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It was early evening as Lilia snuck through the mirror into Scarabia. The flames flickered across his face from the torches as he floated through the dorm, hidden from sight as the students walked to their rooms. But he had a goal in mind.
He floated through the dorm until he came to a particular window. Floating upside down, Lilia peeked into Kalim’s room, where the housewarden was sat as his desk, hand on his head as he seemed to be reading something.
With mastery of his fae form, Lilia managed to sneak in through the door to Kalim’s private balcony, and into the room. He floated around the room, sneaking ever closer until he hovered just over Kalim’s head. Then with a swift movement, ready to scare the human, Lilia floated upside down in front of his face, and–
Lilia found a small box inches from his own face, and Kalim smiling at him as he held it up.
“Happy anniversary, Lilia~” The housewarden said, his face having that huge, adorable grin as he wiggled the box in the fae’s face.
“You’re too used to me, Kalim.” Lilia chuckled as he flipped rightside up and sat down on Kalim’s desk. “I try to scare you, and you just smile like you always do.”
“This time I was expecting you!” Kalim said excitedly. “I knew you wouldn’t forget today.”
“Of course I wouldn’t.” Lilia leaned in and cupped Kalim’s cheeks with both of his hands. He pressed a kiss against the housewarden’s forehead. Kalim flushed a bit as he rested his head against the fae’s neck.
“I wish we didn’t have to keep this secret…” He muttered.
“I know…” Lilia whispered back. “But until you’re graduated and have truly established yourself… Well, there are fae who don’t like humans. You need the power and respect to back it up, not just your family name.”
“And so we’ll be stealing kisses at night, just like the romances of old.” Kalim muttered. After a few moments of nuzzled intimacy, the two pulled back and looked at each other.
“Why don’t you open my gift first? Since I’m currently a guest in your dorm.” Lilia reached into his coat and pulled out a box that was rectangular and dark, neatly wrapped in a Diasomnian green ribbon. Kalim took the box and tore at the ribbon like a child on Christmas morning.
Inside of the box was a set of seven small spheres, dark and glassy. Kalim held one up curiously.
“Are these… Meditation balls?” He asked as he stared at the one in his hand.
“No, they are a magical item known as faerie fire.” Lilia explained as he took one of the spheres. “You light them up and they’ll become magically attuned to you and follow you around at night until you put them out. Here, watch.”
Lilia took a sphere in hand and pinched it between two fingers. He held it up to his face and gave it a gentle blow. It started to glow with a green light inside, and it floated in the air as Lilia let go. Lilia floated around the room a bit, the light following him, before he snatched it out of the air. When Lilia opened his hand, the light was out.
“I know it’s nothing special, but…” Lilia said as he put the orb back in the box. “I’ve seen your treasury. What do you get the man who has everything? The answer is something that is from the Briar Valley, something that’ll remind you of me every time you see it.”
“It’s perfect!” Kalim said, his face alight in wonderment. “I thought the same thing actually… Though, mine isn’t as cool as yours.” His face suddenly shifted into disappointment.
“I haven’t even seen your gift yet. Don’t act like you’re disappointed when I haven’t even seen it.” Lilia said. He reached down to the table, where Kalim had placed his gift down.
It was a slightly skinnier box than Lilia’s, though it was longer. At a glance, Lilia guessed the box had some sort of jewelry in it by the looks of it. He opened the clamshell case and found something that left him in a curious state.
“Kalim… Something about this looks familiar…” Lilia lifted a necklace out of the box, a golden chain with a dangling, curving pattern that looked almost like some sort of script. He held it up and looked at it in the flickering light of Kalim’s dimly lit room.
“I hoped you might recognize it.” Kalim said, staring right at Lilia like someone making sure their friend really liked their favorite movie. “It’s a recreation of the necklace of Sharif the Pirate. The one he gave to his lover.”
“Sharif the Pirate… An ancient tale of the Scalding Sands, if my memory serves me correct. I don’t know any of the details though.” Lilia explained as he looked down at Kalim. “What makes this so special?” His face turned like a confused dog, genuinely curious about the choice of gift.
“Well, the first is that Sharif is very important to me!” Kalim said, trying to put on his usual joy over the nervousness. “It’s one of my favorite tales from the Year of Stories.”
“The collection of classic stories from across the centuries. I’ve heard of it. Never got around to reading it myself.” Lilia hummed, before he smiled at Kalim. “So, it’s your favorite story?”
“Yeah!” Kalim said. “Actually, if my diviners were any good at their job, apparently I’m his reincarnation. Which, ha… I guess… means this is destiny…” He flushed a bit as he said that.
“Oh?” Lilia crossed his legs and leaned back on his seat on the desk. “How does being his reincarnation make this destiny? Did he fall in love with an adorable fae?”
“Um… Close, actually.” Kalim said. “Sharif was a… What’s the word? Yuu used it to describe pirate movies from his world…” He rubbed the side of his head in thought.
“Swashbuckler?” Lilia said. Kalim snapped and pointed at Lilia.
“That’s the word!” Kalim was excited. He was practically hopping around his room as he acted out his stories. “He was the type of adventurer who swung from ropes to other ships and did dramatic sword duels and found strange treasures and fell in love! But he had one love of his life.”
“And that love was… A fae?” Lilia guessed.
“A fae general, specifically.” Kalim answered. “Happened to be on a ship one time, and Sharif’s crew did the pirate thing, but… Sharif was an honorable pirate. The heroic kind. Used cannons to disable the ship, dueled most of his enemies to disable them… And, shockingly, the fae general saw the honor as something… special. He could have destroyed Sharif with a flick of the wrist.”
“The general tracked Sharif down in private, and soon they started a secret romance. It was true love, if forbidden love, as the general slowly started to love humanity more… At one point, before Sharif tragically died protecting those he called family… Well, before that, he gave the general that necklace.” Kalim said, motioning to the necklace in Lilia’s hands. “That is a stylized script that means Peace in our written language. A reminder for the general of the peace that Sharif made him feel when they were together.”
“Because the general felt the pain of war.” Lilia continued. “Because peace was what he wanted… And Sharif was just the first step towards that.”
“Essentially.” Kalim nodded. “I know it’s… Not exactly the same. Our countries aren’t in any real conflict and like… I know you’re important… It’s not the same though… Maybe this was a selfish gift, I’m sorry.” He started to frown again, and he rubbed his bowed head in disappointment.
“Kalim, my love…” Lilia stepped down from the desk and walked to Kalim. He cupped the housewarden’s cheeks and looked up at him lovingly. “This is an amazing gift… It was from the heart. Something you wanted to give me because of the symbolism it meant to you… It means so much to me too…”
Lilia leaned in and kissed Kalim on the lips, rather chaste. Kalim wrapped his arms around Lilia’s hips and held on. Their touches were soft, gentle but loving.
“I’m glad you love it. Happy anniversary.” Kalim whispered.
“Happy anniversary…” Lilia whispered back.
Lilia slowly moved through Diasomnia, quiet and secret. The only person who even noticed was Malleus, who merely gave a nod of acknowledgement and kept the secret to himself as Lilia stepped back into his room.
For once, he looked nervous, and he dropped the social mask of confidence as he pulled the box back out of his jacket pocket. He pulled the necklace out, gentle, slow, and took a moment to clasp it around his neck.
Lilia looked in the mirror, at the golden necklace on his neck, and smiled… And just managed to hold back the tears welling in his eyes.
“You always knew just what to give me, Sharif…” Lilia whispered as he took the necklace back off. He put it back in the box and placed that next to a near identical one, old and weathered. And those happy tears couldn’t be stopped anymore.