It's raining on Monday. Not the sad kind of pathetic drizzle we've been getting throughout the spring, nor the freezing, near horizontal storm rain typical for the cold autumns, but a proper summer pour. And it is pouring, big, fat raindrops plummeting from the sky like Agnid herself had opened up the skies and let everything fall. It's the amazing kind of rain, the one that will soak you to the bone in two minutes flat, but doesn't make you cold and miserable, but warm and happy and young, cradling you in its arms and you feel like you've never been more alive before.
We go to the library straight from class, and then after supper Alica follows to our dorm room and I just know she's going to finally drag us outside with her. She's been staring out windows for the whole day, almost vibrating with excitement and barely paying attention in class. I find it amusing to be honest; she was like a little kid waiting anxiously for when school is out. She's grinning like a madman.
"Come on, guys, let's go, let's go!" she says as I drop my bag on the floor by the bed. Gil gives her an amused smile.
"Where're we going then?" he asks. She huffs.
"Outside! To the rain! Let's go dance in the rain!" She twirls around, her skirt spinning and wrapping around her thighs. "It's the first proper rain all summer, we can't waste it!"
"Waste it? Sometimes I really wonders about your priorities," Gil says with a shake of his head, but I know he's going to come too. He often tries to act all mature and responsible, but I know he still enjoys things like this.
"Well, I'm ready," I say, emptying my pockets onto the desk. I turn to Gil, who sighs, gives me a smile and then takes out the notebook and pencil from his pockets. "Let's go then."
She lets out a small squee of joy, clapping her hands together and she then spins around and is out the door. Gil and I follow as she leads us through the corridors and out of the dormitory.
Most of Academia buildings are connected to each other, meaning that - if you know the way - you can go from just about anywhere of campus to anywhere else without stepping outside (the teacher's living quarters being the exception, as they have a different building a little ways off), although in some cases cutting through the inner courtyard significantly shortens the trip. There are doors from all separate wings directly outside too, and Alica takes us out from the main door of the dormitory building.
She runs into the rain as soon as the door is open enough for her to fit through.
"Come on!" she laughs, pushing her already wet hair out of her face. She's skipping and spinning with her arms spread wide and she's laughing, enjoying herself with every ounce of her being. She's completely drenched now, which is good because that way, when she does a cartwheel, her skirt sticks to her olive legs. I shoot Gil a quick grin and then run after her.
The rain hits me like a wall when I exit the canopy. I can feel the warm water seep into my clothes and hair, making them cling to my skin as I stand under the shower. I close my eyes and focus on the sensation of the droplets as they hit my skin and bounce off, over and over, all over my body. I focus on the sound, the soft drumming all around, and the laughter and cries of joy Alica lets out into the world. Gil is laughing too, he's joined us in the rain and they're splashing in the puddles that are quickly forming on the ground. I smile to myself and open my eyes again, my worries washing away with the rain.
We stay outside for a long time, I don't even know how long exactly, but it's much, much later when Alica sneezes and shivers and we decide it's time to go back inside. Alica sneezes a second time once we're inside and leaves for the girls' dormitory after promising Gil she'll dry herself as soon as she can and put some warm clothes on when she goes to bed. Gil and I return to our room, dripping water all over the corridor floors and smiling like idiots. He fetches our fresh towels from the wardrobe while I go to the bathroom to set up a clothesline to hang our wet uniforms on.
I've already hung up my shirt and vest when he comes in and presses up against my back, hands looping loosely around my waist. I shiver, his clammy shirt cold against my bare back, which makes him laugh softly and press a kiss on my neck. I turn around in his arms and pout at him, before grinning as my hands snake their way up to his throat and loosen his tie, pulling it free from inside his vest. He goes to lick his lips and I take the opportunity to pull him into a kiss with a yank on the tie and he chuckles against my mouth. It quickly turns into a moan.
We break apart after a while and I pull open the knot on his tie and unbutton the top of his shirt. His hands have settled on my hips by now and they don't move from there until I tug the hem of his shirt out of his trousers and slide my cold hands underneath it, at which point he raises his arms over his head so I can slip off the affronting garments and toss them on the floor. He gives me a glare and I spurt out a laugh.
"Really?" I ask with a smile. He gives me a look and leans in for a quick kiss before slapping my hip gently. "Alright then," I shrug before picking up the two shirts from the floor and separating them. I hang them on the line next to my own and then turn back to Gil. "Better?"
"Much," he says and with a single steps he's in my personal space again, gripping my face and claiming my mouth. My hands travel along his back, touching, feeling, caressing. My fingers brush along the waist of his trousers and then they get to work on his belt buckle. It opens, and I slip the belt out of the belt hoops and let it drop on the floor.
"I suppose," I say in between kisses, my hand hovering over the only button keeping his trousers up anymore, "you want to hang up your pants as well?"
He doesn't say anything, he doesn't need to, I knew the answer before I asked, he just gives me one more kiss and looks at me with a lopsided grin and the button is opened with a flick of my fingers. His pants drop to the floor, pooling around his ankles and he steps backwards out of them while I bend down to pick them up and turn back to the clothesline, hanging them up before slipping out of my own.
