Celeste Academy - Date with Fauna

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is not available right now. Please try again later.”

Carida looks at her phone. She matched with Fauna, so she really needs to talk date details with her. She opens up the message tab on the app.

hello! it’s carida. i’m sorry if you’re busy right now! i wanted to arrange our date :)

Surprisingly, Fauna’s typing! Slowly.

Hello, Carida

Yes, I’m terribly sorry. I saw your calls but I don’t know how to pick them up. I’m very happy that you decided to match with me. I’m unsure of where to go for the date.

Also, what is ‘:)’?

Fauna

Carida can’t help but smile.

that’s alright! hm, how about a cafe! there’s one near the academy called the rouge cafe! lemme send you the details. we can meet tomorrow morning, maybe? 10am

She pastes the map details into the little messaging system.

oh! and :) is a smiling face! turn your head to the side! the : are the eyes and the ) is the mouth

Fauna’s typing again, and it takes a while.

Hello, Carida :)

Thank you very much. :) That time and place works for me. I shall see you tomorrow! :)

Fauna :)

She couldn’t wait to meet Fauna!

Carida realizes she wasn’t the first one to arrive as the The Rouge appears in view.

Standing in front of the cafe is Fauna, inspecting the interior. She hasn’t noticed Carida yet, and she’s holding a woven basket that has assorted foragables in it.

“Good morning, Fauna,” Carida says as she jogs up to Fauna.

Fauna turns to face her, unhurried and calm. “Hello, Carida. It’s nice to see you.” She smiles and Carida’s heart melts.

“What have you got in there?” She points to the basket. Carida doesn’t even recognize any of them, but she identifies the mushrooms to be something that grows in the forests just a little walk away.

“Snacks. I harvested them myself. I was hoping that we could share a meal together.” Fauna shifts the basket to give Carida a closer look.

Mushrooms, of course, fruits and berries, leaves and root vegetables… Carida wanted to use her attunement and appraise them now, but she held back. She was planning on tasting some of the sandwiches at the cafe, but she could do that another day.

“Those look great! I’d love to. First - do you want to grab a coffee?” She points at the cafe.

Fauna follows her pointing with her head and looks into the cafe window. “Oh! Cafe… coffee. I see.” She tilts her head. “I’m not sure if I like coffee. I haven’t tried it before.”

Oh, wow! Carida pushes the cafe door open. “Good morning!” She greets the cafe owner, and then turns to face Fauna again. “Do you like sweet things? Or milk?”

Fauna clasps her hands together. “Oh yes, I like sweet things very much. And milk!”

Carida smiles. “Hello! Could we get… hm.” She takes a look outside. It’s a bright, warm spring day. “An iced americano and a chocolate frappe?”

The cafe owner smiles. “Of course.”

The owner feels familiar somehow, but Carida can’t quite remember where she saw her face.

Carida brings Fauna to a seat by the window while they wait for their drink.

“So I heard you live in the forest! How is it there?” Dwellers of the forest usually kept to themselves, with their own forms of education, and Carida was curious.

“Ah, yes, Aleatory Forest.” Fauna closes her eyes. “It’s a wonderful place with the whispers of the wind guiding us every day.”

“That sounds lovely. Whereabouts is it?”

Fauna opens her eyes again. “It’s about a night’s walk, east of where we are now.”

Did… “Did you… walk here?”

Fauna just smiles.

Carida is glad when the cafe owner calls her up with her two drinks. She’s a little worried for Fauna’s legs, but she looks well enough. She gives the frappe to Fauna. “Here you go!”

“Thank you very much.” She inspects the cup, and pulls off the lid and takes a sip. Her eyes widen and then close, expression pleased.

“I’m glad you like it!” She takes a sip from her own. Tasty!

“Yes. I do like it very much.” She continues to drink slowly

Carida waves the owner goodbye and escorts Fauna out of the shop.

Outside, Carida considers where to go next. She was going to grab food, but she wanted to try out Fauna’s basket of goodies even more.

“Are you curious?” Fauna says suddenly.

