Leaves of Dawn

The next morning, after visiting the academy. 

Astrid, still unaware of all the chaos that transpired in the night, yawned as sunbeams began peeking through her curtains. Having managed to climb out of bed without too much difficulty for once, Astrid spent the morning helping out with the shop as usual until lunch. 

Deciding to cook for once, Astrid tied her hair back into a high ponytail before firing up the stove for lunch. Why cook today? Well... she had the time, and cooking was fun! She couldn’t make Valencia do all the house chores could she? Even if Valencia could all do it without lifting a finger. 

Even more, it was a pretty slow day in the shop. Not many customers had come, and those who did seemed more stressed than usual. 

It was because of those customers that Astrid wanted a bit of a break. It was just kind of annoying to talk to them when they’d only vent... Of course, it was pretty much what she had signed up for, but today it was wearing on her. 

Getting hugged from behind, Astrid laughed as Valencia began kissing a line up her neck. “That tickles, you know? How are you though, Cia?” 

“I’m well,” Valencia murmured between kisses while squeezing Astrid around the waist. “Much better now that I’m next to you. What are you making?” 

“Just some pasta and soup, I’m keeping it easy since I’m still warming back up to cooking.” Astrid turned her head, kissing Valencia while raising her arm to hug Valencia around the neck. “Are you sure you don’t need to be running the shop?” 

“Yeah, no one’s coming, no one’s been around for the past half hour in general.” Valencia reassured, nibbling Astrid’s ear. Laughing as Astrid yelped, Valencia stopped and went back to the kissing. “Sorry, love, I just couldn’t resist. You don’t tie up your hair often, after all.” 

Feeling her cheeks heat up, Astrid just shook her head while giving Valencia a mild glare. With her glare unable to hide the laughter slipping out from her mouth, Astrid gave up after a couple of seconds before forcing a return to the previous topic. “Any reason why the city seems to have gone so tense all of a sudden?” 

It was more than just their customers. Astrid had seen fewer people walk by outside. Among those people, the amount of people walking with purpose instead of a slow amble seemed to be higher than usual as well. 

To Astrid, it was just... funny how their stress manifested. It was as Valencia had said, the residents of the city were just way more powerful than where they used to live. There was a certain baseline among the population. 

Therefore, because they passed a threshold in power, it’d leak out of them as their emotions heightened. Astrid, herself, saw it when she or Valencia began drawing upon a lot of their powers. For her, she’d glow a certain golden color and Valencia purple. 

Sure, the color wasn’t something someone could control, but it always was a color the person themself seemed to like. 

As for the city residents though, it manifested in small ways. Hair, oftentimes, was a clue-in. When the city was stressed, Astrid couldn’t help but think the city seemed addicted to hairspray because people’s hair would become more floaty, bouncy, and ethereal. 

Then, there were eyes, people’s pupils would begin to take on the faint hue of their powers. For the super stressed their irises would glow! 

Anyhow, it was just a side-effect of manifesting one’s powers too much. It wasn’t harmful, which was nice, but it certainly made fights a lot more... glamorous. 

With her hands moving to cook without her conscious thought, Astrid was unaware as Valencia flooded her with affection. Moments later, she zoned back in with a half-lurch. “Sorry, Cia, I just zoned out, could you repeat like... everything you just said?” 

“I noticed,” Valencia laughed, kissing Astrid on the cheek. “I used the moment to be a little more affectionate. You have a way of losing track of your surroundings when you sink into your thoughts.” 

“Yeah...” Astrid trailed off, apologizing before returning the kiss. “So? What did you say?” 

“Not much,” Valencia let go of Astrid to grab some plates and bowls for her. “I believe it's just that the three organizations are gearing up once more for conflict. They’re all rivals after all. And the city’s undercurrents with the lesser known organizations also seem to be participating this time as well.” 

“... Interesting.” Astrid murmured as she began plating the food. “Anything I should be aware of? Are we safe? I assume so, since it's just business, yeah?” 

“Well, it’s their own personal business,” Valencia shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The organizations in the city are quite good at not having too much collateral damage. They don’t want to poke the general populace too much for fear of rousing the crowds.” 

“What do all the other people even do,” Astrid questioned, tapping her chin as she grabbed some utensils. “Like... What other jobs are there?” 

“Well, there’s the small stuff, but most people are part of one of the major companies or organizations. Though I only really mentioned the three big ones, there are a lot of other smaller ones. Marcen’s Cliffs is a premier place where people send their rising stars to get some training.” Valencia reached over and hugged Astrid. “Also, I’d go upstairs and change into a turtleneck before we sit back down to eat lunch...” 

One pause later, Astrid set down the plates as she realized what Valencia was hinting at. Pressing a hand to the base of her neck, Astrid just squinted. “Really? While I was cooking and thinking?” 

Looking away and dodging Astrid’s eyes, Valencia just laughed for a couple seconds before turning back to face Astrid and giving her a kiss. “Don’t worry about it my dear, I just couldn’t resist. As I said, you don’t wear your hair in a ponytail that often.” 

Sighing, Astrid shook her head. It wasn’t bad that Valencia did it of course, they’d been dating long enough and knew each other, but Astrid just found it... surprising how she hadn’t noticed. Pressing a finger to the spot, Astrid ignored the prick of pain in her stomach as her finger glowed golden. With her skin returned to its unblemished state, she continued, “... You should’ve just said something though. I’ll tie my hair up more for you, Cia.” 

“Why thank you,” Valencia smiled, swooping Astrid up into a hug. “Just let me know what I can do for you, mkay?” 

One, “Of course,” later, Astrid let go of Valencia before motioning to the plates. Asking Valencia to bring them over to where they’d eat, Astrid ran upstairs to change anyway as cold began to seep its way into her skin. 

She had spent too much time around the stove... 

Changing, Astrid took a second to sit on her bed while unfurling the painting she had stowed away in the closet. 

... It was finally done! 

And their anniversary was only four days away... 

“Let’s become deities together...” Astrid murmured to herself, reading the words emblazoned along the top of the painting. “It’d really be nice wouldn’t it?” 

Setting the painting aside once more, Astrid leaned back onto her hands while staring out the window. “Well, perhaps one day. Once we’re deities too, we could try and make some friends! Deities can’t all be bad now, can they? I’m sure there are some good ones out there who don’t try to eat people like me...”