Mystinia opened the door, her large brown eyes peeking out like a small child's. "Yes?" Then, "Oh, Callypso! You're back!"The door widened.
Gukko bent down to kiss her hand like Hejaat told him to and blushed.
"Well, thank you for the night," she said elegantly. "I hope we can do it again sometime."
Gukko smiled courteously and politely as he had his way back to his clan's base.
The moment the door opened, everyone went quiet. Even Saki, whose cheerful chattering normally filled the house at all times.
"What?" he demanded as he closed the door.
Instantly, everyone, even Silverlock, pummeled him with questions: "How wass it?" "Did you kiss?" "Who was she?" "Why?" "Huh?" "Tell us-"
"QUIET!" Hejaat screamed, and surprisingly, everyone, including Gallahan, shut their mouths. "Okay," Hejaat proceeded on with the questioning calmly, until Gallahan suddenly yelped,
"TELL US EVERY DETAIL! EVERY ITTY-BITTY-"
Messara and Sabina pounced on the Black Mage from both sides with louds squeals of pure delight.
"I told them they could do that when he got out of hand," Bialese said cooly, filing her already-perfect nails. "So... Then?"
Raven climbed up the railing past the stairs, despite Hejaat's calls of, "You're missing dinner!"
There, he found Gukko with his head out of the window, staring at the sky.
Raven never forgot how Gukko looked. Normally...
He had to admit, he'd only seen Gukko, his adopted brother and best friend... But now the setting sun outlined what random strangers saw.
A haunted-looking Fighter with a very handsome but very, very melancholy face had the skin on his arms and chest occasionally marred by a series of scratches and scars. Raven shook his head, thouroughly convinced that Raven was turning homosexual. His tusseled hair and haunted gave the appearence of... A killer. A murderer. A blood-letter.
"Gukko?" Raven plopped down next to him. The stranger withthe handsome, haunted face vanished, and there was Gukko, with his familiar face and muddied cheeks.
"Heya!"But despite the cheery greeting, like a crocodile under the surface of a glittering pond... Something was troubling him.
"What's wrong?"
Gukko shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothin'. Just thinking about the next mission."
Raven shook his head. "I know you too well for you to lie, mon ami. What's wrong?"
Gukko backed up until his back was against the wall. "Nothing! Really, Raven, I'm fine, just nervous-"
Raven, seeing that Gukko was about to flee downstairs to the safety of the dinner table, grabbed his friend's hand and squeezed hard.
"Ow! Raven...!"
Raven's grip and stare tightened on Gukko, closing like a metal vise to squeeze the truth out...
"FINE!" Gukko looked like he was about to burst into tears. He pushed Raven against the wall and held him by the shoulders. "RAVEN! I'VE BEEN DATE-RAPED!'