Let It Be
Chapter One
The two friends watched from the battlements of the Tower of Fang as a blonde haired boy hugged a dark haired girl and slipped away into the night.
"Another talent leaves us." Hartia sighed.
"Majic's place is with Krylancelo. But I think he'll be back; Eris is in love with him and I think he feels the same." Lai said reassuringly.
"They're both very fortunate to have someone who cares about them that much." Hartia said wistfully. "I don't believe that anyone has ever felt that strongly about me."
Lai rested his hand lightly on Hartia's shoulder. "Do not fear my friend. There is someone out there for you," he replied softly. "And that someone is probably closer than you think." He added, an odd look on his face.
Hartia smiled. "Thankyou Lai, somehow you always manage to make me feel better."
Lai patted his shoulder. "Don't mention it. I'll always be here Hartia, no matter what."
Hartia smiled again and stifled a yawn. "Thanks Lai, you're the greatest." He said, "I think I'd better turn in, I've got classes in the morning and no doubt a meeting with the Elders to explain Majic's disappearance."
Lai laughed a little. "I don't envy you at all my friend. Not at all!"
"Awww, c'mon Lai, you could be a little sympathetic!" Hartia whined.
"Now you sound like Krylancelo!" Lai laughed harder.
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Hartia commented wryly.
"Neither am I." Lai chuckled.
"Ah well, thanks for the support." Hartia yawned again. "Night Lai."
"Any time Hartia, goodnight." Lai answered with a wave.
As Hartia vanished into the shadows, Lai sighed and pulled his hood over his head, hiding his piercing blue eyes from sight. "I'll always be here for you Hartia, for eternity, no matter what." He whispered. "You do have someone who cares about you that much… me." Lai turned, and he too faded into the darkness like a wraith.
Hartia, lying awake in his chambers, whispered too. "Oh Lai, could you ever feel for me the way I feel for you?"
"Morning Hartia, sleep well?" Lai asked, grinning wickedly. Hartia was not a morning person. Never had been and never will be.
"Not a wink." Hartia replied with a sigh. "The minute my head hit the pillow my brain went into overload."
He put his head on the table. "Wake me up when classes start!" he groaned.
"Oh c'mon Hartia! You think too much, that's your problem." Lai prodded him in the side. "Besides, Eris is heading this way."
"Uh-oh, I have a bad feeling about this." Hartia sighed.
"Master Hartia, Master Lai." Eris bowed. "The Elders wish to see you both."
"Thanks Eris. Can you tell the class that they have a day off?" Hartia said as they rose from their seats. Eris nodded and hurried away.
"At least they'll have some fun today." Lai commented dryly as they walked towards the Elders' chambers.
"Hmmm, true. More than we will anyway." Hartia replied. "Ah well, here we are anyway." They came to a halt outside the door to the Elders' meeting rooms.
Lai knocked on the huge oak doors. "Enter!" commanded an imperious voice.
When they did so, Hartia winced at the cold tones of their voces as they addressed him. "Well Hartia, would you care to explain why you did nothing to prevent Majic from leaving the Tower of Fang?"
"Because there was no reason to stop him." Hartia replied. "His place is with Krylancelo; Majic will learn more effectively with him than with anybody else."
"Hmmm, what are your thoughts on the situation Lai?" one of the Elders questioned.
"I agree with Hartia. Majic didn't really seem to be achieving much here." Lai answered truthfully.
"Of course you do. Stupid question really." The Elder who spoke sounded like he was about to laugh, which was very rare.
Seemingly unfazed by the Elder's behaviour, Lai continued. "I do however; believe that Majic will visit from time to time, for a few reasons."
"Ah yes, young Eris." The Elder said knowingly. "Very well, there is nothing you can really do about it anyway. You're both dismissed."
The two men bowed and exited the room swiftly and silently. Only then did the Elder allow himself a soft chuckle.
"What do yo find so amusing?" one of the others asked him.
"Those two." He answered.
"How so?"
"If you can't see it, then you must be blind." The Elder simply laughed again.
Once they were outside, Hartia sagged tiredly against the giant gold embossed oak doors. "That went well, better than I expected." He said, relieved.
"Indeed, I too was a little surprised at how well they took the whole situation." Lai admitted.
