Kael grabbed 2 glasses of wine on the way over to the side, out of sight from prying eyes. Yarro took one as he leaned an arm against the rail. A rather mild wine met his lips. It didn't even burn like normal. She must have gotten some cheap, watered down stuff. Yarro downed half the glass. Plenty of colorful Capes swayed on the floor to the joyous melody. From above, the dance move set and capes made circles when paired with another. The dance itself was made to be fun, as well as be fun to watch from above.
Yarro couldn't take his eyes off of them. Then he realized how he and Kael must have looked at the center of the ballroom floor, with everyone watching. Close. Making loving eyes at each other. Whispering to each other, which they must have thought were be sweet nothings. The heat of a blush colored his cheeks.
Did Kael knew of his feelings towards him? Maybe that’s where he came up with the idea for the show during the dance. Even though he tried to hide it, Kael saw right through him. But Yarro still had a job to do. He still had a town to save. Dawic was buried under blood at the moment. So why was his heart still racing? Was it the exertion from the dancing, or from simply being so close to Kael for so long? No, he shouldn't get his hopes up. He needed to focus. They'll have to head to the mountains next. No need to make this all awkward.
Kael leaned on the rail next to him, his glass half empty. “I say the Queen got what she wanted, don’t you? I’m sure she’s got a lot of respect from that power move.”
Yarro took a small sip this time. “I’m sure our dance helped with her plan too.” He paused. Still hesitant to ask. But he needed to know. “What was that anyways?”
Kael looked at him, at first initially surprised, but he hid the expression quickly with confusion. Was that a crack in the façade? “What, the part where I asked you to pretend to look lovingly into my eyes?” He chuckled. “I just wanted to keep the suitors at bay. Us being the Deities’ Champions would have given us an endless slew of random people asking for our hand in marriage. With them or their children. I mean, you saw how they were before the dance, right? We sure dodged that one.” Kael grinned, oh so obliviously proud of his plan to not get married.
Yarro clutched his glass. So it really was just a ploy. A ploy where his feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated, no matter what. Even when it was all over. He never stood a chance, and he never will. “You didn’t even ask if that’s what I wanted.” He cast his eyes away but he could still feel Kael looking over at him. Why was he so angry? This is what he wanted. he knew Kael would never like him. In fact, he did them both a favor.
“I—is that...not—Did you not…” Kael paused, his voice wavering with uncertainty. His eyes went wide for only a moment before his face scrunched up. “Do you want to just marry some random person you met at a ball? Only in it for the status of marrying your title?”
No, he knew that’s not what he was upset about. But he wasn’t about to bear his feelings right here. Right now. Yarro knew that’s what those people were doing, but he wasn’t actually upset about what Kael did. He must have let his feelings slip at some point. Yarro felt like Kael was playing with his feelings for the fun of it. He could have tried a different way of escaping the proposals. Or even outright denying them, like normal. His feelings weren't some toy.
Kael silently awaited a reply, then scoffed when he saw Yarro wasn’t replying or even looking at him. “Yarro, it didn’t mean anything. It was purely for my benefit.” That hurt worse. “I’ll make it up to you. If you really want to, I can find you someone here at the ball.” Another pang of pain. Just shut up already.
Yarro needed to remind himself that no matter how hurt he felt, them being together wasn’t in his plans in the first place. He didn’t need to be with Kael at all, not now and not ever, no matter how much he wanted to. It was only wishful thinking. Of course. Why would he ever get his hopes up? They’ve only known each other for a few weeks. Of course it wasn’t reciprocated. Yarro finally forced himself to look at Kael with the harshest of glare he could must, lest his feelings for the other show on his face again.
Just his luck, Kael looked exactly like a kicked puppy. “I have other plans on how I’ll find my love,” Kael added.
Yarro threw back the last of his wine the moment those words left his mouth. “There’s no need. I don’t plan on marrying anytime soon,” He spat out. His thoughts and feelings inside him swirled like a whirlwind. Intertwining and breaking at the slightest pressure. he didn't know what he wanted anymore. He didn't know what to think anymore. He felt his body start to heat up, and he knew he needed to leave before the flames started.
“Wait.” Kael furrowed his eyebrows. “Then why are you so upset? Yarro I don’t understand.”
Yarro went to set his wine glass on the rail but the force of the action caused the glass to shatter. It looked more like he threw it to the ground than set it down. Those surrounding the two of them stopped all conversations to look at the situation. Blood trickled down from Yarro’s palm and dripped onto the carpet. “It’s not something for you to worry about,” his voice barely above a whisper. He immediately turned to leave. Kael tried to stop him by grabbing his wrist, but Yarro slipped his hand out of it just as quickly. “Don’t,” was all he said as he left.
He didn’t know why he was acting so aggressive and taking it out on Kael. The man couldn’t actually read his mind. It was pointless to have had any hope of reciprocation, especially when Yarro never actually said anything. Why, why, why? Yarro ran off to find a quiet place in the castle. The area up a flight of stairs only partly decorated, meant only to be looked upon from a distance. A few small groups held whispered conversations with each other. They stopped when they noticed him so he kept walking down some hallway until it was empty.
