A Queen and Her Kings

The Legend of Excalibur

Cassandra sighed in relief as she felt the warm water of the shower cascade across her body. After her and the others' abrupt arrival at Professor Trein's abode, he had rushed to get towels, spare clothes and a first aid kit from his linen closet, and told all of them to take showers in the guest bedroom. Cassandra had tried to deny the help, not wanting them to be more of a bother than they already were, but Trein wasn't having any of it. She had purposefully been the last to bathe, and as soon as she finished her shower, Trein said he was willing to answer their questions.

Cassandra washed her skin and hair before turning off the water. She watched transfixed as the grime, ink, and dried blood from her body washed off, staining the water a brownish-gray. Even given her previous adventures, it was hard to believe what had happened. It all felt so surreal, that she really wasn't thinking about the implications of everything that had occurred. She was tired, and just wanted someone to explain what the hell was happening to her so she wouldn't have to figure it out on her own. She knew she was being lazy, but she deserved to be after the day she's had.

Stepping out of the shower, Cassandra dried off with the maroon towel she had been given. She put on the clothes, a red t-shirt and a pair of gray sweatpants that came with women's undergarments, and brushed her hair. Cassandra idly wondered where he had gotten the underwear from.

Done fixing her appearance, the tribrid opened the bathroom door, releasing a cloud of steam and walked back into the living room. Everyone sat around the coffee table in the middle of the room, wrapped in blankets and sipping tea and coffee from porcelain cups with saucers that sat around the ever mysterious sword, its presence in the middle of the table out of place in the peaceful scene. Grim was curled up on top of the sofa back, already asleep. Cassandra couldn't say she blamed him.

Vaguely in her exhaustion, she heard the sound of sizzling coming from the kitchen. Looking towards the area, she found the oddly domestic sight of Professor Trein cooking what appeared to be a late- or rather, extremely early breakfast. Cassandra would have protested, not wanting the man to go out of his way for them, but she knew he would only give her the same look her mother did when she insisted on doing similar things. Despite the fact the perky blonde vampire and the old human professor couldn't be more different, they seemed to at least have this in common.

Taking a seat on the red couch between Ace and Deuce, Cassandra quietly thanked Deuce with a smile when he handed her a cup of coffee and kissed him on the cheek. The navy haired boy blushed red, and from their places in two of the red armchairs across from them, Yue and Eiji snickered a bit at the boy's reaction, and Ash shook his head fondly at Eiji's, who was sitting on his lap, reaction. Shorter had nodded off in his matching chair, and Griffin was busy nursing a cup of tea. Deuce, having grown used to his new friend's antics throughout the day, only narrowed his eyes at them and cocooned himself and Cassandra in the blue blanket Professor Trein had given him as soon as the girl set down her cup. Cassandra chuckled and the two curled up together, with Ace soon joining them with his red blanket. Cassandra was now sandwiched between the two Heartslabyul students, their arms wrapped around her waist and heads leaned against her shoulders. They all had to physically resist the urge to nod off in each other's arms, knowing if they did, they wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

Twenty minutes of silently enjoying each other's company later, Professor Trein entered the sitting room with several plates of fried eggs and sausages on a large serving tray. He handed everyone a plate (Shorter and Grim had unsurprisingly woken up at the smell of food), and after a few quiet 'thank you's, he took a seat on one of the armchairs. Lucius, who had been following him, jumped into his lap. The aging professor began to pet his familiar, and after a few more moments of waiting to allow everyone to finish eating in silence, he finally spoke.