After a disappointingly simple test, Arras had been left with a gaping hole where his excitement had previously laid. He had wanted to listen in on, and actually pay attention to, Illia's negotiations... But it was just... So very difficult for him to care about it right now. So, there he sat. A bird on his shoulder, and a whole lot of words that he heard, but didn't care to understand.
...So that really was just it?
"Arras?"
Over a week of build up, all of this drivel, and it's just a minute long test of... What... Defending myself?
"Hello, Araia to Arras?"
What even was the point of learning everything else then? Why did I spend so much time on basics that I didn't even need to know apparently?
"ARRAS!"
"Hm?"
"Jeeze... Something wrong there? Just making sure, you're good with the contents of the contract, right?"
"...What were they again?"
"Were... Were you not listening at all?"
"No."
"You know... That wasn't such an issue maybe, a few weeks ago...? But if you're gonna take an active role in this Kingdom in some capacity, you really should start paying attention to things like that."
"...So what were the contents?"
"Right. Well, you'll have a weekly salary of two Tablets, six Gold, ten Silver, and a hundred Copper. You're expected to stay within a reasonable distance of the capital city during the school period, unless you've given advanced notice to your superiors and had it approved. During the duration of this contract, you're expected to teach the classes which you've agreed to, those being second year combat classes, and introductory Mind Realm classes. And that's usually going to be four times a day, for an hour and a half each. There's also some other minor things, but I promise you it's all alright. Unless you want me to bore you with the details. Otherwise, this is a pretty good contract. They weren't really trying to scam you out of anything here, they came with pretty fair conditions from the start."
"...So, it's not going to be a problem for me if I say yes to this?"
"Definitely not. You might need to look into having some more artifacts made though, mostly just spacial storage and what not. Oh, I guess it'd need to be able to transform along with you as well..."
Arras thought about it for a moment, before asking another question. "Wait, why would I need spacial storage?"
"Money, du-you don't have a concept of money do you?" Illia came to the realization at shocking speeds, or perhaps not too shocking given she had a pretty solid understanding of what Arras himself understood about things in general.
"...Well, you sort of told me about it. Wasn't it just a way to get other people to do what you want them to do? Because... They all don't listen to each other for some reason?"
"Mmm... Yeah, but-okay, now's not really the time?! Look how patiently this man is waiting he might as well be a Saint! So, yes or no, is the contract alright with you? They're not trying to scam you out of anything, it's just a bog standard arrangement that anybody else would get. Normal pay for a job like that, I think. The term lasts for as long as this year of the academy does, and you just need to do your job. That job being the classes that you, if I'm not wrong, wanted to teach. Standard dissolution terms as well, if you're not properly doing your job then higher ups at the academy can cancel your contract early. Is all of that alright with you or not?"
"...I suppose so." Arras repressed the urge to nod, because he would only be nodding to Alexarius, and he wasn't even present in the pairs mind link.
"So, yes, you mean yes, okay, I'm patching them into this link now?"
"Go ahead." Arras failed to repress the urge to nod.
"I take it the terms are agreeable?"
"Yes. They're perfectly fine with me." Arras nodded once again, and it was completely normal this time. Though, perhaps a little repetitive. Offhandedly he wondered if he should vary his physical reactions a little bit. He used to just not do anything at all, but Illia told him that was a little creepy now that he was "speaking". He wouldn't go so far as to fake actually talking, but he could certainly make his speech look a little more natural.
"Excellent, then, Sir Veile, under the agreed upon terms, I am offering you a contract. Do you accept?"
A familiar grasp of magic took hold over Arras, it was still unsettling, uncomfortable and extremely off-putting, but it was only for a moment.
"I accept."
And for a moment, it once again felt as if he choked on the very air around him, and in the very next he was only slightly worse for wear. An uneasy feeling bound itself to his magic, but it was bearable. Much like the other three he had currently present. He would learn to ignore it, over time.
