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Near to the edge of the city, there was a garden. A moderately large square of green on a rise beyond the buildings, its hedges and topiaries were tall and neatly kept, with simple but elegant fountains and benches of stone set among them. It was also close to where many of the children of Amaurot were schooled - and thus an ideal place for two who were entirely too clever for traditional lessons to slip away and scheme something more interesting to do.
It was yet a place of tranquility and fond memories, Hades thought as he sat upon one of the benches, watching the calm dance of aether among the plants and water. He had waited here many a time, just like this... Though now it was early evening rather than midday, and less solitary. The passing of other youths as they entered and greeted one another interrupted the consistency and balance that flowed through the garden, and though they largely spoke in low tones, their presence was distracting. Surely it would be the same for his friend, whose aethersight was even sharper. What would prompt Hythlodaeus to ask me to meet him here again tonight, at such an apparently busy time as this?
He would find out soon enough; capricious as Hythlodaeus often was, he did always manage to arrive just when he said he would. Hades hadn't been waiting long before he spotted in the distance the shine of a soul that was exceptionally familiar - and looking particularly vibrant. Whatever this was about, Hythlodaeus seemed to be in a good mood, and Hades found himself smiling faintly as well at the sight of his friend approaching.
Hythlodaeus would also have found Hades well before he emerged from among the greenery, a smile on his own lips and a hand raised in greeting. "So you do remember."
"Of course I do," Hades mildly admonished him. "It wasn't so many years ago the two of us came here nigh on every day, hiding from the tutors and conducting our own studies instead."
"As a matter of fact-" Hythlodaeus's smile became even wider as he paused in front of the bench upon which Hades sat. "That is precisely why I have asked you here today, to... conduct a study of sorts. Or rather, to confirm my findings."
The smile also was slightly smug, to Hades's eye. And how curious - he and Hythlodaeus still saw each other nearly every day, and never had Hythlodaeus mentioned he'd been working on something that the two of them hadn't both been looking into. If Hythlodaeus was requesting his assistance now, however, Hades was willing. "What sort of study and findings are you referring to?"
"It involves something I began to notice when we were very young," Hythlodaeus replied, "and I thought I had an explanation for it. But recently I began to question that explanation, and then I had an epiphany of sorts - I had it wrong all this time. I wondered if your eyes too were able to discern it, and whether you might have reached the same conclusions if so."
Something Hythlodaeus had noticed when they were young, and from the sound of it, it involved the aether that the two of them could see in such detail. "And you wanted to meet me here, specifically. It's something about this garden...?"
"Not exactly. It's something within this garden, at least at the moment." Hythlodaeus was still standing before Hades, rather than having settled down beside him, and now he beckoned lightly. "Come with me - there are better places from which to observe than here in the thick of it. A higher vantage point, for instance." Hades nodded and obliged, rising to follow Hythlodaeus through the garden, further from the heart of the city.
The land sloped gently upwards as the two youths walked through the garden, then more steeply once they had exited onto a rarely traveled side street, until Hythlodaeus glanced over his shoulder and came to a halt as they reached the edge of an overlook. "This will do nicely, I think," he said, turning to look back the way they'd come. "Far enough, but not too far. Not to mention the view."
Hades paused and turned likewise, and had to admit that Hythlodaeus was correct. The graceful spires and inviting lights at the heart of Amaurot looked beautiful from the rise upon which they now stood. Beneath the backdrop of the buildings, the garden they'd departed was now fully visible in the half-light of dusk; from a short distance, the aether of the other youths here and there among the hedges and fixtures now looked to be more a part of the whole, rather than an interruption. Hades nodded and joined Hythlodaeus at the low wall along the edge of the overlook. "A nice view of Amaurot, yes." But that wasn't why they had come...
Indeed, Hythlodaeus's eyes were focused on the garden. After a moment's searching, he seemed to find what he was looking for, and gave a slight nod of satisfaction. "Ah, there. Assuming the view isn't so lovely as to distract you, I believe I've spotted a fine 'specimen', if you'd like to have a look - or rather two. At the outermost edge of the garden, so perhaps it will be easier to see in them."
Hades's gaze followed the direction Hythlodaeus was pointing, downward, to someone walking along the path just outside the bordering hedges. One of their fellow students, a rather unremarkable but recognizable young man; with an additional small gesture, Hythlodaeus also indicated another of their peers sitting nearby on a bench just inside the garden, waiting much as Hades himself had been. As the boy entered through the gates, she rose to greet him.
"So...? Can you see it?"
Hades glanced back at Hythlodaeus, whose smile had turned from satisfied to somewhat anticipatory. Unfortunately, Hades didn't know what he was anticipating. "What am I supposed to be looking for?"
"When the two of them saw each other - did you see it?"
"I did." Hades looked back, curiously, and found the two were now hand-in-hand, their heads inclining towards one another for a moment. "Though I believe they would prefer to not be seen at the moment."
