Chapter 45
On Sunday Odette got up and help cleaned the house and once the others had left to check on their dorms she got ready for Malleus's birthday party. This time her hair was left plain but she did have makeup that Vil had gifted her. She only did a little mascara, eyeliner and an apple red gloss. 'Not as good as last time but it's still something.' She thought as she brushed her hair out and put the headband on again.
"Maybe I should soon have someone trim it soon?" She muttered as she played with the ends that laid passed her shoulders now.
She went down to the kitchen and grabbed her gift out of the freezer and placed it in a small gift bag that Sam sold her.
She then dashed out the door before Grim could wake up from his nap and headed towards the hall of mirrors. 'Don't be late. You can't be late, it so disrespectful to be late.' She thought as she looked down at her watch.
By the time she hopped through the Diasomnia mirror she was nearly hyperventilating. 'Calm down. You're ten minutes early like you said you would be.' She thought as she breathed through her nose and out through her mouth. She watched her breath slowly raised into the air and disappear. 'Being anxious won't help anything. If they didn't want you here then someone would have told you. Silver likes you, Lilia is the type to be civil even if he's mad at you. Sebek didn't seem mad the other night.' She thought as she walked towards the massive castle. Much like last time it was calm and peaceful.
The open was quickly opened by Silver once she knocked. "Good afternoon Odette." He smiled at her as he let her in. He wore his dorm uniform this time but it had a few extra trinkets pinned to his chest.
"Good afternoon Silver. Where's the birthday boy?" She grinned at him. 'I've never noticed but their uniform is kinda military-ism. Army not navy.' She thought as she looked him over. 'Where did that thought come from?' She wondered.
"In the lounge. Please follow me." Silver answered.
The lounge was even more decorated then the last time and the decoration looked even more complicated and expansive. Every flat surface had a vase with different kind of flowers in it. 'Flowers? Well this world is different and who doesn't like flowers?' Odette thought as she looked around the room.
Malleus was sitting off to the side where their group usually sat. Instead of the couch he was sitting in a chair sat at the end of the table between the couches. The table was already full of food and the tea set.
He had a small smile on his face which seemed grow a tad when he saw her. He rose from his chair to greet her causing Sebek to fuss. He wore a white jacket like Lilia had and a similar sash of black and green then said 'Birthday Boy' down it. The opposite side he wore a pin. The pin was an oval purple stone with horns on top that looks like his. Under the pin was the ribbon that stated today's date.
"Happy Birthday Tsunotaro. You look great." Odette smiled at him as he handed him the gift.
"Thank you Odette. I'm so glad you could make it." He said taking the package. "May I?" He asked holding it up.
"Oh yes please, in fact I have to insist. It's fragile and I want you to enjoy it but anything can happen to it." She said.
He opened the bag and pulled out a palm sized container that felt cold in his hand. In her lovely handwriting Odette and scribbled 'London Fog' across the container in sharpie.
"What's this?" He asked looking a bit confused.
"London Fog ice cream. Someone told me you love ice cream and I know you like tea so I thought I would combined the two into something for you." Odette babbled as she began to blush. 'Did I miss the mark?'
"What's a London Fog? What's that got to do with tea?" Sebek asked standing beside Malleus.
"Oh right, sorry. It's a tea drink from my world with Earl Gary tea, milk and honey. Some people put lavender as well. So this ice cream is tea flavored with swirls of honey and lavender." She explained still feeling uneasy.
"Can I try it now?" Malleus asked looking up from the container to her.
"Yes of course if you want." She nodded quickly.
Before Malleus could asked Sebek had gone off to get a dish and spoon to serve the ice cream to Malleus.
"What a thoughtful gift." Lilia mused as the rest of the group sat back down and waited for Sebek to return.
"I think it might be my favorite gift so far." Malleus stated still smiling at her.
'Oh!' Odette thought as something clicked into place for her. "You haven't even tried it yet. What if you don't like the taste? The tea flavor isn't as strong as it could be but this was my first time making ice cream, especially the old fashioned way." Odette mused.
"Old fashioned way?" Malleus asked.
"In my world you can buy small home applicants to make ice cream. All you do is add the ingredients in the machine and plug it in." Odette explained as Sebek returned with a small bowl and spoon.
"So it was a labor of love?" Lilia stated more than asked.
Odette blushed up to her ear tips and gently coughed. "I like to show my affection for anyone special to me with things like this. I wouldn't say the ice cream was anymore labor than the bat I gave you." 'Is he done being subtle?'
"You've never mentioned your world's inventions before." Silver said trying to change the subject quickly.
'Cause I mostly don't want to.' She thought. "Well most seem the same as here. The machine might exist here but it's an expense I can't justify." Odette explained.
Malleus had taken the bowl and spoon from Sebek. He put the bowl on the table in front of him. He twisted off the lid and dug in but instead of putting any in the bowl he put the ice cream straight out into his mouth.
