Unplanned meetings among the trees [Private / Zoey]

Zoey looked at the sky. It didn't look like the rain would keep waiting for very long. She had no idea how long it would take to stop though. But she couldn't send Leila away in the rain could she? She never actually invited someone inside her own house before, let alone someone she just met.

"Um... yes, the rain is going to intensify soon. I don't want to send you through that" As to strengthen her words the drizzle that was falling suddenly bursted into a slow but certain rainfall.

"Eh... Let's get in quickly!" She said as she quickly grabbed her key and stopped it into the keyhole. A few moments the door opened and Zoey stepped inside. Then quickly made way and waved for Leila to come in too.

Once inside it was a very simplistic house. Zoey actually never really bothered to decorate the place much for two reasons. Firstly, The money she had was necessary for basic needs, like food. Lastly even if she had the money she spend almost no time here except eating or sleeping. So it would be wasted anyway. In the small hallway there was a small stairs that went up to her bedroom. If one ignored that there was a simple coat rack with three heads on it. Looking further there was a door that lead to the small kitchen.

Leila honestly didn't mind the rain at all. It was refreshing and in the worst possible scenario, she would be capable of growing a little tree in the shape of umbrella for herself. Naturally Zoey didn't know any of that, hence why she was in such a hurry to get inside of her house and get the two of them from the street that was slowly starting to get covered with the dots of wetness from the incoming rainfall.

"As a wizard, rain like this would be the least of my worries. But if since you're insisting, I don't mind going inside for a little bit~" Her tone was playful as she hopped inside through the door and took a small look around. It was a cute little house, maybe a little bit lacking in the furnishing department. But it certainly had everything that was required for a living, and that was the main thing. And perhaps Zoey could be one of those people that believed in the phrase 'Home is where one's heart is'. It wasn't that bad of a line and surely held a little bit of a truth to it.

Spotting the coat racket, Leila shrugged to herself as she started removing the one she was wearing, which took a little bit of time considering all of the little details it had on it. It really was outfit that was meant to be worn for the whole day when you put it on. But leaving it on her body would surely be rude, and just like that, one of the coat racket's arms was now decorated with an actual coat that was of a deep midnight blue color with pleasant crimson on the inside. Left in a short skirt and her blouse, Leila gently smiled at her host with anticipation in her eyes. "Alrighty, what now?"

She was wondering if this girl maybe had some board games or something like that. Or if she just planned for the two of them to talk for the duration of the rain outside. Or she didn't have any plans at all and would have to make some in panic right now. That thought was somewhat adorable as Leila imagined Zoey running around in panic. The concept was horrible, but image of that sweet and cute girl was the opposite, filling Leila's heart with a pleasant warmth.

Zoey wasn't sure what to think about the tone of Leila's voice. But at least she wasn't against it. She could see the other girl look around the room, even if there wasn't much to see. Since aside from the simple coat rack and stairs the only other thing was the door to the kitchen. She waited patiently for Leila to finish with her coat before continuing.

"Eh... Let's see. We could prepare some food for this lunch?" She said as she opened the door to the kitchen and entered it. She waited inside again for Leila to enter as well. The kitchen was about as basic as the entry hall was. A table with four chairs two at each side of the table and a sink with a little work space aside. A small oven also was made on the other side of the kitchen. A door on the opposite side of the kitchen in comparison of the oven and sink led to a very small cellar which Zoey used as a storage area.

"Ah... Please sit down, What do you want to drink." She didn't really have much though. Just water and some fruit juices. Maybe she could still find a few bottles of wine from when father was alive, but she doubted it. She certainly was sure she didn't have any wine glasses though. She remembered her father sometimes drank wine here, but he only drank beer somewhere else. So she didn't think there was any here.

It was pretty clear that Zoey didn't have many quests in this house yet. And not because of how it looked, it was more about what she said. Leila had to chuckle a little at that suggestion but nodded at the same time. "Sure, that sounds good. But I have to warn you, I'm only good at making very simple meals. So it might all be on you in the end..."

Why was it so strange? Well, a request like that was pretty rare. Normally you would try to entertain your quest in some manner and suggesting cooking was simply something that Leila have not yet heard, not read about. But it was still fine nonetheless. It was all simply surprising, catching the silver-haired girl off-guard. And so, she followed Zoey into the kitchen where she took a little look around as well.

