Chapter Eight
Noel finally made it to Lightning's small house on the waterfront; he knocked, but figured it wasn't heard above the rolling surf, so he simply walked in. For once in his life, he regretted his silent hunter's tread as he encountered Snow's massive backside with two slim legs wrapped around his waist. He almost lost it, slapping a hand over his mouth to stop a yelp, thinking: Damn,how did she get back from Valhalla faster than me? Oh my Etro, Lightning and Snow? I'd have never guessed that! He became annoyed as the idea that she'd done it to ensure he'd see it drifted up; maybe she'd found out he'd followed her to Babylon and perversely was being the 20 Gil bar girl he had somehow expected & been disappointed to not find.
Rather fascinated and a touch jealous in mood himself, he stepped back behind the semi-open door to get a glimpse of Valhalla's Valkrie; curious, more than a little envious of Snow's luck in capturing her eye and totally hoping she'd be everything he'd imagined. After all, he was a man. With an appetite for a rose-haired partner, just like Snow's; he could spend his evening imagining how his lovely Serah would look, just like this as he gave her the gift of his body and his love.
The hunger died as a wave of nausea hit; the voice that was moaning in ecstasy was not Lightning's throaty cool purr, but Serah's clear soprano. No. No no no, it wasn't her, his secret darling, his chosen! But there it was, in front of him; Serah was clinging to Snow's massive shoulders and feverishly kissing, licking, biting Snow's golden brown flesh as he was rolling his hips into her like there was no tomorrow. Snow lifted her and she let her head drop as he knelt in another position and gave her an intense, rousing ride to the stars, claiming possession of her beautiful slim body with light caresses and soft rumbling whispers, escalating into a panting, passionate ripple of pleasure, until it washed over them like the ocean waves pounding the shore outside.
Noel leaned against the doorframe, feeling crucified; Oh Etro, now I know what it really felt like when you died for us; damn, isn't humanity basting jacked up…she was MY girl…and I can't bring myself to even say her name, I feel so used. He silently stepped back and blindly made his way back to the 'cycle and just sat there, pulling on Lightning's forgotten aviator shades; he had no idea how long he'd sat there, the surf pounding in his ears as his rapidly emptying soul washed away. His face was now a stern mask as the damage set in; then uncaring, he kicked the engine over and spun out onto the trafficway, like any other 18 year old punk with velocycle.
He almost barked manically later as he thought of it, wishing to Etro he'd just turned around and walked out before seeing Serah's face; he could have lived with the illusion that Serah was his and that her sister Lightning was a real slut; but no; the situation was all basting well jacked up, because nothing fit anymore. What the baste? Light acts like a pro baste, but turns down a kingpin and is found dancing her fool head off in his bar all night, then gives me the cold shoulder after practically chasing me down to escort her everywhere she wanted to go; then her sister pulling off the falling in love act and somehow winding up today getting hammered by a man who'd practically raised her with her sister; oh yeahhhh… incest is best, I guess. He was feeling ashamed, and it was creeping up on him, along with the deep depression that hits when you find out your house of cards came tumbling down, or your rock solid castle was built upon the sand and crumbling away, dispersing in the ocean water with a swirl of glittering sand…all that glitters is not gold, and I've been eager, so basting eager to buy into her story – oh Etro, how close did I come to selling my soul for nothing, damn it hurts!
Etro did not answer, letting him feel the weight of what he'd done; he'd let himself get distracted; never never never trust the city breds; Farrons have no bloodline, no real connections to any family and certainly no good breeding. A pair of whores, with the faces of angels he thought…but of the two, at least Lightning is the more honest. Anyone can buy her time, but at least she doesn't pretend to be in love. Baste it. Why hold myself back anymore? All this time I beg, I search, I pray, and all I get is…nothing. I wonder how much nothing Serah's sister would give me for a week's pay. Baste it, Baste it all.
Noel strode into Valhalla like he was entering the gates of hell, then sought out the floor manager: "Where's Lightning? Want to talk with her."
"Nope. Not now, Kreiss. She's with private clients tonight, she even requested no one but clients. She's gotta earn her pay to pay you, man. You can sit at the bar and wait. I'll slip her a message."
