Reflections (Seffi and Lars)

Seffi, more often than not, had begun to think that there was something missing from her life now, and she did not know exactly what that was, she had everything she thought she should have, she had her friends, she had her family...so what could be missing.

Sighing she wandered into the Room of Mirrors and looked at her reflection in the mirror, she was thinner than normal and paler, the mark of a worried Seffi, she often lost weight when she was stressed out and the idea of the tournament approaching, in which she was a reserve, did not help matters at all.

Resting her head against one of the mirrors Seffi sniffled a little, wondering if she would be able to find out what was missing and fix it, or if she would always have something niggling at the back of her mind, something she had forgotten.

This was his first time going to the Room of Mirrors. After hearing about it, he decided it would be a great place to visit. Very interesting, having all those reflections off the mirrors bouncing around. When he walked into the room, he was happy to see Seffi Dresner there. With all the mirrors reflecting Seffi, he was ecstatic. It was like her beauty was amplified by each mirror, being broadcast into every corner of the room. Of course, it didn't hurt that in his opinion she was the most beautiful girl int he world.

Then, when he looked closer at Seffi, he noticed that she was thinner, and paler than the last time he'd seen her. Also, she was resting her head on a mirror, and sniffling, like she was holding back tears. Naturally, his concern for her came up very quickly. "Seffi, are you okay?" Lars asked, walking over to her quickly, his voice filled with concern. "You look pale, and a bit thinner than the last time I saw you. Still beautiful of course, but why haven't you been eating enough? Are you scared, worried about something?" he asked her.

Enveloping her in a hug, he held her tightly to his chest. "Hey, whatever is going on, it's okay Seffi. I'm here now, you understand what that means right? I'll keep away the bad thoughts, and replace them with happy ones." Lars said, smiling at her.

Seffi jumped a little when she heard another voice from behind her, there was something about Lars, he always seemed to appear whenever she needed someone to be there for her, and this was one of those moments, although she did not think he would care nearly as much as he did.

When he commented on the fact that she had lost weight, Seffi bit her lip and she ran her hands through her hair again, wondering what she should tell him, should she try to explain the truth? Would he say she was silly for doing what she did?

"Hey Lars." she said quietly "I'm okay, I'm just a little bit worried about the tournament coming up, I wish I had never volunteered to become a reserve, the tasks could be anything and I'm only a second year I don't know a thing about magic!"

Wrapping her arms around Lars she rested her head on her chest; "Thank you, I think I need someone to distract me from all of these things, they've just been piling on top of me more and more recently."

She jumped when he spoke, and that didn't surprise him. Seffi seemed as if she was on edge, so he expected that. What he didn't expect was how long it took her to talk to him. They were friends, right. "Worried about the tournament, I understand. Well, sadly, it's kind of too late to back out. However, I know for a fact that you are intelligent. Sometimes wits is more important than anything else in a tournament. Plus, you might not even have to go and fight in the tournament. Also, you definitely know stuff about magic. Seffi, I've seen you cast spells in class, trust me, you are better than you think. If it will put your mind at ease though, I can try and teach you some spells that I think could be useful. Don't worry about it, worrying never helps Seff." Lars told her, looking her right in the eye. He wanted her to know that he would do anything to help.

Feeling Seffi wrap her arms around him made him feel special. As if, well as if he was special to her. Maybe, maybe he was, Lars certainly hoped so. At this point in time, he was there to comfort her, but he knew if she had hugged him at another time. Well, that it might have made him blush, and consider kissing her or something along those lines. Since his thoughts had drifted that way, a small blush did color his cheeks, but it disappeared shortly after. "No need to thank me Seffi. You are my friend, this is what friends do for each other. I know for a fact if I was sniffling in the room and you saw me in here you would come and help me. Why wouldn't I do the same, you silly girl?" he asked her, smiling warmly at her.

