Chatime (Mia POV)

Mia made sure her hair was sitting how she wanted it to as she waited out the front of the Fateweaver building for her friend. She was smiling giddily, her heart resting on cloud 9. Her life was the best. She had a guild full of good friends and her amazing girlfriends. She had her magic that was on a level barely comparable to most of the abyss. She had a beautiful, safe home filled with all the love and luxuries she could ever dream of.

And today she felt safe enough to venture out of the Fateweaver barrier to hang out with Elsa. Their budding friendship had been building for months. There was something about the adorable, gentle Fateweaver that Mia liked. She wasn’t entirely sure what it was. Then again, Mia basically got along with everybody.

Maybe it was how she was so gentle. Maybe it was her passion for fateweaving, her love for painting, her affinity for nature. Mia didn’t know. She liked people who were passionate about things, even if she didn’t understand them. It made her happy to see somebody else happy over things.

Elsa exited the building, looking stunning as always. She wore a blue dress, which was pretty standard for her. It looked amazing on her. Mia stepped forward and hugged the girl, smiling. Elsa giggled happily as the two of them embraced. “Hey! It’s good to see you!” Mia said cheerily. “It’s good to see you too.” Elsa replied, smiling at her.

“I’ll let ya lead the way, I dunno where that cafe is. What’s it called again?” Mia asked. “Chatime.” Elsa said, walking with a spring in her step. Mia smiled at the adorable blonde girl, and the two of them walked on to the teahouse in a comfortable silence.

After ordering their drinks (bubble tea for Elsa, and a hot chocolate for Mia), they sat down and chatted about nothing in particular. The conversation flowed easily, turning from how Elsa was doing in the Fateweavers, to how Mia was doing in her guild, to the tv shows and movies they both liked.

“I don’t understand why Disney keeps doing live action remakes when they own the rights to the Muppets! The Muppets!” Elsa insisted, her normally quiet and gentle voice giving way to a fervent infodump. Mia sipped her drink, a smile on her face. She loved hearing what people were passionate about. “The Muppets and Elsa from Frozen! The Muppets and Maleficent! The Muppets and Ice Age! Come on, these are great ideas!” Elsa said as Mia started laughing.

“Look they aren’t bad ideas, it’s just really funny to imagine the Muppets getting isekai’d into like Pirates Of The Caribbean or something.” The aeromancer said, laughing. “That’s a great idea, oh my Gaia! Wait what does ‘isekai’d’ mean?” Elsa asked, and Mia managed to stifle her giggling enough to answer. “Oh um, Lena’s been making me watch anime the past couple weeks. Some of it is kinda good actually.”

“Isekai is like a genre of anime where characters are transported somehow to another story or world, if you follow. The Muppets in anime would be kinda funny too.” Mia said, bursting into giggles again at the thought of Miss Piggy in an anime world. Elsa smiled, apparently finding the thought funny too.

“Lena’s one of the new members of your guild right?” She asked, and Mia nodded. “Babygirl when are ya gonna join us? Everybody likes ya, we want you around!” Mia asked, feeling the moment was right. Elsa sipped on her bubble tea, thinking about the answer.

“I don’t know honestly. I’ve thought about it before but I’m not really sure. It’s a hard choice, you know? I love being a Fateweaver, and if I joined another guild, I’d need to quit the Fateweaver guild. I really don’t wanna do that. But you all seem really cool, and being around you and the others is the most fun I’ve had in a while.” She admitted.

Mia nodded sympathetically. “It’s really nice havin’ ya around.” She said. “I still really wanna paint your castle and everything too. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. I dunno where I’d find the time to, work is so busy all the time. If I’m not helping random small guilds set up barriers, I’m doing research or working on projects for my team. It was hard to even get the time off to hang out with you today.” Elsa continued.

“Ya know you could live with us, if you joined us. We have enough spare rooms.” Mia put forward. “Really?” Elsa asked, looking up, hope shining in her eyes. Then she shook her head a split second later. “Oh, I dunno. It’d be a really big change.” She said. “Some changes are for the better right?” Mia suggested, and Elsa chuckled softly.

There was silence between them for a few moments. Then Elsa began to speak. “Do you remember when we all had that snowball fight?” She asked. Mia smiled fondly. “That was so much fun!” She said, and Elsa grinned. She stirred her bubble tea absently, remembering the day. “We made snow angels afterwards. That was really beautiful.” Elsa said, her mind far away, her tone gentle and affectionate.

“Gemma made it nighttime and snowing for us.” Mia recalls fondly. “That’s right! Gaia, that was so beautiful. Laying there in the snow with you all, just looking up at the night sky. Holding hands, the beauty of your world around us.” Elsa reminisced dreamily.

They both looked down at that moment, suddenly aware their hands were clasped together. Elsa blushed, but didn’t pull her hand away. Mia smiled at the Fateweaver. The smaller girl looked up at her. “That was the most fun I’ve had in a really long time. It felt really special.” Elsa confessed.

“It was special. You were there.” Mia flirted earnestly. Elsa’s blush deepened. She still made no move to pull her hand away. “You’re a special girl.” Mia continued, and Elsa smiled. “So are you.” She replied happily. They shared a comfortable silence, Mia slowly stroking her thumb over Elsa’s soft hand. Elsa’s smile widened suddenly as she remembered something else.

“Oh and those hot chocolates Ivy made for us! Gaia they were so good!” She exclaimed, and Mia chuckled. “She’s really good at that. I’ll ask her to make them for us again sometime! Whenever you come over next.” Mia said. “That’d be really nice.” Elsa said, and Mia could barely resist the urge to kiss the adorable Fateweaver.

“Promise me you’ll at least think about joining our guild.” Mia said. “Fine, I will! I dunno. Being with you girls is really nice. You especially Mia.” Elsa replied. “Why’s that?” Mia asked, taking another sip of her hot chocolate. The Fateweaver blushed again. “I dunno, you’re nice? You make an effort….you make me feel special.” She said, not managing to keep eye contact with the aeromancer.

Mia chuckled. “You are special dummy.” “Shush! You’re making this really hard!” Elsa laughed. “What? I’m not doing anything.” Mia feigned innocence. “You’re mean!” Elsa declared, and Mia burst into a giggling fit. The two of them fell into another comfortable silence, sipping their drinks and enjoying each others company.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I can’t promise anything. Being a Fateweaver is important to me. You talked about wanting to take over Sydney right? That’s what your guild is trying to do?” Elsa asked, and Mia nodded. “For what it’s worth, I think you’ll all make good leaders. If you can do this, you’ll make this place safer.” Elsa said.

Mia sighed. “That’s the hope.” She said, and it was Elsa’s turn to nod in acknowledgement. “It’s a dangerous thing to attempt. There are a lot of bad people out there. I know I’m privileged as a Fateweaver, I don’t really have to worry about being attacked or anything. Nobody wants to risk it.”

Elsa looked up at Mia. “I don’t know whether I’ll join your guild. But if something happens to you, and you need my help, I’ll be there. You can count on that.” Elsa promised. Mia squeezed her hand gently, and the Fateweaver squeezed back. “I wouldn’t do that for just anybody, you know.” Elsa joked. Mia smiled. “You’re a really special girl Elsa.” She said. “So are you Mia.”

The two of them finished their drinks and talked for a bit longer before Mia realised she had to get back home for the monster hunt with Olivia. They walked back to the Fateweaver barrier, holding hands as they went. They departed, and Mia had a warm and fuzzy feeling in her chest as she entered the castle again.