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Elliot had taken the day to prepare for the ball, all of his duties on hold until the sun rose again, as were his father’s instructions, and for once Elliot was not complaining. The suitors had been hard at work since the invitations had arrived to tailor the noble’s outfit, and the day of reckoning proved to be a success, as the face that so often held a sneer gave nothing but a smile. He looked like a damn fine pirate behind that mask, and while Evan had flat out refused to be his wench, he was stunning in his own attire, which Elliot had to, and did, begrudgingly admit.

He had hunted Evan down early that morning, and being the predictable little nurse that he was, it had proved to be anything but a challenge. The cold air had stung at his cheeks, turning them a lovely shade of pink, and Elliot had proven once again how useful his obsession, as Evan tended to call it, with scarves could be.

The two were ever bickering, so opposite from the other it was rather ridiculous. No one could understand where their friendship stemmed from, and even fewer could tell you how it stood so strong against the odds, or why it continued to grow and not diminish. Truth was, not even Elliot or Evan could explain it. Their friendship was similar to the relationship of a guardian and a chosen, a bond that was as unbreakable as it was irrational. There were times when Elliot felt the friendship was a bit one sided, like he needed Evan more than Evan ever needed him, and there was certainly some truth in it, but Evan never seemed to mind. It was never an issue, and that alone was a reason their friendship was so resilient, he was certain.

Elliot wasn’t quite sure when the dancing had turned to swaying, or when the chattering had shifted into laughter, but this ball was not going the way he had expected. He felt a soft weight on his chest, a finger fiddling with his button, and he took a moment to lean against the wall, his heart hammering in his chest as his vision swam. His name, he could hear the whisper so clear against all the other noise it was if it had been screamed into his ear. The whisper belonged to Evan, he knew, and he smiled softly. “Evan?” he answered, feeling a tug at his scarf. He looked down to gaze into those pools of green, the light catching in them to make them glint like the sun on a leaf. There was a slight slur to his voice, the same slur he would get if he drank too many glasses of wine, and he wrinkled his nose wondering if his drink had been spiked.

Vaim and Kitten flashed out of the corner of his eye, and he turned his head to rest his cheek on top of Evan’s head, the hair brushing his lips. He grinned as he watched the two dash about, and in his pleased stupor planted a sweet kiss on Evan’s hair. It didn’t register as anything unusual, even if it was incredibly out of character. He only showed affection to Evan behind closed doors, where peering eyes and ears couldn’t touch. It was safer that way, for both of them, but he gave Evan another, on the skin of his forehead this time, which seemed to boil with fever. He was sure it was from all the dancing they weren’t doing.

Elliot’s focus had been sucked away when their eyes met, and the skin of his cheek tingled pleasantly where Evan had nuzzled him. He couldn’t seem to break out of his daze long enough to respond, but the misplaced scream would have gone completely unnoticed by him had Evan not broken the frozen air between them. He blinked, looking up only briefly as the scream died off, leaving a resounding echo to bounce around the room. He swore there to be a flash of red, but it could have easily been a trick of the light. His senses were failing him all over the place tonight, or so it seemed.

He had pulled Evan a bit closer at some point, the subconscious need to protect him driving Elliot to wrap his arms around the smaller man and tuck him safely into his chest. Their eyes slipped back to each other, and Elliot ran a hand through silken locks as Evan nuzzled his face into his shirt and kept it there. It felt right, like nothing else mattered at the moment because the stars had aligned and everything was as it should be. He gave a delayed nod at the muffled, almost inaudible word ‘dance’ and moved them carefully onto the dance floor, the urge to sweep Evan up into his arms and carry him pressing, but his already sluggish, wary movements kept him from making that mistake.

The world spun, but in the stillest way it ever had. It was as if everyone in all the lands were frozen in place, but the earth and the clouds continued on with a quickened pace they had never possessed before that moment. Elliot kept his eyes focused on Evan, fearing that if he moved them from that spot on his head that the two of them may cease to exist. Even in their gentle, slight sway, he felt as if his feet may slip out from under him. They moved together in a sync that was meant only for the gods, and Elliot wondered what the rest of the night might hold, or if he would even make it through until morning.

His mind wandered lazily, like slow moving clouds on an otherwise clear day, and then the soft weight on his chest shifted into a weight that, while easily handled and familiar, still took him by surprise. He didn’t have to look down to know that Evan had collapsed, in his arms fortunately, and it took everything he had to keep from collapsing right there with him. He did, however, look down and swept the limp body into his arms completely, cradling him to his chest. The night was full of surprises, he noticed, and he wrinkled his nose in vague distaste. Elliot had never a day in his life been a fan of surprises.

