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"Oh-ho!" Alice, the extravagant witch herself, teased from the far side of the Hexenzirkel table. She had been watching Nicole for quite a while, and I suppose it's safe to say that her interest had been, admittedly, quite captured in the silent mage's writings.
You see, she had been writing letter after letter recently, posting them across the nation's border every other weekend.
"Nicole, I must ask you...what are you writing?"
"Hm?" Nicole looked up from her handiwork. "O-oh, nevermind that." She gently smiled. "I'm simply keeping a pen pal, you know how it is."
"A pen pal?" Alice got up and manifested behind Nicole, placing her hands on her shoulders. "I know that look in your eyes, dear, that's the look of someone in lo-o-o-ve!"
"In love?!" Nicole yelped, almost ruining her current letter. "Alice, it's n-nothing like that! I'm just keeping in contact with someone after we had quite the pleasant conversation in Sumeru about design and we've been writing to each other ever since."
"You don't need to write letters," The Merry-Witch smirked. "You could speak with them directly, so..."
"Just what are you insinuating, Alice?" Nicole put her ink down and scowled.
"Well, you see," Alice gave a little spin and began to prance around. "The look of love, oh, I see it in your eyes. The love of love, yes, though you may not realise~"
Nicole bowed her head.
This was going to be a long explanation.
***
"Madam Faruzan...Are you okay...?"
Collei had paid her a visit, and was met with quite the sight.
Faruzan banging her head against her desk over and over again.
BAM.
BAM.
BAM.
Collei walked over to her and placed a cushion between the head and desk, so when she came down for another bash, she hit a soft surface.
"...a-uh...?"
"Um." Collei scratched her arm. "Hi...?"
"Oh, Collei." Faruzan switched up to her usual attitude. "Do you fancy some juice?" She pointed towards the juicer that she hadn't given back yet. "I've had my fair share already. "
"I-I'm all good." She shook her head. "I just heard lots of banging and wanted to shut the door. It sounded like when Master Tighnari and Cyno find a shelf to fix, and they insist that the door remains shut to increase productivity, so I came to close it but then I saw you."
"A-ah, you don't need to worry." Faruzan moved the pillow and raised her head. "I just have some feelings to work through and-"
"-What kind of feelings?" She put her hands on the desk so her elder couldn't slam herself on the desk again. "Do you want to talk about them?"
"It's nothing really." She insisted. "Just a little infatuation that makes me more stressed than I should be-"
"-Like a crush?"
"Don't call it that!" She hissed. "It sounds juvenile!" Alas, a nod was given. "Though, I suppose...it may be one of those things..."
"Ooh!" Collei squealed. "Come on, who is it? Tell me!" She pulled up a chair. "C'mon!"
"You remember Nicole, yes?"
Collei's jaw dropped.
"WHAT?!"
Faruzan jolted.
"H-hey, keep it down!" She hissed. "Yes, it's silly, I know-"
"-N-no! Not really! You clicked really well together! This is just...unexpected." Collei pondered for a moment. "Do you think she feels the same way?"
"I don't know!" Faruzan buried her head in her hands. "I doubt it! A literal angel and...little old me?! Preposterous!"
"You could always ask her!" Collei giggled. "In a letter!"
"No way! That's incredibly forward and, you know, I do like having a friend like her. If I ruin it, Archons, what would I do?" She sighed.
"Well, Cyno once told me," Collei began to ponder. "If the road ahead is darkened by doubt, you must shine a light of your own doing to see the way ahead."
Madam Faruzan thought for a moment.
"Hm. Did he really say that?"
"He got it from, um, King of Invokations...the sequel, I think."
"Why am I not surprised?" Faruzan rolled her eyes. "Either way, it's a no."
"Oh come on," The ranger insisted. "I can help you! Pleaaseeeee?"
***
Alice was in quite the chipper mood.
While Nicole was pouring herself a warm cup of tea, she pounced beside her and slammed a letter on the desk.
"Delivery!" She chortled. "I think you'll like this one!"
"Alice!" Nicole scolded. "Have you opened that?"
"Maybe." She smirked. "I thought it might have been from the Knights of Favonius, but no, it's from your pen pal-"
"-Faruzan?" She snatched the letter and tipped it into her hand, and her face warmed quite a lot when she read it.
A confession, a very long-winded one at that.
"Oh my..."
Alice produced a quill out of thin air, and then a piece of paper. "What are you writing for, dear? Get writing!" She dropped it onto the table and squirmed a little. "Oh, we should go on a trip to Sumeru! We can bring Klee! She'd love the desert! No rules! All the bombs!"
Nicole just shrugged and tuned her out.
She had a letter to write.