Pride & Humility

XXVIII

She didn't know what he needed the information for, and she didn't ask.

Of course she wanted to know—the man was a GENIUS at alchemy and it looked like he was getting ready to have her assist in some MAJOR alchemy—but she also knew Selim would tell her if he could. The fact that he didn't mean that Elizabeth wasn't supposed to know, yet.

Whatever it was, Elizbaeth was beyond stoked to find out.

Selim reached forward, helping Elizabeth onto her feet. She wobbled for a minute, her grip tightening on Selim's arm. His shadows gently picked up her discarded over jacket and he helped her get dressed. Grandpapa thoughtfully tapped his chin, staring off into the distance as he pondered things unknown.

"Elizabeth?" Grandpapa inquired.

"Yes, Grandpapa?" Elizabeth asked.

"Have you done deep meditation?" he asked.

"A few times," Elizabeth admitted.

"Start it up again. Try to set aside a few hours every day for it now," he instructed her.

"Yes, Grandpapa," Elizabeth said, managing to do a graceless curtsy.

"Take her back up, Pride. I have work to do now," Grandpapa dismissed, turning away and walking over toward his work bench that was sprawled with complex alchemic diagrams.

Selim easily lifted Elizabeth up with his shadows. The child might have protested at another time, but her legs didn't work terribly well with a nerve blocker. It would be a few more hours before it wore off. Hopefully Papa won't ask for a spur of the moment training session. Elizabeth didn't think she'd be able to put up any kind of fight.

"Oh, um... Lust called me last night," Elizabeth mentioned to Selim as he carried her up the stone steps.

Selim scowled at that. "What did she want?"

"She was just letting me know that Nina and Alexander arrived safely and there are presently no signs of a rebound," Elizabeth explained, then paused. "She also wanted to tell you she bought both of us new clothes."

Selim's glowered darkened, and he irritably muttered, "Of course she did."

Now, Pride and Lust were fond of one another. They were the oldest siblings, and both were highly intelligent creatures.

That being said, the two were siblings, and siblings who enjoyed tormenting each other at that. It wasn't hard for Elizbaeth to pick up on this, because while Selim huffed and puffed, there was no genuine heat behind his mutters. His eyes didn't darken with malice like it would when he was truly angry. He didn't ooze murderous intent, nor make any moves to retaliate.

She could see the little clues, and she could correctly piece together that Selim care for his sister.

And so, Elizabeth chose to love Lust as best she could.

Which came rather easily due to Lust's genius with engineering and her charismatic personality. Elizabeth already had a deep respect for Lust.

A low gurgle escaped Elizabeth's stomach and she blushed brightly.

"Right... time to feet you, then," Selim snorted, a wry smile tugging on his lips.

"Yeah... food sounds nice," Elizabeth bashfully agreed.

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(Pride)

It was a simple matter to pass Elizabeth off as feeling unwell to hide the use of the nerve blockers. He tucked her into bed, and Mrs. Bradley wasted little time in preparing a homely soup and sitting with Elizabeth.