Author note:

Hello, readers! I hope you all are well and staying safe during these present times. I just want to let all of you readers know that updates to this fic will continue to come weekly as scheduled. :D I hope that this fic (and other fics of mine) will give you all a bit of sunshine during all that is going on right now! Happy reading!

16. Of Friends and Floating Things

A couple of days passed since Dylas entered the town, and summer came with it. Arganan started waking up in a sweat. Either it was from nightmares of the Outsider's power almost killing him, the heat of late summer nights, or both. Sometimes the fireflies seemed too loud and/or bright to him, especially when they were floating right outside his window. He grew weary easier during the day due to the also-hot days (and it definitely didn't help that he had metal prosthetic limbs) and he found himself frequenting the Bell Hotel's baths a little more than previously, in the evenings. Usually he might go once a week, or every two weeks, but now it increased to once-to-twice a week.

With those increased visits to the baths, however, came the following: More bumping into people that he might know, like Vishnal and even Doug, and less privacy. It was hard to find a good time when Arganan could go into the baths and enjoy an hour of peace in there. But it wasn't like there were hot springs anywhere else to relax his bones, so he did his best to gauge which hours were the least likely to run into anyone. Mainly because 1. He didn't want anyone to see his scars (though he was more relaxed if it was, say, Vishnal, since the younger man already saw them) and 2. The fact that this was a public bath was still taking some time for him to process in general. It was a reminder that he didn't have a political position, nor did he have any of its privileges. He tried not to mind that too much.

As he emerged from the baths one night, after getting changed back into his regular clothes (his hair was still a bit damp, despite his best efforts to dry it), he looked up to see none other than Dylas, who stared right back at him.

"Evening." Arganan managed.

Dylas blinked once, then twice, then managed, "Hi."

The two men just stared at each other in awkward silence, before Dylas sighed. "Are you just gonna keep staring, or can I get into the bath already?"

Arganan moved aside slightly, to let him through. "Go ahead."

Dylas went straight into the mens' bath area, and Arganna walked past him, heading to the main lobby. There were comfortable couches to sit on, and a few low tables close to them as well. Occasionally there were fish and gem merchants present in this place, but it seemed that the lobby was mostly empty, tonight. Lin Fa, owner of the hotel, finished sweeping up the floor as she looked up to see him, waving.

"I see you finished up with the bath." Lin Fa beamed at Arganan. "I can get you some Relax Tea, if you'd like. On the house!"

"Well," Arganan started, looking towards her, "You mean that?" After all, that stuff was expensive. Even Frey hadn't put together the recipe yet, because it was a hassle to go all over the place outside Selphia to get the required herbs. "I appreciate it, but…"

"You've been one of our more frequent customers lately." A soft chuckle escaped her at that. "I figured it would be nice to give you something on the house, as thanks."

"In that case, tea would be lovely. Thank you."

"You're welcome! I'll get some for you in a moment." Lin Fa left him to go get said tea, and Arganan sat down on the nearest couch. The bath from earlier still lingered in his mind. It was relaxing, with petals of Pink Cats scattered around in there. So relaxing, in fact, that—

"Hey."

Arganan looked up to see Dylas, staring down at him with a serious expression. How long was he in the bath? Did he only take a short time? Before Arganan could ask, Dylas made a strange request.

"Smile for me."

"What?" Arganan wasn't sure if he just misheard what the younger man just said, or if he was having some weird dream.

"Smile." Dylas insisted.

"Why?"

"Just do it, okay?"

The former Count raised a brow. No one was going to up and order him "Not until you tell me. Or else I'll never smile in your presence. Ever."

The younger man groaned, shaking his head, before a sigh left him. "Okay, okay. Porcoline told me it's important for waiters to have a pleasant smile, so…"

No. Arganan stared at him for a few moments, unsure of what to say. Is he seriously this bad at human interaction? Sure, he knew at this point that Dylas was not the most sociable in general at all, even if he had started warming up to the townsfolk (especially Porcoline and Margaret, which made sense since Dylas worked in the restaurant with them), but seriously?

"You seriously don't know how to smile?"

"No. Not…really."

"Well, I don't know if I'm of much help."

"It would probably help if you got the giant eyepatch off your face." Dylas pointed out.

Arganan winced. "I'd rather not. It's not very pretty, what's under there. Lots of scars."

