Avoiding Awkwardness

”Downtime? Who does that?” ~Frein Nivan, the Visitor

Frill woke up with a yawn. Last night had been full and satisfying. People feasted on the Da’bloop, the Cloud-Nesting Rocs, and the krakens and sea serpents they’d acquired from an extremely successful—but equally stressful—Jump.

Admiral Garm had even asked her to perform. And much to her hesitance, with a little nudging from her friends, she was able to convince herself that Liona would rather know her big sister was able to sing her heart out once again.

Though the man might not know it, Frill had drawn most of her courage from Xiv as far as yesterday was concerned. The Aria in Red had always offered her songs to someone. And while Kristel or Liona—with or without their knowledge—had been her recipients most of the time, she had found it proper to give last night’s performance to the Vyndivalian instead, what with his promises and all. She simply couldn’t admit it to the guy.

It was at this moment that Frill realized she was sleeping on hard floor. The party lasted the entire day, and when the night had settled, their small group had decided to continue their celebration inside the training hall that they’d utilized since arriving in Atlas Sid. They were too tired to be bothered to return to their rooms.

The only comfortable part of her body right now was from her neck up. She reached out and opened her eyes at the same time, immediately realizing she was lying on someone’s leg.

“Good morning,” Xiv said. He sat in an awkward position, one leg folded while the other was outstretched—the one that served as her pillow. It was obvious how much he was careful not to move, relying on his hands to keep his balance.

“Morning,” Frill replied, confused on what to say. She wanted to make fun of him for being too nice, but she wanted to thank him at the same time. It went out as one word that had nothing to do with her intentions.

Thankfully, it was a comprehensible one. She promptly pushed herself up, the scarlet strands of her hair covering her face. Without realizing it, she tucked some of it behind her ear. “Sorry about the leg.”

“It’s not a problem,” Xiv replied, scratching his chin. As expected, his eyes were glued on her. Frill rather enjoyed it. “You were pretty tired last night.”

“Mmm.”

“I meant to say you were amazing,” Xiv followed. “Beautiful, pretty, wonderful. I’ve never heard a voice as heavenly as yours. And I—”

Frill pushed both hands on Xiv’s face to shut him up.

“I know you’re direct, but that’s too much! I just woke up!”

Xiv took her hands away from his face, because of this, he ended up holding both of them. The two realized a moment later and abruptly let go. “Sorry,” he said, awkwardly.

“It’s, umm… it’s okay,” Frill replied. “It sounds a little different when you hear compliments from someone you actually care about.”

Xiv’s face turned red. “I thought it was about the hands.”

“Dummy. It’s not like you haven’t held my hands before.”

“So it’s okay to hold your hands?”

“When I’m not busy. And it’s okay to give me compliments too, just don’t overdo it.”

Silence quickly followed as Frill relaxed. She noticed Xiv’s eyes shifting down, so she followed where he was looking. A part of her blouse had slipped off her shoulder, revealing a generous part of her bosom, but not enough to show everything. At least, she hoped that was the case. Her long hair was too mischievous to help cover her exposure. Blood quickly rushed to her head as she covered herself.

“Sorry,” Xiv said, turning away and covering his face with one hand. “That caught me off guard.”

Twice now this man caught her lacking the moment she woke up. First was the drool back in Minaveil Province, and now this. What next? She’d be completely naked? Frill shook her head, reminding herself to be extra careful when around him.

A yell caught their attention. Xiv didn’t look surprised, but that didn’t stop Frill from almost jumping to her feet.

“How long have they been sparring?” she asked.

“They’ve been at it since I woke up. About an hour ago.”

Frill could barely follow Kristel’s movements as the Princess zipped around the training room, appearing and disappearing as she circled around Frein. The Visitor stayed at the center, calm and collected, with a sword in his hand.

He tracked the Princess through his awareness, only taking a step whenever Kristel took an approach. The move would deter any further aggression, forcing her to back off to search for a new angle while he returned to tracking her in the meantime.

Frill could see the dance happening between the two. Kristel increased her tempo with each failed attempt, and in response, Frein would keep up but deliberately limit himself to half the Princess’s speed. This way, he showcased how easy it was for him to recognize her patterns and deceptions, no matter how much she tried to accelerate.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

It was demoralizing, even for Frill. She wasn’t involved in the fight, but she could figure out how much of a struggle it would be to break Frein’s defenses without resorting to stronger Meiyal Arts. In a battle of Siffera, he was, without argument, the better of the two.

“They’ve been at this for an hour?” Frill asked Xiv.

“Yep,” he replied. “No development whatsoever. When I woke up, they said they wanted to find out if Kristel really can’t reach Art fatigue anymore. Then Frein just simply dragged it to what you’re seeing now.”

To confirm, Frill Drew an observation Meiyal Art. It wasn’t quite like Mesiffera, which was capable of seeing which Arts were active, how much Milled meiyal a practitioner had, and which Arts they were trying to Draw. But an observation Art, at least, could determine if a practitioner was Milling, it could find early signs of Art fatigue, and it could show which Arts they were emphasizing—Kristel’s Siffera in this case.

