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Sir Dégel,
Greetings and salutations!
I know this is late—this is our third letter exchange, I think?—but you’re a magician! How did you find me so fast? Imagine the stories I could write if I could do that. What’s your method? Tell me!
Madam Fraille? She’s getting worse! She refuses every suitor and locks herself in her room. Praying all day and night for her husband’s soul. Crying when she thinks I can’t hear her. It’s like that wildfire she had at Madam Voivre’s was everything she had.
It was kind of her to provide lodging for me, I’ll never forget that. I’ll kick her out if I need to! Mourning as long as she has is eating away at her. Life is too precious to waste it like that, right?
Oh, about my writing: progress!
Here’s what I’d like for you to read for now. Be ruthless! You held back last time! It didn’t sound like the knight. Not one bit! Don’t be easy on me just because I’m a girl. I need to become better at this, so that Father’s stories will live on. I have to.
Thank you for your help. You’ll read the whole story someday. I just know it! Look forward to it!
Sincerely,
Fluorite
P.S. I’m not sure about this scene and the way I wrote it. Give me your honest opinion. Please?
Dégel flipped through the manuscript. Ten pages of the wandering knight’s adventure. This time written from a peasant girl’s eyes. Fluorite was talented. He could smell the forest around the peasant girl, felt the grass under his toes, hear the creaking of their wagons.
And it was stale. Familiar. Village life went on and on.
When the girl chanced to spot the knight on page five, Dégel furrowed his brow. This must be what Fluorite wished for him to analyze. She hadn’t tried to capture a romance before. He read and reread the first page of this section. No quill to take notes at the moment, but a preliminary assessment could be formed.
From his perspective, the passage was lacking. Terribly common, love at first sight. Star crossed lovers were too common as well. He would send Fluorite references and recommendations with his letter. He had just the book in mind for her. Should give her that too.
Another oddity came to him. As the peasant girl gazed at the knight, her observations were too cold. Scientific. Lifeless. She needed life. Spontaneity. Passion.
Like Kar—
His fingers balled the paper, his cheeks warmed.
Kardia.
Against his better judgment, his thoughts trickled to an event that occurred earlier that week. Kardia invited him—scratch that, dragged him—to meet the newly appointed Hound. Rumors of the Silver’s mind reading powers intrigued Scorpio. For what reason, Aquarius didn’t know. Or pretend to care. If it was Kardia, it was a fool’s errand.
Yet his heart pounded when those blue eyes darted to him. They shone with such excitement and purity. As though they were the only ones in the world. He caught a smattering of Scorpio’s babbling. Blah, blah, blah, fun, can see all, blah. Dégel couldn’t look away from those eyes.
Why couldn’t he escape them?
When Hound was located, Kardia demanded for his mind to be read. The Silver blanched and protested. He could never breach rank and invade his superior’s mind. Scorpio hooked Hound by the neck, his stinger finger armed. Dégel couldn’t hear what was said, but it didn’t take a genius to know when Kardia threatened. He sighed.
Before Aquarius scolded Scorpio, an agreement unknown to him was struck. Gold and Silver parted and stood five paces apart. Kardia crossed his arms while Hound concentrated his cosmo. Dégel sensed the exchange, his hairs prickled along his neck. Seconds froze. Hound squinted and waved his arms like he was fanning clouds of smoke.
In a flash, Hound bolted upright. Whatever the Silver saw caused him to stammer. Cosmo snapped in the air between them. Hound wouldn’t look him in the eye. Aquarius fidgeted his fingers.
That can’t be good.
He jolted to Kardia’s sharp laughter. Scorpio smirked.
“So, what’d you see?”
Hound stuttered, bowed, and ran. Scorpio groaned.
“What, that’s it? Such a letdown.”
Silver scampered away from Gold. With a roll of his shoulders, the blue-haired Saint flicked an apple from his Cloth and took a bite. The green-haired Saint dared to ask.
“What was in your mind?”
Their eyes met. Kardia chewed and chewed as though he savored every fiber, every word on his tongue. He swallowed. His lips smacked into a grin.
