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“Ow! Lori! Lori, please!” Esme cried out as he sprung out of the tent, wailing as Lorita chased him, her book in hand and her Vision glowing, “apologize to him! Apologize! Go in that damn tent and apologize to him and tell him how you feel before I make you choke on water!”
“Lori, please!”
“Get in there! Now!”
“Loriiiiiii!”
His wails echoed across the land as he was chased by Lorita for a good few minutes before he tumbled in front of Ryu’s tent. Lorita stood over him, eyes glowing with intense elemental power, she pointed to the tent and she said, “get in there. Now.”
She then called out to the tent, “Ryu! Esme’s going back in!”
“Tell him I don’t want him back in..”
“Let him in or you can join him with the Abyss Mages!”
No response. Esme sighed and got back into the tent, hearing Lorita mumble something under her breath and stomping back to her tent. She wasn’t happy and he didn’t like making her frustrated, he wanted to know if they really planned this together or not.
“Ah..Ryu..”
“What is it?” Ryu looked up from the pillow he had slammed his face into. It had gray on it, as if it had been set on fire for a moment.
“I’m sorry, okay? I’m really sorry! Please forgive me!”
“What?”
“I thought you were joking, I really did!” Esme talked quickly, trying to get all the words out as fast as he could, “girls would confess their love to me on a daily basis and I kind of took it as a joke because it was always..I don’t know.”
His hands clasped together as his face became serious, a look Ryu had barely known.
“It was always..a joke. Just like their feelings for me or how they appreciated me. It was always a joke. I like jokes. I always expected them. I get..really jealous when I see people happy with relationships, I wish I could have that.”
“Have you ever had it before?”
“As I said, people treated it like a joke when it came to me. Lorita..” his voice became quiet, “hah, it’s stupid, isn't it? To be jealous of her too? I mean, she had a super cool dude as her fiance and he was the best man you could aspire to be in Fontaine. She was living the life.”
Ryu didn’t say anything.
Esme continued, “his love wasn’t a joke..how do you do that? Not joking about it? Ryu, how could you like me and..not joke about it? I want to know. Tell me.”
The seriousness didn’t fade. Ryu was unnerved, seeing Esme so downcast and serious made him feel..upset? Lorita had often warned that he truly never let his guard down enough to where he showed a facet of himself like that. Was this what she had talked about?
“You know what I’m saying isn't a joke, it won’t ever be a joke. It’s genuine. I’m not joking about it because it isn't a joke, that’s how simple it is.”
“But do you mean it? It’s..it’s hard to believe..”
Ryu let go of the pillow. He put his hands on Esme’s face, cupping his face within his hands. He said, “I do mean it. I’m not going to repeat myself twice. All I care about is if you say you like me back or not, I don’t want to be led on but..”
He sighed, “Esme, you don’t have to like me back, you know, if you feel compelled to. I don’t really mind.”
“Ryu..!”
What Ryu didn’t expect next was tears. Esme gently took his hands off of his face before tossing his arms around Ryu, hugging him so tightly that Ryu choked in a breath. Esme began letting loose everything he was thinking, “I like you too, I just didn’t know if you would accept!”
“H..huh? Seriously?”
“Yes! I’m sorry for thinking it was a joke when you told me!”
This was genuine. Ryu couldn’t help but hug Esme just as tightly, letting him cry. Esme sniffled and said, “you..you really like me, huh..?”
“Of course I do. I said I wasn’t going to repeat myself, was I?”
A laugh came out of Esme, “yeah, you did say that..um..” he slowly let go of Ryu, propping himself up so that he would be properly sitting in Ryu’s lap. Ryu’s grip lightened and Esme asked, “is this okay? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“It’s fine!” Ryu instantly got shyer, turning his face away because he felt the burn of the red on his cheeks. Esme saw his reaction and laughed once more before asking as Ryu turned back to look at him, “hey..can I kiss you? You don’t have to let me.”
“You want to..kiss me?”
“That’s what people do during this, right? Kiss? I mean, I sound kinda crazy asking but - “
“You can kiss me! I don’t mind!”
Ryu was trying not to die on the inside from the amount of joy in him. He was surely going to burn a hole into the ground with his Vision at this moment. Esme was seriously capable of making the most intimidating of people back down. It had to be some kind of gift.
It was a quick kiss before Esme got off of Ryu and flopped down beside him, “I’m not leaving your tent, I hope you know. You’re stuck with me forever.”
“Not like I’d have it any other way,” Ryu sunk down to where he lay beside him, “I’m already stuck with you on this trip to Sumeru. What more could I ask for?” he glanced over at Esme who merely smiled in response and held his hand, an expression of happiness that Ryu was fond of.
Though one thing lingered in Ryu’s mind. Who hurt Esme so much that he thought everyone was joking to him about liking him? Surely, people weren’t that cruel. Well, he knew better than to have thought that. Esme’s optimism was rubbing off of him.
He sighed and looked over at him, he was asleep already. That man could fall asleep anywhere.
His hand was still interwoven with Esme’s. He didn’t want to let go. His mind began to wander before he fell asleep as well, laying beside him.
The tent opened a little.
Lorita peeked in and she smiled, “ah, I’m so happy for them..thank the Archons it didn’t fail miserably. I wouldn’t have wanted that to happen to them.” She closed the entrance to the tent and went back into her own tent, picking up the book on the floor.
She opened it to a page and knelt by it.
The adventure was only just beginning.