Carida’s mind snaps back to real life. “Hm?”

“About the forest. There is one nearby that I walked through on my way here. We could visit, if you like. My friends reside there.” She points in a direction, and sure enough, there’s a forest.

“Oh, um, sure!” That settles that then. She was pretty excited… foraging class was fun but Carida could imagine someone who lives on foraging would have a different take on it.

Fauna leads the way, and Carida matches her pace beside her. Once they reach the forest edge, Fauna stops, lifting her arm and closing her eyes.

Carida watches silently, entranced. It’s as if light hits Fauna more, the breeze feels just a little different… a little magical.

Then, the moment is over. Fauna drops her arm. “This way.” She enters the forest a few paces away from the main entrance.

Entering the forest, Fauna makes the same gestures a few more times, navigating the forest with great confidence. Even if she didn’t use attunements in the way Carida is familiar with, it’s clear that Fauna is an attuned in her own way.

“Can I ask what you’re doing?” Carida asks. She’s not sure if she’s allowed to ask. It feels just a little bit special.

“Oh?” Fauna smiles. “I’m asking the winds of this forest for guidance and good will. They usually don’t mind, but it’s polite to ask before stepping on their grounds.”

“Wow… I never thought to do so. Could you teach me how to?” Carida would love to show respect.

“Absolutely.” Fauna positions herself so that the sunlight hits Carida. “Close your eyes.”

Carida closes her eyes.

“What can you hear?”

She listens. Fauna’s breathing. The birds. The leaves, rustling. Bugs singing. The wind.

After a few moments, she can hear something else. A hum.

“Can you hear them?”

Carida nods, slowly.

“Raise your arm, and say what you want to say.”

She raises her arm and feels a small breeze. Beautiful.

The humming pauses, and she hears a giggle. Thank you, it says back.

Immediately, her cheeks flush. Could you help us find a place to relax?

Of course. The humming returns.

Carida opens her eyes, and she can feel the air and the path she should go.

“Shall we, then?” Fauna outstretches her other hand to Carida. Carida takes it.

“Yes.”

A beautiful clearing unfolds in front of them as they make their way past the last few trees.

Thank you, Carida thinks, and hears the giggle again. “This place looks great!”

Fauna nods. “Would you like to eat now?”

Carida surveys the area. “Ah, not quite yet! I wanted to ask you what you usually eat. I’m, ah, a culinary major so I’m really curious about food.”

“I see. That’s no problem.” Fauna smiles again, and sits down on the grass. “I forage for my food. I’ve gathered about a day’s worth of food in this basket here. I normally eat these as is.”

Carida inspects it. “Can I cast a spell?”

“Of course.”

She appraises each object, both familiar and new. She pulls out an interesting, knobby… root? “What’s this?”

Fauna’s eyes light up. “Sweetroot! It’s very tasty. I usually eat it after my meal.” She pulls out a little knife from her pocket and shaves off the outer layer, then cuts off a tiny bit for Carida and herself. She eats her bit.

Carida takes it and nibbles. It’s… like candy, but with a texture of a fruit. Fauna really loves her sweets!

“This is really yummy!” She continues looking through the basket.

“Yes! It’s special and grows around my home. I brought a little to share.”

“Thank you, Fauna. Do you mind if I work my magic here?” Carida winks.

She looks delighted. “Of course not!”

Closing her eyes, she uses her magic to prepare the meal. She’s picked up magic washing recently, as well as temporary mana bowls and puts them into good use. She prepares two bowls of an assorted fruit salad.

Fauna clasps her hands together. “Wow!”

With a snap of her fingers, Carida creates two mana forks and floats one over to Fauna. “Dig in!”

Fauna forks together an assortment of fruits and puts them into her mouth at once. Her face shifts, and Carida knows that she’s experiencing the wide variety of flavours of the forkful. 

She eats her salad, watching Fauna’s happy face with a smile.

Carida brushes the dirt off her skirt as she stands up and stretches.

“Thank you very much, Carida! That was amazing.” Fauna is beaming.

