Sun awoke to the sounds of activity nearby and reluctantly opened her eyes. It took her a second to remember where she was and why she was there. The blankets bunched around her were ridiculously comfortable, and she didn't really want to get up. She could vaguely recall Kalys tucking the blankets around her, and she scrunched her face up. 'Kalys' and 'tucking her in' did not go together. That seemed far too close to a level of coddling she would never ascribe to him.
But regardless, he had done it. And she could admit to being grateful for it, if only to herself. She stood up and stretched out her limbs, stiff from the dead sleep she'd had.
A scream beside her had her screaming back in fright. The cook—Millie, if she remembered rightly—realised it was her at the same time Sun realised who she was, and they both stood there, calming their beating hearts.
"Apologies, my lady," she gasped out, hand on her chest. "I didn't know you were down here."
"No, no, my fault. Sorry."
Bloody hell, she had been startled, and all she'd done was scream. What a terrible Revenant she would make... Best to keep this little incident to herself. How embarrassing.
"Did you... sleep down here?" The cook asked.
"No, why?" It was out of her mouth before she thought better of the lie.
Millie was looking down at something, and Sun followed her gaze to the pile of blankets on the floor.
"Oh, then yes," she said, bending down to collect her blankets. "You have a lovely cellar."
She gathered up the blankets and headed for the stairs, offering the woman a polite smile despite the burning in her cheeks.
"And you make fantastic food; you're very talented. Have a good day."
Sun scurried up the stairs before she could make a bigger dickhead of herself. The kitchen staff were already there preparing the food, and they threw odd looks her way as she weaved her way through with an armful of blankets. She knew Kalys allowed them to use the ingredients from Illusen stores to make their breakfasts as well, which was one of the reasons they started so early.
She hurried back to her room, where Mika was waiting.
"There you are," she smiled pleasantly.
"You're earlier than usual," Sun noted.
Sun was up earlier than usual too.
"I thought we'd get a jump start on the day."
"Do we have to?"
"Oh, Sun," she said with amused exasperation as she booped her nose. "What were you doing with your blankets?"
"Taking them for a walk," she replied, sarcasm oozing from her tone.
"And what are your plans for the rest of the day?"
"I have that Midwinter thing to make some headway in, then I was going to meet the boys in the afternoon."
Not being limited to the academy grounds was amazing. In what spare periods they all had that synched up, the boys had taken her to explore the town and the areas surrounding it. On one side it was all forest, and on the other it was mostly farms and flatlands. They spent a lot of time walking through the woods and exploring. They'd even found a large pond with a little wooden jetty, but none of them knew how to swim. Still, it had been a nice place to spend an hour or two. The three of them waded in the freezing water, tried to skip rocks, and attempted to catch the fish they could see before it all devolved into a splash fight. Which she won. Her control over water wasn't great, but it was strong. Most of the time. The water had been freezing though, but not iced over yet at that point.
Nick had suggested they go again and spend the afternoon with some food, and the other two were keen. Time away from the rest of the world with no tasks, chores, or lessons, it sounded like a dream. Even as children, they'd had the near constant threat of danger and starvation to worry about; that hadn't left a lot of time for things like this. They had street scams to run, food to scrounge up, each other to look out for...
As far as food went, Sun was going to dig some up from the kitchens and stuff it in her pack before meeting the boys.
That was the part of the day she was looking forward to.
-
After a few gruelling hours with the planners, Sun was finally released. Her first stop was her room so she could grab her pack, and then the kitchen so she could stuff it full of food. When she got there, the kitchen staff stopped what they were doing and looked at her expectantly. Was this about this morning?
She had been hoping they'd be too busy to notice her and she could just sneak in and take stuff they didn't need.
"My lady," the cook greeted. "Can I help you with something?"
"I was just hoping I could grab some food... to... take away, if that's ok?"
"What kind of food were you thinking?" One of the other cooks asked.
"My friends and I were planning to eat outside, away from here."
"Oh, like a picnic?"
Sun had never heard that word in her life. "Picnic?"
"Have a seat, my lady; we'll whip something up."
"That's not necessary; I don't want to add to your workload..."
"Nonsense," she said with a smile, ushering her over to a stool. There was something almost motherly about it.
In about ten minutes, the woman placed a wicker basket in front of her and Sun looked at it confused. She watched as the woman opened the flaps to reveal sandwiches, containers of chopped fruit, muffins, and more buried underneath she couldn't see.
"This is a picnic?" Sun asked, receiving a nod and smile in return. "Thank you so much."
"If you give us a bit of warning next time, we can make something a little more fitting."
"No, this is amazing; thank you. And I'm sorry again about this morning."
"Oh, think nothing of it. Run along now," she said, shooing her from the kitchen.
Sun took the basket, calling out another thank you as she ran for the front door. She was far better at navigating the place now. When she got to the door, she found her brother dressed in his Revenant uniform and looking like he was just about to step out.
"Are you working today?" She asked. Being in his presence always made her feel so awkward and nervous.
He gave a nod, looking her up and down. "You look... rested."
"I'm feeling much better today, thank you."
"Where are you going?"
"A picnic with the boys," she replied, bracing herself for that flash of displeasure whenever she mentioned them. At least he hadn't tried to stop her associating with them. That was a battle she'd never give up fighting. Maybe he knew it too and so had never bothered.
"Have a good day," she said, quickly ducking out the door.
He followed her out, and with a silent parting look, he disappeared from sight. She'd felt a flash of his aura before it disappeared too. Even the instructors at the academy didn't move as fast as he just had. She wondered if she could get him to teach her that as well.
She met the boys in town, her face splitting into a grin and she practically skipped up to them.
"What's that?" Zen asked, his chin jutting to the basket in her hands.
"The cooks made food."
He looked mildly pained as he lifted the flap and saw what was inside. "That looks fucking good."
"So why do you look so unhappy about it?"
"Zen has a date and won't be coming with us," Nick told her.
Suns eyes widened. "A date? With who?"
"Just a girl from around," he shrugged. "I'm meeting her here."
None of them had been on a date before. Did he even know what he was doing?
"What are you guys going to do on your date?"
He shrugged again. "She asked me out. Doesn't that mean she should have the plan?"
"This is so freaking cute," she said, looking to Nick. "Our baby's all grown up."
Zen rolled his eyes, shoving his hands into his pockets as Nick snickered.
"Zen!"
They looked to the voice where a girl was jogging towards them. She was smiling up at him, her eyes flitting to Sun and Nick.
"Sun, Nick, this is Melody. Melody; Sun and Nick," Zen introduced.
"Are we double dating?" She asked.
Zen shook his head. "They have their own plans. I'll see you guys later."
He started walking and Melody waved to them as they left.
"Abstinence is the best protection!" Nick called after them.
"Make good choices!" She added.
Zen flipped them off while they grinned at him.
Once they rounded the corner, she looked to her friend. "You still want to have a picnic in the cold?"
He didn't do as well in it as she did.
"Definitely," he smiled. "Let's go."