THWACK!
On the other side of thestress spectrum, Ember found herself hard at work in the midst of a busy open day. The fact she had the luxury of a 'quiet' study room didn't mean she wasn't prone to incessant chatter grinding away at her composure. As a result, her workflow simply wasn't present.
"A house? ...a house?! How in flame am I gonna build a house in a working day?" she stressed to herself.
After hours of sitting, she dropped her pen in fatigue, resting her head on the desk in front in frustration. Little was she aware that her fiery hair lit a small trinket on fire. She sharply looked up, frantically standing, gusting to blow it out. It quickly extinguished. She let out a heaping exhale, hunching over. As she did so, she looked up to her right at a clock on the wall...
2:56 pm
It dawned on her; she had nothing. Not a single idea in the few-hour time frame since starting at 9 am. Her already peaked stress from all the sudden events - including the exam - didn't help her worker's block.
She looked over at her blueprint sheet; blank almost in tease. She slithered back onto her chair, exhaling and digging her head into her hands.
"I- I can't do it. I can't do it," she stressed.
One to be prone to stress, she began to hyperventilate. She clawed her hands on the table, bruxing her teeth.
BZZT-BZZT!
Before she could spiral any further down into full purple territory, her phone interrupted. She sharply grabbed it out of her pocket expecting a useless spam message. But, to her joy, she lit up at what she saw...
"Hey, Em. Guess... what?!" it read.
She looked side to side, unsure if she was allowed to have it out or not. She covered her phone with her left hand, texting with the other.
"What?" she replied
"I... just got the afternoon off! I'll see you at home as soon as you finish!" the sender replied.
Ember flashed white in relieving joy, a big smirk abroad on her face.
"Yay! That's great, Wadey! I cannot wait for tonight! 3" she replied.
She slid her phone into her pocket, leaning her arms on the table back and stretching back. She took a breath, wearing a stupid grin, spinning around in her chair in joy. She spun back to her desk, scooching close and picking up her pen.
"Okay. Only a couple of hours to go. Come on... I can get something outta me." she reckoned.
Knowing a second wind was present, she just had to get it out of her. It had a bit of fight left in it however as Ember looked back at her blank paper. Was it back to square one? A feeling of daunt grew knowing she was on the precipice of something.
That something came... but not in the way she expected. Instead of drawing with her pen, she began to do it with her mind. Hallucinations painted their way onto the blank blueprint. She let out a curious smirk, looking closer in intrigue. Then, she saw it...
It was her father's shop. Specifically the front counter. She saw her own hands rebuilding the glass cover for the counter. Amazed, irreality began to draw her into the paper some more.
She then envisioned one of her earliest memories with Wade; glassing up the gates for the ship catchment. It was gorgeous; like reliving it all over again. Her very real smirk grew in nostalgic glory, and it would only continue to.
More concerning visions came to her, such as the aftermath of the flash flood that carried her to her new life.
And there it was. Possibly one of the most important moments in her life, for it would foreshadow the very life she now lived. There she was, sitting at the Ripple home meeting the family for the first time. She watched as her hands put together a jug; purple and gold. She never realized just how breathtaking it was.
But it simply paled in comparison to the look of pride on Wade's face. Even in hallucination form, he was just as breathtaking as the first time she realized he was. His face read that only true love could.
That same smirk unknowingly translated to her in the real world. She wore it with pride, seeing the blank paper not as a hurdle but as the result of everything she went through.
That was when the second wind came knowing. Her eyes lit up in her much-needed eureka moment. She grabbed her pen with haste, twirling it about and leaning down, beginning a scribble-fest of epic proportions.
"First, the floor; a rectangular plot with an area of roughly 500 feet. Not too big, not too daunting." she thought.
Following that scribbling, she leaned back to take a good look with a smirk.
"Okay- then, eight pillars - four on each corner, and four between them." she continued.
Her pen tip as hot as her flaming body, she eased into her stride.
"Yes- yes! T- then- walling, roughly 12 feet high. Not too tall... not too daunting." she went on.
She began to chuckle in relieved admiration, shaking her head.
"The roof on top - acutely arched, structurally sound, yet not too difficult to finish off with." she finished.
She threw her pen down in excitement, taking a breath and decompressing. She let herself calm to a halt, leaning back and closing her eyes in relief. She slowly opened them, holding up the paper.
There it was; a cute little cottage-style house following hours of absolutely nothing. She sat, without consideration of the stress she was just under, smirking in admiration. She looked up at the clock.
3:05 pm
She raised an eyelid with a cocky smirk.
"7 hours done in like, 7 minutes?" she thought.
She shook her head in disbelief, looking over at her paper.
"Simple and to the point. Very well done." a familiar voice interjected.
And just like that, her trance was snapped in half. She freaked out in surprise, nearly falling off of her chair. She spun around, folding her arms with an unamused smirk.
"If you're wondering- that was on purpose." Phil quipped.
Ember rolled her eyes, huffing pettily. Proud of his successful scare, he smirked as he looked back over to her design, then to her.
"May I?" he requested.
Ember let out a careless shrug, nodding.
Phil picked up the paper to look at it eye-level. He let out a quick grunt of 'huh' in approval.
