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no_true_pairTitle: Lessons in Demeanor
Author:lucathia
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Pairing/characters: Earth, Storm
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Prompt/challenge you're answering: Storm & Earth, tea for two
Word Count: 4,355
Notes: Here are the last two chapters for this fic~. Previous three chapters are over here!
- Lesson Four: Practice -
Over the week, Ceo tried to keep in mind what Georgo had taught him. She's a p-pear, Ceo would think to himself whenever one of the females tried to talk to him. Thinking this way didn't exactly help, but the focus he needed to put into conjuring up images of fruits and veggies did help him keep his mind off the fact that he was speaking to a girl. Or even worse, multiple girls.
When Ceo's teacher noticed that he wasn't eating his fruits or vegetables, his teacher barged into his room with a plate full of them, forcing Ceo to eat the entire plate. It wasn't that Ceo didn't like apples, or pears, or broccoli, but when he was already being bombarded by them in the corridors, encountering them in his food as well was a bit too much. Still, he understood his teacher's concern about his sudden lack of appetite, so he forced himself to nibble on some cabbage, his face white as he did so.
Ceo's tutor, Georgo, wasn't doing much better either. Throughout the week, a splotch of brown could be seen shadowing the young Storm Knight, and it was even said that there were many "thunking" sounds heard that week, much like the sound of someone thudding their head against the wall. The sounds grew especially loud whenever Ceo blushed or ran away from female clerics.
When Georgo could no longer stand what he saw, he stomped up to Ceo after the latter's latest failure at speaking to a girl and threw down the words, "Come to my room this afternoon!"
It was an ultimatum, one that Ceo could not refuse. It was also the cause of much gossip, for many had overheard Georgo's loud exclamation...and had taken it the wrong way.
"So she was right."
"They're so adorable! No wonder the young Earth Knight has been stalking our young Storm Knight!"
"He must be jealous!"
"Jealous? The Earth Knight jealous? He's too magnanimous for that!"
Thankfully, none of the gossip had reached Georgo's ears, or else he would have flown into a rage in public and would have had to kiss his honest and down-to-earth image goodbye, as there would have been lots of swearing, and perhaps things would have even gotten physical. The scene certainly would not have been fit for innocent eyes and ears.
That brought us to the present, where Georgo's image was thankfully still intact, though his mood was far from happy.
On this beautiful day blessed by the God of Light, a day during which Georgo should have been drinking tea with a beautiful cleric, Georgo instead had a "date" with Ceo for more character training. Georgo now saw exactly why Ceo's teacher had so much trouble with teaching Ceo because he was now in exactly the same predicament and found that teaching Ceo was nearly impossible.
Drilling Ceo in the art of flirting was grueling work, even harder than learning how to stutter. Georgo had no control over Ceo’s inability to stop himself from blushing, while Georgo could make himself stutter at any moment in time.
It was such tiring work that Georgo decided to sit down on his bed to munch on cookies he’d received from Ecilan. They were chewy and light. He’d wanted to share them with his date for the day, but he had no date to share them with because of stupid Ceo, and now Ceo was wasting his time. Georgo finished the cookie with a lick of his tongue, not at all ashamed when there was not even a crumb left for Ceo. Georgo didn’t entertain guys.
Georgo watched as Ceo tried a smile at one of the posters he had put back up on his wall. Ceo's smile was shy, and tiny, unfit for a foot-loose charmer, but it was an improvement. Ceo himself seemed tiny in comparison with others like Grisia, but it wasn’t his stature that made him appear small (if this was the case, then Grisia would have that title since he was a stick, so much that Georgo had once mistaken Grisia for a dainty girl from behind, but Georgo was never going to let Grisia know that, not unless he could make that into an insult toward Grisia instead of a jab at himself). Rather, Ceo appeared tiny because of the way he held himself, hesitant and unworthy.
Maybe what Ceo needed was a confidence boost. And lots of practice to brainwash him into thinking that he could do it. Posters weren't good enough. They didn't talk back at Ceo, and when it all came down to it, posters were flat and had nothing on the real thing.
After all, the real thing could flirt back. Once that happened, Ceo would be a goner.
"You need more practice," Georgo said suddenly.
Ceo turned his head toward him, face puzzled. "I'm practicing right now though...?"
Shaking his head, Georgo said, "Real practice."
It was time for Ceo to graduate from practicing on posters! That was getting him nowhere!
"But..."
Georgo rolled his eyes. He could pretty much guess what Ceo wanted to say. But I can't practice on real girls! He could already imagine how that would end up. Either Ceo would end up in a faint, or he'd completely disappear from the room and give the Cloud Knight a run for his money with his disappearing acts.
Sighing, Georgo leapt off his bed and walked up to Ceo. It looked like he'd have to make a big sacrifice. Ceo had better be thankful because he wouldn't do this for just anyone.
"Try it again," Georgo said, hand waving in the air to indicate that Ceo should try whatever he had just been attempting on the poster on him instead.
Ceo stared blankly at him, eyes wide.
"Oh for the love of the God of Light!" exclaimed Georgo in exasperation. He crossed his arms and breathed out slowly. "Ceo, I'm a guy. You're not flustered around guys, are you?"
"...no," came the small reply.
"That's a start," muttered Georgo. "We'll work on your technique first and worry about gender later. What you need to do is change your demeanor. You need to exude confidence and believe that you're handsome, that people want you. Then, you have to make other people believe that you want them, that they're desirable."
"Oh..."
Moving closer, Georgo tilted Ceo's chin back and looked straight into Ceo's emerald green eyes. Damn Ceo for his pretty eyes. Ceo really didn't know how to use his natural charms to his advantage! All he had to do was wink those damn eyes of him, and the ladies would fall at his feet.
"Have I ever told you what a startling color your eyes are?" Georgo murmured softly.