It really was simple, but that was also something that Leila was used to. As she didn't have a permanent home per say, she always spent her night below the starts next to the road or in a hotel room. Both usually provided little in terms of luxury and possibilities to make good meals. Sure, hotels provided some services in that area, but when you had nothing more than a sleeping bag and a campfire, it was way harder to prepare something. Hence why Leila only really knew how to cook something very simple.

As Zoey said, she seated herself and glanced at her host who was seemingly looking for some beverages as she waited for her answer. "Anything's fine, I'm not picky at all. So I'll leave the choice up to you." She was fine with water or anything else. Travelers usually didn't have the luxury of choosing anyway and once again, that made this girl capable of consuming just about any liquid, as long as it wasn't poison or something similar to that.

Poison and something made out of vegetables, that is. If there was something that Leila hated, it was vegetables. Their taste was simply horrible and she always had the tendencies to throw up after consuming some. It was rather unfortunate, but in that manner, she was more of a carnivore rather than herbivore. But that didn't seem to matter right now, as she didn't see any vegetables being made into drinks around here.

"eh wait a minute."Zoey entered the cellar and started to search for whatever kind of beverage she could find. Apple juice... Water. Just as she was about to give up her quest for wine she found a bottle of white wine sitting in the corner of a large cupboard. Now she only had to find some glasses to substitute for the wine glasses she didn't had. When she thought about that, she remembered that they had rather small glasses that could work as well. Especially because she didn't want to become drunk in the middle of the day. She had no idea what the tolerance of the other girl was but one or two glasses wouldn't hurt now would it?

She really should get some more beer, but frankly since she never drank a lot here it probably would just lay down there. So maybe that wasn't really the brightest idea. She began to see why her father usually went to a local establishment to drink and not just bring it all home.

Zoey arrived upstairs after what must have been about 5-7 minutes. She quickly went towards where the glasses were and placed one in front of Leila and another one the other side of the rather small table. She first placed some wine in Leila's glass and then in hers.

"Luckily I found this."She said while doing giving Leila wine with a smile. At least she was able to find something decent to give to Leila. After this glass they should probably start to cook though. It wasn't something you could do well while drunk.

Leila nodded to Zoey's words, waiting patiently in her seat, staying nearly completely still. While her host was gone, she had a little bit more time to look around. But there truly was not that much to see. It made Leila actually wish even more success to her new friend in the life of mage. It may have been pretty hard and ruthless life, but it also paid pretty good. And if Zoey was to succeed in becoming a powerful wizard, she would eventually get money to recreate this house easily. The only question was if she would actually do so, if she had the means. From the state of this house, it actually looked as if she did not spent that much time here to begin with. And why would anyone bother furnishing house that served as no home? Well, to find answer to that question, she would have to wait quite a while. It always took rather long for anyone to get anywhere in the world of magic.

And then, Zoey returned from the cellar, holding something that quite surprised her. She was expecting much less, even maybe just nothing more than simple water. But wine? That was something else completely. They were not exactly using the correct glasses, but that hardly mattered. Though they could hold less than the actual wine glasses. Of course, that only meant that they would have to refill them more often. And while Zoey didn't seem to drink all that much, Leila had no problem with any number of glasses. Her body was rather special and different from humans, allowing her to drink nearly as much as she coul possible want without truly getting all that drunk. It was quite amazing, really. "I'm thankful for your hospitality. Though I would not guess that you're old enough to be drinking, heh."

Zoey pulled open a few of the drawers and searched a little in them. After about 4 drawers she found what she was looking for a simple corkscrew to open that bottle of wine. She could simply open it otherwise, but she wasn't going to destroy part of the bottle just to get a little drink out of it. If only that would make even more a mess of the place it already was and she really didn't like that.

"Oh? You're not an adult yet?" She asked hesitatingly? She clearly acted way more mature than Zoey did. She sure didn't want to force someone else to drink alcohol if she didn't want to drink it, but she did say earlier that it didn't matter what she took out so this confused Zoey a little bit. Zoey was old enough, even if she doesn't act like it.

"Eh, should I go find something else?" She asked, rather unsure if she should start pouring or not. If not they could always put the cork back on the bottle and just fetch a bit of water. This was starting to get awkward and Zoey had no idea how to deal with that. Why did she come back upstairs with wine again?

