Murdina has to admit that she’s been a little preoccupied by the entire fight for the cosmos thing and also by Sestia and Nikhil who are very distracting. That doesn’t mean that Murdina doesn’t care for anything else. Or anyone else, for that matter. She didn’t even realize that she did something wrong until Sestia made some meaningful eye-contact with her after Kyshaar left a stack of towels for them without looking at Murdina even once.
“D’you think she’s mad at me?”, Murdina asks Sestia who’s sitting on the couch with Nikhil’s head in her lap and a cup of tea in her hand. Her other hand is playing with Nikhil’s hair who makes sounds that suspiciously sound like a cat purring. It’s entirely adorable.
“Well, I would say that she usually smiles more. And talks more. So… yeah. I think she might be a little mad”, Sestia says.
“I didn’t even do anything!”, Murdina protests and stares at the stack of towels as if they can tell her what she’s done to upset Kyshaar. Sestia takes a sip of her tea and tilts her head. She looks as if she’s taking pity on Murdina—something that Murdina also doesn’t understand.
“I think that might be the problem”, Sestia offers. Murdina blinks.
“How d’you mean?”
Sestia sets her cup down.
“Well, you know. You flirted a lot with her and I think she genuinely likes you. But you… uh. Have been a little… distracted”, Sestia says. She looks a little flustered and Murdina can only assume that she recalls Murdina’s last two hours of distraction which were spent almost entirely between Sestia’s legs.
Murdina feels a little betrayed about that being held against her. Other people would be delighted to have Murdina between their legs for two hours. But maybe that’s the whole point Sestia was trying to make. And it’s not like Murdina doesn’t want to maybe also spend an hour or two between Kyshaar’s legs or anything. She just… hasn’t gotten around to it.
“I see where you’re coming from”, she says glumly and sinks into one of the armchairs. “I should ask her out properly. She’s really amazing.”
Sestia smiles.
“She is. And you should.”
Then her smile grows into a grin.
“She looked really pretty.”
Murdina groans.
“I didn’t even look, did I?”
“You didn’t.”
“I’m such an asshole.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
Nikhil mumbles something about Kyshaar being way too complicated and Sestia gives him a stern look and stops playing with his hair. While Nikhil protests and whines about the hair-patting stopping, Murdina decides to rectify her mistake and follow Kyshaar.
It’s not easy to locate her in all the winding corridors, the multiple bathhouses and the training areas, all of which Kyshaar attends to over the course of her day. Murdina asks a total of five people to find out where Kyshaar is working right now until she finally tracks her down in one of the lounges.
Sestia was right. Kyshaar is wearing a beautiful, bright pink Saree with a yellow choli, her eye-shadow matches the Saree and her hair is braided beautifully over one shoulder. Murdina takes a few moments just to take her in. When Kyshaar notices she blushes a beautiful pink that matches her outfit.
Murdina walks over to her and can’t help a pang of guilt when she sees Kyshaar quickly occupying herself with some cutlery.
“Hey”, she says. “Do you have a moment?”
It seems as if Kyshaar is debating with herself on whether or not Murdina deserves a moment of her time—which seems fair considering how Murdina hasn’t given her a moment of her own time in way too long.
“Just a moment”, she finally says and looks up. Murdina is used to being the tall one, but Kyshaar beats her by quite a bit. “I have much work to do.”
“I wanted to apologize”, Murdina says, deciding that it’s only fair not to beat around the bush. Kyshaar blinks, her eyes widening in surprise. “I have been too distracted by everything else that’s been going on and didn’t make any time for you. So… Would you allow me to make it up to you?”
Kyshaar’s cheeks grow an even darker color and she starts fiddling with her fingers. Murdina can’t help a wave of fondness overcoming her, spreading into every corner of her body with gentle warmth.
“Make it up to me?”, she echoes.
Murdina takes her hand and raises it to her mouth to kiss the back of Kyshaar’s hand.
“Let me take you on a date”, Murdina says. Kyshaar stares down at her hand as if she can see physical evidence of the kiss Murdina pressed onto it.
“You mean a romantic date?”, she checks. It makes Murdina laugh.
“Yes. A romantic date. I’ll bring you flowers and everything”, she promises and revels in the flush on Kyshaar’s cheeks that reaches down her throat and into her cleavage. She really does look beautiful today. Murdina should have seen it earlier.
“I will be happy to date you”, Kyshaar says. “I mean. To go on a date with you. I’m sorry. The language—“
“I will be happy to date you, too”, Murdina says. To her endless delight it makes Kyshaar giggle. Then she bows her head a little.
“I made a… a bad job. Of telling you about my feelings. I felt… abandoned? No. Discarded?” She searches for the right word, but Murdina gets her meaning either way. “I just wanted you to see me.”
Murdina gives her a small smile before taking a step back and admiring Kyshaar openly. Some might say shamelessly.
“I see you. I see you a lot. And you’re beautiful.”
That gets her another giggle.
“I really should work more, or else I will be—um. Chewed out?”
Murdina nods.
“I don’t want to get you into trouble. Well… I suppose I do, but—“
Kyshaar quickly leans forward and presses a kiss to Murdina’s cheek.
“You get me in trouble tomorrow”, she whispers and then she grabs the cutlery and hurries away.
Murdina watches her until she can’t see Kyshaar anymore.
"- I just remember throwing open the door furiously, ready to curse mom out, and then it was just him. His horns had just started to come in so they were these ridiculous-looking stumps, his wings completely askew from fuck only knows what, his eyes wide and serious. But he looks up at me and he says -"
Pausing when Nikhil jerks, she reaches out to touch him, rubbing a soothing hand along his arm. Nikhil doesn't look up from his feet, frowning as she says, "- he says -
"I said, mom's wrong, and she shouldn't have said that."
or
a sequel to the bakery AU
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