Ceo immediately wrenched his face away and covered his mouth to muffle the laughter that was about to escape."That was, that was..." he gasped, unable to finish his sentence, for he ended up dissolving into giggles.
Undeterred, Georgo gently took Ceo's hand and brought it up to his lips, as if he were about to kiss it. This time, instead of trying to stop himself from laughing, Ceo immediately wrenched his hand out of Georgo's grasp, his face reddening, though he was still feeling the need to giggle.
"So, how did that make you feel?" Georgo asked.
"Very embarrassed, which is no different from usual..."
Georgo shook his head. "No, there's a huge difference. I didn't feel embarrassed. I was the one initiating. You felt embarrassed, but you were supposed to feel embarrassed because you were on the receiving end of my charm. That's exactly how you want to make other people feel. Kind of giddy. A little embarrassed. You just have to remember that you want to make other people feel that way, while your goal is to not feel that way yourself when you're putting on your charm. It's not that you can't feel embarrassed at all, but your opponent's embarrassment should far outweigh your own!"
"I see..."
"Alright, now try it on me."
Obediently, Ceo shuffled forward.
"Grab my chin," Georgo instructed.
Once again, Georgo found himself looking into Ceo's startling green eyes. Those green eyes of Ceo's bore into his, long eyelashes fluttering as he blinked. Damn, this was dangerous.
"Um, your eyes are a beautiful shade of...chocolate," Ceo said stutteringly.
"That's not bad for a first try, but you really need to stop stuttering and sounding so hesitant. You have to sound more confident! Try saying something else."
"I could stare into your eyes all day, and I would never tire of it." The corners of Ceo's mouth lifted up. Georgo thought that Ceo was probably feeling the urge to giggle again because of his corny lines, but the effect was a good one. Ceo's smile made him look much more confident.
"Heh, good! You sound and look more confident. Try saying more," Georgo urged. "And follow that up with a wink."
Ceo nodded and moved to take Georgo's hand. "You must surely have been blessed by the God of Light with your radiance," Ceo murmured. After speaking, he winked.
Georgo rolled his eyes. "Now you sound like Grisia of all people! But fine, I can play off of this, and that wink didn't look half-bad, though you'll need to work on it more. You looked like your eye was twitching. Why thank you, young Storm Knight. People often tell me that! Alright, how do you respond to that?"
"What, there's a continuation? Uh..."
"Of course, do you expect them to sit there like logs? They're going to speak back and giggle at your praises!"
"...they only speak the truth," Ceo finally said.
This time, Georgo couldn't help it. He fell over in laughter onto his bed when he realized that Ceo was following up on his "thanks" with these words.
"What! You were the one who made me come up with such a follow-up! How else am I supposed to follow your 'people often tell me that' statement? What kind of over-confident cleric are you pretending to be anyway?!"
Georgo waved his hand in the air, brushing off Ceo's indignation. Ceo was getting into the right mind frame though. He wasn't even stuttering anymore. This might even work!
Still sprawled across his bed, Georgo tugged on Ceo's hand. "Young Storm Knight, you are quite radiant yourself. You must be well loved by the God of Light."
"No, I am nothing compared to you," Ceo answered.
Now, this was more like it!
Grinning, Georgo gave Ceo a harder tug.
"Now what?" Ceo asked.
"Now is when you lean down and whisper into my ear. I assure you, a sultry tone next to her ear will send her shivering, and then you can saunter away and leave her wanting you."
"I’m not sure I need to go that far..."
"Whatever, just try it out!"
Ceo wrinkled his brows, but he quickly smoothed his expression out when Georgo gave him a look. Instead, he smiled a crooked smile that Georgo was certain was going to break many hearts, and then he cradled Georgo's face as he leaned in and whispered into Georgo's ears. It was truly enough to make Georgo shiver, but that was because a guy was right up in his personal space.
Right at this moment, as if Georgo hadn't suffered enough for his generous offer to help Ceo out with Ceo's hopelessness (Georgo even had to make a huge sacrifice!), the door burst open.
Ceo's hand was still on Georgo's face. Georgo was sprawled over his bed and Ceo was leaning down, half straddling him. Both of them looked toward the door blankly, half frozen in their current position.
"Brother Georgo, today the benevolent God of Light has urged Grisia to come visit his neglected best friend..."
The annoyingly saccharine voice cut off.
"AKDJFL;ADJKLF;A!" The future Sun Knight swore, his elegance completely forgotten. "Y-You!" Grisia pointed a shaking finger at the two of them, his eyes accusing. He couldn't seem to force out any more than that one single word.
Slowly, he backed out of the room and shut the door. The door thudded closed resoundingly, finally waking Georgo and Ceo up from their stupor.
"It's not what you think!!!" came two simultaneous shouts, but they were a beat too late.
Only the door heard them.
- Lesson Five: Drink More Tea -
"Oh dear, have you heard?"
"Heard what?"
"The Earth Knight and the Storm Knight are..."
"Ehhhhh? Earth Knight and Storm Knight? I never would have thought... oh all the broken hearts..."
"Silly, not them! The younger duo!"
"You mean young Earth Knight and young Storm Knight?"
"Yes, them! Have you seen how they look at each other?"
"Now that you've mentioned it, I've seen young Earth tailing young Storm! I see, so that's how it was... oh my, what a cute pair."
"I know, right? Young Earth and young Storm complement each other so well! There surely can't be any two people more different than the two of them! One is so shy and one is so bold!"
"I know exactly what you mean!
"Ahhh, shh! Bring your voice down. There's the young Earth Knight right over there. Oh my, he looks so ravished today. You know, I heard young Storm was in young Earth's room..."
“The Storm Knight must have been quite wild, I imagine!”
As the future Earth Knight passed by the two clerics, he smiled pleasantly at them, his eyes narrowing in what had to be "joy", his fists balled together and trembling in what had to be "nervousness"...