"Then the terms are set. Do be sure to organize any of your grievances before heading off to the capital. I know I need not tell you once again, but you have two weeks."
"Thank you." Arras tried his best to put on a smile, better to start as soon as possible. Building habits was better than continuing to force it.
"Now, as I'm sure you've noticed, I have quite the amount of work to make my way through. Do make your way out, and give Erickson my regards. It's going to be a long night."
He felt a nod to be appropriate this time around, so he did as such and stood up. Illia wordlessly removed Alexarius from the link, and he was off.
So, as he had told him, Arras was going to "organize his grievances" that sounded nice, Arras liked the way that saying sounded, but regardless, Arras was going to work on what he wanted to now. He'd been occupied with other things so far, but now he had one thing in particular that he very much wanted to get off his chest.
As mentioned prior, Arras had learned to ignore the contracts that he had. One of them had been even easier, its contents were light on him, it had been the terms of it that had refused to leave him.
"Illia?"
"Yeah? What's up? Well I mean, I know what's up obviously, but like... You wanna take a trip around town or something? It's been a few days."
"...Maybe, the first time was surprisingly pleasant, but I'd like to talk to you about something."
"Well... Uh... You have me around at all times to answer you?"
"I know I do, I appreciate it."
"...You're welcome?"
"But what I don't appreciate... I... I'm not quite sure how to pose this, to be honest." Arras admitted as he made his way down the stairs. He knew what he wanted to talk about... But Illia herself had never had any issue with it, she never cared, she herself made Arras do it. It was entirely something posed to harm her... And somehow that made it SO much worse than all three other contracts that Arras had combined, even if it wasn't nearly as suffocating.
"Hey... Uh, no need to be so hesitant you know that right? Whatever it is you already know I won't mind."
"Right... Okay, I'd like to get rid of our contract. I don't want you to be my 'familiar'."
"Wh... Huh? Why not?"
"I... Illia, forgive me if I'm wrong here, but from what I've seen of 'familiars'. They aren't really their own people are they? Nobody talks to you like you're... Well, you. Back in the desert, you were never referred to as yourself... Even when we were sent in as a group, we were called a group of seven. Despite it actually being a group of ten. I don't like that. I don't like seeing you be treated like you're... Lesser, than anybody else. So I don't want you to be my familiar."
"O-oh. I don't really... Mind that? It's really not an issue for me-"
"It's an issue for me."
"Then... What do you want me to be? I can't just... Not be anything. Arras, me being considered a familiar is helpful. I know you don't realize this... But it just... Makes everything so, so much easier for us to both stay under the same bubble of authority. Like you said, by technicality, if I WASN'T your familiar back in the desert, then I wouldn't have even been able to go with you."
"..."
"I get that you don't really like it but... You've been able to bear so much else for the sake of it being convenient. I don't mean to force you to do this... But can't you bear with this as well?"
"It's not... About me though." Arras handily ignored the odd glances he was getting for making his way down the stairs so slowly. "Doesn't that... Upset you? I know it upsets me. You're everything to me, seeing anybody else treat you like you're... Nothing... It doesn't upset you at all?"
"Jeeze... You make this stuff real difficult you know that?"
"...Sorry."
"God... Well, it's hard to say. I... I guess it does make me a little sad-"
"Okay then let's figure something else out."
"Does this really bother you that much?"
"...Yes." Arras frowned as he finally reached the bottom of the stairs. "It does. I know you don't mind all that much... But... It matters to me. It matters a lot. I've been thinking about how I should tell you, and I've been putting it off but I just... Is this weird? Am I the odd one for not being okay with this?"
"Well... Yeah. You are the odd one out. This is the norm Arras, this is what's widely accepted. A familiar dictated their own terms, and from that point forwards they're basically just their contractors property provided the terms are fulfilled. But... At the same time, I guess I can't say I don't get it. If... If you're really not comfortable with this then... I suppose we could... Uh..."
"Are you okay? You sound a little nervous."