Zoey probably misunderstood Leila's words there a little, which resulted in the silver-haired woman waving her hands in panic in front of her face. "No, no, I'm totally old enough! I've been for a bit now, actually. And I do like alcohol for that matter, though I can never really get drunk because of how my body is. What I was saying is... that you looked younger than me, so I wasn't sure that you were adult yet. But I guess that was stupid of me, given the fact that you live alone... sorry."

Scratching the back of her head with an apologetic smile, Leila sighed a little and waited if Zoey would indeed pour. And if she did, she eagerly consumed the liquid without a second thought. It wasn't like wine was dangerous in any way either, there was plenty of liquids that had way more alcohol in them than wine. This was more like a sweet drink for her than something she could get drunk from. And hopefully the misunderstanding was cleared out now, which would allow for this little event to continue smoothly. And to avoid any further talk about drinking that could get a bit weird, she tried to change the topic as well.

"Don't take this in a negative way, but you're quite strange Zoey. Not being a member of any guild and living alone as well while still looking this young... well, rather than saying strange, I should probably call you amazing. I don't know any other people on your rank that would be capable of living completely alone." It was probably a weird compliment, but it was the truth. Guilds often supported their members, helping them pay the rent and all. But this girl, she appeared to be all alone. Impressive, yet sad at the same time.

While Leila's story sounded a little strange she was glad that at least her epic quest for wine the cellar wasn't for nothing. It felt a little sad when she told it like that though. Like Leila expected her to be a helpless child. It was kind of expected though, guess she looked younger than she actually was even though she was roughly 10 cm larger than Leila was.

Without showing any of her emotions she would start to pour the wine, first one in Leila's glass and then one in her own. But then Leila started to talk about Zoey's situation. It's true it wasn't easy living alone in a house like this. But that wasn't the hard part to about talking about this house.

"It's no big deal..." She waited a moment contemplating if she should explain further. When realizing this couldn't really hurt she did so.

"I didn't really bought or rend this place. Rather, I inherited it." She continued her explanation. Talking about her father like that wasn't really fun, but she couldn't keep quiet about it forever. She was living alone yes, but no rend didn't mean it wall all free. She still had to get water, food and other things to stay alive. Otherwise she needed to train her magic if she ever wanted to get any good jobs. So she didn't really spend much time here anyway.

Some people simply looked a bit fragile or perhaps childish. In the world of magic, that was hardly any actual indicator of their power, however. This silver haired girl herself probably didn’t look like much, especially special with her height and all. Even her bust size was nothing that you could be too proud of… and yet, she was a powerful wizard who managed to make a name for herself in this world, get at least some recognition and manage to make a difference. Even if that difference wasn’t all that big, there was still a lot she could do and achieve in the future. And in all honesty… that visible weakness was something that Leila kinda liked. She always wanted to insert herself into the position somewhat similar to an elder sister, taking care of her younger darling with precious care. Even bandages on someone’s body, or scars and skin destruction that was not in the realm of absolute gore was kinda pleasant to her. Perhaps she was just weird, but everyone had their thing. All people had things they loved and things that they hated as well. Zoey surely wasn’t too different from that! Sometimes it was just that the things you appreciate are things you would rather not talk about, as the society around you would not accept your taste. What a shame, this was. World could be something so much better if people were more accepting, even of the more strange things that could come up.

But enough of Leila’s thoughts, she was in Zoey’s presence and wanted to pay attention to her and her alone right now. As she shifted the course of their conversation towards the question of this house and possibly the girl's family, she realized just how sensitive that topic was. With that knowledge, she covered her lips and tried to remain silent for a while. It did sound like there was a certain situation the blonde haired girl had found herself in, and they should not talk about it. They had only met few hours back, it was not right of Leila to be asking such personal question so early. They were moving just a little bit too quickly… and that was not always a good thing in all honesty. ”I’m sorry… I got a little bit too carried away. There is no need to be diving into things like this, I know it might be painful… from personal experience. So let’s just enjoy ourselves instead of swimming in depressing thoughts, okay?” Leila smiled, but underneath that expression… she remembered just how much she loved her father. And now he was gone forever, not be seen again. Losing someone important to you… your family, it was simply horrible. So they should try to stay positive, focus on the better part of life instead of drowning in pain of the past. Those that were left behind, they would surely not want that either. They would want the two girls to just continue moving on, no matter what hardships would they face! And never give up, not even for a second!