Noel shook his head, knowing she'd let him sit all night. "No. It might be hours. Can' I just see her? 5 minutes?"
"Look, shadow hunter, clients only. Unless one of them is her stalker and her life is in danger, no way. It'll be my job if I do, kupo."
"Then I'll buy her time." Noel handed his credit chip over.
The floor manager returned about twenty minutes later and gave him his chip back and a time, stating: "You're a bit short, but I'll cover you. Oh yeah, I kept your name off the computer records so Lexis doesn't kick your ass tomorrow. I get you want private." Noel was shocked. He had a fairly good amount in his account from this job, and it was all gone for one hour with a bar girl, and still not enough. "Wait. Will this cover the rest?" He pulled his necklace off and dangled the gold discs in front of the raised eyebrows.
Then he sat down on a bar stool, his head hanging as he begged his heart to hold on a little while longer. Had anyone been able to look under the hood, they would have seen under the curtain of brown silk, the look on his face was totally lost, the blue eyes now crystal sapphires that filled with liquid diamonds, a silent expression of the near-holy pain that tore at his heart like Etro herself bleeding in her crucifixion; in fact, yes, those deep wells of sapphire were running over, bleeding those liquid diamonds, forming beautiful sparkling trails down his bronze face. He stood there in the dark of the bar, his heart bleeding, stabbed through with the memory of Serah's beautiful face lifting in ecstasy as Snow pulled her to him, riding her hard in a stunningly passionate offering to the god of love.
He tried to drink the intoxicant shoved in his hand, and he nearly choked, ready to break down; all he needed was a black hole to drown in, it wouldn't take much at all to just jump off the bridge he had crossed to get here, especially in the night. No one would find him, even if he did survive the jump into the rushing water below.
Then the floor manager waved him up to the 2nd floor entrance; and thus did Noel Kreiss, shadow hunter enter the dark night of his soul with a broken heart. Everything in him was screaming inside, screaming for Serah, for innocence, for kindness, for love, none of which was to be found here this hell.
He stood before Lightning, empty eyed, yet full of pain that he couldn't express. He ducked farther under his hood and slowly sat down to watch her. He couldn't believe he was sitting here in the dark, emptying his credit line to buy her time for the night as a private dancer. He had fallen so far in the space of a few hours he couldn't stand himself, he couldn't stand the pain, and he didn't know how to stop it. She was his last hope before he walked out of here & disappeared forever.
Silently he watched her as she bent over sensuously, her perfect ass swiveling, so different than the slight curves of his lost love; she stopped a moment trying to discern the face of her client buried in the hood; the body was so familiar, yet strange in city jeans and hoodie; she felt him staring at her from the dark recesses of the disguise, a lost, painful, hungry look of a starved man. He sat there, the shame of his fall eating into his soul as he watched her slowly begin to dance in the ever so sexy moves, then spin, pinned to the pole in a hundred attitudes of heavenly beautiful crucifixions that reflected his inner landscape. He wanted something, anything to numb the pain he was feeling, stabbing with every breath he took. He was going down, & going down hard, clutching at any straw to keep the utter night & chaos of his broken heart from completely overtaking him, but he was failing...he was thought he had reached the bottom of the pit, but a new one opened below that; falling deeper, he felt another wave of shame as he realized he was dragging her down with him; she was so damn lovely he wanted to drown in her eyes, he wanted to do all the things to her that he had hoped to do with pretty Serah, a wealth of delicate techniques and gestures carefully gleaned from a million questions he asked of other men and women. All that work on his body, the investment he made into himself, his time, his very way of life all for nothing but the sight of a girl of his dreams eagerly spreading her legs for someone else. He felt completely and utterly worthless as a man. He had so carefully saved the gift of himself for her and now, he had no one to give it to.
