With Corbett and Hamelin gone... things were different.

Nerluce couldn't put his finger on what it was, but the entire atmosphere of the fire Affinity dorms had shifted with their departure. Maybe it was the fact that almost... everyone was gone. Only seven people had passed the test. There was Nerluce, Lyana, and Eko - of course - along with three boys and one girl. They were nice enough but Nerluce wasn't particularly close to any of them nor did he want to be.

He missed his friends but he couldn't help that so he threw himself into his work.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Lyana asked for the third time that evening. "I know... what happened last time was awful but... but maybe that's why you should come? We only get to do this two times in our whole lives. Why not make one good? Besides you've been moping for two days now."

"I have not been moping," Nerluce said. "And I don't want to go."

"Eko is going!" Lyana protested.

Like that mattered. Eko wasn't the one who lost control and used forbidden Magick. Nor were they the one who got dragged back to Ethera by the collar by Aristide. At least they had the decency not to push Nerluce on this though... it wasn't like Lyana knew. Because Nerluce didn't want her or anyone else to know.

"I've got my evening chores to do," Nerluce said.

"You are not going to hang out with Aristide instead of us!" Lyana said, throwing her hands up in indignant rage.

Nerluce rolled his eyes. "I'm not hanging out with Aristide. I am going to be cleaning the stables. You're more than welcome to help me."

"No thank you," Lyana huffed. "I'm going to torment second years."

"And I'm going to torment them when they come back," Nerluce said. "I think I'll get Aristide to help me." He snickered. "I bet at least one of them will piss themselves."

"So you are hanging out with him!"

"No."

Lyana didn't look like she believed him which... was fair. Unfortunately, whether or not Nerluce and Aristide hung out tonight was largely not up to him. Aristide had his moods and while they were friends - hopefully - Nerluce might piss him off or vise versa. Regardless of that fact, Nerluce, currently, had no plans to spend any extra time with Aristide tonight and he most certainly wasn't abandoning his other friends for Aristide.

Nerluce got up and pulled on his outer robes. "I don't want to go, Lyana. It's just... a bad memory for me."

"I get it... I guess," Lyana mumbled. "You were awake the entire time, right?"

"Unfortunately yes," Nerluce said.

The memory was cold and unwelcome in his mind but it was always there, just beneath the surface, like Nerluce's Magick. But... the Magick was only one part of the horrible, horrible night. Jurine's screams, the blood on Lyana's face, the way Aristide had looked at him... gods Nerluce had thought he was going to die. He probably should have.

But he was here now and he was going to live without regrets.

"Have fun without me, though," Nerluce said, tying his robes shut. "You can use it as an excuse to drink more."

"I guess I can," Lyana said. "But it would be more fun to drink with you."

Nerluce paused as he slid his boots on, thinking about Lyana's words. "Well... one day... we can go drinking together. Just me and you. And I'll buy all the alcohol that you can drink." He offered her a grin. "Just not tonight and not with all of these people. Is that... okay?"

"Yeah," Lyana said. "We'll do it when we're both Seraphs."

"It's a promise."

Nerluce stuck his hand out as he knew was custom for the western kingdoms. Lyana laughed as she clasped his hand and then unexpectedly brought Nerluce into a hug. "I won't forget and even if you don't become a Seraph, I'll hunt you down and have Aristide drag my drunken ass back. You won't be able to escape me, Nerluce."

"I wouldn't dare try to," Nerluce said.

With that, he finished putting on his boots and left the room. The second years were beginning to cluster in the common area. Nerluce winked at Eko as he passed and they rolled their eyes, trying to maintain order and figure out which second years they still needed to collect. With all of that going on, Nerluce was able to slip out fairly easily and head to the barn without anyone stopping to talk to him.

Not that he was usually stopped. Nerluce wondered at what point that changed. Back home, he stopped to talk to people all of the time - especially those who dealt in liquor. Now Nerluce was not only passing up an opportunity to get drunk, but also every fine face he saw too.

Though, if what Lyana had told him was true, Nerluce wondered if by flirting less, he'd made himself more desirable. Or maybe it was just that he'd grown half a foot and without Hamelin was the tallest boy in the fire Affinity dorms. Girls seemed to like height. Nerluce wondered... did boys like height too? Did Aristide...

Wait. No. No, no, no. Nerluce did not care what Aristide thought about him. But... what if Aristide did think he was ugly? Nerluce knew he wasn't malformed in any way and in fact thought himself decently attractive. His white hair was long and well kept, his skin was smooth and clear, and now more recently, he was both tall and well-built. There was nothing about him that was ugly.

But... compared to Aristide he might as well have been horse shit.

This was going to bother him. Nerluce bit the inside of his cheek and quickened his pace. When he arrived at the stables, he flung the doors open, entering a bit too dramatically for the matter. Yet... it felt important to Nerluce.

"Aristide!" he called.

Aristide, of course, was already there and hard at work. His curls fell around his face and a couple of pieces of straw were caught in them. Dirt smudged his dark cheeks. Even like this, he was perfect.

"Nerluce," Aristide said in turn. "Why are you yelling?"

Nerluce marched up to Aristide and looked him dead in the eyes. "Do you think I'm attractive?"

The expression Aristide made... well it wasn't so much as displeaf as it was pure shock. He was clearly not expecting this question but when he realized that this was real and Nerluce was being serious, he still stared for a couple of extra moments to make sure that Nerluce wasn't joking. Nerrluce held his gaze.

"Um... why?" Aristide asked.

"Just- just answer." Nerluce waved his hands. He wished he could explain why this was so important to Aristide but he couldn't even explain it to himself. He just... had to know.

Aristide looked down, his long lashes brushing against his cheeks. "I... suppose that you are... attractive"

All at once it felt as though a weight had been lifted off of Nerluce's shoulders. He exhaled heavily, eyes closed and chin raised. He didn't know why this mattered but hearing Aristide say those words was all he needed to rid the anxiety that had been twisting itself into clever knots in his gut.

"You aren't lying, right?" Nerluce asked.

Instead of answering, Aristide said, "You didn't strike me as the type to be insecure about your appearance." Which brought up a whole new round of anxieties.

"I'm not," Nerluce said. "Just- just answer-"

Aristide sighed but his brows were knit together and lips twisted downwards. He was confused and Nerluce wasn't making this easy for him. "I find you physically attractive, Nerluce." He seemed to flush a bit before turning away completely. It was only with his back to Nerluce that he continued. "Though it is your character that truly makes you one of the most attractive people I've met."

"That's not a real answer," Nerluce said, poking Aristide with his elbow, though he couldn't stop grinning.

Huffing, Aristide passed Nerluce. "I think you're attractive, will that satasfy you?"

"What about me?"

"Gods, Nerluce," Aristide mumbled. "We have work to do."

"Do you like that I'm tall?" Nerluce asked. "Or my arms? Lyana said that if I flexed in the common room I'd have half the girls drooling but I think she might've been messing with me-"

Arstide turned around and fixed him with a long, hard stare. "I find you incredibly attractive when you pick up a shovel and start working. That really shows off your arms and height and whatever else you were insecure about."

"Okay, okay, I'll get to work," Nerluce said. "Just sit back and watch the show, angel."

Aristide huffed and stalked off.

However, as Nerluce went through each of the stables that night, hoisting shovel fulls of shit from stalls, he paid extra attention to where Aristide's gaze was. To give him credit, Aristide seemed a master of focus and just when Nerluce was beginning to give up all hope of any truth to Aristide's words, Nerluce caught him, eyes lingering for just a moment as Nerluce carried two buckets of water to Eden.

When he winked, Aristide definitely blushed.

Seems even angels could come undone.