The Undercroft Gauntlet

Chapter 5: Arrival of the Schools

As Ominis continued to cry on his chest, Talen stroked Ominis' hair, biting his cheek to keep from acting on the urge to be more intimate. Leaving the bedroom door ajar, Talen wrapped his arm around Ominis' shoulder and slowly guided him down the stairs and to a loveseat near one of the common room windows. Before he sat themselves down, Talen stopped and asked, "do you want to go get your wand? I don't want you to stumble."

Ominis shook his head, then said weakly with a crack in his voice, "I don't need my wand right now. I need―"

Ominis didn't finish his thought.

Now closer to the light of the Black Lake, Ominis' eyes glowed brighter with the night's eerie shade. They sat on the couch, half an arm's length apart. Ominis pulled his knees close to his chest, resting his bare feet on the green leather cushion.

"When did you get her last letter?" Talen asked, placing his hands uncomfortably on his lap. He knew that most of Ominis' mail came straight to his dorm, as all of it was enchanted with the vocalization spell ― as opposed to the more well-known howler variant.

"It was on my bed after supper," Ominis whispered.

"Was that her last letter?" Talen asked. "Or did she just warn she was going to go into hiding soon?"

Ominis sniffled, "it was her last letter."

A chill shot down Talen's spine. "Just like that?" He asked as steadily as he could.

Ominis grunted in approval. "How am I supposed to process this, Tal?" He asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Don't even try," Talen advised. "You can't force yourself. It'll just happen, in time."

"I've been locked in my room since I read her letter. I feel absolutely dehydrated," Ominis diagnosed. His words had the connotation of color and humor, but he delivered it with callousness. "And now that I am all cried out, I feel nothing. Not angry or sad, just nothing."

"I think that's fairly normal."

"Tal," Ominis said with an edge, "you have no idea what I've been feeling. Please don't be so aloof."

Talen swallowed, "you're right. I have no idea what you're feeling."

"Simply validating my feelings isn't going to help anything," Ominis chastised.

"Then what would you have me do?"

Ominis continued with mounting frustration, "I want you to simply― no, I need you to make it―" Ominis' face twisted and scrunched as he buried it into his knees. Despite his proclaimed dehydration, Ominis found more tears to fall down his cheeks.

Talen gazed into the empty fire pit, its coals and remaining wood a sickly green. His stomach started to drop.

It wasn't my intention to―

Ominis did something that made Talen's vision blur and for sweat to build under his collar ― despite the grasping chill of the dungeons.

Ominis reached his hand towards Talen, placing it gently on the couch between them.  He whispered, barely audibly, "thank you for being here."

Talen' heart raced so fast, he could feel his pulse in his wrist. He slowly placed his own hand on top of Ominis.' Goosebumps raised along his arm.

The common room suddenly seemed warmer. 

"And I don't mean just for tonight," Ominis continued. His hand vibrated beneath Talen's.  "I know it's not always easy, being my friend."

For a single, fleeting moment, Talen was controlled by an urge he could not repel: he slowly caressed his thumb over Ominis' hand, back and forth.