Chapter 4:
Myrcella felt quite relaxed once her new roommate left. Finally, she had some peace and quiet to focus on her studies. Whenever she moved into a new dorm, she made sure the servants put her desk together first, since that's where she spent the majority of her time.
She had a cup of coffee next to her and several textbooks out. She was about to start taking an advanced umbramancy course with Professor Telikos. Her brother would also be there, which meant she had to come in extra prepared. She needed to be sure that she was ready to prove Lazarus wrong the first chance she got.
Her notebooks and textbooks were covered in color-coded sticky notes. Her system was too complex to ever be helpful to anyone else, but Myrcella had no intention of ever offering her notes to anyone. If they couldn't focus long enough to glean anything from the class then they didn't deserve to be there in the first place.
Just as she felt that she had been making good strides, the door burst open. Myrcella's head turned and she regretted it immediately. Sephora was hurrying in and rushed over to the desk.
"Myrcie! I'm back! Did you finish studying?" She hugged Myrcella tight; she liked how much easier it was when she was sitting down. Desk hugs were definitely going to be her new favorite.
"Sephora... I was pretty clear in my rules that we are supposed to respect each other's space."
She stood up and pried the siren's arms off of her. Those big bright eyes and that wide smile were unwavering. "There is your bed and my bed. There is your desk and my desk. I put up a schedule on the bathroom door so that you know when I will be using the bathroom and you can work out your own shower times accordingly. If you want to contest any of the times we can adjust the schedule as needed. My servants will be here at 6 AM to prepare breakfast and 8 PM to prepare dinner. If you wish for a plate, then I am happy to accommodate. But when I am at my desk... I need you to respect my space and leave me alone. Is that clear?"
Sephora nodded and smiled. "Crystal! Oh! So the coffee table in front of the OV is communal! I'll be there all of the time so that you can come and sit with me whenever okay?"
Myrcella looked at the table and back at the siren. "Sure... the coffee table is for everyone."
The little siren grinned and went to check out the bathroom schedule. From the other room, Sephora called back to Myrcella.
"Oh, Myrcie! I need to contest your night bathroom times." Sephora grinned to herself at the formality of scheduled bathroom times.
Myrcella raised a brow. "Oh?" She cursed herself for not objecting to that awful nickname...
"Yeah... Well, on full moons, I'll need to be in the tub all night. So those can just be together times. Only full moons that fall on weekdays, though. On weekend full moons, I'll just go home!" Sephora bounded back to Myrcella's desk, careful to stay just out of arm's reach to adhere to Myrcella's strict rules on personal space.
Myrcella nodded. "Alright, you were straightforward. I'll add a note to monitor the full moons. That's nothing that can't be worked around."
Sephora nodded and stood there bouncing happily.
Despite her better judgment, she turned back to her once again and pointed. "What is all this, then?"
"You're at the desk so I can't hug you. But we settled that so peacefully and no shadows went flying. I'm proud of you, Myrcie. When you're done, I owe you a big ol' hug!"
"Excuse me? Just what are you implying?"
"Oh, well, while Lulu and I were getting ice cream, we met our new best guy friend Toby. He said he used to take Debate with you and your big brother and let's just say things got a little too... erm... well... you two just fought a lot and scared some of the kids. But that's just how siblings are. Not me and my big brother though. He just usually lets me do whatever. So that makes winning easy!" She giggled a bit.
Myrcella narrowed her eyes slightly. Oh, so she's gathering intel on me? Clearly, I underestimated her. What else does she think she knows about me? Obviously she has already decided that Lazarus is a weakness of mine. She couldn't be more wrong! But fine... I'll play her little game...
She stood up and smoothed out the sides of her skirt. She looked at the siren and smiled as pleasantly as she could, though it hurt her cheeks almost immediately. "Oh, Debate, yes. Lazarus and I just bring out the best in each other. We push ourselves to new heights. We quickly learned that the others taking the course weren't at our level."
Sephora shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm gonna watch some OV now."
Myrcella raised a brow and suddenly a thought came to her. "Hmm... I'll join you."
"Great!" Sephora remembered her hug debt and quickly paid it.
Myrcella pushed her off and grabbed a legal pad and pen. She took a seat at the couch maintaining a cushion between them.
Sephora had been waving through the Orb Viewer for ages. "There are just too many options."
Myrcella sighed and continued writing in her notepad. "Oh, are there? Maybe if you stayed on a channel for more than half a second you could find something you like."
Sephora giggled and nodded, scooching over a bit onto the cushion between them. "You're right. I'm overthinking it. I'm going to shut my eyes and let the orb do the choosing. Pick a number."
Myrcella needed this to end quickly. "One."
Sephora nodded and shut her eyes tight. She waved her hand once to flip to the channel. She opened her eyes and lit up. "Oh my! I love My Werewolves and Me! I've been watching it since it came up! I'll have to add it to my saves on here."
Myrcella looked at the screen. Oh gods, not this show... It was a romance drama, but what made it dreadful was that there was no cohesive plot driving the series through. It wasn't episodic either. Each episode picked up where the last left off, but only by a thread.
Sephora was fully immersed. "Kai is definitely my favorite character! He is going to do whatever he needs... To Save. His. Pack."
