Broken Lands

Dav’s eyes turned back to the healing beacon. “Yeah. I’d probably have to be able to tell the dart-thrower what to target, after all. Maybe it’s best that I got the healing beacon first; even if it heals enemies too, it’s slow enough that it only works after a fight.”

“Mm.” Sophia liked his enthusiasm, even if wasn’t so certain it was necessary for that particular thing. “That’s likely to be a lot easier; I’m sure a dart thrower would be looking for targets. Practice is still good. Anything you do like that is practice at forming Intent, and Intent is used in all sorts of magic, even if it’s not how you’re forming the magic itself.” She trailed off, unsure of where to go next.

Dav waited a bit, then dismissed the beacon. He flexed his hands a few times, then looked at Sophia. After a long moment, he looked away.

“Sophia, I-” He stopped short and shook his head.

Sophia cocked her head to the side. What did he have to work up courage to say? It surely wasn’t about magic, was it? No, that wouldn’t make sense. It was far more likely to be personal.

She could only think of one personal thing he might be trying to say. She flushed a little and felt a grin cross her face. “Yes, Dav?”

“Ah, nothing.” Dav was carefully not looking at her now. “Too tired, it’s been a long day. I’m going to get some sleep, I think. Sleep well, Sophia.”

He’d lost his courage, hadn’t he? Well, maybe she needed to speak up first. After his aborted attempt, she had a pretty good guess that he wasn’t about to tell her he hated her or something. Maybe she was wrong; that would be awkward, but it wouldn’t be the first time. “Dav…”

It really was harder than it should be, wasn’t it?

“Yes, Sophia?” Dav almost perfectly echoed Sophia’s response. Did he know what she was trying to say?

Having him know she was too nervous to say anything was somehow more intimidating than the fear of rejection that kept her silent. The words spilled out almost like a single very long word. “Dav, I really like you.”

Sophia almost facepalmed. That was how she said it? Really? She was certain her face was bright red now, but she wasn’t going to take the words back. It was too early to talk about love and she did really like Dav.

“Sophia…” Dav paused for just long enough to get Sophia worried, but his next words made the butterflies in her stomach do somersaults. “I really like you too.”

Sophia turned towards him and found that Dav had stepped over to her bedroll. He gave her a look that she took as asking if he could sit next to her, so she patted the spot next to her and nodded. She must have been right, because he sat down. He settled on top of her bedroll, but instead of sitting beside her, he sat a little farther away where he could face her.

Dav reached a hand towards Sophia’s face. She touched the back of his hand and guided it to her cheek. His hand was warm on her skin.

“I wasn’t sure,” Dav admitted. “You were friendly, but I wasn’t sure you were interested.”

Sophia was pretty sure everyone else knew. She hadn’t been very subtle and she knew it. She wondered if everyone else had known Dav was interested too. “I wasn’t sure either. I thought you were, but what if I was just imagining it? We haven’t known each other for very long and we’ve spent a lot of time together; what if I just wanted to think you liked me?”

“I do.” Dav had a silly smile on his face and his eyes glinted in the lamplight. At least, Sophia hoped it was the lamplight; they could have been glowing a little on their own.

Sophia decided she didn’t care about that right now. She leaned forward and brought her face close to his. She put her hand behind his head, but it was Dav that moved forward and brought his lips the last inch to meet hers.

As it turned out, neither of them was too tired to stay up for quite a while longer and while the floor was hard, it wasn’t too hard.

The next morning, Sophia was halfway through her usual routine when she stopped and stared at the mostly-used 28-day round disc she’d just popped a pink pill out of. It had never been a problem in the past; dungeons didn’t take more than a few days at her Tier and that meant she could always drop by the pharmacy before her birth control ran out. Most of the time, it wouldn’t have mattered even if she did; it wasn’t like she’d had a boyfriend for months before she fell through the Origin with Dav.

It mattered now and there was no pharmacy here. The closest thing they had was an alchemist. Maybe Aymini would have something; birth control went back a long, long way and there were magical methods of birth control available on modern Earth. She didn’t use them because the chemical kind worked fine for her, but there were people who needed them.

Sophia swallowed the pink pill then hurried through the rest of her morning routine. It wasn’t very long these days, at least if she didn’t count the morning spar with Dav. He wasn’t quite ready yet, so she kissed his shoulder (he didn’t have a shirt on yet and it was within reach) and told him what she was up to. “I’m going to go see Aymini.”

“Came up with a new question for her?” Dav grinned at his new girlfriend. “You said you had some for both her and Vramt last night.”

“This is a new one,” Sophia admitted. “I need to ask her about birth control.”

