Hexblade's Charm

Three and then some - Worried

Hexi returned to Malyck's little flat worried and distracted. He started preparing the food and put some late autumn flowers on the table, cleaned up the messes he had made in Malyck's absence, but his heart wasn't in it.

What was happening to the Mists? How did the dragons get in there again? Would he even be able to do this? Was it all just a lie and elaborate trick by Oswald to get him into his clutches again? How dangerous would this mission really be?

Suddenly the oven started hissing as hot stew flowed over the edges of the pot. Hexi was ripped out of his thoughts and hectically started to stop the disaster from happening, but the whole oven was soon encrusted in stew, which started to burn into the hot surfaces everywhere, creating a horrible stink and cloud of smoke.

"Fuuuuuck... Come on, come on", Hexi mumbled and tried to rub the oven clean, but instead he just burned his fingers and hissed in pain. Anxiety started clawing at his heart, making it hard to breathe in the smoke from the burned parts of the meal. He felt his throat close up as he stared at the mess.

"What's going on here?", he heard Malyck's amused voice from behind. "I'm gone for two weeks, and you almost burn the house down?"

Hexi flinched, caught in the act. Malyck slung his arms around him from behind and rested his cheek against Hexi's back.

"I'm kidding, Hex... Thank you for cooking. And I must say, I'm really impressed by how clean you've managed to keep the place. It's lovely to be back."

Hexi turned around and wrapped Malyck in a tight embrace. He was afraid his face might betray him, so he just buried his nose in Malyck's red and pink leaves and breathed in the familiar smell of petrichor.

"I missed you", he whispered. The lump in his throat was still there and he breathed slowly, carefully, not wanting to betray his emotion. But Malyck knew him better than that.

"I missed you too", he replied softly and reached up to gently stroke his partner's raven-black locks. "But hey, it's only been two weeks... you seem upset. Are you okay? Has something happened?"

Hexi swallowed and just tightened his embrace.

"Hex. Whatever it is, it's going to be okay..."

Malyck was confused. He hadn't seen Hexi so upset in a long time. A sense of uneasiness started to creep up in him and made the tiny leaves all over his body stand up.

"Come on, let's open the window and let the smoke out and eat first. If you want, I'll tell you about our latest research, and you can tell me what's wrong, okay?"

Hexi let out a deep breath. Slowly, his anxiety was fading. Malyck had this way of calming him down, like Yanga and Lyriel did. He released the Sylvari from the embrace and forced himself to smile.

"Sure. Thanks."

Malyck started inspecting the mess at the oven while Hexi opened the windows, and soon they were sitting at their small kitchen table with flowers and candles to fight the darkness of the night falling outside.

"It's really good", Malyck said appreciatively. Hexi just nodded. He had barely touched his spoon. Malyck decided he'd had enough of this. He resolutely pushed his chair back, took Hexi's hand and pulled him over into the living room and onto the sofa.

"You will tell me what is wrong now, Heximander", he said sternly. His blue eyes searched Hexi's face for any clues. "Did anyone get hurt?"

Hexi shook his head and sighed. He should have known. He couldn't hide anything from Malyck.

"I had a weird encounter today at the market. Remember when I told you about our adventure with Mad King Thorn and how he made me come back later after he stole Padraig's weapons?"