Disclaimer: Can be read at any time
Liv and Heart
I was in the middle of fixing a broken bridge when a familiar horn rang out. I smiled to myself and stood up to take a safer turn on the plank roads behind, when someone burst out from the tree behind me, grabbed my waist, and jumped across the hole I still haven’t fixed. Heart then grabbed my hand and dragged me with him, excitedly.
“Finally,” besides excitement, a little impatience could be heard in his voice, too. He had prepared a cake for Gabriel’s return, but the lordling took more time than expected, and it was about to go bad any day now. Perhaps, it was already inedible.
Lady Jilsys walked out of her residence and looked around to see if his son was already nearby. Heart was running around the busy bridges so fast that we almost hit her. That would have been unlucky… He grabbed the cake with his other hand and stopped for a second near the last lookout point. I even managed to crash into his back a little.
“Hey-!”
“Sorry, Liv!” He looked down to measure how far the ground below is.
“Don’t you jump down here with this!”
“Yeah,” he took a turn for the stairs, still dragging me with him.”
Gabriel was trotting back by the shore leisurely and raised his hand to greet us. He jumped down from his Qirin when he got closer and hugged me. I looked at Heart, who was slightly offended that he didn’t get one. Just to be clear, he’s the one who pretends he does not want such things. But he still gets jealous.
“You are late.”
“Late?” Gabriel was surprised. “I’m never away for a fixed amount of time, though…”
“I calculated that you’d be here sooner.”
“Ah, according to your feelings, I was late.. I’m sorry,” he smiled at him and shook his head a little, finding that offended remark amusing.
“According to the moon. You always arrive on the same moon. Well, never mind, don’t waste time because I made a cake! Eat it NOW!” Heart demanded in despair, because that cake was REALLY about to go bad. But it’s not like it depended on those few minutes. Gabriel’s not even up in the village yet.
‘Don’t cry,’ the cake wrote. It was supposed to be kind of like a joke to cheer Gabriel up, since every time he arrives home from Tír Ríoga, we can see how much sadness he’s hiding that he had to come back home.
Gabriel looked at the unusual writing on the cake, and it seemed like he got the joke. But then he looked up at Heart, who looked like He was the one who was about to cry; it really was comical to look at…
Gabriel tried to hold it in because he didn’t want to make fun of his friend, but Heart looked so desperate about the cake that he couldn’t help but let out a big laugh.
I was standing there frozen. Heart as well. Why was it strange to look at?
Ah…
He wasn’t covering his mouth.
Sholto once told us that Gabriel used to smile and laugh a lot as a child. But when his parents tried to punish him for not retracting his fangs, he started to become more and more self-conscious. He couldn’t retract them. Elves have them out occasionally, when hunting, for example, but not often. But his was like it’s not even a real fang, just regular teeth, but sharper. Like a fang, that stuck midway and didn’t move anywhere, no matter how much he was scolded for it or told to “behave well”.
Others noticed it too, and sometimes there were whispers that this malfunction must be because he’s half-blood. And it didn’t help the bad stares that the other part in him was Gaelian…“When he grows up, he’s gonna be even scarier, just like those high elves. He’s gonna grow to be a violent man”. When he heard that, he became even more self-conscious and tried not to smile at all.
Eventually, as he grew and his teeth didn’t, it wasn’t that noticeable, but we can still get a glimpse at it if we really look. He generally smiles a lot, too, but never with teeth showing, never a full smile. If he can’t help it, he covers his mouth with one hand.
I see… So you don’t cover your smile in front of Jinhai.
It makes me a little sad, because your smile is really precious like this.
My heart skipped a beat, and I could feel myself getting red. I tried not to blush in front of Gabriel, but sometimes you just can’t keep it together when you have certain feelings for someone.
Gabriel, in the middle of laughing, got a glimpse of my reddening face and continued trying to restrain his laugh, facing away from us. He realized he didn’t cover it out of habit, since he just got back.
“I’m sorry. You didn’t have to turn away,” I thought.
I looked at Heart, and he had a little sorrow in his eyes, too. We thought the same thing, right? We all feel like we’re genuinely great friends. But somehow still.. We always get a reminder that he can only be truly himself with that person.
“Heart, do you remember what we talked about last time?” Liv asked after gazing at the forest for a few minutes.
“Of course”
“...well. I had a dream about him last night.” She turned her head away from the other, knowing she might be getting redder by the second―from shyness, or embarrassment?
“Oh. It’s obvious then.”
“It might have been because we talked about him.”
“What was the dream about?”
Liv went silent and was obviously blushing now.
“It might be more obvious to us that you have a crush on Gabriel than to yourself.”
“‘Us’?? Gabriel doesn’t know, right?”
“I meant Sholto and me, but I don’t know, Gabriel’s good at reading people.” Heart shrugged.
“I guess my parents are also good at reading me…They told me from the start that I cannot date him, even when it didn’t even cross my mind like that yet.”
“Why can’t you date him? I thought your parents liked him, too. I thought everyone liked him.”
“They respect him, and they think he’s a good leader, he’s gonna be a good leader.. But since he has Gaelian blood in him, they don’t want me to.”
“They’re dumb.”
“Don’t call my parents that, please.. Although I don’t agree either. But you don’t know much about people from Gael, you’re not from here. We hear so many stories on the shore. Even if we put all that tyranny away, the way they treat women there is unspeakable. Abuse, control, and w-”
“No need to continue, don’t wanna hear it.” Heart stopped her. He once again acted like he’s above it all and doesn’t care, but in reality, it was just unpleasant for him to imagine such things.
“No wonder women escape right when they get the chance.”
“And your parents think Gabriel’s like that, too?”
