chapter Twelve
Mathieu chuckled to himself and sniffed the clothes. They smelled strongly of Solomon. He shouldn’t have been surprised considering some of the others had made sure to stock up his half of the dresser in his shared room. It seemed the joke had continued from Unith because they had gotten him all girls’ clothing. The ones on the dresser were men’s clothes. Ushering Emilia out of the room and closing the door behind her, Mathieu changed into the fresh clothes but found he wasn’t willing to wrestle into his boots yet. Lacing them yesterday had taken a good ten minutes and he needed food before attempting that. Humming softly he ran his fingers through his hair, undoing a few knots. He’s slept rather well.
The door banged open, scaring Mathieu as he attempted to braid his head. Solomon stood in the doorway, arms folded over his bare chest. “Ah, someone is a liar. Emilia said you hadn’t gotten out of bed, but look at this, you’re dressed.” Solomon looked at Mathieu’s bare feet, “Sort of. Do you want some breakfast?”
“Yes, I would. And why are you half naked? Trying to pick up Veronica?” Mathieu smiled at him with an eyebrow wiggle.
The blond gave him a flat look before walking away without a word. Rolling his eyes, he followed the bare-chested man downstairs. Stopping in the kitchen, Mathieu picked up the plate that had been prepared for him with two eggs and some pancakes. He wandered after the other male, ending up outside in the garden.
Emilia hopped off the log she was sitting on and ran to Solomon, pulling him by the hand to the flowerbed. “Put the pretty blue ones here!” She pointed to a spot in the dirt and tapped her foot adamantly. Looking over her shoulder, she waved at Mathieu in greeting.
“Okay, okay.” The blond knelt down next to the little girl and picked up the trowel, digging where directed.
“I thought we were leaving…?” Mathieu used his fingers to eat, balancing with his hip against a post in the fence.
Solomon rolled eyes at him over his shoulder. “Yes, dear, but Veronica and Nathan went on a ‘picnic’ and will be back in a few hours. Scared to be alone with me?”
“You wish, blondie.”
“Excuse me, but I’m here too.” Emilia crossed her little arms and glared at Mathieu. “Prince is spending the day with me, not you.”
Mathieu raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”
“Yep.” Giggling, she watched Solomon finish planting the flower. “Good job!” She commended her worker.
Patting Emilia on the shoulder, to which she blushed, Solomon made his way over to Mathieu, dusting his hands off. “She’s obsessive.” He murmured to Mathieu’s, looking back at the girl.
“Don’t say such mean things about your girlfriend.”
Solomon’s brow furrowed. “ She’s not my girlfriend.”
Huffing, Mathieu set aside his plate. “I was kidding, okay? This place is really pretty, you know.”
“Enjoy it while you can. We’ll be camping on the way back. There’s a really nice place just up that hill. Want to go see it now?”
“Uh, sure.” Mathieu looked around and whispered conspiratorially, “Can we ditch the little one?”
Solomon nodded, looking around to see where Emilia had gotten to before he spoke. “I’ll drop off your plate, pick up a shirt, and we’ll go.”
“I’ll be right here.”
While Solomon disappeared into the house, he stood up and went to go see the flower. “Why, you sure are beautiful.” Light fingers brushed over the petals. They seemed to brush against his digits, wanting affection. He was happy to oblige, humming quietly to them for a few moment. “All you have to do is sit here in the sun and look pretty.”
“You do that pretty well yourself.” Solomon stood at his shoulder, petting his hair like he was a dog.
Swatting at the older man’s hand, Mathieu stood. “I’m not a pet. Quit that. Are we going?”
Chuckling, Solomon nodded to a steep hill. “Yep, right up there. Come on.”
The hill was a small distance away and it didn’t take them long to reach the path that went up. Mathieu wished he had put on shoes, but the path wasn’t too bad on his feet. A few of the sharper rocks made him wince, but he didn’t complain out loud. It only took half an hour or so, especially at the pace Solomon was walking, to get to the top and over the crest. Just below them in a small valley was a patch of flowers different from the rest with a few trees set in a loose circle. “Oh wow…”
A bigger, calloused hand wrapped around his and led him down the hill. At first, the contact made Mathieu blush, but he soon realized that Solomon was making sure he didn’t fall; the downward slope was pretty steep as well but there wasn’t a path. As much as he hated it, he was stumbling along behind the other man and if not for the hold Solomon had on him, he would have fallen. “These are called Night Flowers.” Solomon dropped his hand as soon as they entered the circle of tall, willowy trees.
