Be Yourself and Enjoy Life (Bolt)

Adelene nodded for a next time, and for it not being tomorrow. She had work for the next day, which meant she was going to be busy.

She was quick to finish her wine, but by then she was already entirely red, because of the spiciness of their dish. She took one box of milk and poured some on her glass, so she could wash the spiciness up with it. She watched Leon look at his phone, curiosity obvious in her eyes. And then she smiled back at him.

"I can take them back to my room, no problem. You can always visit anyway, as long as I'm around. Good thing I have my own fridge too."

She also finished the rest of the food on her plate, and then had to drink some milk again because... it was really, really spicy. She finished a few moments after Leon and also immediately fixed the dishes she used, stacking them with his.

"Twenty minutes?" she repeated, before looking at her wrist watch. She flinched, and abruptly pulled her pouch to her front, before pulling something from the inside. "I almost forgot to give you this!"

She took Leon's hand and shakily pressed her own against it, before slowly letting go of what it held. It was a black chain necklace, long enough so Leon could hide it under his clothes if ever he decided to wear it. The blackness wasn't paint, rather it was the natural material of the metal used, and on it hung a small cylindrical glass vial, with a five-millimeter diameter and a height of one centimeter. There was thick liquid inside, colored red. When Adelene pulled away, she had to force herself not to turn red again, because she was really feeling shy about this gift, and nervous that Leon might not like it.

"I wanted to give you something too, but I'm not good in making things, unlike you so... I asked some help from my boss. He's a blacksmith and a mage, and he made that," she explained. "The liquid is a very effective healing potion. He'd make more if he could but he said it wasn't even close to easy. I hope nothing happens but if there comes a time when you... when you're almost dying, or when someone's almost dying and you have no more ways to heal, drink that, or make the injured person drink that. You said you're a mage knight, right? And you'll eventually have to devote yourself to one person. I want you to keep that so... so we can both be more reassured of your safety. Please accept it..."

"Technically... my boss made it." Adelene was still a little nervous, but a small smile came back to her lips as Leon wore the gift. It suited him, for some reason. Even though black didn't seem to be his color. "I'm glad you like it. Don't worry about the glass, it's really hard to break. It looks good on you too."

She cleared her throat. Now that she's done, she didn't know what else to do with the twenty minutes they still had. She actually had two more hours, but if Leon had to go, then there's no reason to stay. "Uh... are we still going to so that game you said? Or should we just head back to clean up in the classroom? Oh, it's fine though, I could do all that by myself later if you have to leave soon. I still have two hours before my next class."

She shifted a little, glancing back at the picnic basket and the food they had left. Honestly, it was probably too much to eat if she's alone, because eating alone is not fun nor enjoyable. But she had no one else to share it to either.

"Leon, do you want to just take some of this tomorrow? I'm pretty sure it's still okay by tomorrow and... I don't really have other friends to share this food with. They'll go bad if I take them all by myself."

"Oh, r-right..." Adelene didn't know if it was even possible for her to get even more embarrassed. So she misunderstood..? That's good, no trouble then. But she was really feeling uncomfortable about not understanding Leon fully, to the point that she was unconsciously curling up to a ball and hugging her knees so she could hide her face.

And then she decided to leave that topic be and move on to the next. "It's true, no friends... I thought I mentioned it yesterday... I haven't..?" she asked, though her face was hidden behind her knees and her voice might not get out fully. "I trained with someone once... But we're not really close. Never got to talk to him again after that one time."

She cleared her throat and slowly uncurled. Her face was still burning, so she tried to avoid eye contact. It felt awkward. "So... Shall we go?"

Adelene yelped. Wow, Leon was do full of hugs and... well... she had to push him away after the second one. "I... uh... I'm not that used to so many hugs, okay? And don't worry, I'm okay... Just really embarrassed, to be honest..." She took his hand though. That one was probably okay, it made her feel secured without feeling suffocated with unlimited hugging. She won't mind one or two but Leon's already had his way on her the whole day.

She stayed close on their way back. She was wondering if she and Leon were really going to be friends from now on. She really meant it when she said she had none. "Um... So Leon... how can we keep in touch? I mean... You know my dorm room but I'm planning to move out soon, and I have no idea how to find you if I need to."

She was so not used to this. She felt so awkward and nervous because she's never tried things like this with someone else before. Well, she trusted that she'll be fine with her new friend in a few days.

"Of course! I had fun. It's my first time in years to hang out with someone! Because, well... before, I was usually just stuck in the house. I had one friend once but... things didn't go well. And then after that I've been traveling to different places until I came here." Adelene was taking care of the things they used in the towers, and also putting the clean stuff and the knives back to their places. Organized the classroom and such. And then she walked towards Leon, wondering if she could help him with the dirty dishes. "Oh, I guess the home address is enough. I... I don't have a phone. Never really thought I'd need one."