|Afternoon|90Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6x4rHyPjj
Jully•13•xxxx
After saying his goodbyes, Ri-is had gone back to his chambers to change into something a little more comfortable. He had come to notice that taking clothes off, was much easier than putting them on. He stood in a pile of his clothes, looking down at how they bunched around his ankles. When he felt strong enough to face it, he turned to the mirror. He didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry. The wound was still quite fresh, as evident by the reddish, half-healed flesh that was marred by stitches. Bellany had given him various lotions and ointments to soothe the swelling and heal it faster, but regardless of how hard she and Yukimi had worked, he knew it was sure to leave a nasty scar. Lost in his thoughts, his fingers ghosted over his wound. A knock at the door startled him out of his daze.
"Ri-is? It's me. Tobi and I came to check on you."
"...come in."
Yukimi and Tobi stepped inside. She gingerly closed the door behind them and rounded the corner with Tobi to see Ri-is slumped down on the edge of his bed, surrounded by haphazardly strewn clothes. She didn't say anything as she approached. In the six years that she had known him, she knew him to be a very sweet man, slightly timid and awkward but he had an unmistakable fire in him that flared up every now and then. As she looked at him now though, she could tell that that fire had been steadily wavering, reduced to nothing but a flickering flame. Tobi stood in front of him, struggling to find the right words to console his friend. Yukimi sat beside him, examining the wound before looking up at him.
"Are you okay?"
"...no..."
"...do you want to talk?" Asked Tobi.
Ri-is shut his eyes and hung his head. "I just...I know my problems seem trivial in comparison to things like what Ea must be feeling right now and I know I should be grateful it was just my arm that was taken from me, but...I don't know. I can't do anything right. I was already weaker than my brothers. All I have is my magic but how am I supposed to cast spells and conjure things like this!" he instinctively tried to raise the hand that was no longer there. He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily when he realized he couldn't.
"I can't do magic with uneven conductors and I can't fight normally because I've never been any good at hand to hand combat. It just seems like all I can do now is rely on others to help me with things I should be able to do myself. All I ever do is cause people to worry!"
Tobi and Yukimi looked at each other. Tobi was the first to break that silence that followed Ri-is' words. "You're not a burden if that's what you're worried about...and no one thinks you're less than your brothers."
Yukimi nodded in agreement. "That's right! It'll take some time to adjust and you can train yourself to channel your magic through one hand. Everything is—"
"Mom is going to war because of me...I overheard Wild trying to talk her out of it. My dying mother wants to go to war because of what happened at that archery hunt."
The pair frowned. Yukimi spoke softly. "I'm sure that isn't the only reason, Her Majesty wouldn't rush into something like that without thinking—"
"You realize that we won't be on the winning side here right? She's going to die for sure if she goes to war in that state and then not only will I have lost my arm, my mom and my brother, but Sana will take control of our forces and then Solaria and I won't even be able to help defend us."
Tobi and Yukimi looked as though they were holding their breaths. They didn't know what to say, nor could they begin to imagine what it must feel like to carry the weight of such thoughts on their shoulders.
"Can I just...I want to be alone..."
Yukimi stood up and walked over to Tobi who had placed a hand on Ri-is' shoulder in an attempt to reassure him. "If you...if you need someone to talk to, call us. Something like that...isn't healthy to keep to yourself."
The two of them left, sending one last glance at each other, minds reeling rapidly to figure out how to lift his spirits.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Sin leaned against the rails of the balcony in his favourite brothel. A long, hefty sigh heaving itself out of his lungs, earning him a glance from the man next to him.
"Spirits seem to be dangerously low these days," said Nikiro.
Sin sighed. "That was the point of coming here...but it seems the girls aren't in the mood for fun either. Can't blame them though, there isn't much to celebrate these days. In my twenty seven years of life, this is undoubtedly the quietest us Solarians have ever been."
"Hopefully things will take a turn for the better soon."
"Well then...why don't we talk about something else? To get our minds off of things." Sin called a woman in, ordering some food and drinks for them.
A brothel wasn't exactly Nikiro's first choice of places to hang out but Sin had insisted they come here. The Sun's Kiss Dollhouse was the most famous brothel in Solaria. Things were run very differently here than in the brothel's you'd find outside of Solaria. Nikiro found out that Sin had been so insistent on coming here because Illya's friends managed the brothel.
They were the girls that worked with her back when Illya had found herself worked at a Haan brothel herself. Since they looked out for each other, when they were freed, the girls decided to follow her. They were already very skilled in much more than the art of pleasing and so they would gather intel and quietly carry out secret tasks for Illya.
Get a man drunk enough and there's not a thing under the sun he won't be willing to spill. Sin had so desperately wanted to come here to be around people he was familiar with but would know not to ask any questions. After all, after years of working in a brothel, one learns not to bite off more than one could chew. A few girls came back and began serving them their meal. They stayed to make sure their cups remained full and they had everything they needed.
Sin and Nikiro were able to see off the edge of the balcony and onto the busy street. The red light district did what it did best and kept itself busy in order to distract people from the harrowing reality that was a collapsing monarchy and impending war. People flooded into the various establishments looking for a few brief moments of fantasy before they would inevitably have to face reality again. Among the crowd, one person stood out. Sin kept his eyes glued to her, but didn't say anything. Nikiro followed his gaze to see Dez sitting outside of a restaurant, munching on some sweets. A man seemed to be trying his best to chat her up, the keyword here being trying.
"She's quite popular with men it seems."
Sin reached out for his food without shifting his gaze. By now, he wasn't even fazed that Nikiro knew what he was thinking, not that he was trying particularly hard to mask it either. "That seems to be case yes."
Nikiro couldn't quite decipher what was hidden in Sin's tone. "Does it bother you?" He asked, taking a bite of his own food.
"No." Sin's reply was simple and unrushed. Like it was but an afterthought.
"Really? You're staring quite hard for someone who's unbothered. Besides...aren't you two...didn't you guys have a thing?"
Sin's head snapped towards Nikiro. "What thing?"
"I bumped into her after I ran into you back on the day of the Archery Hunt. It was pretty obvious that you two had...spent the night together."
Sin sighed and took a swig of the drink that one of the girls had poured for him. "We were drunk and got a little carried away..." Sin's voice trailed off, almost like he was recalling a memory. He seemed lost in thought. With the way he thoughtlessly bit into his lip and the distant look in his eye, it wasn't hard to realize what he was thinking about.
Their conversation was interrupted by the shrill scream of a man. They looked over the balcony again to see that the man who had been trying to chat Dez up, was now lying on his back. Dez had thrown him into the table and was idly walking away with her treat.
Sin laughed. "Looks like the poor guy struck out."
"And you look rather pleased with this."
"Do I?"
"You do."
Sin pushed Nikiro's glass in front of him. "I'll ask again when you're a little more drunk then."
ns 15.158.61.8da2