He needed a woman, he didn't care if she loved him, all he needed was for her to dance, he loved to watch her dance, he wanted the drug of her body to numb his pain, so he silently plead with his eyes: Get me off of this acid trip of pain, lie to me, tell me you love me, just tell me you love me, I'll give you anything you want, whatever you need, just let me Etro-basting love you until I can't move, until I collapse on top of you & die, girl…He started to shake, his throat swallowing convulsively as he watched her walk across the floor to him and he couldn't help it as he burst into tears and hung his once proud head, defeated, bitter. He tried to rise from his seat to back away so she wouldn't see his face under the hood, but his legs gave out and he collapsed on the floor, now tremoring as he turned his head away and choking back sobs, his hands covering his face to keep hiding from her. A hand came up and ever so gently stroked the hood back before two fingers slid below his chin gently raising his face to her. She became very still, taking in the face of her client; she tenderly held her hand to his cheek for a second in a strange benediction; then she leaned over, picked him up like he didn't weigh anything at all & carried him out of the smoky bar into the dark night.
He simply laid there against her, tears silently trickling down as she walked through the tables, past the concerned doormen, who had run forward to see if he needed medical attention; after reassuring them the slim guardian was simply burnt out from the stress, just had a run-in with a couple of ghouls, they relaxed and unlocked the doors to the street; he felt her ribcage expand & contract , the diaphragm vibrating as she called out for the doorman to bring her ride up. It was the velocycle, the 7500, and she simply sat him on it while she mounted. She kept him held firmly against her as they rode through the streets until the hit the highway; it was cool & he simply hung on, the wind freezing his tears on his cheeks. He buried his head into her back as they hurtled through time & space, almost soundless except for the roar of the wind & the motor of the 'cycle; he couldn't hear the screaming of his heart in the dark & he was glad of it, he closed his eyes in a luxury of utter forgetfulness, he wished they could just simply ride like this until the end of time, he was no one anymore, he wasn't Noel Kriess the guardian, he was just a tiny grain of sand on a black beach, he was just a molecule floating in a sea of night, nothing…no one…
Eventually the ride came to an end, he stumbled off the machine, letting himself be pulled along like a zombie into a warmer darkness. He stood there like a child as she undressed him, carefully laying the swords across a table where a candle was lit. He was picked up again & ever so gently placed in a deep pool of hot water; then she simply held him, his head lolling back against her shoulder, as he stared at the patterns of the stars above his head, his soul empty as the night surrounding them. They began to blur, then swirl as his heart broke and took the wound unto itself; he would never be the same again. His love, his only love was gone, now in the arms of another man; his mind flashed back to a what seemed like a thousand memories, glimpses of conversations, situations and he slowly, bitterly realized it had all been a one way street; his own hungry heart and mind had filled in all the gaps with his own imagination, and what was worse, he saw that she had let him do it, never once disillusioned him with a single truth until tonight. He had never had her to begin with. He turned off the memory of Serah & Snow moving together and turned back into the warm shoulder; hands tenderly stroked the brown silk of his hair & rocked him in the hot water as he shook with uncontrollable sobs, grieving the loss from the very bottom of his heart. Afterwards he found himself looping his arms around her neck in a silent plea to not leave him alone; even the thought of her parting from his flesh was enough to send him back into the tsunami of night, so he clutched at her tightly, fiercely pushing his body into hers to stay in contact everywhere he could think of to keep the black maelstrom from eating his mind away.
She held him for what seemed like hours until his trembling stopped, the brow starting to smooth back out into its beautiful clean lines, and he started to breathe without choking up. A kiss was softly dropped on his forehead, then a soft towel was wiping his face clear of tears, leaving him feeling like he was the child he'd left behind so many years ago in a lonely desert wasteland. The caring tender moment put him on level ground for a short space, so Noel drew a deep sigh & reluctantly faced her, thinking he was now the biggest loser on the planet, but no: her gaze was steady; the hard mask he knew was completely, utterly gone, the face now open, tenderly open, expressing an intense outpouring of some unnamable emotion. …Oh what a sweet basting lie this is…help me…I don't know how to ask you…but help me, get me off this nightmare of pain…lie to me, love me, tell me you love me…just basting love me tonight, so I don't pick up that blade & slice my throat open with it…damn it, get me drunk with your kisses, use your body like a drug, just touch me just once, just once…I need you…all of it…so love me tonight…please…I'll give you everything I have…just Etro-basting love me tonight, girl…
He knew she'd heard his heart's plea as he felt her lips finally graze his, barely touching, like an angel of mercy passing over him; something in his dark pain-wracked soul caught flame, flooding his veins with warmth, like a drug rush when the heroin infuses through the walls of the arteries, teasing the receptors into feeding on an unforgettable delicious feast of endorphins. It felt so damn good… he wanted more, so he stopped her from pulling away with a hand behind her head, slowly twining his fingers in the roseate strands.