“She’s been doing this for an hour…” Frill muttered in disbelief. Kristel’s Siffera was emphasized to its limit. The only thing holding it back now was the lack of meiyal-charged materials to elevate the Art to Nidai-level. If what Xiv said was true, they had been at this for more than an hour.

She didn’t know who she should be more impressed by: Kristel, who had a fully emphasized Siffera for far longer than anyone could possibly do, or Frein who kept up with her this entire time.

Frill sighed, trying to find herself something else to focus on. She trusted Frein enough to know he wouldn’t harm the Princess. Even that thought made her feel like she was admitting defeat. Shaking her head didn’t make it any better.

“Where’s Kat?” she asked Xiv. At this point, if everyone would be calling Katherine by her nickname, she might as well join the club. It took her a bit of getting used to.

Xiv nodded behind her.

Frill turned to find a pair of bodies covered in pink and brown hair. Katherine leaned on the corner, spooning Elizzel on her stomach. The faunel’s long, pink hair essentially hid both of them.

Now that she had taken everyone into account, Frill took a meditative position and began to Draw. The Meiyal Art had a name, Quiet Loom, but there was no need for her to invoke it. The Art manifested an entire apparatus around her, causing Xiv to shift to the side.

“Sorry, forgot to measure,” she said, apologizing quickly.

“What’s that?”

“I’m crafting our battle gear,” Frill explained while she opened one of the compartments of the apparatus. It contained a sheet of paper with her design for the clothes that would make up the battle gear. She settled it on top of the platform at the center and immediately, the entire contraption activated.

Threads of meiyal latched on brackets and bars hovering around the Quiet Loom, and a small flower spun slowly in the middle of it all. Now that things had finally calmed down, and her design had finally completed, Frill could begin creating the battle gear based off of this flower.

The flower actually caused most of the delay. Even Katherine didn’t know what it was—only that it was safe to use, and it took a bit of research to study it. It was one of the Nightmare Land’s better creations, or at least, a creation due to the need to survive in such a harsh environment.

Drop Oasis was its name, a rare fauna found only in the depths of the Nightmare Lands. It was a mutation, so to speak, for while the rest of the living organisms in those forsaken places had adapted to survive, turning themselves into cruel manifestations and abominations, this flower managed to remain unblemished.

How, or why, none of the books she’d read seemed to come up with an agreeable conclusion, but none of them denied the purifying capabilities of it.

Essentially, it was a meiyal-charged material. However, it was one of those that had an incredibly high rejection rate. Ninety percent, as far as records went. The material rejected the Nightmare Lands by itself after all, so its refusal to accept a master made a lot of sense.

This was where Frill’s Quiet Loom could shine. By incorporating the material into clothes, she would be able to access the Drop Oasis’s integrated capabilities without harming anyone’s meiyal system. True, this method wouldn’t be able to fully utilize the material’s power, but the safety it provided far outweighed the risks.

Now, Frill was hoping that with this, along with the Purifying Stone they procured from Admiral Garm, their—hers and Kristel’s—ability to survive in the Nightmare Lands would increase significantly. She just had to make sure it was well incorporated with her design. Not for anything subtle or profound or specialized efficiency in terms of utilizing materials for a battle gear, it was just simply a matter of pride for her.

Fashion design was the one thing Frill enjoyed just as much as singing or dancing. She made all her costumes for the stage, which was an edge she had on top of most entertainers. And the more people appreciated her work, to the point that she had received commissions from celebrities, the more proud she became.

“It’s like a Forge,” Xiv said, observing Frill do her work with such amazement.

“Is it? I can’t make Armors with spaces for Embellishments, though.”

“That would make me question everything I’ve ever known,” Xiv began. He frowned, rubbing his chin. “But actually, it might be possible.”

Frill paused, looking away from her Quiet Loom. “What do you mean?”

“Frein and I have been discussing the similarities between Meiyal Arts and Armaments. We think—”

“They’re meant to work together,” Frill finished for him. “I was told that as well.”

“By who?” Xiv’s excitement suddenly skyrocketed. He was more interested now in their discussion rather than the sparring in front of him. It was a shame, she had to turn him down.

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that, yet.” Try as she might, not knowing who else could look into Destiny made her hesitate to tell Xiv anything.

“But this is a confirmation, right?” he asked, undeterred.

Frill gave him a nod before returning to her work.

Xiv leaned back against the wall, a hand pressed on his forehead. Frill glanced to make sure what expression he was wearing. He was smiling ear to ear.

“This is amazing,” he said.

“What is?”

“It means, I can start learning Meiyal Arts!”

“That might be a long shot,” Frill said, smiling. “I don’t think it’s impossible, though.”

Something caught her attention, and she turned to the other side to find Elizzel crouching beside her. The faunel’s eyes were glued towards the Quiet Loom.

“Morning, Eli,” Frill said, trying to get her attention.

Elizzel blinked but she didn’t look away. “Good morning.” Her jaw slacked a little as the threads of meiyal completed an article of clothing. “It’s beautiful.”

“Want one?” Frill asked, making sure her own excitement wasn’t showing too much. She didn’t want to chase away the faunel with too much enthusiasm.

There was no need. She was nodding frantically. So Frill suspended her Quiet Loom for a moment to take Elizzel’s measurements.

Just then, Kristel and Frein surged with power.

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