"WHEN we get out of here, you can tell Alda that I'm done with her scarf," Asmeen told Aven as they were eating their dinner. "After two, three days in here, I'm sure I'll be done."

He laughed. After spending an hour in misery, Aven had caved and asked the nurses for something to do. They'd brought him some books. Asmeen hadn't known anyone could read so fast. And Aven claimed he was reading slowly, so that he wouldn't burn through the books and therefore be left with nothing to do, again.

She'd even tested him on one of the books he'd read. He remembered most of it. Truly amazing.

"It is coming along well," Aven said, looking at the piece. He'd seemed quite impressed with her knitting, so Asmeen had told him about larger projects, like Nana's blanket. Apparently he'd been impressed by the blanket as well, when he saw it while visiting Nyma's house.

"You could make a living out of this, you know," he said offhandedly. Then he began to cough, scratchy sounds coming from his throat.

"What?" Asmeen asked when he quieted, her eyebrows furrowing.

Aven nodded. "Nyma is willing to pay for a scarf. And I'm sure plenty others would be willing to pay for your goods. They're pretty high quality, you know."

Asmeen let out a soft scoff, looking away. "I wish."

"Why not?" Aven asked. "Plenty of people earn this way, you know."

Asmeen shrugged, and thankfully he let the subject drop.

"We haven't argued at all today," Aven said suddenly. When Asmeen looked up, his eyes were mischievous.

She grinned, shaking her head. "I think that part of us only comes out in that field. Do you think we'll start fighting again, once all this is over?"

One corner of Aven's lips rose. "I'm sure once I insult your handwriting, and you say I smell bad, we will."

Asmeen laughed, even though her stomach twisted. The day had shown her how pleasant Aven could be, when they weren't under pressure. In fact, if they'd met under different circumstances, Asmeen was pretty sure they'd have been friends.

"Let's try not to," she suggested.

Aven's eyes narrowed playfully. "I remember making this promise twice already." Asmeen shot him an exasperated look and he nodded, sobering slightly. "I will try my hardest."

She gave him a satisfied nod. "As will I." She gave her empty bowl back to the nurse, Aven doing the same.

"Asmeen!"

Asmeen turned to see Wylla and Elyn striding towards her. Other trainees had also come, heading to other people's beds, and Asmeen assumed that training had finished for the day.

"How are you?" Wylla said, beginning to talk instantly. "We visited in the morning, but you were asleep, and we've been so worried—"

"I know, I know," Asmeen said, smiling. "I'm fine. Still sick, so don't come to close."

"Thank Bjóll," Wylla said. Then she caught sight of Aven behind her and nodded at him. "Good evening."

"Good evening," Aven said, in return. Even Elyn nodded at him.

"Thank you so much for my knitting, Wylla," Asmeen said. She gave Wylla a grateful look then turned a very pointed stare to Elyn.

"I'll have you know that the knitting was my idea," Elyn said, crossing her arms.

Wylla, beside her, scoffed loudly. "Oh, please. You said to bring her notes, and then you saw the scarf, and you said, 'Oh, let's bring this, too,'."

Asmeen laughed as Elyn's face soured. "At least I thought of bringing something for her."

"You thought of bringing her notes," Wylla said, her face scrunching up.

Elyn didn't respond.

"Well, I didn't study today," Asmeen said cheerily, even though slight guilt was settling in her gut. "I was sick."

"And no one expected you to," Wylla said, her face matter of fact. Elyn didn't refute this claim, thankfully. Wylla looked around and pulled something out of her satchel. "We figured you'd be under the weather, so we brought you this."

Asmeen's lips parted as Wylla pulled out a small, honey-glazed rice cake. She took it gladly, hiding it in her palms. She didn't know whether or not she could eat it, and she didn't want to take the chance.

"Really?" Elyn asked, her eyebrows raised. "Aren't we supposed to focus on her getting better?"

"One can't hurt," Wylla reasoned. Asmeen agreed.

"Thank you," she said, grinning. Then she glanced at Aven, who was sitting all alone in his bed. "Do you want some?" She whispered.

Aven glanced over at them, his eyes surprised. Asmeen opened her hand slightly, showing him the rice cake. It took a moment for him to realize what it was, but then he started grinning.

