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When Scott woke up with a strange taste in his mouth, he had first assumed it to be lingering wine from the previous night.
He groaned as he rolled over in his bed. After being ferried back to the games, he had drowned himself in so much wine that he hadn't been able to think straight. Granted, he usually couldn't think straight, but this time it had been intentional. Inhibiting any memory of pain usually took frazzling his mind. Wine was just the easiest way to do it.
Scott stood up and winced at the horrible headache that followed. Perhaps he had gone too far this time around. "Right. I need some water while I nurse…" He drowsily trailed off as something fell out of his mouth. Scott blinked as he looked down at it.
It was a lotus petal.
Well, no wonder he felt like shit-had he ate some petals while sipping his wine as well? Scott laughed to himself as he took the petal and stored it away for later. How silly of him!
He didn't think much of it until another petal had fallen out when he had been in the middle of talking to Cleo. "What's that?" She asked mid conversation. The petal floated downwards, landing softly on his lap. Scott looked down to see even more lotus petals caught on his toga.
"Some lotus petals…" He muttered as he swept them off. "Which is weird because I haven't been eating any."
"Maybe you brushed against some on your way here?" Cleo proposed. Scott pursed his lips as he considered it. There had been a lot of flowers on the way to Abolish's forge, but it usually didn't matter considering he had been mainly in the air on that trip. The hangover must have been really getting to him.
"Yeah. You're right." Scott settled with her answer. "I must've not noticed."
It had only been when Zeus's blessing had announced its arrival that he realized something was truly wrong. Cleo, Abolish, Nikos and him had agreed to work together to defend the blessing from Apo, who would most certainly take it as a way of payback for all of the trouble that Nikos had been causing in the past few weeks (which, honestly, was entirely fair. Scott had used to wonder if Nikos was going too far before the man had confided in him in the caves. It made sense now, but to Apo? Yeah, probably not). As soon as Nikos threw his lightning bolt and landed them in the middle of the blessing's area, something in Scott's lungs shifted.
He coughed. Just once. It was odd enough to catch him off guard.
Scott jumped off of Nikos' shoulders, taking a second to collect himself while the others prepared for a fight. He coughed again and again, unable to quell the strange feeling in his lungs and throat. He used the nearby pillar to steady himself as the coughing got more intense. "You alright, Pretty One?" Nikos' hand was on his shoulder, a deep concern in his voice. "If you're not feeling well, perhaps this fight is one you should miss out on."
"Don't worry, Nikos. I must've lost my breath when we traveled." Scott waved him off with a practiced smile. "Focus on getting your blessing."
"Are you sure?" His concern was too much-too gentle. It burned him. His coughing grew worse and inexplicably there was something in his lungs and he needed to get it out. Scott doubled over and it caught the attention of the others. "Scott?" Cleo asked, coming over as well. Abolish stood further away, wary of any intruders. Still, even he casted occasional glances over to Scott like he was worried. Scott would be preening in the attention if he wasn't so terrified. What was happening to him?
"It's-it's fine-" He managed. He needed to get Nikos off of him and he wasn't even sure why. "Focus on the blessing. I'll go back home." Nikos stared at him a little before shrugging and going back to the blessing.
"We catch up later?"
"We catch up later."
"Feel better! Watch out for the others!" Cleo called out to him as he let the wind sweep him away. Scott gave her a thankful wave.
He didn't even make it halfway to home before the coughing became too much and nearly caused him to drop out of the sky. Quickly, he landed and knelt over by the river. The coughing grew worse until finally, finally, the things that had been lodged in his throat escaped.
It was several lotus flower petals caked in his own blood.
Scott couldn't help but shake in deep fear. There was nobody here but himself-no reason to play a role. No reason to steel himself and stand up like there wasn't anything wrong. No reason to wash his hands in the river and go back to his house like normal.
And yet he did.
He didn't know what else to do otherwise. What could he do except cling onto an act?
He was Scott and was absolutely not violently ill.
⚡︎˖ ࣪
Getting used to the petals over the next few days had been alarmingly easy. Whenever he felt a cough coming on, he would dash away with a few wind charges and reappear later and nobody would be none the wiser. He was Scott who could be ignored in conversation and was entirely normal. That was the role he needed to play in order to keep his secret.
The week dragged on, constantly ending in stalemates or wild goose chases. Until the arena fight happened, it was how things would be. Scott was getting tired of it. He didn't want battles; he wanted distracted fun.
