LRAB 3.02 – Future Plans
3.02 – Future Plans
3.02 – Future Plans
Zoey woke first. She drifted to consciousness, morning sunlight trickling in through the window, pressed in by a soft body.
Her eyes opened to a sleeping Rosalie.
Zoey sighed.
They’d gone to sleep on separate halves of the bed, but had, of course, intertwined while asleep. She and Rosalie had become easily acquainted with each other’s bodies, so night-time cuddling was an inevitability.
Zoey basked in the moment. Sleep-addled and her brain not fully roused, the arguments—dilemmas—of yesterday didn’t breach the warm glow of Rosalie tucked into her.
It was crazy how different she looked, asleep. Even more than most people, Rosalie walked around wearing an expression carved from steel. ‘Gentle and serene’ was a description ill-fitting her. And while Zoey wanted to draw out a more easy-going side of Rosalie, she knew that wasn’t Rosalie at her core. Zoey needed to accept that if she ever wanted ... something with her.
Rosalie was married to her work, to use a comparison Zoey could understand. Maybe romance was possible, but trying to claim first priority in Rosalie’s life would be selfish. She’d trained her entire life for wayfaring, and had responsibilities to her family, besides.
Zoey sighed a second time, and maybe it was louder than she meant, because the blonde woman in her arms stirred.
Pale, ice-blue eyes blinked up at her. Zoey simply studied her back, watching the crease-lines return, the sleeping serenity melt from her face.
Rosalie sighed, then snuggled in closer.
Zoey squeezed back. “Morning.”
“Don’t remind me.”
Zoey chuckled, pressing her forehead into Rosalie’s. She closed her eyes.
They mutually enjoyed each other’s warmth, ignoring the problem hanging over their heads.
“One of my runes evolved,” Zoey murmured.
“Mine as well. Which?”
“How would I know?”
A pause, then a soft snort. “Right. Another thing you need to learn.”
A short silence at the reminder of Zoey’s deficiencies.
“You can check,” Zoey offered. She didn’t bother asking what Rosalie’s evolved rune had provided. She was, unsurprisingly, tight-lipped about her skills, even to Zoey.
‘Even to Zoey’. Zoey had only known Rosalie for a handful of days. Even if they’d become fast ... friends? ... she was overestimating what, exactly, they had together. Why would Rosalie share her runes and skills in detail? In her culture, it was apparently a deeply intimate secret.
Like had happened a few times before, Rosalie’s finger went to Zoey’s forehead. There was a brief pause as she scanned Zoey’s tabula anima.
She stiffened.
Then shot up in bed, throwing the covers off.
“What is it?” Zoey asked, sitting up herself. Rosalie’s shocked reaction—though her face stayed calm, but in a frozen-disbelief kind of way—had worked to get Zoey’s heart pumping. The tenderness of their intimacy faded away, and the cold air of the inn room seeped in.
Rosalie opened her mouth, then closed it.
“What?” Zoey repeated. “It’s that weird?” She’d grown used to expecting strange things from her class and circumstances, but so should Rosalie have.
“Not weird,” Rosalie said. Her brow furrowed. “ ... convenient.”
Convenient?
“Up to a point. Past four or five weeks, they’d start to worry.” Her brow furrowed. “I suppose I ought to get in contact. Explain my situation in ... roundabout verbiage. But I’m just not sure how I would, while maintaining discretion.”
Zoey nodded along. She, obviously, couldn’t provide insight there. “Okay. So, assuming this skill does give us reason to stick together. What’s our future long-term?”
For once, Zoey was willing to rock the boat. The agonizing of the past sixteen hours had shown just how big this crush of hers had gotten—an admittance she’d been shying away for her own sake, in case things hadn’t worked out.
Now, though, with a potential path forward, Zoey wanted concrete details. To know if a long-term was something that could happen, considering Rosalie’s family. Pushing too hard probably wasn’t smart, but Zoey needed to know there was a shot. Because why put herself through that crucible, otherwise? If even Rosalie herself admitted it couldn’t work out?
“Long-term,” Rosalie said. The words came out as if she hadn’t even considered it, which wouldn’t be a very Rosalie-thing-to-do. Then again, since it was a matter of the heart ... ignoring it would be very Rosalie, wouldn’t it? Or maybe total ignorance—not ignoring it so much as being unaware. “I suppose ... we would all need to head back to my family, together.”
