Author Notes: A'hem...hello! Long time, no...er, read. Anyway, I've grabbed myself a bit of free time (finally!) since I'm pretty up to date in most things regarding assignments and can now relax without the fear of having to write up yet another essay for at least two weeks! For this chapter, I decided to switch to a different main character again, this time it's Cain. Yay! Also, I just finished the entire Count Cain/Godchild series (whose main character is also named Cain XD) and nearly cried at the end. This drabble gave me a lot of trouble actually, getting into Cain's mind is hard! In any case, here's the next drabble!

Pairing: Moordryd/Artha hinted at, past one-sided Cain/Moordryd hinted at

Characters: Cain mainly, Moordryd and Artha off camera

Disclaimer: All of my money goes towards paying my uni fees, that is…I don't own anything!

Always the Best Friend

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one."

C. S. Lewis

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'He's...flirting!?'

Cain couldn't help the incredulous thought, even as disbelief flooded his system. However, the facts were there, staring him in the face and Cain had never been one to ignore the facts...usually. In this case, the facts showed quite clearly that,

Moordryd Payne was flirting! As in showing actual romantic affection towards another human being!

Despite this dramatic statement, there were no flashes of lightning, or angry grumbles of thunder to show just how dramatic it was, not even so much as a pause in time...how anticlimactic, it was highly disappointing.

Cain doubted that anyone else could have noticed though, hell, even the person that Moordryd was flirting with probably didn't even realise that they were the blonde's object of affection…or in fact that there were any feelings of affection at all. Well, no one ever said that said blond was good at flirting. It was more like watching a five year old yank on the pigtails of the little girl he liked then anything else, a spoilt and moody five year old. A lot of people thought that Cain was pretty oblivious to everything (except dragon racing and cooking), and this was partially true (it was always good to be underestimated), but Cain had always been perceptive, and he was good at reading his team leader and best friend. He'd had years to learn the 'special' language of Moordryd Payne afterall, ever since he'd challenged the blond (whom he'd assumed was some random cocky rich kid trying to be cool by visiting the slums) to a dragon race and ended up eating dust (badly), to his surprise. He was practically a walking dictionary on the subject of Moordryd by now. So it was only natural that he picked up on the sudden increase in the violence, snarkyness, and overall loudness of the blonde's behaviour as being his version of roses and walks in the park and possibly even sneaking several kisses out of the bargain. It was the actual person that Moordryd had decided on that was a little shocking…more than a little, it was incredibly shocking.

It had taken him a good five minutes of rapid blinking in order to believe his own eyes, during which one of his other friends had worriedly asked if he was feeling all right. Said friend had subsequently been ignored and was now angrily huffing in a random corner, snapping at any students who happened to be unlucky enough to pass by. He also ignored this, more focused on Moordryd's attempt at having a love life.

If he thought about it objectively, there really wasn't any one else that Moordryd would take as a lover, female or male. Moordryd was a Payne after all, and Paynes always had to have the best, and there was no doubt that Artha Penn was a fine looking specimen of the human race, or, at the least the male portion (not that Cain was looking! Moordryd would murder him in his sleep if he so much as peeped, he had no doubts about that.). The fact that the brunette was talented and could actually hold an intelligent conversation (in particular on dragons and dragon racing) didn't hurt either. It was a happy bonus that he was easy enough for Moordryd to manipulate without being completely guileless, so the blond had to put some actual effort into it, otherwise Moordyrd would have been bored by him ages ago.

The longer he watched, the more he found he actually found the pairing plausible, and the more amused Cain found himself at Moordryd. He was positively preening and posturing, practically revelling in the complete and utterly undivided attention that Artha was awarding him with. Because it was a reward, for the blond at least, Artha had a look of long suffering on his face as he attempted to calmly move Moordryd from his path. It wasn't working and Cain could see the eruption that would quickly degenerate into an argument and possibly a fight would happen soon.

Still, the Moordryd had to given his due, capturing Artha Penn's complete attention (since most of the time he was running around doing...something, Cain had never figured out what) was a feat that had, before now, remained unaccomplished by any other. This included the rather frustrated looking blue-haired girl who standing next to the brunette and currently glaring daggers at Moordryd (who ignored them completely), Kitt was her name if he remembered correctly. Although, in all honesty, Moordryd did have the added bonus of being able to attract the brunettes attention in the middle of a crowded bar just by breathing. So really, was it that big of a surprise afterall?

Hmm, maybe not quite so much...he was starting to wrap his head around the concept of Moordryd having a crush on Artha now. Because, really, who else was worth his time? Yes, Cain might have once wanted to be the person that Moordryd devoted all of his attention and time to, but...he'd always been the best friend for Moordryd. He'd been the rock to anchor the other teen down when he got over emotional and couldn't think properly, he'd been the one to stop some of the blond's crazier schemes and the one that he vented all of his frustrations and woes about his father to. He's played the role of friend, brother, and confidant, and he'd been damned good at it. To become Moordryd's 'one' on top of it all with all of their history, because Cain knew there were some things that you didn't confess to a lover, and some things that you only confessed to them, it wasn't something he could do. Artha, though, gave Moordryd freedom, gave him a goal, something to aim for and achieve, and someone to beat. Artha pushed him forward, just as Cain made sure he didn't jump too far.

The dull sound of a body hitting metal knocked him out of his thoughts, apparently Artha had gotten fed up with Moordryd and shoved him back against the lockers in order to get past. Taking this as a cue, Moordryd had almost immediately leaped back to knock the other male down to the floor. It was a surprisingly familiar sight to the students in the hallway, no body bothered to stop them now, they'd just start up again five minutes later. Cain sighed and wandered over, easily grasping Moordryd's wrist and pulling him up and off the brunette. Ignoring the shouts and curses his friend was casting at him and the surprised look from the brunette still on the gorund he tugged the struggling blond down the hall to their next class. Moordyrd's father would be furious if he got yet another detention for fighting in the halls. Besides, he needed to have a chat with the blond about his flirting techniques anyway; he'd never achieve anything the way he was going...Moordryd obviously needed some advice from his best friend.

FIN

Author Notes: Hmm, well, there it is, I hope I didn't totally just destroy Cain for anyone –looks around worriedly-I tried to keep them in all in character, ahh, and I hope the ending isn't too cheesy...I just wanted to give Cain a little introspective drabble where he realises Moordryd's feelings...and this happened. So let me know what you think please!