Alex hadn't asked Cadenza for advice in quite some time. Ever since she met Vylad and Kandi, she found someone else she could talk to. She didn't need Cadenza's advice anymore. But this. . . this was something she couldn't go to them for.
“How. . . How do you know if you love someone?”
Was Cadenza the right person to go to for this? Maybe she should've gone to Laurance or Garroth. It was evident they were head over heels for Aphmau. Maybe she could've done to Dante? She wasn't sure if he'd been in love before, but it was a fresh set of advice that way. Maybe someone who was married? That would've been foolish. She didn't have much of a relationship with the wives of Phoenix Drop to do it. She certainly didn't want to ask Hayden for his thoughts.
“Is my baby sister in love?” Cadenza asks, sitting across from Alex at the table. Her hands grasp onto the coffee mug tightly, eyes twinkling. “Who is it?”
“Oh goodness, Cadenza. I'm not in love with anyone,” Alex responds.
“Then why would you ask about love? It seems pointless to ask if you don't fancy anyone. What has caused you to wonder about this?”
Alex frowns, standing up from her chair. “Nevermind, this is stupid,” she says, pushing in the chair. She was going to leave.
Cadenza stands with her, hurried. She places her hands on Alex's shoulders and guides her towards the chair once more. “No, no, I'll take it seriously. I promise,” Cadenza urges. “Please, continue.”
Doubts continue to flood through Alex. She sips on the cold tea, resting the mug against her bottom lip. They had sat there for quite some time now.
“I'm getting older. I just feel like this is something I should be able to identify when the time comes.”
Cadenza takes a deep breath, allowing herself to reflect upon past relationships. There were times where she felt she was in love, but she truly wasn't. Cadenza has never truly been in love before. Perhaps she was noncommittal. Her relationships never last long, but she was able to identify when she felt something for another person.
“I suppose there's different stages of love. . . In the beginning, you may act differently towards them. Blushing cheeks. Constant butterflies. You may wish to spend all your time with them and look forward to seeing them. This isn't quite love yet, I believe. Though, it may be the warning signs that you feel something. Soon enough, it'll turn into love. I've never gotten to that point, yet.”
Alex felt her stomach drop to her feet, heart tumbling after. Could she truly have been in love? Cadenza named off everything Alex has been feeling this for a while now. She knew she liked him romantically, but perhaps it is love.
“How do you know if they feel the same way towards you? Or they like you that way?”
This was something Cadenza was well versed in. Sometimes it was one sided. Cadenza couldn't care less, but a boy was head over heels for her. It varied, here too, but it was generally the same. At least, in Meteli, it was for Cadenza.
Both females forgot about the tea in their hands. This was a moment of bonding for the two, even if it was in the strangest way. Cadenza left in the unknown, Alex walking herself into pure oblivion and false hope.
An hour or two went by before the two females finished. The encounter was like an itch Cadenza couldn't scratch. An ingredient on a high shelf she couldn't reach. It was something she couldn't understand. Alex left content, but Cadenza remained confused.
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
“You've been different lately.”
Alex looks over at Kandi. The cool wind rushes past, having her hair trail along with it. The smell of crisp fall lingering behind. “How so?”
“You've been happier, but you're paying less attention to the world around you. Are you alright? What's going on?”
Kandi was always observant. Alex shouldn't known this. Kandi knew her well enough to see this. She wasn't a new friend who didn't know any better. This caused Alex to wonder just how many people noticed the change in her.
“You've been spending a lot of time with Dante at your training,” Kandi states. “Has something bloomed with you two?”
Alex tries to hide a smile creeping across her lips. It wasn't Dante she'd fallen for, but the idea of romance betrays her. “No, nothing romantically. A new friend, thankfully.”
Kandi hums, “Something must be going on. . . I'll just have to figure it out.”
“Everything is as it should be,” Alex says. “And I graduated from my training. Laurance took the dagger and everything. It pleases me that they're done.”
“That must be it, then.” It wasn't that. Kandi knew that, but she wouldn't say it out loud. She'll just let Alex think she was just as oblivious as Alex wanted her to be.