"Do you think he's on his way to see young Storm Knight?"
"That has to be it!"
Too bad for everyone involved, but young Earth Knight was actually on his way to visit young Blaze Knight, not that that was going to help the rumors at all. Perhaps gossip would even start over how young Earth was now leaping into the arms of young Blaze after being cheated on by young Storm...
The clerics giggled as they walked away, furtively darting looks at young Earth's trembling figure.
-----
"Shield of Earth!" Georgo growled, a thick layer of holy light materializing in front of him. He then drew his sword and hacked at his shield to vent his frustrations. What he'd give to have one of Elmairy's "straw" dolls right now!
Generosity sucked! Georgo had learned his lesson. He'd gone out of his way to help Ceo, yet where had that gotten him? Nowhere good! He was now the center of unwanted gossip! And he couldn't even be angry about it in public, not when he was supposed to be honest and sincere. He’d walk for less than ten steps and would already run into juicy gossip, which he normally would have wolfed down happily, except this time, the gossip was about himself!
And why oh why was Ceo the "wild" one? How in the name of the God of Light had someone come up with that kind of conclusion? Ceo, aggressive? What a joke!
When Georgo finally spotted the unmistakable blazing head of red hair that belonged to the person he'd been waiting for, he turned and yelled, "Chikus. Tavern. Now."
Chikus blinked and backed up a step. "Whoa, what's gotten into you?"
"Nothing," gritted Georgo as he slashed at his own shield again. With each slash, he also poured a steady amount of holy light into his shield to maintain it, or else it would grow too weak under his barrage and shatter. Beads of sweat rolled down the sides of his face as he concentrated on maintaining a steady out-pour of holy light at the same time as he hacked away at his own shield.
After looking Georgo up and down, Chikus whistled. "You look like you've been training the entire day. That's not nothing."
With one last strike, Georgo let his shield dissipate, the holy light scattering into a million particles as his sword sliced through without any resistance. After putting his sword away and taking a deep breath to calm himself, Georgo repeated, "Tavern, now."
"What happened to sparring? And isn't it the middle of the day right now...? Ah whatever, I'm free anyway," Chikus replied while scratching his head. He fell into step with Georgo.
Georgo nodded in satisfaction. Chikus was pretty much the best excuse for visiting the tavern, only second to Ceo whom everyone expected to be a frequenter of taverns. Chikus was loud and brash, so people would assume that Georgo was merely accompanying the hotheaded future Blaze Knight on one of his whims to visit the tavern. Now that Georgo couldn't drag Ceo along with him -- that would only make the rumors worse -- Chikus was the next best option.
-----
On the way back from the tavern, Georgo swayed as he walked and almost stumbled until Chikus managed to grab him.
"That no good Grisia," Georgo continued mumbling, hand twisting Chikus' sleeve. "I bet this is all his fault..."
After all the alcohol that Georgo had downed and all the complaints that Georgo had spouted, Chikus still didn't know what Georgo was angry about. All he caught was that Grisia had something to do with this, and that Ceo ranged from hopeless to infuriating to downright maddening.
At this very moment, the future Sun Knight happened to pass by with what Georgo would call maddening timing. When their future Sun Knight with his head of dazzling blond hair spotted them, a large gasp could be heard. Those blue eyes of his darted between them before the future Sun Knight stepped forward and addressed the future Blaze Knight with utmost severity, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.
“My dear brother Chikus, the benevolent God of Light teaches us not to disturb the wind and the earth if they so wish to unite together. There is no room for flames to come between them, for flames would only scorch the earth and incite the wind.”
Once he finished talking, the skinny stick of a Sun Knight smiled benignly at a large-eyed Chikus.
“Huh, what?” asked Chikus in confusion. “I didn’t get any of that.”
“Ceo and Georgo are...” Grisia leaned in and whispered into Chikus’ ears, the latter whose eyes grew even wider if possible. “So don’t come between them!” finished Grisia in a "kind" voice that was anything but kind.
"Grisia..." growled Georgo, hand twisting Chikus' sleeve even more as he pulled himself up. He stumbled forward away from Chikus and grabbed Grisia's collar. "You...!"
Eyes large, Grisia exclaimed, "Brother Georgo! Though sunlight may be resplendent and stormy weather too ferocious to navigate, you must weather it through and must not stray!"
"You are so doing this on purpose!"
"What might brother Georgo be insinuating? Grisia is doing no such-"
"You are doing this on purpose!!!" Georgo practically screeched as he shook Grisia back and forth like a rag doll.
"...no I'm not," Grisia hurriedly said, but Georgo wouldn't stop shaking him. "Stop messing up my clothes!"
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm not! Let go of me!"
"Yes you are!"
"NO I'M NOT!"
"YES YOU ARE!"
"NO I'M NOT!!!"
"YES YOU ARE!!!!"
"CAN I LEAVE NOW?" bellowed Chikus.
-----
Georgo was not Georgo if a rumor of this degree could defeat him. Not even Grisia's meddling would be able to keep him down! After his trip to the tavern, Georgo felt more lucid than ever. Taking his frustration out on his Shield of Earth was a waste of energy, and downing his sorrows in alcohol was stupid. Why should he avoid female company just because of a rumor? He'd only be missing out!
Resolved, Georgo immediately continued on like he always did.
-----
This was more like it. This was what he should have been doing all along, entertaining a lovely lady instead of coaching a hopeless guy like Ceo or seething over rumors.
"H-Have a seat," Georgo said, gesturing toward the bed. His room was fairly large for a knight in training, but he did not believe in chairs, or more like, he had put all of them away. The cleric hesitated for a moment before stepping over to the bed and sitting down, smoothing her robes as the bed dipped in.
