Zero Distance Prayers

Prayer Three: The hang of it

Talking to Blaze the other day had been reassuring, yes, but Ceo Storm wasn't about to take any chances. He had an excellent excuse not to leave his room: arranging matters for the arrival of a branch of the Monastery of the God of War required an awful amount of paperwork. Since he had Hell and Adair to help him, it was not overbearing, and it kept him away from the corridors where Calad stalked, smiling surreptitiously...

Knock, knock, knock.

Storm was surprised. Not many people came knocking on his door. The few who did readily identified themselves, because they knew he wouldn't answer until he was sure it wasn't Sun coming to ask a "small favor".
The person on the other side knocked again, and this time called aloud.
"It's me." Storm flinched. He knew this voice. But the person added, just in case. "Calad."
Ceo opened the door cautiously.
"Yes, sir?"
"Are you busy?" Calad asked worriedly.
As an answer, Ceo opened the door a little wider, revealing the endless stacks of paper.
"Oh, I see. What a fiendish amount of paperwork!" the God of Light looked dismayed. For about four seconds. "I can help you."
"With paperwork?" Storm asked incredulously.
Calad looked offended. He pouted.
"I know I'm not as good at official stuff as War, but look, I can do paperwork!"
"That... That's not what I meant. What I meant was... Well, it's just some documents, and you are", he certified that the corridor was empty, but lowered his voice just the same. "the God of Light. Somehow I don't think it is proper."
"Nonsense. It's much faster if we can both work on it." Having said so, Calad stepped into Storm's room.

It wasn't that bad, Ceo reflected after some time, and work did go a lot faster. He watched in awe as the pile of corrected documents in front of Calad grew taller. The young man even found time to ask questions.

"When was it that you last sparred with one of the Twelve Holy Knights?"
It had been such a long time ago that Ceo couldn't even remember.
"But you like swordplay. And you need to keep fit, just correcting papers and gossiping won't do."
"Well, if we finish those tonight I guess I'll have time..."
"Blaze will surely spar with you, but make sure you invite Cloud, okay? He needs to go out a little. Some guys from the 'cruel, cold-hearted faction' could do with some exercising, too, but it would be weird if you asked them to spar... Or you could invite them for a friendly sparring disguised as a really bad argument. What do you think?"
Storm was surprised at the suggestion. It wasn't that he disliked the 'cruel, cold-hearted faction' particularly, he knew they were only scary because they had a facade to keep, but he didn't hang around with them, either. He was very touched about Calad's concern with the health of the Twelve Holy Knights, though, so he promised to give it a try.

"That's great." Calad beamed.
They kept correcting documents in silence. As the minutes stretched into hours, Storm felt more and more like asking Calad if what Blaze had said was true. If he didn't care that most of his Twelve Holy Knights weren't like "the whole continent knows". But he kept silent and their work progressed.
"I'm done with my half." Calad finally announced, suppressing a yawn. "Do you need help with yours?"
"Actually," Storm finished scratching his signature in the bottom of the page barely looking to its contents, "I'm done too."
"Fantastic. So since it's still early, can you do me..."
To Storm, time froze. It was nighttime, and even if he hadn't had to pull an all-nighter, it wasn't exactly early. He knew he was about to be asked a small favor. He knew it was going to happen since the first time he had put his eyes in Calad. He looked too much like Sun.
"...a really big favor?"
Or perhaps not.

"A really big favor?"

"Yes. Because, well, I know you don't like it, but I really, really need your help, because it's something only you can do!"
Calad looked so desperate that Storm decided to do whatever was in his power to help.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Storm, you need to teach me how to get some girls!"
"What?!"
"I was walking around the Sanctuary of Light, and there are such cute clerics there! But when I tried to talk to them they just ignored me, or exchanged looks and giggled. And when they just giggle it's more or less okay, but not if they exchange looks first. And I don't understand, because I used to be really popular with the goddesses, but I think I've lost the hang of it... And don't look at me like this! It's not as if I'm going to make demigods! I just want to have some fun..."
Storm tried hard not to gape. After he mastered his surprise, his first impulse was telling Calad to go ask Earth. He stopped himself just in time. Calad probably knew all about the Twelve Holy Knights' faults of character, but he wasn't about tattle his friends. Besides, the "shy and honest" Earth Knight couldn't possibly be seen teaching someone how to flirt.

"Hmm... Sure, Calad. Anything for you."

"So... let us start with your wink. Wink at me as if I was an attractive female cleric."

"Okay, there's nothing wrong with your wink." In fact, Strom was even a little envious that a mere teenager would have a wink on pair with the one he had practiced for years... But wait, he remembered. Calad wasn't a mere teenager. "Perhaps it has something to do with your timing. When you winked at them, what were those clerics you mentioned doing?"

"They were just chatting in the corridors..."