Elliot leaned down to kiss Evan’s forehead for the second time that night, once again not noticing the significance of it all, and he brought a hand up to push the bangs out of his face. His fingers stilled, however, as he finally noticed Kitten, who had come barreling through the crowd and up to Evan, literally tossing two people to the side and out of her way so she would have a clear path. He blinked in shock at her sudden presence, and glanced behind her where Vaim stood, pawing at the floor where the dirt had become kicked up from all the dancers.

He could feel the weight of Vaim’s presence more than he could see him, and it seemed to be that which gave all the twisted air a new clarity. Elliot stared at the two guardians, attention focused not on the one in his arms, but on only them for the moment. They brought with them a sense of being grounded, he swore it, and the change of pace was welcomed. He had been growing tired of this warped, drunk existence.

Vaim came over to stand by his side, his antler gently bumping the hat which sat perched atop Elliot’s head. He sighed and ran a hand over Vaim’s fur, who then leaned down and bumped against Evan’s head with utmost care and caution. It was only then that Elliot’s attention slipped back to Evan.

“It appears you passed out, perhaps from exhaustion?” he answered with hesitance. They hadn’t seemed to have been dancing vigorously, and he couldn’t remember any comment Evan had made about needing rest, but then it didn’t appear that he had the very best memory tonight. He looked to Kitten and Vaim, as if they might hold the answers, before shaking his head. His voice had lost its slur for the most part and his head felt as though it had been reattached to its shoulders, if a bit off kilter. The air was no longer suffocating, and breathing easier gave him better control of his body, so he offered the otherwise obvious solution to collapsing in the middle of a crowd. “Let’s get you off the dance floor.”

“Oh.” Was the only response Elliot could muster, haze settling over his head just long enough to make him woozy before vanishing again. He had been so damn focused on Evan that the rest of the world seemed to lift away, but it wasn’t for long, not long at all. He took a step, a single step forward, before he was snapped back into the harsh reality.

Vaim dropped silently to the floor beside Kitten, his fur and hooves covered in the dirt he had been pawing at not moments before, and he did not move, nor did any others. He realized with horror a heartbeat later that this included himself.

Elliot blanched as he stared forward with the crowd, his mind seeming to blank, and then he was sure the color he had seen earlier was red.

Elliot stood silently, Evan clutched in his arms, as blood pooled on the ground in front of them. It wasn’t something his mind was used to seeing, and it took a minute for the situation to sink in fully. He wasn’t like Evan who dealt with this sort of thing daily, all the blood and death in numbers that shook the records. It was unnerving for a noble who sat perched in his delicate manor all day with tea and silken robes. He had only ever seen blood in the infirmary, when he went to visit Evan and steal him away from his work. Never had he seen another die, and it picked away at his reality like a rabbit picked away at the earth.

He could feel Evan tremble against his body, his tiny chest shaking softly against his own, and with movement suddenly returned to him, he took the opportunity to support him more properly. Elliot watched in fascination as the spirit vanished and a tree took his place, and amusement bled into his eyes as he bared witness to all the nobility that had sworn against magic’s existence for so many years. At the word war however, the amusement fled and his eyes became filled with dread.

He had known, oh how he had known this day would come. There was change in the air, and change was rarely if ever for the better. It was the reason he abhorred surprises so, they were never a pleasant thing. He had been trained for this reason specifically, but never had he thought it would come to pass that he would need to use what he had learned. His throat caught, leaving a large lump to form, and it was then that he felt the p***k of tears against his chest. His heart gave a soft ache as Evan clung to him, and his arms tightened around the body that felt so much more fragile than it ever had before.

He wasn’t sure what would happen, if they could drive the wolves away or not. Their land could be lost, every last life snuffed out so the wolves could roam as they pleased. There would be many who would perish, but Evan wouldn’t be one, not if he had any say. He would protect Evan with his life if it came down to that, without hesitation. He silently sent a thanks out to his father for the strenuous, constant training that he so loathed day in and day out. It had been a blessing in disguise.

Resting a hand against Vaim, who had risen to stand beside Kitten once more, Elliot gave a gentle nod, his eyes flickering with emotions that were indistinguishable in the given light. “Of course.” He answered, his voice distant with thought. Elliot moved with ease between the others that had begun to disperse, and made his way over to the carriage that awaited them to take them to the inn. His father had reserved a room some time ago, and he would be taking quite a bit of advantage of that tonight.