It was completely hopeless to hide since there was a blood trail leading directly to him, but he didn’t care. He opted for a small balcony overlooking the night sky over the mountains by Dawic. The new moon allowed the stars to shine brighter than any other night. And a constellation of stars situated themselves directly above the town. An hourglass.
His heart felt a pang of guilt and hurt as his eyes took in the scenery. He should be out there, searching for the Master Earth Elemental and the missing villagers. Not here, playing a part in a show for the Queen to gain more power, or dealing with his feelings for Kael. He would have been better off not realizing these hopeless feelings for Kael.
Drops of blood splattered down on the stone floor and Yarro was brought back from his thoughts. He took a deep breath and allowed the cool night wind to calm him. Upon closer inspection, there were still shards of glass embedded in his palm. Yarro looked around for a source of water. Even a little puddle would make pulling the shards out easier than by hand. Unfortunately, the closest source was a fountain down below in a courtyard. Yarro sighed. He didn’t think he was able to reach that far, but he still wanted to try. He focused his eyes on the fountain, and extended his pained hand. He was only able to make a few ripples from the displacement of the water.
Oh well. Yarro rested the back of his hand against the balcony rail to steady it as he began to pluck out the glass shards. He knew he should go and make up to Kael. They were going tomorrow to go up the mountains. It would be rude and awkward to not say anything while they trudged on for days on end together. Alone. In the cold. Where it would be so easy to cozy up to one another. Yarro shook his head and forced himself to focus on the task in hand. He needed to control his thoughts. That would never happen.
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By the time he was done, there were a number of glass pieces on the ground at his feet. He groaned at the pulsing pain as he applied pressure to stop the blood. He tried to take his mind off it and looked up at the night sky. A perfectly clear night. Thousands of stars above twinkled. He could count numerous other constellations. Each of the elements. The Warrior. Even the Kraken, which normally wasn’t visible. If he looked closely, Yarro could swear the stars were pointing directly at the mountains. Which was impossible, but with all this considered maybe it was just improbable.
Yarro sighed and looked back at his hand. In his musings, his pain had gone away. He carefully removed his hand to see his palm. And in complete surprise, the wounds have all closed up and have barely left a scar. Perhaps it only looked better because it was dark? Yarro moved indoors and closer to a flame. As he held it up to get a better look, and fire’s shadows flickered and danced along the wall, he saw that there were, in fact, no scars at all. Yarro moved his hands in all manner of directions, confused. He had pulled out some rather large shards from his hands. And yet, it was like he never hurt himself in the first place.
“There you are.” Yarro turned around to see Guard Captain Lisa quickly approach him. “I had heard you made a commotion. What happened?”
Yarro watched as she approached. She looked nicer than in her regular armor for the occasion, but she was still armored, and with a small cape that only covered her shoulders. “Guard Captain? What are you doing here?”
“Well I’m supposed to be keeping an eye out for dangerous people and terrible drunkards. But Kael sent me to check on you. Said you hurt your hand?” And without warning, she grabbed Yarro’s hand and looked it over. When she saw nothing that indicated he had ever injured himself, she looked back at him, just as confused as he was. She looked back at the hand, wrist still gripped, and moved it closer to the flames.
Guard Captain Lisa looked closer at his hand, still looking for wounds or trauma. However Yarro noticed as his hand got closer to the flames, the flames itself got closer to him. As if it wanted to be near him. Was this also part of the Fire Deity’s gift? It slightly weirded him out but he didn't say anything and Lisa didn't see it “I don’t see anything. Kael said…” Her words broke Yarro from his thoughts.
“I did hurt myself breaking a glass, but it healed up,” Yarro said.
Guard Captain Lisa looked back at him and tilted her head. “It...healed itself? That quickly?” She furrowed her eyebrows, suddenly suspicious. “But you can't heal.”
He certainly could heal, especially without any water, but fire elementalists have been known to heal faster than others. Perhaps the Fire Deity has a stronger version of that ability and transferred some of this power to him. “I did get the Fire Deity’s boon. Maybe some of the...advanced healing came with it?” So many different things came with this boon. What else was hidden that he wasn’t told about?
Guard Captain Lisa nodded. “That makes sense. But…” she hesitated. “Is something going on between you and Kael? I’m wondering why he didn’t go after you himself.”
Yarro sighed. Why did she have to be nosy about this. She's usually the one begging her subordinates to keep their personal life separate. “It won’t impact the mission, if that’s what you’re concerned about.” He looked out the window facing the mountains. Despite his quite literal burning feelings towards Kael, he still wanted to be friends with him and not burn any bridges. But maybe it was too late for that. By now he was regretting his outburst and embarrassment crept up to his cheeks.
“Well, that was part of my worries. But also, I thought you two were getting along so well?”
“We are… were...”
