Today, she was reminded of how infuriating Daalton could be. Elise had just finished her bath and began to pull out her dress. He had seen it and swiftly made an offhand comment about how he didn’t like it. The Elise he knew would have immediately asked him if he thought it was better if she changed, but she wasn’t that person any more. She turned to him and shot back the fact that she already made up her mind. It escalated into an argument soon enough.
There was no end to it and Daalton went to take a bath to cool himself down while Elise stood seething in front of the wardrobe. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised.
In the end, Elise found herself relenting. It was such a small thing to be stubborn on, especially considering that the dress he chose had been her second choice. Besides, Daalton had accepted to go with her when clearly he wasn’t interested. And ever since they had agreed to try this again, Daalton had been nothing like the last time she had been with him all those years ago.
She grabbed the dark blue dress and put in on. The dress had been a gift from her mother, something she had never worn yet. It was a pretty thing with silver embroideries, hugging her curves in all the right ways before flaring out once it nearly reached her knees. Elise stood in front of the tall mirror, running her fingers through her hair. Between how fitted it was and how it bared her shoulders, it was probably not something she would pick for herself, but there was no denying that she did look good.
She sat down in front of her vanity and began doing her makeup, paying little attention to the soft muffled voices from the bathroom. She barely even noticed Meredith leaving and re-entering with a glass in her hand.
Elise was just finishing up with lining her eyes with a thin line of kohl when Meredith rushed outside the bathroom with her head ducked. It seemed like Daalton had asked her to bring him a drink of some sort, which she already guessed would end badly for the passive. Daalton hadn’t changed much of his stance about passives and humans and it wasn’t at all surprising.
“Meredith,” she called out. “Help me with my hair.”
The girl bowed and hurried to stand behind her. If she remembered correctly, Meredith was merely a few years younger than her, probably around eighteen. It was quite sad how at eighteen Elise had the chance to study medicine and help cure people while the girl was forced to clean and do someone else’s hair.
Still, there was no denying that Meredith was good at she was doing. Elise’s dark red hair was swiftly braided and put up in an elaborate do, revealing her smooth pale neck to the world. Meanwhile, Elise muttered a soft spell, letting the vessels on her cheeks dilate to give her face a natural flush.
“Anything I need to fix, miss?” she asked once she finished.
“It’s lovely, Meredith. Thank you.”
The girl seemed like she wanted to say something, but she was swiftly interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening.
As soon as the blue-eyed galdor entered, Meredith murmured something unintelligible and scurried out of the room. She would have to figure out what happened later, but for now she wanted to enjoy the night. And for what she wanted to do, she needed Daalton to be in the best mood he could be.
The main reason that she was insistent to go to this event was because she had wanted to see if it would be possible to bring Daalton in to her experiment with Naul. While she heard all about them, the young galdor had very little idea about how they would interact with each other. For all she knew they had become best friends as professors. But still, it’s better to test the waters first. The second reason was that she had insisted to her parents that she had plans with Daalton during St. Grumble and couldn’t afford to visit home for a feast.
Elise didn’t know how they had found out, but her mother’s last few letters just went on and on about how marvelous it was that she found Daalton again. She had no idea how they knew, considering she hadn’t told them yet. Of course, it’s not farfetched to think that one of their professor friends noticed and asked them about it. Or it could just be Meredith, reporting on what she had been doing lately. Her parents adored Daalton, finding him charming and intelligent. She sure wasn’t ready to bring him over to meet her parents again.
Daalton walked over to her, his eyes warm and gentle – but she suspected it was just the alcohol dulling him. She couldn’t recall the last time he looked at her with true warmth.
She smiled gently at him as he touched her shoulder. Daalton always knew how to dress to impress. “And you look as handsome as always.” She glanced up to look at him in his blue eyes. It still seemed surreal that somehow she ended up with Daalton again. Yet, she knew despite her want for him, she couldn’t let history repeat itself. Despite the moments they shared recently, the young woman could not help but stay a bit wary. “I forgive you, but next time, do restrain yourself from dictating what I wear. I’m not a child, you know.”
“I’m done, I think,” she announced as she stood, giving him a brief kiss on his cheek. She could smell the faintest bit of alcohol on him, laced with his distinct scent. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Just how much have you drank?”
“Your carriage had arrived, miss,” Meredith suddenly announced meekly from outside the bedroom, gaze still nailed to the floor.
She linked her arms through Daalton’s looking up at him. Her mind went to all the St. Grumbles they had spent together. They were both much older now, but she wondered if he really did change. Whether giving him a second was a mistake. “Try not to stir a fight, alright Daalton?” she said teasingly, even though she was completely serious. As she looked at him again, she grinned. “I think I left a bit of rouge on you.” She reached out to brush it away with her thumb.
She looked back at the passive before they left the front door. “I might be coming home late. You can go out and get yourself some food.”
Something told her that this would be an eventful night.