Allured

Ch. 15

When Raul was sure that Theron was finally separated from everyone else, he hurried over. "Theron!" He hissed, not wanting to shout his name too loudly. "Are you even trying in the games?"

Theron turned when he heard his name. Blinking, he scratched the back of his head. "Hey, Raul, I didn't think you'd be out of the house today." He smiled at him. "I'm glad you're feeling better to move around."

"Don't ignore my question." Raul accused him, not exactly happy. "Are you losing on purpose? Tomorrow is the tournament. How are you going to catch up to Egil?"

He sighed, deeply. "Raul..." He said, unsure how to explain himself. "I'm not interested in the games. I don't need to prove myself because I'm only the second child. Ichiro is a very good man and would make a better chief than me." Theron stretched. "That's all Ichiro wanted was become the best for everyone. Me? I don't care. I only want to be happy, and, well, going on a voyage isn't going to do that nor leaving this village would."

Raul couldn't believe his ears. "So... you're saying that you're selfish and want your elder brother to handle all the responsibility?"

"I am selfish." Theron agreed to that part. "But I won't let my brother take on all the responsibility. I'll be his retainer if need to be, but I don't need to go on a voyage to prove my worth. Being a brother, who is willing to be there for him when he needs it, is a whole lot better than showing off."

"Does your father know?" Raul asked, still trying to comprehend that he wasn't really trying all this time.

"Oh, he knows." Theron chuckled. "I made it aware a long time ago. I'm not disowned or anything, but he won't have expectations for me anymore."

"Doesn't that feel worse?"

"Truthfully, no." Theron chuckled. "He still loves me as his son and will show all the affection in the world. It was more of the fact that he won't expect me to compete to become chief, and that's all I want."

"I'm not exactly please to hear this either." Raul admitted. "How can your father be more accepting to this than I could? It feels strange."

"Well, he had six months to come in terms with it." He shrugged. "I told him a long time ago so that he can get use to the idea before it happens. Ichiro doesn't care either as he always knew I wanted to do my own thing. He was the one that convinced father that it must be Odin's will to send me on a different path that was more suited for me."

"Odin's will was to make you a pain in the arse." Raul muttered, grumpily.

Theron laughed and reached out to set his hand on his shoulder. "Only if I'm the pain in your arse." He winked. "Anyways, Egil is head over heels over my brother so why should I stop him?"

Raul instantly sputtered. "W-What?!" He gasped. "Wha—no—when!" He couldn't even form a sentence. Egil and Ichiro? No way!

"When? Well, probably when they went on that hunting trip that lasted two weeks. You remember right? We had a shortage of food during the fall a couple years back, so we sent out pairs to go out hunting on the isle. They went further out so they took longer than the others." Theron told him, thinking about it. "At the time, they were huge rivals and had huge misunderstandings about each other, but was forced to be together for the hunting trial. That, and for two weeks. You can't say being alone with someone for two weeks in the wild, doesn't bring two people closer?"

"I thought they repaired whatever issues they had." Raul admitted. "I didn't think that they would be... on such good terms."

"Well, I was able to tell right away." He chuckled as if remembering it. "He wasn't too please about it and we had a shuffle."

"Wait, what? Why!" Raul asked, not understanding why they would be upset.

"You're forgetting that I was considered a rival for the role of chief at the time. A chief son being known to lay with men and not women to bear a child is basically a crime." Theron told him. "I was also bitter that they were flaunting what they had, while mine was one-sided. So, I said some things that I shouldn't and we got into a fight. By the time we're done fighting, I revealed my one-sided love and... cry like a wee boy and we hadn't fought since because I wasn't all that interested in the position anyways."

"Wait, one-sided?" He asked, feeling stupid in doing so after saying it. Now, that hand on his shoulder felt hot to him.

He leaned forward so that their faces were inches apart. "Yes, my one-sided long crush that became love for you, but didn't have an outlet." He brushed his lips against Raul's cheek, who suddenly blushed red from the proximity. "Wondering long and hard on how I can get you to love me too."

Raul swallowed. This was the moment. He could finally reveal his feelings for Theron, and worry about the consequences later. Pulling back some so that he could look at him, he spoke, "Theron, to be honest, I----"

"What are you two doing?" called out a voice.

Jerking away instantly, Raul turned around to the voice and blanched. Well! This was the worst thing possible at the moment because, of course, that single voice had to be his best friend Welch, who admitted his love to him a couple days ago!