78th of Vhalar, Arc 720
Continued from here.
Continued from here.
“Wait, you don’t think we’re dating?”
Devlyn’s words seemed to echo throughout the tavern. Cierne bit her lip in anticipation. She wasn’t worried about how the situation would unfold, she was just curious as to how Diaval would respond. Anticipation was not the same as anxiety.
Diaval snapped a look at the Naer and gave her a glare. He didn’t know she was capable of empathy, just that she was able to manipulate the elements. However, while he was in the dark about her ability to control emotions to some extent, he knew Cierne enough to know that if something was not to her liking, she would do whatever she could to make it so.
“I just meant that we should get to know each other more before putting a label on it, ya know?” He said, grabbing his glass. He nervously took several large gulps before hesitantly placing his glass back onto the table.
Cierne’s magical doings had only lasted so long, as she was still very inexperienced in the art. So it was not surprising when Devlyn recaptured her joyful disposition and gave a smile.
“I guess that makes sense,” she said with a flick of her hand through her shiny hair.
Cierne frowned.
“So how long have you two known each other then?” The Biqaj continued, bringing her previous question back into focus. “You said you’ve been friends for a long time?”
Cierne snapped to attention and seized the opportunity she had found.
“Since he moved to Quacia, actually!” She said a little too enthusiastically. “I helped show him and his parents around. I helped him set up his apartment. I even showed him the best places to eat.” She finished her words with a subtle smirk.
Devlyn nodded, not quite hearing the last thing she said. She was too busy helping another mouthful of liquor into her awaiting belly.
“So she’s met your parents, huh? And you’ve been to his place?”
Anyone who was listening could hear the envy creeping into her frail voice. It was at that moment that Cierne knew just how young, or immature rather, this girl was. If she was getting jealous over a few dinner dates and hang out locations, then she obviously wasn’t secure enough with herself to believe that they really were just friends.
“Cee, what are you trying to-“
The Naer interrupted. “His parents are magnificent people. Hopefully you can last long enough to get to meet them.”
Devlyn’s eyes widened and Diaval made no hesitation in uttering a shocked grunt before stabbing at Cierne’s foot under the table with his own.
“For real, Cierne,” he grumbled. “What the hell?”
Perhaps she had taken it a little too far. Perhaps her wording could have been rephrased. But envy was a fickle mistress that had evil intentions a majority of the time.
She tried to tell herself she was just being a little overprotective, that before Diaval could properly date someone, they had to be checked out with her first. But who was she kidding? She was downright jealous that her best friend was finding interest in someone other than herself.
“I’m sorry,” she said, a partial lie. “Must be the alcohol. I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. It’s just that you said you all had a prospective relationship and everything.”
There was that word again. A delectably vile word that was loaded with malicious nuances.
“I’m… uh… I’m going to find that waitress and ask for a refill,” Devlyn said softly, waving her now empty glass in front of everyone for emphasis. Then she stood up from her chair and left, leaving Cierne with a baffled and utterly frustrated Diaval.
Once she was out of earshot, he wasted no time in berating her with aggressive questions and angry commentary.
“Seriously, Cierne, what the fuck was that about? And don’t give me none of that ‘I’m just drunk’ bullshit. We both know you have the tolerance of a bear.”
A bear, huh? The Naer smiled inwardly at the comparison and wiggled triumphantly in her chair. Then, she found her serious face and looked Diaval in the eye. They were a dark blue, wavering toward an obsidian black.
“Look, Dee,” she started, opting to tell the truth. “I told you we were going to hang out tonight. We, meaning just the two of us. And then you bring a girl with you? Who you’ve never told me anything about and then I find out that you guys are dating?”
Diava sighed and furrowed his brows, slowly losing his angry disposition. “I’m sorry. I know I should have ran it by you that I was bringing her along. But I figured you wouldn’t mind.”
“Well you must not know me at all then.”
