Arrivals and Departures
Chapter 1: Respite
Silence. Finally silence. The meeting at Contigo had exhausted Isaac. Lying down in a warm bed at the inn was exactly what he'd needed for days, but he just couldn't seem to fall asleep. What happened at Jupiter Lighthouse wasn't easy to come to terms with, and the story that the lighthouses being extinguished were causing Weyard to slowly die off stung inside him like a needle lodged in his heart.
He'd felt this way after the other lighthouses, too, and it was hard to handle the idea that one more still remained, and that no one knew what would happen afterwards. Isaac just half-sat up in his bed, propped up against the wall, staring at the fruit and bread laid out on his bedside table and chewing his blanket nervously, a habit he thought he'd shed years ago, but had seemed to come back lately. Was it really necessary to do all this? Sure, he had a mission, and he did pretty well at putting up a stoic front to the others, but by the time the effects of the unlit Mars Lighthouse would be felt, he'd probably be an old man, if not already dead. The only thing that kept him from total desperation was his strong bond with his friends, but even that seemed far away now, when he'd loudly voiced his wish to be alone for a while. After a bit of uneasy rolling around in his bed, he decided to ditch his pride and do what he'd always done as a kid. Isaac took off his sweaty vest and shirt, allowing the cool air in the room to brush away the nervous flush. Even though he wasn't hungry, he grabbed a piece of still-warm bread from the basket on the table, leaned up against the wall, wrapped the white wool blanket around his legs and waist and began nervously chewing on the bread. It felt embarrassing, and Isaac felt himself getting twitchy about any of his friends coming in and seeing him like this. Especially Jenna, who probably still idolized him for being strong and masculine. He had an excuse this time, but the hot-headed Jenna probably wouldn't accept it. Shame about her temper. She was pretty cute when she was shy. Just as Isaac was smiling and ready to vault into his own little dream world, someone knocked on the door. He rolled his eyes and sighed. Just the worst time for someone to come in. "Sorry, but I'm having one of my alone moments here, okay?", he half-shouted, quite annoyed at the attempted intrusion. "I'm the one who should be sorry", a soft, level male voice answered. "Your companions asked me to come in and check on you. It's been three hours since you came out, and the innkeeper's putting on a celebratory dinner in an hour." Not one of his friends? In a flash of relief, Isaac decided letting the person in wouldn't hurt, and it'd be polite at that. "No problem. Just come in", he mumbled towards the door. The handle clicked down, and a serene-looking young man in loose robes and a quite casual blue ponytail that reached to the middle of his back walked in, carrying a stack of clean clothes over one arm. Isaac took one moment to remember him, and seemed to recall that he was one of Felix's traveling companions and a Lemurian, though he couldn't remember the name. The young man's apologetic half-smile turned into a mischievous smirk as he looked over at Isaac. He hurriedly yanked the blanked over his naked upper body and spat out the bread when he realized it was still dangling in his mouth, but not even this could stop him from blushing fiercely under the young man's interested glare. "No, no, no need to be ashamed. I don't have a problem with it at all." The man's look had changed back to the shy smile he'd worn just before, and Isaac wondered to himself whether the smirk had been real or not. He reluctantly let the blanket fall again, but fixed a death glare on the young man, who was obliviously laying out the clean clothes on the end of the bed. He seemed to notice and stood up, politely backing half a step away. "If you don't want me to intrude, I'll let you do it yourself. I'm sorry to be babying you like this without even asking." Was this guy a saint or something? "No, just feel free to sit down. I'm not in the mood for talking to my friends, but I'm getting kinda bored." It was true - even if he was unwilling to talk to the others, he was still dying for a chat with someone. "Thank you. Just tell me if I'm a nuisance." The man sat down on the edge of the bed, and Isaac could've sworn he saw that smirk again.