Ember, a bit uncomfortable yet trying to hide it, crossed her legs in anticipation.
Phil guffawed at her design in admiration with a smirk.
"Never failing to impress, Lumen." he recognized.
She took another breath of relief, holding her hips.
Quickly, however, Phil dug his attention deeper into the paper in query, raising an eyelid.
"One little critique-" he said.
He leaned over to show her. Unexpecting, Ember leaned over to where he pointed to her design.
Without a single sliver of awareness, Ember inadvertently drew the same smirk of Wade she envisioned at the Ripples.
"What's with the doodle?" he queried.
Embarrassed, she bruxed her teeth, freaking out. She forcefully snatched it out of Phil's hands in fright.
"OH- that! Hehe. Uh- that's just a-" she panicked.
"Someone important?" he asked.
Ember froze and let out a soft gasp, looking at Phil. She let out a coping smirk, looking down.
"Y- yeah," she admitted.
Phil let out an admirable chuckle to her. Meeting the necessary level to converse, he pulled up a chair near Ember in an attempt to comfort her.
"Mrs. DaDropplet told me you're from an inter-elemental home," he said.
Fallen silent out of embarrassed disbelief, Ember sat, hands in her lap. Phil put a finger on the doodle, tapping on it to draw her attention.
"This your roommate?" he asked.
Ember took a big breath in discomfort, trying to compose herself and remain professional.
"Yeah. He's my roommate," she admitted with a fake smile.
Aware that the topic irked her at that moment, Phil chuckled, looking down in tandem with her.
"You know, I used to be into the whole inter-elemental thing myself," Phil admitted.
Caught off-guard by his admission, and possibly his assumption of her's and Wade's rapport, Ember's eyes widened.
"Oh no, I-" she stammered.
"She was gorgeous. Tall fire woman, really outgoing, really confident." Phil continued regardless.
Ember's discomfort began to lessen as intrigue in Phil's story rose. Such became indicative as she shifted her body language toward his direction, holding her hands in her lap.
"Her parents didn't approve of me, and neither did mine of her. It was a constant struggle to hide it," he admitted.
Unknowing that she was able to relate to her superior far more than she expected, Ember bowed her head in admiration.
Aware that he was splurging in unprofessionalism, Phil chuckled to himself, shrugging and leaning back.
"Alas, it was fun while it lasted," he said.
Having roped herself into the story, Ember lost her smile at the comment. After all, she'd been through the same.
"What happened?" she asked.
Phil looked over at her with a smile, hands behind his head.
"Separate paths. She didn't like that her work always brought her home in a mood, and she thought she was a burden to me. I tried my best to help, but... you just can't help someone who doesn't want it." he continued.
Feeling her emotions as clearly as Wade, she straightened herself, shoulders back, looking down and taking a breath.
"What I'm trying to say Ms. Lumen is that, from what I've seen, you haven't shown enough confidence in your ability to do it. But, as someone who knew another who'd always gotten in her own way... appreciate what you have. But keep in mind, try not to let it hurt you too much if it doesn't pan out the way you want. This whole exam thing, it's secondary to life. If you don't feel confident in your abilities at the moment, it's not the be-all, end-all." he offered.
Having learned the value of lessons from her dewdrop, she tried her best to truly take the comment in, holding a hand on her heart to indicate such.
A little embarrassed at how much he shared, Phil leaned back up and onto his feet.
"Ehem... my apologies. I didn't mean to-" he began.
"No..." she understandably interjected.
She let out a comforting smile.
"It's okay. I actually appreciate the words. I'll... keep it in mind." she assured.
Appreciative of her, Phil smiled back gratefully, almost as if he needed the lending ear. Firmly jumping back into professional mode, he firmly tapped on her desk.
"Well, keep at it. From what I see, you're doing well with your design at the moment." he approved.
Ember remained in her spot with a grateful smile, chuckling and looking down at her hands in her lap.
Awkwardly, Phil began to walk out like a soldier back into the hellfire that was the raucous open day.
Choosing to sit in her feelings a while longer, Ember slowly watched as he filtered out. The moment he left her line of sight, the room fell far quieter than it was before. Such was a result of her emotions clouding her senses. To her detriment, she was unsure.
Phil really made her think far more than she expected. She slowly turned back to her blueprint paper, letting out a sigh as she sat, hands in her lap. She quickly began to think about Wade, as before. Both memories good and bad trickled back into her mind, sending her into a quasi-soul search. She saw journeys old and new, with and without Wade. She made note of just how interesting and fulfilled she felt after meeting him; the love of her life. She dared to defy societal norms of Fire people to have the life she wanted, and she got it. But where did that leave her now? How were things going?
The more she thought about the now, the more depressing things got. All she could think about was the last couple of nights; seeing Wade a bit more stressed, and tired than usual. He's almost never like that. Most nights before, it's her that's the stressed one. She worried; was there a reason? Was it just the sharp life change? Was it her?
The latter question stuck in her mind; was it really her fault that he was stressed?
The thought sat unwelcome to her, rebuilding the worker's block she sat with not 30 minutes ago.
But, one thing rang true when she needed it most...
She was about to have a great night.