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Okhema is just as lively as it always is, filled with people discussing everything from sales to new dishes to political rumors and everything in between. However, Mydei doesn’t pay attention to any of that once he finally locates the Deliverer discussing antiques with some shopkeeper.
Mydei pushes his shoulders back, holds his head up high, and approaches Phainon with large, confident strides.
“… because of this paintwork though, I’d say– eh?” Phainon says, turning to see Mydei approaching from behind. “Mydei? You look kinda serious. Or, well, you always do, but are you good? Do you–?”
“I’m fine, Deliverer,” Mydei responds. He then turns to the shopkeeper who looks vaguely nervous to be in the vicinity of not one but two Chrysos Heirs. “Excuse me, sir. I need to borrow Phainon for a moment.”
“Er- of course, my Lord! I won’t keep him any longer. It wasn’t that important anyways. Go ahead, go ahead!” the shopkeeper stammers.
“Well, then, I’ll see you later, Mr. Agapios! Have a nice day!” Phainon calls out brightly as he takes Mydei’s arm and turns to leave.
“Of- of course! You too!”
Phainon takes Mydei to a nearby abandoned building that’s long since just been used as a rooftop hangout spot. They climb up with ease and once at the top, they find themselves with a sprawling view of Okhema.
“So,” Phainon says, turning to look at Mydei. “I figured you wanted to talk about something, hence why I dragged you all the way here. Am I right?”
“You’re correct,” Mydei agrees. “I had something I wanted to ask you.”
Phainon blinks in surprise. “Something to… ask me?”
“Well, earlier today, I was speaking with Castorice. I don’t remember what we were talking about, but she asked me what I do whenever I’m alone with you.”
“What,” Phainon says, looking absolutely horrified. “She– she said what?!”
Mydei clears his throat. “Apologies. Let me make myself more clear. She said something like, ‘By the way, how come you and Phainon spend so much more time together these days? Did you find something new that you like doing together?’”
“Oh,” Phainon says, breathing out a sigh of relief. “I thought– nevermind, continue?”
Mydei can’t resist smiling at Phainon’s relaxed, sunny expression. He’s beautiful under the sun.
“I considered telling her about our new… relationship, but I realized I’d never asked you if you were comfortable with the others knowing, so I wanted to ask you…” Mydei’s voice trails off.
Phainon’s sunny smile immediately falters, and his pale eyebrows scrunch. It almost makes Mydei feel bad for asking the question at all. “I- if you want, we can discuss this later–” Mydei starts, internally flailing.
“It’s fine, Mydei. Don’t worry,” Phainon says, clearly faking a smile. “It’s just… I’m glad you didn’t say anything to her. You didn’t, right?”
“Of course not. I take it that you’re not comfortable with them knowing?”
“It’s not just that,” Phainon sighs. “I don’t want to ever tell anyone about…” He pauses, gesturing between himself and Mydei. “… this.”
Before Mydei can ask questions, Phainon continues on. “I think Castorice is homophobic. I don’t know about the others, but I don’t want to risk anything, especially with Lady Aglaea.”
“Wait–” Mydei pauses, processing what Phainon just said. “Castorice is homophobic? I’m not doubting you, Deliverer, but Castorice doesn’t seem like the type of person to think that way. I understand if you’re concerned about Lady Aglaea, but it’s just– what makes you say Castorice is homophobic?”
Phainon sighs, head hanging low. His white bangs fall into his eyes, and Mydei suppresses the urge to brush them back. “Once, during my time at the Grove, I was looking through some of the stories in the library. I saw one that interested me, called Journey in Jericha, and it was about a pair of soldiers, both men, who get trapped alone in the lost land of Jericha after a disaster that caused their warship to sink, along with all the other soldiers that served with them. Ultimately, they fell in love and presumably escaped Jericha? I’m not really sure about the ending… I never read it, but the summary made it pretty clear that it was a love story.”
“Okay…” Mydei says, nodding along. “Go on?”
“While I was reading the summary, Castorice walked up behind me before I could notice and was like, ‘What are you reading?’ Before I could react or close the book, she went like, ‘Oh my gosh! Is that Journey in Jericha?! Stop! Please, don’t read that! It’s so weird!’ And then she ran away.”
“Huh,” Mydei frowns, furrowing his brows. “As much as I wouldn’t like to admit it, it seems like you may be right, Deliverer. I’m honestly disappointed in her… but I’ll make sure I don’t say anything, then.”
“Good,” Phainon sighs, sitting back against Mydei’s chest. “Wanna spar?” he grins, looking up at Mydei.
“Sure.”
