Chapter 25 - End of the Night

Lilly took a deep breath, the cityscape below them a glittering tapestry of life and light. "Okay," she started, her voice steadier than she felt, "let's talk about us. Where we see this going."

Mia smiled, a mix of eagerness and tenderness in her eyes. "I've been looking forward to this conversation."

Lilly had thoughts about where they would be in the future, but only in general terms, and with no plan for getting there. Or if they even would.

“I just need to know where we are, in a way. We know each other very well, but does that translate to us being further along in this relationship than we would be otherwise? And if so, how far along are we? I’m just not sure where… how we will be, moving forward.”

Mia responded a bit hesitatingly, clearly having thought about the same things herself. “Yeah, that’s kind of my thoughts on it as well. Right now, I feel like… you’re the one. The one I grow old together with, and all that.” She was blushing after saying that, but she still looked Lilly in the eyes, tender but unwavering.

Lilly felt very happy hearing Mia had those thoughts about her, she felt much the same way. “You know, that’s my thought as well, I think. I know you well enough that I don’t see us ever having any reason to break up, and I can’t really imagine anyone else when I think about the future.” Lilly wanted to hide after saying that, but since Mia had been brave, she also looked her straight in the eyes.

“That’s where I hoped we were. But then, how do we move forward? Do we just keep going like this, with little change to our lives, or do we consider living together?”

“That is an obvious step to take, but it might be a bit early maybe? I mean, we’re only 18. And I wouldn’t know what to do about Gramps, at least if I move out. He’d be all alone…”

Mia didn’t seem to agree completely with that, and put a hand to her cheek. “Hmm, I think we’re old enough for it. And I don’t really want to stay at this distance, I feel like we’re ready to jump over a few steps. Gramps makes it a bit complicated though. I guess I would be fine with moving in with you two, maybe.”

“You really feel ready for that? I mean, it seems like such a big step, moving out from your home,” Lilly asked her, wondering if she would be willing to do the same if she was living with a big family. Lilly glanced at something moving in the corner of her eyes, quickly understanding what it was. “Oh, here comes the main course.”

Two plates and glasses were floating down to their table again, and landed next to the plates of soup. Mia had finished eating, but Lilly was still a bit behind. She was looking forward to the main course though, so she just put the almost empty plate on the formation to have it float back to the kitchen.

The main course, deer steak on risotto, looked delicious as well. The meat was cut in thick slices that showed off the pink insides, and they were lying on top of a bed of bright yellow risotto.

Mia seemed eager to dig in, but she took time to respond to Lilly first. “Well, I think it’s time actually. If you lived with your parents and two little brothers I’m sure you’d understand. Wait, no, I’m sorry!” Mia suddenly realized she was being incredibly inconsiderate, talking about what a chore it was to live with her entire family in front of Lilly. She held her hands in front of her mouth, clearly regretting her words.

Lilly did feel a pang of sadness, but she had gotten a lot better after being able to talk with her mother again. She would always regret not being able to live with them, but knowing they were still out there in another world, and that she would see them again, made it a lot easier to handle. And of course, Mia hadn’t meant anything bad by it.

Lilly moved her hand to hold Mia’s, making sure she understood there was no harm. “It’s fine Mia, really. And I can understand, I guess. I’ve seen the chaos of your home plenty of times.” Lilly thought back to some dinners she had eaten together with Mia’s family, and they had always been lively.

Two younger brothers and a father they had learned it all from practically battling for the food had been interesting experiences. Mia was the same way, so it was little wonder she turned out the way she did. Mia’s mother had a portion completely to herself, because she was not to be messed with, and out of consideration for Lilly she had made one for her as well.

Mia, seeming relieved after hearing Lilly didn’t mind her comment, turned her attention back to her plate. She sliced a piece of the arcane deer steak, her eyes lighting up at the first bite. “Oh, that is so tender,” she murmured, savoring the flavors. “You have to try this, Lilly.”

Lilly followed suit, and as the rich taste of the steak mingled with the creamy risotto, she couldn’t help but agree. The meal was a delightful symphony of flavors, and for a moment, their conversation took a backseat to the culinary experience. Lilly could even sense a bit of mana flowing through her from the meat, proving that it was indeed an arcane deer they were eating. It somehow added a layer to the meal, making it feel even more exclusive than before.

She took a sip of the azure grape wine as well, since it was supposed to be the highlight of the drinks tonight. It had a fresh and acidic taste to it, making the tastes from the meat even more pronounced. Now she really understood how wine could compliment the food.

Mia needed a moment to appreciate the main course properly before continuing the conversation. She cleared her mouth with some wine first. “Okay, then what do you think?”

“About you moving in? I’m sure Gramps wouldn’t mind at all, he’s always liked you a lot.” Lilly was cautiously excited about her moving in, but there was one issue.