“Well, not exactly, but even if his leadership skills are good, they certainly don’t want Me to find out, if ―heaven forbid―, he can treat a woman in such a way.”
“I don’t think that guy can show any aggression toward anyone. Even when killing sirens, he goes for the quickest way… He said that he’d originally had a hard time killing any of them, because he learned from that naiad not to kill anyone, not even your enemies. But he eventually concluded that they’re not learning from their defeat, and if not killed, they’ll come back to kill his people.”
“Mhm”
“See? That guy’s harmless.”
“Yes. Personal traits come from upbringing and your own choices, not your blood,” said Liv.
“Disagree, it comes from your blood too.”
“So you think he’s bad?”
“I didn’t say that, I'm just stating facts. Your personality comes from your blood, too.”
“What are you saying?” Liv realized that Heart is not so much on her side as she thought he was.
“Are you deaf?”
Heart didn't really like it if he had to repeat something, or if someone didn't agree with him.
“Are you serious? Do you say that to yourself to excuse your trash personality?”
The boy closed his eyes for a moment, to contain whatever he had to say to that. Even if it wasn't his style to let an offence against him go.
"He's harmless anyway." he got back to the topic.
”My parents don’t listen.”
“Then choose someone else to love.” Heart finally got enough of the girl’s crush talk.
Liv gave him an unsatisfied look and continued.
“We’re hanging out today, the two of us.”
“Ask him if it’s a date.”
“What? No way”
Heart’s patience had run out right there; he was definitely not up for this conversation the way Liv wanted.
“Okay, so what do you want me to do? Should I marry him and find out if he’s abusive, then let you have a turn? The heck do you want?!”
“Oh my god, your temper is WAY worse! You’re way worse, Gabriel would never talk to me like that!” Liv suddenly lost it, too. She was usually more composed, but this topic was overwhelming enough for her.
“IF YOU’RE SO SURE THEN JUST DATE HIM FOR GOD’S SAKE!”
The girl suddenly teared up, stunned from being yelled at.
“WHY DID I EVEN ASK A MAN ABOUT THIS?” she cried as she got up and fled the observation deck.
Heart was a person easily angered, though this time, deep down, he knew he was the one who messed up. He couldn't match what his friend wished he were. But despite his understanding, he got really frustrated and ran after Liv as if he were chasing her. He yelled in her direction in that strong, commanding voice he was using back at home, but unlike his people, who got used to it, Liv, in her distressed state, got even more scared from the angry shouting and chasing.
"Lelhaleans really move quickly," Heart thought, annoyed, but he was gradually able to close up the distance between them. He cut down a rope that was holding a bridge between two trees and launched himself closer to the girl.
Liv couldn't jump around on the branches as fast as usual and screamed in fear when she saw the other almost catching up, not knowing what he wanted exactly.
Heart grabbed his knife again as they got closer to the next bridge, when he heard a voice calling him from behind. He knew who it was, but there was no way he'd stop and explain himself to Gabriel now.
Just a few steps in, he felt the presence closing in fast behind him, and he was grabbed strongly in an instant. ... Lelhaleans really are fast.
"How did he do that with those boots..." Heart thought, annoyed that Gabriel could easily catch up to him when he was not even wearing clothes that fit for easily traversing the trees.
"What are you doing?!" Gabriel asked, his arm still in front of Heart to restrain him.
At that moment, the bridge that was in front of them fell to the ground, as Heart had already cut the rope. Luckily, Liv was already on the next side, breathing heavily.
Gabriel looked at the frightened girl and asked again, but Heart didn’t answer. What was he supposed to say? We both got upset at what-? He won’t tell him Liv’s secret if she doesn’t want to.
“Okay,” Gabriel didn’t have much time, so he didn’t wait for the answer if they didn't want to answer. “Decide if you two want to sort it out, or if you want to rebuild this bridge first.”
“You know who’s going to rebuild this sh*t.” No way that Heart, who is also a lordling in his own hometown, was going to be seen building bridges.
“The one who cut it,” answered Gabriel.
“Not doing it, I am not in the mood to build bridges, as you can probably see,” declared Heart in a confident tone.
“Maybe it wasn’t clear, but I didn’t ask if you’d like to build bridges; I told you to do it.”
“Do you think you can just tell me things?” Heart did not let go of his lord-like status just because he’s not at home. He has a higher prestige than this.
“Yes,” he answered simply.
They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Heart could feel the pressure Gabriel could have on people when he was serious. He’s always friendly with everyone, but he can also have a commanding aura that you can’t defy. He can even do it while still asking nicely.
“You can start now,” he gestured at the bridge and pointed at a middle-aged lady who was now standing on the other side with his kid, slightly panicking about being late to somewhere and having the route sabotaged.
“To school?” Liv sniffed as she wiped away the last teardrop on her cheek.
“Oh dear, are you alright?” the woman looked at her, worried. Even her kid stepped closer to Liv and patted her to make her feel better.
“Yeah, no need to worry,” she smiled. “I can get him to school if you need me to.”
“Are you sure? You’re so nice, Liv.” The woman thanked her and gave the boy’s hand for Liv to hold.
“No worries,” she stood up and lifted him in her arms, then jumped away on the tree branches instead of the built route.
As Heart watched them from the other side, he could once again feel the difference in how a community can feel, compared to his at home. The difference between the community Gabriel wants to lead and the one he wants to control. But he had his reasons. Still, now he felt bad for making a mess for others. He sighed and knew that he would start fixing that bridge now. He glanced at Gabriel and knew that he saw all through what he was thinking. And Gabriel knew that he knew. They both knew what kind of heart Heart was trying so desperately to hide behind that wall of superciliousness, and he hated that Gabriel was gradually trying to break it down.