"One thing I don't understand is why did the Elder say he wasn't surprised when you agreed with me?"
Lai pulled his hood over his head before Hartia saw that he was blushing. "Well, he knows we're friends, so it's only natural he'd realise I'd stick up for you."
"Friends…I suppose that's true." Hartia conceded, somewhat reluctantly in Lai's opinion. The red-head stretched his arms over his head and gave the older man a grin. "Well, seeing as that didn't take as long as we thought, and we can't really begrudge the students that day off we promised them, I think I might grab a comic book and take the opportunity to catch up on my reading."
Lai smiled back. "Sounds like a plan, I might come and visit later." He answered.
"All right, I'll see you later then." Hartia replied, heading off down the hall.
As it happened, Lai didn't get around to visiting his friend until later that night. He rapped lightly on the door and received no answer. Frowning, he tried the handle and the door swung open. Sliding silently inside, he closed the door with a soft click, and when he turned to face the room, he saw that Hartia had fallen asleep on his bed, his favourite volume of "The Black Tiger" resting lightly on his chest.
Smiling softly to himself, Lai crossed the room to the bed and pulled the dishevelled covers over his sleeping friend. "Good thing you never make your bed." He whispered.
He couldn't help but think how adorable the boy looked when he was asleep, and on impulse he leaned over and brushed Hartia's lips in feather light kiss. "Sleep well, my one and only." He murmured tenderly, running his fingers lightly through the sleep-tangled strands of fire before stealing silently from the room. As the door closed, Hartia opened his eyes and smiled. He'd woken up when he'd heard the door close.
"Morning Hartia, sleep well?" Lai asked, that wicked grin gracing his features once more. This was almost a ritual conversation for them.
"Well enough, until I woke up around 2:00 am and couldn't for the life of me get back to sleep." Hartia replied, only half lying. He had somehow managed to get back to sleep after Lai had left. Well, not really lying, just omitting what he wasn't meant to know about.
"So, considering it's a weekend, do you plan to continue your reading?" Lai asked.
"Yeah, care to join me?" Hartia answered, trying to seem like he did not have an ulterior motive behind the invitation.
"Sure, I've got nothing better to do." Lai hid his face so Hartia couldn't see him blush.
"Great, but I'd better go and tidy up first." Hartia got to his feet and trotted down the hall.
Lai gave him ten minutes head start before following him. The door was ajar when he got there, and when he entered, Lai sae that Hartia was already stretched out on the bed engrossed in his comic book. The sight of him looking so innocent was almost too much for Lai, but somehow he managed to control himself, even when Hartia looked up at him and grinned. "Take a seat." He patted the bed.
Hesitantly, Lai lie down next to him and picked up the first volume of "The Black Tiger", his curiosity piqued.
They were silent for quite a while before Hartia spoke again. "I forgot to thank you."
Lai looked sideways at him. "For what?" he queried, sounding calmer than he currently felt.
"I'm guessing it was you who pulled the covers over me?"
Lai kept his eyes trained firmly on the book. "Yes, that was me. You were asleep by the time I looked in on you." He answered.
'No, I wasn't.' Hartia thought to himself.
They stayed that way almost the whole day, talking little. By the time night fell, Lai knew those books almost as well as Hartia did, although was considerably less obsessed.
It was about 10:00 pm by the time Lai sat up and straightened his robes. "It's getting late; maybe we should continue this tomorrow." He said. "Goodnight Hartia."
Hartia sprang to his feet and followed him to the door. "Lai…" he began.
Lai raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes?" he queried.
Hartia blushed. "Nothing… forget it. Goodnight."
When his friend had gone, Hartia sank to the floor. "Dammit! I've missed my only chance!" he groaned.
"Nonsense!" a regal voice said from the doorway…
Sunday, another day of the week that the two friends always spent together. They had spent the day strolling through the grounds, mediating in mock duels and showing off their powers to students, who looked in wonder.
"Y'know, we're starting to act like Krylancelo." Lai had commented.
"Ugh! No! Make it stop! Make it stop!" Hartia cried dramatically, making Lai chuckle.
"So, battlements tonight?" Hartia asked, it was a Sunday night ritual; star gazing on the battlements. There had been a time when Krylancelo, Azalie and Master Childman had joined them too, but now it was just the two of them.