“But…?”
Yarro groaned. He wasn’t ready to fully admit out loud. But he figured talking it out couldn't hurt. “I do sorta like him. A lot. But I’m not ready. There’s still so much to do. And just now while we were dancing, it was lovely, but he had me pretend to be in love with him.” Yarro scoffed. “And when I asked why, he said it was to deter marriage proposals. Says he doesn’t want any. That whole dance was purely for his benefit.” Yarro whispered the last sentence. Almost reliving the pain again.
Lisa nodded along. She seemed to recognize what he meant when he mentioned the dance. She must have also been there, watching them. She turned her body to the window, probably curious to what Yarro was looking at. “Well, I can see how, if he wasn’t aware of your feelings, it would seem like a sensible and fun plan to get rid of them. But it still sucks though. And it’s OK to feel upset about it.”
Yarro nodded. He brought his palm up to look at it again. In a way, his actions were childish and he was lucky there would be no scars from such actions. It was stupid of him to react this way. Especially when his plans didn’t include falling in love at all. Save the people of Dawic. Get revenge. That’s all. “I guess I overreacted, huh?” He turned to Lisa. She looked at him and nodded a bit. A sympathetic half-smile displayed on her face. If he was going to be angry he should take it out on the Master Elementals wreaking havoc all over the country. “Guess I’ll go apologize.”
“Come on. I think he went to find something to eat.” Lisa led the way out of the hallway they were in. The ballroom seemed to be less occupied than when he left. The guests seemed to fan out now that the initial songs and entrance was made.
They continued onward, and went into a room filled with a number of tables and plenty of food. A variety of pork and seafood dishes were present, as well as a number of breads, noodles, and side dishes with vegetables in variously cooked states. All of this was spread out in a buffet fashion, which Yarro suspected would be easily replaced with dessert when it was time.
Various groups spread along the feasting table, so as to not hear conversations per polite societal rules. Lisa pointed to a quiet, shadowed corner, where Kael was eating alone. Yarro was surprised the man wasn’t being hounded by the opportunistic vultures from earlier.
Lisa then gave Yarro a pat on the back with a slight push forward and left to get herself a plate of food. Yarro took a deep breath and made his way over. He vowed to apologize, but it was still going to be hard and it made him nervous.
As he got closer, he figured out no one was approaching. The man had a permanent scowl and an overwhelmingly gloomy aura surrounding him. He stood beside Kael until he noticed Yarro. When Kael turned around, his eyes widened and a mouth full of pork dropped open a bit. “You’re back. Are you ok?” Kael nearly stood up, but Yarro forced him to sit back down. He sat next to him and fiddled with his fingers under the table as he built up the courage to speak up. Kael nervously fate a few more bites while waiting for Yarro to speak.
Yarro took in a deep breath and placed his hands on the table, palms facing up. This room was well lit, with plenty of chandeliers hanging, as well as candles on every table. Once his hands were placed above the table, Kael’s eyes drifted towards them, and his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Instantly he took Yarro’s hand in his and yanked it closer to look, towards the light. There were no scars where he would expect. “What happened? I thought—“
“I was bleeding? Yes. But I believe the Fire Deity’s boom helped heal the wounds. No scars,” Yarro said.
“Oh.” Kael let go of his hand, but continued to glance at it every now and then. “That boon sure is… something…” He frowned, brows stitched together.
Yarro’s heart sank. Not the reaction he expected or was hoping for. Perhaps Yarro was delusional as well. He decided to just blurt it all out. “I’m sorry. My anger was misplaced and I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you.”
Kael looked at Yarro, then his palm, then him again. He nodded. “Next time I’ll ask if you’d like to play pretend then.” The man’s face gave him no emotion for Yarro to work off of. He wasn’t sure if he was sincere, or pretending or if he was still ticked off. Kael seemed so nonchalant about the whole situation, despite how blown up Yarro had been about it just earlier. It didn’t match the atmosphere he was trying to create.
Yarro deflated a bit. Whatever his gut was expecting, it wasn’t communicating with his brain. This was technically within the bounds of what Kael should say. “Right. Sure.” Pretend. His response only solidified Yarro’s need to focus on Dawic. Kael held out a piece of his pork. He guessed it was an attempted peace offering. He shook his head with a hand up to stop him.
Kael went back to his food, satisfied. Yarro glanced back at Lisa, who had a plate of food and was on her way out but staring at them. Presumably wondering if things were OK. She must have seen that last bit with the food. Yarro gave her a thumbs up, which she returned and went to eat someplace else. Possibly with the rest of the guards on duty tonight.
The rest of the night was spent with Yarro trying to hold in his pouty feelings as he and Kael fended off dozens of other people and their “invitations” to either their house or their after-party. By the end of the night, they were both so tired they never made it to any after party. They parted for the night without any of the closeness from the last time Kael had walked him home. It was yet another hit to his heart as he realized it was something else he would have to part with in his personal quest for Dawic. He really ruined their relationship with that outburst.