thinking about my 'asivia shows up in melini in post-canon and it's a disaster' concept again. I feel like I have to talk about it to people or I'm not going to write it, that's just how things go with my brain lately.
anyway obviously the joke is that she's not going after Laios again, even though he's king, because she's interested in someone else. but to keep the joke going for a reasonable length, it's incredibly vital to employ my favorite tool that people love to hate: the misunderstanding.
the thing with misunderstandings for me is that I also get really frustrated by misunderstandings. I especially hate when there's a big falling out before the climax of the story. but since the joke hinges on "well, she's into Falin actually", it is key. because the funny thing to me is, when two characters are a set in the eyes of others (like, say, a close pair of siblings), it's very easy to express interest in one and have it mistaken for the other SO LONG as you keep them as a set.
all of this to sayyyy that asivia's truest and most powerful spell is confusing people with plausible deniability-