Georgo smiled shyly at her and busied his hands with setting out the saucers and tea cups. Next, he brought out the tea kettle and his containers of tea leaves, placing them on the small table next to his bed.
"That's quite a collection you have there," the female cleric exclaimed. She bent over from the bed to study the various teas, giving him a perfect view as she selected one of the teas.
While they waited for the water to boil, they made small talk, and Georgo nonchalantly sat down on the bed too. Like Georgo had predicted, she was extremely curious about what was going on between him and Ceo, which provided him the perfect opportunity to turn the situation around into an advantageous one.
"If I may be so bold as to ask," the cleric started, "are you and young Storm Knight..."
"C-Ceo, you m-mean?" asked Georgo, eyes darting at the cleric before he looked down at his hand and then back at her face. "U-Um, he's been h-helping me l-learn n-not to s-stutter so much, and how to be m-more natural around g-girls..." he trailed off, blushing on command as he darted his eyes at the cleric again.
"Oh!" the cleric's cheeks reddened. "Is that what's been going on? I completely misunderstood. What good friends you are!"
"C-Ceo's been a g-great help," Georgo said. "T-Though I s-still can't s-stop stuttering and..."
The cleric hurriedly reassured him, "Don't worry, practice will help!"
"I-I can p-practice speaking on m-my own time, b-but I-I s-still can't h-help feeling nervous a-around girls..."
She blinked at him before a smile smile came across her face. "Why don't I help you with that?"
"W-Would you?" he gasped.
"It would be my pleasure."
"Oh, t-thank you so much," he said all in one breath, grabbing her hands in gratitude before he hurriedly dropped them in chastisement, his eyes large, shock plastered on his entire face over what he had just done.
The cleric giggled and placed her hand over his. "This isn't bad for a first step."
"O-Oh..."
The whistling of the damn tea kettle broke them apart. Georgo almost scowled, but since the cleric had already scooted a respectful distance away from him, woken up by that shrill shriek, he served the tea, hoping that would loosen her up again.
They chatted over the tea. Georgo gradually slid closer. She also placed her hand on his again. Things were progressing nicely... and then came knocking on his door.
What now?! Go away!
Whoever was at the door, however, was persistent and refused to heed Georgo's silent command. It couldn't be Chikus since he'd kick Georgo's door down without knocking. Could it be that damn Grisia once again?
"Ah, I should take my leave now," the cleric said, finally realizing that spending time in a boy's room like this was a little scandalous, even if that boy had the reputation of being honest and sincere.
"I-I have s-some more s-snacks! Y-You're welcome to s-stay longer. I l-like the company!" Georgo said quickly as he walked toward the door, hoping that he could shoo the person at the door away without too much trouble and keep the cleric from leaving at the same time.
As he opened the door, ready to be greeted by Grisia's infuriating smile, Georgo was instead greeted by Ceo's... infuriating smile.
The situation was startling familiar -- he had been interrupted by Ceo last time too when he thought the culprit to be Grisia -- but he'd have expected Ceo to dart his eyes at him in nervousness instead of smiling at him so infuriatingly!
Something was off!
"Ceo?" asked Georgo, completely not understanding why Ceo was even here and why he was smiling so blindingly.
"Um, thank you for the tea, young Earth Knight," the cleric said from behind. "I'll be taking my leave now!"
Georgo glanced at Ceo, certain that Ceo's confident demeanor would vanish without a trace now that he was face-to-face with a female cleric, but instead of what Georgo expected, Ceo turned in the general vicinity of the cleric and...winked!
The cleric swooned. Georgo could tell that all thoughts of helping the young Earth Knight had flown out of her mind. Now, all she could see was young Storm!
Then, Georgo felt a hand on his shoulder. Georgo was seething and watching the cleric blush all the way up to her ears when he felt this hand on his shoulder. Immediately, his head snapped back. He stared at Ceo with wide eyes.
Ceo leaned in closer and whispered, "Thanks Georgo. I really wanted to thank you! I think I've figured things out! If my eyesight is so blurry that I can't see the girls, I'll be fine! And then to keep them away, my teacher has always said that girls will squeal until they faint when they see two guys standing very closely to each other. I never knew how true his words were!"
The cleric behind them squealed. "Oh my, oh my! I won't bother you two any longer!"
She obviously had not heard Ceo's words and had only seen his action of whispering...into Georgo's ears.
Ceo's smile didn't drop from his face as he gave another wink to the cleric before she bounced out of the room, giddy with what she had witnessed.
"Wow, it's really just like my teacher claimed!" Ceo said.
Georgo stared, stunned, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Then, he grabbed Ceo's collar.
"When I had you practicing whispering compliments," Georgo growled lowly and slowly, enunciating every single word clearly, "I did not mean whispering things like this into my ear!"
-----
Rumors did not die very easily, but they did morph very easily.
"Hey hey, have you heard? I heard that young Earth and young Storm are an item!"
"No way!"
"It all started when young Storm could not keep his eyes off of young Earth..."
"Alas, once young Earth gave into young Storm's charms, that young Storm cheated on young Earth, so young Earth escaped into young Blaze's arms!"
"Oh yes, and I heard that young Sun was actually young Earth's true love, so young Blaze and young Sun got into a fight over young Earth!"
"But I thought the Sun Knight may only love the God of Light and may never love women?"
"Precisely because he may never love women! You know how the Sun Knight and the Earth Knight are best friends!"
"Oh, but listen to this! In the end, young Storm apologized to young Earth, who fell into his arms and accepted his apology wholeheartedly with his magnanimous personality!"
"Sigh, what a beautiful story."
"No way, look, look! It's young Storm! Isn't he just so handsome~."
"Kyaa, look at that wink!"
"Weren't you a fan of young Earth before this?"
"Yeaaah, but young Storm is so much cooler!"
-----
"...Ceo, I, Georgo Earth, am never going to help you ever again!"
