Dorians stomach rolled as he stood on the window sill, grip on the rope to the pulley system tightening as he stared at the ground. Below him, Aiden called out "C'mon!! I know you can do it!"
Dorian gulped, he thought about what would happen if his father caught him. He immediately grimaced, beginning to question if this was the right thing to do.
Aiden seemingly sensed his hesitance, yelling "You don't have to leave if you don't want to!"
Dorian pursed his lips, technically Aiden was correct, he looked back into the empty tower. Somehow the thought of going back into there, when he was so close to leaving felt worse. His father didn't usually get home until late at night, and they'd agreed they'd only be in town an hour or two.
Dorian looked back at Aiden "I'm not hesitant!" He shouted back "It's just..." he searched his brain for an excuse "What if I fall!" He finally said.
Aiden raised a brow "I've used this pulley system a hundred times, it's totally safe!"
Dorian huffed, "Well, you have practice, I've never done this before! What if I land incorrectly or something!"
Aiden sighed and rubbed his temple "Look, if you fall-" he held out his arms "I'll catch you."
The thought of falling into Aidens arms made Dorians stomach flip more, so he resolved to land correctly.
With no more excuses Dorian stared back into the tower one more time, and then jumped off the window sill.
The pulley system went down much faster than he expected, Dorian yelped in surprise as he went down. He shut his eyes, suddenly fearing he'd made a grave mistake.
He went down, and down, and down, and then-
His feet landed on the grass. Dorian opened his eyes and stared down at the ground, and then all the way back up to the tower. It was much taller than he thought.
He was out of the tower. Which felt surreal.
Aiden spoke, breaking Dorian out of his thoughts "See? You did everything without falling." Dorian looked back at him, he was...smiling. "How's it feel to be out of there?" He asked.
Dorian blinked, he wasn't sure how he felt. On one hand he was elated, but also kind of terrified. The feelings swirled. "Strange." He finally settled for.
Aiden shrugged "I guess that's fair."
Dorian then looked back at the ground beneath him. Suddenly realizing he'd never stood on grass before. He knelt down and started touching it with his hand. It scratchy, not the soft texture he imagined. He frowned.
Aiden chuckled, seemingly seeing his disappointment "Not how you pictured it?"
Dorian looked back up, slightly embarrassed "No it's-it's fine."
Aiden bit his lip, hiding a smile "Well, if you find grass interesting, just wait until you see what else you can find." He held his hand out, offering to help Dorian up "You ready to go?"
Dorian hesitated for a moment, before taking one last breath. With a nod, he took Aidens hand.
——
Aiden led him through the forest to where town was. It was supposed to be a relatively short walk, but Dorian kept on stopping to inspect everything around him. Could you really blame him though?
Dorian expected for Aiden to get annoyed by this constant stopping, but every time he looked back, Aiden was staring at him with an expression he couldn't quite explain. Fondness? No, that couldn't be it.
