Chap 77 On Honour and risktaking

For peacefullycrazy!

Boots and fun!

Previously:

"Hollow. I'm sure some aren't, but hollowness happens. And it's constantly changing. Leprechaun and pooka are." He joked. Yep hollow people are everywhere.

I didn't know leprechauns were also un-honorable. Maybe due to the fact they were tiny and cheats. I laughed at his joke. "So got tricked by them before?"

"Nah only pooka. We seldom see the leprechauns. My favorites are the fairies and pixies. Unlike what people think, we don't speak to dwarves much. Some fey are isolated communities." He rested his hands on my shoulder blades and remarked that I had grown taller. Cute. It was because I was wearing heels, not six inch ones but three inch. My toes would hurt otherwise. "Take them off. Might twist your ankle."

From behind me, the elf changed his position to my side. How lightly he moved! I went to sit down to remove the heels. Ouch! "No they're alright, Nuada. Can I try on your boots?" I wiggled my toes which were reddened and ached.

He unlaced his straps and placed them in front. "May be sweaty, I don't wear socks. Sure you wish to?" I was at safe distance and peeked into what seemed like endless black oblivion. The boot came up higher than my kneecaps as he was more than 1.7m tall. Elf fought his urge to guffaw when this petite Halfling tried to stand up and be dignified.

"Not really, the leather is soft and nice. I saw a pair of red ones. But I don't think I can wear boots well, hard to walk in." I wobbled. He held my hand.

It must be a female obsession to have so many shoes. I think you already have many. Yes boots are elevated. I'm used to them. Elf cocked his head while I removed them and slipped on slippers.

Nuada said he didn't wear the BPRD ones, did not like the feel. He only wore one pair when he lived alone, and had 2 more custom- made by special vendors. All were Nonmagical footwear, hardy, durable and able to withstand long hours.

I scratched my head. "Socks are good. No wonder I saw so many pairs. New and unopened."

Nuada brushed his hair quickly. "I wear them occasionally. If it's very cold. Being thin is bad when it's winter. I even feel my hair turn to ice." He did not seem plump even if he had three four layers of woolen sweaters on. Standard black gloves for his pale hands.

"Aww. I envy that you never gain much fats. Having humanblood makes it tough to lose fats." I pulled on my jacket. We drank hot chocolate together, I wanted to tap our mugs for cheers. Elf gave me a sly sidelong glance.

"I wish I had more fats. Too cold sometimes. You don't need to be so skinny, a skeleton is not comfortable to hug. I'd be worried too. Some people become… anorexic." And he wished to cast another spell to stop me thinking of shedding weight. Haha! I assured him I would not become that state. Nuada had been researching about youths and social esteem issues.

Remarkable feat. Prince had changed, he used to be bossy and ignore the plight of others. "Why?"

"For interest… and I can get to know youths better. Then I won't be too shocked when I detect a change. Such as when someone becomes addicted." He sighed, leaning back. Being older than us makes them tired sometimes. But the elves I knew would try to persevere. I was touched.

Hey don't be worried. I'm sensible. Since you care so much for me, if I hurt myself that'll be painful to all of you, Noowa. I see no reason to do these things.

I am relieved to hear that. Though I've not been your age for some time, I want to relate and empathize. His internal voice was so passionate and caring. We held hands to talk like that for awhile.

His mood was lazy, a rare moment. He was always busy and rushing. These days, Nuada didn't do much workout except the light kata and stretching. Perhaps his muscles were strained. I heard doctors explaining to him do not overexert himself. He had been quiet, yet not showing indication of obeying.

Nuada started writing about his dreams. It was the only journal he kept, and I was forbidden to read it. I tried to persuade him to let me peek. But he would stop as soon as I peeked. Only the counselor and doctors could read, to help him come to terms. I bet they had extensive coverage! Darn I was so piqued.

"What's the progress? Does writing help?" I mused, half forgetting that prince could not reply multiple questions at once. Liz and I would ask him so quickly that he would look dazed. In other words, coolly or blankly. Haha.

Elf was silent. Absently he replied, "Yes." Monosyllables did not mean he was angry. He could not multitask well. He would ask me to repeat if he did not notice. I beamed. Great! I watched as he pondered his words over and then shut the brown book. "Can I ask? Got any stickers in?"