Looking down, he carefully stepped to the center without trampling on any of the delicate, silver flowers. Sitting in a spot where the flowers were a bit thinner, he looked closer at them. They were made of multiple shades of silver, some dull, some shiny, but all combining to make a delicate masterpiece. The blond sat beside him, leaning back on his hands with his legs crossed in front of him.
“Normally we stay at the inn for a few days. I’ve spent a lot of time here.” Solomon offered, looking at the sky.
“I wouldn’t have taken you for one who likes flowers. Kind of girly, you know.”
“Mathieu, I’m not stupid. I know beauty when I see it…” The look the blond was now giving him made him flush from the roots of his hair to the tips of his toes.
“Hey!” He said, needing a moment away from Solomon. “Want to see something cool? Wait here.” Jumping up, he practically ran out of the circle of trees to where the Western Pillar Flower were preening. He ran his fingers over a few flowers while his blush died down before picking one and taking it back to where his friend was. Sitting back down, he held the flower out. “Pick a color.” Solomon tilted his head and considered for a moment before touching the pale purple petal. “Okay. Wait for it.” Mathieu extracted the chosen petal from the bunch and set the rest of the flower aside. Closing his eyes with the petal held loosely between two fingers, he focused on the exact hue of the color. A small gasp told him he was doing it right. Opening his eyes, he looked down at the strands of his hair which were no longer white, but instead the pale purple. Releasing the now white petal, he smiled. “The color won’t last forever, but it is a nice change. Don’t you think?”
One moment he was smiling at Solomon, the next he was flat on his back, the blond hovering over him and their faces dangerously close. All his mind could register was the way that Solomon smelled like earth from his earlier planting mixed with his normal scent of lavender, fresh ground coffee, and dew. Then Solomon’s lips were pressed lightly to his, fingers stroking through his hair.
It only lasted a few moments before the blond was pulling away, retreating a few feet back. “I-I’m so sorry! I don’t know what came over me.” Solomon was on his feet, covering his mouth with a look of horror in his eyes.
“Um…” Mathieu mumbled, blinking frantically. The kiss had taken him by surprise and now he didn’t know exactly what to say. Finally, he settled on, “Well that was surprising…” Sitting up, he stroked his bottom lip idly. “Guess you weren’t trying to seduce Veronica.” He tried to joke, hoping that Solomon wasn’t about to turn tail and run. It seemed the blond wasn’t retreating at further, so he swallowed hard and ran his fingers through his hair. “Come back, okay?”
It took a long stare down and a pointed waving motion to reel Solomon back in, but the man sat next to him again. Albeit, there was more between them this time. “You’re not mad.” Solomon observed.
“No. It was…unexpected, that’s all.” Mathieu didn’t mention the way that his head was buzzing and the base of his skull was tingling with just the small kiss. “Don’t try to molest me while I sleep now, though.” He again attempted to tease. It was easier to act as though he thought it was a joke rather than to consider what the small gesture really meant.
Solomon looked physically pained by that comment. “I swear, I’m not normally like that. I just…it was…crap.” He pressed his palms to his eyes, hard. “This isn’t supposed to happen.”
“What isn’t?”
“Nothing.” The blond said, turning away.
Mathieu bit his lip. It seemed that whether they ignored it or they talked about it, it was going to be something that pushed them apart. Solomon was already starting to be distant even in the few minutes since it had happened. If he was going to lose Solomon as a friend, he at least wanted his questions answered. “Are you not supposed to be gay, or just not supposed to like me?” He asked, hoping he wasn’t really misreading the situation.
Solomon heaved a heavy breath and didn’t look at Mathieu. “It’s the latter. Being interested in…a man has never been a problem for me, mainly because no one had interested me.”
