Ch 1.39: Rain

“We should probably get going,” Carline said, shaking in the cold. The rain had picked up as Elaina had walked over to the equipment rack, as she had stood there staring at the training swords. The rest of the class, Professor Ranlit included, had left.

“You go ahead. I’m gonna stay out here for a while.”

“Are you sure?” Carline said, dancing on both feet, trying to stay warm.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, well, I’m gonna shower and then probably hang out in the common room until lunch. Just come find me later, okay?”

“Sure.”

Carline wavered, looking like she was going to say more, but then ran off. Elaina picked up her jacket off the rack and shrugged it on, shaking her head. She couldn’t get the image out of her mind, Prisma’s look during the duel with Carline. Maybe Waine was right. Maybe she really does hate me.

She started walking, not towards the school, but the small lake in the back of the school grounds, right next to the forest. She knew she should be rushing inside to get her clothes dry, especially clothes of this quality, but inside was dry, warm, full of people, things she didn’t want right now. Carline had slowly been trying to introduce her to other students, which she appreciated, but the common room wasn’t where she wanted to be right now. Even the dorm, with just Carline and the System, sounded like two too many people.

She found a large rock by the lake and sat down on it, looking out over the downpour as it fell across the water. Rain had always been calming to Elaina, and the sounds and sights of this storm filled her mind with distraction, thunder above, lightning flashes in the distance, the torrent crashing into the body of water in front of her.

It still wasn’t enough. Had she done something wrong? She screamed out over the lake, pounding her fists against the stone below her. She was supposed to be happy, right? She had an aspect, a class. Sure, the looming threat of invasion was terrifying, but what kid hadn’t dreamed of being who she was right now? She had friends, good ones, she’d had such a wonderful time only the night before, but she was still miserable, all because of one girl, a girl that had shown a moment of kindness and nothing but cruelty and indifference since.

It should have all been enough, but Elaina was selfish. Prisma had offered her something. Not a spoken promise, but a promise nonetheless. That was taken from her, and she didn’t even know why. “I’m not a dud. I just had a weird birthday…”

“Heya, stranger!” Elaina jumped up and whipped around. Before her was a tall girl, taller than Tira even, standing in the rain with a smile on her face. “Oh, you’re that new girl everyone’s talking about, Elaina, the commoner, right?”

“Huh? I mean, yeah,” Elaina said, creeping back. She’d had enough bad experiences with meeting student she didn’t really know alone out on the grounds to not be cautious. Could this be one of Waine’s crowd? “Who are you?”

“Flora! Florence Stouth, second-year, to be proper.” The girl skipped onto Elaina’s rock and started circling it with her arms behind her back, looking Elaina over from every angle as she spun around the slick stone. “Wow, you really are as pretty as I’ve heard!”

“Oh, uhm, thanks?” Florence herself was pretty too, large green eyes, playful smile, and brown hair falling all the way down to her hips, clinging to her skirt in the rain, what had to be the shortest skirt Elaina had ever seen on an Endrin uniform. No, the shortest skirt she’d seen in her entire life. Those long legs were entrancing, no socks or tights at all, completely bare except for the slim skirt atop them.

“I gotta say, I approve of your bra choice too,” Florence said, pointing at Elaina’s chest.

Elaina looked down and gasped, realizing she’d never actually buttoned her uniform, that her tits were essentially completely on display in the wet shirt. She grabbed her jacket and threw it closed with her hands, looking back up in panic an embarrassment. “Sorry, I, uhm—”

Florence laughed, waving Elaina off. “Don’t worry, I said I liked it, remember! After all…” Florence grabbed each of her two jacket buttons and popped them open at once, pulling the two sides apart. “I happen to own the same one.”

Florence wasn’t lying. She wasn’t nearly as welly endowed as Elaina, a little smaller than average even, but Elaina’s eyes were glued to the woman’s chest anyway. Tiny, light pink nipples visible through the soaked, thin white Endrin uniform shirt would be enough to command Elaina’s attention for days if she was left unchecked, with the soft curve of the perky boobs underneath gestured at by the wet material as it clung to her chest. It was all on display as she thrust them out while holding the jacket wide open.

Florence winked as she let go of her coat, not bothering to rebutton it. On her small frame, the breasts of the jacket fell back almost entirely over her chest, a feat Elaina’s chest simply wouldn’t allow, but the color of her modest cleavage was still easily visible through her transparent shirt. “So, what brings you out to my secret rainy day spot?” Florence asked, kneeling down next to Elaina and looking out over the water.

“Uhm, I just finished fencing class.”

Florence puffed out her cheeks with air and then let out a howling laugh. “And you did that in the rain, with no bra on? That’s hilarious!”

Who does this girl think she is? “I didn’t— It wasn’t on purpose!” Elaina turned back towards the water and sat back down, buttoning her jacket properly this time. “I had a laundry issue, and I didn’t know I’d be taking the jacket off… And it wasn’t raining earlier!”

