Gwen reached out her free hand slowly. It was shaking a little from nerves, but a smile plastered itself onto her fact as she gently stroked the swan. “It’s so soft.” Gwen murmured, her eyes wide.
“Yeah, I know right? Oh—“ Sje leaned forward, shifting Gwen’s hand a little. “They like it when you scratch there.”
Gwen slowly began to scratch the swan, her face an ugly beet red from Marla touching her hand. She never would’ve guessed she would end up here when she woke up this morning. “I can’t believe it’s letting me do this.” She mumbled, marveling at the swan.
The coloration of Marla’s face matched Gwen’s almost perfectly after she realized what she’d done, but she somehow managed to pull it together enough to form a coherent sentence. “Yeah, the- the swans are used to people. They’re friendly.”
“I think I’d like to replace my roommate with one.” Gwen joked, trying to get the blush off her cheeks. “I think it’d be less problematic.”
And Marla was laughing all over again, covering her mouth with a slim hand, eyes glimmering in the sun. “Tell me about it-“
Gwen withdrew her hand after almost all the breadcrumbs were gone, flinching when the swan made a honking noise. “It’s out for blood!” She grabbed Marla by the arm, pulling her a couple feet away from it.
Marla chuckled, pulling Gwen back. “She just happy, I think.”
“So now you speak swan too?” Gwen raised an eyebrow at Marla. “You, my dear friend, are too powerful for my humble elven presence.”
“I don’t speak swan!” she protested, pushing her hair out of her face. “But if it was angry, it’d probably be running at you at full speed. And your powers are cooler than mine, I’m just a regular human.”
“Regular human?” Gwen started laughing. “I don’t think you’re a regular human, Marla. There’s certainly something about you that’s…” She trailed off, going pensive for a moment. “I’m not really sure how to describe it. I’m not sure there’s a word for it in English.”
(I’m going to get some rest! G’Night Topaz!)
(Night, sleep tight!)
Marla scratched her head in thought. “I mean, I’ve got weak oracle bloodlines, but prophets are technically human, so..”
Gwen pondered this before shrugging and letting it go. “I guess, in simplest terms, it’s just very obvious you have magic. Sort of like an aura thing.”
(Hi Topaz! Feeling any better this morning?)
(Heyo! Yeah, a bit
How’re you?)
Marla gave a tilt of her head. “You can see auras?”
“Oh! No, though that’d be super cool. You just look…” Gwen bit her lip, staring intently at Marla. “I think the right word is ethereal. Yeah, ethereal.” She nodded, somehow satisfied with herself.
(Good! No tests today so it’s a bit of a relief.)
(Oh that’s good)
Marla turned pink at the word choice. “I look… ethereal?”
Gwen mistook her blushing for embarrassment. “Not in a bad way! It’s a good way I promise.” She smiled nervously.
“Oh— I didn’t mean it like that,” Marla stammered, eyes darting away.
“I just mean that… it’s not like you’re abnormal, but you seem magical. As in possessing magic goes. I mean, we go to a university for this stuff, so I probably sound really stupid right now…” Gwen rambled, rubbing her arm.
"You don't sound stupid, don't worry about it. And I know what you mean– thank you." Marla gave an encouraging smile.
Gwen smiled back before focusing her gaze on the ground. She’d gotten flustered trying to explain herself, and tried to rein in the red blush staining her cheeks. “I uh… I gotta say, out of all the people I could’ve crashed into this morning, I’m glad it ended up being you.”
And after that, Marla really was done for. "I– Me too. I'm glad I met you," she stammered, staring at the grass as her cheeks blazed red. I really hope she's not straight.. It would suck if she were…
“I um… I actually wanted to ask you—“ Gwen suddenly stopped speaking, her eyes widening slightly as her bag start to jostle out of nowhere. “It can’t be…” She mumbled, setting her bag down on the ground and kneeling beside it. Gwen pulled out the small pot, where a stem was rapidly shooting upwards from the rocky soil. “Yes! Finally!” Her eyes lit up.
Marla blinked in surprise at the shoot, a slow, amazed smile spreading across her face. "Whoah… Did you do that?"
“If I’m being totally honest with you, I have no idea how that happened.” Gwen’s gaze was focused completely on the plant now, gently guiding the stem with her fingertips. “I think I was right about the orchid thing.” She added absentmindedly.
"It's definitely pretty," she murmured, bending down to give it a better look as it slowly unfurled. "Why is it growing so quickly?"
“That’s on purpose.” Gwen replied, concentrated on the flower. “There’s a whole science and magic thing behind it, but basically I’m transferring some of my energy to it so I can speed up its lifecycle.” The plant stopped growing once it had several blooming flowers, and Gwen set the pot down for a moment, noticeably paler. “It’s convenient, but exhausting.” She smiled weakly, seeming pleased with herself.
"That's so cool.." she began to say, suddenly noticed how much Gwen had paled. "Are you okay?" she asked anxiously, knowing that it was due to the plant but wanting to help.
“Yeah! Don’t worry about it. This is normal. Just no more running today.” Gwen shut her bag, picking up the flower pot and slowly getting to her feet, a bit light headed.
“Got it,” Marla responded, laying a steadying hand on Gwen’s shoulder.