He had been lucky to run into Nikos while gathering some food. The two of them decided to walk slowly back to the mountain (even though Nikos protested, Scott insisted on them taking their time to talk) and as Nikos went on about what he had been doing earlier in the day, Scott couldn't help but laugh and enjoy the warm buzz in his heart.
He was Scott, free like the wind. Untethered. Uncommitted. But he could still admire and respect Nikos.
(More lies. Was he untethered or had it just been how his cards were dealt? How would he know?)
It had only been when he found himself truly enjoying the moment that his coughing came back in full force. He was able to hide it for a bit but as the conversation continued, it became harder to ignore. "So, Pretty One, have any plans? I was thinking we could perhaps check out the maze like I asked earlier…but I understand if that is not something you wish to do."
"Mm, no, I didn't have anything in mind." Scott let himself lean slightly on Nikos' shoulder. "If Nobody has the beast taken care of, then I wouldn't mind going there with you." Nikos laughed boisterously, grabbing Scott by the waist and tugging him closer.
"Lovely, lovely! I'd like to see more of your fighting in action, though. You were not bad in the arena!"
"It's still not my thing. Outside of the arena, though…maybe." Scott chuckled. After the caves, Nikos almost felt like he was…comfortable around him. The man actually considered his words while with others there was always a chance he would dash in with his own opinions and actions.
It was nice. It was nice to feel special to-
Scott choked as his lungs started to burn. He ripped himself out of Nikos' grip and started to stumble over to the side. "What's wrong with you?" Nikos asked, the same note of concern that had been in his voice the other day reappearing. Scott couldn't even find his voice to reassure him.
What was he without his voice?
"Come, come, sit, sit…" Nikos urged as he put his hands on Scott's shoulders and led him down to the grass. Scott continued to cough roughly until he felt something come up his throat. Everything hurt until a large clump of petals fluttered unceremoniously to the ground. He head spun as he stared at the petals, blood slightly dripping from his mouth.
"That's…" He mumbled. "Not a good thing, right?"
"No." Nikos swallowed. "Not at all."
"Great." Scott closed his eyes to try and quell the dizziness. Why did the petals always show up whenever he tried to be around Nikos? Was he connected to them somehow? No, he seemed just as shocked as he was.
But it wasn't a coincidence.
"Here, we're near the Fiery One's place…let's see if he has any er, remedies."
"Yes, like wine."
"Not wine. Not when you're…sick."
"I'm not sick, either." Scott let himself be picked up by Nikos, enjoying the warmth. It was probably for the best, though, considering his legs were so shaky from the anxiety he was getting over the petals that he wasn't sure how well he would walk in the first place.
Nikos didn't need to know that.
However, Nikos' touch seemed to only make things worse. He found himself coughing the whole way to Abolish's forge, only broken up by the occasional emptying of the petals. None of them were as quite clumped up as before, but it was definitely a greater quantity of petals than it had been in the past few days. Why had it gotten worse so quickly?
When they arrived at Abolish's place, Scott found himself being sat down on the grass. Normally he would try and settle himself without the help of the others-at the very least to keep up appearances of not being the weak link, even though everyone knew now, they had seen him at the arena fight, he was no fighter-but he was just so exhausted that there was not much left in him to protest. Nikos and Abolish started to talk, but he found himself not listening to their conversation. He needed to figure out what was wrong with him.
Now that Nikos was further away, the lumps in his throat ceased. Maybe it was the man's presence that worsened the petals? Like an allergy?
But that made no sense. The petals had begun their attack without Nikos being there. Not to mention, he had been fine with Nikos up until he started-
Oh.
Fuck.
Scott needed to get out of here. He needed to go back home and drink some water and get a clear head because there was no way he was feeling how he felt. No, wait-he couldn't go home. He lived directly next to Nikos.
He would go to the one place nobody would expect. The arena.
Scott waited until both men had turned away to grab a few wind charges from his pouch and silently boost himself into the air. The wind carried him all the way to the giant arena and he stopped just outside of it, finding a chest with the water and food he needed. He snacked on an apple as he sat in the seats of the giant arena, quietly considering his options.
One thing was clear, though: whatever strange disease he had been inflicted with, if he wasn't careful, it was going to kill him. The blood had already been a damn good indicator and if the dizziness and weakness wasn't enough to convince him, he wasn't sure what else would be.
