Friends?

After being set down, my family and I sat at the table. My mother took lead of the discussion and described the last few years of our lives. I knew most of the story but I learned that my parents had met and married in the spirit lands and soon after, moved to Gillingham. Before my birth, my father returned to the spirit lands to govern, then came back for my first birthday.

I wasn't overly surprised to learn that my maternal grandparents were lower human and elven nobility but what was surprising was the backlash that such a marriage created. Mr.Adler was a clear example of racism but I'd preferred to think of him as the exception. I began to see the confines in my knowledge from my sheltered upbringing.

Fortunately, elves and humans in the spirit lands had profitable relationships so events of racism were few and far in between, if only suppressed, it was better. Mr.Adler came with us from Gillingham, so he held no such views. "I'm just glad you left Gillingham when you did. There may be wild beasts here but at least there's no blood puritans" spat my grandmother. My mother shushed her but I could piece together that because of my mixed heritage, I was at risk of harm by these so called blood puritans. I used my deductive skills to infer that the puritans were humans against interbreeding. "I'm glad we left too" I mumbled. Apparently I wasn't quiet enough as my grandmother caught it and suppressed a bittersweet smile.

—

After catching up, the adults began to speak of mundane things like the weather and food so I scurried away from the boring chatter. No more than a couple meters away from the table, I almost ran into a young boy standing fixedly facing me. My quick flee seemed to have caught him off guard as he flinched a while after I dodged. I looked up to apologize but his face surprised me, "Levi?"

Levi stood there for a few seconds before croaking a delayed "Hello". Was he unwell? His reaction time was dreadful and his throat sounded dry. I stared at his face to check his complexion but it was glowing with health if only a bit pink in the cheeks. "You shouldn't stare" said Levi with a downcast gaze. I realized my mistake a bit too late and quickly apologized. I paused before recalling that Levi was a prince, should I bow or did he want me to act like normal? But I didn't have time to react as Levi came forward first and gave me a tight hug. His torso pressed into mine as I happily returned the embrace. I was glad that Levi wasn't going to be snobby but thinking on it, he wasn't that way when I last saw him although maybe a little aggressive. Maybe arrogance was just a stereotype for high nobles but he was also an elf so I don't know.

I pulled myself apart from Levi to say "it's good to see you again". He responded with a smile before looking over my shoulder. I turned to see four sets of eyes focused on me and Levi's exchange. My mother was whispering into her mother's ear with a devious smile on her face. I thought their reaction was weird but I saw that Levi was a bit uncomfortable so I pulled him away by his hand. I was hit with a sudden feeling of déjà vu when our hands interlaced; it seems like this was a recurring event.

We walked quickly around the corner of the house, out of view of the partygoers and my family before stopping. I didn't think that I'd been walking too fast but Levi looked like he was about to have a heart attack. His face was bright red and his hand was shaking slightly. "Are you okay?!" I asked incredulously while putting the back of my hand to his cheek. I'd subconsciously brought my face closer to inspect when he firmly shut his eyes. I backed off seeing this reaction.

When I pulled my hand away, Levi opened his eyes again then focused on me before he turned around. "I'm okay" he said quietly. After fanning his cheeks for a while, Levi turned around to face me with a shy smile. I dismissed his behaviour as allergies or something, I wanted to talk about magic and Levi seemed fine now. When I brought the topic up he seemed disappointed but didn't hesitate to detail his growth.

When I'd last seen Levi, he'd just established his core but he seemed to be catching up to me as he was now at the first orange stage. I didn't know if everyone's core followed the same pace or if some had innate talent but I wouldn't hesitate in saying Levi was talented, or at least wilful. Levi was able to manifest the four basic elements that I'd told him with varying proficiency. Water and air were his best while earth and fire were sufficient. I personally trained my elements in such a way that I had equal proficiency in each but there was no one element that was easier for me than another; it was a matter of how much practice I put in. I personally liked fire the best but I didn't shorthand my other efforts, especially since I hesitated using fire in a forest.

I felt great pride at my disciple's achievements and I praised him as such "Good job Levi, you're progressing really quickly!" Levi smiled brightly at my praise. I began to envy his progress but then I recalled that I'd not solely worked on magic since we last spoke. "I can speak elvish now" I said in elvish. I felt my words were missing perfect flow and were very formal but it was easily comprehensible. Levi's shocked expression faded as he responded with "When did you learn?"

Just as my mother had done earlier, I caught Levi up on events in my life since we were last together. Reaching the present, I couldn't help but add how I'd learned that Levi was royalty. Levi showed an embarrassed expression, unbefitting of a prince before apologizing. "It's okay, just tell me these kinds of things in the future. Friends shouldn't keep secrets." I said with a wide smile. Levi only gave a solemn nod while looking a bit sad. Well at least I knew he was taking me seriously.

—

Levi's POV:

"Just friends?" I thought sadly.