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Often times, Scott Springwell found himself atop the highest hill in the Blue Kingdom, watching the stars wink in and out of his view.
It was peaceful, this little spot.
He’d never seen anyone other than himself venture up here, they had no reason to. It had become his spot.
Scott’s hideaway from the world.
Scott’s place to miss home.
This is why, when he heard footfalls on the ground near him, he sat up with a jolt.
“Who’s there?” He whipped his head around, expecting perhaps a member of the Red Kingdom attempting to sneak up on him.
Instead, it’s Nom who emerged from the trees, his dark hair slightly dishevelled but armour pristine. He glanced around the clearing- looking for something? “Scott?” Nom looked confused. “You here?”
He was about to reply indignantly, when he caught sight of his hands- or didn’t see them, and realised that he’d accidently gone invisible.
Shaking his head rapidly to break his concentration, he reappeared, mere inches from the knight. “Sorry, I... accidentally went invisible.” Scott rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
“No, my fault.” Nom smiled down at Scott, who was still sitting on the grass. “I shouldn’t have snuck up like that. Can I sit?”
Scott was a little surprised that Nom had asked to join him, so he gestured to the spot beside him.
“Do you come up here often?”
“Yeah.” Scott, now significantly less on edge, leaned back again, until he was laying on his back.
“I had been wondering where you went at night.” He could feel the knight’s gaze on him again, but Scott kept his eyes on the sky.
He didn’t reply, didn’t think it was needed. Now that he wasn’t afraid of being attacked at any moment, he’d gone back to as little words as possible. Instead, he gave a little hum of agreement.
Scott had expected Nom to make another comment, or ask another question, but he copied Scott, laying down and turning his gaze skyward.
It was nice, having someone there with him.
It had been-
It had been a long time since he’d stargazed with him. Usually, he was alone. He’d always gone out, nearly every night, with his mother.
“Nom?” He said, after a while of content silence. “Do you stargaze?” It seemed like a simple question, but the night answered it anyway.
“No, not usually.” He sighed. “It’s not often that my nights are spend any other way than sleeping or manning the walls.”
“The walls are outside.”
“They are.” Nom said. “But you can’t see the stars. It’s too bright.”
“Do you like stargazing?” The question was similar to the previous one, but he was curious. Why had Nom come out here?
He heard the knight shift beside him, the armour that he always seemed to wear clinking with the movement. “I think I do.” When Scott glanced over, he was smiling. “I assume you do?”
“I do.” There was so much more to say that just that, but Scott couldn’t seem to find the words. He was never very good with his words. Maybe that was why he chose to stay quiet.
Nom seemed to find that to be a sufficient answer. “Are you not afraid to be out here alone at night?” If it were anyone else, Scott might’ve thought he meant it as patronising or even a threat. But it was Nom. There was something about him that put Scott at ease, without him being able to explain why.
“No.” Truly, he wasn’t afraid. Scott had stopped caring the moment he’d been forced to leave his father and his home to come fight the battles of a divided kingdom.
It took a moment for the other man to respond, but when he did, it seemed like his words were thought out. “You- you said you didn’t choose to be here. I know bits and pieces, but I’d like to hear from you.”
At his words, Scott felt almost warm, even though the night was cold. No one had outright asked him who he was.
To the rest of Blue, he was just a mage who’d showed up conveniently and didn’t have good control of his magic.
Graecie had asked certain things, but he hadn’t trusted her fully at the time.
Owain seemed to just know things, but that wasn’t the same.
But Nom-
The young mage just felt inclined to talk to him. For the first time in a long time, Scott goddamn Springwell wanted to talk to someone.
“I was conscripted to be here. I was not given a choice.” He sighed. “It was either I come or face the consequences.” Scott wrinkled his nose in disgust as he gazed skyward.
He could feel the knight’s eyes on him as he spoke.
“I’m barely a mage, you know.” He finally met Nom’s gaze and found confusion there.
“What do you mean, you’re barely a mage?”
Scott sat up and pulled his knees to his chest. “You’ve seen it.” He sighed. “I can’t control my magic properly. It’s unruly and uncontrollable.”
“You say that, and yet you’ve been more help than some of us knights who’ve been here for years.” Nom sat up beside him and knocked their shoulders together.
“-been here for years?” Surely Nom wasn’t old enough to have been a knight for too long, but if he’d been there for years-
“I was knighted when I wasn’t even seventeen.” Nom smiled a bittersweet smile. “I’ve been fighting for longer.”