Scott frowned as he took another bite out of the apple. Really, he was more angry at himself; he was (usually) in good enough control of his emotions to not fall for a man he just met a few weeks ago.
He knew how that would end. Even more so with the inevitable death that awaited him.
Still, he couldn't deny his care for Nikos and the crumbs of trust that he had been handed by the elusive champion. He had made a friend out of Nikos, even if they both tried to simply paint it as allyship.
It was better to be on his good side than his bad side. Scott had learned that very quickly-but he had never exactly been on his bad side. He wasn't sure how much effort he would have to put in to try and get on it. To push him away.
Scott buried his face in his hands. Knowing the gods, this was probably some disease planted in him as punishment for his free spirit going too far in for one single man. It was likely he would somehow have to fall out of love with the man. Fall out of like?
Truthfully, he wasn't sure how deep his feelings went just yet. Surface-level, certainly. The gods seemed fine with that. But, as he sat and thought about it, there was a tiny voice in the back of his mind that yearned for more.
More kisses that were not out of pure enjoyment but out of trust and safety. More flirting that came from a place of understanding rather than trying to win the entertaining game. The voice was tiny, but it ate at him.
And it could get worse. He could tell. He was on the precipice of falling hopelessly into the depths below and that was not good.
The flowers would take him out before the arena could. His team would lose their eager scapegoat. Their fall guy. They would have a higher chance of losing. He could not do that to them.
Scott finished his apple and took a deep breath before grabbing his axe. He would make a home in the arena until his feelings blew over.
He was an actor. He could improvise. This could work.
He just needed nobody else to know that he was dying.
⚡︎˖ ࣪
It had taken a few more days before the sound of everyone being called to the arena had woken Scott up. He yawned and stretched on his little bed that he had set down in the divot of the arena he now called his home. It was far above and tucked away so perfectly that only he would be able to get up into it. Curious, he peeked over to watch everyone be summoned into the space.
The most concerning part was that his allies had set themselves up right below him. Scott scooted himself inwards, doing his best to not be seen. Thankfully, he was still in eavesdropping range.
"I thought everyone had to be summoned to the arena." Cleo crossed his arms. "But there's no sign of him."
"It's possible that he got here before the summoning and is hiding somewhere. His wind abilities give him access to basically everything," Abolish explained. Scott couldn't help but tilt his head. Were they talking about him? He did leave in quite the hurry…
Nikos said nothing as he simply tapped his foot and kept his arms crossed. He had a dark look on his face that Scott couldn't place. "Right, well, who are we voting this time?" Abolish asked after a quick glance at Nikos.
"Me," Nikos growled. "I do not care for who I go against. This week has been full of talking and looking and coming up empty handed and I am done with it." Cleo and Abolish exchanged a skeptical look to each other before nodding.
"If that's what you want. Go beat some people up, darling." Cleo grinned a little just as the voting tokens appeared in front of them.
Scott bit his lip as he stared at his options. He had no idea who had obols, who was fighting with each other, who his team was allied with…as much as he didn't want to send anyone close to him or low on obols in the arena this time around, he didn't have much of a choice.
Nikos.
…
Well, it couldn't hurt to try again.
Apo.
Scott watched as his vote was cast into the pool and added to the magic wheel in the center of the arena. He blinked in surprise as it started to turn and reveal the names that had been put in.
He was in the pool once.
He had a chance of going into the arena today.
Immediately, his heart rate sped up and he started to gather his materials from what he had snatched from his house in the dead of night. The petals had been manageable up until now, with nobody around to see him, but if he was put into the arena like this?
He wasn't sure what was going to happen.
The wheel started to spin. This time there was a large mix of names. Lots of Nikos, one of him, a few of Shelby and Pearl and Apo…
Tick, tick, tick, tick…
Tick.
Apo.
Tick.
Pearl.
Tick.
Nikos.
Nikos has been chosen to fight in the arena!
That was relatively expected. Scott found a little bit of comfort in knowing that it was what the man wanted, but it wasn't great for the team if he lost.
The wheel spun again.
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick…
Pearl.
Tick.
Scott.
Scott held his breath, feeling dizzy from how nervous he was. He could not go against Nikos. He could not go in the arena, not today.
Scott has been chosen to fight in the arena!
