Secret relationship, unheard seperation

After the mask ceremony, supper immediately began. Everyone chowed down, and Mina got to see everyone else chat and hang out together. Overall, it was a pleasant time. Eventually though, one by one everyone left to get ready for bed. Mina was surprised that they were going to sleep so early, but Old Lady Sofos explained that in this country, people rise and fall with the sun. And sure enough, looking outside told Mina that the sun was nearly down. Still, Mina wasn’t quite tired yet, so she stuck around and helped Foteini clean up afterwards, earning her a thankyou from the older girl. This meant that Mina was the second to last person to go over to the sleeping quarters, and so she walked through the place as quietly as she could, trying to remember where her room was, only for a voice to draw her attention.

“But I don’t want to get to know her! I just want to keep getting to know YOU.” Nik whined.

Hearing Nik’s voice, Mina found herself getting curious. For a moment she considered just going past, but ultimately, she decided to follow her curiosity. She followed the voice to a door to one of the bedrooms, which was just barely cracked open, and found herself faced with a somewhat peculiar sight. There on the bed, Nik was sitting in Iro’s lap pouting while Iro hugged him from behind and stroked his hair.

“I know, I know, but I think you and I know each other pretty well at this point, don’t we? Besides, she’s new, she doesn’t know the way things are around here, so as a man it’s your duty to help her.” Iro said.

“Well, what if I don’t want to be a man?” Nik replied, and Iro chuckled lightly.

“Oh really, then you mean all that time training and declaring you’ll be a big strong man that can protect me from the evil new king was nothing but a lie?” Iro asked teasingly.

“I, well, I mean, I want to be a man for you, obviously. But I’m not being interested in being a man for her.” Nik said somewhat flustered.

“You don’t have to worry about that, you’re already my precious little man.” Iro replied.

“Not a little man, I want to be a big strong man!” Nik exclaimed, and Iro responded by hugging him even more.

“Sorry, but that’s never going to happen. No matter how big you get, even if you get big enough to leap from island to island without the help of a fiterolta, you’ll still always be my ‘little man’.” Iro told him, making Nik blush. Iro’s face then turned slightly more serious and contemplative, as if she was carefully considering what she was going to say next.

“Still, I really do think you should try to get to know her more.” Iro then said carefully.

“But why?!” Nik whined.

“Because you need to get to know more kids your own age.” Iro explained.

“I know lots of kids my own age, and I like you better than all of them.” Nik whined. “Besides, you were way more excited about the person Athan and the others were planning on summoning than I ever was. Why don’t you get to know her for me?”

There was a pause as Iro visibly thought harder, her face scrunching up slightly as she was clearly trying to figure out the right way to say what she wanted to say, before a look of defeat came over her face.

“Because… because I think you should try going out with her, try making her your girlfriend.” Iro said.

Nik’s eyes went wide in shock, and he turned around in her lap to face her directly.

“What do you me-!” Nik began, but Iro silenced him with a finger on his lips.

“Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t me saying I don’t love you anymore, and this isn’t me breaking up with you either. I just think you should try dating a girl closer to your own age, that’s all.” Iro explained.

“What? But-” Nik began again, only for Iro to cut him off once again.

“I know you don’t care about it, but it really is weird for us to be dating when our ages are so far apart. I’m 16, while you’re only 12. That’s 4 years Nik, 4 years difference between us. I’m practically an adult now, while you’ve still got at least 1 more growth spurt before you can even be allowed to ride a fiterolta on your own.” Iro told him.

“But, but my mom and dad are even further apart! They’re 6 years apart, and no one thinks they’re weird.” Nik countered.

“That’s because they’re adults Nik, its different once you’re that old.” Iro explained. “You’re still growing up, still learning about everything. heck, I’m still learning too, but I’m also a lot more grown up than you. When you’re an adult, things are kinda the same no matter what age adult you are, but for us it’s different. We are too different Nik, we have different wants and needs because of how old we are, and that makes it really hard for us to be together. But you and Mina, you’re the same age, you more or less have the same wants and needs. You and Mina can give each other what you need in a relationship a lot better than you and I can. So please, just give Mina a chance. For her, for yourself, and for me, alright?”

Nik looked thoughtful for a moment, taking a moment to digest what Iro was telling him. He looked like he’d taken a bite out of something bitter, clearly he wasn’t happy with what Iro was saying, but was at least not lashing out angrily like he could have. Eventually, he turned up to look Iro directly in the eye, his face soft and hurt.