Zoey grinned at the ‘all’. She’d included Delta. The two of them might not get along, but Rosalie at least saw her as a teammate, and not someone to ditch as soon as it became convenient.
“It would be wise to do so, anyway,” Rosalie continued, though not with any enthusiasm. She seemed, to say the least, doubtful of the situation. “My family’s resources would go a long way to improving our advancement speed. Plus, I can’t—“ she hesitated.
Zoey waited patiently.
“I can’t rely on not being recognized forever,” Rosalie finished. “So I should return because of that, too.”
Zoey nodded. That made sense. Rosalie obviously didn’t think it likely, but it was a ticking time-bomb: something that could happen at any moment, should they get extraordinarily unlucky. She could be recognized. “You said we’re in enemy territory. The ... Striders Highguild? And your family is aligned with the Deepshunters?”
Rosalie nodded once, slowly. She was eying Zoey for a reason Zoey couldn’t place. Fortunately, Rosalie formalized the odd look into words: “You aren’t curious?”
“Curious?” Oh. “Who you are, you mean?”—Rosalie nodded—“Sure. But you don’t want to tell. So.”
“And it’s that simple?”
“You aren’t pestering me for my secrets, are you?” Zoey pointed out.
Because their encounter with Not-Zoey had been revealing. She’d alluded to Zoey’s secrets, and how they were ‘bigger than Rosalie’s’. Zoey could plug her ears, close her eyes, and hum to block out the noise of the world better than most people could, but in that particular event, even Zoey had no hope that Rosalie had simply forgotten.
Maybe Zoey could hope that Rosalie simply thought the reflection was lying, sowing dissent so the fight went better, but that was far-fetched, considering how bizarre Zoey’s circumstances were. And while Rosalie had been surprised by Not-Zoey’s claim, she hadn’t seemed that surprised—more like something had been confirmed for her.
“I suppose I haven’t,” Rosalie said.
A silence.
Zoey squeezed Rosalie’s hands—she was still holding them from earlier. “But our future. If it works out.”
“Right.” Rosalie collected her thoughts. They brushed past their respective secrets. Though, Rosalie’s would presumably be revealing themselves sooner or later, simply by the fact they’d be meeting her family.
Zoey should probably come clean before then, too. Obviously she could trust Rosalie, by this point. The reason Zoey hadn’t, yet, was for a few reasons. One, the absurdity—the lack of reasonableness, and that Rosalie might outright not believe her. Though that might’ve been smoothed over with recent events. Second, though: Ephy’s commandment not to share her past with anyone.
She hadn’t emphasized it particularly hard ... but disobeying a goddess’s instructions might not be the wisest course of action. Then again, fuck her, right? It wasn’t like Zoey had any great fondness for the woman who’d lobotomized her. And she needed Zoey—presumably. Zoey had been chosen her champion, and that made her not disposable.
Still, Zoey didn’t know what kind of power or influence she had. Could she make Zoey’s life harder if Zoey upset her? Was she even watching Zoey? Would sharing her history with Rosalie upset her in the first place? Or had the secrecy request simply been intended for the general population—that Zoey shouldn’t go blabbing her circumstances to anyone who wanted to hear?
Something to mull over later.
“I suppose,” Rosalie said, “assuming this skill does what we hope, then our future plans would be ... get you trained up, explore perhaps one, two more shards, then head back to Deepshunters territory.” Her nose wrinkled. “Deal with the whole ... family situation, and explain why I’ve chosen you two as my teammates ...”
Right. Her family would be picky about who she teams with, wouldn’t they? Zoey might have to focus on making a good impression. That would be ... an ordeal, she suspected. Christ. And even more for Delta. First impressions to someone like Rosalie’s family? Not easy to pull off, at a guess, and Delta wasn’t particularly tactful. To put it lightly.
“... then continue more of the same. Further training, further advancement.” She shrugged. “Wayfaring,” she said, as if summing things up. A grimace. “With some politics mixed in. Though you two shouldn’t have to deal with much of that.”
Zoey suspected they’d be caught along by that whirlwind whether Rosalie intended them to or not.
Still, though.
A potential future with Rosalie—that was all Zoey had needed to hear.