What happened next blew her mind: Noel swallowed, looked at her, his blue eyes lit like the candle flame, then simply and suddenly kissed her back, imitating her with precision; however, when her lips parted slightly in surprise, he dove in deep. The sexy full lips twisted against hers, turning to fit closer; his tongue slowly yet insistently introduced further intimacy, softly slipping in and probing until she couldn't help herself any longer and gave in. She was dimly aware of her body being bent slowly backwards as he kept his mouth on hers, eagerly exploring now with deep firm thrusts, even briefly sexily sucking on her own tongue which had ever so gently tasted his mouth, a hint of some warm spice like cinnamon in the background of warm wetness. It was instant addiction, a dose of physical heroin so pure, she almost grew faint at the rush hitting her bloodstream. He slowly and deliberately withdrew from her sweet mouth ending with a gently savage tug of animal white teeth on her lower lip, leaving her with no doubt about what he wanted.
It was irresistible; she loved him to begin with, & simply couldn't resist him, her secret sin of a thousand lonely nights. He found himself pulled to his feet, she was leading him from the deep pool of water up steps, then swathed him in towels as she dried him lying on the bed; she'd laid his head in her lap and gently worked fingers through the mass of damp hair and soothed the troubled brow, tracing the contours of the face she had dreamed of caressing almost every time she saw it.
He'd never been treated this way before, it was like she was worshipping him, now stroking the soft Turkish toweling gently over his body, brushing his hair, rubbing palmfuls of oil into his skin in a slow, calming rhythm until he glowed like a bronze statue in the soft light of the candles she had lit. He had been turned face down and he could tell the exact moment her hands changed from comforting to something…more. The touch stayed a little longer, strayed a little lower and slowed with a strange sense of shameless appreciation; it was if the sheer feel of him was exciting her, inciting sexual awareness. He shut his eyes and stifled a liquid sound as his mind drowned in a sensory overload of surprise, shock & raw sexuality; desire kicked at its mental cage, screaming to keep going, don't stop; he almost pushed into her hands wanting them to touch his firmly muscled body again; he'd never imagined that he want to be handled so; but once those hands had their way with him, he was addicted. She'd moved up his spine and he silently ground his hips into the soft mattress, wanting to be in her, a woman, for the first time in his life. Hell, he wanted to know what it felt like to have her touch him, seduce him….baste him. He laid there imagining the long fingers caressing him while he lay there trapped, gasping and moaning until he was exploding into a white hot supernova of sensory overload …or what it would be like to have her silently command him, pushing him back onto the bed, totally dominating his body, leisurely teasing and tripping every pleasurable sensation until she had him arching to a stunning climax. He'd never thought of a woman in such terms until now; his mind flashed back to the first bite of desire in Valhalla and with a shiver of hunter's instinct again he knew he was the hunter now; the ecstasy of capture invaded him, distracting his bleeding soul, slowly erasing the painful throbbing of his broken heart with a deeper throb.
He was now ready to give her the gift he had so carefully saved after those hands had soothed his body and soul, so he rolled over, pulled the towel out of her hands that had been wiping off oil & threw it to the side. He kept hold of her hand, idly examining it, the soft palm with an old set of callouses like his own from handling a blade, long fingers, a hair fine scar on the forefinger, from a knife fight in a boot camp barracks; he had scars like that too, and now had scars on his heart, so it was no surprise to him that he should want to kiss it. His lips grazed the white line lightly, then as she made to withdraw, he caught it in his teeth; thick eyelashes fell over the blue eyes, as he closed his mouth over her finger. The sensation of that sexy warm wet mouth gently licking and sucking her like she was made of honey was the undoing of her good intent. He was the devil incarnate as he looked up, waiting with a silent expectant gaze. Caught, impaled by that intense glance somehow made impossibly bluer from the reddened whites, she could only slowly nod, then watch helplessly as he interlaced his fingers with hers, then led them down, wrapping her soft palm against even softer velvet skin stretched over hot steel.
