Dumbfounded silence enveloped the clearing, and Keefe and Tam stared, or rather, Keefe stared at the back of Tam's head, whilst Tam stared at the open streets that stretched beyond.
The fresh smell of pastries and warm deserts coated the air in a sweet aroma, and Keefe found himself taking deep breaths with every chance he could get. His eyes drifted to the raven in front of him. The shining lights of Mysterium stood out in the night sky, and it was only a matter of minutes before the dessert stalls closed for the night.
He tapped Tam's shoulder, and in response, the shorter boy turned to him with an angry eyebrow raise, and narrowed eyes. "What?"
He smiled playfully. "Let's go get some food!"
And in less than a minute, quite the world record, Tam begrudgingly followed after Keefe as he skipped along the glittered roads. Keefe was pleased with himself, to say the least, this was Tam, the second most stubborn boy on Earth (second to only Keefe himself), and Keefe managed to convince him within 60 seconds. He definitely deserved an award.
But then again, the reason Tam relented so easily was likely because of the tired droops in his eyes. Yeah, he definitely needed to get to bed soon, before he passed out in a crowd of people.
Keefe grabbed Tam's arm, which startled the boy enough for him to realize that they were already in front of the stalls, a batch of custard bursts in their hands. Keefe pushed it towards him, and Tam caught a whiff of a sickeningly sweet aroma.
Keefe smiled at him. "C'mon, have one."
Tam sighed and wrangled himself out of Keefe's grip. "Which one is mint chocolate?" he asked, and Keefe's smirk faded to a scowl.
"Ew, mint chocolate is gross." Keefe made a mock-disgusted face, but handed him the piece anyway. Tam matched his eye with a scowl of his own.
"If you don't like it, then why did you get one?" he asked, pulling the sweet out of the blonde's hands, stuffing it into his mouth, not bothering to savor the flavor. The only thing on his mind was sleep, anyway.
Keefe crossed his arms, and stuck his tongue out. "I got it because Linh told me you like them," Keefe bit into a chocolate piece with a filling of whipped cream. "-which you should totally be thanking me for, by the way!"
Tam rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. Thanks." the boy murmured, finishing the last of the mint dessert, wiping the crumbs on the rough fabric of his gray tunic.
Keefe's gaze moved to the rising moon, and shit, it was definitely past sunset by now. He didn't even realize so much time had passed. It was unfortunate, he was really enjoying himself.
His eye caught the raven, and just as quickly, he turned away before the heat could rise into his head.
Onto the bigger problem, he needed a place to stay. He was basically jumping around from house to house, usually bunking at Havenfield or Everglen, and occasionally at Rimeshire. He's done this for a while now, and he'd continue, at least until he was old enough to own his own property.
But as of now... he needed another option. And he was pretty sure Sophie and the Vackers had retreated for the night.
He flipped his imparter out of his pocket. "Show me Sophie Foster."
No answer.
"Show me Fitz Vacker."
The imparter's connection cut off within a few seconds.
"Show me Biana Vacker."
The imparter stayed dim.
He sighs, tucking the metal gadget into his concealed cape pocket. He sheepishly rubbed a hand at the back of his nape, offering Tam a nervous, crooked smile. "So, funny thing, I need a place to stay, so..." he purses his lips, "do you have a spare room you'd be willing to give?"
Tam bites his lips, before turning to him and nodding. "Sure, but let me hail Tiergan first."
He shoves his hands into his pocket. "Yeah, alright."
Tam turned to pace under the tangerine glow of the lantern, which still shone bright as usual in the midst of shadows and nightfall. Keefe moves to give him privacy, leaning back on the lamppost as he watches. He sees Tiergan's face pop up almost immediately, and watches the slight movement of Tam's lips. His heart skips a beat.
Tam nods, and tucks the metal square into his sleeve as he shuts it. He pulls a pathfinder out of his neckline, and Keefe didn't even realize that Tiergan had given him one. He extends a hand, and it takes a couple of moments of staring at it before Keefe realizes that he should probably take it.
He reaches an arm out, allowing Tam to intertwine their fingers as he raises the pathfinder to the light. Keefe's heart hammered, and he could feel the underlying emotions that clumped up right at Tam's fingertips. It was warm and icy cold at the same time, uplifting, but heavier than a corpse.
Tam's emotions always had a strange intensity, and there was an undeniable jolt in his body as their fingertips touched. But even so, he wrung their fingers tighter, chasing that strange knot of tangled, conflicted feelings, because under it all, he could feel a rush of warmth and adrenaline, and his body felt like it was addicted to that heat and rush. Despite the nausea that came with weaving their hands, he clung on tighter, because even the flicker of contact from Tam had his heart racing and thoughts scrambling until nothing was on his mind but Tam.
