A Lesson in Aristocracy

XXI - Questions

Xym stared down at the man, his eyebrows drawing together. He never took a moment to appreciate Arden's looks before then, but the Sielfi was, admittedly, very handsome.

His ears were tipped with a brilliant cherry red, the same color covering his tails. His hair was such a sweet caramel brown, and brilliant sunset orange speckles dotted his cheekbones. Xym reached forward, hesitantly curling a lock of the Sielfi's hair around his fingers.

"He's pretty, ain't he?"

"What are you still doing here?"

"This is the medical ward, baby. I work here." The Aralfi woman clicked her tongue at him, giving him a thumbs up.

Xym huffed, releasing Arden's hair.

"Well, I'll be off, then."

"Don't you wanna watch your sweetheart?"

"You have it covered just fine."

"The names Arei, by the way," she called, just before he shut the door in her face.

Xym walked down the hall, running a hand through his hair. It was coarse, and bits of dirt rubbed off onto his skin.

"Gods, I need a bath."

"Yeah, you do."

Xym turned at the voice, meeting the gaze of a decidedly tall Lozenfi. He wasn't much taller than Xym, only two or three inches, but still Xym wasn't used to people of his own kind being taller than him.

"Lex. I remember you." Xym growled, his lip curling up.

"Good job, buddy," Lex cooed, adjusting his own hair. It was much better kept than Xym's.

"Listen, Lex. I don't like you. I'd see what you did to Arden done back to you in a heartbeat."

"Oh? What did I do to your Handler, Hyarith? I was just inspecting the wounds. I didn't put them there."

"Don't call me that."

"Oh, I assumed since you loved Handlers so much, you'd love the name they gave you too. My apologies."

Xym didn't dignify him with a response, instead turning and starting to walk away. He felt a searing pain in his right wing, flaring his wings quickly to deter it as he turned around.

"What's your problem?!" Xym could feel a smidgen of blood run off his wing and dribble onto the membrane.

"Hm. Slow."

Xym's gaze narrowed.

"Lex Hector. I'll be you and your boy toy's mentor." He smiled, offering a hand to shake.

"Mentor? For what?" Xym spat, not even acknowledging the hand.

"Fighting. Swordsmanship. All that fun stuff."

"I don't need taught."

"Maybe, but Pinqel said you two were bonded, which means you should stay together as much as possible and especially in training. Your Sielfi pal takes a beating like a bitch."

Xym grabbed his shirt, catching him by surprise as he shoved him into the wall.

"Ooh! Maybe not as slow as I thought!" Lex said, smiling before casually shoving Xym off of him.

"He's not going to get near you."

"That's his call, not yours."

"Lex!"

Both the Lozenfi turned their heads, looking at the Aralfi woman as she placed her hands on her hips.

"I told you not to go around being all mean to those two! They've had it rough."