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It had to be around here somewhere. This part of the beach was hard to get to, so there was no one around... but what if he wasn't even here? What if neither of them were here? Ten was starting to panic a little. Of course neither of them would be here. Avalon deserved better then him, and he seemed to like Suiravi... they would probably ditch him, and Ten deserved it. He wasn't anything special, he wasn't good enough for either of them, so why should they want him?

These thoughts swam through his head as he marched up the beach. He had brought some food, since he didn't want Avalon to have to carry it all, and he had a couple drinks. And this way, when he was undoubtedly stood up, he could still sit and eat. So he was surprised when he saw Suiravi sitting on a blanket just around the bend in the rocks. ...He was actually here? He had showed up? Ten bit his lip. Where was Avalon?

"Hey Sui." Ten waved, still looking a little apprehensive as he approached. "Were you... waiting long?" He hesitated at the edge of the blanket before slowly sitting down and setting the basket he'd brought. He was about to ask where Avalon was when his crystal phone would buzz. Sui's would too, as Avalon just sent them both a message.

I'm going to be late, Arch needs me.

Ten sighed. Avalon really did love his kids... even the imp he'd adopted. Some day, Ten needed to meet him. "I... guess it's just us for a little while... Are you ok with it being just us?" He was sure Sui only liked him because Avalon liked him, and he couldn't understand why Avalon ever wanted to be around him.

Sui didn't seem too happy to see him. Well of course not. Sui liked Avalon, he probably thought Ten was a rival. Didn't Shade only take one partner for life or something? So being in a relationship with Avalon AND himself was probably really hard. Ten slowly sat down, wanting to keep a respectable distance away, but also not wanting to be alone. He saw the tail sort of... looking at him. Did that thing even have eyes? What did Avalon say it's name was? "...Hello Zaris?" He glanced at Sui to see if he got the name right, and slowly held a hand out towards the tail mouth, wondering if it was ok to touch him.

"Uhm..." Ten wasn't sure what to talk about either. "...I brought some snacks." He offered. "Why don't we... start by talking about what kind of foods you like? I mean, I don't know anything about you." He bit his lip, playing with the ring there. "I myself like fruits and seeds, some veggies are pretty amazing too. But I don't eat any meat." He decided he should tell Sui about himself too, since Sui probably knew as much about him as he knew of the Shade.

"He wants to... lick me? Well... only if I can pet him." He tried to smile and reached out to gently touch Zaris. "Fruit is really good. There's a lot." He smiled. "Noisy foods?" He wasn't sure that was. "Like, crunchy things?" He asked softly. It was still weird to him that the tail could eat, and they shared a stomach with Shades. "Well, some seeds can be hard to eat, but... sunflower seeds are easy to come by. So are pumpkin seeds... Those are my favorites. I... have some if you'd like to try? I baked them with some olive oil... They're really good." He reached into the small basket he'd brought snacks in and pulled out a bag of large seeds. "Here, would you like to try it?" He offered them to Sui.

Ten waited for him to grab a few of the pumpkin seeds before he grabbed some as well. He tossed a few in his mouth, enjoying the savory taste and the moist, but still firm texture. This was so much better then baking them in butter. "Shades have sensitive hearing, right?" He asked after swallowing. "I didn't think it would be quite that sensitive." He scrunched his face up. "I guess that means you'll never come to one of my concerts, since they tend to be really loud." That was a sort of... sad thought. He wanted everyone to come to his shows. Some day, everyone will wish they came to see him... Some day... when he got famous...

"Now?" He was surprised by the request. Concerts required lots of prep, and he didn't have any equipment, and he wasn't sure he had any songs prepared... "Well... There is one song... I've been working on it a lot lately. I haven't sung it for anyone yet..." He blushed, slowly getting up off the blanket. He stepped away and dusted his pants off before clearing his throat.

Ten began singing, it was slow at first, soft and sort of longing. The lyrics spoke of someone kind and perfect, but Ten began singing a little faster, and the lyrics got sadder, self depreciating. It was almost as if Ten's song was all about how much he hated himself, and how he wasn't good enough for whom he'd been singing about... Not good enough for Avalon.

It wasn't finished, Ten didn't have an ending for the song, and... he trailed off. It was awkward singing an unfinished song. He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It... I still haven't decided, how it's going to end." He wiped his face, his green eyes looking a little moist.

"I... I'm sorry." He closed his eyes as Sui attempted to wipe tears from his face. He leaned into the touch. "You and Avalon deserve so much better then me. I'm sorry I'm getting in the way." He put his arms around Sui. He didn't understand what Avalon saw in him, and Sui was clearly a better match. Sui could commit, wanted to commit... Ten was just so afraid. "I know I'm not good enough for either of you..." He was so self depreciating, and as he spoke, he couldn't help but cry a little more. Why was he doing this? He shouldn't burden Sui like this, but... he just... couldn't stop the tears.

Ten slowly sat down, bringing Sui with him as he did. "My father was an elf... And... my mother was a fallen. She died before awakening my stone. My father always said I looked like her." He kept his face hidden against Sui's neck. "But I'm not pure elf, so... so I was never good enough. I could never do anything write. I'm just a failure at everything." His father had drilled it into his head that elves were the supreme race in all Above and Below, and because he wasn't a pure elf... Ten was treated like a lesser creature. "I couldn't even make my father happy... how can I make you or Avalon happy?"