He was absolutely smitten, and he wondered how he was going to get out of this mess now.
His concentration nearly faltered as the light whisked them away, and he hoped Tam didn't notice as their feet landed on soft, damp sand, surrounded by waves of sea and salt.
The main structure itself was as grand as any other elvin home, but something about it was more modern and cozy, from its tall, intricately detailed pillars and large, one-way windows bordered with metal black rods. Tam tugged at his arm, and Keefe followed his steps through half-lidded eyes as they winded up a spiral staircase.
"So this is Solreef," he says, although he had seen it before, the grand and unique design always took him by surprise, especially compared to the over-the-top, jeweled structures of other residences.
Tam's movements halt, and Keefe nearly bumps into him as he replicates the act. Tam loosens his grip and pulls away, and Keefe hates to admit that he's disappointed from the loss of friction, as Tam pulls a key out of his cape pocket.
"Tiergan gave you a key?" Keefe finds himself asking. Tam turns the lock.
"Yeah, since I'm basically staying here now." he replies, and he grabs Keefe's hand again, pulling him into the grand entryway.
Keefe couldn't be any happier for the rush of emotions, overwhelming as it was.
If Tam noticed him tightening his grip, he said nothing of it as he pulled him to another set of stairs.
As they walk, Tam turns to Keefe, and the look on his face is nearly as hard to decipher as the knot of emotions in his palm.
"There aren't any spare rooms so..." he pauses, and uncertainty and a whole lump of nervousness wafts into the air, and Keefe has to remind himself the emotions aren't his, "I guess you can stay in my room."
Keefe's lips twist into a faux smile. "Tiergan isn't here?" he asks, and Tam looks at him with confusion, and Keefe himself is confused, because he has no idea why those words specifically decided to roll off of his tongue.
Maybe the silence was too suffocating.
"No, he's out with Prentice." Tam answers, and Tam's emotions shift into contentment at the mention of those two names. Keefe hums in response.
They stop at a door, and Tam pushes it open, pulling Keefe into the room as he shuts the door behind them.
Huh. So this was Tam's room.
It was... quite bland, if Keefe said so himself. None of the items or furnishings of this room really spoke of Tam.
The walls were painted a light gray, and there was a bunk bed propped against the far side of the wall, in the exact center. There was a row of bookshelves alongside the right wall, full of books of all kinds of volumes and sizes, and Keefe wonders if Tam actually read them all, or if it was only there for the aesthetic and decoration. And against the nearest wall was a simple desk, which was cluttered with textbooks, pencils and pens, and surprisingly, a sketchbook, which was flipped wide open.
Tam moved to close it shut, tossing it into a drawer and shutting it close.
Aside from that, the room was basically just an average, modern bedroom.
"Do you not decorate your room?" he asks, and Tam shakes his head.
"What's the point? There's nothing to decorate it with, anyways." he replies, and his gaze moves from Keefe to the digital clock, ticking on his nightstand. It was 10:34 PM, definitely not Keefe's ideal sleeping time.
Tam turns to exit, brushing against Keefe as he reaches for the door. "Go to bed if you want, but you can't take the top bunk." Keefe pouts.
"No way am I gonna go to bed at this hour!" he exclaims, throwing a hand around Tam's shoulders. "What are you gonna do now?"
Tam scowls, but pushes the door open with Keefe hanging around him. "Baking," he mutters, and Keefe's eyes lighten.
He's led to another flight of stairs, this one, he learns, leads directly to the third floor (or the fourth? He wasn't paying attention). After a series of complicated twists and turns, they reached a kitchen, quite a large one at that, with tons of tools and cooking utensils that Keefe didn't even know existed.
Tam pauses at the arched doorway. "...Do you want to bake with me?" he asks, and Keefe could almost swear that he sees a slight flush adorning the other boy's cheeks.
He chuckles, and Tam glares, with a look that asked, What's so funny?
"Wow Bangs Boy, you're offering to bake with me?" he jokes, and Tam rolls his eyes as he moves away.
"It's just because you're here, idiot." he mumbles, and begins to pull dozens of pans and pots out of a large cupboard.
The metal utensils clank against the marble countertop. "Don't worry Bangs Boy, I'd love to bake with you," and Keefe doesn't miss the scowl that spreads across Tam's face at the usual nickname.
Keefe's grin is surprisingly genuine.