He could practically hear the laughter of the gods as his heart dropped. In less than a second, the nice wall was swept out from under him and replaced with the sand and grass of the arena. He froze like a deer in headlights as he spotted Nikos on the other side. "Pretty One! Where the hell have you been!?" Nikos shouted.
"Nowhere!" Scott shouted back. "Let's just have a nice show, shall we?"
"Really? Moving on so quickly?"
He was Scott and he was going to lose and that was okay. He was an actor and he was here to put on a show.
Improvise.
Improvise.
He was Scott and Nikos did not matter to him at all. He was Scott and he was going to get on Nikos' bad side.
…He just needed to quickly figure out how.
First step was fully having his sword and armor out as Nikos approached him. Second step was denying any blessings given to him. Final step was crossing his fingers and hoping for the damn best.
"We have been looking for you this entire time. And yet you only appear when you are forced to?" Nikos prodded as he stood directly in front of Scott. He could already feel his lungs getting irritated from petals. "You abandoned us. For what? It has not saved you anything."
Scott breathed deep and mentally adorned his mask.
"I don't think you would understand. Now are you going to keep talking or are you going to fight me?" Nikos' glare burned.
"If that is what you wish. But do not think I give up on you here." Nikos summoned his lightning bolt and slammed it into the ground where Scott was and the champion was forced to dash quickly away. His side was a little singed, but it was fine.
It was ironic that Nikos was killing him one way or another. Let's hope that this way is faster. He thought of the petals and blood and winced.
The fight went on as Scott did his best to avoid the attacks, only occasionally using his sword on Nikos. The other man used everything he could and it became difficult to dodge most of them. Scott had to act like he was trying, of course, but with the fact that his skin was now absolutely burned? Well, nobody could blame him if he was a little less eager to do so.
He just wanted it to end.
"Fight back!" Nikos yelled as he slashed his axe towards him. "Come on now, fight back!"
"I am!" Scott protested as he blocked the axe with his sword and directed his wind towards Nikos. It barely moved him.
"That is a lie. Do not cower, Windy One, you are not trying your hardest! We are here to fight, you wanted to fight, so fight back!"
"I know!" Scott shouted, activating his ultimate and watching as the wind whipped around him and knocked Nikos off his feet. He intentionally moved himself to be as close as possible to the man and prepared himself to be tackled. "There. Is that better?"
"It is something," Nikos groaned as he sat himself up. He swiftly moved his axe upwards, landing perfectly on the edge of Scott's neck.
Right on his scar.
The axe lingered there as the two stayed in a stalemate. Scott felt he had no reason to move. Nikos had him.
So why wasn't he dead yet?
"Was it something to do with the petals?" Nikos asked softly.
Scott stayed silent. Nikos stared at him until his look of concern morphed into annoyance. "Fine. But I am going to find you later. We are allies, Pretty One. We do not abandon each other."
"Alright," Scott managed through the burn in his eyes and throat. He closed his eyes as the axe went through his neck.
⚡︎˖ ࣪
When Scott woke up in the bridge between life and death, he made no move to go to the ferry. Instead, he sat by the water and pondered. Mainly to enjoy the fact that the petals had finally calmed down. (And definitely not to see how long he could avoid Nikos and the rest.)
The Ferryman was clearly impatient, but he didn't care. Instead he mindlessly flipped his obol over and over again, knowing that it would soon seal his fate.
One more chance to live. It was most certainly going to slip through his hands because of his newfound disease. Scott breathed as memories of his very first death came back to him. It was better than the previous death, but not by much. He absentmindedly laid a hand on his neck scar.
Scott was lucky that the wounds inflicted in the arena did not stick. He gripped his coin a little tighter and headed to the Ferryman.
At least losing his coin meant that Nikos still had one. That was all that mattered.
⚡︎˖ ࣪
When he arrived back in the realm, he found himself in the dark and empty arena. Scott let out a sigh of relief; he could go back to his little hidey-hole and not think too much.
"You look relatively calm for someone who just died." Scott nearly jumped at the sound of Abolish's voice. Quickly, he turned around and adjusted to the situation.
"Of course. Happens to the best of us, you know?"
"What was that about in the arena?" Abolish wasted no time in getting to the point. It was something he appreciated about the man…just not today. However, he was alone and incredibly neutral on most matters. Perhaps it was fine to let loose a little, just this once.
"I didn't want Nikos to die. Gods know I wouldn't have been able to kill him easily anyway. So I did what I had to."
"And it has nothing to do with your hanahaki disease?"
