The atmosphere in the workshop remained tense as Lamonte, still weakened by his worsening condition, rested on a makeshift cot. Mona, Winona, Lucio, and I stood together, trying to navigate the unspoken complexities that had come to the surface.
Winona, with her keen observation skills, turned to Lucio and took a deep breath. "Lucio, Lamonte's in love with you."
Lucio's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he scoffed. "What? No way, Winn. I'm your boyfriend, not his."
Winona sighed, her expression patient but firm. "Lucio, it's more complicated than that. The signs are all there. The flowers, the ensemble pieces he always wears – they all point to his feelings for you."
I looked over at Lamonte's belongings scattered around the workshop, realizing that Winona was onto something. Lamonte's ensemble, a carefully curated combination of colors and textures, held a distinctive flair that coincided with Lucio's preferences.
Lucio, however, crossed his arms defensively. "You're reading too much into this, Winn. Lamonte's just eccentric."
Winona raised an eyebrow, undeterred. "Eccentric? Really? Have you not noticed the petals, the coughing? It's The Petal Disease, Lucio. Lamonte's literally coughing up flowers because he can't confess his feelings to you."
Lucio's eyes widened with disbelief, and he glanced towards Lamonte, who was feebly attempting to sit up on the cot. The realization seemed to dawn on him slowly.
"No way," Lucio muttered, running a hand through his hair. "This is ridiculous. We're rivals, that's it."
Winona exchanged a knowing glance with Mona Amphitrite. "Lucio, just because you see him as a friend doesn't mean his feelings are any less real. You need to talk to him, and we need to help him through this. It's not just about your friendship; it's about his well-being."
As Lucio hesitated, the weight of the situation hung in the air. I couldn't help but voice the uneasy feeling settling in the pit of my stomach.
"Why do I get the feeling we're about to witness a breakup?" I murmured, glancing between Lucio and Winona.
The workshop fell into an uncomfortable silence, the unspoken tension palpable. The fate of their relationships, intertwined with the complexities of unrequited love and unexpected confessions, hung in the balance. Lamonte's Petal Disease had unraveled a web of emotions that none of them could escape, and the workshop, once a refuge from the outside world, now became the stage for a confrontation that would shape the course of their journey through Ironvale.
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Cobalt and The Five Stars
FantasyWhen a boy simply known as Cobalt awakes in a dimension far from his own, he is more than determined to get back home, all while making friends along the way, to harness the legendary five elemental stars to create a gateway back to his world. Howev...