"Oh, yeah-yeah I'm fine! Just thinking of... Alternative methods, if you're really that uncomfortable with the status quo. There's... A few ways that we could... Get around it."
"Oh! That's great! Whatever it is, as long as you're not effected by it, it'll be fine with me."
"R-right... But I uh... How about you give me a little bit to flesh the... Idea... Out, just a little more, alright? I'm uh... Not entirely sure that it'd work."
"...Yes you are, why are you lying?"
"Just go along with it!"
"...Okay?" Arras made his way forward slowly, the confusing conversation taking precedent over any sense of haste. Illia had suggested a trip in the city so... Why not take her up on it? She sounded a little... Agitated, nervous, embarrassed, all of that. Some emotions that he'd come to generally associate with Illia when she might appreciate a gesture of good will... Even if he didn't quite understand why she felt that way. So with a very slight shrug, he nodded appreciatively to a human who opened the door for him.
"So... What is the idea?" Arras scratched at Illia's head as he made his way out through the gates. Once again nodding his thanks to those manning the gates. "I get you're a little nervous about it for whatever reason, but if there is something else that can get you along apart from just being my glorified servant, I'd much prefer that."
"No-I don't think you quite-it was more of a spur of the moment kind of ridiculous kind of idea! Don't worry about it!"
"...You don't seem to think it was all that ridicu-"
"Hush!"
She proceeded to control the link far more precisely. Emotions were no longer leaking through on her side.
"I... What in the world has you so riled up? This doesn't even seem like it's about the contract at this point."
"Don't worry about it!"
"It's fairly difficult to not worry about it. Oh, also, where would you like to go?"
"I dunno just, walk around for awhile... But pleeeease don't worry about it?"
"Very well. I still don't want you to be my familiar though. So unless you have any other ideas, I do think I'd like to hear this one."
"...How... How about we get lunch? You haven't eaten yet today, right? Neither have I."
"Illia..."
"Just trust me on this, alright? I need to work up some nerve."
"I... What?"
"Promise I'll explain myself? Let's just uhm... Let's just go for now."
Arras let out an exasperated sigh before cloaking himself and Illia in illusion magic. His outfit had been drawing attention, and he didn't really enjoy prying eyes.
"So, lunch? Got any places in mind?"
"...Thank you."
"I still expect an answer, or at least a new idea."
"...Right, I'll get back to you on that."
...
Arras was looking to broaden his horizons when it came to his palate. And in the sense of trying more meat, not things that weren't meat. Though, the thought occurred that they hadn't actually brought any money... So, Illia, being a creature of flight and what not, made her way back independent of Arras. Leaving him... On his own. Amidst the crowd, and he had to order, by himself.
A daunting task, to be sure.
He contemplated just waiting for Illia before ordering anything, but he was going to have to learn how to speak to people wasn't he? Teaching others intrinsically implied the task after all. He couldn't just delegate everything to Illia... Actually, could he? She apparently needed to be "helpful" for something or other... But then again, she couldn't use illusion magic nearly as proficiently as Arras could. Even if she was getting there. Slowly, inch by inch, while being an entire town away. But she was getting there.
But no, he couldn't just relegate Illia to doing all of his speaking. That was rude on top of likely being wasteful. So, double negative. He would have to learn how to do it himself. And where better to start?
Certainly not here, given he didn't even know how to order in the first place. So, there Arras sat. Still obscuring his presence, poring over a piece of paper with a bunch of different numbers. Supposedly, prices for whatever was on the menu. Which also happened to contain illustrations of whatever it was that he would order. Naturally, his eyes drifted towards the... Admittedly, most definitely over dramatized meats on display.
He wasn't quite sure why they would go so far as to make them look as appealing as possible in a drawing, more so than what they'd normally look like, but he supposed it wasn't UPSETTING to look at or anything. He swallowed a little bit heavier than he usually would, and continued to eye the page.
Three coppers... Five coppers... One silver? Is that expensive or is the rest of this just cheap? And what am I going to get Illia?
