Classy, Controlled Chaos - The STEAM Team Adventures

🐦‍🔥 Reincarnation [8/10] 🐦‍🔥

King Arthur's POV:

The moment Tia stumbled into our room, I knew what had happened.

Someone had lit her fuse and she wanted me to put out the flame.

Luckily, I'm a professional when it comes to handling a ticking time bomb like her.

"Alright, who was it?" I asked calmly, dipping the tip of my paintbrush into a jar of water.

She let out a frustrated grumble, her tail twitching erratically as she did her best to gently close the door behind her. "Everyone."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Including Blanco?"

Her harsh expression softened for a moment before she spoke firmly again. "Not him. He didn't do anything wrong. But everyone else,
yeah."

I sat down on my painting stool, pulling her chair over and patting the seat. "Talk to me."

The captain's tail relaxed slightly, lowering itself onto the ground. "Do you bite?"

"I should be asking you that question," I grinned, watching her take her place next to me. "But seriously, though, you can always vent to me whatever you need to. I'm here for you, and when you're here with me, only you. Got it?"

Tia crossed her legs, smiling at me. "Thanks for the reassurance, Arthur."

I slowly reached up, about to pet her on the head, but hesitated before I made contact with her. "Of course."

Before I could move, she took my palm, resting it on the bandage patch on her cheek. "I don't really wanna talk, though. I just need... Comfort. Just to feel some peace for once. Don't tell anyone about this, though. I have a reputation to maintain."

I chuckled at that last statement, gently rubbing her cheek with my thumb. "Haven't told a soul, and never will. King's promise."

"Thank you, Arthur..." She mumbled, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath. "Also, did anyone ever tell you that you smell really nice?"

"Yeah, at least once or twice in the several thousand years that I've lived." I snorted jokingly, earning a quiet laugh from my apprentice. "Planning on tracking me down like a bloodhound whenever I get out of your sight?"

"Absolutely," The captain replied, letting go of my hand and turning to face the blank canvas on her easel. "If you use perfume, don't change it. I like it the way it is."

A couple minutes after we settled down to begin painting, we were both blanketed in a comfortable layer of silence, quietly working pigment onto the white surface.

I mentioned earlier that we would be painting a sunset, so Tia went after the idea as well.

She was going for a dim sunset in the middle of a fierce, raging storm, and I was creating one with clear skies.

"People say that art can be an expression of an emotion the artist is feeling as they created that piece." My apprentice mumbled to herself, tapping the tip of her brush in her palette of paint.

"That's true," I chimed in, gently washing my canvas with a watered down blue. "And right now, you're gripping your brush so tight that your fingertips are turning white."

She gave me a startled look, loosening the firm grip on her tool. "How did you know that?"

"You're radiating with heat right now," I commented, giving her a respectful side glance. "Normally you're cold, but when you're fuming, you're a full-on wildfire."

"So you're saying I'm hot, temperature-wise." The captain muttered, lightly dabbing some Payne's gray on her canvas.

"Don't say that, that makes us sound weird." I warned her, pulling out my reading glasses. "You're giving your sorcerer friend an excuse to beat the moonlight out of me."

"Oh, I wouldn't let her." She scoffed. "Not a chance in Heaven. Even if she somehow manages to take my life, I wouldn't let her lay a finger on you. Over my dead body."

"Who's dead body?"

I nearly had a heart attack as my son, Prince Edward, strode into the room.

"Yours if you don't leave right this second." Tia snarled, lashing her whale-like tail against the ground. "How did you even get here? Aren't you supposed to be in the Horizon Library by now?"

"Ooh, feisty." The prince grinned, flashing her a friendly smile. "But tell me, whatcha guys gossiping about? I'd love to listen."

I frowned at him, shaking my head. "Don't you know how to knock?"

He gave me an apologetic glance, rapping his knuckles against the wooden door. "Oopsies, my bad. Anyways-"

"What you just said will be the words that come out of my mouth after I freeze your face off." My apprentice hissed darkly, a cloud of cold mist accumulating around her bandaged throat.

"Hey, hey, calm down!" I snapped, reaching for her in an attempt to restrain her tiny form before she could inflict anymore trauma than she already has. "Violence isn't always the answer to everything, y'know."

"That implies that it is a viable option, and in this situation, it is." The captain retorted, standing up from her stool and firmly slapping my hands back with her tail flukes. "No touchy."

Edward gave me an amused look. "Can't control a damsel as uncontrollable as her, can you?"

"SHUT UP!" Tia screeched, swiftly whirling around and slamming her powerful fist directly into his jaw.

She sent him flying back, rolling across the carpet and out the door.

I was stunned into silence for a few moments, watching my apprentice calmly close the door behind her.

"You're such a fireball." I huffed as she returned to her seat beside me. "Hopefully that didn't do some catastrophic damage."

"Hopefully it did, or I'll go out there and rub some more salt into that injury." The captain snarled, visibly tensing up. "Y'know, if it wasn't for the fact that Edward was your son, I would have drowned him in the harbor years ago..."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "You should be grateful for the fact that I even tolerate your reckless behavior. If not, I wouldn't have held that mock-execution to save your life. Not that it matters..."

My eyes widened at that last statement; I had gone too far.

"Tia, wait, no..." I stuttered, standing up and bracing myself for an attack as she silently turned to face me. "I didn't mean..."

My sentence trailed off as she quietly dipped her head, letting out a choked sob.

She wasn't tensing up to spring.

She just... Sat there.

Then, I saw a tear bead up in the corner of her eye.

I was hit with a sudden wave of regret as I realized what I had done.

"I know I don't matter, Arthur." My apprentice agreed, solemnly lowering her orca tail on the ground. "Sorry for bothering you for like... Six or seven years."

"No, Tia, I'm supposed to be sorry." I confessed, putting a hand to my heart. "I didn't mean to say it that way, I-"

"Don't feel guilty." She replied bluntly, lifting up her head. "You tolerated my existence for far too long. I don't mean to make this departure difficult."

A soft smile appeared on her face as she stood up from her stool and backed towards the door.

The words fell out of my mouth, soundlessly drifting to the ground as she gave me a silent nod and left the room.

I couldn't tune out the series of anguished, heartbroken roars that followed from outside, which was Tia venting out her emotions to whoever wanted to hear.

I couldn't blame her, though.

In her eyes, she just lost the one person she could trust.

Worst of all, it's my fault.