"My what?" Scott gaped. There was a name for it?
"It's a rare disease. I've only heard about it in odd or magical cases. I think you're in both."
"And why would I have it?"
"It is a disease of unrequited love," Abolish started as he roamed around the arena seats. The man always looked like he was itching for activity. "When it is inflicted, the person will slowly die of coughing up petals until it destroys them from the inside out. The only way to cure it is to have the person whom they love requite that love in turn or stop your love entirely." Abolish tilted his head. "Nikos mentioned you coughed up petals around him."
"And?"
It felt like Abolish's gaze was boring holes into him. Scott swallowed and turned away. "Do what you want with this information. I will say, however, that we were going to be the final three standing. I hope you plan to keep it that way."
With that, Abolish slipped away into the night. Scott hugged himself as he slowly trudged back to his hidey-hole. Well, that did it. He was going to die from the inside out, slowly and painfully. He couldn't figure out a way to stop his love and Nikos-
They were allies. They were friends with benefits. They trusted each other to some extent. Nikos thought of him someone to indulge in and so did Scott sometimes. That was it.
Nikos was never going to see him as anything more. That was fine.
He just didn't need to know that.
…It was unfortunate that he had been inflicted with such a harmful disease for such a strange sort of love. Maybe, if he had more time, he could truly figure out what his feelings for Nikos were.
But they were in a death game. They never had that sort of time in the first place. Scott sighed and tucked himself into bed.
He wished he had some of Nikos' wine. Even if it was more grappa than wine.
⚡︎˖ ࣪
The next week was a game of cat and mouse.
While the petals had grown less frequent, it only meant that whenever he did retch them up, there were far too many in painful clumps. It took forever to get them all out and often ended in him being fairly dizzy and exhausted. It almost made him miss when he would be rid of the petals every hour.
The cat and mouse part came in when Cleo and Nikos had been smart enough to figure out that he had been hiding in the arena. Only two days after the arena fight, they ended up searching every nook and cranny of the arena to find him. Scott had tried to escape when they got close but was instantly spotted and chased down.
"Come on, Scott. Surely you can stop running away for two flippin' seconds!" Cleo exclaimed as Scott bounced across the trees with the two of them following close behind.
"I've never been one for sitting still!" Scott casually called out as he maintained his cool demeanor. He could get away if he played his cards right. A clap of thunder and a flash of light erupted in front of him and he instinctively stopped.
"I never thought that I would be begging someone for a conversation, but here I am. Talk. To. Us." Nikos threw out his arms. "Or do you want to keep running forever? Do you know how many people think we're crazy now?"
"They've always thought of us as crazy, to be fair. Just more so now that we keep chasing after a man who can get away in a blink of an-" Cleo blinked. "Oh, for fuck's sake. He's gone."
Scott was high in the air now, gliding away as fast as possible. He didn't really want to waste his wind charges, but he needed to find a new place to hide.
This back and forth continued over the next few days, usually ending in Scott getting away, well, scot-free. On the fourth day, Scott found himself with only Nikos.
"Pretty One. Are you not tired of this?" Nikos asked as he slowly approached him. They were on a hill (Scott's newest hiding place) and Scott carefully stepped backwards every time the other man went forwards.
"Aren't you bored of chasing after me?" Scott attempted to ask calmly, but it came out shakier than he intended. He was getting worn down, bit by bit. He was running out of resources, energy and time.
"Bored? No. I will give you credit, you do it make it an experience every time!" Nikos laughed roughly. "But I am getting annoyed. You are making no sense. No reason, no rhythm. I know it's the petals, but why?"
Scott stopped moving as he let Nikos approach him. It felt strange for someone to go so far just to talk to him. Sure, he had weird fans in the past, but this was different. This was a pursuit to know the truth of him.
A chance to know Scott, the Person. He wasn't sure about that when he still didn't even know who that was.
Gently, Nikos grabbed his hands and stared him in the eyes. "We do not need to do all this. Just tell me what is wrong and maybe I can help. That is what allies do." The word cut through him like a sharp piece of glass.
Of course he appreciated the sentiment, but it seemed like his subconscious did not. Neither did his body as he hunched forward in pain.
It was bad. The world blurred around him as pain erupted through his throat. Distantly, he could make out Nikos' voice and that was it. The petals were bigger this time-a full flower.
He was truly running out of time.