He climbed in with his party of four, and they departed down the cobble stone drive to an inn that sat tucked away in the middle of town. He settled with Evan in his lap, Vaim by his side ever vigilant, and stroked his hair with tender fingers. His mind was unsettled, but he could feel the hesitance in Evan, in the way he breathed, in the way he squirmed, in the way his heart beat rapidly against Elliot’s chest. He knew that Evan needed something, some sort of assurance; the last thing Evan needed at this point was someone just as terrified as he was. He needed someone strong to tell him it would be okay, and Elliot promised himself not to show an ounce of uncertainty or fear until the war had been put to rest so he could keep Evan from going off the deep end. He would be strong, if only for Evan.

The carriage jostled around beneath their feet, and Elliot felt his stomach roll unpleasantly as they hit a stone that had been laid down a little more shallow than all the others. He gave a wrinkle of his nose and tucked Evan further into his chest, willing the sloshing to stop. His stance protective, he rubbed Evan’s back and let the notches of his spine slip between his fingers. He was too frail, too fragile, too easily broken to fight in any sort of brawl, let alone a war. He hung his head, letting his cheek rest against Evan’s hair once more, and wondered how long they had until everything went to hell.

Vaim watched Elliot, and eyes that usually sparkled with mischief held a heavier, much more daunting emotion this night. A cloud was looming over them, threatening to open up and drop a flood on their lands, and it wouldn’t seem to budge. With slow steps, Vaim took a seat beside Kitten, curling into himself with his antlers precariously leaning against the carriage wall. He could feel those waves of emotion in Elliot like he could feel the wind in his fur, and it left him with something of a sour taste in his mouth. Elliot was usually so at ease when Vaim was around, but the unrest in the air was nothing to be trifled with it seemed.

Laying his head on Elliot’s boot, Vaim glanced to Kitten briefly. She had always been a constant, as constant as Elliot and Evan since his totem had been plucked from that tree, and her presence was comforting, even if there was little to no discomfort within him. His nose brushed hers for a moment, a seemingly misplaced, but silent thanks, and then he was tucking it back down among his fur to rest until they reached the inn.

The carriage eventually slowed and the clip clopping of hooves became farther and farther apart before they died out completely. The door opened to allow the four out and to their room for the night, but Elliot had barely noticed. His mind was playing somewhere among the stars, however, the soft rustle in his lap was able to ground him once more. His body was stiff and ached in the joints as cold air swept in through the open door, and he could feel the soft tremble of Evan’s body become more violent. Slipping the scarf, which he had insisted on wearing with his pirate attire regardless, off of his neck, he wrapped it around Evan’s and picked the younger up as he walked down and out of the carriage, his boot giving a soft click as it hit the earth. Tipping his head in acknowledgement of the man who had dropped them off, Elliot moved with Evan, Vaim on his heels, to the room so they could catch a few hours of rest before the rest of the world caught up with them. What had been planned to be a day of relax was no longer fated to be, and Elliot shook his head once more, a sneer crawling back onto his face, as he thought of all the changes that would soon be upon them.

Elliot shivered softly in the cold night air, watching his breath lift into the stars as goose bumps ran across his arms. He held Evan close, willing the scarf to give him warmth before they were safely tucked into their room for the night, out of the biting chill and the risk of catching cold.

Not even a beat had passed between the door clicking shut and Evan dissolving into tears, and Elliot put him down without complaint, but didn’t let him go far. The moonlight was proving to haunt him it seemed, because even through all the despair that hung around them, even with the eternal sadness that seemed etched into Evan’s eyes, he could not stop the hitch in his breath at the downright stunning scene the world was playing before him. Evan had never looked so beautiful, Elliot was certain. The way the light caught in his hair and glinted in his eyes, turning them to pools of molten grass, had him stuck in place with a mind that was quickly forgetting how to breathe. His actions were not something he could remember, but a hand had snaked its way into that sea of silk and tugged him closer, their lips a breath apart and barely brushing.

The words “I’ll protect you” filled the air for only Evan to hear, and then he claimed his lips in a kiss so filled with emotion it was debilitating. He held Evan against his chest, held him close so he could feel the meaning of the words more than hear them. His breath had gone completely by now, and his face grew red with the need for air, but he did not pull away, not until Evan wished him to. It was by far the most bold, intrusive move he had ever made, but it came to him so naturally, so without thought in that one moment that it had to be right. He would not live with the regret of never kissing Evan, something he had wanted to do for so very many years, never making him his own and never telling him he loved him. This night would not be wasted with worry. This night would hold a significance greater than any death or war could even hope to, for tonight would be about them, and that is all that mattered to Elliot in this world.