina couldn't care less.

After class ends, they make their way to the field to practice passing, which Severa still gripes about being too easy but goes through the drills anyway. They finish off their session a little early and make their way back to the lockers to change and wash.

Lucina's out from the shower first, because she realized her crush would be on the other side of the orange stall, naked and a few feet away. She waits outside the girls' locker room with her hands clench, and her heartbeat pounding harder than when she was just sprinting across on the field.

Inigo emerges from the gym down the hall and spots her. He smiles and makes his way over. "And to whom do I owe the pleasure of the chance to meet you here?"

"Oh, hello Inigo. I was just helping Severa through some soccer drills."

"Ah, so Severa is here too. How lucky. She's as adorable now as the first day I laid eyes on her. Though admittedly it's not the first word that comes to mind when describing her." He clears his throat. "Oh, where was I? Yes, I was just telling myself that your hair is deep as the night sky and just as lovely. And your beauty is only matched by your skill and knowledge in our science class."

Lucina stifles a laugh. She's not sure if he's hitting on her or asking for help with homework. "Our assignment is analyzing the pros and cons of human intervention to the environment of an ecosystem. It's due in two days."

"Er...thank you?" Inigo looks a little flustered. "This isn't going quite as planned."

Lucina smiles at him. "What are you doing here near the gym? I didn't know that you were into school sports."

"Not sports, per say, but I have a competition coming up that I need to practice for."

Lucina doesn't get to find out for what, because Severa comes out of the locker room with her hair damp and her bag over her shoulder. She scowls when she spots Inigo. "The flirting idiot. What do you want?"

Inigo gapes at her. "You look like a different woman without the pigtails. Doesn't she, Lucina?"

Severa looks remarkably like her mother with her hair down. Lucina hopes that Inigo has enough sense not to mention it.

"Beat it, Montoya. I didn't come to school to see your face today."

"It's a shame that you didn't, because seeing yours definitely made my day." He sighs, theatrically. "I was just about to ask lovely Lucina if she wouldn't mind coming for some tea with me. If she wasn't seeing anyone already."

Lucina hesitates. "As a matter of fact—"

"It's none of your goddamn business if she was," Severa snarls. "Get lost, Inigo. No one wants you around."

"Ah, Severa. Your bluntness is so refreshing sometimes." His eyes light up as if he's just thought of something. "Did anyone tell you that you're so fair and beautiful that I ask mercy for any who becomes a slave to your heart?"

"You should be asking mercy for yourself when I shove—"

Lucina drags her away after bidding a hasty goodbye to Inigo. "You weren't very nice to him," she comments when they reach the parking lot.

"He's the most irritating guy in school. Can't take a no if I club him over the head with one," Severa grouses. "And he hits on everything that moves."

"He's genuinely nice if you give him a chance," Lucina says while Severa snorts. "Just try, at least."

"You're asking a lot."

They make it to Severa's car, and the irritated driver tosses her bags into the backseat before getting in and putting on a pair of dark sunglasses.

Severa runs a hand through her wet hair. "Ugh, I forgot to bring a hairdryer. I look like a mess."

Lucina looks over the damp strands sticking to Severa's cheeks and forehead. "You still look beautiful. I wouldn't mind seeing your hair down more often."

"It's a hassle like this," the redhead argues, but she's not hiding the pleased smile on her face very well. "And it gets in the way." She doesn't move to tie it up again though.

Severa keeps the convertible hood down as they move onto the main tar road out of town, the wind blowing her hair back in a rippling stream of red like a banner. It fascinates Lucina. She blushes when Severa catches her staring at one point, tipping the sunglasses downwards to smirk at her. "See something you like?"

"All the time."

Severa clearly wasn't expecting that answer if the flush flooding across her cheeks is any indication. "Geez, I get it. Lay off on the corniness." When nothing is said between them for a few minutes, she gruffly ventures, "How is your family doing?"

"Morgan is studying the same level of math as me, and my parents are okay." She doesn't mention her extended family. "How is yours?"

"Dad is busy with the church, and trying to get enough donations like usual." Severa rolls her eyes. "Mother is the same as always. Gods, she's so strict sometimes. It's like she grew up in the army or something. She's constantly on my case to attend class more often, like she's Miss Perfect herself."

Lucina smiles, "I believe you said that was already my title."

"Yeah, well, you're more perfect than she is anyway," Severa says, blithely, as if she hadn't just made Lucina's heart-rate double in just nine words. "So, what kind of music do you listen to?"

Uh... "Jazz, sometimes, though I like folk music too. Morgan's been showing me some EDM he likes, and Cynthia's into pop from Chon'sin."

Severa scoffs, "Of course, she is."

"What about you?" Umm... "What do you think of the songs on the radio?" Lucina sighs at herself when she hears her question. Maybe she needs to borrow a book in the future on how to flirt.