“Really?” He had a hard time believing that no one had ever interested the blond before.
Rolling green eyes, Solomon finally turned to look at him. “I’m not saying no one was ever attractive, but I was rarely forced into sleeping in the same bed as someone who…catches my attention.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
“Listen, I’m sorry, okay? Forget that it ever happened.” Solomon said, getting to his feet. “Let’s get back before Nathan returns. You know how he gets.” He led the way back up the hill, both keeping a slight distance between them.
The whole walk back they maintained that distance, making things a bit awkward; especially since Mathieu kept slipping with his bare feet. He ended up with quite a few cuts. It frustrated him that Solomon wanted to pretend nothing had happened. Clearly, something had happened, and it seemed he wasn’t the only one who had noticed the other. Until now, he had worked as hard as possible to keep his thoughts pure so as to not make things awkward, avoided thinking of those muscled arms and piercing green eyes. Since the first time they had met, Mathieu had a hard time not blushing at the thought of Solomon’s hand in his hair, or the way that the blond could really get under his skin. But now the door to those thoughts had been opened and he was finding it difficult to push them away, to not think of those slightly chapped lips against his. Shaking his head, he looked at the inn that they were now almost back to. His wandering thoughts had kept his occupied.
It seemed that something was against Mathieu, however, because Nathan was waiting inside the kitchen for them with a knowing smirk and a small chuckle. Solomon groaned and buried his head in the cupboard under the pretense of needing a drink of water, while Mathieu turned about three shaded of scarlet and stammered out, “I’m-I’m gonna go say, uh, go say goodbye.” Ducking out of the room, he practically ran into Emilia. Taking a deep breath, he brushed his hair back and tried to get a hold of himself. “Uh, where’s your mother, sweetie?” He asked her nicely.
“She’s in the foyer. Where’s Prince?” Emilia asked, already trotting passed him to the kitchen.
Rolling his eyes, he muttered a ‘thanks’ before stopped up in the room the wrangle on his boots. It was painful with the cuts on his feet, but he managed a lot faster than the day before. He rather wished that it had taken longer, giving him more time away from the other men. But it didn’t, so he went downstairs to find Veronica. “Hello?” He poked his head into the sparsely furnished room.
“Here, lovely.” She stood from where she was kneeling in front of the chest, seemingly digging around in there for a set of matching placemats, and straightened her dress. “Are you guys leaving already?” Veronica asked, hands on her robust hips.
Mathieu smiled politely at her. “Yeah, I think so. I wanted to say goodbye and thank you for the hospitality.”
“Oh, it’s always my pleasure! The boys always breathe a breath of fresh air back into this place. And Solomon gets Emilia off of my hands for a bit.” She said with a laugh. “I hope I get to see you again. Take care of them, won’t you? Especially the blond one; he needs it.”
“Eh?” Mathieu asked, wondering if this woman was perhaps psychic and knew what had happened. What bad luck, he thought, considering he had just resolved to not think about it again unless Solomon brought it up.
“You’re the first boyfriend he’s brought along. You two are a cute couple, even if I’m not really a supporter of gays.”
“What? Wait! No! It’s not like that! I mean—yes, I’m gay—but it’s not like! I mean, ugh!” His words had started to trip over themselves, and he finally threw his hands up in surrender. It seemed the right words weren’t going to come out, so he just gave up.
Her face was skeptical. “Really? You mean to tell me that all of the blushing you two are always doing over each other, and the flirting, means nothing? Nathan said you two sharing a room is pretty common, even.” She raised an eyebrow. “I barely saw you two at dinner, and even I thought…”
“It’s more in a platonic way…” Mathieu said, averting his eyes.
Veronica smoothed her dress again, frowning. “Well…I don’t really know what to say.” She said. “I mean what I said, thought. You two would be a cute couple.”
Mathieu nodded and wrinkled his nose in an embarrassed way. “Er, thanks.”
“You’d better get going,” she suggested. “They’re rather impatient.” Her hand landed on his shoulder in a supportive way. “Good luck.” It was obvious she meant with more than the trip.
“Hurry up, Mathieu.” Nathan called from the other end of the inn.
