Dragon Lover | B X B X B X B

32

Remus

These moments with Florence, with or without Rian here were precious. That moment in the festival- when he shunned me away.. it was horrible.

This entire time I had been here I felt like I was climbing. Climbing an unreliable ladder seemingly to nowhere with the only motivation I had being up. I had to climb until I reached my unknown goal. Whatever it was, it was something I needed to achieve. No matter how high or how long I just knew. I knew in my bones that it was worth it. The ache it gave me to climb was a sign that it was worth it. That this was all worth it.

It was the same ache in my gut that Florence gave me. Whenever I snuck a glance at him and we met halfway, every brush of our shoulders or the occasional smile he'd throw me, it would prove to be worth it. He was worth it.

Florence was like a rung in my ladder. He was there to give me stability. I used to think of absolutely nothing when I thought of whatever was at the top of my ladder, that was until Florence came along. Now I see him sitting there, high up in the sky waiting for me to reach the top.

He was my goal and so far he was proving to be worth it.

Having Florence openly show me his disappointment was a blow to the chest. It was worse than any kind of pain an opponent on the battle field could inflict. What was worse was the radio silence. I wanted to talk to him so badly but Midas constantly advised against it. I trusted him because I didn't want to fuck things up with Florence even more but not being able to see or hear him was driving me insane. Florence was a rung on my ladder, and without him I had lost my footing completely.

"Oi, Remus, pass us the popcorn." Rian's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. He had decided to take up half the couch by laying down with his feet splayed over Florence's lap and his feet poking annoyingly at my thigh. I slowly placed my hand into the bowl and brought it to my mouth, making sure to drag out the whole process. I had found that annoying him was fun and that it made me laugh and Florence smile. It was worth it.

Rian looked like he was ready to pop, his face growing an unusual shade of red. Florence snorted and slapped me on the shoulder, the tiny interaction making my brain go fuzzy. "Give the man the popcorn," Florence laughed and I begrudgingly complied, handing Florence the bowl who then stretched to give it to Rian. I did my best to ignore it but the hand Florence placed on Rian's leg as he balanced himself had my eyes glued to them. It was a tiny interaction but it still managed to make my heart jump and not in the good way.

"When do you suppose Eurus will get here?" Florence openly asked. His question was met with silence.

His name alone was enough to ruin my entire mood. It left a sour taste in my mouth even if spoken by a someone else. His name.. it just reminded me of darker times. It poisoned my ambition to climb, my motivation to swipe at whatever was at the top. He was the reason my ladder wasn't stable enough to carry me.

Asking Florence to help was bad and it only worsened with the fact that we needed help with Eurus. I knew what Eurus did to people- how he corrupted them and yet I still asked Florence for his aid. Sending him in his room alone was like watching a clueless animal enter the cave of a bear.

It only soured my mood when Florence announced that Eurus was staying over as well.

"Hm, it's been an hour and a bit. I hope he hasn't changed his mind," Florence continued. I knew he had good intentions but I couldn't help but feel.. slightly off. I would go along with him, whatever his idea was but I guess I wished he'd tell us beforehand.

"This movie is boring as shit." Rian grumbled, effectively changing the subject. I redirected my attention to the movie which I had picked out. It had a bunny on the cover so, naturally, I insisted with my life to have it played. As it turned out it was about bunnies but they talked and moved like us. It took my love for the cute critters and reduced it to something more similar to my love for humans. A little too much hatred for me.