Chapter 7

Flirtatious Morning

Several hours later, when it was still a little dark outside, it was Sorey who was the first to wake. This in itself was unusual, and he found himself sitting up and rubbing his leaf-green eyes, surveying the room in hopes of finding another morning companion who might start to stir, unconsciously reacting to Sorey's motions. But...no one else stirred. It seemed like everyone was sound asleep.

That was fine. That gave him plenty of opportunity to get dressed, and maybe even to find a place to bathe.

He looked over towards Mikleo on the bed nearby, and found himself thinking back on how unhappy he'd been to not share a bed with the other youth. Maybe they wouldn't be in Lowgrin again that evening. They'd just...have to see.

With a sigh, Sorey wordlessly put on his clothes from the day before, shrugging on his blue shirt and then the shepherd's cloak with care. Gramps had taught him to take care of his belongings, and while he wasn't as nitpicky as Mikleo, Sorey still wanted to look presentable and responsible to the public, since the people looked to the Shepherd in difficult times.

Once dressed, he quietly left the tent, wondering if the nice Inn Keeper would be up at this hour in the morning. Sure enough, there she was, waiting for any potential clients, as dutiful as ever.

Sorey greeted her with a smile, and quickly but politely inquired as to where he could bathe, if there was such a place nearby. Turns out she and her husband had another private tent close by, near the one that housed the dining tables, that had a washbin and a basin that he'd be able to use. And she insisted that it would be alright if he used it.

Eager to get at least some of the grime off of himself, Sorey thanked the lady profusely, and followed her towards the tent and towards the back wall of the city, where the tent was located.

There wasn't much to look at inside the enclosure. It was simply furnished, but cozy, much like the dining and sleeping tents. The only thing Sorey really cared about was whether or not it had water, soap, and a washcloth for him to use, and it certainly did. And with that, he stripped down to the buff, placing his clothes on a stool and a table across the tent so they wouldn't get wet, and proceeded to carefully wash away the previous day's sweat and grime that had gathered on him from the desert the day before.

It felt good to get clean. And judging from the way he smelled...well, he was pretty sure his companions, who were perpetually always clean and smelling perfect, would appreciate their human companion not reeking of sweat on their upcoming journey later in the day.

He was careful and deliberate with his movements, not wanting to waste their water, for he knew it was a precious commodity. Maybe...maybe he could ask Mikleo to help them with that.

Sorey's mind then, of course, drifted towards the aquamarine-haired beauty himself. Wouldn't it have just been easier if Mikleo...

But that thought made the shepherd blush. What would he do, exactly? Just...hold out a hand and drench him in water? He'd have to see where he was dousing, and that would mean that he'd see...

Sorey found himself swallowing hard, as he tried to squash away that mental image - and others that threatened to arise from the back of his mind. Bathing with Mikleo...

Well. That would be inappropriate, wouldn't it? They...weren't even supposed to share a bed with each other.

The brunet groaned, running his hands through his wet, soapy hair, wondering if he was going crazy. He let himself mull over that idea as he scrubbed his scalp until it was clean, then rinsed it thoroughly.

He loved Mikleo. But how were they supposed to be more than what they were? How did you do that, exactly? Sorey wasn't sure.

After his quick shower, Sorey dressed, feeling infinitely better, and walked out of the washing tent and back towards the sleeping tent, thanking the Inn Keeper once again for her hospitality. His hair was still damp, but it'd dry off soon anyway, especially with the heat that would no doubt be bearing down upon him and the rest of the team once they headed out for the ruins.

Not knowing if anyone else was awake or not, Sorey ducked himself back inside the sleeping tent, to check and see if anyone else was up and ready for breakfast. He was eager and ready to get going that morning. He wanted to see the ruins with Mikleo.

When Sorey re-entered the tent, he'd find everyone awake and dressed. Well…everyone except the person he'd wanted to see awake and dressed that is. Zaveid was standing with hands on his hips, leaning over both Lailah and Edna as they sat on the edge of the last bed in the row. Edna was swinging her legs back and forth, twirling her umbrella as Lailah was finishing putting up her hair in a red clip. All three were talking when Sorey came in.

"He just had a rough night again," Lailah was saying to the other seraphs. "So let's continue to keep quiet a little while longer and let him sleep."

"That's not my fault," Edna said, as sour as ever. "I don't want to just wait around wasting time every morning just because Meebo can't get his shit together lately. Besides, we're seraphim, what could he possibly have nightmares about?"

"Oh, I don't think he had nightmares last night," Zaveid suddenly piped in, a long, sleek, sly smile crawling its way onto his face. "I think his dreams were much more pleasurable than that!"

"Oh-my-God. You are such a perv," Edna snipped.

