The Chantry kitchens, after dark…

Scented candles burn with the light aroma of fresh flowers. Healers and Paladins on duty are busy preparing supper. Folks get peckish after evening prayers.

Typically, I’d be headed to bed right about now. But not tonight! Anna and I are gonna work on her learning the Sanctuary spell. But before heading for her room, I’ve taken a detour here – studying late without a nice snack to munch on is a definite no-no!

With all that in mind, I’ve put together our supper – a plate of almond biscuits and two mugs of piping hot coffee! Simple but good stuff. These biscuits are already pretty good on their own, but when you dip them in coffee it makes them so mushy and yummy! Crumbles away and melts so damn softly in your mouth.

It’s the best I got! If I could, I’d whip up something fancy, but my culinary experience doesn’t extend far past heating up leftovers and boiling instant noodles. Or getting takeout. And uh… now that it comes to mind… I do miss the food back in my world! Sure, it’s stuff that’s bad for you like burgers and fries and fried chicken… but it’s so damn tasty! Great for a late-night supper when I’m up studying or working on some Student Council stuff. Sure, the restaurants and taverns across Nisha serve burgers, fries and baskets of fried chicken, but it just ain’t the same, weird as it sounds. Stuff’s a lot less… processed. Less familiar.

Oh well. Maybe someday, when I return to my world, I’ll have a triple deluxe cheeseburger, double batter-fried and served on a stick with all the mayonnaise I’ll ever want for a lifetime. The thought of it is making my stomach growl! But for now? My supper tray’s looking pretty good! So, off I go!

I know the route to Anna’s room by heart. It’s up a flight of stairs, the third along a common corridor of rooms for the Paladins of the Order of Selene. I say Paladins only because Healers reside in another wing within the Chantry, where my guest room is as well.

It’s my first time going to her room in this timeline. I’ve been there more times than I can count in the previous timeline… but I’m still feeling a little nervous about this. I’m a newcomer to the Order, after all, even if my memories from another life remain close to me. And speaking of memories… I’ve got a little something in my blazer for her, something cool to show her. But only if she takes her lessons seriously!

“Anna? You in there?” I call out when I arrive outside her room, as I carefully use one hand to knock gently on her door while I balance my tray with the other. “It’s Arisa!”

“Coming!”

I’m greeted at the door by Anna’s sweet, demure smile. She’s in frilly pink pyjamas, all ready for bed. Meanwhile, I’m in my school uniform, Elizabeth slung on my back. I usually wear this to bed, but right now… I’ll admit that I do feel slightly overdressed.

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“Oh my! Is that all for us!?” Anna exclaims, hand over her mouth, eyes wide with joy and surprise when she notices the tray of almond biscuits and coffee. “Umm… I suppose that the Codex Rinnah does permit the occasional indulgence! Especially after a hard day’s work…”

“Precisely!” I exclaim triumphantly. “First we feast… then we learn. Shall we?”

“Yes ma’am!”

I bring the tray of coffee and biscuits into Anna’s room, making my way past Ascalon resting on a wall-mounted weapon rack, shelves neatly lined with assorted books and vinyl records of Bard songs. Hand-sewn plushies watch on with crochet eyes as I place the tray on a nearby desk hastily cleared by Anna to make room for our supper.

Good grief! It’s so damn cosy and sharp in here. Kinda reminds me of my apartment back in the city, but neater. And as I look away from the desk, I catch sight of a poster of Eris Aintree in a white gown, brown hair and teal eyes so damn demure in those snowy colours.

“That’s her, Arisa…” Anna says to me, smiling reverently as we stare at the poster together. “Mom got it for me for my birthday last year!”

I nod and flash a smile. This poster was also in her room in the previous timeline, promoting ‘Lucia’ – Eris’ upcoming and soon-to-be greatest (according to her Studio, and Anna) collection of songs. Seeing Eris again, even if only an image of her, untainted, happy, and carefree… just breaks my heart. It really does.

“Umm… shall we?” Anna asks me with a sweet smile, a hand on her cheek and her eyes on the biscuits and coffee. “I’ve been feeling a little peckish ever since evening prayers…”

“Good!” I declare happily. “Eat your fill, and you’ll have all the energy you need to study hard right after! That’s an order from your Healer!”

“Yes ma’am!”

Together, we make quick work of the biscuits and coffee. They’re amazing together, a match made in heaven. The biscuits, dipped in coffee, are soft and filled with flavour, but also not too soft to the point of crumbling into nothingness. It’s just… perfect!

But eventually, like all good things that have to come to an end… we run outta biscuits. Or not – there’s still one biscuit left!

“Go ahead, Arisa!” Anna tells me, smiling and nodding as I look at her. “It’s yours!”

“You sure about that?” I ask in turn, pointing at the lone biscuit. “I mean, look at it…”

“Ahh…”

“Tempted now?”

“Umm… maybe?”

“Heh. Thought so!”

Good grief. I remember having this situation one too many times. And with different groups of people, you gotta do it differently! If it was me and the boys on the rooftop sharing fried chicken, takoyaki, fries… pretty much everything under the setting sun… it’s the fastest hands that win. I’m proud to say that I’ve won more than I’ve lost! On the other hand, with the Student Council, when we get dim sum delivered to the office from that high-class restaurant downtown… it was all about politely refusing that last piece… at least, until everyone else gave up.

But what about us, Anna? Based on what I remember and know of you, both in this timeline and the previous one… if I had to wager a guess…

“Here you go, Arisa!”

I look at the half of the almond biscuit pressed gently into my hand. The other half is already dipped into coffee and devoured by Anna, who smiles ever so sweetly and demurely at me as she watches me do the same to mine. And that’s good enough for me!