The thought occurred, that Illia had in fact, not told him what she'd like to eat. The second thought occurred, that he didn't actually know what she liked. Like, at all. Well, sure, he knew what she would eat, what she has eaten and that she'd probably be fine with just about anything, but he didn't know what she actually LIKED.
...So he couldn't well preemptively order for her now could he?
...Could he even order without having the money on hand?
Despite having firmed his resolve to actually speak to somebody completely random to him, the third thought occurred that just about everything else wouldn't match up.
He was... Apparently, woefully underprepared for this monumental task. Perhaps he'd spend a week or so just figuring out how to... How to do, before he went to the capital. That seemed like a at least somewhat acceptable use of his time.
Anyways... It was a good thing that he probably wouldn't need to wait much longer. It should be a fairly short trip from here to the manor. From there she could just fly in through a window, or the front if she was being respectful, and it was only a short trip to their room from there. Which was where the few coins that they currently had to their name resided. Should really only be a few minutes, so while Arras was currently having an issue, he supposed he would be relegating it to Illia this time.
...Anyways... After sorting through all of his worries for the moment, he was left with one underlying problem. Despite, knowing for a fact, that nobody could even see him right now, Arras couldn't help but feel nervous. He was all on his own, in a crowd of at least a dozen other people that he didn't know. Sure, he'd gotten better with that particular fear, but he'd also somewhat memorized the faces that made their way through the manor by now. This was a different caliber of stranger danger. Like, what if one of them just so happened to be an incredibly skilled combatant who had the means to spot him through his illusion magic, and the reason to attack him?
There was no way, right? But still his mind just wouldn't shut up about it. So the minutes that he waited began to stretch into what felt like hours. He double, triple, and quadruple checked his magic as he tried any means to take his mind off of it, like staring at the pictures on the menu for longer than he reasonably should've been. But no, nothing helped. Granted, the anxiety wasn't really that bad in the first place... But he'd gotten a little more used to feeling calm. Well, apart from being indoors, but that was an entirely different sort of anxiety.
He'd barely had to deal with this particular fear over the past few weeks so it was... Admittedly rather upsetting. That's another thing he could get to doing within the next two weeks, senses magic couldn't hurt to have on hand. He'd just... Need to try and learn healing magic. He'd never really tried before, besides... One time... So it'd be a new venture for him!
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When he got fidgety enough to start actively tapping on the table he found himself seated at, that's when he finally got what he was waiting for. Illia came fluttering down, a small pouch of, presumably, coins held in her beak. Arras smiled as he looked up, finally having something to anchor himself on to push back his anxiety... But he paused when she turned her head every which way, seemingly confused.
Well... Might as well ask. "Illia?"
"GOOD-Arras? Where the heck are you?"
He paused again, before having a "ah" moment.
"Right here, sorry." He shook his head amusedly as he parted his illusion to Illia. "I take it everything went well?"
"Well there wasn't much to go wrong... But, why are you hiding?"
“Hm… I suppose I was nervous. It’s been awhile since I’ve felt anxious like that, it was just… Unpleasant. Anyways, I’m glad you’re back. But I… Might have some bad news?”
“Uh-huh? What’s uh, what’s that?”
“I wasn’t… Sure what to order. Or… How.” He smiled nervously as he folded his hands together. Fidgeting like this was much easier when he was transformed. It was equally relieving as it was distressing. He could never feel truly comfortable in any shape other than his own oddly enough. Well… That wasn’t quite true, but he’d always prefer to be in his usual form. So as mentioned, it was nice to be able to distract himself so easily, but he wouldn't need to distract himself in the first place if he didn't need to stay transformed...
“...Oh. Haha, yeah! Woops, silly me, totally forgot to let you know what I’d like didn’t I?”
“Is… Is everything alright? You still sound somewhat nervous.”
“What are you talking about?” And instantly that emotion was gone. Arras couldn’t even fault her for it, she was just filtering it from conversation, not actively suppressing it.
…But he was still concerned.