"No, it's true! I woke up briefly because he was making all these moaning groaning noises. You know…those kinds of noises."

"As if. It was probably you making those noises. Besides, if Meebo was going to dream about anybody, he'd dream about S-!"

"Sorey!" Lailah practically shrieked, finally having been the one to notice him enter the tent, purposefully interrupting the conversation. "Welcome back! Where did you go? Out for a morning walk? Oh! You appear fresh and clean! You went out for a bath then? I'm so glad you found a place to do that! I mean we're in the desert and there isn't even a proper inn here, so I wondered how you would take care of yourself! But it appears you have! I'm so glad! If you couldn't find a place to wash, I wasn't sure what we would do for you! Although I heard there's an oasis somewhere in the desert. Maybe we could have gone there! In any case, you must be hungry by now, yes? Shall we all head out to the dining tent?"

Sorey just stared, standing still in the threshold of the tent, his green eyes wide. So much had just happened, and he wasn't exactly sure he'd heard everything correctly.

"Wait...Mikleo's having nightmares?" And his green eyes shot over towards the sleeping seraph, right where he'd left him no more than forty five minutes ago.

"And...what? What kind of dreams are you talking about Zaveid?" And Sorey wasn't exactly sure he understood what the half-naked seraph had been trying to say. But now Lailah had moved herself across the room and was ushering him out the doorway.

"Mikleo will be just fine Sorey. I know that for a fact. He's just still tired from yesterday, that's all. Now let's get breakfast, yay!" And she excitedly threw her hands up in front of her mouth, covering it, like the way she was prone to do when acting silly.

It was fortunate for everyone involved that Sorey believed her. Mikleo had indeed been very tired because of the desert. He'd collapsed. And Zaveid...Well, Sorey didn't listen to half of what he said anyway. No doubt whatever he'd been hinting at had been vulgar. Most of what the wind seraph said was like that.

And Edna...well, she could be negative. And anyway, she was following Lailah out of the tent too, as was Zaveid. They clearly wanted food, too.

"Well...okay," Sorey said, eager to let his tired companion rest as much as possible. "Besides, now I can see what's on the menu and maybe get something ready for him when he gets up."

Still...Sorey's mind was whirling as they made their way towards the dining tent.

Sorey and his three seraph companions all sat down at the same table they had the day before. And the inn keeper was more than happy to serve them again. Sorey, true to his word, ordered something he knew Mikleo would like. Then he sat, and had nothing to do but think about everything he'd overheard the others talking about. At least that was until Mikleo finally came to join them.

He was later than he had been the day before. Everyone's food had arrived and this time they were almost completely done eating when the water seraph finally showed up. But when he did, he was as pristine, crisp, and cool looking as ever. Every white hair on his head was in place, and the blue tips of his curl on his bangs looked perfectly sculpted. But Sorey would know of course, that this was one hundred percent natural, and Mikleo probably only brushed his hair normally to get it that way. His clothes appeared brand new, and there was even a shine to his black boots. And as always, his violet eyes seemed knowing, and there was already a smirk on his lips as if he'd known Sorey was up to no good before he even arrived.

Mikleo appeared so normal, and so well put together, that it was hard to imagine he'd been having nightmares for however long the other's had said. And it was even harder to imagine him in the grips of a passionate fantasy as Zaveid had suggested. He looked like…well…Mikleo.

"You forgot something," Mikleo greeted his love interest. And then, before Sorey could even ask, he tossed a pair of orange feather earrings his way. "You'd be in a panic if you forgot them."

Walking up behind his seat, he reached out, putting a hand on Sorey's shoulder in greeting. He gave him a squeeze, then turned to his empty seat beside him and took it up. He would never let on, and Sorey would never know, but when Mikleo had woken up that morning, he'd woken in a panic because Sorey and the others were gone. He of course had quickly put the pieces together that they must be in the dining tent. But all the same, with all of his nightmares about the malevolence making him disappear, this was now the second morning in a row where he'd woken up afraid because everyone else was gone. But he'd never let such a fear show on his face. At least not until he was ready.

"What did you order me?"

Sorey deftly caught his favorite pair of earrings, eyes huge with surprise. Oh my god...I actually did forget them. And Mikleo had been right: If they'd left those behind in the Inn and gone traipsing off into the desert, Sorey would've freaked out once he realized he didn't have them on his ears. His companion had once again saved him from something troublesome.

He immediately began putting them on, forcing them to attach and close around his ears, even as he took in the water seraph's impeccable appearance. The hand on his shoulder felt good, and warm, and nice, but it was gone quickly.

That was okay. Mikleo was up now, and so they could talk and prepare for their exciting day that was ahead of them.

