“Uh, what?”

“Y’know, the deed, if you will.” Aaron repeated his words, “I need you to answer this question. It’s very important for me.”

What’s going on? Why is he suddenly talking about se...! A-Ahem, intercourse? I don’t understand it at all, am I just hearing things? He was fine just a minute ago, and we had a pretty normal chat about Lune, so why is this topic suddenly the one he chose to start? And what does he mean “It’s very important for him”? Has he gone mad?

“Answer me, Meil.” He said with a serious tone, “Do you know? Or do you not?”

“I-I know, okay?!” I blurted out a response, “It’s the process by which all living things reproduce!”

“Nah, none of that scientific bullcrap.” He immediately shot down my answer, “Explain it in a more normal, colloquial way.”

“Eh? Alright then…” I cleared my throat, “I-It’s when, ahem, two people uhh… y’know? The guy puts his, uhm…”

“Alright, alright! I’ll stop joking now.” Aaron stifled his laughter, “It’s obvious that you know what it is, I just wanted to make sure.”

“What was that even all about, sir?!” I said with cheeks awfully flushed.

“I just wanted to see him again.” Aaron donned a nostalgic look on his face, “Lune, I mean. I haven’t seen him in almost a decade, but y’know, him and I had this very same conversation once.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, can you believe it?” Aaron chuckled, “The kid was 15 at the time and still didn’t know the answer to that! Oh, it was a riot seeing his face gradually contort more and more as I continued explaining it to him on the chalkboard. He was completely horrified by the end of it.”

“So you’re the one who taught him?” I gasped with my eyebrows raised up high, “Geez, if Cecily found that out, you’d be long gone, y’know?”

“Hm?” He tilted his head playfully, “And why’s that?”

“Yeah, you kind of taught him too much.” I explained, “He kind of cheated on her in Cardina if you didn’t know already. Even got married to the girl.”

“…Eh?” Aaron’s playful expression was replaced with one of abject horror, “Wait, that’s a joke, right?”

“I’m afraid not. He married the girl, and got her pregnant. That being said, she died when she got shot on accident.”

While I was intending on telling Aaron the whole truth, I did skip out the part where Edward was the one that shot her. Somehow, I feel like I might cause some distrust to brew between Edward and Aaron that way, which doesn’t feel like the right thing to do. If Edward wants to mention that he’s the one who did it, then I’ll let him tell it.

“Shit…” Aaron put his hand on his head, “That kid, the kid I personally trained with to figure out how to use his Iro Ability… The little tyke that got super embarrassed just by thinking about kissing Cecily, he’s…?”

“Cecily was super mad when she confronted him about it later in Abyssus Solis.”

“Wait, that’s right!” Aaron recalled, “I know she’s adopted, but doesn’t he have Nelly as well? Why would he think to do such a thing when he had a family to take care of?”

“That’s a question I think you should ask him personally.” I shook my head, “Honestly, I didn’t pry too much on the matter, but he did mention that he doesn’t regret doing what he did. The only thing he regrets is not letting Marina and Cecily meet face to face.”

“Face to face?!” Aaron fell from his chair, “Is he deranged!? I can sort of understand him cheating on his girl in a moment of weakness or something, but wanting them to meet?! What good would come out of that?!”

“Well…” Edward’s face popped into mind, “Marina wouldn’t have died that way, I guess.”

“Ah.” Aaron stuttered for a bit before giving up and sitting back down, “Sigh, and to think I thought I was starting to understand that kid finally...”

We both sat there as the awkward air kept filling the room. Neither one of us had anything more to say about Lune, and I felt that even if I did, I’d only be making things worse. We just kind of waited for the other person to think of another topic to break the ice with, but it felt like the conversation was all but dead. Even still, whilst speaking of Lune, I was reminded of how he would hold a conversation. He mentioned that no matter what, it’s super important to just say whatever to start it up, after that the other speaker will naturally try to fill in the gaps, which in turn creates a compelling conversation.

“So…” I lifted my head to meet his gaze, “What exactly made you see Lune in me?”

“Yeah, sorry, forget about that.” He shook his head, “I didn’t know that Lune was like that. I was just going off of how I knew him last. But to answer your question, I’d say… I dunno, I guess it’s that naivety and zeroed in focus towards achieving your goals.”

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“Come again?”

“You’re both striving for something.” He elaborated, “So much so that you’re not really normal, per se. Which isn’t to say that it’s bad, I’m just saying you’re your motivation to only walk towards that mysterious goal that no one else sees in life is commendable, to say the least.”

“Thank you, Sir.” I nodded my head.

“Oh, and please, do me a favor?” He glanced at the framed illustration on the table, “Call me by my name. No pressure, but it’d really make me happy.”

So this is what he wanted to talk about. Alright, so this is what nostalgia looks like. Or maybe melancholy? Really, I can’t seem to get a grasp on these emotions at all… No. I shouldn’t be thinking of myself at a time like this. The General, nay, Aaron, is asking for my help, and that’s exactly what I’ll give him. I’m not sure how much it means to him, but I really shouldn’t care about it. If it’ll make him even point one percent happier, then I should just do as I’m told.

“Aaron.” I got up from my seat, “Thank you for telling me more about your past. It was a delightful chat.”