_______
A few days later, during the annual Pandia festival, Mydei sees Castorice at the mostly empty baths. He keeps Phainon’s warning in mind. In a way, though, her apparent homophobia perplexes him. Castorice is otherwise such a kind and sensitive person. He has no idea why she’s homophobic.
“Lord Mydei!” Castorice calls out from where she’s sitting at the edge of the Hero’s Bath. “I apologize. I didn’t know you would be here today… I assumed everyone was outside enjoying the festivities. If it makes you more comfortable, I could always go somewhere else–”
“No need,” Mydei grumbles out. “I can just sit at the other end.”
He takes off his boots and sits at the edge of the bath opposite from Castorice. “See? We can both be here.”
“… Thank you, Lord Mydei,” Castorice says, shyly avoiding eye contact. “Uhm, I wanted to ask…”
“Go on,” Mydei says.
“I know this is… rather upfront,” Castorice continues, still avoiding eye contact. “Last time I asked about you and Phainon, you just said that you… spar more often? But I don’t see you two in the sparring ring any more than usual, and Lady Aglaea hasn’t mentioned any… incidents, so I was just wondering…”
Mydei doesn’t remember Castorice being this nosy. It seems Phainon really was right, then. Why would she care so much otherwise… ?
Mydei must be making a face because Castorice immediately flushes and stares intently at the bottom of the pool. “I mean–! I was just wondering what changed. I apologize. That was… overdirect of me. Please, ignore that question. I don’t know what I was thinking…”
“My relationship with Phainon is none of your business,” Mydei scowls. Before he can go on some big rant about how respect of privacy is a core Kremnoan value, he stops himself. Castorice may be homophobic, but she’s still a fellow Heir and his friend, as well as Phainon’s friend. “Apologies. I… understand you’re just concerned about Phainon,” he says, quickly correcting himself. “I know it must look like we fight a lot, but I wouldn’t ever beat him up while he’s unprepared. Us Kremnoans value a fair fight. If the opponent is unprepared and you stab them in the back, that can hardly be called an honorable battle. Only the worst scoundrel would do such a thing.”
“Ah– thank you, Lord Mydei,” Castorice quickly stammers. “I- I mean, I’m glad to know you have a good… er, friendship with him. You’re right, I was just… worried about both of you. I shouldn’t have worried, of course. You’re both honorable warriors…”
“Thanks,” Mydei responds because he doesn’t know what else to say to that. It’s abundantly clear that she was not “just worried” that her friend was in some sort of toxic friendship. If she was, she would’ve brought up the issue a long time ago back when they fought for ten whole days and nights.
The answer is clear, then. Castorice is some sort of homophobe who’s scared that her friend might be gay. Mydei really never expected that from her. In fact, he thought she would be one of the first people he could tell.
Still, he supposes things aren’t always what they seem.
_______
“Phew! That was a good spar,” Phainon laughs as they walk through Marmoreal Palace. Pearls of sweat fall down his face, and his hair is completely drenched, but still, Mydei thinks he looks beautiful like this.
“It was,” Mydei agrees, trying not to let his own exhaustion show. After all, a true warrior of Kremnos wouldn’t get tired from a singular spar.
“Though, I think you should work a little more on defense? Just a thought.”
“You… may be right, Deliverer. And you seemed a little slower today.”
“Did I?” Phainon laughs again. “I think I neglected my speed for a bit. I’ll work on that though, just for you, Mydeimos.”
Mydei groans, feeling heat rise to his face. At least he’s already flushed from exhaustion. “Don’t say that,” he grumbles.
Phainon laughs and the rest of their walk is silent until they finally reach the Hero’s Bath. Mydei’s just about to start taking off his armor when–
“BOO!”
“Eh?” Phainon blinks, swiveling his head.
“We got you guys!” Trianne giggles, stepping out from behind a pillar. Tribbie and Trinnon soon follow.
“Oh, it’s just you, Lady Tribios,” Phainon smiles. “For a moment, I was worried something dangerous had followed Mydei and I.”
Tribbie laughs. “Your face was funny! Both of your faces!”
“Oooh, let Trianne guess,” Trianne says, putting her hand to her chin and acting deep in thought. “You two were sparring before you came here! That’s why you’re both so sweaty!”
“That’s correct, Lady Tribios,” Mydei sighs.
“Also, congratulations,” Trinnon says.
Mydei frowns.
“What?”
“We heard from Cas–”
“Shhh!” Tribbie and Trianne yell in sync, putting their hands over Trinnon’s mouth.
“You weren’t supposed to say anything!” Tribbie whines. “Now they’ll know!”
“Oh,” Trinnon says, voice muffled by Tribbie and Trianne’s hands. “Whoopsies.”
