#giving black mage lessons to the newbie

[bi-disastersoup]

"I'm not quite sure I understand the motion yet. Would one of you come show me how I'm supposed to stand?"

"You just... drop your shoulder a bit."

"Relax your hand."

"Focus the magic from your core, here."

"And keep your eye on the target, love."

R'alma lent her his favorite staff to help teach her about balance. It was icy, and grew cold to the touch, but their hands were warm on hers...

(So so so many shots but I couldn't help myself this is my favorite pose I've ever done and the details are just..... *chef's kiss*)

(Zala belongs to @nearlyjaye)

(Also a big huge thank you to bee for putting the image in my head!)

[rexic0rn]

Uniform

There were two types of people in Kinloch Hold. Those in robes and those in plate metal. Lorelei Amell was the former; sitting in a lesson one day when a new batch of Templars arrived from wherever it was that they trained boys to be watchful men. It was always men, Lorelei noted as she watched them pass by the doorway of the classroom. Perhaps it was not so elsewhere, but in Kinloch, the only home she had known since she was a little girl, the Templars were always men.

The final newbie passed by, glancing briefly through the doorway and catching her eye. Lorelei sat up a little straighter in her chair. He wasn’t a man. He quickly averted his gaze, fierce red blushing over his cheeks all the way up to his curly blonde hair. He was just a boy. Loreli smirked behind her hand. How fun.

She found out his name a few days later. Templar Rutherford, that moniker she learned earlier, it was his given name she wanted and this she got heard from Irving when he was discussing the new batch of Templars with Gregoir. Cullen was the name. She tasted the name in her mouth, enjoying the curl of her tongue around the letters. She secreted the little morsel away for later.

Lorelei allowed herself to be seen by Cullen Rutherford as much as possible over the next week. She took note of his schedule and ensured she could be around as often as possible during his patrols. It was funny, really, how the Templars watched the mages, that she became so hyperaware of his movements. The Templars watched with naked eyes, not bothering to hide their viewing—it was their job after all. The mages watched the Templars back in secret, just like they did so many other things.

When Cullen saw Lorelei she kept her back to him at first. Let him see her long black hair, the longest and shiniest of the mages her age. She left it loose so it could catch his eye, enjoying how it stood out against the purple robes she wore to denote her rank of apprentice. She would give it a moment or two, pretending to be engrossed in her activity at the time, before she would suddenly feel his eyes on her back and turn, widening her deep brown eyes, opening her mouth into a small O of surprise as she caught his eye, which she caught every time. She would have been more shocked to find that he hadn’t been staring, but as she expected he couldn’t help himself. Lorelei wasn’t a vain woman, though she knew she was striking with her almond-shaped eyes and moon-glow skin, quite unlike most of the other women in the tower. Rather she knew he was looking at her because she was placing herself in his line of sight so often that he must have thought he was imagining her. She was making herself seen and found it rather thrilling.

At night, alone in her bed, though not alone in her dormitory, she thought about the shy, blonde boy in plate metal and how much fun it was to tease him and wondered if he was thinking about her.

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