FeiWan¹Literally fei (raging / furious) + wan (fire) kept impatiently pacing back and forth. Like the day before, he’d made sure to have his hair carefully braided, his clothes specially selected, something not too fancy but that would pass the idea of someone clean, elegant and neat.

He had spent the entire day waiting for this moment, barely able to focus on his other affairs. He had also called for the man responsible for carrying news of what was happening at CalWan² Literally cal (bright) + wan (fire)’s Pavillion at least three times, since he didn’t want the man actually keeping watch over him to leave his station, in case something worth mentioning might happen in meanwhile. At least, as far as he had been informed, last night the CalDai³Literally cal (bright) + dai (light). Unlike the Empires, the Dragon Clan has no royalty. They have a Leader. CalDai is a personal title (not inherited), and it refers to the youngest son of the Leader, reason why ZaiWin and the others sometimes refer to him as a prince (which he is not). had left CalWan’s Golden Forest Pavilion in one piece, walking on his own feet, and not excessively later than FeiWan had considered an acceptable time, considering the normal duration of an evening meal. After that, up to that moment, no one on CalWan’s side had made any attempts to contact the Demon Clan again.

Unconsciously gritting his teeth, he looked out the window of his study one more time.

He wished time would pass faster. He didn’t want to look anxious, much less desperate, to meet the cold-faced man by arriving ahead of time. And yet he still couldn’t stop wishing he could already be making his way to the White Pavilion, eager to confirm with his own eyes what he’d been told. And then he was annoyed with himself, for his restless, impatient personality.

Just the day before he had actually found it funny, the possibility of CalWan showing a special interest towards the stone-faced CalDai. But then, as time passed, what had been amusement at the thought of how the always-serious CalDai would react to such a thing, had slowly but surely transformed into a deep irritation that he couldn’t quite understand. What if that cold-faced man actually fell for his brother’s seductive ways?

He knew that the Demon Clan liked simple but elegant things, their dwellings always clean and orderly, their furniture always delicately carved from white wood, their clothes always made from the best linen and silk, the fabrics light and soft. CalWan was no idiot. He was an expert at giving other people exactly what they liked. FeiWan was sure he had staged the perfect scenery, wore the perfect clothes, behaved in the perfect way, all in order to please and impress the important CalDai. In that aspect, as his own mother had made a point to openly declare on several occasions, CalWan was much better at navigating the Palace’s court that he would ever be. FeiWan was just too impulsive, and definitely lacked the patience to invest to such a degree, all to try and please other people. In fact, such details never even crossed his mind, much to his mother’s chagrin.

Of course FeiWan kept telling himself that a cold-faced warrior like the CalDai would never fall for such a cheap trick. But then he also knew that being a warrior or a soldier had nothing to do with any of that. And he didn’t know how much the CalDai could see into that kind of farce, since he had obviously spent his entire life sheltered in his peaceful little village, hidden in the middle of the mountains. There was no way he was used to dealing with the kind of scheming and deceit that was a part of everyone’s daily life inside those walls.

Unable to wait any longer, FeiWan left his study and made his way outside, the two guards that kept watch over him during the day silently falling behind him, accompanying him without a word.

CalWan might as well not even think about it! There was no way he was going to lose an important source of information as the CalDai. This was an advantage he had gained by risking his own life, living for an entire year with a bunch of strange people that could very well murder him in his sleep and get away with it! There was no way he was going to sit back and allow CalWan to steal that advantage from him with a stupid invitation for a fancy meal! Just the thought of that left his blood boiling.

Entering the White Pavillion’s grounds, he forced himself to slow down, placing an unconcerned expression on his face, as he made his way towards the gazebo where they’d met the day before.

FeiWan had already come up with the perfect excuse for his early arrival, when he noticed he hadn’t been the only one getting to their meeting point ahead of schedule.

Sitting on the gazebo's railing, with his back against one of the white columns, CalRimRan⁴Literally cal (bright) + rim (cold) + ran (moon) seemed to have fallen asleep, the wavering branches of the closest trees casting dancing shadows over his pale face, his long hair looking even whiter every time a sliver of sunlight managed to touch him. Of course FeiWan knew that there was no way he was actually asleep. He had been deceived by that relaxed appearance more than enough times for a single lifetime.

Back when he’d stayed in the Demon Clan’s village he had tired, on several occasions, to catch the silent, severe-looking CalDai off guard. He had been so annoyingly serious all the time that FeiWan had really wanted to see another expression on his face, any expression would do, be it surprised, annoyance, or even anger. And so, of course, when talking about catching someone else off guard, the best time to achieve such an endeavor would be when the other person is sleeping.

