Doves and Peacocks
After Class
Hollia was polite enough to keep the news under wraps thereafter, but in the meantime the two could not decide when to own up to it to the public, so the day of the reveal was postponed to later and later weeks until it seemed they were intent on letting them figure it out themselves.
In time, their classmate Vesta began to notice that they were always among the last to depart from the classroom. Now to Vesta--being the terribly percipient person she was--there was, and had always been, only one possible explanation, but now that she was this close to confirming her suspicions, she decided she ought to make the efforts to do so.
Every day for almost two weeks, she hung back after the last class to increasingly later times, and found the two were always there longer than most anyone else, pretending not to notice each other. Two weeks into her routine, the moment finally came when she found herself alone with the both of them. She slipped onto her knees behind the desk and watched over its edge.
Ruthenia had been asleep at her desk, but when the guard came by to unmake the Thread lights for the evening, she woke and sprang out of her seat, glancing about till she noticed Aleigh.
With a smile she waved at their blond classmate from across the classroom. He turned to look in Vesta’s general direction, and she almost squeaked, but she simply dipped under the table.
While Ruthenia slung her bag on her shoulder and began stuffing her books inside, Aleigh crossed the classroom. He laid a hand upon Ruthenia’s desk, bowing towards her with a smile unlike any he’d ever smiled before.
Ruthenia exclaimed when she looked up to find him a few inches away, dropping the book she held. She could do nothing but beam stupidly at him for a while, until he whispered something, and they sank together for a long kiss.
“Oooooooh, I knew it,” Vesta couldn’t help cooing from the back of the classroom.
They leapt apart and turned. “Vesta!” answered Ruthenia, almost angrily, as they caught their breaths, but before she could continue, Aleigh tugged on her hands and she melted and obliged, meeting him for another kiss.
Ruthenia pulled out of it laughing in a way Vesta had never heard before. “Why are you so good at this?”
“Why do you enjoy it so much?” he answered, grinning like someone else entirely. Ruthenia thrust him against the wall and grabbed his collar to yank him towards her, so their next kiss was preluded by a gasp.
By now Vesta had propped her chin up on her desktop and was covering her eyes as often as she was parting her fingers to watch. She watched as Aleigh began kissing Ruthenia’s neck, and then lower, where her collar parted, top button loose. She giggled protests of “stop that!” and “that tickles!” but altogether seemed not to mean it. They stumbled back towards the desk and only stopped when Ruthenia almost knocked it over.
Vesta watched them stare at each other, laughing, dishevelled and winded. It wasn’t a surprising look on Ruthenia, but the Arcane Prince did not look at all like himself with half his hair hanging loose from his ribbon and both cuffs unfolded.
She watched them pull apart and finally turn to the third person in the room as if finally remembering she was there, both of them flushed and laughing as if heavily drunk.
“Sorry you had to see that,” said Ruthenia breathlessly.
“What will Astra do when they find out?”
“Nothing pleasant for either of us,” answered Aleigh with a sigh. “Vesta, please, do not speak of this to anyone.”
Vesta nodded mutely, wondering if she had half the self control that would take.