Avarice and Gabriel had ended up at a park. Avarice hadn't even noticed when Hyde disappeared into the crowd, leaving them alone at some point.
"So how have you been? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages. You look like you've swallowed death since we last spoke."
Avarice glanced at Gabriel. He was sure if Gabriel had noticed the bags under his eyes and the sleepiness in his voice.
"You haven't heard? About the incident on the Summer Isle, I mean. I've been busy investigating the cause of it."
Gabriel didn't respond. He simply looked at Avarice, his expression unreadable and his eyes blank and devoid of emotion. Avarice wanted to ask if he was okay, but before he could speak, Gabriel had broken the silence. However, his cheerful tone did not match his lifeless expression. It was almost fake.
"You don't do anything to relax? Like when you take a break? Just to refresh yourself."
Avarice shrugged, ignoring the strange look that Gabriel was giving him. "Not really...I like to write I guess. Poetry that is."
Gabriel tilted his head. "Poetry? I wouldn't have guessed."
Avarice chuckled. "Nobody would. I don't think my family knows either."
Avarice reached into his bag, pulling out a simple black book. He handed it to Gabriel, who flipped through the pages curiously. He paused on a page, scanning over the delicately written words.
In an abyss of tranquil nothingness,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5EBmvS9OF
Lies a secret no one knows.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSpJyB0Wbu
It's a vile and evil illness,98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbO0ONqPKN
One that withers the lonely rose.
Gabriel fell into a contemplative silence once more. With each turn of the page, he wondered what kind of things inspired Avarice to write some of the poems he saw, but he wasn't about to ask. He knew that it was an undeniable fact that he had a soft spot for the prince. His reactions were amusing and it helped that he was rather easy on the eyes. But that's as much as he would allow himself to feel. Anymore than that would simply be disastrous, especially considering Avarice's earlier remark about the Scarlet Night. So instead, Gabriel steeled his heart and mumbled out a response as be skimmed through the rest of the poems.
"This is really good..." He barely whispered, as he placed the book back into Avarice's hands.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lGYbcYHvd
Avarice smiled weakly. "Thanks...if you tell anybody about this though, I'll have your head torn off."
"Don't worry! Your secret is safe with me!" Gabriel placed a hand over his heart and made a motion with his fingers of locking his lips shut and throwing away the key.
"Since you know one of my secrets, how about you tell me one of yours? It's only fair after all."
Gabriel laughed nervously. "I suppose it is." He thought for a moment, tapping a finger on his chin. "I actually got all of my tattoos done by a guy in Amasu. His ink is magic. It's thanks to him I have more than just a cool art piece to look at," he said with a smile.
"Amasu! That's so far away!"
"Yeah, well...I've been around." Gabriel didn't want to ask the next question, but he also didn't want to think of what Avarice would think of him if he didn't, he was responsible for it after all. "How is your brother...is his wound healing well?"
Avarice sighed. "Yeah. It's been...an adjustment for him." Avarice threw his head back over the back of the bench they were sitting on. "It's been crazy lately. Hopefully, I can get this investigation done soon."
The vacant look in Gabriel's eyes returned. "Right...the investigation." Gabriel shifted next to Avarice. "Sorry about this," he murmured.
Avarice turned to ask what he had said. Gabriel had his hand over the back of the bench, allowing the tattooed snake on his finger to come alive, slipping off his arm and around the edge of the bench. Before Avarice could notice it, it sunk it's inky fangs into the side of Avarice's neck.
Avarice slapped his hand over his wound, jumping in shock. "Ow!"
The snake slithered back onto Gabriel's finger. Once it did, Gabriel drew Avarice's attention back to him. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know...a bug bite? It really hurt...I...didn't...didn't see...see...any...thing..."
Avarice began trailing off as the world around him began to spin. He could just barely keep his head up. The most he could do to fight the nauseating feeling that engulfed him was shut his eyes tight. The last thing he remembered before falling unconscious was the feeling of his head hitting Gabriel's shoulder.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Albus and Astrid sat across from Isabelle as she introduced her new friend. Egan's gaze shifted awkwardly between Isabelle and her father. Luckily for them, it was late into the night and Albus was far too tired to lecture his daughter completely on the dangers of running off with boys she barely knew. Judging by the fact that Egan had brought Isabelle back home safely despite the ulterior motives of his mother told him that the boy was at least trustworthy. Albus ushered them to bed, ready to forget about the days events.
Egan had been sleeping at the inn the entire time so it would be his first night at the palace. Isabelle was the one to show him to Ea's chambers. It was neat and orderly, as anyone would have expected from him. Egan sat on the bed gingerly. Part of him wanted to hop right in and get the best sleep he ever did in his life, but the other part of him was scared to even touch such precious fabric.
He looked around the room. Everything was in pristine condition. Like it was frozen in time and nothing had been used in years. Now it was all his. He couldn't quite process how he went from being used as a slave to sitting in the bedroom of a Prince all within the span of a couple weeks, but now that the owner of said room was gone, he felt a little bit lonely being in the big empty room by himself. At least that was until he spotted Isabelle's pigtails bobbing around the edge of the bed. She threw her hands over it along with a stuffed mermaid plushie. She crawled onto the bed and beamed at him.
"Are you lonely? Mama says that whenever you're lonely all you need is a big hug to feel better!"
Egan laughed. "I don't think it's that simple. What are you doing here anyway? Didn't your dad tell you to go to bed?"
"Yeah but I snuck out of my room. I thought you might be lonely so I came to have a sleepover." Isabelle began crawling under the covers, pulling Egan along with her. "We can talk until we fall asleep! Doesn't that sound fun?"
Egan's cheeks flushed pink. He really wasn't used to these kind of interactions. "Won't you get in trouble for sneaking out?"
"Not as long as I go back before they find out!"
A smile broke out onto Egan's face. It was unexpected, but Isabelle's presence made him forget all about his loneliness and as they talked the night away, it became nothing more than a fleeting memory.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvolUozHZOK
