Elegy for a Star

“So, Gwen’s back,” Mairaela said to Joyona. The two of them were sitting at the table in the chow hall, though Tess and Gwen were absent. Joyona nodded her head to Mairaela, unsure of what else to say. She worried that Mairaela would be bored and there was a mix of excitement and panic that the others weren’t here to keep her entertained better than Joyona could.

Joyona put some food into her mouth, feeling that she couldn’t be expected to talk if she was chewing.

Mairaela swallowed her food and added, “I haven’t been able to see her yet, though. I heard Tess has been putting off her Heroic Divine class and shirking her training duties to stay with her.” The auburn-haired beauty frowned in thought, “I hope she comes out of that room soon. I hope either of them do.”

Joyona nodded, but thought that she should say something calming to Mairaela. “Be comforting,” Joyona thought, “Make her feel better!”

“They’ll be fine,” Joyona replied, wincing at her own response. Gods, that was so reductive, just blowing off Mairaela’s worries. “What am I doing?” Joyona panickedly thought to herself.

Mairaela put her elbows up onto the table and rested her chin in her hands, “Then there’s that Corpsmen’s Ball coming up..”

Joyona had thought of it. Uthr above, she wanted to ask Mairaela to go with her. “Ask her,” she thought, “Ask her right now.”

“I was planning on going with Tess,” Mairaela said before Joyona could work up the courage, “But now I’m not so sure, since Gwen’s back. They will either go together or they’ll both stay in the dorms.”

Mairaela frowned, glancing off to the side. Her beautiful, green eyes blinked toward Joyona, “Do you want to go with me?”

Joyona’s heart skipped a beat. The butterflies in her stomach started bouncing off the walls. Say yes. Gods, say yes.

“You should go with Scirocca,” Joyona said softly.

Gods, what the fuck was going on?! Joyona was screaming at herself in her mind, but in the back of it she was thinking, “She deserves to go with someone pretty and sweet, like she is. I’m doing this for her.”

“Oh,” Mairaela said, lifting her head from her palms. She looked surprised, “Um, sure, okay, I’ll ask her. Do you think she’s going?”

Joyona nodded her head, “If she’s going with you, she will.”

“You sure you don’t want to go with me?” Mairaela asked.

Joyona nodded. She couldn’t change her mind now. That would be so weird. Mairaela would think she’s weird. She couldn’t let that happen. “I don’t dance,” Joyona explained.

“Oh, I don’t need to dance,” Mairaela assured her.

Joyona just nodded her head, eating some more food. Mairaela dropped the subject and the two sat in silence for a while.

“What type of Old God do you think we’ll go against when we get an assignment?” Mairaela asked with a smirk on her face, “I’m going to bet… the Old God of wine. When we win we can get all the wine we want.” She smiled and pointed a fork toward Joyona, “What do you think?”

“Lobsters,” Joyona replied

Mairaela burst into a fit of laughter, enough to bring a smile to Joyona’s face. She hid it again before Mairaela saw; She didn’t want to look goofy. Her smile was pretty goofy looking.

Mairaela asked, “And what would be the foe there? More lobsters?”

“A boiling pot,” Joyona nodded.

Mairaela laughed some more. Joyona was in a state of bliss, loving the fact that she could bring Mairaela some happiness. She wished that she could always do that.

Mairaela stood and began collecting her food, “I’m going to head out, okay?”

Joyona bobbed her head in acknowledgement. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Mairaela opened her mouth to speak, but she must’ve thought twice about it, instead saying, “See you later, Joyona.”

Mairaela walked away, leaving Joyona to sulk over her food.

“Gods, that was sad,” came a voice from the side. Joyona looked over to see Miren approaching. The Winter Fey took a seat across from Joyona. She mostly had a plate of vegetables. “Why did you do that, you lug?

“She had to leave,” Joyona replied, taking a swig of beer, “Was I supposed to stop her?”

Miren rolled her eyes, “You know what I mean. You aren’t that dense, even if you sometimes play it up.”

Joyona kept eating her food, not responding to Miren even as she was called out for her aloof behavior.

“Oh, come now. It is clear as day that you like Mairaela. I just don’t understand why you’re making it difficult for yourself,” The Winter Fey was smiling, which irritated Joyona, “She asked you to the Ball. You didn’t even have to ask her. Gods, I’m sure that Mairaela even knows.”

“I don’t want to go with anyone,” Joyona replied, “I’m going to show up and leave early.”

Miren rolled her eyes, “Maybe now you will. Or else you’ll spend the whole time sulking as Mairaela and Scirocca dance, knowing that it could’ve been you.”

“Be quiet,” Joyona replied, “You don’t know me or her.”

Miren’s mouth cocked to the side and she shrugged, “Alright.” She stood back up and picked up her plate, “I’ll go somewhere else.”

“No need, I’m done,” Joyona said, grabbing her dishes and tray and trudging off to clean them.

She went to the sparring yard, watching a few fights before she volunteered for a group match. Three on three. The moment it started, Joyona charged into the fray. When she got there, a battle axe was swung at her. She caught the man’s arm, punching him in the gut with a heavy hand. She used his arm to swing him like a club into the other two. Joyona let out a roar, grabbing the head of one of the remaining men and throwing him to the ground with such force that he went skidding through the dirt. The other one she threw into the air, letting him hit the ground on his back.

Her teammates showed up right when the fight ended, and Joyona was tempted to swing on them, too. She held back, knowing that a drop in points would upset Mairaela. She took a deep breath, calming herself. She tried to get into more matches that day, but no one accepted to fight her after that.

She returned to her room, sitting upon her bed. Elbows upon her knees, she hunched forward and stared at the floor. She was angry, and the only person she could be angry at was herself.

She spoke softly to herself, “I’m going to ask her.”