Florence looked over, playful glint in her eye. “But it was funny, right?”

Elaina went to protest, but she let out a chuckle instead. “No, it wasn’t!” She meant it. It hadn’t been funny, after all. A little exciting maybe, but the only reason she’d laughed was just because Florence’s stupid smiling face made her…

“Okay, I believe you. After all, your little tomato face does look pretty embarrassed about it. Still, I’d be more careful with those things if I were you. I can get away going braless, but you’re kinda a different story.”

Elaina looked down, still blushing, still with a slight smile. “It was an accident. I won’t do it again.”

“Eh, never say never is what I always say.” The girl popped back up to standing, giving a nice, long view up her legs as she stood. Gods those are nice. “Still though, you just had fencing class, but, if I’m remembering correctly, the dorms are the opposite direction from the lake. So why’d you come here after?”

Elaina sighed, shaking her head. “I’ve had a bad day. I just wanted to be alone.”

Florence looked away, making an obviously fake grimace. “Oops, guess even that went wrong, huh? Really must not be your day then.”

Elaina laughed again. “Guess so.”

“I can leave if you want?”

“No, it’s fine… It’s your secret spot, after all.”

Florence beamed at Elaina, nodding and sitting down right next to her, shoulder and hips touching Elaina. “I like being out here alone too. I love the water, but there’s so many people here during break times during the day. I’ll sometimes try to sneak out at night, but I have to keep an eye out for good ole Iron Whip.”

Iron Whip? “Do you mean Tira?”

“Oh? You know Watch Captain Strask on a first name basis, huh?” Florence scooted back, looking Elaina over once more. “Yeah, you seem her type alright.”

Elaina blushed again, clutching her chest with her arms. Probably best not to mention Tira when I’m only going commando thanks to her. “I— I don’t know what you mean.”

“Of course you don’t,” Florence said, winking again. She pulled her knees together, resting her head on them and looking into Elaina’s eyes. “Want to talk about whatever’s bothering you? I’m a good listener.”

Gods, am I that easy to read? “No, not really.”

“Okay,” Florence said, cocking her head. “So what’s the problem?”

Elaina blinked. “I just said—”

Florence sat there, big eyes staring. She was eager to listen, a friendly face, even if they’d never met before.

“Well, there’s this girl…”

“Oh, other than Tira?”

Elaina blushed, pushing her face into her hands. “I told you it’s not like that with her.”

“Right. Well, go on; I certainly don’t judge for that sort of thing.”

“Anyway, so, this girl… I thought we were friends, but then some shit happened, and now she kind of might hate me? And I don’t know how I feel about her. She did some fucked up stuff, but, like, I don’t think she meant to, at least that she didn’t mean to hurt me.”

“It’s hard reconciling it, huh?”

“Yeah. Like, she’s really nice, was nice, but she hangs around with shitty people, and then when it came time to choose them or me…”

“She chose them.”

“Uh-huh. And I just—” Elaina gripped her skirt, wanting to rip the fabric, just so she could break something. “She chose them. I know she’s known them longer, but they’re such assholes.”

Florence nodded, eyes sinking a bit. “I know. It’s like that among nobility, sometimes.”

Elaina hung her head, feeling the water pour down her hair as it landed on her, tears dropping from her eyes, hopefully still covered by the rain. “Why though? Why was she nice to me at first if she was just gonna throw me away later?”

A hand fell on her shoulder, patting her. “She didn’t plan to do that, I’m sure. The Fireguards and Ferris’s are powerful, important families, after all. It might seem like she made a choice to you, when to her it didn’t seem like she had a choice at all.”

Elaina looked up, squinting at Florence. “How do you know…”

Florence shrugged, pursing her lips. “Like I said, everyone’s talking about you.”

“Right.” Elaina took in a deep breath, then exhaled before standing up and stepping onto the grass. “I should probably get going. My roommate’s going to be worried if I stay out here too long.”

“Oh, yeah, wouldn’t want her getting worried,” Florence said, standing up and nodding. “I’m gonna enjoy my secret rainy spot a little longer. Feel free to come back sometime, though I have a feeling we’ll meet again sooner or later regardless.”

Elaina sniffed. “Sure. And, uh, thanks, Florence.”

“Nope!” Florence said, hopping down off the rock and squeezing Elaina tightly. “We’re friends now, so Flora it is, got it?”

Elaina smiled as she wiped her eyes. “Alright, thanks Flora.”

Flora let go of the embrace and turned back, jumping onto the rock once more and looking out over the lake as Elaina walked back towards the school.

Elaina’s mind raced as she made her way back to the dorms. Prisma, the System, the fact that she kept running into cute girls everywhere she went. And what the hell was with that girl flashing me like that? She entered the common room, still dripping from the rain, looking for her roommate.

“Uhm, has anyone seen Carline?”

A girl from Elaina’s and Carline’s alchemy class, Lily her name might have been, spoke up. “She left a few minutes ago. Prisma was looking for her.”