“I do believe you know what I’m talking about. Illia… Is something the matter?”
“I’m f-fine-” it was oddly off-putting to hear such a clumsy lapse in her thoughts without any emotion to color it. “Oh that stutter is not doing me any favors.”
“No, it doesn’t seem to be. Seriously, are you alright?”
“...Yes, I am not in any kind of… I am not in any physical danger.”
“...Odd distinction.”
“How about we just order already? No excuse now that I’m here!”
“...”
Her gaze was piercing.
“...Fine. I’d appreciate it if you would give me a solid answer though. Something’s clearly wrong, if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s alright… Just… Tell me that.” Arras slumped forward and leaned against his arm, dispelling his illusion with a wave of his arm.
“So… What did you want?”
“...Just a salad.”
Oh dear… Even with her efforts in hiding how she felt at the moment… He hadn’t meant to make her feel guilty either. Maybe he really should just swallow his grievances for now. It seemed as if he could only make this situation worse as long as he didn’t know what it was about.
…
Things had gotten oddly silent between the two. Which was absolutely an anomaly. At least an anomaly when they were in each other's company, without practicing something. Arras was pretty sure that he really didn’t like this.
After his illusion spell had gone down, and a moment of confusion, Arras recited the names of their orders, readied the coins despite not needing them until, after, the meal oddly enough, and proceeded to lock eyes with Illia as the woman who had taken their orders walked away.
It was an awkward gaze shared between the two of them. Because, well, Arras wasn’t used to her being so… Quiet. Illia was talkative, when things weren’t serious, when it was just the two of them doing something together, she always spoke her mind. With… Very little exception. Arras wasn’t a conversation starter… And he certainly wasn’t sure how to start this one.
Oh sure, the occasional passing thought was directed at the other, and it was responded to. Like “the sun’s nice…” answered with a “yeah…” So as you might be able to guess, in Arras’s books, that didn’t really count. They weren’t… Speaking with each other, they were just in each other's presence.
Well… That was certainly a new feeling. Perhaps not a new one, but that was definitely anxiety from a different root. How fun.
The food arrived before a single genuine word was spoken between the two again. How long had that been, thirty minutes?
Arras took at least another minute to even stick a fork through an odd cube of meat, which he proceeded to eat, within a more reasonable time frame, while Illia took a very slow peck every few seconds at a single piece of the salad she’d gotten. This was… Starting to become very concerning.
Arras wasn’t sure if he could take the effective silence for much longer. This lack of connection was suffocating. He’d replaced his previous anxiety with something much, much worse. What, was he doing something wrong? Had he been invasive with his questions somehow?
…There wouldn’t be much point in stressing out about it. If… If she was upset with him for something, he should figure it out and do his best to remedy it. He didn’t want to make her upset in any way.
“Illia-”
“Arras-”
“...No, go ahead.” Arras shakily waved a hand at Illia as he forcefully crammed the incoming spiel down his proverbial throat.
“O-okay… Could-could you just stop using your metamorphosis spell, for a bit?”
“...Out here in public? I mean, I don’t mind, but aren’t I supposed to care about appearances?”
“Uh… Screw appearances right now.” Her entire body sagged precipitously for a moment, before she righted herself once more. “Please?”
Arras nodded once, and then a moment later, he jumped up onto the table. Drawing a few eyes, but otherwise going unnoticed. Arras hadn’t seen any other pairs like Illia and he around the place, but maybe they weren’t so rare.
“...Well?”
“Right, right… Right… Right… Rrrr-”
“Illia.”
“Right! Okay, how the heck do I say this…”
Arras could tell she was actively trying to not let anything leak into the link, and she was also failing miserably at that task. Embarrassment, hesitation, nervousness, anxiety, anticipation, excitement, all of it leaked through in equal measure through the cracks in her walls. She didn’t exactly seem… Scared, the excitement in the mixture certainly helped to assuage that worry… But, what was she so… Nervous about?