"Oh. Sorry." Dylas' gazed raked over him briefly. "Is that what you're getting treated for? Margaret told me you came to Selphia for medical treatment…"

"Uh, no. It's an entirely different case." Arganan decided that now was not the time to tell him about the Outsider's power. Maybe another time, but not now. "The scars came long before that."

"I'm guessing you didn't smile a lot back where you came from."

"Not really." A chuckle left Arganan at that. He thought about life back in Lazulis. It was certainly full of privilege, given his position as Count back then. It seemed like a distant dream, at this point. He even thought, at the time, that he'd one day become the Emperor of the entire Empire that Lazulis was part of.

So much for that. Those dreams were long gone, and there was no hope of them coming to fruition within whatever lifespan he had left. Before he knew it, he laughed, low and raspy, and he shook his head. "There's no reason for me to smile if I ever went back." Arganan finally managed, looking up at Dylas' now-confused expression. "I've lost everything there."

He noticed Dylas swallow, looking down a bit. "Sorry…about that."

"It's fine. You don't know." Arganan leaned back against the couch he sat on. Dylas paused, then sat beside him. "I don't know if anyone else gave you the gist of my situation, so I might as well tell you myself. I was in a war. I did stupid things in said war, my niece took over as Countess of Lazulis Island after the war was over, and because of my medical conditions, she sent me here to recover."

"So it's temporary?" Dylas asked. "You're just gonna be here for recovery for however long, and then you'll leave?"

Arganan shrugged. "Honestly," He admitted, "I don't know. I don't think she ever intends on letting me come back, even if I fully heal. It's complicated."

"Huh." Dyas didn't press further about it.

"So that's why I don't really smile much." Arganan managed. "But I'm sure you can find some other people that can perfectly smile for you. Maybe Frey, for instance."

Dylas huffed, shaking his head. "I already asked her earlier. But then she gave me a face so silly that I just burst out laughing!"

"She what?" Actually, now that Arganan thought about it, Frey would do something like that. "I'm not surprised."

"I didn't get a chance to explain it to her because of it, though."

"I'm sure she'll listen if you ask her again." Arganan managed. "Just explain to her why you need to witness an actual smile, first, instead of telling her to smile without context. And same goes for everyone else you ask."

"I see. Well, um," The younger man took a deep breath, looking up at him. "Thanks. For the advice."

"You're welcome."

Dylas suddenly stared at him. Arganan blinked. "What?"

"You're smiling." That was what Dylas mumbled before he stood and awkwardly left. Arganan looked around, searching for the nearest mirror, but before he could get up to do so, Lin Fa returned with the tea.

"I see you and Dylas are getting along." Lin Fa beamed. "I'm glad to see he's warming up to someone."

"I'm sure he's warmed up to others already." Arganan managed, shrugging. "Like Margaret and Porcoline, for example. Besides, I think that's the first time he's had a full conversation with me."

"True." Lin Fa gave him the tea (both a small teapot and an already-filled cup of tea). "Here you go! On the house, like I mentioned earlier."

He offered her a smile as best as he could. "Thank you."

As she left to attend to other matters within the Bell Hotel, Arganan took a sip of Relax Tea from the cup after putting the teapot on the nearby table. The subtle sweetness and aroma of the hot drink elicited a sigh from him, and he closed his good eye for a moment. He heard a soft swishing noise, and he opened his eye—

Just in time to see the teapot floating in the air all of a sudden and glowing blue, at the same time.

He didn't say a word, just staring at the teapot. The teapot continued to peacefully float in the air, but as he moved to put his teacup down on the table, the teapot suddenly fell, smashing against the table and breaking into multiple pieces. Hot tea poured out from the wreckage, some of it getting onto his boot and pant leg.

Arganan swore at the heat, standing up as fast as he could and trying to step away. He heard Lin Fa gasp, running over.

"Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine." Arganan managed quickly, looking towards her. How the hell did that teapot float just now? Was it my power? Is it developing? "I just…knocked it over, something like that. I can clean this up."

"No, it's okay. Xiao and I can take care of it." Lin Fa insisted, shaking her head. "I'm sorry about this..."

"You don't have to apologize; I'm the one who knocked it over!" The thought of Illuminata came to mind. She would be interested in hearing about this, right?

He had to see her, he decided. Apologizing once more to Lin Fa for the mess before leaving her to take care of things, he immediately went straight to the florist shop as fast as he could.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. You can make things float now?"