Mia seemed to be more and more open to the idea of moving. “Right, I think so too… But then what do we do about… nights together?”

That was the issue Lilly had thought about. “... Yeah… I’m having the same problem. We would have to get a bigger bed. And our house has thin walls, so I wouldn’t be very comfortable.” The thought of Gramps hearing whatever was going on was extremely discomforting, for obvious reasons.

Mia was pondering again. “What about renting a hotel room on occasion then? I think it would work well, especially tonight.”

“That’s an idea… Yeah, I think that’s fine for now… Just between you and me, I kind of can’t wait for that.” Lilly felt a bit daring, saying it as forward as that. She was blushing profusely though.

Mia laughed a bit nervously. “Wow, Lilly, I’ve never seen this side of you. I can’t say I disagree though. I think… I think we’re going to learn a lot tonight.” Mia was also blushing a lot. It was something they would get used to eventually, but these first talks on the subject were hard to express. “Thank the gods for this fog hiding us though, we would get a lot of stares otherwise.”

Lilly agreed at first, but then she had an idea. “Hey, couldn’t that work for a bedroom? Making a formation that silences us, and preferably hides us as well?”

Mia seemed to light up at that idea, finding it to be a great solution. “Oh, right, that would be perfect! But how easy is that to get fixed?” She asked, thinking of how expensive most proper formations were.

“I’m sure there’s a market for it. I can ask Gallus tomorrow if he knows anything about it.” Lilly looked down at the small city, trying to pinpoint where the Aether’s Echo would be. “But then, I think we should just try it for a period. You can come sleep over and stay for extended periods, and if it seems to work well then we can make it more permanent.”

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“Yeah, that sounds good. Now, let’s enjoy this.” Mia was looking Lilly deeply into her eyes, a bit tired of talking about the future maybe. Living in the moment and enjoying it was just as important as planning ahead, if not more.

Lilly knew she had a point, and tried to clear her head of thoughts of the future, focusing on the present. “Gods, this view is incredible…” Lilly sighed, looking out at the endless stretches of land beneath them. There were some lights spread out on the main roads leaving the city, but otherwise the land was dark now. The sky in the distance still gave off some light, but it was not enough to illuminate the ground. Even the moon, close to full now, only helped slightly.

Mia looked out at the view as well, slightly wistful. “I kind of wish we had more daylight for this. The view does get less interesting in the dark.”

“Well, maybe they wanted us to be able to focus on other things instead?” Lilly was looking at Mia while saying that, studying every part of her that was visible. Her strong arms had some extra contours in this dim light, making her seem even more defined than usual. Lilly hoped she never stopped smithing, it would be a shame to lose those contours. She wanted to hug them.

Mia also seemed more focused on Lilly than herself, looking at her bare shoulders and her protective necklace. Or, maybe it wasn’t the necklace she was looking at. Either way, Lilly was too busy to notice.

After a while, another smaller plate of food came and saved them from their trance. The dessert, a forest fruit tiramisu as promised, looked like the perfect end to their meal. They were as good as finished with the main course, so they could start on the dessert right away.

“You’re the cake expert here Lilly, how would you say this compares to your bakery?” Mia asked, knowing perfectly well Lilly would react with joking contempt.

“Hah, this can barely even be called pastry. But of course, I’m being unfair. Our bakery makes only the best cakes in the kingdom, it would be silly of me to expect anything of the same level here.”

Mia smiled, having gotten her prediction right. “Exactly what I expected to hear. But let’s have a taste anyways, just to see how far below you they are.”

They both had a taste, and Lilly could no longer pretend. “Oh man, it is great after all. Wow, that’s such a refreshing taste, while also being perfectly sweet and bitter.”

Lilly looked over at Mia, who was just smiling back at her silently. It wasn’t a gentle smile, more of a ‘I knew you wouldn’t be able to keep pretending’ kind of smile. Smug, that was the word.

“Of course, if I had the recipe and ingredients I would easily be able to make something just as good, if not better.”

“Of course.” Mia responded, still with the smug smile.

‘Let’s see how smug you are after this,’ Lilly thought, and quickly leaned over to kiss her. Mia was clearly not expecting that, and her smile did change to a more happy one afterwards.

After a short moment, Mia sighed, smiling. She seemed to be thinking about something nice.

“Hey Lilly, how would you feel about sensing my emotions again?”

Lilly didn’t expect that, and immediately felt that it would be a bad idea. But that was more of an immediate reaction due to her last experience. She still regretted it, and having kept the secret from Mia had been a rather heavy burden. But the circumstances had changed a lot since then, and even that had ended happily, with the two of them together. “Uhh, are you sure?”

Mia's cheeks flushed a deeper shade of pink, but her eyes held a steady, earnest look. “Yeah, I’m sure. I just feel so incredibly happy right now,” she said softly. “I want you to know that, really know it. Telling you doesn’t really help, since I can’t explain it properly.”