“Told you.” Veronica gave him a wink as he ran outside to where the other two were waiting for him. Grabbing the hand Solomon was holding down to him, he hopped onto the back of the tuvash. That small touch had them looking away awkwardly.
“Er, hey.” Solomon looked over his shoulder at Mathieu.
“Huh?”
The blond gave him a quick peck on the lips, blushing and embarrassed. “Ready to go?”
“Depends, what was that about?” Mathieu asked, clearly confused. He wasn’t protesting, just off kilter again.
“Just…felt like it.” Solomon said, trying not to meet his eyes. “Is it okay with you?”
Looking over at the redhead who was watching them intently, Mathieu flushed and looked away. “Yeah. I think I’m okay with it.” Ducking his head, he tucking his face against Solomon’s back, hiding how red his face and neck had become. If Nathan had said something to the blond, he owed the redheaded man big time. If not, he was still a neon shade of red. He would need to corner Nathan later and get the scoop.
As they started to ride Mathieu cleared his throat. He wanted to talk, but not about the kiss. It seemed those worked better when they weren’t talked about. So, he settled on a topic that seemed interesting, safe, and also had him a bit curious. “So, Veronica said you’d never brought someone else with you. It sounded like she’s known you for a long time and apparently you guys always stay at her inn.”
“Not as long as some, but longer than most.”
“How do you know her?”
Solomon followed Nathan up the path that they had taken earlier, and steered with one hand while they talked. “When she was younger, Veronica was a black market trader. She lived in Unith and used to sell information to the resistance. That was back in the days before Nathan was in charge. She worked with us for a long time.”
“I’m sensing a ‘but’, though.” Mathieu said.
“Well, things were going well for her back then. She had a legitimate business, as well as made a good cut on the side from her other dealings, and she was set to live out her life that way. But then she got knocked up.” Solomon leaned forward as the tuvash hopped over a stump. “You know how they say that sometimes when someone has a near death experience, they completely change? It was kind of like that. When she realized that she was pregnant, Veronica stopped worrying about money and started to worry about what kind of life her kid was going to be living if her mother was shady.
“It took her until Emilia was two before she had a plan. So she contacted us and said ‘I don’t know what I can offer you, but I need your help to get my daughter away from this’. Nathan, being the man that he is, said that we would help her; we showed up and took them away by tuvash. They’re definitely a lot more subtle than a carriage going through the Outer Zone.” Solomon chuckled, “Emilia was riding with me and she couldn’t sleep. She wanted me to tell her a story, so I started to tell her about a princess, it was Mina’s favorite one back in the day.”
Yawning, Mathieu mumbled, “I assume there’s something important in this story, right?”
“Yes, of course. Well, the Outer Zone is pretty dangerous and the tuvash got spooked. It tossed Emilia off into the river we were following.”
“Awe, and you saved her, right?” He asked, with a tired chuckle. Mathieu rested his head against Solomon’s back.
The blond sighed. “Of course I did. And since then she’s convinced I must be her prince because ‘a prince always saves the princess’. I still regret telling that story.” As the man spoke, his deep voice lulled Mathieu into a light doze.
~*~
“Mathieu? We’re here.” Solomon said, reaching back to gently shake Mathieu.
Woken by the small nudge, he looked around blearily. “Wha? Oh.” Taking a moment, he slid to the ground and gathered himself. Rubbing his eyes, Mathieu looked around. Then up.
The tower they were standing in the shadow of was a truly awesome sight. Instead of ice like he had thought it would be made of, it was a structure of some sort of stone. The tower was a shiny black with thick white veins running through it; it went up and up until it was out of sight. “It’s…so beautiful. And kind of scary.”
“The person who live here are more so.” Solomon pulled a cloak out of his pack and buttoned it around Mathieu’s neck, tucking the still light purple hair under the hood. “Don’t take this off. Promise me.”
Looking at it and deciding it was made of some sort of fur, he shrugged. The cloak wrapped completely around him. “Uh, okay; I promise. But why?”
Nathan nodded approvingly to Solomon. “That’s a good idea.” He looked at Mathieu. “This is keep you hidden.”
“Why do I need to be hidden?”
