New World

20 | Little Talks

Lila sat with Kit for a while at around seven o'clock in the evening, the sky going dark gradually, leaving the room to be lit by dull warm light of her witchlight. She wore another of Jessamine's dresses, floor-length and made of what appeared to be cotton. It was pale blue, short-sleeved though they were still puffy. It had a deep rounded neckline, showing off her necklace she'd had since she was born. There was a black line of velvet around the neckline of the dress and around the waist, except around the waist it was long ribbon tied at the back. Jessamine's dresses seemed to be a few of the only outfits in the Institute which almost properly fit her. It was slightly baggy at the back and trailed on the ground, but it didn't bother her.

She glanced over at Kit from where she sat in an armchair beside his bed. He blinked tiredly before he looked to her, shadows beneath his eyes. He coughed and sat up.

"Water," Kit said quietly.

Lila looked around and found the water pitcher on the table beside the bed. She stood and grabbed a cup from the side, one Livvy had left before she'd gone to the parlour with Ty. She filled it with water and then handed it to Kit carefully, making sure he wouldn't drop it.

"Any more?" Lila asked, seeing Kit had finished the cup.

He shook his head.

"Do you remember Ty and Livvy talking to you?" Lila asked, sitting back down.

Kit nodded. "Why?"

"Just asking. It's a good sign, I think." It was quiet for a moment. Then Lila took a breath and said, "Are you going to leave?"

"I..."

"It's just that in Limehouse I thought you were going to leave. Ty and Livvy did, too. And you can go, you don't have to stay," Lila said quickly. "I can tell you're not very happy with us—"

"I am happy with you," Kit said. He coughed and quickly said,"With you and Ty and Livvy."

"It's your choice to stay or leave. Just because you're happy doesn't mean you don't want to leave," Lila told him. Her dark hair was left down, shadows beneath her eyes.

"But I thought you were going to leave? Like Ty wants to go to the Scholomance?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what I want to do anymore. Maybe I'll just go to the Academy."

"That's somewhere I couldn't go," Kit told her. "I don't even have basic training. I'd be so far behind you."

It was quiet for a few moments. Lila was twisting her rings around her fingers.

"I won't tell you not to go to the Academy. If you want to go, you can go. You have to put yourself first sometimes, not always Livvy and Ty. Sometimes people don't want you to go, but that's because they know they'll miss you."

"Ty and Livvy would miss me—"

"Your whole family would miss you." And then Kit spoke without thinking. "I'd miss you."

Lila paused twisting her rings. She rose her eyebrows. "You would?" She asked, looking up to him.

"Yeah, but like I said, I don't want to stop you from leaving if you want to—"

"I'll think about it," she said then, looking at him with a slight smile. She glanced over the waves of pale blond locks of hair, the face of the boy who made her happy. "I'll consider it for a while. Not because of you, or Livvy or Ty, but because the Academy, I've just realised, is probably full of assholes."

And in the midst of the tiredness and Kit's concussion, Kit laughed. Lila smiled slightly, and ended up laughing too as Kit laughed more. He ended up doubling over the blankets, Lila tucking her hair behind her ear as she laughed. She didn't entirely know what was funny, but Kit's laughter made her laugh too.

The door opened then and Magnus walked in. The pair didn't stop laughing. Magnus shook his head at the pair as the door closed behind him.

"Bedlam," he muttered. He walked over to the counter where there were the items Lila, Ty, Livvy and Kit had bought from Hypatia Vex. "Not that either of you probably care, but the antidote to the binding spell is ready. We should be ready to leave for Idris tomorrow."