#i know the implications of this just. aaaugh

[sapnere]

No one make any muu posts for a year, i need to finish and post this first (it will take me a year)

[october-rosehip]

“If you steal the blankets, I am going to put my cold feet on you” with Macsen?

(There is background for this one I don’t think you have. I noticed that in the mage origin, there are about a dozen elven apprentices and ONE! elf senior enchanter. The implications are horrifying and I noped out of them. So in Strange Luck universe, in Macsen’s early teens, the templars launch a full scale espionage effort followed by alienage raids to find as many elf mages as possible, because they realized the elves had been hiding them. So recently, as of this fic, there are about a dozen new city elves... and one country elf.)

*

Nisha wasn't sure she hadn't fallen asleep a few times while putting her fluffy, auburn hair in twists. Silvana Amell helped finish the task sooner, proving a quick study despite having a very different hair texture, herself. They sat up on Nisha's bunk, and the pillow beckoned.

“I used to have to sit for hours while my mother’s hairdresser sculpted my hair into some ridiculous crown for whatever function of state I had to sit through to try to win a husband,” Silvie explained. “It's why I chopped my hair off. I couldn't watch you do this for the entire evening. It was making me sad.”

“Unlike that, though... aaaugh,” Nisha failed to control a yawn. “I don't have to do anything else to it for the next two weeks. Just clothes, and go. It's worth it.”

They finished up and Silvie patted Nisha's shoulder before hopping down. “Why are you a night bath person instead of a morning bath person, anyway? You always wake up so early, you'd have time.”

“Not for the hours and hours it takes my hair to dry. Besides, habit. You'd never want to spend the day, oh, helping deliver a calf and then go to bed without washing.”

“Eugh.”

“Exactly.”

“You've delivered a calf?!”

Nisha jumped a little. How did she never hear him coming? She looked down to see Macsen, arriving with a massive satchel of books. Unlike the others, who sometimes teased her about her life, he looked at her with ears perked up like an excited puppy, blue eyes wide like she'd just said the awesomest thing ever. “You're... interested in cows?”

“Well, yeah, I haven't seen one in years and years. I don't know anything about them, though.”

“All... right, at some point in the near future I will tell you every single thing I know about cows.” She stifled another yawn. “But not right this second, 'cause it'll take a minute. I'm heading for bed.”

“Right behind you, but yes, I need a bath before sleep also.”

Silvana quirked one perfect eyebrow. From his bunk below Macsen's, Jowan shoved his face in a book and Did. Not. Say. Anything. That filled in a few blanks. “You had to do something sweaty and gross for the Revered Mother again, didn't you?” Nisha asked.

Macsen's ears drooped. She was really going to have to let him know about those at some point, but in the meantime, he thought she could read his mind and that was honestly kind of great. “I had to wax the wooden benches. It could have been worse.”

“It's all right, you know. Did she deserve whatever you did?”

“Oh, yes.” His eyes hardened like hail and a tiny bolt of lightning shot through his hair.

“Well, there you go. But ugh I'm serious this time, goodnight!” and she tucked her hair under the scarf she'd been allowed to keep and flopped under the covers before anybody could say anything else interesting. One of these days she would manage to sleep past false dawn, but in the meantime, she'd keep going to bed not long after the tiniest children.

Not that this time it mattered. Macsen returned and crawled into his own bed that had its foot at her head. Silvie joined Jowan and they finished their assignments together. Nisha kept her eyes closed but heard more and more people going to bed or reading silently. Problem was, the dormitory had been cool even during the summer. It had turned into fall by now, the walls sometimes had a frost on them. And now, her feet had a frost on them. She was so tired, but at this rate she'd never actually be able to sleep. She rolled into the tightest ball possible.

“Hey, Neesh?” Macsen whispered. “You're awake, right?”

She sighed. “Yeah. It is the coldest night ever.”

“It really isn't. It gets worse.”

She turned her head to look at him, appalled. “Don't they heat this place ever?”

He radiated sorrow. “Not that you'd notice. Want to come over?”

“Do what now?”

“Bring your blanket over and we can use both. Or I could come over there if you want, and we'll be warmer.”

He says like it's just no big deal. Nisha felt her face heating up, but the rest of her still froze. She risked another look at Macsen, whose oh-so-readable face betrayed the beginnings of confusion... and absolute obliviousness. Darn it all, she missed being warm in her little bed by the kitchen stove, and she'd swear on the cursed spirit tree at the spring back home that Macsen had no ulterior motives. He physically could not lie to her.

“All right, but if you steal the blankets, I'm going to put my cold feet on you.”

“That's fair, but wait til you feel mine. It'll be cold feet war.” He moved over so there would be room. The beds had been built for humans, and they were both very small elves. They would be fine.

She pulled the blanket and pillow from her bed and crawled over to join Macsen. He bit his lip, obviously thinking about something, but then snapped out of it and helped arrange the covers.

“What are you thinking?” she asked him.

“I'm just wondering. Is it weird I asked you? Sometimes I'll say something completely normal and one of the elves who came in when you did will just look at me like I'm a lab frog who ate a lifestone... and now you're doing it.”

Nisha Would. Not. Laugh. She didn't know what happened to lifestone eating frogs, but... well, Macsen probably didn't know roosters were noisy. They all had different lives, and it was no good holding that against anybody. (And she was going to zap a bitch the next time somebody called her “turnip”, speaking of that.)

“It's... unusual?” Nisha began. “My mama would have something to say about this. I noticed that some apprentices shared, but I've been waiting for them to get yelled at.”

“They won't be. Since they won't let us have fire down here then it's all we can do.”

Not letting children who were new to magic around fire made a certain amount of sense, but the winter would be long. And Macsen was being a gentleman. He'd folded his arms. “You can come closer if you want,” she said. She felt conflicted about it, really. He looked so kissable. She felt sure she liked-him liked him, as the kids would say. Would probably actually say, if he kept looking at her like she knew all the secrets of the universe, or at least gardening. But she liked him even better if he was just being kind, right now.

“Are you sure it's all right?” he asked. “it's important to give people their own space.”

“Yeah, it's all right.” They shifted and he hesitated before resting a hand on her shoulder. It felt nice. Her second wind fled and she sort of melted into the mattress. “Night again. Thank you.”

If he said anything in response, she didn't hear it.