AN: Heeeey, another chance to do some Emily/Theresia!
Throwing care to the wind (Emily/Theresia)
Theresia's drawing close. Emily can feel her breathing go shallower with every rige.
They'd been close before, of course – Aidios only knew there was nothing unusual about that – but never before had the air been so charged with electricity, never before had her heart threatened to thunder out of her ribcage.
… Wait, she'd stopped. Why had she stopped?
"Emily?"
"Y-Yeah?"
Her expression is tense beyond belief before it gradually relaxes into placid tranquility and Emily finds her courage, gently cradling the side of her face as her fear vanishes into the wind.
"Emily."
She smiles and leans in.
"Yeah."
Strings (Celine, Machias/Emma)
"Huh. Interesting," Celine noted, more than a little amused by a dazed and confused Machias staring at his hands intently. "I didn't think that herb blend had any side effects."
"I-I didn't either," Emma said, wincing as she tried to get her ill boyfriend to rest. "Maybe he can just sleep it off?"
"I hope not. This is entertaining."
"… hey, Celine?"
Both sets of eyes turned as one.
"You like… string, right? I mean, you're a cat and most cats like string, so you should probably … y'know, right?"
Celine cackled. "Is he actually saying these words?!"
"Hush, you."
Confession (Vandyck, Heinrich, Beatrix)
"Have you made any progress, Heinrich?"
He shook his head with a grimace. "Not yet, but it's only a matter of time! I'll wring an admission of guilt from Armbrust yet, I swear it!"
"I don't suppose you've considered," Beatrix began mildly, her arms crossed, "that he may be telling the truth?"
"Of course I haven't! How could I, with the entire Academy's stock of athletic balls currently missing and him walking around with the most insufferable smirk on his face?!"
Vandyck coughed; some might have said it sounded like a chuckle. "Noted. You may continue with your investigation, Instructor."
Counterpart (Vivi, Linde)
At first glance, it was all too easy to paint them as polar opposites.
Vivi was loud and outgoing; some might call her friendly to a fault. Linde was quiet and reserved; some might call her stand-offish and mousy.
'As different as night and day,' people would laugh, unable to fathom what would come when, forced to contend with the aftermath of civil war, they would prove to be similar in ways no one could have imagined.
Vivi took hold of both pen and camera. Linde learned to mend, to heal.
In their own ways, they would both do good.