Daevas -I- ✔️

Chapter 9.3: Ardor

"Auovin or the other one can give you that, I am sure," Sai said, pulling Ari out of his thoughts.

"Auovin is not a tender soul, nor is Cyrus, although he can be gentle at times... And the way you kiss me is not the same as theirs either. Let us not draw comparisons here. What does the others matter to you when I say to you now that I like the way your lips feel on mine and how they taste? That I like your smiles and the way you wrap your hair around your fingers? What does any of them matter when I say to you now that I like you and I want to kiss you?"

Sai only stared at him, which made Ari lose some of his resolve.

"There are more things I can like and that I can fall in love with, if only you open yourself up to me."

"Maybe those blue stones are having an effect on you, after all. Auovin should be back soon and he will take care of it for you."

Again, he brushed him off, but Sai said something interesting while doing so.

"Those blue stones," Ari repeated again, which caused the Sai's eyes to shy away from his. "I saw them in the market... A strange man was trying to get me to place my hand on one before he attacked me."

"It is nothing," Sai mumbled and looked at the door.

"Sai."

"... You are sweet. As sweet as the fruit you are eating now. But like all things bared to the cold and harsh weather, they rot and wither away. So stay in the sun for a little longer."

"Nothing?" said a familiar haunting voice coming from the door. "Is that not where all of our troubles began?"

Ylanan's voice grew closer still, but Ari could not see him. Ari turned and looked at Sai who continued up the stairs, wondering if he could hear Ylanan as well.

"Everything has its beginning and ours starts there," Ylanan finished.

Ari rose from his chair and looked aimlessly around for him. When he turned back to the door, Cyrus was coming through it along with Auovin. Auovin had a tight grip on his arm before he threw it away.

"Auo--"

"Stay."

Auovin turned his face away from Cyrus and started back out the door.

Ari could only look on in bewilderment. Could he be looking for Ylanan? If so, Ylanan was somewhere inside. He could hear his chilling voice. Ari shook his head and covered the distance set between him and Cyrus.

There was a deep gash on the side of Cyrus' forehead and a smaller one on the lower right half of it. Carefully, Ari placed both his hands on each side of his face, making sure not to touch anywhere that would make him flinch away.

"I am sorry for leaving you," Ari said, trying to find his eyes. "I was not thinking properly... I am glad you are okay... but your face... "

Cyrus only answered Ari by taking one of Ari's hand away from his face and kissed it softly.

"Minor things," Cyrus replied.

"What happened?"

"Useless things."

"Was it Ylanan?"

"Needless worries."

Ari took back his hand, unable to peel his eyes away from Cyrus'. He wanted to find a speck of something in those green eyes, but all he could make out was worry that was slowly dissolving into something else much warmer. His eyes, Ari noticed, had a way of communicating things his mouth would not say. The same went for Auovin.