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Ai simply shoves the food away and curls up into a ball on the bed. He feels horrible and doesn't know why, but he really does feel Kero has gone too far in trying to force him to pair with Bez. To him it seems that is all the mage has been attempting to do since he could remember and he doesn't understand why it would be so important to him. Tears leak from the corners of his eyes, but when Bez comes to claim the tray, he refuses to answer his questions, merely curling up even tighter, withdrawing from the world.

"Damn..." grumbles Bez as he drops the tray on the kitchen table. "I'm getting sick and tired of all this drama... iffin I didn't know better he's sulking."

Bez, scraps some of the food into Puss's dish then chucks the rest. He thinks he knows what is wrong. Ai was one of the more stubborn people he knew and he needed to come to terms with what he needed on his own. Kero was simply being too forceful and like any teen, Ai had dug in his heels. Shaking his head, he slips outside and makes his way towards the temple grounds, hoping that Shar was feeling well enough to see him. He needed to talk to someone, anyone, about things and she was the only one he thought would listen to him without condemning him outright.

He understood where Ai was coming from and he suspected he knew where Kero stood as well, but the trouble was. If Ai didn't want to pair, it simply wasn't going to happen. Perhaps, even though he had promised to stick around, it would be better for everyone if he just simply went away. Removing the thorn might allow the relationship to heal.

Unfortunately for Bez, Shar is far too busy to sit and talk and he finds himself standing before the temple gate sometime later feeling down and depressed, wondering why he even tried. Scuffing at the dirt with his foot, he ponders his choices. He could return to the cottage and watch Ai and Kero fight, drink himself senseless so he doesn't feel Ai's distress, or go home... and the more he thinks about it the more tempting his home feels.

Bez sighs heavily. "I'm not so sure. He's grown so much with you. Problems aside, you've done so much for him, Kero... truly you have. Only he's not quite there yet for me... not ready to face me, iffin ye know what I mean."

Bez rubs his eyes and sighs. "I need a stiff drink. Sorry. But it takes off the edge. Care to join me?"

Bez frowns at this and shakes his head. "I could buy us a couple of bottles. But where would we go... It's too damn cold to sit outside and drink... I mean I wouldn't mind it, but yer going to feel it."

Bez shrugs. "Yer backside, not mine. Where do ye want to go then? And any prefernces on yer libations?"

Bez thinks for a bit then suggests going to the clearing that they had gone camping at not too long ago. "I'd say somewhere else, but I'm not sure yer refernce points and mine will coincide."