“Because someone as potentially powerful as you needs to be protected, idiot. You have to remember that this little boy wanted power so much that he was willing to sell his soul in order to get it. You’re powerful and he wants that. Under this cloak, only your friends will be able to see you. Stay close to me.” Solomon adjusted the hood one more time.
Mathieu nodded and pulled the cloak tighter around himself, looking at his feet. “Right.”
“And stay quiet, okay?” The redhead double checked that none of his hair was sticking out before smiling reassuringly.
“I will. Thank you for this.”
Nathan nodded. “It’s no problem. Just keep your wits about you. Let’s go.” He led the small party to the door and knocked on the polish wooden door. The sound echoed oddly into the depths of the tower, and Mathieu swore he heard it reverberating all the way up out of sight. Just over his shoulder, he could feel Solomon hovering next to him.
They stood there until the blood had pooled in Mathieu’s feet, and he had to stomp them softly in order to get it flowing again. It seemed like forever to him, but eventually the tall door creaked inward and a single light appeared in front of them. It led them into the house. Inside, the towas was pitch black and the darkness wrapped around them, pulling them deeper forward towards the unknown. Solomon’s hand brushed over Mathieu’s lower back, reassuring him that he was safe.
Thankfulness washed over him, glad to be positioned between Solomon and Nathan. It was safe there, or so he thought, and he tried to look around into the undulating darkness. They approached a set of stairs attached to the wall, and Mathieu had to look down so he didn’t fall. The stairs were the same black stone as the outside of the Sky Pillar and they only went up a few steps before leveling out and taking a sharp right. He could only just see Nathan’s red hair in the dim light and followed it, unable to use his hands to feel his way along. Mathieu just hoped there were no missing chunks of the floor.
The large tower had an ominous feel to it and they seemed to be coming continuously to stairs that only had a few steps. Each window that they passed revealed just how high they had already climbed, low clouds being visible. It was a bit disconcerting, and Mathieu swallowed. He wondered if this was what being afraid of heights felt like. Finger’s snagged the back of his cloak, stopping his as Nathan came to a halt before a pure white door. The small light passed straight through the door, leaving them to stand there in the pressing darkness. The door made an awkward grinding sound and slowly slid up to reveal an opening that both Nathan and Solomon had to stoop through; Mathieu was just the right height to fit.
The floors here were white, warm stone that was barely detectable under the black, swirling fog that covered the lower region of the room. The room was circular and fairly dim. This place was practically empty and their footsteps echoes around the room as they trio approached two chairs set side-by-side in the center. One was hidden by a gauzy black cloth draped over the back, and both were ringed by a small, black fire. It flickered in response to their presence.
“Is that you, Nathan? And Solomon? How wonderful that you’ve come!” The chair without the a covering swiveled to face them and a mousy haired boy stood, his soft, high voice fitting his childish face. An accent blanketed his words, every ‘o’ dripping heavily with it.
“This is the time specified by you.” Solomon’s eyes narrowed at the young boy, giving a frosty bite to the air. He took half a step forward, subtly moving in front of Mathieu.
The boy, Enak, as Mathieu recalled his name to be, stood and walked through the dark flames as though they were nothing. His steps had a flowing grace to them, almost like a light lope. If the small boy looked ten with those chubby cheeks and big eyes, Mathieu would be amazed. His coat tails fluttered behind him. “Solomon, you’re so bitter. Tell me, how is my Mina-love? I’d just adore for her to come visit. She is such a charmer. You hoard her far too much.” Enak blinked owlishly up at him.
Solomon folded his arms, taking up more space than normal. “She doesn’t visit because you make her skin crawl, child. I wouldn’t stray too far from your power source, lest someone attempt to damage it.”
Smiling brightly, Enak reached up and patted Solomon’s arm before circling around behind them to stand beside the redhead. “So tell me, Nathan, how are things at the headquarters? I hear that a battle plan is being constructed. Do make sure I get a final copy, won’t you?”
Nathan’s face held the same polite blankness that it had since entering the tower. “I’ll do that. But how do you know what goes on in my domain?”