"I'm going to start the water," he says behind me as I'm smoothing out the final piece clothing hung onto the line. I hum in response and soon I hear the shower as it sprays its water down. It's a different sound to the rain: continual, localised, and with more pressure. But in a way it's similar, I suppose. They're both cleansing. The tone changes as Gil tests the temperature, the water hitting warm flesh instead of cold tiles. "It's all warmed up now," he says finally and gets in.
I pick up the hand towel from the counter and stuff it under the door to make sure no water accidentally spills under it, before pulling back the shower curtain and poking Gil in the side. He lets out a small yelp, slaps my hand, and then moves over.
The shower is not made for two people, but that hasn't stopped us before. The water is warm, almost hot, as it beats down against my skin, numb from the cold. I'm leaning against the side wall while Gil washes himself, the tiles a bit cool against my back, but they warm up quickly with contact. He's humming under his breath, one of the songs Alica always sings and he's taking painstakingly long. I rub my toes against his calf, trying to get his attention, but he's having none of it.
"Wait your turn," he says calmly, scrubbing the soap on his arms. I groan impatiently, but it's mostly for show and he knows it, paying me no mind. I settle for watching the foam as he washes it off, how it slides along his sides and down his leg, until finally swirling out of sight into the drain. It's almost hypnotic, really.
Finally Gil is done and he turns to me, smiling brightly. I look down the few centimeters' difference in our height, waiting. His tongue darts out to wet his already wet lips. I bite the inside of my cheek to stay still.
"Good boy," he says finally and I laugh. My laugh is cut rather short though, when Gil pushes me against the wall, his hand on my face and his lips on mine. I card my fingers into his dark hair, pulling softly and his mouth moves to my neck, nipping and kissing. I let my head fall against the wall with a moan, because dear gods how did he learn to do that, and when he pulls at my earlobe with his teeth I swear my legs almost buckle under me.
When we finally emerge from behind the shower curtain, our fingers long past wrinkly and a big red mark on my collarbone, the whole room has filled with steam from the shower and the mirrors on the walls are a foggy white. Gil wraps me up in
a huge, fluffy, white towel, ruffling up my hair as he dries it. As
soon as he lets go of me I grin stupidly at him, before shuffling over to the mirror and writing "Gilbert Amsel is the best at sex" in big letters across the middle, with my very best cursive to boot. I draw a small heart after it for emphasis.
Gil just laughs and ushers me to bed. Though not on my own.
~x~
It keeps raining on Tuesday too. Nothing much of consequence happens during the first few lessons, but as the clock keeps ticking more and more past 11 it becomes clear that professor Cole is going to be very late. Professor Cole is never late. When he finally arrives at 11:23 he's clearly wet, muddy, still in his jogging attire, and has a very weird look on his face. Something has happened.
The students jump up as he walks in, to greet him, but he dismisses us with a wave of his hand.
"Please be seated," he says. He composes himself, standing up straight and looks at the class. "First of all, I apologise for being so late. Some urgent things appeared related to my history research, and it was of utmost importance to deal with those first. I will do all I can to prevent such things from happening again during a class. But I still need to deal with one thing, so I ask you to take your books and start studying in groups of two or three the following topic: 'Political and diplomatic relations between Caldoria and Zanland during the previous century'. I encourage you to cooperate with other groups and pick different decades to look at, so that the whole century is covered. Please write and essay by tomorrow, and I will read them by Friday's class when we will have a more detailed discussion. Any questions? Then, let's get started."
The students start to move into their groups and I turn to Gil. Urgent things related to his research? What is his topic? What has happened? Research in history is hardly urgent, why would he -
"And mister Woodsham, I'd like to have a word with you. Could you please join me outside."
Shit.
He's pointing to the door. I give Gil a quizzical and lowkey panicky look and he shrugs at me, and I then follow Cole outside. He closes the classroom door behind us and turns to me.
"Mr. Woodsham, I need to ask you something," he says, simply.
"Okaay," I say, somewhat suspicious.
"I need to contact Sharon Rey."
Oh. Well, I wasn't exactly expecting that.
"And you expect me to know how to reach her because...?" I ask, looking at him with a slightly amused expression. If he thinks he's getting anything out of me easily, he's wrong.
"Well, she is your aunt, and if someone in this school knows how, it is most likely you," he say. I shrug. It's hardly surprising he figured that much.
"Seeing as you know of my relation to her, surely you know that my family cut ties to her during the battle." It is true, although not the whole story.
"Yes, I know, but you still know what she did during the battle. I expect that your parents did not tell you that. You have heard it from her directly." He sounds like his patience is running a bit thin, but honestly I can't be bothered to care.
"Sure, but it's not like I've kept in touch with her. I've met her twice and that was over ten years ago." This is true as well, at least partially.
"Do you know where she lives now or where she lived at the time?"
"Back then I think she had a cottage on the outskirts of a fishing town somewhere on the eastern coast of Ferland," I say with another shrug. "But I don't think she's lived there for a long time."