He readjusted his position in his seat. “What I don’t get is why you think I have to tell you about everyone I meet or may have an interest in.”
Cierne was bewildered. “I don’t know, maybe ‘cause we’re best friends? Don’t best friends tell each other about everyone they think is cute and may want to date?”
“We’re not dating though!”
Cierne flicked a glance to Devlyn who was struggling to sit on top of a very tall stool at the bar counter. She was dangling her empty glass on the edge of her fingers, trying to get the attention of one of the bartenders.
“Well, she doesn’t think that,” she remarked coldly.
“You’ve got quite an attitude with you tonight,” Diaval murmured, looking down at the table. He didn’t want to see the anger in her eyes when his words had finally registered.
She guffawed, then stuttered, then sighed. She would have to tell him. Her secret liking him that had been haunting her for many arcs now had been weighing on her mind for long enough. The truth had to be spoken. Aloud.
“Dee, I just- I guess I’m- I don’t know, maybe I’m just a bit… jealous?” She averted her gaze. She needed to look at anything but her friend for fear his reaction would be one she didn’t want.
There was a blanket of silence that rested over top the two of them while Diaval mulled over her words.
“About what? I never thought you to be the jealous type,” he said quietly.
She looked to him finally and saw that all his anger had vanished and what replaced it was confused and… concern?
“You know I like you…”
Before either of them had a chance to continue or respond, Devlyn came bounding back, her glass full to the brim in her hand, and spilling over the sides.
She plopped back down onto her chair and with a newfound enthusiasm asked, “so whatcha guys talking about?”
Cierne turned away and Diaval did too. At the same time they said, “nothing,” before another awkward lull descended upon them.
Struggling with the conflicting thoughts that swirled in her mind, Cierne turned back to look Devlyn in the eyes. She pushed herself as she used the last of her remaining ether to fix the problem she had caused.
She went inside the female Biqaj’s head and plucked out the strand of jealousy she had previously brought to the forefront of her mind. Then, she wove it through the many threads of adjacent emotions until it was carelessly tucked away in the vast mass of emotions in the back.
Retreating, she gave a little push to the string associated with joy. Then, recoiling slightly at the energy she had drained, she grabbed her almost empty glass and downed the rest of it.
Cierne gave Diaval a look that said ‘I’m sorry’ before getting up and fetching Delilah. She needed a refill or else she wouldn’t be able to get through the rest of this gods awful night.
Thankfully Delilah was at the bar making a drink for one of her many patrons.
Cierne found an empty stool and took a seat, slamming down her empty glass in the way she always did when she wanted a refill. Had it been anyone other than Delilah, they would have given her a glare, but Delilah knew Cierne by now and she knew what she meant when she did this.
“What’s happening, Constance?” The woman asked, placing a hand on her hip while holding a pitcher of ale in the other.
“My friend has a weird ass taste in girls,” the Naer replied with a dark chuckle. She leant forward then and whispered, “and I’m not even sure she’s old enough to drink.” A baseless assumption she had no right in stating, but one she couldn’t help but say. She was still fueled with the envy that coursed through her veins.
“You can’t pick family,” Delilah said with a laugh, taking Cierne’s empty glass and refilling it with the drink she had previously had in it.
Cierne was confused. “But he’s not-“
“I see the way you look at him. You guys might as well be.”
Damn, so either Delilah knew how she felt about Diaval, or she thought they were so close in a way that said brother and sister.
The Naer sighed before thanking her friend for the drink. Then she got up and made her way back to the table.
Diaval and Devlyn were laughing amongst themselves having obviously returned to the happy demeanor they had had first coming into the tavern.
Cierne popped a squat back onto her chair at the table and took a large swig of her drink.
“So whatcha guys talking about?” She asked, not realizing that what she said had been exactly what Devlyn had said when she had returned with her newly filled drink.
Both Biqaj’s blushed with embarrassment and turned away from one another uttering, in perfect sync, “nothing.”
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