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Another night in the Kingdom is passing, the dark night sky illuminated by the glow of the moon and stars alike. Nom finishes up refilling his blacksmith with extra tools for the night and is about to do one more patrol of the path before he decides against it. His body has grown too tired from all the mental gymnastics he was put through the day prior. Plus, between training Cherri about knighthood and lying to Scott about said knighthood, he’s ready to rest, even if for a moment.
He wills his body over the creek bridge, ready to dive into his Well, Well, Well, but something stops him. He feels a creeping sense of dread tickle its way up his spine to the hairs on the back of his neck. He doesn't know what it is, but it prevents him from moving forward.
Then a pure, garish scream echoes from across the creek towards the forest to the left. Nom quickly glances over to where the sound originated from. The voice had been too deep to be Eloise, not to mention the sound had been slightly more distant and El’s home resides just beside his well. So Nom peers past the stone walls and his eyes fall on the shrouded forest that covers Scott’s cottage. He wastes no time.
Nom grips his swords and shield tight, making his way over as quick as he can. He thrusts himself across the creek and boosts up the mud-brick steps to Scott's door. He barrels through the spruce door and scrambles up the ladders to Scott's loft. As Nom reaches the top of the ladder, his hand catches a thorn bush. He hisses in pain and feels the slight poison ache his system momentarily. He pushes past the pain and just as his eyes peer over the floor, he sees a brief flickering of light down between the bed and small shelf. It’s Scott.
Nom could see Scott's powers going awry. His body flickers in and out of visibility, and the bushes blooming from the flickering source. Scott has always said that he never had quite a handle on his powers but Nom had never seen him so distraught.
He has a chance to catch his breath as he begins to approach Scott, careful to avoid the bushes. He can hear the shaky breath, can see Scott quivering in the reflections of light, but Nom wasn't sure what to do. They hadn't spoken since the day prior, when he lied about teaching Cherri, a member of the enemy kingdom. He knows what he did upset Scott, which he never wanted to do, but he also knows that he has reasons.
Nom knows a monarch is supposed to know what their knights are doing but he’s had many bad experiences when a previous monarch didn’t like what he chose to do. It didn't feel right to let a monarch be privy to a knight teaching swordfighting to a member of the opposing Kingdom while currently being in a war, especially when Cherri herself is not a knight.
Regardless, Nom makes his way over, shifting on his knees until he gets to what he presumes is Scott's shoulder. He attempts a gentle hand but Scott immediately flinches away. Nom tries again, just barely holding the other’s shoulder and manages sustained contact. It doesn’t particularly help but it’s enough for Scott to at least try to calm down.
His face starts to become more visible as his breathing starts to even out. Eventually, Scott manages to be mostly visible but his eyes don’t meet Nom’s, instead simply staring at nothing. Tears stream down his cheeks, his eyes glistening with the salty water, and the pressure in his head fills his cheeks with red. Nom realizes it’s the first time he has ever seen Scott cry.
He knows the mage is not one that particularly hides his emotions, but it still feels wrong to see a monarch behave in such a way, even if Scott had only just become King not even a few days ago. Scott was his friend before he took the crown, why did he ever believe otherwise? Now, his friend is here before him, balled up beside his bed, crying his eyes out presumably from a nightmare. Yet, Nom had somehow believed that this was the monarch that he couldn't trust. He was mistaken.
Once Scott is able to focus his attention, he looks up to see Nom’s face and feels the other’s hand anchoring on his shoulder. Scott can't stop himself, his emotions had spun out of control moments ago. His memories of his mother... his father... They hurt too much to bear. He’s only young but he’s experienced loss before, but never so much and never in such an amount of time where he isn’t allotted time to have the opprotunity to grieve.
Scott barrels toward Nom, almost tackling him down on the wood below their bodies into a hug. Nom could only sit back and allow his friend this one comfort, he isn't quite sure how he’s meant to react. They’d never hugged before. Sure, they may have sparred, talked for hours on end, played Farkle matches, and Scott may have given him therapy a glimpse of the therapy Nom desperately needed. But hugging? It seemed strange for them to. Yet, now it feels so natural, at least for Scott. Nom is too conflicted to do anything other than simply letting Scott hug him. Nom’s always been awkward with emotions, even when he and Katie were young and she’d cry insistently while he patted her shoulder before their mother inevitably had to scoop Katie up and console her properly.
Nom recalls that moment and tries to pat Scott’s back as comfortingly as he could, which as a knight with large callused hands wasn't exactly all too effective. The pair adjust to be a little more comfortable, but they're both still mostly sandwiched between the shelf and the bed. Scott attempts to speak but his voice is so quiet it might as well be gone. He can't muster up the strength to explain himself or the situation, at least properly, and Nom knows not to try and force him. He believes if they dared try to talk about anything right now, he would have to explain why he lied, and he wasn't ready for that, because he himself didn't know. So instead, they sit in silence in Scott, the current monarch’s, bedroom with bright moonlight streaming through the window behind them.
They’re perfectly framed for a moment in time and it is as if the sky wasn't moving, as if time isn’t turning. Everything is still so Nom looks around the room, remembering how proud Scott was that he built something so homely. A glance to the side and Nom notices the flower pot on the table beside him. It’s the dandelion Nom gave Scott one of his first few days in the Blue Kingdom. He never realized that Scott put it in such a special place, especially not when Scott has so many other flower beds outside his cottage.
Nom sighed internally, not wanting to disturb Scott, but realizing now that he had made a grave mistake believing he could not trust Scott just because he became monarch. It's hard to know if Scott will even remember any of this. He seems too sleep-deprived, if the bags under his eyes are any indication. Scott hasn't been sleeping well the past few nights. It's expected, though. He only just lost his dad.
As the night begins to grow, Scott falls steadily back asleep. Nom peers down at the man leaning on him, finding himself full of conflicting emotions. The need to apologize, the want to clarify, the desperation to make Scott happy again overwhelming all other senses. Nom carefully maneuvers the mage back into his bed, tucking him in and making sure he was secure before slipping away, but not before his eyes catch the yellow petals again.
If Scott didn’t immediately toss away his reminder of Nom, maybe that means he’ll get the opportunity to fix this before it’s too late. The last thing Nom wants is to lose the faith of another friend and have another monarch dislike him. Especially since it’s Scott.