“The best kind of miracle.”
What did that mean?
Mist waved him back to the present. He straightened the fluttering manuscript. Aquarius shifted his hips on the giant tree root and brushed broken flakes of bark from his shoulder. He frowned when a green leaf rested upon Fluorite’s letter. If only he were at his desk, he could wield his feather duster to clean it. Ordinarily he would never endanger the treasures inscribed within these sheets. Letters were opened next to the wooden chest under his desk for their protection. No exceptions.
That morning, however, Kardia barged into his library. Blue eyes glanced at the then unopened envelope. A second later, the parcel was prisoner to Kardia’s fingers. Reading can be done in the sun, Scorpio reasoned. Enjoy the day.
Never mind that Sanctuary had lovely weather any day of the year.
Aquarius chaffed. He clawed for his property. Why did he allow himself—
Dégel’s cheeks heated once he remembered. How a slow turn toward him froze any inkling of protest. How the worn envelope coyly hid the bottom half of Kardia’s face. How soft and sincere the whisper.
“Please, Dégel?”
And most of all, what caused his heart to burn.
Damn those eyes.
Sparkles of gold plating tickled his sight. He raised the manuscript to block the glare. Kardia brought his disciple with them today. A small errand, Scorpio had whispered into his ear. He peeked past the writing as the duo stood near the cliff edge. They spoke over the roar of a giant waterfall.
“Stand there.”
Kardia pointed.
“Like this, Lord Kardia?”
The young recruit stood at the spot directed to him. Kardia nodded.
“Why are we here, Lord Kardia?”
Dégel could hear Kardia’s smirk.
“Today’s lesson is a good one. A basic one.”
Scorpio crossed his arms. His disciple tensed.
“Weren’t you going to teach me a new technique?”
The blue-haired Saint laughed.
“You gotta master this one first!”
In a flash, Kardia blurred to his disciple. One hand shoved, an undignified yelp escaped from the young recruit. Dégel caught the word in the wind.
“Survive.”
Screams and protests pierced Dégel’s ears. Kardia humphed. Scorpio let his Cloth flash away and sauntered to Aquarius. Dégel flinched. He missed the split second when Kardia got the apple from his sleeve. He was slow today.
“Sorry about that, Dégel.”
Aquarius sighed. He didn’t sound like he was.
Kardia munched. Dégel glowered.
“You haven’t taught him the basics?”
Gulp from Scorpio.
“I did! He’s getting sloppy. And he’s been getting high and mighty about his progress to the other runts. Got to take him down to this level again.”
“In light of how you teach, it’s a wonder he hasn’t been killed yet.”
“Yato’s hanging in there.”
“By a thread.”
Scorpio smirked, his eyes glowing to the panicked shouts below.
“Thread is all he needs. Yato’s a fighter. When the time comes, I know he’ll make it count. He’s that sort of runt.”
Aquarius smiled. Whenever Kardia spoke about his disciple, he’d smile in a way that was so pure and innocent. He awed at that grin. Ah, if only this moment could be frozen for them.
“What’s this?”
Dégel’s fingers grasped at air. He blanched. The manuscript!
“Ah, that’s—”
“Is this a story?”
“Don’t. That’s confidential.”
“Oh. Is this that girl’s story about that knight?”
Aquarius slapped his forehead. Why did he have to tell Kardia about that?
“Yes, and she’s still writing it.”
“And you have this because—”
“She wants my critical opinion.”
Kardia hummed.
“Interesting.”
He knew that tone.
Dégel sighed. Apple in his mouth, Kardia flipped page after page with hard flaps. Aquarius waited for Kardia to finish eating his apple before he placed his palm forward.
“Give. I don’t want you tearing it.”
“I’m being careful, Dégel.”
“If you would please return it to me.”
“Wait, this looks good.”
Kardia tossed the apple core over his shoulder. He leaned closer to him. Then he moved long green hair aside. He started to kiss his ear and cheek. Dégel tensed.
“What’re you doing?”
“You need to critique this, right?”
“Huh?”