When the world became clear again, a large lotus flower was on the ground, once again covered in his own blood. Nikos toed at it, horror on his face. "What sort of disease…is this?"
"Hanahaki disease," Scott managed before dashing away again. This time, Nikos made no move to follow.
⚡︎˖ ࣪
It took about a full day, but Scott finally found the place he wanted to die in.
The baths. No abilities would be present if anyone wanted to try and get him out and any blood and flowers would be washed away in the water. Scott let out a little sigh as he allowed the water to swallow him up except for his face.
It was nice and warm, at least. Not a bad place to wither away in. He closed his eyes and thought back to the days when he wandered the Underworld, being forced to complete his walk to a peaceful rest. He wondered if it would be longer this time. If he would arrive right where he left off.
In a way, this whole thing was quite a dramatic way to die. It was nice that he got to put on a performance after all.
"Scott?" Nikos was nearby. Scott made no move to open his eyes. Perhaps the champion would assume him to be already dead. "I asked Abolish what that disease was. Well, I asked Nobody, then Cleo, then Pearl, then Abolish...but that is besides the point. I know what your ailment is. That you're going to die."
"I'd figured I'd at least be in a nice place at the end." Scott tiredly waved a hand. "If this is what the gods want of me, then so be it. I'm tired."
"I refuse to believe that there is no way to-to cure it. I refuse to believe that this is your fate, that this is what the gods want of you. Even if it was, there is no reason to let them have what they want."
"But it's easier to die than to cure it." Nikos sighed at that as he slowly made his way into the baths. He did not get in the water, but he did get as close as he could. Scott could practically feel his breath on him.
"Please just open your eyes." Scott did as he was told and looked up slightly to see Nikos staring at him. The man was knelt right behind him, like some sort of protective statue. "Is it me?" Scott instantly looked away and Nikos made a soft rumbling noise. "It is, isn't it? That's why you ran away so much. It hurt to be around me."
"I didn't want to. But you all needed to not be focused on me and my health." Scott chuckled darkly. "I guess that didn't work out much, didn't it?"
"You…you are many things, Windy One. Even if you do not know what they all are yet. But you do not deserve to die like this. To die so painfully slow because of something that should be celebrated among ourselves. There are so many types of love, so many types of connections…I do not know why you should be punished for loving."
"It's probably not to punish me. It's probably to punish the ones who know me. I already knew I was going to die…just…not like this." Scott's voice broke slightly. It was worse, not knowing when the eternal rest would overtake him. At least in the arena he knew when it would end. When he could choose his death.
"How do we cure it?" Nikos demanded suddenly. "You said there's a cure. What is it?" Scott was silent. Would it be useful to tell him? He was going to die anyways.
"The disease is cured by either I find a way to stop my love entirely or…" He paused. "…by returning the love."
The two were quiet as they stared at each other. Scott could feel every breath he took get shallower and shallower.
"I…I do not know if I feel it as…intensely." Nikos carefully spoke, his volume surprisingly low. "But I do feel…something for you. Is that enough?"
"It's enough for me." Scott couldn't help but smile wetly. "I don't know if it's enough for the disease, but…it's enough for me." Nikos leaned slightly forward to give him a gentle kiss on the lips, the two of them soaking each other up sweetly. It was not rough like their normal kisses-it was almost romantic.
When Scott broke away to breathe, his throat felt clearer. Quickly, he sat up and felt no dizziness or pain. "Nikos…" He blinked. "I think…I think it worked." Nikos' face immediately broke out into a grin and he swept Scott into the air, spinning him around once before giving him a hug.
"See! The gods do not decide everything for us! We do." His voice took on a gravelly tone. "We decide our fates."
"You know what I said." Scott laughed. "If I win, something's gone horribly wrong."
"But you are not dead yet. We are not dead yet. We are alive. And we are together."
"Here's to feeling something." Scott pretended to raise a kylix. Nikos joined him and they feigned a toast.
"Here's to feeling something, even if we may never fully understand it. As long as we are here to hold each other's hands and breathe the sweet air together, I do not mind." Scott nodded before burying himself more into the hug.
"I missed you."
"I missed you too, Pretty One. Now, come, come! The others, they've been wondering about you! Can't go dying on us just yet, mhm?" Nikos summoned his lightning bolt and Scott grinned.
"Yeah. Let's get back. Although, I do ask that we don't celebrate with lotus flowers. I think I've had enough for quite a while."