He seduced her with everything he had in him, gently persistent in his touch, never allowing a retreat, each change in touch or position another intimacy, until he had completely stolen any self control she might have had, enslaved her body to his will & became his helpless prisoner until he chose to let her escape into the night, but he made it clear there was only one way out: unlocking the gates of ecstasy.
Noel came on to her with that depth of intensity where every touch, every look sets fire to the night, every gesture is fraught with meaning; yet it was done with a savage innocence; – he knew nothing of the skills or the role a man should have; all he had was the memory of answered questions, overheard conversations, tantalizing glimpses…he simply went on instinct; whatever she did, he imitated; then encouraged, he silently begged his partner with his entire being to open up , just for a moment, let him in, not only in body, but in spirit, in soul, in heart …and when she gave in the slightest bit, opening her highest, best defended walls, letting herself look out just for a few seconds, she was swept away by the overwhelming response given in return - this wasn't just throwing fuel on the fire, it was an explosion, an implosion, where everything in sight is consumed in fiery white heat, yet contained in one body - two bodies….he wanted to give everything, take everything, feel every last inch of the body he was holding, because when the dawn breaks, it will be gone, all gone…he denied nothing to his partner, nothing was forbidden, customs, taboos, rules, all, all, no longer existed, because for this moment, this life, it meant he could still feel, live, breathe…. & soon it would be gone, all gone, never to return….tomorrow he would no longer breathe; he would be a walking undead shell with his heart burnt to ashes. But tonight, he was alive, grasping at life with both hands and a desperate heart.
Overwhelmed with this strange & extraordinary feeling, he tried to match every kiss, every caress with the all the intensity he had…which, in turn, was returned exponentially, escalating, until the two of them were grappling in a deathlock, biting, hair pulling, clawing, screaming, tears welling, until they both realized they'd gone beyond, way beyond anyplace they'd ever known… Somehow, the words making love were wholly inadequate.
– Etro, find me a word that describes the utter intensity of what just happened – find me a word that brings it all back, floods my mind with the ecstasy, fills my mouth with the sweet juice of anticipation, a syllable that fills my soul with the longing of addiction, just like this….
Exhausted, they both just lay there, looking at each other until the lids dropped over their eyes, ocean against sky & they fell into sleep.
Lightning awoke with a dry mouth and got up to get water; she tripped as got up, cursing. She found the source a few moments later; Noel had tied her by the ankle and tied the other end to his own ankle. She flooded with warmth and a shameful sense of excitement as she recalled how it got there. He was still sleeping heavily, so even her trip had not woken him; she carefully cut the sash loose, and freed, slaked her thirst with chilled water from the fridge. She leaned against the doorframe, looking at him sleeping in her bed, the distraught heartbroken face smoothed out into its usual peaceful expression; What in the hell happened last night to him? Did Serah intentionally set that scene up with Snow? Why couldn't she just have sat him down & just told him, instead of stabbing him through the heart like that? I can't imagine Noel being so be oblivious to any of her signals. Etro, what a little bitch my sister has become…this was too immature, too much. I am going to stop this little mess right now, before it becomes a bigger mess. Etro…if there were a man for me, it'd be Noel Kriess, so help me a little here, will ya? I know he fell in love with my sister, but maybe, just maybe I may have a chance here after all…he came to me, didn't he?
