"Would I seem ungrateful if I asked for a little more?"
"Not at all."
Aurelai held out her hand. "Please."
To feel that dull, alien connection again was as tempting as it was repellent. Yes, it was better than nothing, but not far enough away to be completely pleasant. It was a long, measuring look before Vimika took the proffered hand.
Aurelai's skin was cold, her grip slightly stiff, but Vimika paid their physical touch little attention. She couldn't actively seek after the missing magic without pain, forcing her to stand passively and be grateful for what little she got.
She'd been taught magic shock could be stressful and disorienting, but no one had ever mentioned this secondary tortuous aspect of it. To look down and see her hand in that of another wizard's and not feel it properly? It really was like she'd lost one of her senses, or at least had it numbed to the point of uselessness, as though she'd slept on her hand wrong.
There was something there, Vimika had to tell herself, but it was that same tiny trickle that was almost worse than if there'd been nothing at all. An active reminder of what was missing.
But for all the torment of what wasn't there, Aurelai would be quite starved for what little there was, and Vimika had to take the whip to her demons to keep herself from denying it.
It was said the most strongly compatible could taste the connection, bringing the least-used sense in magic level with all the others, but all Vimika could taste at the moment was gooseberry juice. The slightly metallic tang creeping along the very back of her tongue now must have been from the fact everything she'd put in her mouth since arriving had been grown in a climate that was magically-induced.
Cold as Aurelai's skin was, it was soft as she turned over Vimika's hands, felt them, dragged her thumbs over the backs and down her palms. For as strong a grip as Aurelai had had earlier, now she was gentle to the point of reverent. Could she feel Vimika's magic? Had she spoiled Aurelai forever by allowing this to go on for so long? But Vimika simply couldn't bring herself to let go. In her state, she had to take 'barely anything' over 'sucking vacuum' as long as she was able.
Aurelai's eyes, when they looked up to meet Vimika's, shone, their dark depths filled with things unspoken but clearly felt.
"I've never held a woman's hand before. I wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming. If I were, I don't think my mind would know how to make it feel, to be honest. Warmer than I'd thought." Her tongue darted over her lips ever so briefly. "I was not expecting to feel your magic, as well. It is... pleasant. Thank you."
Vimika's face grew warmer than her hands, and a little shiver tickled the back of her neck before skittering down her spine and into her arm.
Aurelai looked up to the sun slipping behind the trees. "I suppose it is getting chilly. You could do with a bath, I think. Luckily, there's plenty of hot water. I will go and draw it for you."
A quirk tugged at the corner of Vimika's mouth. "I could, yes. Thank you."
"Not at all. I've been waiting a long time for you." Aurelai's eyes flew open and she dropped Vimika's hand like she'd been caught stealing it. "Like you! Someone like you. Someone. Like. You. Yes. There, got it."
Whatever urgency there may have been when the day started dissipated in one of Aurelai's languid blinks. Truthfully, Vimika was in little shape to do anything but pass out, but even though she was all but trapped in a strange place with a stranger wizard, she found herself willing to be led inside the house as dark closed in. Granted, she didn't have much choice, but it was a choice, and one she made without a glance behind her.
~
One of the problems with living close to the mountains is that the weather can change quickly, so much so that it sometimes feels like it's out of spite. Outside, the wind was howling like a scolded wolf, inside it banged around like a drunken poltergeist, shaking things at random and making sure to point out where all the drafts were coming from in a haughty 'OOOoooOOOooo' sort of way.
Aurelai had said the climate spells would make sure it didn't get cold enough to snow, but that they couldn't do much to blunt wind as bloody-minded as the one set upon them now. Regardless of how fast or cold the air might be, it was certainly dry. Vimika had already been zapped by the same doorknob twice, leaving her to keep her hands hidden inside her freshly-laundered robe as she sat perched atop a pile of threadbare cushions while Aurelai built up the fire. It was slow going, however, as the chimney was funneling the wind into a solid column that kept snuffing out the nascent flames. Were she able, Vimika would have put up a weather shield and a warming spell, but trying in her state would risk blowing the house (or more likely, her head) apart or suffocating them.