-----
the end
This fic can also be found here and here~
Author:
lucathiaFandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Pairing/characters: Earth, Storm
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Prompt/challenge you're answering: Storm & Earth, tea for two
Word Count: 4,355
Notes: Here are the last two chapters for this fic~. Previous three chapters are over here!
Over the week, Ceo tried to keep in mind what Georgo had taught him. She's a p-pear, Ceo would think to himself whenever one of the females tried to talk to him. Thinking this way didn't exactly help, but the focus he needed to put into conjuring up images of fruits and veggies did help him keep his mind off the fact that he was speaking to a girl. Or even worse, multiple girls.
When Ceo's teacher noticed that he wasn't eating his fruits or vegetables, his teacher barged into his room with a plate full of them, forcing Ceo to eat the entire plate. It wasn't that Ceo didn't like apples, or pears, or broccoli, but when he was already being bombarded by them in the corridors, encountering them in his food as well was a bit too much. Still, he understood his teacher's concern about his sudden lack of appetite, so he forced himself to nibble on some cabbage, his face white as he did so.
Ceo's tutor, Georgo, wasn't doing much better either. Throughout the week, a splotch of brown could be seen shadowing the young Storm Knight, and it was even said that there were many "thunking" sounds heard that week, much like the sound of someone thudding their head against the wall. The sounds grew especially loud whenever Ceo blushed or ran away from female clerics.
When Georgo could no longer stand what he saw, he stomped up to Ceo after the latter's latest failure at speaking to a girl and threw down the words, "Come to my room this afternoon!"
It was an ultimatum, one that Ceo could not refuse. It was also the cause of much gossip, for many had overheard Georgo's loud exclamation...and had taken it the wrong way.
"So she was right."
"They're so adorable! No wonder the young Earth Knight has been stalking our young Storm Knight!"
"He must be jealous!"
"Jealous? The Earth Knight jealous? He's too magnanimous for that!"
Thankfully, none of the gossip had reached Georgo's ears, or else he would have flown into a rage in public and would have had to kiss his honest and down-to-earth image goodbye, as there would have been lots of swearing, and perhaps things would have even gotten physical. The scene certainly would not have been fit for innocent eyes and ears.
That brought us to the present, where Georgo's image was thankfully still intact, though his mood was far from happy.
On this beautiful day blessed by the God of Light, a day during which Georgo should have been drinking tea with a beautiful cleric, Georgo instead had a "date" with Ceo for more character training. Georgo now saw exactly why Ceo's teacher had so much trouble with teaching Ceo because he was now in exactly the same predicament and found that teaching Ceo was nearly impossible.
Drilling Ceo in the art of flirting was grueling work, even harder than learning how to stutter. Georgo had no control over Ceo’s inability to stop himself from blushing, while Georgo could make himself stutter at any moment in time.
It was such tiring work that Georgo decided to sit down on his bed to munch on cookies he’d received from Ecilan. They were chewy and light. He’d wanted to share them with his date for the day, but he had no date to share them with because of stupid Ceo, and now Ceo was wasting his time. Georgo finished the cookie with a lick of his tongue, not at all ashamed when there was not even a crumb left for Ceo. Georgo didn’t entertain guys.
Georgo watched as Ceo tried a smile at one of the posters he had put back up on his wall. Ceo's smile was shy, and tiny, unfit for a foot-loose charmer, but it was an improvement. Ceo himself seemed tiny in comparison with others like Grisia, but it wasn’t his stature that made him appear small (if this was the case, then Grisia would have that title since he was a stick, so much that Georgo had once mistaken Grisia for a dainty girl from behind, but Georgo was never going to let Grisia know that, not unless he could make that into an insult toward Grisia instead of a jab at himself). Rather, Ceo appeared tiny because of the way he held himself, hesitant and unworthy.
Maybe what Ceo needed was a confidence boost. And lots of practice to brainwash him into thinking that he could do it. Posters weren't good enough. They didn't talk back at Ceo, and when it all came down to it, posters were flat and had nothing on the real thing.
After all, the real thing could flirt back. Once that happened, Ceo would be a goner.
"You need more practice," Georgo said suddenly.
Ceo turned his head toward him, face puzzled. "I'm practicing right now though...?"
Shaking his head, Georgo said, "Real practice."
It was time for Ceo to graduate from practicing on posters! That was getting him nowhere!
"But..."
Georgo rolled his eyes. He could pretty much guess what Ceo wanted to say. But I can't practice on real girls! He could already imagine how that would end up. Either Ceo would end up in a faint, or he'd completely disappear from the room and give the Cloud Knight a run for his money with his disappearing acts.
Sighing, Georgo leapt off his bed and walked up to Ceo. It looked like he'd have to make a big sacrifice. Ceo had better be thankful because he wouldn't do this for just anyone.
"Try it again," Georgo said, hand waving in the air to indicate that Ceo should try whatever he had just been attempting on the poster on him instead.
Ceo stared blankly at him, eyes wide.
"Oh for the love of the God of Light!" exclaimed Georgo in exasperation. He crossed his arms and breathed out slowly. "Ceo, I'm a guy. You're not flustered around guys, are you?"
"...no," came the small reply.
"That's a start," muttered Georgo. "We'll work on your technique first and worry about gender later. What you need to do is change your demeanor. You need to exude confidence and believe that you're handsome, that people want you. Then, you have to make other people believe that you want them, that they're desirable."
"Oh..."
Moving closer, Georgo tilted Ceo's chin back and looked straight into Ceo's emerald green eyes. Damn Ceo for his pretty eyes. Ceo really didn't know how to use his natural charms to his advantage! All he had to do was wink those damn eyes of him, and the ladies would fall at his feet.
"Have I ever told you what a startling color your eyes are?" Georgo murmured softly.