"Whatever's good, I guess." Severa shifts, her skirt riding up on her thighs. She's wearing dark tights underneath, but Lucina is still trying hard to not look at anything below the neckline. She's not sure she's succeeding. "I don't think indie rock is terrible, but heavy metal is too...ugh, I can't even describe it."

"Uh-huh."

"The songs on the radio are okay," Severa continues, "but my taste in music is your face."

"Huh?" Lucina glances up, startled. "What do you mean?"

Severa smirks. "Just testing to see if you were paying attention. You were staring."

Lucina feels her face flush. "Your skirt is nice."

"Uh-huh."

They manage to get to Regna Ferox without any more blood flooding Lucina's face, much to her relief. The town is located further up in the mountains, and Lucina feels the first nip of winter's chill, despite summer having not officially ended. They drive past a large stone wall that almost feels like a barricade, passing by several fenced areas that expand over two blocks while men and women in dark uniforms congregate near unmarked concrete buildings. All in all, not the most favourable impression for young tourists.

"I forgot how cold it is up here." Severa gripes once they find the mall, which is a massive glass structure that looks more like a castle than a shopping centre. She ties her hair back into her twin tails and gets the convertible hood back up. "We can get some new coats too." She parks close to the entrance and grabs their jackets, tossing Lucina hers. She pulls out a black leather jacket that was folded neatly and tucked into the corner of the backseat, and pulls it on. There are creases deep into the material of the elbows and shoulders that suggest it's been worn for more than a decade, but it looks remarkably well cared for. "Hey, you're staring again."

"Oh. Your collar's up." Lucina moves to fix it, but Severa stops her.

"Sheesh, it's okay. You're not my mom."

That would make this date rather awkward in that case. "So, where in the mall do you want to go?"

Lucina discovers that the answer is apparently "everywhere." They walk from one end of the mall to the other with Severa peeking in boutiques and rejecting whole racks of clothing after a few seconds of flipping through their items. Lucina has to change her description of the mall from castle to cathedral when she stares in awe at the vaulting white walls and glass dome above them.

They pass by at least fourteen shops, and, in normal circumstances, Lucina would have least tried to protest that they would go in to take a look. However, in normal circumstances, Severa would not be holding onto Lucina's hand in a bid to drag her around faster. The taller girl's somehow too distracted to argue.

They finally stop at a store with bright white walls and a bored cashier with heavy eyeliner behind the counter. The clothing style looks unfamiliar, and as Lucina gingerly picks up a bafflingly long sweater dress, Severa pulls out a bundle of items from the racks and dumps them into her date's arms.

"Try these."

"All at once?"

Severa makes an impatient noise. "Fine. I'll hand you what you should wear together." She turns Lucina around and begins to steer her towards the dressing rooms. "Just get changed."

She passes her two outfits before nudging her into the empty room at the back of the store. One of the outfits is a dark dress with a scoop neck and sleeves that end halfway on her forearms, which Lucina doesn't mind. It's the fact that the bottom of the dress doesn't even make it halfway down her thighs that is more of an issue.

"Severa, I'm not really sure about the length."

"Well, open the door and let me see."

Lucina hesitates for a moment before opening the door and letting her crush in. Severa glances her over with an appraising look. "Not bad, but you're clearly not comfortable. Try the other one."

The other one takes Lucina a better part of ten minutes to get into. Mostly because of the leather pants.

When Lucina steps out, Severa looks her over. Twice. Her eyes have trouble leaving Lucina's legs. "Umm...wow. Okay, that looks really good on you." She coughs and looks away. "How does it feel?"

"Stiff." Lucina shifts in her dark jacket, the inside lining made of a white faux fur that contrasts the black shirt underneath, which Severa insisted that she tucked into her pants. "I don't think I'm a fan of leather pants."

"That's a shame." Severa turns around and grabs a handful of dark material. She shoves it into Lucina's arms without looking at her. "Try these jeans instead."

The jeans are only slightly less tight than the leather pants, but Lucina slips into them much quicker. She steps out in them, and Severa frowns. "It's missing something." Her hand pulls her sunglasses out of her bag and slips them onto a startled Lucina's face. "And your hair should look a little messy for that bad girl look." She steps close and begins tousling the dark blue locks. Lucina knows that she should say something about Severa running her fingers through her hair without asking first, but she's rather enjoying the sensation.

Severa steps back, and she evaluates her work. She's gawking slightly.

Lucina grins. "Has something caught your eye?"

The redhead flushes and snaps, "Excuse you. I'll have you know that you only have that outfit, because I helped put it together."

"So, you like it then?"

"Shut up."

Lucina takes that as an affirmative and hands Severa back her sunglasses. She changes and carefully puts the outfit into the 'yes' pile. Anything that leaves the normally sharp-tongued Severa speechless is a plus in her book.

