An Apology.
Lillymist was trepiditious. She stood in front of the doorway to Professor Dawngleam's private quarters and while, yes, she had been invited, and yes, this was to do with the research they were doing on those cuneiform pictographs Dawngleam and Wildthorn had found, Lillymist didn't really see why they really needed to work in Dawngleam's rooms. Especially when they had a fully functioning library they could use.
Sighing slightly, Lillymist steeled herself and knocked on the door, which opened on its own moments later as a small, almost imperceptible corona of starlight surrounded the door-handle.
Stepping inside, Lillymist found herself in a Dawngleam's living space, and found pretty much every surface covered in notes, rubbings of particular pictographs, or both. Dawngleam's voice sounded from the adjoined kitchen that each of the staff-quarters possessed. "Make yourself comfortable, Lillymist. Just move a stack or two of notes if you can't find a space!"
Awkwardly picking her way through the various stacks of paper, Lillymist evicted a pair of rather large tomes ("Doctor Ticklehill's guide to pictographs through the ages: Volumes 6 and 19") and perched on the edge of a rather overstuffed armchair. Looking around, Lillymist saw that not all the handwriting adorning the various notes was Dawngleam's, there was the rather blocky script used by Wildthorn as well as the most flowery, but easily legible handwriting used by Annabelle, the assistant Dawngleam had hired a month ago. Upon closer inspection, however, she saw that the bits of paper with Annabelle's handwriting were forms and other assorted paperwork to do with the running of the school.
"Ah! Here we are. And here you go." At the sound of Dawngleam's voice, Lillymist looked up to find her boss in what was pretty much the least formal get-up she could have imagined on her. With hair tied up in a loose bun, Dawngleam was wearing an old t-shirt promoting a band Lillymist had never heard of, ("The Reversing Thunderheads", whoever they were.) a pair of comfortable-looking trousers, and some of the fluffiest socks Lillymist had ever laid eyes on. Dawngleam herself was holding a pair of mugs, filled to the brim with tea.
Placing one of the mugs on a rather unstable stack of paper, Dawngleam fluttered over the various stacks of paper to the only other clear space of seating in the room, the end of her sofa (A space only large enough for a fairy.) and sat herself down, sipping her tea and letting out a contented sigh as she curled into her chair.
Feeling rather overdressed now, (She was still in her work clothes, after all.) Lillymist rescued her tea from its rather unstable position and took a sip of her tea before replacing it in a more secure location atop a sturdier looking stack. It felt awkward being here, inside Dawngleam's quarters like this. If Lillymist was being honest with herself, it felt awkward being in the break-room at the same time as Dawngleam at the moment, whenever she was near, Lillymist could feel that stinging sensation more clearly, the one that had been present ever since they'd last had an informal conversation. In close quarters like this, it speared her chest and made it difficult to think. It made it so difficult, Lillymist almost didn't notice when Dawngleam finally spoke again, shattering a silence that had persisted for over a minute as Lillymist had retreated into her thoughts and Dawngleam had simply watched Lillymist with a slight sadness in her eyes.
"I'm sorry." Dawngleam had said, the words breaking Lillymist's reverie. "I'm sorry about before."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry. I presented myself stupidly to you too months ago and caused you offence. I made it sound like I was using you for my own gain. Like a piece in a game. Like one of Mother's stupid, stupid, games. And then I made it infinitely worse by leaving it like a wound to fester. I've been a colossal idiot and I'm sorry."
Stunned speechless by Dawngleam's outburst, Lillymist blinked, trying to formulate a response. Before she could, however, Dawngleam continued.
"You've conducted yourself extremely well, despite my own idiocy, but if you want to move on, to find another job elsewhere, away from me, I'll write you as glowing a recommendation as I can. You deserve that much, after all."
Still speechless, Lillymist's mouth worked as she tried to come up with a response. The stinging in her chest was still present, piercing her heart and clutching at her stomach, but it was strangely different. Dawngleam looked near tears as she began fish various papers from the stacks surrounding her, arraying them around her small body as she did so, suspending them on starlight. "I've seen how hard you've been working. You've been nothing but an exemplary teacher and an outstanding member of staff despite everything." The stinging Lillymist could feel felt very strange now, like a splinter being pulled from a wound, it seemed like it was receding, even as it hurt more. "Despite the academic community condemning you because of your skills. Despite you working for less than you deserve. Despite your idiot of a boss being the fool that they are, you're still going. You're still teaching and you're still moving forward. So I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being an idiot, I'm sorry for offending you, and I'm sorry for being less than you deserve." As Dawngleam said this, she bowed her head to Lillymist, the tears now running down her face freely.
And like that, it was as if the splinter Lillymist had felt inside her since Dawngleam's last conversation with her had been pulled free. It still hurt slightly, but this was a different pain, this was the first step on a path to healing. Finally finding her voice, Lillymist replied to the still bowed form of Dawngleam. "I don't want to leave." She found herself saying as Dawngleam looked up, her eyes slightly reddened from her tears. "I… I don't want to leave." She said again, she voice slightly stronger. "I don't know if I can forgive you, but I like it here. I like being able to teach here and I like my students. Truth be told, I was grateful when you first gave me this job. I'd expected another rejection but when you had actually accepted my application even with my stated skill in necromancy, I felt overjoyed, like I was being given another chance. But then, when we spoke last, I felt betrayed, like you'd only accepted my application because my salary was cheap and I could teach a large number of classes. It… It stung." Lillymist rose from her chair and moved over to where Dawngleam was sitting, clearing a space on the sofa next to her. "But now? Now I'm sorry too. I should have sought you out rather than let this fester. Thank you for your apology Dawngleam. It means more than you think." Lillymist then gestured towards the large piles of paperwork surrounding them. "Now, as much as clearing the air seems to have helped break the ice, perhaps we could get started on all of this?"
Not trusting her own words now, Dawngleam nodded mutely. Wiping her eyes with her hands, she took a deep breath and nodded, before picking up a pile of notes topped with a rubbing of one of the pictographs and placing it between them. "Alright."
Lillymist gave her a small, shaky smile. They might not being fully okay just yet, but the air between them felt clearer. Cleaner. One day, hopefully one day soon, they might even be friends. The distrust Lillymist had felt towards Dawngleam had faded in the face of her sincere apology. There would be no more talk of personal matters that night, but when Lillymist left Dawngleam's quarters a few hours later, she felt better than she had in days.