She sighed & reached for her cell, be damned to the hour. She called the bar & called off for two days, reassuring Lexis she would be back, she was just taking care of a family issue. She called Snow before her sister, as he was a night owl and got the straight story from him. He had known Noel was a bit sweet on Serah, but he never said much of anything about any feelings for her; in fact he talked about her, Lightning, far more, seemingly fascinated by the smallest details about her; he was clearly a man of action to Snow, who actually liked the guy. Lightning could hear the note of genuine dismay , then rising anger in Snow's voice when she told him what Noel had said. He didn't like it when he heard Noel had somehow seen he & Serah together; he really appreciated Noel's skilled protection and it rankled that he, Snow, was seen as cruel trickster. Like, that's kicking a man in the jewels after you knocked him to the ground fair and square, Light! You can bet I'll be in a certain redhead's business as soon as she's up, sister by another mother…leave it to Snow, he'll chill out the situation. Tell Noel to text me, willya?
She also called Hope at the Academia to ensure Noel could take a couple of days off with her, and asked if he could come up with an assignment that would get him away from Academia if necessary; she frankly spoke, told him about how emotionally unhinged Noel had become this evening over having his face rubbed into a relationship he could never hope to attain. She evenly replied to Hope's whiplashed comment about Serah that she & Snow would lesson their own most thoroughly, then simply asked him outright if she even had a chance with Noel herself at this point. The sudden silence at the other end boded ill at first, but as he spoke, she could hear the grin in his voice when he said it's about time! You know, he thought he was sent to Valhalla for you, not Serah…remind him of that. First instincts are rarely wrong, Light.
She decided she'd wait to deal with Serah after she got Noel sorted out; she was sure Snow would light a fire under her until she got face to face with Miss Serah herself...Meanie Miss Farron, wasn't that the nickname in high school? Feeling stronger now, she turned back to her task at hand, getting Noel Kriess in a stable frame of mind. How could Serah resist such an impassioned plea? she thought, then suddenly grinned to herself as she realized she was damned glad she did.
Noel slowly came to in the soft grey light of dawn and also tripped getting from bed; Lightning had re-tied the sash to her ankle, carefully fitting her body next to his as he slept on oblivious to the world. He sat and tried to untie his ankle without waking her, but a hand with a blade nudged him; he almost laughed, and took the blade, freeing them from the badly knotted black silk. Last night came crashing back and he turned his head, blushing red to his ears as a soft voice commented: "Well. I confess I've never been with a nomad before and…I liked it."
She lifted a slim leg still bound with a circle of silk about the ankle & dangled it in front of him; "Does this mean we're married or something nomad-style?"
" …No."
"Pity, after a night like that, I'd have said yes."
He turned to look at her, the strawberry ice tint of her hair igniting brief flare of pain Serah, oh Etro… as he took in her face, and it wasn't cruelly teasing him, it was charming, a crystal blue eye peeping out from the extravagant tumble of asymmetrically cut hair flowing over one side of her face, the little cat chin shifting as her pale rose lips quirked into a smile, blindingly beautiful as a sunrise or a cool fountain of spring water in a desert.
He was profoundly grateful he was alive this morning, and in a warm bed instead of a bed at the bottom of a cold river. I threw myself planless & ready to die on your breast Etro, and you succored me, how can I thank anyone, thank her for this? He drew breath to speak, gathering courage to say his thanks & stumble back out onto the street of wherever he was in Academia, intending to put the lower city in his rearview mirror before nightfall , but was stopped short when she bounced out of bed, caressed his cheek, then managed two cups of tea from the kitchen. He had partially dressed, finding his city jeans and hoodie, but the t-shirt had gone missing; he saw his blades and belt pack on the table with boots neatly stowed below. She pulled on a similar outfit, he was surprised to see his tribal necklace he'd had to cash in to Valhalla to buy her now glinting in an odd contrast to the city clothes; he felt his neck, missing its weight, but found a chain on his neck; he brought the pendant up to view and saw it was hers, a stylized lightning bolt in a white metal with small square cut gems inset cunningly without prongs. She shrugged and said: "It only seemed fair to give it to you –it looks better on you than me, anyway. So…what's on your mind today? Do things appear different in the light of day?"