"I got you a fruit parfait and some sort of flat roll with a creamy cheese that you can spread on it, and some juice," he said, knowing the seraph liked to keep things light in the morning. He might only eat the parfait, but Sorey had never heard of this cheese type food item before, and so of course, that meant Mikleo hadn't, either. Sorey figured the other youth might like trying something new. He had the night before, anyway.

Lailah looked up from her own cup of juice, and gave him a smile. "Good to see you're awake, Mikleo," she said in her sing-song voice. "Sorey was insistent on ordering you food. You can take all the time you need," she reassured, already hatching up a plan to perhaps...give the seraph and his love interest some alone time that morning, if she could get the others to cooperate, anyway.

"Ugh!" Edna groaned. "All the time you need? This is getting bothersome. We wait for you to wake up, then we wait for you to get dressed, then we wait for you to eat. Meebo, you've got to start getting with the program, you're inconveniencing everyone! And we shouldn't need to baby you!"

"Hey, take it easy!" And this actually came from Zaveid, who, despite his sleazy comments sometimes, had made it clear in the past that he was a good friend too. "Didn't you hear what Lailah said this morning? He's had a rough couple of nights. If you couldn't sleep you'd want us to wait for you."

Mikleo tensed at the mention of his rough nights. So the others had noticed. Which of course meant that Sorey had noticed too. Or at the very least, he knew now. Mikleo glanced to the green eyed brunette at his side. And when he did, he saw the look he dreaded: Sorey was worried. And although his concerned face was certainly cute, Mikleo never liked to see him worried.

"I'm fine," he quickly reassured. "No one needs to worry over me or baby me," he said, shooting a nasty look Edna's way. "I'll eat quickly, and then we can go." Looking to the food before him, he couldn't help but to feel that usual warmth in his chest when it came to anything Sorey. He'd ordered him exactly what he would have wanted, and had even found an adventurous and exciting new food to try.

"Thank you Sorey, for ordering for me. You always know what I like."

Edna rolled her eyes, Lailah clasped her hands joyfully in front of her chest, and Zaveid looked on as clueless as ever.

And there it was again. The mention of him having difficulty sleeping. Sorey immediately tensed, his face scrunching up with worry.

Mikleo, of course, insisted that everything was fine...but that's what he'd said yesterday too, before he'd collapsed.

This made Sorey feel conflicting things. What should he do? His companion didn't like making him worry, but all the same...he was.

I have to believe in him, but also be prepared, Sorey decided. And so he made the decision to actively be supportive. Even if he'd wished Mikleo would talk to him about whatever it was that was bothering him. The shepherd didn't like the feeling of being out of the loop with what was happening to his most cherished person.

"You're welcome," he said simply, picking at the last of his omelet. He forgot what kind of egg it had been made from...some sort of lizard, he thought, but it had been good. Any sort of worry that he felt was temporarily placed to the back of his mind while he got excited about the ruins.

"I can't wait to check out the ruins," he said, his elbows on the table. "And I know you guys are excited too," he said, even though he really didn't think the others were excited about it. But Sorey didn't understand how they couldn't find history fascinating! And he was eager to share in his enthusiasm. Maybe he could get everyone pumped for the day if he acted excited enough.

Mikleo smiled after taking in a spoonful of his parfait.

"Yes!" he agreed, his eyes starting to sparkle just as much as Sorey's at the mention of ruins. "And the Gangaren Ruins are mentioned in the Celestial Record. There ought to be all sorts of artifacts there for us to find. And since it predates The Age of Chaos, there might be some interesting reliefs or carvings for us to decipher. Maybe we can even find something relating to the shepherd."

Sorey grinned like a kid, although some might argue that, being only seventeen, he was still very much a kid.

But his excitement reminded him of his younger days, the ones where he and Mikleo stayed up late, reading all the stories about the Shepherd and his crew.

"That would be great!" he exclaimed, beaming ear to ear.

"I mean, just think about all of the cool stuff we could find there. After all, we found this glove in the Mt. Mabinogio ruins back home." And he proudly held up his left hand, for all to see...

As if they hadn't seen it dozens of times before. Sorey was prone to showing it off as often as possible.

But a sly smile grew over Mikleo's face as Sorey held up his glove for all to see.

"I suppose that means you've forgotten how we obtained that glove then," he said, a hint of teasing in his voice. And then, without any warning, he reached out, quick as lightning and grabbed a hold of Sorey's wrist.

"Hey!"

But Mikleo wasn't done. Grabbing a hold of the piece of cloth, he slipped it easily off of Sorey's hand. Then, leaning back in his seat, in a way that only his seraphim grace would allow him to, he held the glove up and away from his partner in ruin exploring, playing quite the game of keep away just as he'd done when they first obtained the item long ago.