Somehow telling Aurelai didn't make her feel any better.
"I guess you have a lot more to teach me," Aurelai said as she sat back on her heels in front of the hearth, watching her third attempt gutter and spit against the frigid onslaught. "That sounds terribly useful."
"It is. Or... will be. I don't know how you made it so long without knowing how. Don't these kinds of storms happen a lot?" Vimika said, drawing her legs inside her robe as well. She'd even put her hat back on. The residual heat from her bath was leaking out far too fast for how good it had felt, making her extra resentful of the weather. At least Aurelai's magelight kept her from doing so in the dark. That would only encourage the poltergeists.
"They do, yes. I usually just sleep through them. I never wanted to risk burning the house down by using an open flame."
"Weren't you cold?"
"Sorry, not sleep sleep. Deep sleep. On the slab. Especially before I mastered the climate spells, I would just… ignore winter."
Vimika's teeth started chattering. "L-like a- a bear?"
"That's a good way of looking at it. Yes. Like a a bear," Aurelai said, swiping at the hearth with a little roar.
The wind wasn't intimidated, and the flame vanished into a curl of smoke, which itself vanished into the house, making Vimika cough.
"H-have you ev-ver B-Borrowed a b-bear?"
"Once or twice. They smell awful though, and I much prefer the appearance of deer from the outside. It's fun during spawning season, though! The fish jump straight into their mouths." Aurelai clacked her teeth together into an ursine grin, but it quickly faded when she turned completely away from the cold, barely-charred pile of kindling and wood. "You look like you're freezing!"
"I am," Vimika said miserably.
With her fascinating unfolding motion, Aurelai got to her feet and made towards the laboratory. "Just a moment."
When she returned, it was with an armload of blankets.
"Th-thank you," Vimika said, even as she looked down at the first one Aurelai draped over her dubiously. "Lab blankets?" She sniffed, but they smelled as clean as the one she'd used earlier and seemed free of any sign of experimentation or mites.
"They were in null time cabinets. How else do you think they've lasted for so long? However 'so long' is?"
"Maybe you're good with a sewing needle," Vimika said, pleased with the level of cooperation she got from her teeth.
Aurelai smiled and hiked up part of her dress, the former widening when she saw what Vimika's eyes did in response to the latter.
"I am good with a sewing needle," Aurelai said, and stretched a section of fabric out flat, revealing a short line of tight, barely-visible stitching. "I'm not quite used to so much... volume. I caught it on a nail not long after putting it on."
All alone in a house in the middle of the woods, she was lucky that was all she caught, Vimika thought. She stopped thinking altogether when Aurelai joined her under the blankets, stiffening more than she would have if she'd been allowed to freeze.
"If I can't get the fire lit, I can do this much," Aurelai said.
Once the shock wore off, however, it was something else that kept Vimika shut up tight. "You're freezing yourself! Why didn't you say anything?"
Aurelai huddled closer, pulling the blankets up to their chins. "I guess I'm used
to it. I never really thought about how I feel to someone else. I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize! We'll help each other, then."
As they settled their weight against one another, it was immediately apparent Aurelai was heavier than she looked. Vimika's thoughts went to strong, powerful legs again, but as they sank deeper into the cushions, their hips pressed together and she quickly needed to think of something else.
"Thank you," she said when she couldn't.
"You're welcome."
As their body temperatures rose, Vimika's shivering subsided, only then letting her notice how preternaturally still Aurelai was. It wasn't just from afar, it was like she wasn't even breathing. Maybe it was the calm she would have had to teach herself to keep from going crazy, Vimika thought. Or the kind of self-discipline they only taught you in monasteries way up in the mountains where they don't allow booze or sex.
But I can't imagine either have been in any great supply for poor Aurelai. Maybe those monks are on to something.
