#ironically enough it took me longer to write abt mali'ya and asra?? even though i've been engaging with them since last year. h o w

[apprentice-maliya]

From the ship questions: 2 and 4 for Mali’ya and both of her LIs. Thanks!

oh no, thank you for asking !! ♡ since i didn’t know which part i was supposed to do, i decided to answer to asks n. 2 and 4 for each of the four sections of the questionnaire. hope that’s okay! in that case please have a seat and a drink, if you want, ‘cause this is gonna be looong (´｡• ᵕ •｡`)

ship questions can be found here!

asra

pre-relationship

2. what was their first impression of each other?

from the first moment they met, mali’ya thought asra was incredibly resourceful and somewhat looked up to him. i mean, he’d built a booth from scratch where he could sell his own wood carvings, knew a lot of magic tricks, didn’t fear authority, and was also independent and smart. but mali’ya thought he was also kind, since asra never mocked her for her poor language knowledge like the other kids did.

on the other hand, at first asra was simply amused by this shy little foreigner that watched him wide-eyed as though he’d done something amazing. he also thought she was too naive, foolishly so, but in getting to know her better asra realised mali’ya actually wasn’t but resilient and generous.

4. who felt romantic feelings at first?

mali’ya, though she didn’t know what to do with them! she knew she liked asra pretty early to be honest, but was afraid love would get in the way of their friendship. after all, she hadn’t yet warmed up to it (growing up in an abusive household, mali’ya wasn’t sure if that love, her parents’, was something she even wanted). something she also noticed when she started going out with a girl that had a crush on her, was that there was a nervousness there, a constant itch in her chest mali’ya had never felt with asra. and because she kept comparing that experience to her daily life with him at the shop, mali’ya was finally able to sort her feelings out!

more under the cut !

general

2. did they have an official first date? if so, what was it like?

asra would argue that every hangout with mali’ya is a date, though she would say that their first was actually the time they went to a travelling, open-air circus that had temporarily stopped in the city. it was a nice evening; there was singing and dancing and playing games, watching the artists perform... aside from the chaos, it was so much fun. they held hands and kissed and basically allowed themselves to be two teens in love (≧◡≦)

4. were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

for mali’ya, yes. for her, asra was the first of many things: her first friend, her first confidant, her first love (but not her first crush-crush)! as for asra, he’d already been in some reletionships before, though casual.

love

2. what are their primary love languages?

mali’ya manifests her affection through acts of service and physical touch (which is only reserved to the ones she’s close with), while appreciating words of affirmation in return. when receiving asra values quality time instead, but offers physical touch and words of affirmation as well (or at least, that’s my take on what his love language would be like!).

4. how often do they cuddle, engage in pda?

boy. once these two confess, touching gets more straightforward and natural. even though mali’ya has a bit of a hard time at the beginning, asra’s patience helps her overcome her self-consciousness so that she will at least hold hands and maybe, maybe, indulge herself into little kisses too.

domestic life

2. what’s the wedding like? who attends?

truthfully, i don’t see either of them wanting to get married in a canon setting. as far as we know, marriage in vesuvia isn’t mandatory for housing, adopting and such things, so mali’ya and asra’s relationship wouldn’t change in that sense. this is one of the reasons why neither of them ever brings up the subject, the other (in mali’ya’s case) being that she can’t also shake the feeling of “marriage equals cage” off her. thank her parents.

in a modern au, though, things would be a bit different. if they were to marry, asra and mali’ya would totally organise an intimate, simple wedding. on the invitation list there would be aunt heralia, their closest friends and their partners, the ortega siblings because of course luz gets to be the flower child, asra’s parents and anichka (mali’ya’s older sister) with her husband and kids.

4. do they have any pets?

nope! not because they don’t like having animals around, but they’d just rather let them live free.

portia

pre-relationship

2. what was their first impression of each other?

meeting portia the day she had to get to the palace, mali’ya thought she was so easy-going and bright. maybe it was the glint of mischief in portia’s eyes, or the way she chatted animatedly as though they’d known each other for more than a morning; either way, mali’ya soon found herself to be fond of her already.

as for portia, well, she was struck by mali’ya’s aura–not because it was just a soothing feeling in the ruckus of the market, but for the secretive appeal it held. there was something to this young apothecary, portia thought, that didn’t sit right with her. mali’ya was calm, yet she seemed to be sealing away her true voice. so yeah, enthralling is how portia would have described her.

4. who felt romantic feelings at first?

portia, actually! mali’ya was very devoted to her duty to the countess, trying to wrap her head around lucio’s murder, that she would focus exclusively on the investigation and since portia couldn’t have that... she just found random escuses to spend some time with her. at first it was only to distract mali’ya from her hard work, but then she developed feelings.

general

2. did they have an official first date? if so, what was it like?

yes! portia suggested it as soon as mali’ya confirmed to be into her as well, so they decided to go for a picnic in portia’s garden as both a way to escape the frantic palace life and be by themselves. everything was going well: there were pies, cheese, lots of fruit. portia was telling mali’ya about her favourite book again when the rain started pouring down on them, so they quickly had to gather their things and take refuge in portia’s cottage. since she was disappointed that their date had been interrupted, mali’ya offered to re-arrange everything on the floor as though they were still picnicking. portia really appreciated that, and the night went on vivaciously with even more stories and cuddles! (๑˘︶˘๑)

4. were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

neither of them are inexperienced, since portia did have a relationship or two before mali’ya, who was in love with asra (pre-plague).

love

2. what are their primary love languages?

for mali’ya they’re the same as my previous answer, whereas portia offers words of affirmation and physical touch. she’s very happy to spend quality time in return, and also enjoys gift receiving. no, she loves it.

4. how often do they cuddle, engage in pda?

again, mali’ya isn’t strong on pda in this route either. luckily for her, we have our fellow extrovert to make her feel comfortable and at ease when being affectionate in public! in private, though, that’s another story; portia is pretty physical and mali’ya can’t help but return her care and attention as well, eheh.

domestic life

2. what’s the wedding like? who attends?

after portia’s upright ending, mali’ya never gets her memories back and this allows her, three or four years later, to marry portia :]

knowing our little devorak, the wedding would absolutely be a blast and everyone, from hestion to the satrivana siblings, is obviously invited. (fun fact: nadia would do her best to make it grand and elegant, but she would have to reconsider as to appease mali’ya’s modest tastes). because of that i can see it being held outside in a natural location, on a sunny day that matches the smiles on their faces. after the kiss, porta’s catchphrase would totally be “have you seen my wife??? well now you have!”

4. do they have any pets?

sure thing! the ladies are all in for adopting at least two cats, a good compromise in terms of self-reliance; with them being two busy women, taking care of more delicate animals would be quite the challenge. mali’ya also fancies birds, but since nadia owns her own aviary she’ll gladly take care of it herself when she can.