“Oh, okay then…” Lilly didn’t quite know how to respond, but she felt very warm inside hearing that. She reached her hand across the table and waited.

“That's a very cute smile Lilly,” Mia said, holding her own hand out.

“Just let me in when you’re ready. There might be a difference since I have the flame instead of mana now, so let me know if anything is wrong.”

Mia closed her eyes, focusing once again on letting Lilly into herself. It didn’t take long, and Lilly could soon feel Mia’s body in great detail. not much had changed since last time, as far as Lilly could tell. She could see the protective enchantment working through her though, constantly looking out for physical attacks. It was reassuring. She tried gently pushing past the edge of Mia’s core, to get to her emotions once again.

Mia started smiling then, like she could sense the flow of the flame within her. “It feels a lot warmer this time. I think you’re getting close.”

Lilly kept going, trying to be as careful as she could. Gradually, a flow of emotions could be felt. And they were beautiful. An intense longing and love for herself, and a happiness even greater than her own. A hint of nervousness, both about this moment and the future they would meet together. And a more base longing, which Lilly easily recognized since she felt the same way. Mia was perfectly satisfied, in almost every way. The last way they would have to figure out later.

Lilly couldn’t help but cry happily. Feeling someone being so intensely loving towards her made everything she had ever disliked in herself feel so distant, so insignificant. And the way they both felt towards each other, it was so perfect. Any doubt Lilly could ever have towards Mia’s feelings for her were squashed in an instant, and she felt so happy.

Lilly let go of Mia’s hand, and tried to wipe her own tears instead.

“Lilly, are you okay?” Mia asked, looking worried. She got out of her seat and rushed over to Lilly’s side, holding her arm around her.

“I– I’m fine. That was just so beautiful. I wish you could do the same thing, Mia.” Lilly gently wiped her tears with a napkin now, trying to be careful and not wipe her makeup all over. “Aaahh, just knowing how you feel about me was incredibly reassuring. I felt like nothing I’ve ever done was bad, and that I’m perfect in every way. You really see me that way. I wish you could see the same in me.”

Mia gave her a hug from behind, bending down to get to Lilly’s sitting level. “It’s enough for me to let you know how I feel. I’m really glad you know now.”

After sitting there like that for a while and calming down, Lilly felt like lightening the mood a bit. Or rather, that she had to. “Oh, I know… I also know you have a dirty mind.” Mia semed to freeze up a bit at that, like she was caught in the act. Her head was also perfectly positioned for a peek down Lilly’s dress, and she had noticed. “Looking at my chest like that, have you no shame?”

“B– but you– You also, you looked at my–” Before she could finish her jumbled sentence, Lilly turned her head and kissed her cheek.

“I looked at everything I could, and had to imagine the rest. The restaurant has started descending now, so let’s wait a little longer.” Lilly was the one wearing the smug smile now. “Do you want to look at the view again, while we still can?”

Mia must have felt a bit frustrated since she didn’t move for a bit, but eventually she ended the hug and took Lilly’s hand, dragging her to the railing to get a better view. Now she was smiling again, looking out at Thundrel getting bigger and bigger.

“I’m glad you always find ways to lighten the heavy moments, Lilly.”

“And I’m glad you’re so easy to tease. I’ll have to get my fill before you get used to it.” Lilly stared at Mia, appreciating the visuals of her face being lit by the distant city lights while they were gently descending.

Mia looked back at her and flashed a smile. “I don’t know if I hope I get used to it or not. It’s fine as long as we’re alone, I think.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lilly promised, holding her hand to her heart. “Ah, it’s a shame there’s no more cake. I miss the taste a bit.”

Mia seemed to wonder if there was a hidden meaning there or not. A light seemed to go up, and she leaned over for a kiss.

Lilly was happy she took the hint. There was a hint of forest fruit left. ‘Oh, maybe it was a great cake after all. Or, I guess all cakes would taste great like this,’ Lilly thought.

As the restaurant gently touched down, Lilly and Mia stood close, their eyes locked in a moment of silent understanding. The city lights cast a soft glow around them, bathing the moment in an almost magical light.

Lilly felt a flutter of excitement mixed with a deep sense of connection. Tonight had been about more than just a date; it was a step into a future they were building together. "This was perfect," she whispered, not wanting to break the spell of the moment.

Mia nodded, her eyes shining with unspoken emotions. "The night's not over yet," she said, her voice a low murmur filled with promise.

Hand in hand, they stepped away from the railing, their steps slow but purposeful. The veil surrounding them had to be dispelled first, but it was gone with a simple touch. They made their way out of the restaurant, and Lilly felt a mix of contentment and eager anticipation for the rest of the evening. They left the Skyview Restaurant behind, stepping into the cool night air.