Carida smiles back. “I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for showing me around this forest.”

“It was a delight.”

Carida holds her arm out for Fauna, and she takes it. “What should we do next, Fauna?”

Fauna tilts her head again. “If you’re still curious about the forest, I could show you some of the plants I gather for my potions.”

“I am - I would love that!” That would be amazing! There’s already around 3 different sauce ideas for those strange, yellow berries she just ate in her head… gathering some to take home would be exciting.

Fauna immediately crouches down, which is at the base of a tree. “Take a look around.”

She’s taken off guard, but she does that. There’s moss and grass, a couple mushrooms. Ants crawling. Differently shaped grass. A couple of… green flowers.

Fauna reaches out and plucks a flower. “This one has the ability to lower your presence for a little while. It also tastes sour.” She eats a petal, and holds out the flower to Carida’s mouth. She also eats a petal.

Sour! Carida tries to suppress recoiling. It’s even more sour than lemons, and it sends a jolt down her body. Fauna doesn’t seem to be as affected.

“It’s quite fascinating, how something so lively dims someone’s presence.” She eats another petal. Carida takes a flower for herself.

“As for these mushrooms, we don’t use them in potions that often. They’re nice and soft tasting though. We have a little mushroom farm at home.”

Carida takes one anyway. She does recognize this: Alea mushrooms. A staple in the restaurants around the academy. She foraged this in class.

Fauna scoots over a couple of steps and there’s a berry bush. “These are the berries you enjoyed earlier. I’m not sure what you would call it, but it’s a classic base that helps the body to fight wounds.” They’re wide and squarish, bunched up into fours.

Restorative potion base, then? Carida plucks three, and chews on one. It’s tougher than she expects, but it’s a familiar flavour - all kids grew up drinking restorative potions when they got sick or hurt. She’s used to them being much sweeter, though.

They walk through the forest and Fauna continues to teach Carida about the plants in a lilting, soothing voice. Eventually, Carida realizes, they’ve made a full circle around and they’re back at the entrance they came from.

Fauna stops in her tracks abruptly.

“Fauna?” Carida asks, turning to face her.

“Thank you so much for spending the day with me, Carida.” Fauna opens her eyes again, and the setting sun glints on it and it shines red. “I had a wonderful time.”

“No, I did! I feel like - ” Carida scrambles for the words. “I feel like I learned a lot today. I should be thanking you!”

Fauna smiles. “We can both thank each other, and it doesn’t diminish the other.”

Oh. Right. 

Carida smiles sheepishly, head tilted down. “Thank you so much Fauna. I had such a wonderful day today.”

Fauna clasps Carida’s hands. “If you are willing - I would love to meet again. Maybe… in a place that you know well. Coffee was amazing… I’d love to learn more.” She holds out the disposable cup from the cafe earlier.

“Gosh - you still have that? One second.” Carida casts a quick cleaning spell. “And… me too.”

“Of course. It is of durable quality, and I will reuse it for liquids. It feels less fragile than the glass I typically use.” She observes the sky. “It’s time for me to leave.”

“Oh, Fauna, let me walk you home! It’s no problem.”

She smiles at Carida with a mysterious look. “The paths are too winding and distant for you. Do not worry about me. I will make my way home safely.”

She says it with a confidence that Carida can believe in. “Alright then.”

Fauna waves goodbye, and walks into the woods.

Carida watches her disappearing back, wishing a little to have spent more time with her.

Fauna stops, and then turns around. “Oh, before we part! Could you teach me how to receive phone calls?”

The end.

Head Witch note:

This date was written by adirosa! We hope you enjoyed it. I nom a flower in solidarity.

It's hard to believe we're quickly approaching the end of Celeste Academy... Have you thought about Carida's true love? Soon enough, you'll need to vote for second dates... I wonder who she'll choose!

As a friendly reminder, please do check out Sweet Dreams by Singto Conley ft. Hikaru Station, the Celeste Academy opening! It's such an amazing song and truly deserves all the love in the world.

See you soon!

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