Sweeten My Coffee

First step, final stop

Hot breaths compete against the coffee scented air. Two men, both equally surprised, keep the room as quiet as it would be when empty. The shield of Radiant Light flickers, responding accordingly to the unusual feelings of its chosen holder. One of the men, the commander, takes a deep breath. He needs to calm down as soon as possible to think properly.

The one who just looked at him with hunger in his eyes is the same person who has a deeply rooted hate for Light magic. Not to mention, he holds a personal dislike towards him. The bad state the coffee magician is in due to the alcohol leaves no room for second thoughts. Madeleine will stay for him, but not in this room.

Upon forcing his eyes away from Espresso, Madeleine feels his senses rushing back. At last, he is in control of his thoughts again.

'You ought to get some rest Espresso.' He speaks with hesitation despite the nonchalant nature of his voice.

While the knight stiffly heads out the door he steals a glance back to the silent magician. The other has not moved an inch ever since Madeleine pulled away from him. It must have been either embarrassment or shock that put him to sleep right away. In any case, that difficult situation was over for at least one of them.

In the living room, across the coffee bean shaped fire place, lies an invinting, dark blonde armchair. Commander Madeleine has already set his mind on the next goal. To sit on that chair until Espresso wakes up. According to the fancy clock over the fire place, it is 7:50pm.

Middle of the evening...if he hasn't slept in a long time I might actually have to spend the night here.

His milky white hair spreads out on the armchair as he sinks in it. Just sitting on it feels expensive.

'Divine...' He starts with a dreamy sigh. 'What is this challenge you have bestowed me?'

By exploring the wooden ceiling with his curious blue eyes he gives himself a chance to relax. It is true that this feels like a ruthless challenge, even an outsider would agree. At first he came here just to talk, but now? Now he has to worry about Espresso refusing to even look at him after what happened. Perhaps...the situation was misunderstood. That is also a possibility, considering that Madeleine knows close to nothing about Espresso. Perhaps that look was shown unintentionally. The Knight is not an expert on alcohol, nor does he have any experience with getting drunk, which means that finding a solid explanation alone will be difficult.

Ugh. Why am I thinking so hard about this?

Only in battle does he ever use his brain this much.

He is not even drunk. He said it himself. Dizzy, not drunk.

Leaning forward, he lets out a final groan of suffering.

What is truly embarrassing is how I did not control my body. I was caught off guard and...

He groans again, this time more softly.

It's 7:55

His eyes stare at the slow progressing time. Upon the arrival of another wave of silence in the house, he is left to listen to the systematic ticking of the clock. It goes on and on for however long it takes for Madeleine to close his eyes and relax.

Stars pass seamlessly above their world. Before any of the men in the house even get a glimpse of them however, they hide behind the mountains again. Madeleine was taken aback by the change of scenery when he opened his eyes. That was all until reality came back to him. He spent the whole night here without moving an inch away from the armchair. He could not believe how tired he really was.

The time says 6am now. It's one way to remind Madeleine of their first meeting together at Gnome's café. That was where it all began. Where he tried to change things. But the change he wanted then had been shaped into something new. No longer does he want Espresso to simply like him, he wants the magician to adore him and see him as the greatest Knight to ever set foot on this world. If he can help Espresso overcome his burdens, then that would ultimately lead to unlocking his heart. Right?