Bonds of Light and Fire

15. Deepest Desires

The artwork above is not mine.

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Rain poured outside and thunder boomed. Still, Vaughan hadn't emerged from the shower. Luciana peered down the hallway, worry twisting her stomach into knots. Aeron stood near a window, watching the rain fall.

"Aedion says the rain will turn to snow within a week or so," he said. "Did it snow much where you grew up?"

Luciana shook her head and resumed cooking. Tonight, she was making baked potatoes and a spicy type of ground beef to go on top of them. "Rarely, but I remember how beautiful it was the few times that it did. I'm excited to see how the snow changes things here."

"It's breathtaking," Aeron replied with a smile. "I'll show you all of my favorite spots."

"I can't wait."

"Oh, I have a day of leave coming up soon, so I thought maybe you'd like to go into Orynth with me. We can see if there's anything you need, and I could use a good drink." Luciana opened her mouth to reply, but Aeron continued before she could. "And, it's about time you tried something."

"Like what?" Luciana asked.

Aeron shrugged. "I don't know, but we'll figure it out."

"All right." Luciana glanced at the hallway again and sighed. "Do you think he's okay? He was acting strange before he left, and he's been in there for almost two hours."

"Maybe he just likes long showers."

Luciana shook her head. "It usually only takes him twenty minutes to shower."

Her gaze fell to the wooden block on the counter where knives were usually kept. One was missing. She'd set it out before going to train so that she could use it to chop onions for her meat. It was gone when she and Aeron came in.

Vaughan couldn't have it, she thought. Surely he isn't one to...

She caught herself a heartbeat later. How much did she really know about the quiet male she lived with? It wasn't impossible for him to have the terrible tendencies she'd thought of. But if he did and he was taking this long, perhaps he'd done something more than hurt himself. Perhaps he was in there right now, bleeding out while the shower ran, and they were doing nothing to help him. Nothing to stop him. Luciana set her utensil aside and took a step towards the hallway.

Vaughan appeared, looking a little worse for wear. There were dark circles under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept in days, or perhaps had been crying. His damp hair was loose and slightly curled at the ends. He'd dressed himself fully, even going so far as to wear a long sleeved shirt. She stared at his arms, praying that decision hadn't been made to hide self-inflicted wounds.

"Sorry I took so long," he murmured. "I was... Nevermind. Do you need help with anything?"

"No," Luciana replied, her heart skipping a beat. She opened the oven and withdrew the finished potatoes. She set one on each of their plates, then brought over the pan of meat and a bowl of cheese that she'd grated.

They took turns helping themselves and began to eat quietly. Aeron was the first to break the silence. "I can't describe how much I've missed your cooking, Luci," he chuckled. "My own and the camp rations are as good as pig vomit compared to this."

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not," Luciana laughed. "Anything would be better than pig vomit."

She glanced at Vaughan, but he was staring vacantly out the window. He didn't appear to have heard a word they said. Aeron followed her gaze to the male, then glanced at her. The rest of the meal passed in silence.