Hot Chocolate from a Prince

Lidiya Savakis

The snow softly crunched underfoot as Lidiya made her way back from the forest. Thanks to the close proximity of the woods to the academy, Lidiya was able to visit the woods almost everyday. And she would. Spending time in the serenity of nature always helped to ground her and soothe her nerves, something that she sorely needed being away from any of her family for the first time in her life. Unfortunately it was still winter so she couldn’t spend as much time out in the forest as she would have liked. Being out for too long in the cold, and Manta Carlos was certainly very cold in the winter, wasn’t that great for your health (or so the books and her mother told her) and what good was a sick doctor (nevermind that she wasn’t even out of middle school yet, let alone an actual doctor)? Anyways, she always felt so sleepy in wintertime and falling asleep in the snowy forest was just begging to get frostbite or even just freeze to death. So back to the dorms it was for Lidiya.

Thanks to the multitude of times she traversed from the academy grounds to the neighboring woods, Lidiya was able to safely make her way back to Starlight Academy without getting lost anymore. Briskly walking through the gates, Lidiya made her way back to the elementary dorms.

An unfortunate side effect of the sleepiness that winter always brought on to her was that her mind always seemed to process things a little bit slower in the cold. And so Lidiya didn’t really notice the giant horse (lady? man?) person yelling until she was only a couple of yards away. Blinking slowly as her mind worked to actually take in what was happening, Lidiya paused and surveyed the table and its occupants. The sign hung on the table proclaimed ‘Free Hot Chocolate!’; though she supposed the fact that the horse person kept yelling “Free hot chocolate~!” could have told her that much as well. Other than the overly exuberant hawker in front of the table, there sat a rather tiny blonde girl behind the table.

Hot chocolate huh? Lidiya was rather cold from her wintery forest excursion, and the sugar in the cocoa would probably help perk up her sleepy mind. Plus the cocoa was free to boot!

Detouring from her route straight back to the dorms, Lidiya headed for the table at the side of the pathway. Rather than interact with the flamboyant (and giant) horse person, she made a bee-line for the quiet girl behind the table. Lidiya didn’t do as well with loud and flashy people. They made her nervous and she was terrified of losing her composure. The shy-looking girl didn’t look like a threat at all (if anything, Lidiya was more worried about hurting her, than the girl scaring her) and so Lidiya would prefer to talk to her instead.

“May I have a cup of cocoa?”

@Kathinja

"One for me as well!" Came the happy chime of a young mans voice though an odd gold ring that had formed suddenly above the shy young girl. Out of the portal came a brown tuft of hair that was followed close by a grinning face. Laetus had heard there was free hot chocolate being given out by a horse lady... This one didn't fit the bill, but lo and behold, she had the hot chocolate. Humans spread such odd rumors.
Laetus wormed his way out of his portal and floated down next to Sylvie and waited for a response to his request. Only then did he notice the woman next to her with the hooves.
"Oh, that's what they meant..." He mumbled before turning his attention and smile back to the cocoa bearer.

Laetus looked surprised. He didn't mean to startle her... that much. Laetus drifted forward on an axis of his waist to 'bend' over and pick up the cup that fell.
"Sorry about that." He said as he floated back toward an upright position, stopping and looking at her when his head got back up to her level.
"Should have thought that one out a bit more. Are you ok, miss?"

The girl seemed surprised and nervous when Lidiya came to talk to her. Lidiya hardly thought she was threatening, or at least she tried not to look like she could hurt people. Well, her expression tended to look somewhat stern most of the time. Maybe she should smile to make the situation more comfortable for the other girl? Okay, she’d give the girl a good smile when she accepted the hot chocolate!

But before that could happen, a large golden ring (a portal?!) popped up above the poor blonde’s head and the sound of a boy’s voice startled both of the girls. Lidiya immediately stiffened up and her face blanked out. She really hated being surprised, it scared her and being scared led to losing control. Luckily for her, she wasn’t holding anything in her hand otherwise she might have crushed it as her hands clenched into fists. Unfortunately for the girl across from her, in her shock the blonde had spilt the hot chocolate with some of it splashing onto her own lap.

Brought out of her own shock by the poor girl’s predicament, Lidiya’s face immediately shifted to a worried expression. The other girl looked ashamed and avoided eye contact as she murmured an apology.

“It’s fine. But are you okay? Did you get burned? I can help heal you if you need it.”

Looking over at the new boy that had appeared out of the ring, Lidiya was glad he seemed apologetic for what had happened.

“It might be a better idea to show up a bit further away from where other people are next time? Or at least not right over them,” she suggested to him slipping into her older sister mode.