That drew a quiet laugh from Hythlodaeus. "So you do know what you're looking at, at the least. I suppose I was misled by my own previous assumptions."
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about."
"Hmm... it could be that I can see it and you can't," Hythlodaeus mused. "But I suspect you can. Let's try again."
"And again I ask, what am I supposed to be looking for?" Hades asked him.
Hythlodaeus didn't answer right away, for he was scanning the garden and surrounding area. "There is a... a change in the aether. I had hoped to show you the exact instant when it changes, so as to make it more obvious, but..."
Hades frowned thoughtfully, looking back at the two youths Hythlodaeus had pointed out as they walked together further into the garden. "Their aether looks the same to me as it does when I've seen them during lessons. The same colors, the same patterns..." Perhaps it was something that only the eyes of Hythlodaeus could perceive.
"Yes, but there's an additional... something. It's hard to pin down, exactly," Hythlodaeus admitted. "Aetherically they remain the same, but there's a... a subtle shine to their soul. A telltale glow. If you look throughout the garden," he said with a broader gesture, "you can see it nearly everywhere now. Though we had the place to ourselves as children skipping class, it's become a popular place for older students to meet in the evenings as we all grew."
"For reasons other than to help one another test a hypothesis, generally speaking." The garden indeed hosted a fair number of the youth of Amaurot at present, and they were almost entirely in pairs, strolling lazily along the paths or sitting close together.
"Exactly." Again Hythlodaeus uttered a soft laugh. "You do seem to understand, whether or not you've noticed."
"...I don't understand you," Hades admitted, looking to Hythlodaeus again curiously. "Does this have something to do with romantic attraction, for whatever strange reason?"
Hythlodaeus looked up from the garden then, visibly surprised, then he smiled again. "As a matter of fact, it does. When I was too young to understand such affections existed," he said, turning his eyes back to the garden and those within, "I saw this glow appear in the aether of my elders frequently. I came to believe that it had something to do with growing up and becoming an adult."
Ah, so that was what Hythlodaeus had meant about his assumptions misleading him. "You weren't entirely wrong," Hades observed, looking out over the garden again as well. And now that Hythlodaeus had pointed it out...
"Not entirely. But while it manifested often in some adults, it would never manifest in others, and I never understood why - until I began to see it manifest in those near to my own age. I took note of when it appeared, and realized there were patterns." Hythlodaeus paused. "Very well - now that you know what I'm referring to, perhaps you can better observe the change as it happens. Look, just over there."
Hades looked where Hythlodaeus indicated, and there were indeed two figures approaching one another, wearing the traditional robes and mask. Such garments didn't disguise one's identity in the slightest from those such as Hades and Hythlodaeus, but it was obvious when the two below recognized each other. Not the least because, just as Hythlodaeus had said, there was a...
"...I see it now," said Hades as the two embraced. "It's not that their aether changes, so much as it..." He paused, puzzling over words that had never been intended to describe the appearance and behavior of something so ephemeral. "...It is enhanced. Or overlaid, perhaps, with... as you said, a subtle glow illuminating the usual colors of their souls."
"Yes! So you can see it," Hythlodaeus said, delighted. "I was nearly certain you could - I just wasn't sure you had noticed."
"I hadn't," Hades acknowledged. "But now that you've told me of it in so many words, I do see precisely what you're referring to."
"And with that, an old misconception has been laid to rest," said Hythlodaeus, "and the new hypothesis confirmed."
"Interesting. Not a terribly useful thing to know about," Hades observed. "But it is an interesting novelty."
"Oh, there might be some use in it," Hythlodaeus said casually. "For instance - it's a bit funny now that it took me so long to puzzle it out, specifically because one 'specimen' I observed exhibited such a glow every time I was observing him."
"Hmm. How odd." Hades considered. "Someone whose romantic attraction towards another was particularly strong and all-consuming, I suppose?"
Hythlodaeus laughed gently. "I'd like to think so - but I believe it's just that ever since I noticed the glow in him to begin with, he's exhibiting it whenever we're together."
"...I see." So someone had something of an infatuation with Hythlodaeus, did they? Hardly surprising; Hythlodaeus was charming enough to have become quite well-known and popular among their classmates in spite of his shortcomings with aetherial manipulation. For a moment, Hades felt a flash of some sort of unpleasant emotion - but he knew Hythlodaeus too well to think that Hythlodaeus would simply disappear from his life if he were to... to fancy another. Nothing would change if so. Except that he would be sharing his friend's time with some other person, and... He reminded himself that he had no monopoly on Hythlodaeus just because the two of them had been all but inseparable for the duration of their friendship, each other's primary confidant and partner in mischief since they were children. He would have to adjust - if Hythlodaeus even felt mutual attraction for this other person, which he might not.