“Castorice said something??” Mydei says, still in shock.
He turns to Phainon to see if he has any idea what they’re talking about.
Phainon looks absolutely clueless.
“Sorry ‘bout that!” Tribbie says, pushing the other two towards the ramp to the Garden of Life. “Nothing happened, okay?”
The three red-headed girls quickly scurry away, leaving two very confused Chrysos Heirs.
“What was that about?” Phainon asks.
“I…” Mydei’s voice trails off as he puts together the pieces.
Trinnon had said congratulations, then mentioned something about Castorice… Could it be that she told Tribios about her suspicions? If so, then…
“Deliverer,” Mydei says. “I know we agreed to keep this a secret, but I think Castorice already has her suspicions. She probably told Tribbie, Trinnon, and Trianne as well.”
Phainon widens his eyes. “What should we do? I didn’t want them to know, and now they do, they might tell Aglaea and banish us from Okhema. Oh Titans, is there a way we can prevent that?”
“Haven’t you noticed something, though? Aglaea usually sends us missions every few days, but for the past week, she hasn’t sent anything. That must mean…”
“… she already knows.”
“This is bad,” Mydei murmurs. “If we do get banished though, I’ve had experience being on the run and off the radar. You’re strong and capable, too. Together, we can find another place where we can–”
“You’re not going to be kicked out of Okhema.”
Mydei would know that woman’s voice anywhere. He can practically feel his heart stopping and his blood running cold as he sees the one and only Lady Aglaea walking towards them, face unreadable as always.
She must’ve already heard their whole conversation. If she didn’t know before, she certainly knows now.
“Lady Aglaea!” Phainon gasps. “I can explain. It’s not what it looks like. I–”
“Calm down,” Aglaea sighs. “First of all: Yes, I do know. And perhaps this will surprise you, but I support you two.”
Phainon blinks.
“You do?”
“Of course. Have you already forgotten my role as the Demigod of Romance?”
Mydei suddenly feels kind of stupid.
He turns to look at Phainon, who doesn’t seem to have any particular reaction to this piece of information. Maybe for him, being stupid is the norm.
“But I thought that was like, about the ‘right’ kind of romance. You know, with a guy and a girl. I thought we would be, like, impure romance?”
Aglaea shakes her head. “Mnestia embraces all kinds of love, including yours. It would be frankly, bigoted and unwise of me to punish my two finest warriors for finding love in each other. I stopped giving you missions because I wanted you two to enjoy your time together, but it seems that I made you worry instead. I apologize for my mistake.”
“Please, don’t apologize, Lady Aglaea,” Mydei says, feeling a lot more composed than he did earlier. “That was very considerate of you. Thank you for your support.”
“Yeah,” Phainon says. “I guess we should’ve realized sooner that you’d support us. I’m sorry about that, Lady Aglaea. I’m really happy that you’re willing to support us though. But can I ask a quick question? Do you know if Lady Tribios and Lady Castorice and the other Heirs feel the same way?”
“Tribios supports you two of course,” Aglaea says. “They just weren’t sure how exactly to tell you. And Castorice supports you as well.”
“She does?” Phainon says, clearly confused. Mydei feels the same. Sure, he’d never expected her to be homophobic, but at the same time, after everything she said and everything he’d heard, did she really support them?
“Of course,” Aglaea says, sounding vaguely puzzled at their reactions. “She’s the first person who told me, and she’s also the one who asked if I could lighten your schedules. She was very concerned that you two didn’t feel comfortable telling me or any of the other Heirs. Now, why do you ask?”
“She asked me some personal-sounding questions about my relationship with Phainon. Castorice isn’t usually that nosy, and at the same time, she was also trying to avoid mentioning anything. I thought it was because she was uncomfortable with the idea that Phainon and I may be together.”
“Yeah, why’d she ask all those weird questions? Wait, Lady Aglaea? Why are you smiling? Lady Aglaea??”
(“Lady Cipher, it looks like I’ve won. I have my evidence. Lady Aglaea just confirmed it for me.”
“What? Show me!”
…
“WHAT?? What do you mean they’re together?! I thought they’d be yearning like the idiots they are for the next 1000 years!!”
“Now, you have to pay back all the money you stole from me. Lady Cipher, why are you giving me that look…? Didn’t you agree to this?”
“Ugh– fine! Whatever you say, Princess Homebody. Fine, fine, here you go… it’s all yours now…”
“I didn’t even know you stole so much… Wait a minute. What’s–”
“Oh, whoops! That’s mine, actually.”
“Is this… Journey in Jericha?! Why do you have that?! I wrote that 500 years ago!”
“Hehe~”)