21.

The times after that shock Arlon. Elai is a natural. Even the king didn’t master his control this fast. He has zero moves and no fighting technique, neither can he defend himself. But.. his control is.. amazing. “Are you doing this without concentration?” It doesn’t surprise Arlon when Elai nods. He really is good at this. How, he does not know.
“I am! I can feel it without trying!” Elai is just as surprised as the king. When he tried it with Mave, it seemed quite impossible. Elai thought he’d never be able to learn how to control it, yet now here he is, having the time of his life. “I bet you’re impressed!” Elai stops again, hands falling next to his body and eyes settling down on the king, who is leaning his back against the wall.
Arlon can’t help but tease the boy. “You wish I was, don’t you?”
“I wish you would come up here and fight me already.” Elai is being serious.
Arlon does not know how to respond. Fighting will easily end up in Elai’s defeat, and he doesn’t want to ruin his day with that. “You have no fighting technique, no defense and yet you want to try and fight me?” Besides, the only thing Elai is capable of doing, is control his Death Gaze. It would not even be a fight at all.
“Oh, come on! Let’s have some fun!” Elai positions himself in a way that makes him look bigger than he is, and it pulls a soft chuckle out of Arlon’s mouth.
“That is not the right way to-“
“I command you to fight me, Makuyi!”
The nickname does it for him.
The king jumps off of the table and cracks his knuckles, small sparks of fire already disappearing from his hands. “If that is what would please you, Chasores..” Sunshine. The nickname does it for Elai, too. Arlon isn’t even aware of how well it fits him, of how he indeed is one made by the sun. maybe that is what gets the nickname to be so.. enchanting.
“The only advice I want to give you..” Arlon points down at the boy’s feet with a cocky grin on his face. “Is to put your right foot forward. You will not falter so easily if you keep pressure on that one.” Arlon looks up with the same grin crossing over his face and huffs when he sees Elai’s squinted eyes staring right back at him.
“Now you’re just bullying me.”
“Am I?” The king raises his eyebrows. He looks attractive.
“Are you going to fight me or are you going to hide behind your strong words- Ah!” Elai feels the fire that spits out Arlon’s hands brush across his arm. He forgets his stance in an instant; the boy ducks and avoids the next ball of fire with wide eyes. “No countdown?! No? Alright! Okay! Fuck!” Elai eventually falls onto his side and has to listen to Arlon’s laugh. He’s enjoying this. “Okay I get it!” Elai thought he would manage to stay up for a little while longer, just to be able to impress the king. But here he is, crawling and rolling around to avoid getting hit. “Ah! Stop it!”
Arlon’s laugh gets louder the more tired Elai becomes. “Ouch!” Arlon blows fire against Elai’s leg. It is painful but bearable; the king isn’t even going all out. “I know now! I get it, okay! I surrender!” The heat around him doesn’t disappear. It is obvious that Arlon wants to hear it again. Elai brings his hands up without thinking, the heat suddenly disappearing. The blonde boy doesn’t see what had happened at first, but when his eyes dare to open up, Arlon is pressed down into the mud, too. He has his hand on his stomach and soft, painful chuckles leave his mouth. “You actually got me..” He breathes out, widening Elai’s eyes in an instant.
“O-Oh fuck!” Elai crawls over to Arlon and puts a hand in front of his mouth. “I did not mean to-“ He can see Mave, again.
“It’s fine! It’s fine! It was slight pressure, but it was enough to blast me off my feet.” Arlon sits up without a groan or a cry; he seems completely fine. “I’m actually kind of glad. It was unconscious, but you do got it in you. That’s great news.” Elai already knew that, though. He had seen it happen.
“Unconscious is negative.” Elai leans his hands into the mud and lets out a deep, disappointed sigh. “How am I supposed to fight someone if the only way to hurt them is by unconsciously using my death gaze?” Arlon did not expect Elai to be so sad. He does not know why, but he feels the need to put a hand on Elai’s back. He hums and heats his fingers up a little, just for comfort. “Is there a reason you want to learn how to fight?” Arlon has never been good at comforting people when they get sad or frustrated, and so he decides to try and start a conversation. Maybe that will put his mind off of things. The question stressed Elai out, though. He cannot answer that he has to kill Turi’s warlord to get back home, to make his father proud, and to be a prince again. So why would he want to fight? What would a Turian boy say?
“I want to fight in the war.”
It startles Arlon.
“Oh..” He wishes he could tell him it’s not worth it.
“I want to be able to fight for my kingdom and make my parents proud.” That sounds about right.
“Why did you not tell me before?” Arlon’s trust has come a little closer, now. It sounds like he is speaking the truth. Maybe Elai really is just a simple Turian raider. Maybe he should talk to Connie and tell him not to ask Chay about Elai.
“Have you seen me? I’m not build to be a warrior. After meeting Connie I just.. it became kind of.. embarrassing to tell you the reason.” Elai tries not to chuckle; the lie sounds good this time. all the leis from before seemed so choppy and fake. This one actually carries some emotion with it. Finally.
“Fighting this war is not about muscles, Elai. Have you taken a good look at me? I’m not a muscle pig, either. The fact that Connie is built like a beast does not make us any less valid than him.” What the king says is true. He has broad shoulders and perfectly outlined muscles, but he does not eye as strong as Connie.
“Cesilia beats Connie at arm wrestling every single time, even though he has much more muscles. It is about playing your opponent and outsmarting them. Not about who’s got more power.” The words Arlon say are all kind and soft; he’s really trying to help. Trying to help a boy who’s lying his ass off. Elai closes his eyes for a second. It is quite funny.