Hades mentally shook himself out of the thoughts he knew he had no right to think, and simply nodded his acknowledgement, staring straight-faced at the carefree couples below them in the garden. Thinking about how he might see Hythlodaeus and some other classmate among them if he were to come here again... without Hythlodaeus... No. He would adjust, and that was that. "Well. I'm glad you told me."
"So am I." An odd thing for Hythlodaeus to say. Hades looked up from the garden - and found Hythlodaeus regarding him with a distinctly amused look. "Since, as you said, you hadn't noticed it in anyone else until now either."
"It's none of my business what-"
Hades stopped mid-sentence, abruptly realizing what Hythlodaeus was suggesting. Does he truly mean to say...? It... would explain much, but... Was I really... How long could I have been...?
Clearly his discomfort was visible to Hythlodaeus as well. "There's another glow to you now," he observed playfully. "Not so subtle - and it has less to do with your aether, more to do with your cheeks and your ears."
Hades hadn't the slightest idea how he was supposed to respond to that. He'd never even considered that his friendly affection towards Hythlodaeus might be changing into something more - but once again, Hythlodaeus had seen something more clearly than he, and once again Hades had had to have it pointed out to him. Humiliating as this particular instance was, he couldn't lie to his friend, even if Hythlodaeus hadn't been able to easily see a lie for what it was.
Hythlodaeus didn't intend to let him suffer such indignity for too long, however. "Relax, Hades," he said, his amused expression relaxing into a more earnest smile as he turned to fully face Hades. "I didn't recognize it in you at first because it was a constant, not a change. But if you can now recognize that glow as well, then you must be able to see that there's no reason to be embarrassed or afraid."
Hades wasn't so sure about that. But then Hythlodaeus lifted his hands in a gesture of invitation - as if to say look, see - and so Hades did, and suddenly he understood. The colors and composition of Hythlodaeus's soul were more familiar to him than any other, but they too exhibited that glow. Too subtle for his eyes to have noticed if, as Hythlodaeus had said, it was a constant rather than an abrupt change, but it was there and now he could see it.
Beyond the aethersight, he could also see the affection in Hythlodaeus's eyes, the reassurance in his smile. "...Oh," was all he could think of to say, and he still had no clue how he was expected to proceed. How they were expected to proceed. His steadfast friendship with Hythlodaeus had been enough for him; he'd never been given reason to envision, let alone prepare for anything deeper.
It was Hythlodaeus who had asked him to meet in the garden, though, and he must have prepared. When Hythlodaeus reached out, Hades hesitantly took the offered hand in his own. "Seeing as neither of us has any reason to fear rejection," Hythlodaeus said lightly, "I was thinking that perhaps you would like to assist me in investigating this phenomenon further."
As much as he wanted to say yes to the second part, Hades wasn't so sure about the first part. "If this should... change things between us."
Hythlodaeus shook his head. "It doesn't have to. Think of it the same way as the visible manifestation - rather than a change, merely an enhancement."
That seemed reasonable. And there was no denying that now that Hades had been made aware, he could hardly resist the urge to stroke his thumb over the back of Hythlodaeus's hand. There was no reason to resist, he realized, and so he didn't.
Likewise, when Hythlodaeus leaned in closer, Hades had no reason not to do the same, closing his eyes as Hythlodaeus pressed his lips briefly against his own. Rather than merely accepting the gesture, Hades thought, he should be more an active participant; before Hythlodaeus could retreat too far, Hades leaned in further to caress Hythlodaeus's mouth with his own in turn. He could feel the smile he knew so well, feel the warmth of Hythlodaeus's breath as he chuckled almost silently in delight. The hand that was not still holding Hythlodaeus's reached out to cup his chin and cheek, to brush back and twine through the hair that fell about Hythlodaeus's face...
He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he drew back, realizing that if he didn't... Well, it wouldn't have been a mistake, certainly. But the both of them were already breathing more heavily than usual, and there was a flush in Hythlodaeus's fair cheeks now as well as his own. "...Might I suggest," Hades muttered breathlessly, "that this... study... proceed cautiously?"
"As eager as I am to see where it might lead," Hythlodaeus murmured, touching his jaw gently where Hades's lips had just been, "I do believe I agree. If we rush to a conclusion, we may miss something important, or at least interesting, along the way." He flashed a playful smile at Hades once again, and immediately Hades felt more at ease. As Hythlodaeus had said, surely this new development had not and would not change what made them... them.
"As usual, you understand my way of thinking." Hades dared to smile back. "You've ever been the only study partner clever enough for me to tolerate."
"And for once, I won't tell you that your standards are too high," Hythlodaeus replied, smoothing his hair back into place. "I'll simply be grateful to have that singular honor."
And so will I, Hades thought as Hythlodaeus took his hand again for the walk back into the heart of the city, both of them warmed by a glow unseen to all but themselves.