Note: I know Sorey is 17 but this is set before their adventure so I made him slightly younger
"Hey Mikleo?" Sorey suddenly looked up from the book he was reading whilst splayed out on the floor of his small little home. Books were piled up around him like usual.
Mikleo sat on the floor with a smaller pile of books making a barrier between them. He, too, was reading a book. He didn't remove his eyes from the pages as he spoke. "What is it Sorey?" There hadn't been a word from the brunette for some time now, he'd been waiting.
"How do you know if you're in love with someone? Because in this book, these two people say they're in love with each other, but everything they've said is stuff that I could say about a best friend".
"You mean like me?" Mikleo glanced over at him briefly. Sorey wasn't looking directly at him, but his brow was furrowed slightly as he tried to make sense of what was written before him. Sorey nodded and Mikleo slowly shut his book but kept note of the page he'd left himself on. "I suppose you don't really know for sure unless you've experienced it for yourself".
"But that's what I mean, how do you know for the first time? If you've felt it before then it's easier, right?"
Mikleo shook his head and turned back to his book. "Why are you asking me this anyway? It's not like I know the answer, even if I am much smarter than you" He smirked.
"Hey! I'll admit I can be reckless sometimes but you're not that superior just because you're a seraph". The fourteen year old protested mildly.
"Did I say anything about it being that I'm a seraph? Besides, I don't recall being the one to nearly drown in a waterfall yesterday, do you?" Mikleo smirked more when he saw Sorey's pout from the corner of his eye.
"Okay, okay, fair. But help me out here, would you?"
"Sorey I don't know how to help you with something neither of us have any knowledge on. What does the book say love is to these people?"
Sorey turned back to his book and hummed in thought as he found the sentences he was looking for. "It says that they cherish one another, want to always be together, feel the other near them all the time, think about them all the time, stuff like that" He looked up at his friend again. "I could say all that about you though. Or is their meaning of things different?"
"Hm, it could be a deeper meaning for them than it is for you and I".
Silence overtook them again, both getting caught up in their reading until Sorey finished the book and put it to the side with a sigh. He turned himself from on his side to being on his back staring up at the ceiling of the hut. He folded his arms behind his head, green eyes sparkling with thought until he looked over to Mikleo.
"Hey Mikleo?" He called.
"What is it Sorey?" The other replied.
"I want what they had in the book".
Mikleo paused and raised an eyebrow in concern. "You want to be in love? I'm surprised you're wanting to talk about something other than ruins, but at the same time I'm not surprised. Gramps said that boys our age should become curious about girls and stuff sooner or later".
"It's not... I..." Sorey's brow furrowed and he gave a tiny growl of frustration before sat up and crawled over to Mikleo, their faces close enough that Mikleo had to lean back slightly. Sorey stayed on his hands and knees. "But what if it's not...a girl...that I'm interested in?"
Mikleo tilted his head slightly. "What would it matter? I don't think love should be built upon gender alone, but I know that people can have their preferences. So if you like a boy instead of a girl then so what? It doesn't change who you are, it just adds to you".
"I wish everyone could see it the way you do..."
"Don't fret over it, okay?" Mikleo shrugged and turned his head to the side. "I suppose it's getting later than we'd like. I should get going. See you tomorrow?"
Sorey smiled. "Sure!" He got up and offered a hand to help his friend stand, which Mikleo naturally took. "So if we get enough time tomorrow once you're finished with that job you have to do then can we go and explore that waterfall again?"
"So long as you try not to drown in it again".
The brunette laughed, hands on his hips. "No promises!" He grinned and then gave his friend a hug, wrapping his arms around his body tightly. "Thanks Mikleo, you're amazing".
"A compliment? Who are you and what have you done with the real Sorey?" Mikleo wrapped his arms around Sorey in return as the other boy chuckled lightly. He then felt Sorey experimentally press his lips against his cheek and a dusty blush rose up to make itself known as they pulled away. "Th-Thanks...? I'll, um, see you tomorrow when I'm done then. I expect you'll be here engrossed in another book".
"Haha, most likely! I might try and go fishing perhaps though..." He tapped his chin in thought.
Mikleo huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Y'know, if you want to experience death by drowning then I am right here".
He smiled all the same when Sorey laughed again.
"Alright, alright," he sighed contently. "G'night Mikleo, sleep well!" Sorey stretched his arms above his head and then headed off to bed as Mikleo exited the hut.
The water seraph sighed heavily once he shut the door behind him and walked over to his own hut with a shake of his head. He chuckled to himself as he looked up at the faint stars making themselves known in the darkening sky.
Sorey, you wouldn't know someone in love even if it hit you upside the head.