The Blight Chronicles: Odalia & Alador

First Kiss

The pair were sitting side by side in an empty classroom. This had become part of their routine. Whenever they had free time during school they would find a classroom that was empty so they could work on their business projects or do their homework.  

It had already been over a year since they started their partnership. Ever since then the two spent all of their free time together working on new ideas and plans for growing their business. Day in and day out they would be tirelessly working on improving themselves and refining their business model during and after school. They had a little bit over two years left in school and they wanted to make the most of it. Once they graduated from Hexside they wanted to hit the ground running. 

"Hey, Odalia?" 

"Yes?" responded Odalia while still working on their invoice sheet. 

"Are you my girlfriend?" asked Alador in his usual monotone voice without looking up from the blueprints he was working on. 

Odalia stopped what she was doing and looked at her companion in shock. Alador and her had been working together for a long time now. During that time she had developed strong feelings for him but mixing romance with business was never a good idea. Plus she would have never guessed that he would have feelings for her. Or that he was able to feel that way about anyone. 

"Um... I suppose not since you've never asked me and I don't recall asking you to be my boyfriend. " Responded Odalia, trying her best to seem calm and composed. There had to be a logical reason why Alador was asking her this. There was absolutely no way it was because he had romantic feelings for her. Or was there? 

"Why do you ask? she said trying her best to seem uninterested but her face gave her away. Not that Alador would notice either way at least she hoped not. 

"Huh, I see. I was asking because a lot of people refer to you as my girlfriend and I wasn't sure," noted Alador. 

Of course, that's what it was. He just wanted to know the answer to a question. This was not unusual, he was always asking the most random questions but they were always driven by his need to understand the world around him. She had to admit that she did find it a bit disappointing but she should know better than to get her hopes up. Wait a minute. 

"What do you mean you weren't sure?" she said looking at him perplexed.

"Well by definition I would assume you are," he said matter of factly without looking up. "We're always together, I would describe our relationship as serious since we have a business, plus we're always holding hands."

Odalia was completely dumbfounded. She could not find the words to respond. Did he want her to be his girlfriend? This wasn't like him at all. Was it? When did he start thinking of them as more than business partners?

Finally looking up from his work Alador noticed Odalia's face was completely red and she was staring at him. Was she mad at him?

"Odalia?" She was still staring at him. 

I guess this is when I'm supposed to kiss her. He didn't wait for her to respond before leaning in. Her lips felt soft and warm against his. 

"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked in his same monotone voice, his face still inches from hers. "Odalia?"

...He kissed me! He kissed me! Why did he kiss me? Wait, girlfriend? I...we...me...his girlfriend? 

"Al...Alador um I.." oh Titan why was it so hard to speak just say yes you fool! 

She felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Her face was so hot she could swear steam was coming out of her ears. Focus Odalia, use your words! Why is he so close? And his eyes, his beautiful golden eyes were piercing right through her. She was not used to him focusing all of his attention on her. 

"Ye...Yes, I will be your girlfriend" good you did it! Now get a hold of yourself Odalia. 

At her response Aldor leaned forward again and gave her another kiss, this time lingering a bit longer than the first before leaning back on his seat and going back to his work. "Good" he mumbled softly to himself with a small smile on his face. 

The second kiss triggered Odalia to have a vision of the future. It was the two of them as adults still together holding hands. The thought made her smile.

She was in a daze after that, a happy daze but still, she had a nagging feeling something wasn't right. This was completely not like him. She was happy of course but something felt out of place. 

"...Hey, Alador? What brought this on? What made you decide to ask me to be your girlfriend?" she probed doing her best to play it cool although her face was still burning from the second kiss. 

"Darius," he said, still focused on his work.  

Darius had been the one to bring up the subject of whether or not Odalia was his girlfriend. Alador hadn’t given it much thought before but Darius said he should be careful or another person could take Odalia from him. Once that happened she wouldn't spend time with him anymore. 

He was used to being alone and he even enjoyed not being around people but he preferred being alone with Odalia by his side. He didn't want to lose her. 

Darius had said that in order to make sure he didn't lose her he had to kiss her and ask her to be his girlfriend. He still wasn't sure why Darius would give him advice or why he kept snickering while they were having their conversation but he wasn't going to let his advice go to waste. He wouldn't take that chance.

"Oh I see," she said, pretending to go back to her work. She would make sure to have a chat with Darius about this later. She knew that he hated Alador so if he was involved that meant he was trying to hurt Alador. 

He probably thought this would ruin our relationship. Unfortunately for him it just made it stronger.