Needless to say that none of his hard-working attempts worked out the way he had expected at all.

Every time, just when he thought he’d finally succeeded, those hard gray eyes would inevitably pop open and, before he could even know what was happening, he would already be landing heavily on the floor, after he’d been grabbed and thrown down in the most varied ways. Until he finally gave up on his useless attempts, his pride bruised, but no more than his back, since the honorable CalDai didn’t seem to have any qualms injuring one of the Imperial El’Gin⁵Literally el (supreme) + gin (gold). Name given to the male children of the Emperor. Could be translated into prince in the common language.. The most frustrating part of it all, however, was that not even when beating him up, CalRimRan’s expression never changed.

Sighing inwardly, FeiWan couldn’t help staring at him a bit longer.

It always astonished him how beautiful he was. Well, how beautiful they all were. And, at the same time, how similar they looked. Be it males or females, the people of the Demon Clan all shared similar traits, almost as if they were all siblings or cousins. And, likewise, they all shared that strange delicate beauty, that made the men look soft and gentle, and the women look strong and determined. In the end, their natural constitution kind of blurred a bit the difference between what he, and most people, would consider a men’s and a women’s physical traits. Sure, women did have breasts, like any woman anywhere else, which men obviously did not have. But, if not for that difference, FeiWan was sure that the man in front of him could easily pass by a woman, if he wanted to. At the same time, it clearly set them apart from the people of Wen, even if they were to somehow hide their long white hair. Ah, he had no doubts that CalWan had found that specific aspect of the Demon people more than a bit enticing, he thought, unconsciously gritting his teeth again, before he made his way to the gazebo’s entrance, purposely banging his feet louder than necessary.

He expected the CalDai to quickly stand up to receive him, like he’d done the day before. But instead, by the time FeiWan had actually stepped into the gazebo, CalRimRan hadn’t moved much, simply opening his eyes and turning his head to look at him.

FeiWan halted, all the formal greetings he had been playing out inside his head suddenly useless, not to mention that there was something always a bit eerie about the way he looked at him. Straightening his back, FeiWan tried to quickly pull himself together.

He looked … tired, he wondered. Wait! There was no way he was allowing himself to be deceived by that cold, stone-faced man! Still, if he really was tired … what could have possibly happened to leave him in that state? No way CalWan had actually managed to lay his hands on him, right? Right??

“Greetings, CalDai,” he begun and immediately regretted his own words. That hadn’t sounded right at all. He really didn’t know what he was supposed to say. And it pissed him off, having to stand there, feeling unsure of himself.

Well, screw that! He had never been good at engaging in polite, delicate conversation anyway. He was a man of action, not of words. And he hated having to tiptoe around other people, forcing himself to carefully ponder every word out of his own mouth. All that shitty theater was CalWan’s way of doing things, not his! He might as well deal with that wall of ice his own way. That would certainly be better than standing there, looking like an idiot.

“You don’t look so good. Anything happened?” he simply asked, dropping all pretenses and going straight to the matter.

The CalDai closed his eyes for a brief moment, taking a deep breath.

“We apologize for our rude behavior and are grateful for the El’Gin’s concern,” CalRimRan answered in a soft voice, before those gray eyes focused on him again, hard and cold as if they were made of stone. “We’re just a bit tired,” he finally admitted, and it was all FeiWan could do not to openly scowl at the sound of those words.

“Shall I return another time?” he politely asked, although he had no intention to leave, and the CalDai softly lowered his gaze, his white eyelashes glistening under the sunlight that filtered through the trees.

“That won’t be necessary.”

Smiling inwardly, FeiWan crossed the gazebo and rudely sat on the table, instead of occupying one of the comfortable chairs laid out for them. He knew this was the kind of behavior that had always annoyed the proper and prim CalDai. Of course he had never openly shown such strong emotions on his face. Instead, back when they were younger, every time FeiWan behaved like that, he would simply correct him in that dull tone of his and, if FeiWan failed to follow his instructions and correct his misguided ways, the righteous rules-abiding CalDai would then proceed to correct him himself, in a much more physical, much more painful way. Back then his stuck up personality had really pissed him off. Now, that kind of knowledge was an advantage he was glad to have and use. And yet, the CalDai in front of him didn’t even blink, didn’t even frown, didn’t even pursed his lips, his gaze didn’t even waver. It really was as if he couldn’t care less if FeiWan sat on the table or anywhere else. Which really, really irked him!

Silvareiel

Eheheh I really like seeing FeiWan flustered. ? Love even more seeing him being thrown on the ground over and over again Ahahaha ???