“Yeah…” Aaron donned a dejected look, “The pleasure’s mine.”

“Oh, and Aaron?” I suddenly got an idea as I was leaving the office.

“Yeah?”

“Next time, don’t start the conversation so weirdly like that, dude!” I tried to imitate Lune’s speech patterns to the best of my abilities, “It’s super misleading!”

“Pfft!” Aaron burst out laughing, “What the hell is even that?! That didn’t sound like him at all!”

Wha-! Grr…! I’ll have you know, it took all the acting skills I could muster to try my hand at perfectly mimicking his demeanors! Obviously, my vocal cords differ from his, so it’d make no sense for me to be able to perfectly emulate his tonality and pitch, so just be happy with this! And not to mention, I’m trying to help you feel better, so be thankful! Oh, this guy is such a…!

“Thanks, Meil.” He wiped the single tear from his eye, “But please, just be yourself. Lune isn’t here right now, but rest assured I’ll be bugging him constantly about his mishaps when I meet him again one day. Until that day, though, please aim for a promotion. I’d like to get to know you better, but the rookies might get mad if I single you out without reason.”

“That’s…” I smiled, “Sure. I’ll do my best!”

***

And with that, I had made my way back to the food tent. The base was basically mostly made up of tents, apart from the General’s quarters, which were a repurposed house fit for their use. It’s not much, but it was enough for us to get out bearings. At the end of the day, though, it’s as General Pierre said – They just don’t have the funds for anything better.

Sitting down next to Edward after taking a plate of food, I stopped to appreciate just how much better the food here was as opposed to the grub we got in prison. Really, what am I doing? I should be in Simpleton right now focusing on my lectures, but here I am doing God knows what in a damned rebel army base. Heh, Lune’s really tossed a wrench in my plan, hasn’t he?

“Dude, are you alright?” Edward immediately began asking questions, “When I didn’t see you enter the tent with the others, I asked around and found out you went to Aaron’s office alone.”

“It’s as they said.” I replied calmly, “But what’s got you so worried?”

“Nothing, it’s just…” He gave me a serious stare, “You know he’s gay, right?”

Eh? Gay? As in – he likes men? Wait, are we talking about the same person? And besides, that shouldn’t really be a reason to be that worried about me, right?

“Edward, that’s not very nice of you.” I shook my head, “Just because he’s homosexual doesn’t mean you should be thinking of him any differently than say a heterosexual person.”

“What? No! I’m not saying it’s bad that he’s gay.” Edward corrected me, “I’m saying, y’know… How’s your ass?”

“What’s with all these weird questions today?!” I yelled at him, “Seriously, have you no decency? I’m eating here!”

“Ah, sorry, it was a joke if you didn’t catch that.” Edward stifled his laughter, “Obviously, I knew nothing happened the moment you sat down comfortably… Pfft!”

“Seriously, what are you on about?” I asked, “In fact, Aaron and I shared a lovely conversation about love and the like.”

Well, more like lovemaking, but I’ll ignore the fact that fornication was a central part of the conversation, since I did just reprimand him for talking about filthy things during a meal. I’d be the biggest hypocrite if I ignored my own words, so I’ll just keep quiet about that little detail, since there’s no harm in doing so.

“Eh? For real?!” Edward choked on his food, “I was just joking though!”

“Yeah, we talked a lot about you and Lune.” I continued eating the beans on my plate.

“Me and Grim?” Edward winced, “Okay, now you’re just making fun of me.”

“Oh no, I’m dead serious.” I replied, “It’s obvious even for me that you two share a very special relationship. Aaron told me all sorts of stories about you two back when you were together in that little gang of yours.”

“That little gang…!” He snapped the spoon in his hands, “Goddammit, Aaron! What the hell have you been teaching this guy!?”

Jumping out of our clique, he stormed out of the tent as the other rookies laughed on and on. I don’t quite get why though, but the moment he left the other guys all applauded me for some reason. Looks like I’ve started yet another misunderstanding which might’ve hurt Edward’s reputation. I should probably apologize and run after him before he starts attacking Aaron. Well, after I finish my beans, of course.

“You’re more devilish than I thought!” Vivia the Princess patted me on the back as she brought me seconds, “That’s grade A pranking, right there. Here, have some more food. You must be starving after that training session today.”

What’s she doing here? She has her own place to dine at separately, given Pierre’s sweet spot for up and coming children. That being said, I still don’t understand why I’m being praised for conversing, and subsequently annoying, Edward.

“Ah, thank you very much, but I should probably go after him.” I turned down her offer just as my stomach began rumbling, “A-Ah, that’s quite embarrassing…”

“Right?” Vivia sat down next to me as she forced the spoon into my mouth, “And the only way to fix that embarrassing moment just now is to eat up! Don’t worry about Ed, I’m sure him and that General are probably just catching up, hehe~!”

She’s quite the peculiar woman. Adamant about me not going after Edward, yet still she feeds me a second serving of food. Her actions are unpredictable, yes, but she doesn’t seem like a bad person. Still, I don’t condone tricking the General into getting special treatment. But oh well, I guess there was just no other way for Edward to get in if she didn’t say what she said. I guess I’ve got no other choice but to just bask in the glory that are these beans for now.