Keanu walked Onyx back to her room. "I'll bring you to the dining pavilion tonight for dinner. If you need anything just reach out to Cato."
"Why can't I reach out to you?"
Keanu had to resist the urge to smile. He expected her to ask that. "Because I'm busy."
"Don't lie. Cato told me dragons are off of work after lunch to spend time with their families."
He silently reminded himself to scold Cato for that later. "You're not my family."
She rolled her eyes. "Your father son dynamic doesn't seem all that great. Doubt you wanna spend time with him."
Keanu was surprised with her bluntness. She's gotten bold. Too bold. He soured. "My relationship with my father is not your business."
He turned to leave the room before she grabbed his arm. He stiffened at her touch. "Why don't you talk to me anymore? What happened to the shadow man who used to just come in and chat with me? Why are you so distant now?"
He looked back and saw her face. She looked genuinely hurt. He didn't really know what to say or do. Feelings weren't his thing. "Onyx...it was different then when you didn't know who I was. It was.. less complicated."
She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Whats so complicated about it now? I don't understand. Please help me understand."
Keanu turned around and stared at her face with a blank expression. Was this really the girl who was supposed to unite the 3 races?
"You're looking for a friend, and I'm not one. I'm your instructor."
She looked away shamefully. He softened his tone.
"Listen Onyx I need you to understand. You are the one who's supposed to unite the 3 races, end this war. There's more important things to worry about, than how much attention I'm giving you."
She was still looking away. Her eyes were watery and for some reason Keanu felt bad. He didn't know why but felt the need to comfort her. He was disgusted.
"Maybe after all this...we can be friends." He moved closer to her and touched her shoulder. Gross. She looked up at him and hugged his waist.
He stood there arms up, unsure of what to do with them. He contemplated pushing her off, but decided not to because he didn't want to hear her ridiculous sobs.
He awkwardly patted her shoulders then gently pried away. She looked down a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, I don't know why I did that. I just felt like I needed to."
Keanu rubbed his arm unsure of what to say next. "It's fine. Don't do it again though. This is a one time thing. I'm your instructor, not your friend."
She seemed to go back to normal and scowled at him while muttering obscenities. She quickly pushed him out the room and slammed the door shut. Women.
***
Keanu usually spent his free time reading books or lingering in the gardens, but unfortunately his afternoon was filled with meetings discussing what to do with Onyx.
She was quite the enigma. No one knew what she was capable of, or if she was even trustworthy to begin with. On top of that, they had to devise a method of fully completing her training within the span of approximately 3 months. Dragons usually trained for years before even being considered to be put on the battlefield.
Today was probably the only day Onyx would have a free afternoon, therefore meaning it was Keanu's last day as well. He was annoyed. Extremely annoyed. His last free afternoon and he spent it going to back to back meetings discussing Onyx. On top of that he needed to go to his room and start devising her training plan, so he wouldn't even have a free night.
Grumbling, he walked to her door and knocked loudly. She opened the door and he was surprised to find her dressed nicely.
She wore a white short sleeved shirt with white bottoms that contrasted beautifully with her dark skin. Her waist was adorned with a gold v-shaped belt accentuating it more, and she wore gold heels. Connected to the neck of the shirt was a white cape. She was garnered with gold jewelry, and her hair was freshly braided with curly strands sticking out. She looked wonderful, he thought.
He cleared his throat. "Ready for dinner?"
She nodded, her demeanor completely changed from earlier. She seemed composed, and cold. Different.
The walk to the dining pavilion was silent and awkward. I should have let Cato walk her instead.
Once they entered, he saw her immediately go to Ludo and sit with him. He was glad she wouldn't pester him the whole meal, but he was weary of Ludo. He was new, so he was being monitored carefully. He hasn't done anything bad, but he hasn't been super beneficial either. He's just there, and that worries Keanu. Usually those who try to blend in, do so for a reason.
Cato walked up behind him and clapped his back, pulling Keanu from his thoughts. "Thanks for taking her for me. The silence on the way here was like music to my ears."
Keanu laughed. "She was surprisingly quiet this time."
Cato winked at him. "I think it's because she was with you eh?"
Keanu shook his head with disgust. "Absolutely not."
Cato laughed and gestured to a seat at the table. Keanu shrugged and sat with him.
"So Keanu, how go your plans with the thybrid?"
Keanu looked amused. "Thybrid?"
"That's what they're calling her, since she's no hybrid."
Keanu laughed. "Suits her I think."
"Aye."
"The plans are undeveloped as of right now. I need to work on them tonight."
"Ahh, okay."
They sat in silence for a minute until Keanu remembered what he wanted to say to him earlier. "You told her about only working in the mornings?"
"Why yes I did. You should've told her."
Keanu groaned. "I was purposely holding off on that. Now she wants me to spend my free time with her."
Cato laughed. "Will you?"
"I suppose I have to now. The council expects me to fully train her in 3 months. There's no way I'll be able to do that without having to train her afternoons as well."
Cato raised his brows. "I think this is the one time I don't envy you."
Keanu laughed. "You shouldn't envy me anyways.
"
Cato just shrugged his shoulders. "I think everyone has at one point or another."
Keanu shook his head. If only they knew.
The food came out and it was delicious as usual. They had steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, along with multiple other side dishes including Keanus favorite which was sweet potato pie.
***
After dinner was finished, Keanu silently walked Onyx back to her room. She closed the door without a word. He didn't complain.
He walked to his room lost in his thoughts. There was so many moving parts to this and he felt overwhelmed. He wasn't even sure Onyx was the right person for the task. It was a lot of responsibility and he didn't think she could handle it. She had a whole meltdown for not getting enough attention from him, and is now acting childish about him being logical. Imagine what would happen to her when she carries the burdens of war on her shoulders. She would break.
He reached his room and heavily sat down at his desk. It was a medium sized room with a nice bed and a large oak desk. It was a bit bland, but he did keep old items from his childhood out. He wasn't sure why. It wasn't his happiest memories.
He turned towards all the preparation papers previous to Onyx's arrival scattered on his desk, and trashed them. Those plans were useless now. He started the long arduous task of starting from scratch, this time with it centered around Onyx. How irritating.
He was working for a good hour before he heard his door open to his room. He turned and saw Flavia standing at the door. She shut it behind her. Flavia.
Keanu felt the familiar swelling of longing in his chest. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't feel like suppressing it. Maybe it was the mead at dinner, or maybe it was the stress from the day, but all he wanted was to lay in her arms.
She sensed it on his face and moved towards him. He stood up and they met in the middle and enveloped in a warm embrace. She stroked his face and looked into his eyes.
"I've missed you Kea."
He didn't even try to stop himself. "Me too." As much as he wanted to deny it, he's been missing her. She was his best friend. Was.
She held his hand and walked him over to the bed. His head was screaming this was a bad idea, but his heart didn't care at that moment. He was so stressed with everything that's been happening, that he felt like he needed some sort of relief, whichever way that was.
He lay entangled in her arms, smelling that familiar scent of coconut, memories flooding back into his mind, back when he was certain she was the one he would bond with. He felt her playing with his locks, removing the rings one by one. He just let her.
They lay caressing one another smiling, reliving past memories for an hour before the door swung open. Mandel was standing in the doorway looking frayed.
"Sorry if I'm interrupting sir, but there has been an emergency."
Keanu quickly sat up suddenly alert. "What happened?"
Mandel's eyes widened. "Elves."