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Kallum was left with his arms outstretched as Rhoren’s lithe figure disappeared in the night.
The lingering feeling of his hands on his cheeks, of the elf’s lips on his own was quick to fade, much too quick in the cold of the storm. In the terror of such disaster, his touch had been everything, it had the power to stretch for forever but it wouldn’t.
Kallum sat heavily on the couch and wrapped his arms around Jinx, stroking the soft red fur as if it could singlehandedly hold him together, there was nothing to do but wait for this to be over. It would be over.
The sounds from the harbour carried through the night, the screams, the people running.
The door creaked open and he glanced up, ready to shoo away anyone who tried to make him leave or seek any other shelter. He had to wait for Rhoren. He had to come back so Kallum could stop missing him already.
The silhouette in the door, though, was short and frail, wrapped in a heavy cloak “I saw your elf running down to the docks, I figured you’d be brooding and freezing your balls off.” Helena muttered, walking over to the fireplace and stoking the coals, managing to throw a small log in and get the flames going in a few minutes.
Kallum was frowning but she didn’t give him a chance to protest, instead she guided him to the chair she would usually occupy and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders, keeping his back to the door. He didn’t have any words for this.
He squeezed Jinx closer and the cat pawed at his beard until he tucked his chin down and steeled himself against the tears. It was not fair. It was not fair to be missing the stupid elf so soon after their first kiss.
Helena was quiet as she sat in the other armchair, her gaze fixed on the far window behind Kallum.
He could do nothing but reminisce over their time together, how vulnerable Rhoren had been with him, how his stupid mouth had almost ruined everything on their very first day out together. The way he had braced for Kallum’s judgement when he was ready at last to share his burden.
There was no telling how much time passed as Kallum and Helena waited in their armchairs, but the way all sound simply ceased was something he would never forget. The incessant, merciless roar of the storm, the crackling of thunder, the destruction of the buildings was replaced at once by a splash and then the gentle dripping of the drainpipes.
The city itself was stunned into silence.
Kallum raised his head, Helena was pointing out the window, the sky was perfectly clear, dawn was starting to paint lighter streaks over the destroyed harbor.
The man swallowed hard and got to his feet, offering his arm to Helena with a small smile and walking with her to the door. He opened it to see that many on the streets were looking for answers from their neighbours, the sight of Hewelet brought to mind the legend of the fallen mage who sacrificed his life for the safety of his people and his knees gave out so very slightly. He let the neighbours into the tavern but he let Helena tell them of Rhoren. He felt numb.
Jesper’s dark head of hair peeked inside after a bit and Kallum walked up to him, frowning “He’s gone down to the docks, he just… went.”
Jesper stared for a moment but he just squeezed Kallum’s arm and nodded “Come on, let’s find him.”
The way his body looked perfectly healthy but still wouldn’t move. Kallum had no words to describe how wrong it felt for his eyes to stay firmly shut, for his chest to barely move the heavy blankets he was wrapped in.
Timofey managed to pull him away just long enough to eat a slice of bread and some soup and write a letter to his family in Tiberia to reassure them on his health.
He wrote barely a few sentences and yet he mentioned Rhoren all the same, the world needed to know just how incredible he’d been in the face of utter carnage. How he’d saved all of them.
He certainly didn’t mean for his sister to gleam additional meanings out of it.
Three Weeks Later
Cursed Cocktails had officially opened for business again after Rhoren had been cleared to go back to daily living activities and some light works, the city was slowly getting back on its feet and Kallum had moved in with Rhoren because neither of them was going to waste one more minute after what had happened.
In these early, tentative days of their relationship the last thing Kallum expected was to introduce Rhoren to his sister and yet stranger things had happened.
Kallum was hauling crates of wine bottles inside while Rhoren was sitting by the fireplace, reading that book the dwarf had been so hung up on, the sun was shining brightly as it had since the defeat of the kraken.
He saw Jesper climb the hill and waved but he wasn’t expecting the man to stop right in front of him “Heard the lady ask for Cursed Cocktails and figured I’d pop by to say hi.”
He grinned just as Iris hopped off the little cart and ran up to a stunned Kallum, wrapping her arms around him “Brother! How I missed you! Now, where’s your umbral elf fella? Mother gave me your childhood journal to make sure he knows what he’s getting into” She jumped back, waving an old but pristine journal with a mischievous grin.