"And what was the name of the town?"
"Codcliff."
"Is there anyone in the town to whom I could send a letter so that they would bring it to her?"
"I really wouldn't know. But I did get the impression she kept mostly to herself, so..."
He pauses then, to think things through. I don't know what he wants with Sharon, but I don't trust him enough to tell him anything useful. His stance on magic is well known, and at least I'm aware of his military background, and I'll be damned if I tell a man like that where to find my sorceress aunt.
"Why do you need to find her anyhow?" I ask after he says nothing for a while.
"Well, some new data related to my research on the battle showed up," he says. Interesting... I'm assuming that is the Great Battle. This can't be about Viper though, because his use of the Geltoech mask is already old news (or old enough to not warrant running around in the rain and being late for class), so clearly something else happened, probably this very morning. I'd want to ask him about it, but I really can't and I doubt he'd tell me either way. 30 years ago this thing happened and suddenly it's popping up in the span of a week all over the place. Amazing. "She is very well informed about those events and I must confirm a few things from her."
"You do know that she wrote a book about it, right? The battle?" I say with a sneer. "Even though most of them were burnt, I'd wager you can still probably find one somewhere. A less bigoted country, maybe?" I smirk, but he ignores it.
"Although Sharon Rey has not been my favourite historian, I have done my homework. I am quite familiar with her writings," he says instead and isn't that interesting as well. Cole has always been quick to jump into the defense of official reports, especially concerning the military and the country's stance on magic... What has changed? Did he uncover something about the Great Battle that made him question the government? Or the military? Was the whole thing a mistake, a hoax, a coverup? Did he find evidence that the murder of private Jacobs was wrongfully pinned on sorcerers, like The History of Sorcery and the Great Battle claims? Oh, wouldn't that be the day.
"Well then, seeing as you're just as much informed on this subject as I am, if not moreso, I suggest you go do some more of that homework and let me get back to mine. You did just assign us an essay due tomorrow, did you not?" I say and cross my arms. His eye twitches. I know he wants more, it's all over his face, but I'm not going to give it and he knows it.
"Thank you, Mr. Woodsham," he eventually grits out. "Your information may prove very important. I will let you know if I am successful with my effort."
I look him up and down a few times, studying him, trying to determine something more about what he got up to this morning, but there aren't many clues and he probably doesn't take too kindly if I stay here much longer, so I turn around return to the classroom. He doesn't follow. I peek out of the class room once I notice it and can see him hurrying along the hallway though it is impossible to know where.
"What the hell?" Gil whispers when I sit back down.
"I don't know," I whisper back. "He was asking me about my aunt and where to find her."
"The aunt?" Alica asks. I nod. She frowns. "What does he want with her? It's been 30 years, just leave the poor woman alone!"
"He said he's found some new evidence concerning the Great Battle, and wanted to get her opinion on it," I say.
"Actual new evidence on the Great Battle?" Gil asks. "That's huge if it's true!"
"Yeah, I know! If there was something fishy going on during the battle, it could mean a big change in magical legislation of the kingdom! We play our hand right, we can change the course of history!"
I pause. Change the course of history..?
"Big change is coming," I say. Gil and Alica exchange a confused look. "A change that can make things as they should be. Make things as is desired. A new beginning!" I grin. "The fortune! That's what the fortune said, it has got to be about this! We can actually make magic legal again!"
"What about the part about the danger and destruction and chaos?" Gil asks. "And consuming the world?"
"That's probably Viper, right?" Alica says. I nod.
"Has to be. But didn't she say that as long as I stay alert and take action, it won't happen?" I say. Gil shrugs. Alica looks thoughful.
"The only thing we can do right now is keep doing what we do," she says. "One day at a time, you know."
"Yeah," I say. "One day at a time."
________________________________________________________________
Omg look at that, no Percy this time. Also what time is this to update, it's actually daytime! Well, it was daytime when I'm writing this, we'll see what the train's internet thinks about me posting this now. (if I can't do it now, it'll probably have to wait until the evening, sorryyyyy)
Anywhoo, I have some doubts about the, uh... shower scene. I swear to gods, I don't know why those two can't keep their hands off each other! It just keeps happening! (hanging up clothes to dry is a really weird form of foreplay tho lol but to each his own) But y'know, they're both consenting adults, so what they do on their free time isn't really up for me to criticize. I'm just not sure how much I should write in here about it..... I mean the first scene back in the, what, part 14? 16. Anyway, I tried to leave is kinda vague, but this scene here? It turned out kinda graphic... Oops. I did leave the actual sex part out, but I did actually write it, so.... if you wanna read it, drop me a comment and I'll add it? (I feel kinda weird about this, 99% of the people who read this are my relatives..... ://)
But hey! Sex is great and those two are totally having it, in case you hadn't realised it by now. So suck it. (just like Gil does eyoOOOOOOOO) SORRY
i'm just... i'm gonna go now. the next topic is "wind".
Pie out.
P.S. Just my fucking luck, the one day I finish this thing in the afternoon I have no internet until the evening... hnnnnggggggh. ANYWAY. Enjoy~<3
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