Myrcella pinched the bridge of her nose. "I've never met any werewolves, but I suppose there must be accuracy to how loyal packs are. That seems to be a constant in their portrayals."
Sephora nodded vigorously. "Oh for sure. And they're just like me because I love my pod and full moons are really important!"
"Ah yes, what happens to sirens on the full moon?"
Sephora giggled and blushed furiously. She shook her head. "You know I can't actually tell you that. No one's supposed to know... well it's really weird I guess. Everyone knows, but a siren can't actually say it out loud."
Then it can't actually be common knowledge. What is this girl's angle? 'Everyone knows?' She must think that she is so clever with all these thinly-veiled insults, but I'm not fooled for a moment!
"Yes, of course not."
The show continued. Kai, the white-haired runt werewolf, was currently travelling to dump a suitcase into a volcano, and after he slid down past lava flows, there was the show's obligatory make out session.
Myrcella went wide-eyed. "What?! I have now sat through three episodes and this Lee has appeared out of nowhere. Why are they kissing now? Why is that how they choose to close out the episode every time?"
Sephora nodded and giggled. "Yeah. I don't know why because Kai definitely is in love with Alex. They kiss at the end of most episodes. But he just saved the day and Alex is in a sleep coma at home that hasn't been undone. So we'll just have to see who they want Lee to be: either his new sidekick or nemesis."
Myrcella put down her legal pad and took her orb out. "Hmm, the next episode is called 'Friend or Foe' so I guess they haven't decided yet." She quickly cursed herself for engaging in this nonsense for even a moment.
It was time for her first phase of mental warfare to take place. She left the pad on the coffee table and stood up.
"Well, it's my bathroom time, so I am going to freshen up for the evening and be back in a bit."
Sephora nodded and waved. "Okay, have fun."
Myrcella came out after a fresh shower. She had carried out her thorough skin care regimen and changed for the evening. She wore a gothic mesh lace two-piece.
"So are we still watching this?"
Sephora stood up, holding the notepad. Myrcella was secretly elated, but maintained a neutral expression. Ha, clearly not as good at getting away with it. Now while she thinks she has secret intel to bring back to her father, it's all false!
"So don't be mad, but I couldn't help but see what you were working on. You're just so mysterious. Anyway, I didn't really follow a lot of it, but it seems like you're doing a lot of good work looking into stuff for your dad. I just noticed some errors and I corrected them for you. That would have been really embarrassing if you were all serious and professional but then all anyone could focus on was that you ended with a preposition. I'm gonna freshen up too. Then we should definitely watch more OV."
"You... do that."
Myrcella furiously read through the fake letter and looked over Sephora's notes. Whether or not she had remembered any of the bait information... she was right. All of her suggestions and corrections were accurate and that upset her much more than anything else.
"Wow, I feel so much better after that bath. I just love when my tail gets a chance to come around again."
"There is a pool, you know. Several of them." Myrcella said. She had moved back to her desk.
Sephora was at Myrcella's side in record time. "Oh! Let's go! You have to take me! Let's go right now. Please, please please!"
Myrcella looked at her and sighed. "No. It's much too late. And there is no supervision. Besides, we have our first classes tomorrow. Don't you want to be well rested for them?"
Her smile hadn't fallen at all. It was clear she was just waiting for Myrcella's lips to stop moving so that she could get back to her point. "This is my first night away from home. I can't sleep knowing that there is water so close that I could be in. Please, Myrcie!"
Myrcella sighed and stood up. "...Fine. You can swim. I'll take you there. If you want to ruin your fresh bath, that's your prerogative."
She stood up from her desk to make a portal. Sephora went wide-eyed. "I thought we'd have to walk all the way there!"
The mage shook her head. "No. I just made a portal for you to go swimming. I have a little reading to do before I turn in. Don't be too long, I won't hesitate to close the portal on you."
It wouldn't be the longest walk back, but Sephora was still getting to know the academy. "I won't! Promise!"
Once Sephora got inside the pool, she was a bit disappointed. It wasn't the largest body of water. She had managed to circle the pool so many times she lost count. It just made her miss home.
"Myrcie!" She called out through the portal.
"Didn't I carry out my end of the bargain?"
"I need you to come here... I can't get out!"
Myrcella sighed and put a bookmark in her textbook before closing it and turning around. She was a bit surprised. She had never actually seen a siren's tail before. It was so large. The scales had a teal shimmer that matched Sephora's hair. It was a lovely sight... although it might have been a more graceful display if Sephora wasn't struggling and grunting to get out of the pool.
"Stop that. I'm coming." She shook her head and grabbed a towel from the bathroom to bring with her through the portal.
She walked on the cold, wet floor and stood in front of Sephora. "Grab my hand."
With a bit of effort, Myrcella managed to help Sephora back onto the ground. She handed her the towel. "Am I done serving you, yet?"
Sephora tapped her chin and giggled... "Hmmm... ooooor... you could wait with me until my legs come back?"
She sighed and took a seat on one of the benches. "Don't get used to this. I just know first nights can be difficult especially for someone like you."
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing too bad. I just think that you are going to learn a lot at the academy."
"That's the plan, Stan!"
There she goes again with that smile. Has she ever even had a bad day? "Don't say that ever again."
"No promises!"