Ceo immediately wrenched his face away and covered his mouth to muffle the laughter that was about to escape."That was, that was..." he gasped, unable to finish his sentence, for he ended up dissolving into giggles.
Undeterred, Georgo gently took Ceo's hand and brought it up to his lips, as if he were about to kiss it. This time, instead of trying to stop himself from laughing, Ceo immediately wrenched his hand out of Georgo's grasp, his face reddening, though he was still feeling the need to giggle.
"So, how did that make you feel?" Georgo asked.
"Very embarrassed, which is no different from usual..."
Georgo shook his head. "No, there's a huge difference. I didn't feel embarrassed. I was the one initiating. You felt embarrassed, but you were supposed to feel embarrassed because you were on the receiving end of my charm. That's exactly how you want to make other people feel. Kind of giddy. A little embarrassed. You just have to remember that you want to make other people feel that way, while your goal is to not feel that way yourself when you're putting on your charm. It's not that you can't feel embarrassed at all, but your opponent's embarrassment should far outweigh your own!"
"I see..."
"Alright, now try it on me."
Obediently, Ceo shuffled forward.
"Grab my chin," Georgo instructed.
Once again, Georgo found himself looking into Ceo's startling green eyes. Those green eyes of Ceo's bore into his, long eyelashes fluttering as he blinked. Damn, this was dangerous.
"Um, your eyes are a beautiful shade of...chocolate," Ceo said stutteringly.
"That's not bad for a first try, but you really need to stop stuttering and sounding so hesitant. You have to sound more confident! Try saying something else."
"I could stare into your eyes all day, and I would never tire of it." The corners of Ceo's mouth lifted up. Georgo thought that Ceo was probably feeling the urge to giggle again because of his corny lines, but the effect was a good one. Ceo's smile made him look much more confident.
"Heh, good! You sound and look more confident. Try saying more," Georgo urged. "And follow that up with a wink."
Ceo nodded and moved to take Georgo's hand. "You must surely have been blessed by the God of Light with your radiance," Ceo murmured. After speaking, he winked.
Georgo rolled his eyes. "Now you sound like Grisia of all people! But fine, I can play off of this, and that wink didn't look half-bad, though you'll need to work on it more. You looked like your eye was twitching. Why thank you, young Storm Knight. People often tell me that! Alright, how do you respond to that?"
"What, there's a continuation? Uh..."
"Of course, do you expect them to sit there like logs? They're going to speak back and giggle at your praises!"
"...they only speak the truth," Ceo finally said.
This time, Georgo couldn't help it. He fell over in laughter onto his bed when he realized that Ceo was following up on his "thanks" with these words.
"What! You were the one who made me come up with such a follow-up! How else am I supposed to follow your 'people often tell me that' statement? What kind of over-confident cleric are you pretending to be anyway?!"
Georgo waved his hand in the air, brushing off Ceo's indignation. Ceo was getting into the right mind frame though. He wasn't even stuttering anymore. This might even work!
Still sprawled across his bed, Georgo tugged on Ceo's hand. "Young Storm Knight, you are quite radiant yourself. You must be well loved by the God of Light."
"No, I am nothing compared to you," Ceo answered.
Now, this was more like it!
Grinning, Georgo gave Ceo a harder tug.
"Now what?" Ceo asked.
"Now is when you lean down and whisper into my ear. I assure you, a sultry tone next to her ear will send her shivering, and then you can saunter away and leave her wanting you."
"I’m not sure I need to go that far..."
"Whatever, just try it out!"
Ceo wrinkled his brows, but he quickly smoothed his expression out when Georgo gave him a look. Instead, he smiled a crooked smile that Georgo was certain was going to break many hearts, and then he cradled Georgo's face as he leaned in and whispered into Georgo's ears. It was truly enough to make Georgo shiver, but that was because a guy was right up in his personal space.
Right at this moment, as if Georgo hadn't suffered enough for his generous offer to help Ceo out with Ceo's hopelessness (Georgo even had to make a huge sacrifice!), the door burst open.
Ceo's hand was still on Georgo's face. Georgo was sprawled over his bed and Ceo was leaning down, half straddling him. Both of them looked toward the door blankly, half frozen in their current position.
"Brother Georgo, today the benevolent God of Light has urged Grisia to come visit his neglected best friend..."
The annoyingly saccharine voice cut off.
"AKDJFL;ADJKLF;A!" The future Sun Knight swore, his elegance completely forgotten. "Y-You!" Grisia pointed a shaking finger at the two of them, his eyes accusing. He couldn't seem to force out any more than that one single word.
Slowly, he backed out of the room and shut the door. The door thudded closed resoundingly, finally waking Georgo and Ceo up from their stupor.
"It's not what you think!!!" came two simultaneous shouts, but they were a beat too late.
Only the door heard them.
"Oh dear, have you heard?"
"Heard what?"
"The Earth Knight and the Storm Knight are..."
"Ehhhhh? Earth Knight and Storm Knight? I never would have thought... oh all the broken hearts..."
"Silly, not them! The younger duo!"
"You mean young Earth Knight and young Storm Knight?"
"Yes, them! Have you seen how they look at each other?"
"Now that you've mentioned it, I've seen young Earth tailing young Storm! I see, so that's how it was... oh my, what a cute pair."
"I know, right? Young Earth and young Storm complement each other so well! There surely can't be any two people more different than the two of them! One is so shy and one is so bold!"
"I know exactly what you mean!
"Ahhh, shh! Bring your voice down. There's the young Earth Knight right over there. Oh my, he looks so ravished today. You know, I heard young Storm was in young Earth's room..."
“The Storm Knight must have been quite wild, I imagine!”
As the future Earth Knight passed by the two clerics, he smiled pleasantly at them, his eyes narrowing in what had to be "joy", his fists balled together and trembling in what had to be "nervousness"...