That was... that was messed up. Having a teenager fight in a war that they didn’t start was just terrible. It made Scott want to spit at the feet of whoever was in charge back then. “That’s too young.”
“Boy, don’t I know.” Nom’s laugh was uncharacteristically harsh. “Regardless of my age, I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.”
“Guess we’re both living exactly where we’re meant to be.”
Silence fell once again, and Scott tumbled back into his own thoughts. Despite missing his home, his old life, his father, Scott was rather enjoying the moment he was in.
It was then that he realised that he enjoyed Nom’s company.
Sure, he enjoyed the rest of the kingdom’s company, he liked chatting with them. But Scott had become more comfortable with this knight than anyone else since he arrived.
And he was pretty sure he could explain why. It wasn’t like he was inexperienced on feelings; he knew a lot about those. It had been a while since he’d been as comfortable with someone as he was with Nom.
And he nearly said something too. Scott nearly opened his mouth and told Nom, without even thinking. Like he hadn’t just realised himself just moments before.
That was the sort of rash thing he’d swore to stop doing.
Another reason why he usually chose to stay quiet: Sometimes he just spoke. He spoke whatever was on his mind and embarrassed himself.
He only didn’t speak because Nom did first. “Where’d those flowers come from?” His gaze was on the ground beside Scott.
When the mage looked, he found a little patch of wildflowers had sprouted from the ground beside him. “Ah, those were me.”
“Why?”
Why? What an odd question. “Well...” Scott thought for a moment. “I think they just, sort of appear. When still for long enough. And when I’m-” He met Nom’s eyes again. “The flowers are a telltale sign that I feel really safe.”
Bold move, Springwell, his inner voice chuckled.
“Oh um.” It was too dark to be certain, but Scott could have sworn the knight's cheeks were a little red. “I’m glad you feel safe.” He sounded sincere.
The other man plucked one of the little yellow flowers from the soil and tucked it behind Scott’s ear.
A gentle gesture, one that Scott would not have come to expect from the knight. Although he might’ve just been assuming wrong about him. He’d seemed good for a laugh, but Scott hadn’t seen much of him during the past few days.
Scott could feel a blush creeping up his neck when Nom’s fingers brushed his skin.
But the florist was quickly distracted by the familiarity of the gesture. He spent his life around flowers, it was his job after all, but no one had given him a flower since-
Well, the last person to give tuck a flower behind his ear like that, was his mother. All those years ago, she would always pick the prettiest one she could find and give it to Scott.
It was a memory that he’d buried deep in his mind, with the rest, but once it returned, the emotion came with it.
The sudden grief of his mother washed over him again and he felt a single tear slip down his face.
“Are you alright?” Nom sounded concerned. He’d probably noticed the tear. But Scott couldn’t bring himself to care.
It had been so long since he’d spoken about his mother, and he could already feel the rest of the tears building behind his eyes.
When they poured out, streaming down his face, the knight's expression softened significantly. “What’s wrong?” He asked, scooting a little closer to Scott and tucking his arm around the mage’s shoulders.
“Sorry.” He wanted to stop crying now, but he couldn’t seem to stop. “I’m sorry.” He repeated.
“No, don’t be sorry.” Nom said quickly. “I just want to know what’s wrong. Did I do something wrong?”
Scott turned his head up to look into Nom’s eyes. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” He raised a hand to touch the new flower behind his ear. “This just reminded me of when my mother used to do the same thing.” He didn’t want the knight to think he’d done something wrong. Scott was just overly sensitive with certain things.
“Is she still here?” It would have been surprised Scott that Nom would ask that, if Scott had mentioned his mother in any other way. Plus, it was not uncommon around there for a child to only have one living parent.
“No.” Tears dripped onto the knight’s armour as he leaned on his shoulder. “She’s been gone a while. Stargazing was her thing. That’s why I still do it. Flowers too.” He sniffled slightly.
“She must’ve been an amazing woman to have raised such a lovely son.” The meaning behind that sentence nearly flew straight over Scott’s head.
“She was wonderful.” He ignored Nom’s mention of him.
“Tell me about her?”
Scott smiled to himself despite his tears. He was sure now, he liked Nom. In what way, he didn’t really know, but he would figure it out eventually.
For now, the florist leaned his head on the knight’s shoulder and spoke about his mother in a way he hadn’t for some time.