She ends up going through enough clothing that her reject pile fills an entire rack by itself. She temporarily stops Severa's rampage with an appreciation for an outfit that consists of a long cardigan with frayed tassels, a black-and-white striped shirt with a low cut, and ripped jeans. Severa tosses on several dangling golden necklaces and pronounces the ensemble passable, which Lucina happily accepts.

Five more outfits later, Severa sighs and crosses her arms, leaning on the door frame to the open dressing room. "You even look amazing in men's dress shirts. It's so unfair."

...she was wearing a men's dress shirt? Lucina looks down and realizes that the last three buttons of her top are done incorrectly. "I would like to blame this on being overwhelmed."

Severa makes an impatient noise and moves in close. The redhead's fingers deftly fixes the buttons, straightens out a crooked collar, and smoothes away Lucina's messy strands from her jaw. Lucina bites down on her lip whenever Severa's fingertips brush her cheeks and jawline. She's distracted by the tangling sensation building in her belly.

"You look so good in everything, it's ridiculous. You're the right height, have a great frame for clothing, and your complexion is amazing," Severa sighs. "And it helps that you're drop-dead gorgeous too."

Lucina blinks. The flutter in her stomach has become a storm. "Huh?" she replies, intelligently.

The redhead gives her a look. "Umm...hello? Do you ever, like, look in a mirror? You could practically be a model." Her hands trail down Lucina's sides and lands lightly on her hips, causing the flustered girl's breath to catch. "I would kill for measurements like these."

"Uh..." Lucina has trouble thinking, especially when they're in a room barely big enough to fit the two of them, and Severa is close enough to kiss. "So, you like this one then?"

Severa blinks as if startled and moves away, dropping her hands. Lucina misses the contact. "Yeah, it's a step up from what you were wearing when we came in. I picked it after all."

"Then, I'll take it," Lucina says, a little breathlessly.

"You didn't even check the price."

"If it's you, you probably already thought of it."

Severa flushes. "Well, yeah. Whatever. Let's just take them."

"Wait, what about you? Aren't you going to buy anything?"

"I already did with the amount of time you took changing between clothes." She hefts three shopping bags onto her shoulder. She lifts an eyebrow at the pile in one corner of Lucina's room. "Need a hand?"

They haul the catch of clothing to the cashier, and they exit the store with six shopping bags in tow. The pair make their way back down to the mall entrance into the parking lot and back to Severa's car where they place the bags in her backseat before the redhead suddenly throws her hands up and snarls. "Stop smiling!"

"Huh?"

"You've had that stupid grin on your face ever since we left the dressing rooms. It's getting creepy."

Oh. Lucina hadn't realized that she had it the entire time. "I can't help it when I heard you call me gorgeous twenty minutes ago."

"Compliments go to your head, huh?" Severa grouses.

"Only if they're from you," Lucina says, softly to which her date has no response.

They make their drive back down the mountainous path in easy chatter until Severa's car decides to die a few kilometres from Ylissetol.

"Oh my gods." Severa cranks her engine, and turns on her wipers for some reason. When nothing happens, she swears and storms out of the car to open up its hood. "Stupid thing died in flight."

Lucina watches her. She gets out of the convertible to see if she can help. "What's wrong?"

Severa straightens up. "Well, the engine and the wipers aren't working, which is not a good sign. I'm going to hope that my fuel gauge was just stuck, which means we might just be out of gas. I need to test the air intake boot, open the throttle plate, and spray some starting fluid into the intake before trying the engine again."

None of that made any sense to Lucina. "Do you need me to get something for you?"

"Yeah, just go into my trunk, grab the starting fluid and a ratchet extender. Thanks." Severa's already leaning back down. When Lucina continues to stand there, she looks back up and sighs. "Get the blue bottle and the grey toolbox."

Better. Lucina understands colours. "I'll be right back."

She pops the trunk, grabbing the container and the box before returning to Severa and passing it to her. She watches her quickly inserts a slender metal tool into a tiny metal cylinder that she called a socket, which she pops into a hole in a cover that reminds Lucina of a black, plastic liver. There's some disassembling next, and Severa spraying some of the fluid from the bottle into what looks like a giant hose. Lucina admits to herself that she's completely lost and spends the next couple of minutes watching Severa as she works.

There's a slight furrow between the redhead's brows as she deftly manipulates the various parts of her car, sweat rolling down her skin in the heat of summer's last days. Her movements are clearly practiced, and Severa is so focused, she doesn't appear to notice the grime on her hands from the car parts. Lucina frowns at the sight, because the girl she knew when they were friends hated mud and dirt, and would frequently complain to her whenever some adventure of theirs ended up getting her clothes torn. This Severa doesn't seem to care. Lucina starts to wonder how much she knows about her at all now.

"Where did you learn how to fix a car like this?"

