NOVEL NEXT 36: An Unlikely Pair
Spending the rest of the day cuddling and hanging out with Astrid, Valencia decided to open shop at the crack of dawn the next morning.
Sliding out from under the covers with as much stealth as an advanced military operator, Valencia left Astrid to sleep in bed. After tucking the blankets around Astrid to leave her wrapped like a sushi roll, Valencia made a quick trip to the bathroom and came to a stop before the mirror.
“Look alive, Valencia, it’s bright and early,” Valencia slapped her own cheeks, splashing some water on her face to wake up. “You don’t even need sleep, so why are you sleepy? Rid yourself of this weakness.”
One morning routine later, Valencia spent a couple minutes getting dressed and took one last look in the mirror before heading downstairs. Sure, she didn’t care about looking good when going to the grocery store before the sun even rose, but she did care about looking good when Astrid woke up.
Priorities, people, priorities!
Pulling on some sneakers and grabbing a bag, Valencia left the store like a gust of wind.
Buying some ingredients for a week’s worth of meals and for some pastries to sell, Valencia made sure to pick up an extra box of strawberries just for Astrid.
With her grocery shopping taking less than thirty minutes, Valencia made her way back to the shop after checking out. Opening the shop after returning to the store, she put on an apron before beginning the baking process.
Snapping her fingers, Valencia took a seat as a purple glow appeared around various parts of the kitchen. Grabbing a bowl to mix some dough by hand, Valencia moved around the kitchen with idle steps.
Valencia had to say, it was quite nice. The sun had begun peeking over the horizon and the animals were beginning to wake up as life breathed its way through the city once more.
Birds... There were a lot of birds today.
“Good morning, welcome to Leaves of Dawn,” Valencia called out as the bells chimed from the door opening. Turning around, Valencia paused before walking forward to the counter. “Didn’t expect to see you here again, Adelyn.”
“Y-Yes... good morning, Valencia,” Adelyn took a seat at the counter. “I’m actually planning a date with someone today and felt this would be a nice place to... yeah, meet up...”
Raising an eyebrow, Valencia just slid over a menu. “What can I get for you then this fine morning?”
“Ah, no, no, I’ll wait until my companion arrives before I order anything.” Adelyn waved Valencia off. “Sorry if that’s rude...”
“You’re fine,” Valencia shrugged, starting to mix her dough once more as all the other bowls and ingredients she was preparing floated their way over to her. Walking off, Valencia decided to just keep an eye on Adelyn.
If she stayed too close, Adelyn might have a heart attack after all...
Connecting her phone to a speaker, Valencia put on some quiet music as she continued ‘admiring’ the view outside. She just didn’t quite have anything to say to Adelyn...
Before long, however, the bell chimed once more as another figure came in. With the figure pulling down her hood, Valencia had to remind herself to keep a poker face as two braids of silver hair came tumbling into view.
With her jaw dropping internally, Valencia reached up and touched her chin to make sure her poker face was still intact. Making her way back to the counter as the two women began perusing the menu, Valencia leaned over the counter and looked at the two. “Elyse... You two are an unlikely pair. Is this why you two came here?”
Valencia was beginning to see why Adelyn had come back. Even if Adelyn seemed to have a panic attack whenever Valencia so much as breathed in her direction, it made sense she would come if she was meeting with Elyse. The Goddess of Law, third-in-command of the Cerulean Dynasty, and the young rising star of the Church... suddenly things made a lot more sense.
If only Astrid knew, she loved little bits of gossip like this...
With the two women just making quiet awkward laughs, Valencia leaned forward and propped her chin up while looking at the two. “Just a hangout, hmm? No need to be so tense. Or secretive for that matter. I can tell you two are holding hands under the counter right now, so why not be open about it with me? Don’t worry, I don’t bite.”
“Historically, you, very much so, do bite...” Adelyn murmured while making some intense eye contact with the menu. “Ignatius was not doing so great when he returned to the Church after paying you a visit.”
“Ah, well, what can I say, he was asking for that one.” Valencia reasoned while pulling over a chair. “I really wouldn’t worry though, my days of punching anyone and everyone I see are behind me. In fact, I’m far younger than you two right now, so why worry at all?”
“Indeed, you do seem to have a slightly different bone structure since the last time I saw you. You also seem to have not reached your physical prime, yet your prominent scar along your neck is gone, and several other identification factors. Though your hair, eyes, and other facial features are almost identical.” Elyse analyzed, pulling her arm out from under the table and wrapping it around Adelyn. “And yes, the reason we came here is because it seems to be the safest third-party place where neither of us would be in danger.”
“I guessed as much,” Valencia leaned back in her chair as a small twinkle of amusement danced behind her eyes. “Well, you two are welcome anytime. I’ll fight off the bad guys as well. Just let me know who. Though, you two are quite competent fighters in your own right, aren’t you? Given your positions.”
“Not nearly as good as you,” Elyse acknowledged with a sigh. “I may be the Goddess of Law, but my combat capabilities pale in comparison to Lysander. I assure you, my position as a strategist is genuine, unlike Tessa who hides the fact that she's stronger than Cyril.”
“Plus, the people who’d come after us are most likely those we wouldn’t have an easy time with... especially me...” Adelyn trailed off as nervousness creeped into her voice. “Thank you though, Valencia.”
“Of course,” Valencia sang as a few laughs slipped through her lips. “You two are cute, I wish you all the best. Yet, on that note, I can’t just let you two sit here for free. You two are going to have to order at least one pot of tea, alright?”
Getting some hurried agreement from the two ladies, Valencia just laughed and reassured them they could take their time with ordering before walking back further into the kitchen.
Having finished all the other steps during the conversation, Valencia began to fold the pastries en masse with the aid of her powers while taking a moment to just reflect on the two sitting at the counter.
They were so cute! Yet, what surprised Valencia the most was the genuine, yet slight innocence still present in their actions...
After all, even Adelyn, the mortal, was far more than a couple decades older than Astrid. Plus, Valencia was pretty sure Adelyn wasn’t going to be a mortal for long with how the Church was... pivoting away from Ignatius one could say...
“I wonder...” Valencia murmured to herself. “I wonder if they’ll help unite the three factions in Marcen’s Cliffs one day...”
Even more, Valencia wondered what their relationship dynamic was when they weren’t so nervous in front of her. Of course, she wouldn’t vocalize that wonder though.