"I am glad to be a distraction for you. Take some of the stress out of your life. Want to know something?" Lars asked her. "I've, well, it's kind of hard for me to say. Makes me feel a bit like an idiot just thinking about telling you to be honest." A bright red blush colored his cheeks, he knew it because they felt like they were hot coals.

Seffi was happy when Lars offered her some encouragement, there was no way that she would be able to stop herself from worrying until the tournament was over but she hoped that with his reassuring words she would at least be able to calm down a little to sleep, and most importantly eat properly.

"You really think that I'm going to do okay?" she asked, a nervous smile on her lips "I would be much more at ease if I knew what the task was but I just dont, it's so hard not to know, everyone will be so unprepared for it..." she bit her lip, hoping their champions would do alright.

Extremely glad that Lars thought that they were friends just like Seffi did, she smiled widely and forgot about the tournament for a little moment, maybe this was a good idea, Lars would distract her from her worries far more than Eliza could, and she knew if she told her she would become jealous. So artfully she forgot to mention it.

"Well I guess it sounds simple when you say it like that." she smiled softly, tilting her head to one side she wondered what Lars was going to say, he was blushing and stuttering something wicked, was it something embarrassing he wanted to say?

"I would like to know something, and, you know you can tell me anything I wont laugh at you Lars." she offered encouragingly.

"Of course I think you are going to do okay. I wouldn't lie to you Seffi. In general, I try not to lie actually. Anyways though, definitely would never lie to you in particular. That levels the field though. If you do end up having to go in as a reserve, remember that, they are just as unprepared as you are, okay." Lars said, trying to build up her confidence. Reassure her that she would be alright.

Seffi's stunning smile finally appeared, and it warmed his heart to see it. He had been able to help her, after all. "Friendship is one of the simplest things in the world on paper, you just have to remember not to complicate things too much. Trust each other, and be honest, that is what the books I have read on friendship tell me to do. Until last year when I met you, I'd never really had an opportunity to put it into practice. Turns out some of the people who wrote those books were pretty smart." he admitted to her. He always loved how he could tell Seffi anything, she didn't judge him. It was a refreshing thing for him, and gave him a sense of peace and contentment deep within himself.

Blushing like mad, he gulped, trying to get the lump in his throat to move. It stayed right where it was, and his heart rate started to increase a bit. Butterflies flew into his stomach, and he knew if he didn't go quickly he would start sweating soon. "Okay, if you say so Seffi. I-I, how do they say it, ummm...umm, I have feelings for you. Yea, that's it, I like you, as in a-a-a more than friends way." Lars told her, blushing and looking down. He felt like a complete idiot while he was admitting his feelings for her. Still did, he didn't know whether or not she liked him. And, Lars honestly expected her to say she didn't like him. So, his eyes started to tear up a bit, and he expected his biggest fear to be confirmed. That no matter how nice somebody was, nobody could love, or like, or crush on, a monster like he was.

Seffi thought that Lars was right, if she did end up going in as a reserve she would be fighting someone who had been going longer and would be more tired than her, and she could think about what to do in the task, it would not be such a surprise.

"I think maybe being a reserve is better than being an actual player, because it would allow me more time to look at the task and what I would do in their position." she smiled gently.

When he told her that he had read books on friendship, Seffi had to admit that it was not very nice to think about him being on his own and only reading about having friends;

"I'm very glad that we are friends you know Lars. I think that we both need some people to be there for us, I mean, my best friend Eliza is very tempremental and she tries to get me into trouble but...you don't do that, you're a very good friend."

Blinking a little, she felt her cheeks warm up with a blush when Lars told her that he had feelings for her as more than a friend, she did not know how to take that really and she let a soft silence fall for a few moments;

"O-oh...I see...w-well, what do we do now?" she asked confused "I've never had someone like me like that before..."