Finishing her glass of wine, Leila sighed lightly and smiled again. This time, it was genuine and not disturbed by any other uncomfortable emotions. It was nice, this meeting of theirs. Among all the contract she was doing lately, there was very little time when she could enjoy herself. And that was just no good! Fun was part of the life! Grabbing the bottle, she refilled the small glass and started drinking again happily. While she was literally unable to get fully drunk, alcohol was still nice once in a while. Though wine was hardly something you could get drunk from… it was possible, but only if you were a lightweight and just generally not used to drinking. Which was probably the case with Zoey, as Leila thought about it. Hehe, getting that girl drunk could be quite some fun. But it would be rude to do so in her own home on their pretty much first meeting, so she decided that she wouldn’t even attempt to. Especially since she still wanted to be cooking something later, that could get pretty hard with your vision completely blurry. ”So, what’s the plan~?” She asked simply, leaning in as her cheeks slightly blushed from the alcohol doing it’s work inside of her body. They could continue drinking… or they could move on to their next activity. It was up to Zoey.

While Zoey certainly missed her father, she had no idea what her mother was like. She wanted to find her... but she had no leads as to where she was or that if she was even still alive. Maybe if she wandered the earth for long enough and fulfilling request she might finally find her. There were so many things she wanted to ask her. That said, that were problems for when she actually met her mother, if that ever happened at all. She finished her glass with moderate gulps between her thinking in.

"Eh...right. How about we get started. Wouldn't want to get drunk before we're eating." She said after Leila asked what she was planning. She didn't really cared if she got drunk or not, but she wouldn't want to accidentally cut her fingers because she had one glass to many. She opened one of the few drawers and took out two kitchen knifes. They were sharp, but not really suitable to be a weapon.

"Will you do the carrots? I shall begin with the meat. It needs quite some time to cook." Because of that it needed to be done first, trying to get all the food ready at roughly the same time. There were still some other stuff but these two took the longest to cook and as such should be done before the others. The meat only needed to be warmed up so it would be done fast. After which she would start peeling the potatoes.

Eating while drunk, that would certainly be something completely new. Leila had to wonder if the food would taste any different… perhaps better, perhaps worse. Definitely worse if you would vomit on it though, that was one very unpleasant thought. Still, the silver haired girl made a mental note about trying to eat while completely drunk, or at least as much as she possibly could. Her body didn’t exactly allow for being as drunk as humans could be, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying. She had done more stupid things in her life, this was still pretty easy.

And now was the part where she had to help with cooking. Well… had to was probably a bit strong. If she asked, Zoey would probably do everything herself. But since Leila was taking all this hospitality for free, helping a bit was the least she could do. Just as the other girl, she got from her chair as she nodded in agreement. Cutting something into little pieces, that should not be a problem at all. Taking one of the knives from Zoey, the Eden’s mage took a good look at it. Yup, this certainly was no weapon at all.

Still, it was enough for your everyday’s need, and that was sufficient enough. And if they ever needed sharper tools, Leila was pretty confident that she could conjure some without too much of a trouble. Taking the carrot, she did her best to cut it into equally large pieces that would not be too big, nor too small. If all cooking was like this, then it wasn’t all that hard at all! She already knew plenty about cutting and stabbing from battles she went through on her contracts. But she had a feeling there was probably more to it than just this.

But it was nice to be helping someone like this. Seeing how the whole house looked like, Zoey could certainly use a maid or something that would help her clean everything up and prepare everything that needed to be prepared. So while she was here, she would do her best to fill in that role, even if it was for a single day. "Alright, what's next? I can cut and stab anything that you throw at me!" Beaming with confidence, Leila turned towards her newly made friend, knife still in hand as she asked the question.

It was mostly already worked into the shop she bought it at, so the meat didn't really required a lot of work. It was however necessary to constantly watch it so that it didn't burn up. Of all pieces of the meal, the meat was the easiest to mess up. Hence why Zoey was doing it. Not that she didn't believe Leila couldn't cook, but if it became burnt then it was her fault at least. Before starting Zoey quickly went to get the food so they could start. Everything was kept in the kitchen anyway. Albeit in different places. After taking everything Zoey put the meat on the fire in a pan and placed it on the fire. She then turned on the fire lacrima.