Lilia just hid a smile behind his hand as Sebek and Silver stared in surprise. Odette seemed a bit confused by all their actions. 'Well he does seem refined, he's probably done anything like that in front of them.' She thought.
"It's delicious." He smiled at her looking very happy with her gift.
"I'm glad you like it but you should neither eat it or have it put away so it doesn't melt. Re-froze ice cream is always gritty and it'll effect the taste." She said pointed out.
"Right." Malleus sighed standing back up.
"Waka-sama, please let me." Sebek said as he got up too. He quickly took the items and left the room again.
"Come summer instead of tea we could do ice cream met ups. I could make that flavor again." Odette half joked.
"I think that's a wonderful idea." Lilia grinned.
Soon others came to wish Malleus happy birthday. His entire dorm who also helped served the guests who showed up. Odette soon realized that unlike Lilia's birthday this wasn't a dorm only event. Most of the school did drop-bys to wish him a happy birthday. A few seemed surprised to see her there.
By the time the entire thing winded down it was well past dark. The lounge had become crowded and stuffy and Odette found Malleus out on the nearby balcony. "It's getting late Tsunotaro and it seems only Diasomnia students are left in the lounge." Odette said as she approached him.
"Very well." Malleus sighed.
"Did you enjoy your birthday?" She asked smiling up at him.
"I did, it's the liveliest I've ever had." Malleus explained.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Well it sounds like we'll have to make next years even livelier." She grinned.
"Next year?" He asked looking a bit surprised.
"Yup, good night Tsunotaro." She sighed.
He reached out and took her hand in his and kissed the top just like Lilia and Rook had done before. "Good night Odette." He whispered once he let go of her hand.
She felt herself blush again and just nodded as she stepped away from him. 'I'll never get used to that gesture.' She thought.
This time her escort home was Sebek.
"So that's what you meant by fragile, you meant the gift was a fragile food." Sebek said as they went through the mirror.
"Yes, I didn't want to give too much away. I want to make it was a real surprise." Odette explained as she walked as quickly as she could without seeming rude.
"Well, I would say mission accomplished." Sebek said crossing his arms over his chest.
"I would say so." She grinned.
They walked in silence nearly all the way to the Ramshackle dorm when she asked. "When's your birthday Sebek?"
"March 17 th." He answered.
"That gives me time to figure out what to get you then. I don't know you as well as the others." Odette stated.
"If you can figure out those gifts are such short notice you'll be a force to reckon with given the time you have now." Sebek chuckled. "You're so weird."
"If that isn't the pot calling the kettle. I'm an alien here remember." She pointed out.
"I didn't mean nothing by it." He muttered.
"I know, but weird or not I think everyone deserves a nice birthday. I can't give much but what I can I'll give my all." She stated looking proud.
"That I can understand." Sebek said as they arrived at the Ramshackle dorm. "Good night Odette." He said with a small bow.
"Good night Sebek." Odette bowed back. 'I guess we're a step closer to friendship.' She thought as she watched him go.
Once inside the dorm she realized she had stayed way later than she had attended to and everyone else was asleep. Everyone except Vil who was waiting for her in the parlor.
"I'm so sorry I lost track of time." She quickly apologized.
"Given where you were I'll let it slide. The Diasomnia dorm seems to have that effect on many people even it's residents. I just wanted to make sure you made it home safely. You could have texted." Vil reminded her.
"You're right I should have thought of that." Odette sighed.
"Be careful with them Odette. You can easily get in over your head with that group." Vil said placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you Vil." She sighed not wanting to burden him with the truth that she was barely keeping her head above water now.
She showered and laid down in her fresh made bed and felt get heavier as she finally knowledge the tumblers that clicked into place earlier. 'Tsunotaro likes me!' She turned on to her side to face the wall and buried in her head in between her pillows. She wanted to groan, cry and scream a little. 'Lilia knew, that's the line I crossed and after today Silver and Sebek probably know too.'
She curled up more on herself. 'I barely know him, I feel like he barely knows me. I barely know me right now. I'm flattered but,…" Odette thought as she sighed. 'Could anyone else tell? Will it be all over the school tomorrow? If so how will everyone react?' She thought.
"Deep breath." She said as she tried to stop her run away thoughts. She breathed through her nose and out through her mouth. She did several of these focusing on the motioning before she allowed herself to think about anything else.
'There's nothing you can do about it right now. And you can't do anything about who know and who doesn't all you can control is your reaction to others. Just keep moving forward. You're here to learn just focus on school,...and the SDC." She thought as she flipped herself on to her other side and pulled her head out from under her pillows.
She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing again to relax and go to sleep.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was fun to write. Another birthday down. I hope the Malleus's fans are happy with it. This one was much different than Lilia's. Odette has finally figured out a few things. What will she do with this information? You'll have to stick around to find out.
The next chapter is back to the main story but there is another Diasomnia appearance in that chapter. I know this was the third chapter in row but hey that's why we're all here. I think our Diasomnia boys make appearance until the overblot. I hope you stick around.