“Is that why you were so excited about the summoning? Because you were hoping it was going to be a guy your age that you could try dating?” Nik asked, and Iro winced, clearly having hoped he wouldn’t put two and two together on that.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s right.” She shamefully admitted. “I was hoping they would summon a guy my age to help. I was planning on letting you down easily, probably get his help to find you a girlfriend your age anyways, but yeah.”

“Ok… and, you promise you still love me?” Nik then asked, and Iro smiled and stroked his hair.

“Of course I do. No matter what happens with Mina or anyone else, I will still love you like no one else.” She said.

“And, you’ll still let me cuddle with you whenever I have a nightmare?” Nik asked.

“Of course, you can come cuddle with me any night you want, for whatever reason you want. Don’t think I don’t know that half your ‘nightmares’ are just you wanting more cuddles.” Iro said teasingly. “But maybe once you get to know her more, you could also start going to cuddle with Mina at night instead. With everything that she’s going to be going through, she’s probably going to need a lot of night time cuddles.”

“I guess.” Nik relented.

There was a small pause as the pair just sat there, neither quite sure what to say. Then, Nik abruptly came up and kissed Iro on the lips. Iro’s eyes widened in surprise momentarily, but quickly softened as she began to return the kiss, and Mina decided that now was the time for her to leave. So, she headed off to her room, what she just saw playing on repeat in her mind.

‘Wow, so those two are dating huh? Or at least, they were dating till now? Either way, I guess that explains why Nik was being so weird when I mistook him and Iro for siblings.’ Mina thought as she entered her room. She quickly grabbed the brush Iro lent her during supper, feeling a bit weird about using her things now, and got to brushing her hair before bed like usual.

‘So, Nik… I uh, I guess he’s going to try asking to be my boyfriend tomorrow? Or something like that?’ Mina thought nervously. ‘That’s uh… that’s going to be interesting…’

Mina sat there in silence for a few minutes, the familiar task of combing her hair helping center her though the winding mess of emotions swirling around inside her.

‘I was never interested in boys back home, and no matter how much Danielle or some of my friends teased me, I wasn’t interested in girls that way either. Actually, they didn’t mention anything about Nik being interested in a boy or Iro being interested in a girl. I wonder if boys liking boys and girls liking girls is a thing here?’ Mina mentally questioned, before aggressively shaking her own head. ‘No no no, that’s not the point!’

She then looked over at her brush, and realized her aggressive shake had messed up her hair again, so she’d have to restart, something she did with a small frustrated sigh.

‘No, the point is that I might not have been interested in that back home, but maybe here I could be?’ She mentally remarked as she went back to brushing. ‘This is a whole new world, and maybe that could mean a whole new me, right? Besides, chosen ones usually have boyfriends or girlfriends. Sure, they normally get them later on in the stories, but there’s nothing wrong with me getting one early. Sure, why not, I’ll go out with him. It’ll be fun, all the other girls always talk about how fun having a boyfriend is after all.’

That’s what Mina told herself, that’s what Mina decided she wanted. She finished off brushing her hair, forcing a smile onto her face the whole time as she finished her evening routine and finally went to sleep.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Over somewhere else in the kingdom, the cloaked figure who’d been called in to deal with the Anaktites was standing atop a building, surveying everything below him with a focused gaze.

“Alright, so, I’ve hunted for these people all day… and I’ve found absolutely nothing.” The figure remarked angrily as they flopped back onto the building. There was a beat of silence, then the figure abruptly sat up and glared at a spot beside him.

“Yes I know I should have asked for a map, you don’t need to mock me about it.” He angrily said to the air. “I got caught up in the moment ok.”

…

“You’re calling ME dramatic? You, of all people, are calling me dramatic. The only person in this world with less room to call anyone dramatic is Inganno.” He said.

…

“You’d know that better than me, she’s your sister after all. Now be quiet, I’m trying to make a plan.”

…

…

…

“*Sigh* yes, I don’t have anything, but it’s not like I can just go back and ask for a map now. He called me hard to get a hold of, but how the heck am I supposed to get a hold of him. Eh, I guess I’m just going to have to wander around the city tomorrow and hope I get lucky and see one of these Anaktités people.”