Vimika shuddered. "Have you ever Borrowed a lizard? Or a turtle?"
"I've only ever seen them in books. This is poor climate for them, isn't it?"
"True, but you're so… calm. Your poise and balance, I guess it makes me think of the way they sun themselves on rocks or in trees. They don't move at all, just… bask," Vimika said with the best imitation she could manage using only her face.
"Not exactly basking weather," Aurelai said as another gust shook the house. "Are there lizards in Maris?"
Vimika nodded. "All over. You'll see little black ones even in the city. They like the cobblestones, and it's harder for the birds to get at them with people around. The further from the city you get, though, the bigger they are."
"Like dragons?" Aurelai asked, her question rising with all the hopefulness buoying it.
"Not on this continent. Not anymore. Don't your books say that?"
"They're very old…"
"So are dragons," Vimika said. "Not much has changed then, I'm afraid. If there are any left, they keep to themselves. Can't blame them."
"So you've never seen one?" Aurelai asked, unable (or unwilling) to hide how disappointed the idea made her.
"No. I'd like to, though. Would you?"
"Yes. There is a lot I'd like to see. What about you? What would you like to see?"
Vimika put aside the selfish answer of 'nothing' for the moment, in favor of the honest one she'd been harboring since she was little. "The ocean. All that water, a completely flat horizon. I've read that waves sound like roaring when they crash into the shore, which would make it hard to sleep, I imagine. But a dragon would be something, though."
"What?"
"What?"
The diffuse magelight on Aurelai's hair shifted. "A dragon is a dragon. Why would it be 'something?'"
"Oh… uh… 'that would be something' means it would be a sight to see. Special. Impressive. That kind of thing. I didn't know the expression was so new."
Aurelai was quiet as she stared into the fire that wasn't there. "It seems I have quite a bit of catching up to do."
"Would you like a guide?" Vimika asked.
She hadn't even known the words were in her mouth until they'd already gotten out. It was an innocent enough question normally, there were whole professions around it. But if everyone who asked got the answer Vimika did, they wouldn't be professions, they'd be religions.
Without a word, Aurelai settled her head on Vimika's shoulder.
It should have been surprising, it should have sent Vimika's blood racing, made her forget her own name, or jerk away and storm off in anger at such presumptuousness, or more likely, crying.
Instead she seized up as still as Aurelai. But the longer it went on, the more Vimika relaxed. Magic didn't transmit through clothing very well, leaving just the warmth and weight of another's head on her shoulder to remind her, in this sudden and unexpected connection to a woman she'd known less than a day, just how much else Vimika been missing in her self-imposed exile.
Aurelai had been alone her entire life, the only other living person she'd ever known her own monstrous father. Of course she would seek the reassurance of physical connection as well. Nestled together in the dark, speaking of future plans, it was almost... normal..
"I can't ask that of you," Aurelai said after some thought, "I've asked too much of you already."
"What if I volunteered?" Vimika heard herself say. She knew what Not-Vimika would respond with, but she was apparently confined to the woods, allowing Vimika this reminder of how things were supposed to be, even if it was under circumstances she could have never predicted. After the last few days, the last few years, Vimika could sit still for a moment or two, and perhaps make someone else happy.
The wind battered at the house, the wind went 'OOOoooOOOooo,' the wind was nothing compared to the sudden pounding of Vimika's heart or the warm stillness on her shoulder.
A stillness broken by the movement of lips, the fury of the storm silenced by whispers.
Aurelai stirred, her hair brushing against Vimika's neck. "I would like that very much."
CHAPTER SEVEN
WHEN VIMIKA AWOKE, it was groggily, cold and stiff.
And alone.
The fire was a sad little spark of a thing, just there to show Vimika what a good little trooper it had been since the wind died down, winking out the moment she looked at it. Actually, a wink would have been reassuring just then, because now there was nothing to distract from the fact she was in an unfamiliar old house surrounded by magical traps and her only guide to how or why had disappeared sometime in the night. The wool stuffed between Vimiks's ears was enough to tell her her magic was still just as absent as Aurelai.