Severa grunts. "My neighbour is obsessed with cars. He's always dragging me over to show off his engine or something, and I just learned it was easier to try and pay attention than escape." She replaces the cover and her tool back into the grey box. "Guess he rubbed off on me more than I thought." She looks at Lucina and shifts uncomfortably. "It's pretty stupid, isn't it? It's gross and ugly, and most girls don't do this—"

Lucina cuts in. "I think it's really cool." And strangely very attractive. "I always imagine that you wouldn't like handling all of that oil and grease."

"I hate them, but sometimes, you just have to deal with it," Severa grumbles. She closes her hood and makes her way back to the driver side door but stops when she notices the grime on her fingers. "Ugh. Can you start the engine for me? Just turn the key in the ignition."

Lucing gets in and follows her instructions. There's a popping sound from the car that really doesn't sound good. "Er...did I break something?"

Severa rolls her eyes. "No, that sound just means that it's definitely out of fuel. I've got a spare bottle for emergencies where I keep my tools."

"I'll get it." Lucina hops out of the convertible and grabs a slim grey bottle from the trunk. She pours the contents into the gas tank as directed.

Severa eyes the empty bottle before replacing the cap on her gas tank and closing the metal flap. "That should be enough to get us to town." She scowls and looks away from Lucina. "Sorry. For this ridiculous mess."

"Don't be. I like spending time with you. Even if we're just stranded on the side of the road." Lucina gazes at Severa with fondness. "It's how we started talking again after all."

Severa glances sharply at her. She doesn't respond to Lucina's last comment. "Yeah, well, thanks for helping." She flinches when she looks at her hands. "This is so gross."

"Hang on. I still have a towel from practice earlier." Lucina digs around in her bag and fishes out a still slightly damp cloth. Instead of handing it over, she begins to clean Severa's hands.

Severa flushes. "I can do that myself."

"Yes, but you fixed the car. I can at least repay you for not getting us stuck here by helping with this."

"Yeah, but you're getting your towel dirty." Severa scowls. "Give it to me. I'll wash it for you. I owe you one."

"What? No. You don't owe me anything." Lucina wipes off the last of the grime and bunches up the towel to throw it into her bag. "Is it that difficult to believe that I might want to do something for you, because I want to?"

Severa turns red. "Fine! Wash your own damn towel. Sheesh." She grumbles and gets back into the car. "A girl can't offer to help without getting her head bitten off around here."

Lucina contemplates pointing out the irony that Severa of all people said that. She says instead, "Is your car going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I just need to get everything checked when we get back." Severa pats the passenger seat. "C'mon, we don't have all day."

The sun is setting by the time Severa drops Lucina off at her house. Some of the other students loiter on the streets on their way there and wave to Lucina before confusion takes over their face at the sight of the girl beside her.

"Great. You'll have gossip about you the moment you step out of your car. Welcome to my life," Severa grumbles.

She helps Lucina carry her shopping bags to the door, and both of them stand awkwardly on the white doorstep, not sure what to do.

Lucina says after a long stretch of silence, "I enjoyed shopping with you." She probably can't afford to do it again for another two months though.

"That's cause you've got a couple of brand new outfits out of it," Severa scoffs, but her tone lacks its usual bite. "So...umm...yeah, it wasn't terrible hanging out with you."

High praise coming from Severa.

She continues on, flipping one of her twin tails over her shoulder. "So, we should do this again tomorrow. I'm free." She tilts her chin up defiantly, but there's a tremble in her jaw that gives her away.

Lucina smiles. "I'd love that." Without thinking, she leans down towards Severa...

...and the redhead pushes her back. She's surprisingly gentle. "I'm not easy, you know."

"Oh! I didn't mean to imply that you were." Lucina's ears could incinerate themselves with how hot they feel. "I was just—"

"Hoping to end the first date with a bang?" Severa asks. She flushes when she realizes what she's said. "Not like that! I mean, gawds, all we did was shop and—you're not getting that either."

"I wasn't thinking of it." Lucina gathers Severa's hands in hers. Her knees feel like they are about to give out on her. "So, was this the best date of your life?"

Severa snorts. "There's not much competition for the title."

"I see. I hope that you'll give me the chance to change that then."

"Gods, you say the corniest things sometimes." Severa scoffs and looks away. Her tone is soft. "But I don't mind."

Lucina watches Severa and reaches out to tuck a stray lock of red hair behind one ear. "Okay. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, goodnight." Severa drops her hands and begins to walk away. She comes back after a few moments and deposits a kiss on Lucina's cheek. "Thought I'd at least give you that. For last time." She makes her way to the car like she couldn't care less about what she just did. Her tires squealing as she peels out of Lucina's driveway suggest otherwise.

Lucina spends the next twenty minutes standing on her doorstep. She thinks she might be in love.