Lars could tell that what he said was encouraging her, and it made him smile. She had a point when she said it was an advantage coming in fresh off the bench. If she had to take somebody's place, she could see how they had tried to get past the task. Seffi would be able to figure out which strategies worked and didn't before even stepping into the danger zone herself. "Seffi, I do believe you're right. Also, you'll be able to see which of their strategies failed, and why. Maybe figure out which ones work as well. All before you even go do whatever it is they want you to accomplish." he said, glad she was getting in the right mindset. If she wasn't ready to think she would be toast, but it appeared she was pretty smart. He'd suspected as much, but this was the proof of her intelligence.

She probably thought it was odd that he hadn't had any friends before. It was odd for a person his age to have only read about friendship. Now, he had at least one friend though. Probably too, Christielle was pretty friendly. They had talked a bit last year. "So relieved to hear you say that, I thought you felt that way. But, I am so odd, wasn't sure you liked talking with me and hanging out or not. Eliza, hmm, so she is your best friend. I see, tempermental people can be more troublesome than others. That is why she has you though, to help bail her out I am guessing. I am, really, thank you Seffi." Lars said, blushing a bit. Her words had touched him in a way that he hadn't thought they could. There was a warm feeling spreading from his heart area, and he'd never really felt that before. Maybe, maybe he wasn't as evil as he thought he was.

Seffi blushed beautifully, and an uncomfortable silence appeared. So, she didn't feel the same way. It was the first awkward silence that had happened since meeting her, and he hated it. They'd always had no problem keeping a conversation going. "Umm, well I'm not sure exactly. Generally, this is the part when you tell me whether or not you like me back. If you do, well then we can go on a date somewhere. Maybe go out to dinner or something like taht. But if you don't, then we stay friends. I mean, I'd love to have you as my girlfriend, be honored if you were; but, I understand if you don't care about me like that. To be honest, it would be more surprising to me if you did like me in that way..." Lars trailed off. She hadn't said that she didn't like him, so maybe there was hope.

Seffi smiled happily, glad that he agreed with her, it probably meant that she was right and she hated to be proved wrong, it made her feel silly, and she was more than annoyed when Eliza did it when she was in front of people, Seffi did not like looking silly at all.

"I'm glad that you think that same as me, it means that I'm probably right, and I can start to relax a little bit now, well, as much as I can possibly relax after all." she smiled happily.

Nodding her head a little bit Seffi found she quite liked telling Lars all the things that annoyed her about Eliza, she often made her upset and tried to make her late for her lessons when she did not really want to be, she knew she would get in trouble.

"Yes, she always tries to make me late for lessons, she always tries to upset me when she says things to me, I know that;s not what a good friend does." she frowned lightly "Eliza used to be nice though, before we came here."

When Lars told her what she was supposed to do Seffi hummed lightly and she wondered if she did feel the same way about Lars, she thought that he was nice, even if he was a little strange, and she wouldn't mind going on a date with him.

"Maybe we could go for a picnic sometime, as a date, to see how it goes, after all we are only twelve." she said simply, with a small smile on her lips.

It was good seeing Seffi smile after she had been so sad, it made him happy. "Happy to help Seffi. You are a pretty smart girl, you should have more faith in yourself. Because I have complete faith in you." Lars told her. "It is always better to relax anyways, if you end up having to do a task there will be plenty of nerves and stress then. No need to get a head start with them."

For some reason, there was a lot to complain about, this friend Eliza was not being a very good friend in his opinion. "That isn't very nice, you could get detention for being late. Wait, she intentionally tries to upset you, that's terrible. No, it really isn't Seffi." he agreed. "Maybe she just doesn't like it here, and is trying to take out her frustration on you. Don't know what to tell you, haven't really dealt much with this type of thing." Lars admitted.

After he asked her, Seffi just hummed for a little bit. What was going on in that head of hers??? Then she completely surprised him, she actually wanted to go on a picnic date with him. "No way, you, you actually want to go on a date with me? I can't believe it..." This was like a dream come true for him. He was going on a date with Seffi Dresner! "Yea, we don't have to decide right now. We have time to figure stuff out. So, umm, do you want to meet at Kristall Karminrot (the crystal lake)?" he asked.