"I…things got messy last night in my mind, Lightning. I really was just basting out of my mind - I feel like shite for coming into Valhalla that jacked up and freaking out while you were trying to work. I just felt like...like…I just didn't want to go on, you know? It took the fight right out of me." He paused waiting for her to go into her protective mode over her sister, but she oddly kept silent, her face hardening at the word sister,as she sipped her tea, leaning back against the counter. He spoke again, but soberly, quietly giving it to her from the heart: "Lightning…For what little it's worth, thank you. Thank you for…for not kicking me out to the street for falling for Serah…for not pushing me away when I needed someone…for letting me stay here with you. You..saved me; I had some dark thoughts last night and I almost drowned in them. "
She reached out and took his hand and simply held it, then spoke without looking at him: "I nearly drowned once too, Noel. I didn't have a hand to hold onto. You deserve that….and more. "
"My…sister…has behaved badly, Snow and I have decided she has gone too far. He's..well, he's looked out for Serah ever since de-um, my father went missing, and they've , well, been off & on again a million times. Apparently no one else stands up to her. He had no idea you were in love, he just thought you had a crush, like any other guy. He knew how much it hurt, and he's not a complete idiot when it comes to loyalty…which he thinks you've earned in his book by protecting Serah and not laying hand on her. I…we…will NOT be cleaning up her messes anymore. It's time she took some accountability for her actions. I don't give a damn if she's expelled from Academia, or gets her pretty face mauled by a rival gang or someone's lover...hell, if anything had happened to you because of her shite, I'd have taken her out, blood be damned; she does no honor to the name of Farron."
She nervously drank some more of her tea, almost shyly glancing at him in the early morning light; she gathered her courage, set the cup down and jumped off another precipice.
"Anyway…I've called off for a couple of days; you need to take a couple yourself. I really would like to spend them with you, Noel, because…because I have an offer. Here's what's on my table: I got you into this mess; I should have just went with it when you first showed up at Valhalla, hired you to protect me instead of Serah, despite my reservations at the time. I am a damned fool for not. I don't know if a couple of days together will make any more difference, especially after last night, but I hope you'll just stay and see if we can get to know each other better than what we have. You've impressed the hell out of me as a man, as well as a guardian. Consider that. Please consider that, Noel."
He expelled the breath he had been holding with a soft whew & looked over at her, eyes now sparking; he spoke in a measured tone that rapidly escalated into a hissing rage saying: "So…Serah's sister offers her glorious self as a consolation prize for Serah's bad behavior? You seem to have arranged my life in a neat little package, but did you even stop to ask me how I might feel about it? I'm supposed to be handed all this and be forced to accept it, because it's what someone else decided what's good for me? And I guess I'm supposed to be so grateful for any bone or crumb of attention from a woman who is the toast of the town for being THE notorious Lightning of Vahalla, the baste of all bastes, every man's dream lover and fantasy for their bed? Oh, it was a hell of a night, my Valkryie, consider your reputation not only well deserved, but exceeded in all ways! But what happens after? Can you even function in normal activities of daily living at all? Even the simplest apartment requires cohesiveness. Can you even make money if you're not dancing half nude & pretending a pole is a man's asset? You have no skills, no inheritance, no breeding and no connections, girl! Lightning Farron, you are the LAST woman on this planet I'd seriously want ! "
He rose, grabbed his swords, stormed to the door and screamed at the top of his lungs before he slammed it shut: "I'll make my OWN destiny!"
She sat there, her face now white under her artificial Desert Glow tan for what seemed like hours before she said into the quiet: "But I love you, Noel Kriess, with all my heart…I do. Come back. Please come back."
Hope found her there, after he'd called six times and sent texts twice; for the first time in years he saw her face naked, the pain and fear she kept hidden, the hard-as-iridium mask gone as she looked over at him and repeated the conversation word for word. He packed a bag for her, took her by the hand to the two wheeler and followed her back to his own apartment high up in academia's towers, then settled back into a couch, holding his dearest friend and champion as she laid her head on his shoulder and cried like the young woman of 21 years she really was, until she could cry no more, soothing her as best he could. They watched the sun set, clouds high up in the air turning gold, then fierce grey streaked with apricot and carmine, just like the day they talked about things when he was just 14 and scared to die just a boy without knowing what it was to be a man. He tightened his embrace as he fell asleep with her on the couch thinking: Odd how things had come full circle. Etro, help her. Help Noel. I see this love was meant to be, why can't they?