Scorpio placed the manuscript back in his hands. He adjusted Aquarius’s glasses for him. Blurred letters turned straight and solid. Fluorite! What the devil was she writing this for? Would a girl daydream about this?
“Here? Out in the—”
Warmth eclipsed his ear. In spite of himself, he moaned to Kardia’s bite. Scorpio chuckled, his voice rumbled.
“How is it, Dégel? Anything like she wrote?”
Dégel pursed his lips. He shivered as Kardia’s tongue traced the rim of his ear.
“Kardia…”
“...You’re beautiful, Dégel.”
His cheeks heated as more kisses trailed along his neck. His back was pressed against the tree. He breathed in deep. Ah, Kardia’s scent…
With his free hand, he tugged on Scorpio’s muffler and rubbed his bare neck. Fingers plucked at his collar and trailed downward. Pluck, pluck. Kardia clicked his tongue and leaned back to see. He was stuck on the middle button of his shirt.
In the haze, Dégel’s eyes drifted to Fluorite’s writing. Past the long strands of blue hair, his vision blurred to an exchange between the knight and a shepherd. He bolted upright. His torso bashed past Kardia.
“It doesn’t say that!”
“Oh, you noticed.”
Dégel fumed. In one swift turn, he captured both of Scorpio’s wrists and pinned them above his head. He froze them to the tree. Ice formed on the trapped limbs. Paper shuffled to the roots. Aquarius scolded.
“Keep your hands to yourself, bar—”
Scorpio’s heated gasp stunned him. Their eyes met. And Dégel could see it. Just how Kardia felt in that moment.
Raw.
Submissive.
Defenseless.
Kardia was at his mercy.
Dégel gulped.
“K-Kardi—”
Scorpio’s eyes flickered to his eyes and lips. Kardia’s lips parted, the sweetness of fresh apple swirled between them. A few wild strands of blue hair tangled with his. Heat brushed against Dégel’s nose. His glasses fogged.
Kardia’s gaze softened. He scarcely spoke above the waterfall.
“Dégel...”
His heart burned.
Without thinking, Dégel dropped his hands to cup Kardia’s face. He didn’t mean to linger, but Kardia was so warm and soft… His fingers tangled into blue locks, his thumbs rested along flushed cheeks. Words he couldn’t say trembled on his chin.
In their gaze, the passage that Fluorite wrote rang in his mind. The peasant girl felt lightheaded, confused. She wanted to be closer to him. She dreamed of her running into his arms. Whispering sweet nothings. But what she wanted most was how he looked at her, seeing past her scars. Seeing her.
Kardia… wasn’t like that. Hardly.
Like this, though, he began to understand what the peasant girl meant. How he wanted most was to see past that smirk to the layers underneath. How he could be the one to witness what lay in that heart. And an unmistakable truth emerged within this moment.
He wanted to be with Kardia that way too.
A question shattered his trance.
“Lord Kardia?”
He looked over his shoulder. Kardia’s drenched disciple stood behind them.
“What’re you—”
Before Aquarius could act, the tree cracked. A thick thump against the back of his neck lowered him closer to Scorpio. Two legs hooked around Dégel’s hips. Ice cooled his head, unbearable heat pressed against his front. Bright laughter flared against his cheek.
He could hear Kardia’s smirk.
“Making babies, Yato.”
Dégel’s brain melted. Yato fished the sunken words from the puddle.
“Huh!? But you’re both men!”
Kardia chuckled.
“Cosmo creates miracles, right? Gold Saints have tons of cosmo, and we can share it in ways others can’t. We’re experimenting to see how much we need. For science and all that.”
Yato deadpanned.
“Uh-huh.”
Dégel attempted to step back. Kardia crushed him closer and moaned.
“Kardia!”
“Congrats on surviving, Yato. You did good. Me and Dégel are going to keep experimenting.”
Scorpio leaned back, his blue hair twirling against cracked bark.
“Right, Dégel?”
Aquarius fumed to life.
“Don’t lie to your disciple. What kind of idiocy are you trying to spread?”
“I wasn’t lying. He scampered off anyway.”
“Huh?”
