Chiaroscuro

cinque

Never did Aldrich expect for revenge to taste so good.

As he sat in front of their campfire, he watched the way Lenore would evenly rotate a giant twizzlers stick that strung two perfectly roasted bunnies together. Flames jumped and licked their succulent meat, giving them a crispy crunch to their ripe and glossy skin.

Already, Aldrich was sinking his teeth into the juicy fat of a steaming rabbit leg. It had been far too long since the last time he ate some real protein.

Meanwhile, Lenore was patient enough to tend to the rest of their well done bunnies before splitting the third and final bunny into equal halves. One for him and one for Aldrich. He didn't get to taste his portion until the campfire was already fading away.

Though he could cultivate campfires for food, he was more sensitive to heat overall and couldn't eat anything until it was nearly lukewarm in temperature.

Aldrich almost found that funny. He even said so himself.

"So you've been able to wipe out others on your way to great power, but things being a little too hot is where you draw the line?"

He delivered this as a heated comment, hoping to get a reaction out of him. A moment of silence lingered as he waited in anticipation. He was deliberately prodding him here, seeing what he'd do.

He knew he shouldn't, but curiosity had been itching at him lately.

Lenore, however, didn't react much to that. From what Aldrich had been noticing so far, he didn't react much to anything. He never got offended. Never angry. Or showed much emotion overall.

He simply blinked in response before telling him a simple, "Yes."

Internally, Aldrich sighed.

The only time he'd shown emotion so far was when Aldrich accidentally hurt him during the night of their truce. And even then, it wasn't much.

Frankly, it was driving him crazy. Somehow, for someone who was supposed to be his sworn enemy, Aldrich had been expecting a lot more out of Lenore.

More evil, less compliance.

Being around Lenore made him realize that he wasn't even that bad. Sure, he was bad, but he wasn't bad.

He was never rude, never spoke out of turn. He always listened. And he would even help cook for them without even a single complaint– just like now.

All of that bothered Aldrich.

Logically, this was good news. The less to deal with, the better. But mentally, it'd been bothering him for days now. Because if this was how things have been all along, then was The Prophecy back home all a lie?

What was the point of being The Chosen One?

Everyone back in his home kingdom told him that Lenore would be a great force of evil to be reckoned with. They claimed that he was the most merciless Umbra out of all Umbras.

But all Aldrich could see, as they shared this temporary alliance, was some random guy. A random guy who just happened to stand at almost seven feet tall, with shadowy claws for hands and porcelain white skin.

A guy that didn't look like a guy. He still appeared as the monster he was supposed to be, but nowadays, Aldrich couldn't imagine him in any other way.

"You're staring at me," Lenore pointed out, jerking him back to reality with a few soft-spoken words.

Aldrich felt his cheeks flare up as he quickly shot back with a terribly false rebuttal.

"No, you're staring at me," he lied.

Internally, he slapped himself. What did that even mean–

"Mmh..." Lenore let out a thoughtful hum. "I guess I am. You're not bad to look at."

Oh.

Oh?

The heat in his cheeks escalated while a short laugh, made in disbelief, slipped out. "I'm not bad to look at?"

"No."

Lenore continued to fix his gaze onto Aldrich's freckled face with smokey black eyes, further proving his point. Those same eyes that could peer into the depths of his soul, which now viewed him under a different angle. A kinder spotlight.

And this time, Aldrich liked the attention. He reveled in it. Craved it.

Something warm and fuzzy squirmed from within. Pride swelled inside of him as he puffed out his chest.

Not to brag, but Aldrich could appreciate the truth. Conventionally speaking, he often believed himself to be an attractive man. Many of his Soleil peers, back in his home kingdom, would attest to that. Girls used to swoon in his presence and guys used to acknowledge the reality of it.

Lenore was simply another guy who had enough sense to see the obvious. Nothing weird about that.

Aldrich smiled, a thumb pointed at himself. "Well, a prince must always be handsome. A prince keeps his promises and he can look good while doing it."

Though Lenore remained quiet, the unspoken admiration in his eyes was in agreement to that.