Orison | Celeste Academy Series BK #3

Chapter One ۞ Gray Scale

"It's an Aureole. I prefer you stop with your pathetic labeling." He told her loftily, his nose turning up higher by a fraction and a small twitch subtly disturbing the steady line of his lips.

Despite his usually unbearable attitude, Valeriana felt too cheerful to let him disrupt her good mood. Instead, she answered dismissively with an unconcerned tone. "Yeah, yeah alright. Aureeeoooole, whatever it is."

Corvan watched the honey-blonde from the corner of his eyes, observing how taken she was with the small ball of light he had conjured. He never expected he would ever use his power this way. Typically, during combat, an Aureole was supposed to be used as a bomb of some sort. It could exert an unbelievable amount of heat—even cause everything around it to blow up in flames—under the instructions of the user. Once at the peak of its 'radiating' ability, it usually explodes. However, it could be kept under control and he could choose how much heat it should emanate. If it went on that way, it wouldn't detonate and instead just vanish. Of course, if the girl were to ever know that, she would surely freak out and never go near it again—much less be in the same room as it.

"Oh, hey! I brought some drinks! Wanna have some?" She offered. Corvan was about to refuse when Valeriana started rummaging through the knapsack that sat beside her before he could even say anything. She handed him a special, heat-insulating wineskin from the coat of an animal he recognized as the winter goat. With it came a warm liquid he was unsure of.

"What is this?" He inquired, hesitantly accepting it.

"Just drink! I promise it'll be great!" She stated, bringing out one more for herself along with a small, colorful box. The light of his Aureole could not compare to the smile on her face. "You look like you need an ice-breaker." The fifth-ranker laughed, her joke coming unnoticed to the first.

"I do not desire such useless—"

And before he could even finish what he was saying, she was already downing her share and curiously picking on the open box of treats she was given.

"Marcy said these were warm puddings . . . best with the milk." She muttered and picked one off. "I hope they aren't sweet."

Valeriana then closed her eyes and threw the treat inside her mouth, only to find it wide open when she started chewing. With a delighted look, she swallowed and hummed in satisfaction.

"Moist . . . not really sweet. Just a dash of sugar somewhere but it doesn't make me want to vomit." One second later she had stuffed her mouth so much that she was forcibly pulling her lips together. "Mm . . ."

Corvan couldn't help but sigh as he watched. Her azure blue eyes drifted towards his and she held a small square of pudding in front of him, her bulging cheeks and big, round eyes unbearably and unexpectedly adorable for some reason.

Not finding it in him to upset her, he leaned forward and clipped the treat between his teeth. However, his initial plans did not go well as the pudding gave in to the force and crumbled as the part he bit into entered his mouth. He had to bite once again, somewhat gentler, this time stringing along the whole treat. His tongue then brushed along the smooth surface of his lower lip, starting from one corner and slowly trailing towards the other. Valeriana followed his actions with widened eyes and a frozen expression which he mirrored with an untroubled face.

Perhaps Valeriana was unused to seeing this side of him. The sight of her made him grin, causing the girl to snap out of her reverie and instead redden a few shades close to a tomato. Not forgetting she had food stuck between her cheeks, she hastily swallowed that she choked.

He opened the wineskin she had offered him and allowed the liquid to wash past his teeth. He tasted milk, smooth and silky, as he swallowed and felt refreshed and invigorated instantly. Somehow, Valeriana was right regarding the experience of having to drink something warm while in front of the fire, watching the snow float outside the windows of the moving carriage. Something about it was serene and very relaxing. Perhaps a cold climate was not bad at all.