"Yes." Arganan stared down Illuminata, whose jaw dropped. Sure, the florist shop was supposed to be closed, and he knew he probably should tell Frey and Dr. Jones about this, too, but if there was one person who was willing to discuss this kind situation so late in the night, it was Illuminata. Surely she would love the mystery. Ever since he told her about his abilities with the Outsider's power, she always asked him, every once in a while at this point, about how he was doing with said abilities. "Apparently things can float now."

"Did you consciously make the teapot float?" Illuminata frowned, leaning against the counter. She'd let him into the shop. Amber was already asleep upstairs, given that it was nighttime as is, so it was just the two of them on the main floor. "Or did it do it by itself?"

"I'm pretty sure it did it by itself."

"So…" She tilted her head, still staring him down, "You did it unconsciously, then."

"What if it's me not having a full handle on my abilities?" Arganan looked down at his right hand, then up at her. "That could be worrisome if I accidentally lift a house without meaning to."

A chuckle escaped her as she shook her head. "Nah, I doubt that would happen. What kind of state were you in at the time, too?"

"I was at the Bell Hotel. Took a bath and I got Relax Tea, on the house, in return. I'd just talked with Dylas…"

"You talked to Dylas?" She raised a brow. "You actually managed to have a full conversation?"

"Yes. And it was actually quite interesting. I did give him the gist as of why I'm here in town, during it."

"Huh." She took out a notepad and pen, writing. "Okay, so…floating teapots. They glowed blue…might've done it unconsciously…was talking to Dylas beforehand. Wait." Illuminata looked up at him. "This hasn't happened until Amber and Dylas appeared. And they used to be monsters, right? So what if you developing your powers has somehow connected itself to all these people showing up?"

"I doubt it." He frowned, shaking his head. "Back in Lazulis, Zael or Zangurak never transformed anyone into monsters or vice versa. Their abilities seems to depend on their personalities."

"But they're not you." Illuminata pointed at him with her pen. "Your personality is different from theirs, unless you're an old clone of Zael or something. So of course your powers are gonna be different. Maybe the Outsider customizes what powers you get depending on who you are."

"That's probably the case. But why making things float or have shields appear temporarily?" He asked. "I would've thought that I would have similar powers to Zael. Maybe not the drawing-enemies-to-myself bit, but everything else. Or be able to annihilate others with a single blow."

"Maybe that's not the type of thing you're meant for, because that doesn't reflect who you are right now."

"Right now?" He repeated.

A sigh left her. "I know you've told me about how you used to be a Count and stuff, and I don't really know everything that you've done prior to coming here. But given what I do know, you're a different person than you were prior to coming here. Maybe the fact that you didn't get the Outsider's power until now is why you have these specific powers, instead of you getting it back then. And so it's working in the way that it's based off you right now, rather than back then. Does that make sense?"

He let that sink in for a moment, then nodded once. It did make sense. And…to be fair, he was a different person back in Lazulis than he was right now, in Selphia.

"Do you think my abilities might've been different, if I was Count of Lazulis still?"

"Probably." She shrugged. "Maybe. I don't think it really matters what kind of political position you have. Again, it's you. Your personality. But that's just a theory."

He took a deep breath, looking her in the eye. "Thank you," He managed. "I do think that's helpful. And I think I should probably tell Jones and Nancy about it."

"Now?" She looked out the window. "It's so late. You sure you don't want to just stay over here and go back tomorrow morning?"

"I can make it back myself." He reassured her, shaking his head. "And besides, I've already worried them enough with my adventure in Yokmir Forest. I don't want to worry them too soon."

"Okay." He turned to leave, but then he heard her speak again. "Wait."

"What?" He turned to face her, just in time for her to shove something into his hand. It was small, shaped like a tag you would see on grocery products, but it was a bit bigger in size and red and yellow. "This is?"

"A charm. For your safety." A chuckle left her. "Just in case you get into any trouble. I dunno how much help it'll be, but it's something, right?"

He looked down at the charm, then up at her, before putting it in the inner pocket of his coat. "I appreciate it." He managed. "I can pay you back sometime."

"No need." She waved her hand at that. "That's just what friends are for."

He walked back home after that.

A friend. So Illuminata considers me a friend? He felt himself smile.

Friends. The last thing I expected to be with anyone, her included. But I'm grateful for this.