"Do you think he's on his way to see young Storm Knight?"
"That has to be it!"
Too bad for everyone involved, but young Earth Knight was actually on his way to visit young Blaze Knight, not that that was going to help the rumors at all. Perhaps gossip would even start over how young Earth was now leaping into the arms of young Blaze after being cheated on by young Storm...
The clerics giggled as they walked away, furtively darting looks at young Earth's trembling figure.
-----
"Shield of Earth!" Georgo growled, a thick layer of holy light materializing in front of him. He then drew his sword and hacked at his shield to vent his frustrations. What he'd give to have one of Elmairy's "straw" dolls right now!
Generosity sucked! Georgo had learned his lesson. He'd gone out of his way to help Ceo, yet where had that gotten him? Nowhere good! He was now the center of unwanted gossip! And he couldn't even be angry about it in public, not when he was supposed to be honest and sincere. He’d walk for less than ten steps and would already run into juicy gossip, which he normally would have wolfed down happily, except this time, the gossip was about himself!
And why oh why was Ceo the "wild" one? How in the name of the God of Light had someone come up with that kind of conclusion? Ceo, aggressive? What a joke!
When Georgo finally spotted the unmistakable blazing head of red hair that belonged to the person he'd been waiting for, he turned and yelled, "Chikus. Tavern. Now."
Chikus blinked and backed up a step. "Whoa, what's gotten into you?"
"Nothing," gritted Georgo as he slashed at his own shield again. With each slash, he also poured a steady amount of holy light into his shield to maintain it, or else it would grow too weak under his barrage and shatter. Beads of sweat rolled down the sides of his face as he concentrated on maintaining a steady out-pour of holy light at the same time as he hacked away at his own shield.
After looking Georgo up and down, Chikus whistled. "You look like you've been training the entire day. That's not nothing."
With one last strike, Georgo let his shield dissipate, the holy light scattering into a million particles as his sword sliced through without any resistance. After putting his sword away and taking a deep breath to calm himself, Georgo repeated, "Tavern, now."
"What happened to sparring? And isn't it the middle of the day right now...? Ah whatever, I'm free anyway," Chikus replied while scratching his head. He fell into step with Georgo.
Georgo nodded in satisfaction. Chikus was pretty much the best excuse for visiting the tavern, only second to Ceo whom everyone expected to be a frequenter of taverns. Chikus was loud and brash, so people would assume that Georgo was merely accompanying the hotheaded future Blaze Knight on one of his whims to visit the tavern. Now that Georgo couldn't drag Ceo along with him -- that would only make the rumors worse -- Chikus was the next best option.
-----
On the way back from the tavern, Georgo swayed as he walked and almost stumbled until Chikus managed to grab him.
"That no good Grisia," Georgo continued mumbling, hand twisting Chikus' sleeve. "I bet this is all his fault..."
After all the alcohol that Georgo had downed and all the complaints that Georgo had spouted, Chikus still didn't know what Georgo was angry about. All he caught was that Grisia had something to do with this, and that Ceo ranged from hopeless to infuriating to downright maddening.
At this very moment, the future Sun Knight happened to pass by with what Georgo would call maddening timing. When their future Sun Knight with his head of dazzling blond hair spotted them, a large gasp could be heard. Those blue eyes of his darted between them before the future Sun Knight stepped forward and addressed the future Blaze Knight with utmost severity, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.
“My dear brother Chikus, the benevolent God of Light teaches us not to disturb the wind and the earth if they so wish to unite together. There is no room for flames to come between them, for flames would only scorch the earth and incite the wind.”
Once he finished talking, the skinny stick of a Sun Knight smiled benignly at a large-eyed Chikus.
“Huh, what?” asked Chikus in confusion. “I didn’t get any of that.”
“Ceo and Georgo are...” Grisia leaned in and whispered into Chikus’ ears, the latter whose eyes grew even wider if possible. “So don’t come between them!” finished Grisia in a "kind" voice that was anything but kind.
"Grisia..." growled Georgo, hand twisting Chikus' sleeve even more as he pulled himself up. He stumbled forward away from Chikus and grabbed Grisia's collar. "You...!"
Eyes large, Grisia exclaimed, "Brother Georgo! Though sunlight may be resplendent and stormy weather too ferocious to navigate, you must weather it through and must not stray!"
"You are so doing this on purpose!"
"What might brother Georgo be insinuating? Grisia is doing no such-"
"You are doing this on purpose!!!" Georgo practically screeched as he shook Grisia back and forth like a rag doll.
"...no I'm not," Grisia hurriedly said, but Georgo wouldn't stop shaking him. "Stop messing up my clothes!"
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm not! Let go of me!"
"Yes you are!"
"NO I'M NOT!"
"YES YOU ARE!"
"NO I'M NOT!!!"
"YES YOU ARE!!!!"
"CAN I LEAVE NOW?" bellowed Chikus.
-----
Georgo was not Georgo if a rumor of this degree could defeat him. Not even Grisia's meddling would be able to keep him down! After his trip to the tavern, Georgo felt more lucid than ever. Taking his frustration out on his Shield of Earth was a waste of energy, and downing his sorrows in alcohol was stupid. Why should he avoid female company just because of a rumor? He'd only be missing out!
Resolved, Georgo immediately continued on like he always did.
-----
This was more like it. This was what he should have been doing all along, entertaining a lovely lady instead of coaching a hopeless guy like Ceo or seething over rumors.
"H-Have a seat," Georgo said, gesturing toward the bed. His room was fairly large for a knight in training, but he did not believe in chairs, or more like, he had put all of them away. The cleric hesitated for a moment before stepping over to the bed and sitting down, smoothing her robes as the bed dipped in.
Georgo smiled shyly at her and busied his hands with setting out the saucers and tea cups. Next, he brought out the tea kettle and his containers of tea leaves, placing them on the small table next to his bed.
