Sam/Hestia Valentine’s Day One-shot
Here’s a short story taking place before Sam and Hestia first kiss or acknowledge their feelings in any way, around late November.
WIP: The Witch University
Canon? Kinda. Could never publish this because the song is copyrighted.
Word count: 1079
Sam groaned, slamming her mug onto the table. Sulfur. It smelled like sulfur again after fifteen tries in a row. She was beginning to consider going back to her dorm and trying again tomorrow.
“Zanni, what do you think I should do?” she said. No response. It took Sam a second of confusion before she saw the little fox curled up, fast asleep. Sam couldn’t blame her. It was almost one in the morning, and with magic lessons early that morning it had been a long day. But what other time could Sam work on magic in the library? Even though the practice rooms were private, they were rarely vacant.
Sam neutralized the potion and gathered the ingredients again. She wouldn’t give up until she got it at least once.
“Sam?”
Sam gasped and spun around, trying to block the view of her cauldron. “The stove in my hall broke!”
“What?” The person stepped forward into the room’s light, revealing Hestia. Sam relaxed her shoulders.
“Oh my god you scared me.” She turned back around to make sure her supplies didn’t get messed up in her panic.
“Your stove broke? That’s the excuse you would have used?”
“Not just that. I would have gone on to say that I really wanted to make black bean soup.”
“Black bean soup.” Hestia giggled. “The type that smells like sulfur?”
“Maybe.” Sam huffed. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“I was…um…” Hestia trailed off. Sam turned back to her and saw her cheeks had turned bright pink. Grinning like an idiot, Sam adjusted herself to sit backwards in her chair and rested her head on the back, waiting impatiently for Hestia to finish her sentence. What on earth could this fancy lady be doing that she’d be embarrassed by?
“I was going to sing.” Hestia hid her face in her hands.
“Hey,” Sam stood and stepped in front of Hestia, standing on her tiptoes to reach Hestia’s wrists. She gently took Hestia’s hands down from her face. Hestia’s face was almost red now, yet her striking brown eyes still stood out amidst it all. Kind, with dark eyelashes batting softly. Sam banished those thoughts from her mind. “What’s so bad about that?”
“I’m not a music witch. There’s no reason for me to need to practice singing.”
“Who needs a reason?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Hestia shook her head. “I don’t really want to do it anymore. It was honestly unnecessary to even come all this way just to use the piano room.”
“What? Come on.” Sam clasped Hestia’s hands. “What if I sang with you? I promise you’ll be better than me.”
“I don’t…” Hestia’s eyes caught Sam’s. Sam shrugged, suggesting, What have you got to lose? “Alright. I suppose it won’t hurt.”
Sam bounced on her toes and led Hestia to the practice room next door – one with a piano. The two sat down on the bench, Hestia’s fingers floating delicately above the keys. Sam kept her hands in her lap, trying not to think about how close she and Hestia were sitting. Hips and arms touching.
“You might know this song; I learned it from Eva.” Hestia took a breath and began to sing.
“It started out as a feeling, which then grew into a hope…”
Her voice was soft but strong, hitting each note perfectly and making it sound effortless. For a moment, she faltered, glancing at Sam. Sam nodded and joined in.
“And then that word grew louder and louder, ‘til it was a battle cry.
I’ll come back when you call me. No need to say goodbye.”
Hestia smiled and started playing along on the piano, souring into the second verse. Sam kept singing along but tried to stay as quiet as possible. She wished she could have just listened to Hestia sing. Hestia kept the song going, playing the build up to the final verse. Her hands danced across the keys like birds flitting between branches. Her face lit up, immersed in the music. Sam couldn’t pull her gaze away from the beautiful woman.
“Now we’re back to the beginning, it’s just a feeling and no one knows yet.”
A lock of hair fell out of Hestia’s braid. Sam reached up and tucked it behind her ear.
“But just because they can’t feel it too doesn’t mean that you have to forget.”
Hestia’s eyes floated away from the piano for a just a moment, meeting Sam’s. They quickly darted back.
“Let your memories grow stronger and stronger, ‘til they’re before your eyes.”
Once again, Hestia’s gaze passed over Sam. This time, it stayed there.
“You’ll come back when they call you. No need to say goodbye.”
Sam dropped out of the last line, letting Hestia finish the song.
“You’ll come back when they call you. No need to say goodbye.”
Silence. Sam was trapped in Hestia’s small smile, the way her hair framed her tall face, the pink of her lips.
Hestia blinked a few times and turned away, looking down at the piano. She took a deep breath.
“You know, I used to want to learn music magic.”
“You did?” Sam had never heard Hestia express any sort of interest in music magic. Then again, there was a lot she still didn’t know about Hestia’s past.
“I took choir all through secondary school and learned the basic of the witchcraft type. I was considering focusing on it when I entered college.” Hestia leaned her head back. “Then Lady Lilyjade died, and Lady Asteria was about to take the throne. My father said it was considered disrespectful for high-ranking families to study the same type of magic as the Lady, so I had to change mine.”
“That’s so unnecessary. What, is the Lady scared you might be better than her at her own magic?”
“No one is better than the Lady. It’s disrespectful to presume yourself to be better than her.” Hestia said it with conviction but didn’t sound very thrilled. Sam hesitated, then took Hestia’s hand in hers. Hestia smiled and looked down at Sam. “It’s fine. I was trying to decide between music magic and plant magic anyway. This helped me make my decision.”
Sam wasn’t completely convinced but didn’t say anything. Instead, she stood up and walked to the door.
“I should get back to practicing this potion. I want to get it right a few times before Wednesday.”
Hestia nodded. She and Sam didn’t look away until the door closed between them.
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