"No. it's not decorated. I know what you want, but nope, I still cannot allow you to read it. Confidential. " His brows were not arched, and he smiled politely. "I thought we agreed to have some secrets. We can discuss everything else." Nuada made a circle between us. I wanted to argue- please let me share in your problems, I won't be afraid. Finally I said okay.

Nuada stroked the surface of the book. I noticed the slot where it would go between the 2 other fictions. He exclusively read fiction and was slow. It's not a large shelf, but one about window height. A foreign text was on his desk. Our letters were in a green folder on the right. I pointed at one big volume in another language. He waved go ahead. Ok I didn't know how to read it but I wanted to look at pictures. Even if the books are mostly scrawl there would be some illustrations. The words were rough, not printed on but written in. "Ooh this is not a normal book. I can feel the letterings," I said.

"Umhm. That is a volume about paranormal, by an archivist. Humans say publishers, I take it? Well, for us, the sages compile knowledge by hand."

"Then won't their fingers get sore writing like thousands of copies?" Ack imagine they strained into wee hours to finish drafts.

Nuada chuckled. " I see. No, most are only one copy each. To make more, they have printers running on coins. They are like the machines used here, only different designs. Most scrolls are the only ones. They cannot be duplicated." He flashed to the time where his sis ran away with the map and there was only one roll. I noticed a scroll, metallic looking on his table too and observed it. Rough with markings, it was about the length of an arm. Noticing, my friend said, "You may keep that. Nobody knows how to decipher it."

"What? Not even geniuses can read? Aww." I turned it over, such a hard material. He added that it was resistant to dropping, violence, waterproof. Usually this tubelike thing transported paper messages across distant lands.

"Not a map of treasure? I want to go looking for El dorado." We had seen a film about that.

He smirked. "What? If it was we would have found it and not told you. Somewhere I read that… youths about your age try to do highrisk activities and succumb to peer pressure. Did that happen before?" At first he had sounded so mocking, but to the second part of the statement, his tone mellowed to his usual warmth. I smiled.

"Hmm I did very long ago. But not drugs, we just didn't feel like studying. How about you, princie?"

"Ah don't turn the topic to me. The focus is on youths, I'm not in the category." He refused, fine brows arching quickly. His lips made a downturn. I made a gesture for relax please. He held out his right hand, 'speak to me'. A while later, he closed his eyes. That intensified concentration of hearing.

I spoke briefly about my encounters. There was no interruption at all from my friend, at points, he would nod and say umhm, I see, oh yes. "… I'm not a highrisk sort. Once I saw people influenced by drugs, and they abused themselves. My mum was worried. Joe used to join some gangs and hit people."

The elf blinked and sat up. "Oh I know that. He told me before. When we were in the secret forest alone. I thought he will condemn me for being a murderer." I was surprised. My brother had been quite set against my friend in the beginning, it must take a lot of trust for Joe to confide in Elf like that. "I am sorry. I hope as your guardians we don't need to have you feel so alone any longer. " The serene of peace in the prince's expression formed a lump in my throat. I nodded.

His pointed ears twitched as he got up and rested his hand on my head. Warmth and magic enveloped me. I didn't realize that my mate was singing in a special incantation tongue, until he finished. Nuada then kissed my forehead. How was the blessing? I was inspired from a friend. Remind me to give this to Joe and Liz's children.

Nice. You're not worn out from the mana? I touched his face.

"No. I'm not going to do it so intensively anyway. I have improved, it used to be everything was spinning when I tried to move. Now it's a little depletion." He did not seem weakened. I said he could sing very well. Nuada beamed and tweaked my nose. "I don't want to go onstage. It's very hard to."

"Hmm when you give speeches, you will stand in front. You have stage fright?"

Elf did not answer. He simply opened up a container and ate the food. I dug into the snack I made. A nice person had made snacks for him. Well, he may be nervous after not facing the scrutiny of crowds for years. At length, Nuada murmured, "I think I have some form of worries. And I don't wish to die so quickly. There are discontented who will seize the chance to assault, attack us nobility." He did not mean he was afraid, but should anything untoward happen, all of us might be upset.

I changed the subject to lighter things such as the strange files all of them had to exchange with one another. Nuada laughed. To him, it was a duty to do so. It was some kind of reflection to facilitate the working relationship with one another. He had a fresh one from HB. Red had been giving some jibes about the matter.