Elemental Thief Part I : Child of Calamity

Tears

Darya didn't know what was in that book, she didn't know how much pain even a page from the past would hold for a fifteen-year-old girl, but she wasn't surprised when Lianza stood and looked at the door, about the same time that Davanos murmured. "She's crying."

Mireyana nodded, her expression thoughtful. "She needs someone, I think."

Darya hesitated for a moment to consider Mireyana's words before looking to Lianza and nodding. "You. She needs her father. Or I would need my father, if it was me."

He only hesitated for a moment, before nodding and striding across the room, knocking on the door, murmuring softly against the wood. "It's just me."

Darya didn't hear the reply, but whatever it was, she saw Lianza open the door and slip into Treasa's room without a backward glance, feeling a pang of relief that the girl wasn't pushing him away. Darya had made that mistake so many times that by the time she realized it was a mistake, her father had been gone, and she had no recourse to make amends.

"I should probably go." Darya said finally, standing up. "But tell her to come find me if she needs to talk, doesn't matter when."

Mireyana nodded, giving her a gentle smile, though Davanos stood and walked with her out of the suites. He didn't speak, just falling into step with her as she turned and made her way to her own apartments.

"What's on your mind, Prince?" She asked finally, glancing over at him as she spoke, seeing a worried, thoughtful expression on his features. "What about this has you worried?"

Davanos glanced at her, as if surprised that she was able to read his countenance, or perhaps he had forgotten that he was walking with her. "Do you think we should have given that to her?"

Darya sighed, though she knew the right answer without debate. "Completely. It's hers. She should have had it long ago. And if we had violated that trust, she never would have forgiven us."

"But what good is the past? To what's happening now?" Davanos reached out gently, taking her hand and pulling her to a stop, pulling her off to the side, his blue eyes still containing worry. "She has Lianza now. She has a home, and the beginnings of a family. Whatever is buried, what can it do but hurt her?"

"Still, she deserves to know what her mother wanted her to know." Darya offered a shrug at that, looking down to his hand, then up to him once more, raising a brow. "It's her decision to make, not ours. And sometimes that pain is cathartic. It helps us let go of things we didn't know we were holding on to."

Davanos shook his head before pausing and giving her a curious look. "I suppose it is easy for me to say and think these things. I have both of my parents. I have lived a relatively sheltered, charmed life, with a large, loving family. What loss do I really know?"

"I have learned that pain... it expands to fill the space it has. We all have it. I'm sure you have had your share of troubles." Darya offered a shrug, squeezing his hand gently, though she couldn't say why she was still holding it, whether it was for him or her. But it was a soothing contact. "My mother died giving birth to me. No one ever said it, but sometimes, I knew Val blamed me for taking her away. I could see it in her eyes. But I grew up with a father I took for granted, certain that he loved Val and not me. Certain I didn't need either of them. But I had people who cared for me, who looked after me, and most of the troubles I faced, I was the cause of them. I probably still am." She blushed when she realized she was rambling.. "My point is, I have also had a charmed life, but you are just as capable as me at understanding loss. We just... have to let her work through it. Work through that past, and be there when she reaches out."

"I see." His eyes held hers for a moment, and she felt an odd draw into them, as if she had been fighting a rip current or a whirlpool and just lost the battle, without even realising it had started until she was drowning.

Darya had met his eyes before, but she hadn't seen him, not like this, and as scary as it was, she didn't feel any terror. Just a falling sensation that was coupled with knowing that she was safe. Then he blinked, and she turned away from him, staring at the far wall and blushing as she tried to pull her thoughts back into her own mind.

"I'm glad she has Rulin, Prince." Darya murmured, carefully pulling her hand away from his. "It pains me how badly Clairval failed her, but I'm glad she has who she has."

"Darya.... What that was..." He cleared his throat, and she felt the brush of his fingers against her wrist.

Darya forced herself to bark a laugh, even as she let her hand linger for a moment more, before taking a step back away from him. "No. It's alright. Val told me, you... and your sister, probably all your siblings, have that ability, that draw... something that pulls people in. I get it. It must get frustrating, how it happens with so many people." She smirked at the thought, forcing herself to look at him again, as if challenging him to do whatever it was he did again. "Though I wonder what would happen if you and your brother got into a staring contest or something. Does it help solve arguments?"

Davanos' eyes searched her face for a long moment before he shrugged. "Eikos and I argue more than you and your sister do. And no, it doesn't seem to work on either of my parents either..."

"Of course not." Darya looked down finally, sighing softly. "Sometimes the past is useful. Sometimes it's not. Though you have more of it than I do, so you probably know that. And even if you don't think you know loss now. I don't envy you your life. I don't think I would ever bother making friends with humans if I were you. Don't... rush to know what loss feels like... you're going to blink and one day realise Cansal is gone. I know you two are close already. I know you'll probably be grateful to lose me, but..." She trailed off and shook her head. "I'm tired. I'm not making sense."

"Just because things won't last forever, doesn't mean you shouldn't pursue them at all, Darya." He murmured softly, and like that, he was closer to her, not touching her, but close enough for her to feel the heat of his body, and the brush of his wings, half folded around both of them as they were. "We are close. It's not something I expected."

She couldn't help but look up at him, frowning carefully and staring at his mouth then, seeing his lips part, showing his pointed teeth, frowning as she realised she had paid little attention to his mouth before, or the fact that he had sharp incisors, though she'd noted them when they'd first met.

She wanted to ask him just how close the two of them were, but she couldn't. She knew it was none of her business, so she gave him another haphazard smile and shrugged dismissively. "Goodnight, Davanos."

"It's morning." He grinned, exposing more of those sharp teeth that could probably rip her throat out if they really wanted to.

"I need to sleep." She paused, though, because he didn't move, and him, his wings and the wall behind her nearly surrounded her. So she reached up and ran her fingertips along the inside skin of his wings, telling herself she was hoping they were ticklish and it would give her an out.

He laughed, though it was a deep, guttural sound, and he froze for a moment, before his wings shifted back to hanging loosely open on his back and he stepped back from her, motioning towards her door at the end of the hallway. "If you're awake before lunch, Cansal and I were going to meet to spar. You should join us. See how dumb and strong works out against your little and foolhardy."

She hadn't realised they had stopped so close to her apartments, but she blushed at that and paused for a moment, watching him curiously for a moment, before shaking her head. "You might need to give me weighted blades, just to even the playing field for you two."

He snorted, letting out a half growl that she could only laugh at, turning and walking to her door, though she was only a few steps away when it opened and Val stepped out, giving her a curious look.

She didn't need to look behind her to know that Davanos was already gone, making it seem like she was standing in the middle of an empty hallway, laughing and talking to herself.