a midsummer night's dream.

ft. ( @mpxalexander )

Sweaty and out of breath, Theodora looked up at him. Her heart thumped within her chest and her lungs claimed for air. With the exertion, her clothes felt tight, like a second skin on her body. She felt warm but sticky. A few strands of black hair found their way out of her scrunchie and now framed her face, accentuating her ruby cheeks.

Theodora couldn't remember the last time she felt like this. In fact, she wondered if she ever felt like this at all. It was an odd sensation, but definitely not a bad one.

"I know, I know. But..." she muttered under the breath she was still catching on. It took her a moment, but Theodora regained control of her breathing. Or just enough that she could speak without pausing as often. She cleared her throat, inhaled and a second later exhaled.

"You're right," the historian looked over her shoulder to the mostly empty street behind them. No one seemed to be following them, let alone chasing them. Good. Theodora was not sure how much more running she could handle. Not to mention the weight of her backpack on her back. She couldn't bring so many books from the library.

ft. Cyhiraeth ( @mpxcyhiraeth ) & Theodora | continued from here.

Archivists and librarians are to historians what superheroes are to children: the coolest people out there. Not only did they know the library and archive where they worked like the palm of their hand, but they also knew pretty much each book existed and where to find them. If Theodora didn't know the effort they'd put into their work, she'd call it wizardry. Hence the first rule of the History club: one should always be nice to archivists and librarians.

"Just a smidge," Theodora reassured, brushing away the last evidence of dust. "And done."

The young historian took a step back and clasped her hands behind her back, allowing the archivist to go on with her job. Personal space was something very, er...personal. Theodora did not want to intrude.

ft. Yeji ( @mpyeji ) & Theodora | continued from here.

Theodora decided it was time to take a break from work and have a little snack. From afar, when she was stepping away from the vending machine, which was always her best friend and her worst enemy, she spotted Yeji. Now, it wasn't like her to make a habit of stalking people, but when they last met, Yeji struck her as a nice and friendly person. Why should Theodora turn away in the face of making a friend?

With a Snickers bar in one hand and a cup of coffee and milk in the other, the young historian made her way to the other girl and offered her company. Thank goodness, Yeji agreed with it. Otherwise, it would've been awkward.

"I heard of that book and author before, but I never read it," Theodora commented, sipping on her drink while her eyes fixed on the orange cover with bold letters. "I think he has another book with a similar title. Everyone had their own copy of that one, a couple of years ago." In the same way, everyone seemed shocked by the cursing on the title. Theodora found it fun. But then again, Theodora was a teenager when the book came out. It felt self-explanatory.

ft. ( @mpsundrop )

Sweaty and out of breath. This was not what Theodora had in mind for her Saturday evening, but here she was. She knew that cats could put up a challenge, it was like general knowledge, but she was not expecting this much of a fighter. Then again, as a black cat, one should be prepared to fight, no?

The historian in training sort of chuckled at the remark, a clear sign that perhaps she should go on walks and runs more often. "You're very kind for including me in that sentence, but you did all the hard work here! I was just at the right place at the right time." Theodora was just happy to have been of some help.

ft. ( @mp-minry )

Theodora was not going to lie, being called pretty made her heart flutter and her cheeks warm up. She made her peace with her looks a long time ago, but it still felt like a novelty to be complimented. Let it alone this spontaneously. The only thing that concerned her was the situation in which the compliment was given. But a compliment is still a compliment, despite the situation, right?

"No, please, don't do that. It was my fault." It was not the first pile of books that Theodora knocked out at someone's bookshop. In her defence, she was left with no supervision and with a heavy backpack. On top of that, she had little sleep the night before, which roughly translated into a mayhem machine in the morning and for the rest of the day. Since she had survived going up and down the library's stairs, she thought that a short trip to the nearest bookshop was a well-deserved prize for her effort on staying alive awake.

ft. ( @mpxcassandra )

That raised a lot of questions in Theodora's head. First, what kind of place was Mount Phoenix if its inhabitants were dangerous enough for someone to offer their protection? Second, if there was a chance of them being dangerous, and they feared her, what did that say about Cassandra? And third, did Theodora look so helpless to the point she had to be offered protection? Wait, there was a fourth question. What would be the cost of that protection if there was one?

The historian in training had no answers, except for one question. Theodora conceded that she was kind of helpless, even though she had been working on that. For example, she enrolled on Athena's self-defence classes. It would do her well to have something like a side quest to keep her mind out of work and her body out of the apartment. But still...