Lai smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." He answered, ruffling Hartia's hair affectionately.
"Great!" Hartia grinned happily.
Now, it was 9:00 pm and the pair were staring into a telescope, stretched out on their backs staring out at the sparkling night sky, swapping stories of what had happened in the week gone by while they hadn't been in each other's company. So really, there wasn't much to tell. Most of the time they reminisced about the days before Azalie had become the Bloody August.
"Azalie; the most powerful sorceress around, but terrified of frogs, and Krylancelo knew it too." Hartia laughed.
"Oh no, don't tell me!" Lai grinned.
"Yep, Krylancelo and I put standard green tree frogs in her room, enlarged to about three times their normal size!"
"Well that explains the screaming that I'd heard that day. I wondered what upset her so much." Lai laughed.
"Yep, that was us. Although we paid for it later." Hartia replied with a grin.
"I'll bet you did, I wouldn't have liked to be you when Azalie got a hold of you." Lai chuckled.
"No, you wouldn't have. We didn't like being us!" Hartia said, trying to keep a straight face.
Hey stayed like that for hours, and it was well past midnight before Lai got off the floor. "C'mon, we'd better go inside, or you'll be ugly in the morning… uglier that usual!" he joked.
Hartia pulled a face. "I figure if I don't go to bed then I'll be okay." He replied, only half kidding.
"Well that doesn't work for me, I need my sleep." Lai retorted with a smile. "I'll see you in the morning." He pulled his hood over his head and began to head down the battlement steps.
This time, Hartia didn't hesitate. "Lai, don't go yet!" he begged.
Lai turned and raised an eyebrow. "And why not?" he queried lightly, although inside his heart was pounding. 'I'd jump over the battlements if you asked me to!' he thought desperately.
"It's nearly sunrise, why don't we stay and watch it."
Lai laughed. "Idiot, sunrise is three hours away at least!"
Hartia rolled his eyes. "That's beside the point!" he pouted.
"Goodnight Hartia." Lai chuckled softly.
Before he knew what he was doing, Hartia had called his name again. "Lai…"
The eyebrow went up again. "Yes?"
Before he actually had to think about what he was going to do and talked himself out of it, Hartia moved closer to the older man.
Lai felt his breath quicken. "Hartia?" he asked.
Hartia stalled any further talking by reaching up and resting his fingers gently on his friend's lips. Slowly, he pushed the folds of Lai's cloak away from his face, and he moved his fingers to trail them lightly down his face.
A sudden thought made Lai's mind briefly kick in again. He caught Hartia's hand in his. "You weren't really asleep the other night, were you?" he asked suspiciously.
Hartia didn't answer; he simply reached up and kissed him so lightly it almost felt as if it hadn't happened. Lai didn't believe it was real until Hartia turned a red colour that rivalled his hair and moved backwards, stuttering apologies.
"Don't be sorry Hartia." Lai told him, and he strode forward and took the younger boy's hand. He pulled him close and did what he had longed to do for years… kissed him passionately.
At first, the kiss took Hartia by surprise, but then he kissed Lai back hard, smiling against the taller man's lips.
Neither one of them could scarcely believe that this was happening; it felt like they were slipping into a dream that they never wanted to wake from. Lai deepened the kiss, running his tongue gently across Hartia's lips. He moaned and opened his mouth, giving Lai what he so desperately craved. They had completely succumbed to the desire of the love that they had both longed for, and neither one of them was willing to ever give that up. Hartia forgot everything as he twined his arms around Lai's neck, and Lai buried his hands in Hartia's hair. They stood like that for what seemed like an eternity of blissful oblivion, until Lai had to break away before he took things too far, resulting in things the sane part of him could hardly dare to imagine.
After exchanging more feverish kisses, they finally broke apart, breathing raggedly. This time, Hartia was content to simply stand within the circle of Lai's arms, and he looked wonderingly up into the other boy's eyes, caressing his face softly with his fingers.
Lai smiled down at his love. "You never answered my question." He teased.
Hartia grinned cheekily. "All right no, I wasn't asleep. I was, but I woke up when you came in." he replied, winning himself another round of very warm kisses.
When all he could do was hang in Lai's grip, Hartia asked, "Why didn't you say something?" when Lai looked at him strangely, he explained. "Before Friday night I mean. Why didn't you say something sooner?"
