Aero watched the girl with a pleasant and soft expression on his face.
"This… you really live here?" Nazmi asked, turning to look at him again.
Aero gave a single, affirmative nod. "Mn."
Nazmi sighed. Aero really was a man of few words. She glanced back at the large room. "Alone? Just the two of you?"
"…Yes, it's only us here. The house was left to us by our grandparents that raised us," he explained. Before she could ask anymore questions, he motioned to a large red sofa that sat between the walls of books.
Nazmi understood his intent and moved to seat herself. Once her bottom hit the soft, squishy surface, she could feel her entire body relax. All of the tension that had built up over the weeks of travel was finally able to dissipate. Any further questions she had disappeared.
Aero smiled contentedly at her. "What kind of tea do you like?"
"…Do you have elderberry?" Nazmi asked wistfully, her eyes closed.
Aero blinked a few times in surprise. "Wow, you have rare taste. I don't think I've ever even seen an elderberry before."
She absentmindedly ran a hand over the flap of her bag of belongings that was sitting in her lap. Nazmi had brought ripe elderberries to eat, and several seeds with her. She intended on planting them whenever she found a place to call home… but it didn't feel like the right time.
So, she opted for chamomile.
The young woman reopened her curious sage eyes. She turned her head lazily to look at him, "I grew up in a solarium, we fostered a lot of elderflowers – so I figured I would ask just in case. Don't worry, I'll just take chamomile tea instead."
Just as Aero turned toward the open kitchen to grab the kettle, Shea entered through the large door. She had on the same, pleasant smile that she always seemed to maintain.
"I want black tea, too, while you're at it!" she announced. "I'm off to fill the bath, all that riding made me sweaty and gross."
Aero frowned. "Who said I was making you anything?"
"You're so damn whiny," Shea groaned on her way out of the room.
To no one's surprise, though, Aero began preparing another cup of tea despite his complaints. He brought the kettle to a boil using flame conjured in the palm of his hand with no need of using a stove.
After a few minutes, he returned with the two cups in hand. He gently placed the chamomile tea on the small table in front of Nazmi, and the black tea opposite. There was a loveseat on the other side, where he took a seat.
"You didn't brew any for yourself?" Nazmi asked.
The wizard shook his head. "I'm more of a coffee person, but it feels too late to drink coffee right now."
Shea then returned, but to Nazmi's surprise, she had come from a door opposite to the one she had used to exit earlier. The nymph had no chance to think further on it, before the other girl started talking again
The blonde girl had her hair tied up into a loose knot atop her head. She sat beside her brother and gingerly picked up her cup of tea. "Yeah, he likes bitter coffee to match his personality."
If Aero's gaze could kill, his sister would have dropped dead on the spot. Nazmi was thoroughly surprised that he somehow managed to keep his mouth shut. She smiled to herself at the twins' entertaining antics; it made her wonder what life would have been like had she been raised with siblings in the forest like her predecessors.
"I filled the bath. You're welcome to bathe first, Nazmi," Shea stated, taking a sip of her tea. "You're our guest, after all."
"Ah…" Nazmi had been lost in thought. She lowered her cup from her lips after drinking some. "I'm very sensitive to heat, my skin is thin and soft… it would be best if I go last, when the water's not as hot."
"Is that so?" Aero said. The two siblings gave each other a meaningful glance before looking at her empathetically.
"You do take a lot of precautions against the weather, with your hat and taking baths in springs," Shea noted. "I understand, I'll go first and then you can take a bath after my brother."
"That would be perfect," Nazmi agreed. These two had been far more accommodating than she thought anyone would be, especially to someone as socially awkward as herself. She added earnestly, "I really appreciate you guys."
"It's nothing," Shea responded happily.
Aero gave a nod in agreement. "This house is large enough to have several families living in it at once. It feels like a waste for just the two of us to occupy it all the time."
Shea continued idle chit-chat for ten minutes or so while the two finished their tea. Once they were done, she headed off to take her bath. Nazmi watched as the girl walked through yet another door – entirely different from the two she had used before!
"How…" Nazmi started.
Aero chuckled. "It's a wizard's house. There are four or five doors, but none of them have a set destination. When a door is opened, it will open into whichever room you are intending to go to. Sort of like a portal, in a way."
"So I just need to think of a bathroom, and it will take me there?" Nazmi inquired.
"Essentially, yes. It is, of course, limited to rooms that the house possesses. You can't open the door to another house, or location," he elaborated. "When you touch the doorknob, it will tell you all of the options telepathically."
She was completely amazed. This was all such foreign knowledge to her, concepts she had never even considered. "Oh, wow…"
If human wizards were this powerful… what could vampire mages be capable of?
Suddenly, her plan for revenge seemed even further from her grasp. There was so much she needed to learn and to plan… it would take her centuries! Nazmi bit her lip, falling deep into thought. She didn't even notice when Shea returned and Aero took his turn to bathe.