"That's quite a collection you have there," the female cleric exclaimed. She bent over from the bed to study the various teas, giving him a perfect view as she selected one of the teas.
While they waited for the water to boil, they made small talk, and Georgo nonchalantly sat down on the bed too. Like Georgo had predicted, she was extremely curious about what was going on between him and Ceo, which provided him the perfect opportunity to turn the situation around into an advantageous one.
"If I may be so bold as to ask," the cleric started, "are you and young Storm Knight..."
"C-Ceo, you m-mean?" asked Georgo, eyes darting at the cleric before he looked down at his hand and then back at her face. "U-Um, he's been h-helping me l-learn n-not to s-stutter so much, and how to be m-more natural around g-girls..." he trailed off, blushing on command as he darted his eyes at the cleric again.
"Oh!" the cleric's cheeks reddened. "Is that what's been going on? I completely misunderstood. What good friends you are!"
"C-Ceo's been a g-great help," Georgo said. "T-Though I s-still can't s-stop stuttering and..."
The cleric hurriedly reassured him, "Don't worry, practice will help!"
"I-I can p-practice speaking on m-my own time, b-but I-I s-still can't h-help feeling nervous a-around girls..."
She blinked at him before a smile smile came across her face. "Why don't I help you with that?"
"W-Would you?" he gasped.
"It would be my pleasure."
"Oh, t-thank you so much," he said all in one breath, grabbing her hands in gratitude before he hurriedly dropped them in chastisement, his eyes large, shock plastered on his entire face over what he had just done.
The cleric giggled and placed her hand over his. "This isn't bad for a first step."
"O-Oh..."
The whistling of the damn tea kettle broke them apart. Georgo almost scowled, but since the cleric had already scooted a respectful distance away from him, woken up by that shrill shriek, he served the tea, hoping that would loosen her up again.
They chatted over the tea. Georgo gradually slid closer. She also placed her hand on his again. Things were progressing nicely... and then came knocking on his door.
What now?! Go away!
Whoever was at the door, however, was persistent and refused to heed Georgo's silent command. It couldn't be Chikus since he'd kick Georgo's door down without knocking. Could it be that damn Grisia once again?
"Ah, I should take my leave now," the cleric said, finally realizing that spending time in a boy's room like this was a little scandalous, even if that boy had the reputation of being honest and sincere.
"I-I have s-some more s-snacks! Y-You're welcome to s-stay longer. I l-like the company!" Georgo said quickly as he walked toward the door, hoping that he could shoo the person at the door away without too much trouble and keep the cleric from leaving at the same time.
As he opened the door, ready to be greeted by Grisia's infuriating smile, Georgo was instead greeted by Ceo's... infuriating smile.
The situation was startling familiar -- he had been interrupted by Ceo last time too when he thought the culprit to be Grisia -- but he'd have expected Ceo to dart his eyes at him in nervousness instead of smiling at him so infuriatingly!
Something was off!
"Ceo?" asked Georgo, completely not understanding why Ceo was even here and why he was smiling so blindingly.
"Um, thank you for the tea, young Earth Knight," the cleric said from behind. "I'll be taking my leave now!"
Georgo glanced at Ceo, certain that Ceo's confident demeanor would vanish without a trace now that he was face-to-face with a female cleric, but instead of what Georgo expected, Ceo turned in the general vicinity of the cleric and...winked!
The cleric swooned. Georgo could tell that all thoughts of helping the young Earth Knight had flown out of her mind. Now, all she could see was young Storm!
Then, Georgo felt a hand on his shoulder. Georgo was seething and watching the cleric blush all the way up to her ears when he felt this hand on his shoulder. Immediately, his head snapped back. He stared at Ceo with wide eyes.
Ceo leaned in closer and whispered, "Thanks Georgo. I really wanted to thank you! I think I've figured things out! If my eyesight is so blurry that I can't see the girls, I'll be fine! And then to keep them away, my teacher has always said that girls will squeal until they faint when they see two guys standing very closely to each other. I never knew how true his words were!"
The cleric behind them squealed. "Oh my, oh my! I won't bother you two any longer!"
She obviously had not heard Ceo's words and had only seen his action of whispering...into Georgo's ears.
Ceo's smile didn't drop from his face as he gave another wink to the cleric before she bounced out of the room, giddy with what she had witnessed.
"Wow, it's really just like my teacher claimed!" Ceo said.
Georgo stared, stunned, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Then, he grabbed Ceo's collar.
"When I had you practicing whispering compliments," Georgo growled lowly and slowly, enunciating every single word clearly, "I did not mean whispering things like this into my ear!"
-----
Rumors did not die very easily, but they did morph very easily.
"Hey hey, have you heard? I heard that young Earth and young Storm are an item!"
"No way!"
"It all started when young Storm could not keep his eyes off of young Earth..."
"Alas, once young Earth gave into young Storm's charms, that young Storm cheated on young Earth, so young Earth escaped into young Blaze's arms!"
"Oh yes, and I heard that young Sun was actually young Earth's true love, so young Blaze and young Sun got into a fight over young Earth!"
"But I thought the Sun Knight may only love the God of Light and may never love women?"
"Precisely because he may never love women! You know how the Sun Knight and the Earth Knight are best friends!"
"Oh, but listen to this! In the end, young Storm apologized to young Earth, who fell into his arms and accepted his apology wholeheartedly with his magnanimous personality!"
"Sigh, what a beautiful story."
"No way, look, look! It's young Storm! Isn't he just so handsome~."
"Kyaa, look at that wink!"
"Weren't you a fan of young Earth before this?"
"Yeaaah, but young Storm is so much cooler!"
-----
"...Ceo, I, Georgo Earth, am never going to help you ever again!"
-----
the end
This fic can also be found here and here~