“You’ve locked him up,” he comments. “Not that it’s a bad thing though.”
Ocher turns quickly to glare at him, followed by the expert throw of a knife which Azure drops from the air with a flick of his wrist. “I’m just saying,” he grins, lazily making his way towards Ocher. “You’ve been a veritable loose cannon with your emotions lately. Jealousy, anger, violence.”
“So?”
Azure brushes his fingers lightly through Ocher’s hair, “So nothing. I'm just saying, a bit of calm might do you wonders.” Ocher leans into his touch, eyes glancing towards Basel who holds his hands up placatingly.
“Don’t mind me, I won’t interrupt. I told you he’d be back over there soon.”
“Don’t taunt him, Basel. He’ll get angry and I don’t want to deal with it. You two play nice.”
“Where are you going?” Ocher questions.
“Inside.” He drifts past Basel and inside to settle onto the couch. They really did increase the potency, makes sense when so many people are always afraid of crossing a soldier and being punished. That amount of stress would wear on anyone. If he was a weaker person, less driven by revenge, he could easily live his life in this state, but he has too much left to do to indulge in this more than once on a rare occasion.
Especially, now that he’s already started. In Ustrina, he retrieved the amethyst from the inner sanctum with very little trouble. Once he brings it to Meio to unlock their own inner sanctum, there will be nothing that can stop him from completing his plan. Not a person in this world will be able to stand against him.
That’s the thought that soothes him into sleep.
When he wakes, unsure of how long he slept, but feeling more relaxed than he’s been in ages, it’s to Ocher yelling his name and Basel wearing a wide grin. He doesn’t even care to know what Basel has done to rile Ocher into that state. Basel might be the nicer one between them, but he’s an expert at goading and Ocher is an incredibly easy target.
“Azure, get up! I want to go out.”
“Not a chance.” He yawns and stretches out fully on the couch, letting his eyes shut again. “Ignore Basel and go read a book or something.”
“I can’t read and don’t want to read.”
Azure winces as he feels something hard hit him square in the chest. It would probably have hurt a lot more if he could feel his body. He opens one eye to glare at the other boy and sees the agitation written in every line of Ocher’s body, from the tight line of his jaw to his clenched fists. “Oh, you’re in a mood again. Nice job Basel.”
“Hey! I didn’t know he would react like that,” he defends. It’s a worthless excuse, he can hear the grin without even looking at him. “Anyway, get off my couch. I have nowhere to sit.”
“Hmm...the floor maybe.”
“Nope, my house, you can barely be called a guest anymore.” Azure groans in protest when he feels Basel lift him up and dump him on Ocher, the only other body in the room. The lethargy in his body is weighing him down heavily and internally he curses Basel for both moving him and giving him that relaxant. So much for trust between friends.
“Maybe now you’ll stop glaring at me.”
“I wasn’t,” Ocher protests, even as Azure feels cool fingers on his forehead.
Basel tsks, “If you’d glared any harder, I might have hit you. I’m nice, but not quite as patient as Azure. You want him that bad? You can have him. He’s more trouble than he’s worth.”
“So is Ocher,” Azure mumbles out. “I have to rescue him more often than not.” Ocher’s free hand tenses against his shoulder and Azure cuts him off before he makes a mistake. “Ocher, if you push me off this couch, you’ll be dead to the world in the next five seconds and you’ll wake up outside. Tomorrow.”
Basel laughs loudly, “I’m assuming he’s done that to you before?”
He feels the movement as Ocher shrugs, “How do you know him anyway?”
“Ah, we go back a few years. Azure likes to get involved in illegal things and I like to pay money for doing illegal things. We had a lucrative partnership for a while.”
“Lucrative? Isn’t he broke?”
“Not unless he lost all his money? He’s just never been a big spender, it calls attention to yourself. And since he was always doing illegal things…”
“Why are you helping him now? You know whatever he’s planning is going to have consequences, right?”
“Provided Azure takes control like he should, I’ll be in an extremely fortunate position.”
“You’re helping him on a maybe?”
“No, Azure will definitely win and when he does, I’ll reap the benefits. It’s a beneficial relationship.”
Azure blinks his eyes open to look up at Ocher who’s already looking down at him, “Has your curiosity been satisfied, Ocher? Since you’ve found someone to answer your questions?”
“I wouldn’t have needed someone else if you answered.”
“I don’t owe you any answers, you freeloader.”
“You may as well just call me your partner now.”
Azure sits up abruptly. “There is no way in hell that I would ever call you that.” He swings his legs over the side of the couch to make his way outside and fall into a chair. He doesn’t care what Ocher wants or thinks, this is an arrangement. A partnership implies equal terms and that’s not what they have. His fists clench, fingernails digging into his palms, sometimes he really can’t stand himself.
Chapter 10: Ocher
Ocher shifts uncomfortably as Sara leans against the door, appraising them with amusement in her brown eyes. “Two visits in such a short time. What did we do to earn this pleasure?” Her eyes flick to his and she grins, “No fighting this time, Ocher,” Sara teases. Ocher frowns. He has no plans to let some stupid guy get under his skin again, but if he hasn’t learned yet, Calliston deserves whatever he gets.
“Ocher isn’t here to start trouble with anyone this time, we’re just here to catch a boat,” Azure interrupts their staring match.
Sara’s eyes sharpen, “You got permission to leave the country?”
Azure shrugs, “Permission is a strong word.”
“Azure…” She glances at Ocher, “Does he know you need permission to leave the country because I assume he’s going with you?”
“He only knows what I tell him.”
“Ocher, you should come spend some time with me. I can tell you all the things Azure lies to you about.”
“Does he lie that much?”
Sara gives him a knowing look, “If you have to ask, then yes.”
“I’m not that bad."
“Yes, you really really are, come in anyway.” She steps aside and gestures them inside. “Savanta and Calliston are at work, so it’s just me right now.”
Ocher steps forward, but Azure remains in his spot outside the door, “Aren’t you coming?”
“Actually…” His eyes shift to Sara, “Babysit Ocher for me, will you? Thanks.” Then he’s gone, disappearing around the corner faster than Sara can process she’s been called his babysitter.