“Take your time.” He nodded as reassuringly as he could manage, keeping a respectable distance from his companion. If she wanted him to be closer despite the very complicated cocktail of feelings currently cracking its way through her barriers, she could come closer on her own time.
“Okay, there’s no real way to get around this… Do you… Actually, maybe there is. Or maybe there isn’t? Mmmmghh…”
“We have all day.”
“I know you’re trying to be helpful, but it’s really not helping!” A part of that aforementioned embarrassment and anxiety practically lashed out at Arras’s senses. But, he took it in stride.
“Okay, I’ll be quiet.”
“NO! I-that’s not… Would you… Would you come over here?”
“...Are you sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be sure?”
“...”
“Don’t answer that it’s rhetorical. Just-just come here.”
Arras took in a breath, and with a rolling shrug he began to walk forward, stepping across the sturdy wood from which the table was constructed. It was a sunny day out today, as opposed to the previous few days. The clouds had been surprisingly thin, something that brought both good and bad with it.
Notably, the table had been thoroughly baked by the sun. Walking across it was somewhat uncomfortable given that the center of it wasn’t covered in the shade of the odd structures around all of its edges. Of course, Illia had been at the exact opposite side, and the fastest way to her was through the center. Her tone was urgent, and he had no desire to disappoint.
“Okay, now lie down?”
An odd series of instructions, but covered in shade that wasn’t much of a problem. After lying down with his back turned to Illia, a moment later he felt a familiar weight press against him. The sun was hot today, but the air itself was a little cooler than it had been as of late. If there wasn’t an ongoing issue, he’d have been perfectly happy to just sit like this for an hour or two.
“Thanks. You’re great, you know that, right?”
“Yes.”
“...That was also rhetorical-no! It doesn’t matter! I’ve spent the past hour trying to get ready and I’m not letting the chance slip through my feathers!”
“...What?”
“Alright… Arras… How do… How do you feel about me?”
“...What do you mean?”
That felt like a question with quite a bit of nuance to Arras, his gut response was just to say “I like you”, but somehow such an answer seemed to be… Unsatisfactory.
“Well… Alright, what do you think of… When you think of me? You hear my name and… What does that make you feel like?”
“Hm. Let me think on that for a moment.”
That was a good question, actually. What did Arras think about when he thought of Illia? Well, her, right? But that wasn’t what she was asking, he wasn’t quite that oblivious. So, she was asking about what he felt when he thought of her…
“Well, I’m happy when I think of you. It’s not always enough, but it’s calming to think about you. It’s harder for things to get bad when I’m with you, or thinking of you in this case. I look forward to spending time with you, I suppose I’m just in a generally better mood. Does that answer your question?”
“...Yeah, I guess so.”
Nervousness, anxiety, embarrassment, excitement. All struggling to break through Illia’s own efforts. And also succeeding, for that matter, but beyond all of that, Arras was fairly sure he recognized the most prominent feeling. Above all else she’d been happy to hear that. That simple affirmation of what Illia likely already knew. She was… Confusing, but well, Arras was perfectly content to bask in that feeling.
“So uhm… Do you mind if I ask another question?”
“No… But do you mind if I ask you one first?”
“...Uh-sure!”
“What’s going on? I’d be perfectly happy to stay right here, but didn’t we come out to eat? I also can’t help but notice the occasional gaze in our direction… So… What gives? You’re usually a little hesitant to be in physical contact like this as well. Well, you do seem nervous for some reason, but it doesn’t seem to be about this. I guess I’m asking… You, you are alright, aren’t you? I didn’t mean to upset you by talking to you about your being a familiar…”
“No! No, no, it’s uhm… It’s alright with me! No issue at all. I was just a little surprised, I didn’t think it was a problem for you, especially after you agreed on it yourself after I made the terms practically worthless for a familiar contract… But no, I'm not upset or anything. I just… This is really difficult for me to say, but I’m gonna just try and get it out.”
“You don’t need to, you sound a little scared…”
“Not for the right reasons, Arras. Just… Alright, here goes. Do you… Do you know what love is?”