Asmeen split the cake in half. Wylla passed one half to Aven stealthily, and Asmeen put one in her mouth.

"No fighting?" Elyn asked, glancing between the two of them.

"We've declared a truce," Aven said, shrugging slightly. "Apparently we only argue when we're in the field."

"Under pressure," Asmeen added when she was done swallowing. Aven nodded. The cake had been good, but her palm was a bit sticky with honey now. And she couldn't exactly lick it in front of everyone.

"We should leave now," Wylla said, looking around. Most of the visitors had left. Only a few remained.

"Right. You must be hungry," Asmeen said.

"We'll tell father you're feeling better," Wylla added, her voice softer.

Asmeen blinked. "Oh. Yes, of course."

"He said to tell you to get well soon," Elyn said calmly. "And to focus on training."

"Tell him I will," Asmeen said, nodding.

"We'll come tomorrow," Wylla said, abruptly changing the subject. "That is, if you're awake," she teased.

"No need to wake up early on our behalf. Sleep," Elyn said, surprisingly. When they both looked at her, taken aback, she shrugged. "It's not like we get to sleep late much nowadays. And besides, she has the whole day to do...anything she wants." This was accompanied by a not-very-subtle glance at the unused notes.

Asmeen laughed. "Yes, Elyn. Goodbye, then."

Wylla waved, and the twins walked away together.

Asmeen sat back in her bed and let out a sigh. Seeing her sisters for a while had lifted her spirits, but now that they were gone, she could feel the miserable feeling of being sick creeping back over her.

"Want to read?" Aven asked. When Asmeen turned to him, he was holding up one of the books he'd finished throughout the day. "This is a good one."

She shook her head. "I don't really feel like reading. Thank you, though."

He shrugged and set it down again. "Of course."

Asmeen let out a soft groan. "I want to sleep, but I'm not sleepy."

"Just tired?" Aven asked. She nodded. He let out a sigh of his own. "So am I." His voice was still scratchy from all the coughing he'd done throughout the day.

"I guess I should get back to Nyma's scarf," Asmeen said, letting out a breath. She gave the scarf on her table a soulless look.

"No," Aven groaned. "I've spent the whole day watching you make it. Even I'm tired of seeing that scarf now." He sat up straight, turning to face her, his legs crossed. "Hand me those." He gestured at the notes that had been lying on the table for the entire day.

Asmeen gave him an odd look and grabbed the notes, leaning over the hand them to him.

Aven cleared his throat, going through them. "I'll quiz you."

"No," Asmeen complained.

He gave her a pointed look. "It's not like we have anything better to do."

Asmeen grumbled some more, but eventually she turned to face him, pulling her blanket over her shoulders.

Aven cleared his throat, his eyes running over her notes. "Your handwriting really is terrible. How do you understand these? It's like a chicken's crawled all over the page."

"Don't start on my handwriting!" Asmeen hissed.

Aven held up a hand. "Alright, chicken."

She glared. "Sure, smelly."

Aven looked back own at the notes rapidly, shaking his head, but Asmeen could see him biting back a smile. "Now—what's the second ingredient in the plant rejuvenating potion?"

They alternated in asking each other questions, and they both got most of the answers right. No, Asmeen got all of them right, Aven was just too picky about details. And then he contradicted her notes from time to time, and eventually the mutually decided to put away the notes. It was for the best.

The room had started settling by then, with most of the others drawing the curtains around their beds and going to sleep. Asmeen decided to do the same, mouthing a quick goodnight to Aven before asking the nurse to shut her curtains.

She laid down on her side, shutting her eyes tightly. It would be so...well, different if she and Aven could be friends like this while they were training. But clearly the training and the pressure brought out a different side in both of them. She wasn't at her best then, and neither was he.

She didn't want to start fighting with him again, now that she knew how funny Aven could really be, and how thoughtful. He'd kept her amused the entire day despite being sick himself. She would have been so bored had he not been there.

But he was probably right. They probably would start fighting again, once they were back in that field, under Dara and Osoric's eyes. Maybe after training was over, they could be friends.

With those thoughts running through her mind over and over, Asmeen managed to fall asleep.

A nice, quiet day. I had fun writing this one.

See you next chapter!