The mousy haired boy giggled childishly before practically skipping back to his chair, his soft footfalls creating a mesmerizing pattern that continued even after he had come to a halt, echoing deeply into the towel. “This,” he ran long, thin fingers over the veil that shrouded the other chair, “is how I know. He is a god, after all. He sees all.”
“Oh. If you’re using him to spy on us, will you deign to let us meet him?” Nathan said with a raised brow. “It’s rude to peep, you know.”
“I wonder what manners his mother taught him.” Solomon joked quietly. Mathieu swallowed hard to keep from laughing. The child, Enak, was kind of awkward in his motions, almost like his head and his body were disconnected.
The boy hopped into his chair like it was a throne, crossing his legs at the knees. “No. I don’t think I shall. You’re not nearly refined enough for him.”
Solomon scoffed. “I was doing refined before you were a thought in the knee-knocker relationship that spawned you.”
“And I would think one of your age would be more mature than this…” Enak checked under his fingernails for dirt.
Mathieu gently brushed his hand against Solomon’s side, trying to silently calm him, all the while his attention was on the boy. Solomon seemed to get the picture because he took a calming breath. “I don’t behave to please you.”
“And that is why you’re a lowly grunt and I am not.” Hopping up, Enak smoothed his hands down the front of his tailcoat. “Where are my manners?” He shot the blond man a nasty look, “Shall we have a spot of tea?”
Nathan bobbed his head and held a hand out in a sweeping motion. “After you, Enak.”
Enak sighed and crossed the black fire again, acting as if these small motions were painful for him. He led them out of the room with two chairs and into a side chamber with a wall made entirely of windows. Only clouds were visible beyond and Mathieu moved to stand by it for lack of anything else to do. The other two men sat at a small, octagon shaped table, their backs to Mathieu. He looked around the room at the rest of the furnishings. There were two other tables in the room, there was a dark blue rug on the white floor, and the walls were paneled with tapestries; if he hadn’t been looking at one, he wouldn’t have seen it split down the center, opening as a doorway for a servant to enter through with a tray. The servant efficiently passed out the tea cups, poured the tea, and disappeared back from whence he came.
“Now,” Enak dropped a cube of sugar into his tea and stirred it. “Since you took the long trip to come see me, at least do me the honor to tell me how the rest of the others are fairing. I only bother watching you, Nathan, so you’ll need to fill in the blanks.”
Nathan sat back in his seat, a regal air about him as his fingertip traced the rim of his teacup. “Well,” He said, looking as though he were searching for the right words. “Zanika and Zerieve are in negotiations with the outer countries for their crops to get us more capital to work with, Elise has been devising the initial attack blueprints, and we expect Ayame and Akira back tonight at my home. They have started the recruitment on that end. By the way, I do like the remodel on the Tower, much more beautiful than the ice. Warmer, too.” The redhead said, changing topics.
The boy smiled shyly. “Thank you. It was my idea. I like the look much better and now I’m not afraid of losing a few toes when I walk around bare-foot.” He smiled and looked pointedly at his feet.
“That would be a relief.”
“Solomon, where did this come from?” Enak asked curiously as he leaned forward, plucking a very white strand of hair off of the blond’s shirt.
Nathan and Solomon looked at each other discreetly. “It, uh, must have come from the inn we were staying at. Why?”
“White is such an odd color. I wonder if someone old stayed there last. I would complain about the service next time I was there. Oh well.” Enak wrapped the strand into a ringlet before setting it on his saucer. “Are you sure it isn’t from say…a spectator?”
“A spectator?” Nathan’s voice was skeptical.
Enak set his teacup aside. “Yes. Like say, the one that might be standing by the window, casting a shadow on the floor, and where Solomon’s eyes seem to be drifting to rather often?” Silence met his statement. “Come out, come out, mystery guest.”
Mathieu swallowed and cast a fearful look at Solomon who subtly nodded. Shaking slightly, he took a deep breath and lifted his hands to his hood, letting it fall back. His hair had faded by to its normal white and he looked at Enak’s saucer but didn’t move from standing by the window.
The boy stared at him for a long time, during which Mathieu didn’t move an inch. It was like Enak was pinning him with his gaze, keeping him rooted to the spot. “What is your name?”
