Page 151 of To Fight and To Fold

As soon as she was out of sight, Runa stood up perfectly straight and grabbed Aaryn by the shoulders. "Oh my skies. You two are so cute!"

Aaryn darted a nervous glance to Carissa, worried to speak of such things when her own pain was so fresh⁠—

But Carissa was smiling softly, and though the storm of the recent events hung over her like a cloud, she managed softness and liveliness. It filled Aaryn with admiration.

"She's, like, entirely in love with you," Runa squealed, and shook Aaryn again.

The laughter that burst from Carissa was real and light, and for just a moment they were girlish in their glee at a celebration, and not women living through an upheaval of everything they'd ever known.

"Don't say that," Aaryn said with a laugh, making sure Thea was a safe enough distance away. "That seems… so fast."

"Aaryn," Carissa said, pulling them away from the instruments to somewhere a little quieter. "What is fast and slow in courting when it comes to the mess we're all in? Hm?"

Carissa had a very good point.

"Was it too fast when I decided to follow Rolim here on a whim?"

Aaryn bit her lip. "Well…"

Carissa snorted, gripped her shoulder, and shook her with abandon. "Aaryn. She's going to be your Awakener. You don't just do that for someone casually!"

Runa gasped. "That's hot," she whispered, cheeks flushing with more than all the drink she had.

"Oh, what do you even know?" Carissa drawled.

"I know!" Runa argued. "I've heard things."

Aaryn sputtered, shocked and a little shy, a little titillated, at the thought of discussing… this.

"Oh, yeah? What?" Carissa challenged, and Aaryn was content to let them bicker about it as she burst into flames inches away from their huddle.

"Well—" Runa stuttered. "I know it's intimately enticing magic stuff."

Aaryn's whole body went as pink as her hair.

Carissa laughed and pulled Aaryn close. Runa leaned into the confessional of embarrassing things that Aaryn so very much wanted to discuss but was nervous to do so. Except maybe when she'd lamented about the subject to Starspark, who did not have very much to offer on the topic.

Carissa, however? Who'd just been through her own Awakening?

"You've been learning magic, right?" Carissa asked, as if sharing insider information.

Runa's gaze bounced between them, waiting and eager for the gossip.

"Yes," Aaryn practically whispered.

"Right. So you know how it's all tingly and like⁠—"

"Arousing," Runa guessed bluntly.

Carissa's voice was dry when she confirmed, "Yes, thank you, Runa. That's the word I was looking for."

Aaryn remembered the shivers, the warmth tucking itself low in her belly as magic flickered in her hand, so aware of Thea's presence. What came after. Her cheeks flushed.

"Maybe," she reluctantly answered.

"Well, imagine that, but tenfold. It… burns without an outlet. You'll want someone there to relieve it."

"We're talking about sex, right?" Runa asked, then hiccupped, a high-pitched little noise that made Carissa and Aaryn rabbit trail down oohs and aahs at her cuteness.