“So the war is as simple as arm wrestling?”
Arlon chuckles. “Arm wrestling is much more difficult.”
The joke gives Elai the opportunity to step out of his lie and chuckle along with the king.
“I bet losing to his sister really kicks him in the balls.” Elai looks up as Arlon’s hand slowly disappears from his back.
“Oh yes. I can always see the tears forming in his eyes.”
It is a good moment for both of them to laugh. Elai feels a sign of relief. The lie was getting heavier the longer he spoke of it. He’s quite glad they’re straying off. It stays quiet for a while, the two both looking at the mud around them. Arlon is playing with his gloves as Elai picks out the mud from his nails. It isn’t awkward; it is actually quite nice.
“Why did you decide not to go?” Elai felt the heavy need to ask the question. He has been wondering it ever since he heard that Arlon would not be joining his men out on the battlefield. If the question shocked Arlon, he does not show it. Not even one single expression drops onto the king’s face.
“I was advised.” Arlon does not want to say a single thing about Eryx, because as soon as he does, he will be stuck inside of his past once more. This training was able to pull it away from him for a few hours, he does not want it to come back yet.
“Advised? But you’re a king, shouldn’t you always-“
“I do not want to discuss this matter.” The king hisses the words out as he stands up, a quick pace taking him away from Elai. The boy bites on his tongue; he feels ashamed for pressing down on a clearly open wound. “My apologies. I did not mean to offend you.” Elai feels a spark of annoyance crawl down his back. Arlon is short tempered; something Elai isn’t all too happy about. He can’t step on thin ice without it breaking in an instant.
“Important matters are none of your business, indeed.” Arlon’s back is facing Elai as he leans his hands down on the table. He has to close his eyes and take a deep breath to be able to think of anything else. He won’t allow Eryx to cloud his mind. This is not the right moment.
It is just like last time; the more he tries, the harder it gets. He can smell Eryx’s scent and taste his lips. He can feel his touch and hear his voice. Shit. His nails dig into the table as he shakes his head.
“Fuck!” Fire bursts out of the king’s hands, the wood now slowly turning black. Elai’s too scared to move a muscle; he might startle the king and start something he doesn’t want to start. He watches Arlon tremble, his shaky breaths filling the arena. It is quite a disturbing sight; Arlon’s arms are slowly filling themselves with flames , skin slowly tearing apart. Elai knows fire wielders are able to take a lot more damage that is created by their own flames, but he still worries. He stands up, breath stuck in his throat. His feet guide him towards Arlon, heat now also flushing his cheeks red. “Arlon.” His voice is enough for Arlon to turn around. The fire slowly sinks back into his skin until only his veins are yellow.
“That does not look good.” He decides not to dive further into Arlon’s pain; it would not help.
“It occurs when I can’t control my emotions. It’s nothing to worry about.” Elai presses two of his fingers against the yellow veins in his arms. His skin had turned red from his own flames, but Arlon doesn’t flinch when Elai touches him. He stays focused on his breath instead. He needs to get him out of his system.
“Unique.” Elai smiles up at Arlon as his fingers trace from Arlon’s wrist all the way up to his shoulder. The yellow in his veins disappears the longer Elai keeps his fingers on the king’s skin. “It is not unique. It is an error in my core system.” And it will always be Eryx’s fault. If he would’ve just- Stop it, Arlon.
“I find it unique. It’s like the stars are hidden underneath your skin.” The words flush Arlon’s cheeks. He can’t help it. No one has ever described it like that before. Cesilia would call it his strength, and Connie would simply call it pretty. It was never.. stars that hide underneath his skin. Not until now.
“That is a nice way of putting it.” Arlon’s smile is pretty but tired.
Elai nods a little and locks eyes with Arlon, his breath once again getting stuck in his throat. What more hides underneath that stern look on his face?
“It was the first thing I thought of.” Elai’s face is only inches away from the king’s. It is impossible to breathe, to feel anything else but the heat that rises between them. He wants to run away to catch his breath, but something keeps him in his place. It might be Arlon’s eyes, or the warmth of his shoulder against his hand. It might even be the eye contact. it might just be him. “Your cheeks are red.” Elai then says, a soft huff leaving Arlon’s mouth. “You are too close.” He replies, yet does not push Elai away. Instead, the eye contact intensifies, Elai’s hand now falling away from the king’s shoulder. They almost share their breaths, they almost taste each other’s mouths. It is odd, but it is welcoming. It feels.. good.
“Are you going to kiss me, Chasores?” At first, it feels like Elai was imagining those words. At first, they felt fake. But when he sees the grin appearing on Arlon’s face, he knows he really said it. Elai opens his mouth, wants to say something, wants to.. react. Instead, he breaks the eye contact and pushes Arlon back with a click of his tongue. “I would never.” Would he? The question lingers a little while longer as he watches Arlon chuckle.
No. He would not. It is his enemy that is looking back at him. It is someone he could kill and bring back home to his father. Maybe that would already make him proud enough to crown him prince once again.
“I can tell when someone’s lying, y’know.” Now he’s getting on Elai’s nerves. The blonde boy puts his hands up in an attempt to hurt the king, but his resistance is too strong. Elai can try as much as he wants; he will not be able to break through Arlon’s resistance any time soon. Their moment gets interrupted when Connie rushes through the doors. His eyes are wide and his face is pale. He does not dare to look at Elai; the prince does not know why. Instead, he focuses on his best friend, bottom lip trembling.
“Arlon. We need to talk.”