#alphi on the other hand is possessive and a little jealous and very protective of his brother and doesn't appreciate raha courting him

[charlottedabookworm]

#31 - Extra Day! (Vestige)

so i was not expecting there to be a day 31 which is why this was written half on a train and half in a hotel room because i’m on holiday rn. anyway, when i heard about the extra prompt i had ideas that were far more angsty than this (aka the set meeting g’raha again scene) but my brain didn’t want to play ball with that and instead gave me this. this is less angsty but it still hurts from both povs because g’raha is hurting and set is also hurting and vestige is all set is seeing when he looks at him and hey it’s hurting both of them

this’ll be up on ao3 in a hot minute

He finds the Warrior of Light at the very edges of Silvertear lake, tucked away in a little hidden cove that is invisible from above as he stares out at the crystalised corpse of Migardsormr. The auri looks pensive, his eyes glowing fiercely in the bright light of the setting sun, and for a moment, he reconsiders. Is now truly the right time?

(Will he get another chance?)

Before he can talk himself out of this conversation yet again, G’raha drops to the sand on near-silent toes.

The Warrior tenses at his very presence.

G’raha frowns past the flash of hurt and steps over a rigid tail so that he can collapse at the waters edge beside the auri. His knees curl instinctively into his chest and he fixes his gaze out upon the water. “Have I done something to offend?” He asks, voice quiet as he tries not to let the vulnerability - the hurt - at the abject dismissal shine through. T’would not be the first time he had accidentally offended someone and he knows that his introduction to the Warrior had not put his best foot forwards but he had been so excited…

In the corner of his eye, he sees Set tense further still until he appears to be writ from stone.

He looks away; his question answered. “My apologies,” he rasps out lowly, already cursing himself. Still, this is the find of a lifetime and he cannot let his mistakes cost him his position on the dig. “I should not have been so childish-”

“No!”

This time, tis Raha who flinches, his head flying around to stare at the Warrior as his tail flares up in alarm behind him.

A vestige of something dark, something horribly broken, flickers across the man’s face before he closes his eyes. “No,” he repeats more quietly, an embarrassed flush plain upon his face. “You have not offended me.”

“There is no need to lie, Warrior,” G’raha laughs and it tastes bitter upon his tongue. “Rammbroes has made it quite clear that my actions were in poor taste; I should have simply introduced myself to you rather than forcing a challenge when you were simply completing your tasks.” Rammbroes had also made it quite clear that a part of the lecture was due to the complaints of the Warrior himself.

Yet, even as he watches, Set’s trail bristles in obvious offence. If the auri had fur instead of scales, he has no doubt it would be stood on its end. “I said nothing to Rammbroes,” he says after seemingly reading his mind, and his words are low and intense and angry. “I would have appreciated an introduction, aye, but your challenge… It hurt nothing and - please, do not tell my siblings this but I enjoyed it.” He glances away, his flush still high on his cheeks, and there is a shy smile twitching at his lips.

“You did?”

The smile blooms further. “T’was fun,” is all the auri says.

G’raha has to fight the urge to stare at him. “Then why-” he cuts himself off, forcing his gaze back to the water.

“Why..?” The question is gently probing in the same tone that he has heard directed at the Warrior’s siblings.

He swallows. “Sometimes- I feel, at times, as if we are friends and yet, at others… You seem to go out of your way to avoid me and, when you cannot, it is as if you see right past me. As if I am not even here and-”

A flinch.

A dark look flickers across Set’s face, full of something that G’raha cannot read in the second it is there before it is gone again, yet whatever it is has the Warrior looking at him.

Through him.

And then, away from him.

G’raha- perhaps he has assumed too much in regards to the possible friendship that exists between them. He unwinds his arms from his legs, his ears pressed flat against his skull in a movement he cannot prevent, and moves to stand.

“I apologise,” the Warrior, Set, says. 

He freezes in place as the auri turns to him and sees him.

“You- I-,” he stutters and his eyes are dark. “There is someone that I love very much and you- you very much remind me of him and it…”

Hurts.

The unspoken word echoes between them. He swallows, carefully considering, before lowering himself back to the sand.

“You must love him very much,” G’raha says softly, tentatively, and this time he is able to recognise the grief that lines the Warrior’s face. It leaves an earthy, bitter taste at the back of his nose.

“I do.” 

The words are so fierce, so loving, so devoted. No wonder he has been avoiding him if he is reminded of someone he loved so fiercely - someone he lost - by his presence. ”Will you tell me of him?” He finds himself asking, a little curious.

What was it between them that was so similar?

Set bites his lip and his eyes are still dark with grief and guilt (but Raha cannot blame him for grieving) and for a long moment, the silence stretches between them.

He opens his mouth to apologise again...

“...he accidentally pranked the twins once, after Alphi made one too many pointed comments and Ali just happened to get in the way and t’was like I blinked and the walls were purple and my hair was green…”