Varian of the Northern Isles

Terrin

Varian's POV
Hypatia was up early the next morning and was gazing over a detailed map with Terrin. They seemed to be wrapped up in all that they were doing so I went to rummage through my supplies. I found our food pack and was surprised to find ham sandwiches. I picked one up and and began to chew. My alchemy set had been primarily untouched for most of this journey so I figured now was a good time to experiment. I pulled open my most recent note book and began to assemble my material.
Hypatia and Terrin talked long into the day. I head snippets of their conversation, most of which dealt with our passage through the Cliffs of the falling sky. The name sounded grandiose enough but from the sound of it, the journey would take atleast a good week to cross the mountain range. I went back to my work, but I couldn't concentrate. The temperate felt unusually cold, but neither Hypatia or Terrin seemed concerned. It was well past noon before we began packing up.
"Varian, come on!" Hypatia called over to me. She was already seated on her horse and I heard a distinct joyful tone in her voice. She seemed to be happier today than in the last few days.
"So, when did you first get interested in alchemy?" Hypatia asked, her head tilted slightly back towards mine.
"I don't know," I glanced away from her intense gaze," I think I just found a bunch of old notebooks for some science fair my dad took me too, but I don't remember it very clearly." She nodded her head and the conversation flowed freely from there. We talked about Carona and Hypatia gave me more in-depth knowledge about the the Northern Isles. Terrin remained quiet for most of the ride, only occasionally adding a remark here and there.
"I swear, Carona has the best sun rises and sunsets! It sometimes looks like there is liquid gold flowing for the sky!" I bragged," I think that's why the sun drop flower grew there in the first place!"
"Oh please, the Northern Isles may not have the best sunsets or sun rises, but we've totally got the most amazing moon and star view in the whole world!" Hypatia grinned," I should take you to see The Alchemist mountains just to see the look on your face!"
     "Oh! So you're already asking him out on a date?" Terrin smirked.
     "What?! No no no..." I felt my face flush," it's not- we're not... Uh.. Like that."
     "Suuurrreee ..... That's what they all say," Terrin was having the time of his life and I couldn't stop blushing.
     "By the way, Terrin, how is your relationship with Alan?" Hypatia's smile was absolutely devilish,"Last I checked, I found you two making out in-"
     "OKAY OKAY SHUT UP!!!" Now it Terrin's turn to flush bright red and Hypatia was the one laughing.
     "Wait," I turned to Terrin,"You're-"
     "Gay?" he interrupted me," Yeah, it was one of the reasons I was exiled." His tone was light, but something told me that old memories swirled beneath the surface.
     "I," He took a deep breath," I knew when I was younger, but I never had the courage to come out about it until a few years ago. Of course Hypatia knew," he gestured to her who sat quietly, letting Terrin tell only as much as he wanted.
     "She and her sister were the only two I trusted with my secret but then I met Alan. I was 17 at the time and as it turns out, he was just like me. Then Hypatia was exiled and when the Nobles caught me and Alan," Terrin gave a choked laugh," They ripped us apart. I was exiled on the spot, and dragged away, but Alan... I don't know what happened to him."
     I felt Hypatia gasp in front of me. She apparently didn't know know about this and stopped her horse. She immediately jumped down and wrapped Terrin in her arms. I felt kind of awkward just standing there, but it didn't feel right for me to join in the hug. I stood back and saw Terrin's shoulders shake only slightly and he let go of Hypatia a moment later.
     He took a deep breath, seeming to steady himself and flashed me a genuine smile. "Shouldn't we get going? We want to reach a village before nightfall. I don't want to be freezing my ass off tonight."
     I sighed feeling the weight of the situation lift slightly," Terrin, want a ham sandwich?"
I still didn't feel like it was the most amazing thing I could have said but Terrin seemed to get the message behind my words and gladly accepted a ham sandwich.

(a/n Everyone's ages listed below)
Terrin: currently 20 years old
Hypatia: currently 16 years old
Varian: currently 14 going on 15 years old