"You could peel and cut the potatoes?" Zoey suggested after Leila said she was finished. It was a lot easier than the union. This seemed to be a better idea. Cutting the onion not only was precise work but also very annoying to so, even if only one needed to be done. Zoey herself took said union and started to peel it.

Doing so wasn't hard, but Zoey couldn't help but starting to shed a tear when she was almost done. Anyone knowing anything about cooking probably knew that this wasn't because she was emotional, but because of the union. One of the reasons Zoey wanted to do this was because it irritates the eyes.

"There all done." She said as she stood up and went to check on the meat. As suspected it wasn't even closed to finish. But she still took her tools to turn around the meat a little bit. After which she would check on how Leila was doing.

Potatoes! Perhaps one of the most common things you could find on your plate, at least as far as Leila was concerned. She wasn't the biggest fan of them, but she did not mind them either. Perhaps that was because she was eating them rather often, you never want to eat the exact same thing over and over again. Even food could get rather repetitive. Thankfully something like that would not stop her from peeling those potatoes at all! Though she did not plan on using the knife that was resting in her clutched palm, or any other tool that could be found in the kitchen for that matter. She wanted to impress Zoey a little bit, so she planned on using her own magic and much more to do the task!

Putting the knife back onto the wooden surface of the kitchen surface, picking up one of the potatoes instead. And as she did so, her fingers started shifting both in shape, and color. Soon, they would no longer remind anyone of human fingers, and rather, looked like sharp wooden claws! With this, all she had to do was move her fingers around a bit while holding the starchy food, it's skin being peeled away easily and nearly perfectly. It was nice that her own magic could come in rather handy in day to day activities as well like this. Not to mention that it gave her a nice chance to show Zoey just what magic could do, perhaps motivating her to get better herself and start using her own skills like this, making her usual life much easier than it was right now.

Soon enough, all the potatoes were peeled and it was time to cut them into pieces. Again, she could use the actual knife that was still lying right there... but that would be boring! And yet, she didn't want to transform her hands into knifes either, that was just unreasonably unsafe for this place. So she though of a different way... her lineage! The power that allowed her to mold darkness into pretty much anything. Snapping her fingers in a jiffy, she felt some of her magical power escaping out of her body as eight black orbs formed, floating behind her back. These were meant for battle as well, but they had their uses... with a little focus, Leila managed to change their shape, creating eight black floating knives that were giving off an alluring purple hue. And seeing as they were able to levitate, it was pretty easy to control them and cut all the peeled potatoes into pieces as was needed.

"All done and ready to be used, chef!" She showed thumbs up to the other girl, grinning playfully at the same time, almost proud of herself for being able to do something helpful. Hopefully... those floating knives were still pretty dangerous, so she transformed them back into orbs that safely hid behind Leila's back, not threatening anyone nearby. She was also interested to see Zoey's reaction to the newly showed magic. As the orbs were created from solid darkness, it might have been a little scary to some... so if that was the case, she would surely hide them and not bring them up again in the girl's presence.

As Zoey turned around the meat she a took a small cooking pot and put the carrots in them. It didn't need to be large, because carrots weren't that large when cut into pieces either. After which she would move them to the sink and flooded it with water from it until every carrot was mostly underwater. After which she placed it on the fire behind the meat and let it wait again. She checked the meat just to be sure but that to wait a few minutes before needing her attention again. Maybe she could go help Leila with the potatoes while she needed to wait.

Except... Leila was already done. Right before her eyes Leila used magic to quite quickly peel the skin of the potatoes in no time at all. It wasn't just the power of the spell, but also the control. It didn't seem like Leila didn't knew what she was doing. Well if nothing else she certainly knew how to show off. It certainly wasn't something Zoey was capable of right now. Though she might just get by without magic and a little more time, and only one knife.

"Good job!" Zoey said as Leila was finished. Zoey didn't really mind that Leila created life threatening knives out of pure darkness at all. Even though she probably should. She was slightly impressed, but not by much. Since she knew that Leila was a Superior wizard already.