She was out the door before Dav managed to pull himself together enough to respond. It made her giggle; some men handled the idea well and others didn’t seem to quite know what to say. Dav appeared to fall in the second category and it was almost funny.

Okay, it was funny. She wasn’t going to make fun of his confusion too much, but she was going to laugh about it when it happened. She was surprised to find that she was whistling as she made her way to Aymini’s room. She didn’t whistle often, but this was going to be a good day.

Aymini’s room was upstairs, directly next to Vramt’s. Sophia was certain that was because they were close, even if they weren’t together. She wasn’t certain where Revina’s room was, but if she had to guess it was the one on the other side of Vramt’s.

Sophia stopped outside the door and knocked. Aymini was probably up by now, but she might well not be here; she slept in front of the door she was guarding as often as not, so it was hard to say when she’d be in her room. It was still a reasonable first place to check.

“Come on in!” Aymini’s voice called from the other side of the door.

Sophia opened the door and looked around. She’d seen the room once before, but that didn’t change its impact. The room was dominated by a double layer of fire in the middle, where a flaming bowl floated over a fire that burned in a wide cylindrical container. A metal support hung from the ceiling; it had to be there so that Aymini could hang something over the fire, but it swung freely right now with nothing on it.

One wall held the fireplace, while the others were lined with shelves filled with equipment Sophia didn’t recognize along with a significant assortment of pots. The only time she’d ever seen an alchemist’s workroom, the place was full of jars and vials. Aymini’s wasn’t; instead, it was full of tools. Oh, there was a line of mysterious substances that were probably precursor materials of some sort on the mantel above the fireplace, along with a few baskets full of stuff, but Vramt’s room had more glass jugs than Aymini’s.

Aymini herself was on the far side of the fire, attending to something on one of the upper shelves. She stood on a desk to reach it. It didn’t look secure to Sophia, but Aymini clearly wasn’t bothered by it. Aymini looked startled as she turned around. “Sophia? You aren’t the person I expected. What do you need?”

“I need to talk to you about potions. Arryn mentioned something about a sterilization oil; is there anything else I should get? Also, do you have a potion that helps with birth control?” Sophia combined her primary requests together. She wasn’t entirely certain what Aymini made. It probably wouldn’t be entirely like the potions at home; the simple existence of the shield on all combatants changed things.

“Ask Vramt for the sterilization oil; he has the remainder of the last batch I made. I don’t keep finished product here, as you can tell; it degrades too quickly near the alchemical flame.” Aymini leaned down, set a hand on the desk, and hopped down to the floor. “What do you mean by birth control? That’s not a phrase I’m familiar with.”

“Contraceptives. Something to keep from getting pregnant.” Sophia flushed a little; she’d never realized that birth control might not be a term everyone was familiar with. She was certain they had it, or at least had something; it had existed on Earth for millenia. “Mine is about to run out. I didn’t expect to be sent away from home.”

Aymini’s face creased in a conspiring smile. “You didn’t expect to need it until now? Well done, girl; he’s a handsome one and he’s smitten with you too.”

Yup. Everyone clearly already knew. Sophia felt a mix of embarrassment at being so transparent and pride at the older woman’s clear approval.

“As for a method to avoid pregnancy, there are several. One of them is a Human species ability; do not take it if you wish to ever have children. While it can be removed, most who take it are forever infertile.” Aymini’s warning was helpful only in that it told Sophia to be careful about what Abilities she picked. Either the Guide was far less forgiving than the Voice or the healers here weren’t as good as the healers at home. Sophia suspected that both were true.

“That is the only guaranteed method, but there are several other methods. The poor use childbane; those with a little to spend prefer childbane potions. Either one is hard on the body but will prevent a child from taking hold and can rid you of one that already has. I prefer to avoid childbane in any form; it’s dangerous in its own way and can harm the person who takes it permanently and ruin any chance you have of bearing a child. Perhaps it would be healed by Dav’s beacon, but it is still not a good choice.” Aymini stared at Sophia until she nodded in acknowledgement.

“No, what you need is simple.” Aymini flashed Sophia a grin that seemed to contain her amusement at dragging out the answer.

Sophia tried to glare at her but she was pretty confident it just made Aymini even more amused.

“You need a birthbane amulet. It would be best if you both get one. Arryn is probably carrying some; they’re a common enchantment, if a little expensive. I know you have the money even without selling the Shard and the Fragment you still have.”

Sophia frowned. She’d rather buy directly instead of from a merchant if possible. “No one in Fallen Kestii makes them?”

Aymini shook her head. “We don’t have any spellcasters, much less a Professional spellcaster. That means we don’t have any enchanters.”