He started to look over his shoulder. As soon as his eyes darted away, he felt a tink against the frame of his glasses. In a split second, they flew from his nose and dangled from Scorpio’s lips. Strands of their hair tangled between them. Dégel gawked.
“How did you—”
Kardia gave him a look that dared for him to continue. Dégel shook his head.
“Never mind. Give. I don’t need you drooling on them.”
Aquarius plucked his glasses. Kardia released them. What a pleasant betrayal of his expectations. Dégel wiped the fogged lenses on his sleeve and pocketed his glasses. Blue and green hairs separated with a few finger weaves. He steeled his torso upright.
Keep calm, keep calm.
Slow and deep, in and out. Tension eased from his shoulders. A sigh. Dégel found his stability.
Scorpio blinked slowly three times. Then he rocked their hips together without mercy. Aquarius’s stomach melted, and—much unlike Kardia—he bit back his moan.
Damn it!
The green-haired Saint glared. The blue-haired Saint smirked.
“How ‘bout it, Dégel?”
“Don’t. start.”
“Oh, you want more?“
“Kardia.”
With that bite, Scorpio knit his eyebrows. His lips flattened.
“You don’t like this?”
Dégel blinked at the wounded blue eyes. Why did Kardia sound like that? Did he sound cold? He didn’t mean to.
Aquarius cleared his throat.
“I-I didn’t say that.”
“Are you sure? I can let you go if it’s—”
“No! That wasn’t—I mean, if it’s this, then—”
“Oh?”
Like a cat who caught its prey, Kardia grinned.
“So you don’t mind?”
With that inquiry, Dégel lost himself to the flood.
“If it’s about that procreation remark you made, then it is physically impossible for us to-to—of course it is! We’re men! But! There are acts of intimacy we haven’t tried before, and I spent days researching how—don’t ask me how! I was planning to broach this delicate matter with as much respect as possible because it’s—and you are—and before, it was you who—Anyway, there are three points that must be addressed. First and foremost! This isn’t the only way I think of you. It’s not! Second! We need to consider any preparations we’d need. Far less complicated in select matters because we’re men, but obtaining private quarters without anyone intruding is—Th-Third! We’re Gold Saints! Imagine the gossip if someone saw us in Sanctuary! I don’t mind what they say about me—people have been saying all sorts of rumors since I came here, there’s nothing that surprises me, I heard new ones while I studied—, but if your name were to be ruined because someone saw us, even if we were careful, even if we weren’t doing anything, then I’d—I’d—I’d—”
Dégel sputtered and panted. For air.
A beat, then Kardia laughed. His legs hugged Dégel tighter.
“In other words, you have thought about this and you treasure me. Thanks.”
Aquarius cleared his throat. He tried to restore his bearings. Tried. Kardia’s gentle chuckle distracted him. And the heat between them was…
This wasn’t how he thought it’d go at all.
Scorpio’s fingers twisted along the back of his neck, curling around the ice as far as they could go. Dégel’s ear heated when Kardia leaned closer, whispering in a husky voice he rarely heard in public.
“How ‘bout it, Dégel?”
His face burned.
“I-I already told you—”
Kardia chuckled.
“No, the other thing.”
“What other thing?”
“Want to share a miracle with me?”
Kardia tilted his chin. Past the threads of their hair, blue eyes focused on him. Warmth brushed his nose, along with the most gentle whisper he ever heard from Scorpio.
“The best kind. Right here with me.”
Aquarius snaked his hand between their faces to brush their hair away. His fingertips caressed the smiling cheek. So warm, and so inviting that the smile spread to his lips too. Dégel scoffed.
“...Barbarian.”
Their noses brushed, and Dégel tilted his chin. Their lips met. As Kardia arched his back and their tongues twisted together, Dégel braced himself against the tree, one arm for support and another to explore. He couldn’t hear the waterfall anymore, only Kardia’s sweet moans and whispers. They assured, urged him along. When his fingers traced lower and their bodies drew closer, Dégel enjoyed a discovery found in the heat between them. And it wouldn’t be in any book he researched.
His favorite gasps were apple flavored.