"Let me put that on the fire." She said as she took a larger cooking pot than earlier. As she repeated the same proces she did with the carrots earlier and placed them aside the meat. Meanwhile she added the union she peeled herself earlier to the carrots.

"Peeling is done, now we just need to take care not to burn the food." She said as she returned to the table after turning the meat around once more. As much as she disliked having to rely on the fire, she did want warm food every now and then.

Leila showed a big smile when Zoey sort of praised her, even though it wasn't much. Yes, Leila was one of those 'superior' wizards that were somewhat scarce in the current world as she noticed from time to time. But that didn't mean she would not enjoy someone with less power saying good job to her. Quite the opposite in fact, whoever it was coming from, this girl was simply happy just to hear that she did something good and that she helped others. Because that was what she always wanted to do.

It was the unfortunate fact that her actions went mostly unnoticed most of the time for some reason. Despite getting the Rising Start position in the past, not a soul congratulated her for it, appreciated the hard work that she put into gaining the post. It was a bit sad, but that was just how life was for this one wandering magician. Not everyone was showered with love wherever they went, despite their heroic deeds. Tis' was luxury that only selected few heroes could have and feel every single day.

Though Leila did not mind that all too much, as moments like these were what she cherished. When another simple being could appreciate her like this. And because of that very fact, it was extremely pleasant to be spending time with Zoey in her home. She was not yet someone who could impact the world in a great way, but her opinion and praise still mattered to the silver haired maiden who watched as everything was put into place. And just like the girl said, all they had to do now was wait and make sure nothing gets burned.

Leaning against the counter, all the dark orbs formed back into their original state and disappeared, forming the tattoo of winds on Leila's back once more. Though Zoey probably could not tell, as cloth was hiding the mark very well. As useful as it was, that was still pretty dark magic and it would not do well to go around parading with it. Which was why she had to hide the tattoo most of the time like this. "All is going well so far, I'm glad. If there is anything else that you need a helping hand with, feel free to ask." She asked once again with a smile spread across her face, cheeks blushed with a gentle pink color.

Luckily the meat wasn't to difficult as long as they didn't forgot about it. Maybe it's also because it wasn't that extravagant. The reason for that would probably be that Zoey had to make due with what she had, which as the interior of the house revealed not much. Or at least for a young girl living alone.

"Nah, just sit and watch now. We are almost finished." At least, in what they had to do that was. It would just be a large amount of waiting and some preparations afterwards. She checked every pot again and turned to meat around once more. After that, she went back to the table.

"So do you want any more wine?" Zoey asked. Not sure if it was a good idea or not, but she didn't want to become over as rude. She would fill the glass if the answer was positive. In that case she would also fill her own glass as well.

"So what brings you to Magnolia?" Zoey asked more out of curiosity than suspicion. There was no reason to think Leila was up to no good after all. Still the life of a Guild mage sounded a little more interesting than hers, and the alcohol from earlier was starting to do it's work. Sure she wasn't anywhere close to drunk yet, but that didn't mean it didn't do anything.

So that was her helping done for now it seemed. Getting back into relaxing in the chair, Leila finished her glass and moved it a bit closer to Zoey so that she could easily fill it with the wine that she had once more offered. Why not, it tastes good. With a smile, she accepted. Though, perhaps she should not have. Slowly, it appeared that the rain outside subdued and the sun started shining once again.

And now that things were like this, Leila was reminded about what she was in Magnolia for. A certain contract that she had to take care of! With the company of a pretty girl like Zoey, she managed to completely forget. And now, she was running a bit late with it. Ah... haha, sorry. You just reminded me that a certain someone brought me to Magnolia. Some kind of a problem that needs to be solved by a mage. I... should probably not let them wait too much longer.

Gripping the glass, the girl managed to chug the rest of the wine that she had before getting up and offering a kind smile to the girl. It was pleasure to meet you Zoey. And I hope we will get a chance to talk some more in the near future. But for now, I'll have to depart. Though I truly appreciate your hospitality! And with that, Leila gave Zoey very little chance to say goodbyes, as she ran to get her coat and right out of the front door. Hopefully others that saw this didn't think she was some kind of thief with the speed she used to get out. But work was work and she already lost a considerable amount of time because of her lazy memory. Still, it was a lovely meeting with someone new.