Scorched

36

"As in stay here while half the village is away?"

"Yes." Mira pushes past Jezio through his doorway at which he opened rather slowly and carefully as if he were hiding something.

His room smells of sour rum and weed, but he is sober from looking at his eyes. But still, Mira didn't appreciate this side of him.

The rest of his room remained untidy as per usual —with clothes littering the corners of his room, an unmade futon, old food and plenty bottles of alcohol. Looks like a festival itself here catered for a few people even though he could down those bottles himself.

"Why can you go but not me? I thought you weren't even interested in this ceremony." He tugs his hair loose and reties it again. He looked especially comfortable in his tunic and loose breeches. Comfortable most importantly. And at home.

She sits on his bed steering lightly into his flow blue eyes. "I still don't."

He frowns then and puts his hands into his pockets. "So why are you going then?"

She raises her chin and forces herself to not burst into tears right before him. She could feel her throat becoming heavier and heavier feeling like there was wire being wrapped around it, squeezing ams choking her to death. She wills the tears to not fall down but it wasn't hard enough because she could feel one trailing down her cheek. She immediately puts her head down.

Jezio comes towards her, she hears his footsteps briskly heading to come sit next to her. "Mira? What the hell?"

He pulls her into his arms but she pushes him away and wipes her tear just as quick as it came.

"Nothing. I just need you to promise me that you'll stay here during the ceremony."

She pats her messy bun as she looks deeply into his curious and concerned eyes, looking at her gently.

He first hesitates to remain sitting but decides to stay put beside her. "There is no reason for me to go anyway, so aye I'm staying."

Shs closes her eyes in relief and could almost feel her thundering heart settle down through her thin cotton vest. Beside her, Jezio results to throwing himself on his futon staring at the ceiling above with his arms on his stomach.

"Why are you going then?"

She had to quickly think of a lie; wishing in the meantime that she could cut her own tongue off and swallow it for lying to Jezio. She lifts her chin. "I decided to go with Adelaide and Zalaena. No big reason." She had to lie about this.

"While I have to stay here because you say so?"

She pinches the inside of her wrist between her nails. "Yes. I will bring back some cakes if there are, considering we are running out of food."

He sighs and places both arms over his face as if he desperately needed to block out the light above. She could see the exhaustion in the set of his shoulders and the tense muscles of his lean arms. She pitied him.

"Are you alright Jezio? You seem... Out of it."

He mutters indistinctly through his arms but she could at least make out what he said. "I am just tired that's all."

She wonders whether she should bring up his secret about his mysterious lover Cary or whether she should leave it until the truth reveals itself.

She crosses her one thigh over the other and looks down at him. "You have been quite quiet since the Elemental were here. Found yourself a new crush?"

She smiles to herself internally.

That makes him sit up swiftly and he sends her a scowl and an annoyed glance before getting up so fast she could feel the rough breeze that passed onto her from the momentum at which he stood and rose, before stumbling towards the door looking every bit aggravated.