When had they fallen asleep, though? Not that Vimika could ever remember falling asleep, she just couldn't quite piece together the awakeness that had led up to it. But as the haze wore off, she found that though she was sprawled out across the cushions, she had been tucked into the blankets, and yet another had been rolled up to serve as a makeshift pillow.
Aurelai.
Where had she gone?
Heaving herself vertical, Vimika folded the blankets as neatly as she could (though they were rectangles, Vimika wasn't one for doing much with her bedding other than keeping it off the floor, and it took several attempts to get the corners to line up), placing them in a pile atop the cushions.
She gave a quick look into the laboratory, but the stasis slab was empty.
Stepping outside, it was just as warm as the day before. Vimika had expected carnage after the storm, but everything looked largely the same. There were no broken branches, no snow drifts built up against the side of the house (or snow at all), no evidence whatsoever of the violence that had tried to bash its way into the house the night before.
When Vimika came around the corner to the garden, she stopped so quickly she had to throw a hand against the wall to keep from pitching onto her face.
There, in the center of untouched growing things in the heart of winter, was Aurelai.
Still in her red dress, she stood with one hand lifted to the sky, a pair of tiny yellow birds perched on it, one on her pinky and the other on her thumb, as they pecked at whatever treats Aurelai had in her palm. Were her dress white, she would have looked like a statue against the wan light of morning as she stood preternaturally still, presumably for the benefit of the birds. But so much about Aurelai was unique and so invitingly different, it could be for a reason Vimika didn't have the imagination to come up with.
Sheets of sable hair broke over a milky-white shoulder that flowed into an arm held high with effortless poise, eyes the brightest, most polished obsidian. The contrasts of her coloring plucked at strings within Vimika that she had only ever heard the music of in dreams and fantasy.
And feeding birds from her hand at the break of dawn? It was too perfect. This was another damned illusion. Or a dream, but Vimika didn't have ones this nice anymore.
"Good morning, Vimika,
" Aurelai said.
The only one surprised was Vimika. If anything, the birds pecked faster.
"Good morning."
"I'm sorry for leaving you alone. You needed to sleep and the birds needed to eat." All that moved were Aureali's lips, and even then only just.
But it was enough to break Vimika out of her trance, and she stepped into the garden proper. "What are you feeding them?"
The birds eyeballed the newcomer warily, but seemed content to take their cue from their perch.
"Seeds and dried berries. These two have quite the sweet tooth. Or… beak. Sweet beak." Aurelai smiled. "I think I like that."
"Are they Familiars?" Vimika asked.
"They could be, potentially. Building trust is the first step."
Aurelai's balance was astonishing, and Vimika found herself looking at Aurelai as much as she did the birds. More so. Much more so. What color were the birds again?
"There, you greedy things, I think you've had enough," Aurelai said with a little pout.
The birds disagreed, continuing to feast.
"All right, go on." Aurelai curled her fingers inward, giving the birds fair warning that it was fly off or be crushed. With a few last stabs, they chose the former and burst from their perches in a tornado of flapping wings and feather dust, sparkling like snow in the sun before being swallowed by the long shadows.
The tableau broken, Aurelai moved, turning to face her guest, eyes thoughtful, blinks slow. "Vimika, about last night… I was too forward. I apologize. I hope you'll forgive me."
So startled was Vimika that it took her a moment to respond. "What do you mean? The weather is the only one who should be apologizing."
"Putting my head on your shoulder, taking your hand… I was too… familiar, if you'll pardon the term. You were very tired, and not at your sharpest. If you feel I've taken advantage of you in some way, I-"
"Aurelai, no." It's that stupid book! Vimika thought. Of course she would think something so innocent was the height of impropriety.
Somehow, this time, such outdated notions didn't seem all that funny. "Please… don't. You've nothing to apologize for."
Midnight Magic Page 10
