Of Love Daemons and a French man

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Steph's part!
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The hour and a half ride back to Mia's was filled with the downhearted details of the bitter divorce between Gravelam's parents. Mia patiently listened to his stories, and offered her condolences. She patted his hand, which was laying on the armrest, with reassurance. "I'm sure everything will settle down, Gravelam. Until then, you're welcome in my home anytime." She offered him a smile, which he thankfully returned. He gave her hand a friendly squeeze in return.

"I'm sure I've bored you with the details of my damned situation. What have you been up to all these years?" He asked with interest.

"Nothing too exciting, as usual." She remarked. "I've been taking care of the household since grandfather died, and just passing through day by day with work." Mia was a little tired at the time, and didn't feel like going into details about her everyday, boring life.

"How did you say you met these young men?" Gravelam asked.

"Well, my grandfather had been tutoring them before he died and I took over when he passed away." She could have sworn she had told him that earlier.

"Oh, I see." He grinned. "Developing a taste for younger men?" He joked, causing Mia to blush and slap at his shoulder while keep one hand on the wheel. "Seriously, have any love interests as of late?" He asked nonchalantly.

Mia didn't exactly want to touch on that delicate subject. She had once had a few crushes on the Ronins, but took the hint when none of them returned her affections. It had been a bitter time, and she had shed quite a few tears in the process. Thankfully, she had just turned into the driveway.

"Well, we're here." She simply avoided the question. He knew her long enough to know when she wanted to drop a subject. "Get your bag and follow me inside."

Gravelam took out his solitary suitcase and followed Mia into the large house. He was given a small tour of the downstairs and was then led up towards Mia's room so that he could use the shower. The bathroom in the hallway was occupied: probably by Sage. As she walked by Cye's room, she peeked in to check if he was still inside. Mia smiled when she realized that Sage had indeed made sure that a room was cleared for her guest. "This will be your room. You'll usually use that bathroom over there," She pointed to the one right across the hall. "The one at the other end is usually in use by one of the guys." Leading him towards her room, she gave instructions on where to find shampoo, conditioner, and soap. Leaving him to the duty of bathing, she made her way down the hall to return downstairs. Just as she passed the bathroom, the door swung open and warm steam hit her face. Sage looked up from towel drying his hair to see her smile ruefully.

"Morning Sage." Mia greeted, realizing that the sun should be up any moment. She was answered with a grunt of acknowledgement.

"So, where is he?" He asked more of demanded, though he wasn't meaning to be cold to her.

"In my shower." She hadn't really thought of what the words might have sounded like until she saw Sage's lips press in disagreement, or even anger. Mia couldn't place the emotion on his face.

"He could have used the other bathroom." Sage pointed out.

Mia shook her head. "One of the guys should be heading towards it any minute." As if on cue, a grumbling Cye dragged himself from Kento's room into the

shower and closed and locked the door behind him. She turned a sweet smile in his direction. His face was still unreadable. "How long is he staying?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." She answered thoughtfully. Sage smirked when he saw her nose crinkle in thought. It was something that made her look so cute! "Probably just until things calm down in France."

It was then that she saw the grin on his face. "What?" "Nothing."

"No, what? Is there something on my face?" Mia looked a little confused at Sage's staring as she swiped at the imaginary spot. Her comment made him laugh. ~Oh great now I'm single, hopelessly alone, and the object of Sage's personal humor. ~ She frowned at him that little bit of jealousy for his secret sweetheart again rising to the surface.

"Trust me; nothing is wrong with your face." Sage's comment was met with a light blush and wide eyes. "Uhm." ~Great, I'm single, hopelessly lonely, AND dumb. ~

"Mia!" Gravelam's voice calling her snapped Mia out of her loss for words. Sage watched her scamper back into her room at the request of her guest. When she entered her room, she saw the bathroom door was creaked open and Gravelam's head was sticking out the door. She also noticed that his soaking wet hair was getting water on the carpet.

"What is it?" She asked concerned.

"I need a towel." He smiled a little. ~How could I be so stupid? ~ Mia screamed in her mind. She didn't have any towels in there because she had taken a shower earlier that night and thrown the towels in to be washed this morning.

"Ok, I'll be right back." Mia hurried down the hall and grabbed a towel. She absently noted that Sage watched her rush by while still standing in the doorway to the bathroom. "Here." Mia handed Gravelam his towel once she reached the bathroom door.

"Thank you Mia." He smiled as he took the towel from her, brushing her hand with his. "Sometimes I believe I'm not worthy of your kindness." With that he closed the door.

Mia caught the faint sent of sandalwood. But when she took a deeper breath, the scent was gone. She shrugged and shook her head, probably just her imagination. Glimpsing at the box, she made up her mind that the whole incident with her daemon was just a figment of an over-active imagination. As she turned to leave, she failed to notice a faint trail of smoke coming from a crack in her dream box...

"Are you sure they'll stay alive?" Rowen asked Sage.

"As long as we keep them in water, they'll do fine." He responded as he placed the vase that he had fetched from downstairs on his desk. Putting the roses in water, he smiled. Rowen whistled in awe.

"They are pretty impressive. She'll love them! What do the colors mean again?" Rowen lightly petted a pink rose.

"Red symbolizes love, respect and courage." He smiled, realizing that he had love and respect for his sweetheart, and that she had more courage than anyone he'd ever known. "Yellow stands for joy, freedom, and friendship." Sage smiled at the strong friendship they already shared, and the feelings of joy and freedom which she let loose within him whenever they talked. "Reverence, purity, and innocence are the attributes to white roses." He touched a single white flower as he thought of the unequaled purity and innocence of her heart. "And pink represent gratitude, appreciation, and admiration." It was then that Sage realized only one word could express what he felt for the woman these roses were for: and that was love.

"That's really deep Sage. Do you think she'll know you feel all those good things about her?" Rowen asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do." He grinned, knowing that someone who would really be able to appreciate the meaning of them would receive the gift.

"I don't know about you, but I'd rather get the chocolates!" Rowen eyed the box, smiling.

"Not if you want to wake up without an arm." Sage coolly warned, which caused Rowen to draw back from temptation.

He laughed. "Anyways, it won't be me who you'll have to worry about getting into them." He exchanged a look with Sage, and both grinned. "Kento." The name of the offender was spoken simultaneously.

They smiled.

"Might as well go get some breakfast. I can hear the others start to get up already." With a nod from Rowen, they set out down the hall. Sage carefully closed his door and looked over towards Mia's. He jumped when he saw a small trail of smoke escaping the door. He almost ran to open it! But when he blinked it was gone, and in its place the faint smells of sandalwood. Shrugging off his worries as figments of his imagination, he wandered downstairs to get breakfast and enjoy the rest of his hopefully uneventful day. Unknown to him, he was under the watchful eye of a pair of solid gold eyes.