“...Liking something a lot?”
“Uh kind of! Well, you had a mom and dad. Obviously, right?”
“...Yes?”
“So, your species is sentient. And not exactly emotionless either. So, your parents had to have liked each other, right?”
“...I’d assume so.”
“And by liked, I mean loved each other. That’s love.”
“...Okay. What about it?”
“...I’m really gonna have to say it.”
“Say what?”
“Arras.”
Something about the moment felt rather constricting to Arras, some sort of suspense in the air. But, what could that thing be?”
“I… Love you, pretty sure I do. I’m not sure how else I’d describe it. I haven’t had a friend before but… I don’t think this is what friends feel about each other.”
“I-what?”
That was… Well, to be fair, not exactly out of left field. Arras had been working through a complicated mess of feelings directed at Illia, which to be fair had been almost entirely positive, but still, it had been a long time. So… Was that what it was?
“Hold on, you love me?”
“Uh… Yeah, that’s–that’s what I said. Oh god that’s what I said!”
“But you just said that’s something that mates have? I… I apologize, this is a little sudden.”
Now that he thought about it, this most certainly wasn’t sudden, he just didn’t have a name to put to the feeling before now. Was this… Something he even cared to oppose in any way? No, not really. It wasn’t like anything would change, would it? But… Then why was Illia making such a big deal out of this? If there was one legitimate concern that Arras could think of…
“I suppose I don’t mind, not at all really. I’d be happy to spend my life with you if that’s what that means. So, love you too I suppose? But… We aren’t even the same species. Isn’t that going to be a problem?”
She got even more flustered as he carried on, but Arras himself was a little bit too frazzled by the situation to take much notice of it. By the time he finished speaking, he could’ve sworn the heat pressing up against him got just a little warmer.
“W-well, no… And that shouldn’t be a concern for a really long time anyways! Why is that your first thought?!”
“...Was it not yours?”
“No, no… It wasn’t. There’s ways to circumvent issues like that anyways. Marriages between different species are commonplace. Speaking of that… I uh, whole reason I brought this up to begin with. It doesn’t need to be a marriage but… If you don’t want to keep having me act as your familiar, then we need another way to stay under the same domain of influence. Being engaged, or something similar, is a pretty good way of doing that.”
“I apologize but… You’re using a whole lot of words that I’m not quite familiar with. Marriage? Engaged? What does that have to do with all of… This?”
“You know what…? I’m sorry, none of that really matters right now. We can discuss it later.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah… I uh… I need a moment to de-stress anyways.” She half mumbled as she huddled in a little closer.
They were still in plain view of any passerby… And their food was also getting colder, though Arras didn’t really care about that latter concern… But she carried on regardless. Wings draped over Arras’s curled up form.
“This uhm… This doesn’t change anything. We can still move on with our lives exactly the same way that we’ve been doing it. I just… I’ve felt this way for a pretty long time, and I wanted to let you know, even if you kind of already knew… I just… Wasn’t sure how to go about it. And then there was an actual convenient reason to do it so I just kind of… You know.”
“Well… I didn’t exactly know. I suppose I know now in hindsight. I do wish you would’ve just told me earlier… Because I feel the same way that you do. I’m fairly certain I do. So… Love, hm? Then, Illia, I love you.”
The pang of relief was palpable, enough to trick Arras into thinking it was his own for a solitary moment. He couldn’t quite place his paw on the feeling that he felt in that moment, but his chest felt light, and very much in a good way.
“...Love you too.”
Arras could’ve sworn the sun was shining through the shade, just for a brief moment.
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Dictionary
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Gold
A small hollow coin, made out of gold. They are, however, enchanted with a physical strengthening spell upon their creation. One Gold is equivalent to ten Silvers, and ten Gold is equivalent to one Tablet.
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Tablet
A small rectangle comprised of copper. One Tablet is equivalent to ten Gold, and ten Tablets are equivalent to one Plaque.