"Sorey was SO distracted by this silly glove that I had to keep a hold on it until we could figure our way out of the ruins we'd become lost in," he announced to the others. "And then after all his complaining, after we'd gotten back out again, he forgot all about it until I offered to give it back."

Sorey blushed, embarrassed, and immediately started to protest, even as he struggled to reach for his glove.

"N-no! That's not how it happened!" But all Mikleo had to do was raise an eyebrow and Sorey sighed heavily, flailing while still trying to get his favorite new clothing item back.

"O-okay, so maybe I got a little distracted, but-!" And he lunged for it again. "You can't blame me! It's a real artifact." And that clearly should've made perfect sense to everyone else watching.

Lailah giggled. The two of them were just so precious.

"Well it's a good thing Mikleo held onto it then, or else you never would've made it out," she went along, happy to join in on the teasing.

"Yeah, but...that doesn't mean he has to play keep-away!" Sorey said, still incapable of retrieving his glove from the ever-graceful and swift water seraph.

Mikleo's grin only grew bigger as Sorey reached for the glove several times. They were both still seated, which let him know how much Sorey was really enjoying the game or he would have at least stood up to put in a more honest effort.

For just a second, Mikleo fantasized about jumping up and out of his chair to go running for the door, laughing all the way. Sorey would surely give chase, and at the moment, he wasn't sure if anything could possibly be as much fun as being chased around Lowgrin by Sorey. But…this wasn't Elysia, and he knew there were a ton of other humans around. It would be weird for the shepherd to go off running through the streets chasing after a floating glove. It wouldn't be quite the flirtatious game it used to be back in their home in the clouds. And so, as much as Mikleo wanted too, he knew he had to think of Sorey's reputation with the other humans. He didn't want to make anyone think of him as silly. Well, except for their traveling companions maybe.

And so, after allowing himself the thrill of just a few more seconds of jerking the glove away, he decided he'd better end it. The next time Sorey lunged forward, reaching out for the garment, Mikleo, instead of pulling back, came unexpectedly forward. Then, he expertly plopped the glove down on top of Sorey's fluffy brunette locks.

"There. That's for pretending you could order me around with a silly glove. Even if it was only for a second."

Edna let out a 'phht' clearly finding the entire thing amusing, which was a nice change of pace from her usual insults.

Sorey's mind wasn't even on what other people would think of their exchange. All he knew was that Mikleo good-naturedly gave up. And he really liked the feeling of the other boy's hand brushing against his hair when he plopped the glove unceremoniously down on top of his head.

He left it there for a brief second, grinning widely, before snatching it up and slipping it onto his left hand again.

"I only did it because I knew you would disagree. There's no way you would ever let me order you around," Sorey said, chuckling as he stood up and stretched, feeling energized from their flirtatious exchange.

Not that he was aware that they'd been flirting. He was just having fun with Mikleo. Fun that made him feel exhilarated and giddy inside.

Even as the flirtatious game was given up a little earlier than either boy would have liked due to circumstances, they still kept their sights on one another fondly. And it was hard not to notice, even for a certain clueless wind seraph. Leaning forward on the table and blinking at the pair, Zaveid put a hand to his chin as a thoughtful look overcame his face.

"They sure do play together a lot, those two," he said to Lailah, who was still seated beside him.

"Yes, they do," she said simply.

"And it seems like they only ever get that playful with each other. I mean, if I ever tried to be like that around either of them, I feel like Mikleo'd punch me in the face."

Lailah giggled.

"He probably would."

"Hmm…" And poor Zaveid looked like he was concentrating awfully hard. His face scrunched up, he wrinkled his eyebrows at the pair. But he wasn't given quite enough time to piece it together, for now everyone was getting up and out of their seats.

"Are we ready to go then?" Mikleo asked the group. But of course, Sorey was already fussing over Mikleo's unfinished food that they'd just ordered.

"It's ok; I'll bring the fruit parfait with me and eat it while we walk. And you can have the pastry thing. I know you wanted it more than me anyway. If not, we should save it for later. You'll get hungry half way through the ruins. You always do."

Sorey grinned. "Yeah. I do," he said, not bothering to pretend he wasn't going to be hungry in about two hours, just like Mikleo said.

He completely and totally did not see, or hear, Zaveid's comments. He was completely lost in his own little world. Maybe if he had heard, he would've realized that the wind seraph was figuring him - or rather, him and Mikleo - out. Of course, that's much how Lailah and Edna figured it out too. They obviously hadn't said anything to either of the girls, but each had sorted it all out for themselves.

"Alright!" Sorey exclaimed, stretching his hands up in the air. "We've got all the supplies we need. And we've got the map, so...we're ready to go. Let's head out!"

And with that, the team set out of Lowgrin and headed back into the desert.