Lai sighed. "Because I didn't think that you felt the same way." He answered. "You have no idea what you do to me Hart, you don't know what's its like to be me, looking at you, talking to you, being with you every single day and wondering what it would be like to hold you, to kiss you."
Hartia shivered agreeably at the pet name, and smiled crookedly. "No, but I do know what its like to be me, looking at you, talking to you, being with you every single day and wondering the exact same thing." He replied.
"Oh." Lai wasn't sure how to answer that. "Well, I guess we're even then." He said finally.
Hartia nodded. "And we found the answers we were looking for too." He said, and kissed Lai to prove his point.
"Hmmm, very true." Lai agreed. He smiled. "That sunrise suddenly seems like a good idea after all."
Hartia grinned cheekily. "I've got a better idea." He murmured in Lai's ear, making him quiver with excitement.
When Hartia woke the next morning, he found himself drowning in Lai's smiling eyes, and wrapped contentedly in his arms.
Somewhere in the Tower of Fang, a meddlesome Elder chuckled softly to himself.
Orphen sat with his back against his a sun-kissed rock, grinning as he re-read the letter that had just arrived by carrier pigeon from Hartia.
"Well it's about time too!" he commented with a laugh.
"Master?" Majic queried. Still grinning, Orphen passed the letter to his apprentice. Majic skimmed the letter and he too found himself smiling. "Who would've thought?" he said wonderingly.
"I've known for ages," Orphen answered. "In fact, everyone knew they liked each other except Lai and Hartia themselves."
"What's this?" Cleao demanded, "Something about Shrimp Man?"
"Hartia and Lai finally got it together." Orphen told her.
Cleao smiled and rolled her eyes skyward. "Finally! It's only taken them how long?"
Majic grinned. "I can think of two people who are taking way longer!" he teased.
Because he took them by surprise, the best they could come up with was a simultaneous "Shut up Majic!"
He laughed and lay down on his back; arms behind his head, watching the clouds pass overhead.
"But if they liked each other so much," he mused thoughtfully, "Why didn't they tell each other sooner?"
Orphen chuckled, "Like I said, everybody knew except them. It was a case of Hartia being in love with Lai, and Lai being in love with Hartia, but because neither one of them knew the other's true feelings, they did nothing about it."
Majic cast his master a sideways glance, and saw that Orphen was watching Cleao, who was playing with Leki, a soft half-smile on his face.
He smirked. "Sounds like someone else I know!" he quipped.
That earned him another "Shut up Majic!" and a gleeful yap of agreement to his statement from Leki.
He laughed, life was good.
By the end of the week, Lai and Hartia's relationship was common knowledge in the Tower of Fang. But then, as Krylancelo had said, everyone knew they liked each other anyway. So everybody knew, but nobody really talked about it either. Well, not in public anyway.
People did congratulate the couple in the hallways, genuinely happy that the two had finally 'got it together', so to speak.
Hartia sighed as he dropped into a chair and put his head on the table.
"Morning Hart," the wicked grin was back, "Sleep well?"
Hartia groaned. "Shut up! You know damn well I didn't! It's your fault!" (Interpret that how you will; personally, I don't want to think about it!)
Lai grinned and put on an innocent "Who? Me?" face. "There, there, you'll live." He said, patting him on the back.
"Yeah, yeah." Hartia glared at him and changed the subject. "I swear if one more person congratulates me… how did they find out anyway? I thought we were careful enough."
"C'mon Hart," Hartia smiled at him, he loved that pet name. "You know as well as I do that the walls would collapse if there was no gossip in these hallways. The Tower of Fang would cease to exist if the staff and students didn't talk." Lai said calmly.
"That's certainly true." Hartia admitted.
The day passed slowly, and neither Lai, nor Hartia, could wait until classes ended and they could disappear.
Later that night, as they lay entwined in each other's arms, neither one of them could figure out what they had done to deserve such happiness; how they had found each other so perfectly. And at that moment, neither one of them cared, they just let it be.
END
The end. I'm thinking of putting up either an Orphen/Cleao chapter or an Orphen/Majic chapter, or maybe both. I would appreciate it if people would review and tell me which one they wanted. Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I do not own Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, but I seriously wish I did!