Heart of Glass (A Minecraft EndermanXReader)

Chapter 18: Beauty in the Eye of a Smitten Beholder

"That's actually not a half bad outfit."

"You think?" Elianore twirled slightly.

"I wish it had more color. Like that armor you wear, or the yellow shawl. You look better with a little. Pop. Y'know?" Nathaniel leaned into his palm.

"Yeah, I chose the gold accent for that, but it's not quite enough."

Nathaniel was, for once, not wearing bright red. He'd settled into a long yellow skirt, with a slit that came all the way up to the waistband, and a matching cropped tube top. He had pink sandals, the same color as his hair, and wore plenty of pink jewelry. The only red on him was a ring on his left hand, what looked like solid redstone. "I don't know. It looks like a work in progress."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Like, my first ceremonial outfit was pretty similar to what I wear every day. Lots of red. Black pants. Red robe. I think I dyed my hair with coal for it. It's taken time, and a lot of self-discovery, to get to this."

"I was going to say, you seem to be dressed quite... effeminate tonight." Elan smiled.

"I prefer skirts during these things. I get hot and sweaty, so it's nice to have something loose and not touching too much skin. Plus, I think I look quite handsome in them."

Aodh was rummaging through chests, ignoring the conversation. He was wearing a blue robe with short sleeves, with a rose freshly embroidered on the back. "Hey, Anore?" He asked, pulling a glass bottle out of one of the chests.

"What's up, kiddo?"

"You can't touch water?"

"No, not really."

"Can you drink it? Dad makes me drink it all the time."

"Well..."

Elan shook his head. "We can't drink it, which is why it's important we eat a lot of fruit and vegetables, because they have water in them, but not enough to burn us."

"What about potions?" Aodh hadn't even turned around.

"Well, I think we can drink potions. I got to try a healing potion once in school. But there's a lot more ingredients in that than water."

Nathaniel tilted his head. "What about, say, an awkward potion? That's mostly water."

"Huh, good question."

"Is it like, a certain percentage water?"

"Well, even handling bits of an apple too long can burn our hands. Our saliva acts as a barrier to make our mouths and insides a little more resistant, but I know drinking straight water can still cause problems. I've seen people burn their throats from the inside out trying to deal with dehydration. But I'm not sure how much of something else would have to be in it."

"Do you have an awkward potion?" Elianore held his hand out.

"Don't experiment on yourself!" Elan scolded him.

"I'll spit it out if it burns, I won't swallow it."

"Spit it right on Warrick's good floor." Nathaniel remarked.

"I'll spit it in the plant over there." Elianore pointed.

"Ooh! I found one!" Aodh ran over.

Warrick walked in just then, wearing essentially the same white robe he always wore, just with no sleeves, and he had a rose around his left wrist. "Alright, everyone else is waiting." He glanced behind him at the door. "Come on, Clara. Everyone wants to see."