Demus: The Prince And The Milkman

Flickers Of Firelight

Janus and Logan helped Emile all the way up to the fire, where they were greeted by the others, who all wore worried expressions on their faces.

The group was a few meters away from the crackling bonfire, worried expressions lit by warm sunset colours. As soon as Janus stepped closer to them, he could feel the heat coming all the way from the fire as if it were swaddling him in small cocoons of warmth. He relaxed slightly at the comforting heat, helping Emile lean against a tree closer to the fire so that the mage would also be warm. 

"Dear God, where were you?!" Roman blurted, running forward and looking back and forth between the group. "It's been over an hour! We've been waiting here for-- for I don't know how long!" His hair was messed up and his eyes were wide. Janus just cringed a little, thinking that a full-frontal scolding was going to come, but he was entirely wrong.

Instead, Roman pulled Janus into a tight hug, so tight in fact that Janus almost lost his full ability to breathe. "I-- I think in order to apologize I have to be able to b-breathe," he choked out, trying to wriggle out of Roman's hug.

A few moments later, Roman was elbowed out of the way and Janus found himself in another close hug, Remus pulling the prince tightly into a hug. "You don't have to apologize," he muttered, and Janus realized that Remus actually sounded... worried.

"Okay, okay. Let's calm-- down." Emile slumped back against the tree, running a hand through his hair and breathing raggedly. His face was white as a sheet, Janus realized, and his entire body was trembling slightly. Apparently, the spell had taken more out of him than Janus had known.

Logan was now being trapped in Roman's hug, and Janus had managed to get out of Remus's embrace long enough to run over to Emile. "Are you alright?" he asked, putting his hand against Emile's forehead. It wasn't hot enough for him to have a fever... or so Janus hoped. He hadn't had very much time to practice, after all.

Remy was over at Emile's side quickly, helping the mage stand up and letting Emile lean on his shoulder. "What did you do?" he asked, a little harshly.

"I-- I'm sorry," Emile whispered, flinching back slightly from Remy. He glanced down quickly at the ground, not even trying to meet Remy's eyes. "I'm sorry."

Remy sighed, concern flooding his expression. He pulled Emile into a hug, letting out a shaky breath. "We-- I was just-- we were all... really worried." He closed his eyes, shaking almost as badly as Emile was.

Janus, who was standing next to them, smirked. "I can see that rather well," he laughed, turning around to look for the cart. Before he could even spot the horses, something tackled Janus from behind, almost sending the prince tripping into a large oak tree.

"Ow!" Janus yelped, sidestepping back and turning his head. As he blinked away the dizziness, his eyes came into focus, and he saw a very angry Disi.

The dragon had his wings folded back like he was calm, but his ears were also flattened back, and his talons were shaking. "Oh, Disi," Janus sighed, scooping Disi into his arms. The dragon let out a strange, angry-sounding chirrup and nuzzled into Janus's embrace.

"He was worried, too," Remus said from behind Janus. The prince turned around, smiling apologetically at Remus. Disi curled his tail protectively around Janus's shoulders, his wings draping over Janus's arms. "Really worried. He just kind of paced around the fire. A lot."

"Y no lo hiciste?" Disi huffed.

Remus wrinkled his nose at the dragon, reaching out to poke Disi's wing. "I don't need to worry about what you're saying, because I don't understand." He turned away, crossing his arms and staring determinedly into the distance.