Frowning, the answer seemed to come out without his permission. “My name is Mathieu.” He pushed his hair back and scurried to stand behind Solomon.
Standing and moving around the table, Enak touched Solomon’s shoulder to keep him seated and stopped in front of Mathieu. “Why wasn’t I told that you two had brought a third?” He asked, not looking at either man he was addressing. “I sensed him not long after you entered, yet you concealed him from me. Do you not trust me?” A spark of energy stopped Enak’s hand from touching Mathieu as it reached out, causing the boy’s eyes to go wide. “What a peculiar talent. I need to consider this development. See yourselves out.”
Solomon pushed Enak back and took Mathieu’s hand, dragging him out of the room. Mathieu cast a look back at the younger male who was still as a statue before the blond practically forced him to run out of the Sky Pillar. As soon as they were out in the fresh air, the blond stopped, looking around in a paranoid way.
“Solomon, what’s wrong? What happened?” Mathieu said, clutching the man’s wrist.
“Instinct.”
“That’s a rather unhelpful answer.” Mathieu huffed, nose wrinkled. But it did him no good. Solomon didn’t say a word until Nathan exited out the front door and mounted his tuvash. The blond grabbed him and forced him onto their shared stead and followed the redhead away from the tower at a breakneck speed.
~*~
The sun was setting over the mountain when they stopped in a gully for the night. Nathan started a fire and Solomon set up their bedrolls. Standing around awkwardly, Mathieu watched the other two. “I-I’m really sorry. It’s my f-fault that things didn’t g-go right, isn’t it?” Unwanted tears welled in his eyes and he had to turn away or risk showing them. It was so stupid of him to being getting emotional over this, but he couldn’t stop it. A few silent tears rolled down his cheeks before he could stem them. The one thing that they had asked him to do, stay hidden, he had failed at.
“I’m going to go check out the perimeter.” Solomon’s voice was as icy as it had originally been with Enak, only now it wasn’t aimed at anyone and washed over Mathieu as if directed at him. The blond walked away from their encampment, leaving Nathan and Mathieu alone.
With a sigh, Nathan sat on the ground beside the fire. “Don’t blame yourself, Mathieu. You didn’t do anything wrong. Solomon has an analytical mind, so when he overlooks things like your hair on his shirt, he rakes himself over the coals. He’ll be okay in a while.”
Mathieu nodded. somewhat thankfully, and sat beside Nathan. “He’s mad at me though, isn’t he?” He wiped his eyes.
“Hm, a bit, I think; although, I haven’t the faintest idea why.”
Looking away from Nathan, Mathieu let his hair fall forward over his shoulders. “Something kind of happened.”
“Oh?”
“He and I kissed while we were staying at the inn.”
Nathan rolled his eyes. “I already heard. He was acting like he’d committed a cardinal sin. So you two are attracted to each other, it happens. Still doesn’t give him a reason to act like a child. If you killed Mina, I could see him being upset, but not over a kiss.” Nathan said the word in an overly exaggerated way, clearly mocking the situation.
Mathieu lay back in the grass and yawned. “I guess you’re right…” He said, closing his eyes. The stars were beautiful, but with the sudden rudeness of Solomon, he didn’t want to look at them.
Nathan left him alone for a few minutes before clearing his throat. “Hey, are you hungry?”
“Yeah, actually.” Now that the man mentioned food, he was starving. He hadn’t eaten since that morning. Mathieu sat up with a grunt, folding his legs under him. “We brought some stew, right? I’ll heat it up.” Going to the packs and digging through them, he got out a pan and set to heating the leftover stew. It gave his hands something to do.
Solomon eventually wandered back to them, looking significantly less cold.
“Are you hungry, Solomon?” Nathan asked the blond.
The blond shook his head, and laid on his bed roll, his back to them.
Mathieu sighed and dished up a bowl for himself and Nathan, then sat down and watched the fire as he ate. The impromptu meal went by in relative silence before the redhead offered to do the dishes. Thanking him, Mathieu wiped his hands and face down, then lay down to sleep on the grass so that he didn’t have to be near Solomon.