Eminence (Wattpad Edition)

Note 24 - Back When It Was You And I

A loud yelp had broken the quiet peace Emanon and Warren had been experiencing and they both got up in reaction. Warren headed in to see the commotion.

"Oh god—Jack!" Anika cried, waving a towel near the stovetop. "You've basically deep-fried the pan."

"I turned it down! It was the eggs that got away from me!"

Theo stood near the counter, arms crossed, an unimpressed smirk twitching at his lips. "This is a war crime against breakfast."

Jack groaned, holding up a scorched spatula like a white flag. "I just wanted to try something, okay? I thought it'd be easy!"

"Easy, he says." Theo turned dramatically to Warren. "Sir, I regret to inform you that our commander has been lost to the enemy."

"What did you do?" he asked flatly.

"He's managed to burn both the sausage and the eggs. It seems you are needed."

Warren chuckled, despite the smoke. But when he glanced toward the living room and didn't see Emanon, he started to head back, and Theo passed him. He gave him a wave of 'I got it, don't worry' and then stepped out to the balcony. Theo slid the door open, catching a breath of clean air and the sight of her before closing the door behind him.

"I thought you were airing the smoke," Emanon said.

"I was. It's all gone now." He joked, making a little poof sound while flicking his fingers. She gave him a side glance.

"Gave up on the chaos and decided to distract yourself with the view?" he asked softly.

"Huh? Oh—yeah. Something like that. Warren said something like that earlier too."

He stepped closer, and she didn't move away. Theo sat beside her, the railing framing the sea like a painting.

"How have you been this early morning after everything? You don't seem very impacted."

"I've just been thinking, that's all. Do I really look uninterested?"

"I wouldn't say interested but maybe a little desensitized? You seem like you don't really know how to react to things so you try to be casual and brush it off like you can handle it—like you're trying to be mature about things. It's uncharacteristic of you from my perspective."

"And here I thought trying not to be immature would impress everybody."

"Why? Everyone likes you just the way you are, Emanon. Bratty and spoiled."

"Hey!"

"What? It's fine. Why are you trying so hard?"

Emanon's expression bordered between bratty and embarrassed.

"Oh, so you really are trying to be mature then? How cute, but you know, Em, you can be mature and still be honest. You can be honest and kind. Tell me. Share it with me."

"I'm sorry Theo, I haven't been very fair, have I? I just really don't have anything to share. I really don't have anything. I feel very empty compared to all of you. I don't know how to relate or connect with anyone's feelings. I want to, I really do, I just—nothing comes out."

"You don't really need anything to connect though."

"Eminence had memories, she had people she connected with, she had you."

"And you have Jack, you have Warren, and Anika, and me."

"But I also want memories, is that too selfish? I want to know what I was like as a kid. I feel like a joke, I thought I knew myself, but I was someone else entirely and I don't even know her. Am I even like her in the slightest?"