From his experience, but mainly from Earth's experiences, Ceo knew there wasn't such a thing as "just chatting in the corridors" when females were involved. The feminine behavior was a complex and (in his opinion) pointless study.

Calad looked at him expectantly, forcing him to make a decision.

"Let's go to the Sanctuary of Light. Let me see you charming some clerics."

Going to the Sanctuary of Light wasn't a good idea, after all. The clerics all clustered around that footloose charmer the Storm Knight, and Calad didn't had a chance to even wink at them. Separated by the swarm of clerics, they took some time to regroup in a calmer place.

"We need to go somewhere that doesn't have so many females." Ceo said breathlessly. He looked quickly at Calad, hoping his sentence wasn't being interpreted as a character fault.

Calad only nodded. After some thought, Storm suggested.

"We should go to the tavern. The waitresses don't over react when I go there, and... there are enough of them for both of us." Because, logically, if he was going somewhere, he had to flirt. But, also logically, if he was teaching Calad how to flirt, then he couldn't flirt with all the girls around the place. That, Storm thought, must be some sort of punition.

In the end, the tavern was the perfect solution. At first the establishment's owner had thought Calad was too young to frequent taverns, but after some free-spirited Storm Knight speech, she was willing to let it pass. All in the name of liberty...

"So, what is your plan?" Ceo asked.

Like all students that weren't expecting for a question, in a slip second Calad devised, executed mentally, measured the chances of success and discarded a dozen plans. He finally set to the most basic.

"I'll choose a waitress as a target and, when she looks at me, I'll wink at her?"

Is this a question or an answer?, Ceo thought, musing if that was how his teacher had felt while teaching him. Remembering his teacher also helped him to come up with the next part of the lesson.

"There is a fundamental fault in your plan. You shouldn't wink at a girl when she looks at you. You should wink to a girl when she is looking at you."

"But, what is the difference?"

"The difference is that people look at things all the time, and while they do they scarcely see those things. But when people keep looking, it means you hold their complete and undivided attention. And that is fundamental to flirting." Now Storm felt he was repeating his teacher's teachings word by word. Gosh! He didn't know he had such a good memory! "Because flirting, my boy, is an act of provocation. Of instigating the interest of the fairer sex. You can throw all the provocations you want, but they'll never work if you're just a passing thought in the back of someone's mind."

Calad's eyes gleamed.

"I see... And how do I get the girl's complete and undivided attention?"

"First, by the means of being extremely handsome." Storm paused. Calad didn't had any trouble in that part. "And, if it is not enough, by staring."

Calad tilted his head, puzzled.

"I thought it was rude to stare."

"Ah, but the trick is to stare without being rude. In my teacher's words" - that technically were his teacher's teacher's words, since he was repeating his teacher's words - " 'you have to stare at her as if she was the most fascinating thing in the world'."

Calad fell into a deep silence, and nodded as if he had acquired understanding over one of the great secrets of the universe. Ceo himself wasn't sure of how that stare was supposed to be, but since Calad seemed to have accepted this explanation, he wasn't elaborating any further.

"So, when do I start?"

Storm was already expecting that question.

"The waitress is bringing your drink. I'll use the chance to go to the counter and gossip with the owner, and you can start staring at any serving girl you like."

Ms. Rye was a widow and took care of the tavern since her husband had died. She refused to sell the place or close it, in memory to her beloved husband that had always dreamed of having his own commerce. Ceo knew this through the gossip of the serving girls, but in the bustle of the tavern, he'd never had the chance to speak – and, as his position unfortunately required, flirt – with the lady.

"You are most lovely tonight, my lady." He said with his best smile and flirtatious wink. In the extreme corner of his vision, he watched Calad pick up a serving girl and start staring at her.

"Oh, save your winks for the girls, Captain Storm. Will you have something to drink?"

The serving girl Calad had picked had finally felt herself being observed, and the disguised God was doing his best to look cool while he watched her every movement. He answered absentmindedly.

"I am already drunk in your presence, madam..."

"Captain Storm!"

"...but I'll have a mug of your finest ale," and, just in case, added, "since your ladyship wants to take my gold as well as my heart."

"You're helpless, Captain Storm." She said as she disappeared in the back to bring his drink.

Ceo barely noticed she was gone. The other girls had noticed Calad staring at their friend, and now they were nudging her and making it impossible for the girl to ignore him and keep up with her work. When Ms. Rye came back, Ceo asked her about how business was going, and split his attention between watching Calad, filling in the information and throwing the older woman the occasional wink and pick up line.

The tavern owner was telling him about the hardships of directing her business when the serving girl finally went to Calad to demand why he was staring at her. He replied with a smile, a wink and a compliment that made Storm proud and the girl blush. Relieved that things were working all right for his god, Ceo was able to give, for the first time that night, his complete and undivided attention to Ms. Rye.

"You are a strong woman, Ms. Rye." He said, when she had finished talking. He said it unthinkingly, from heart, because her tale had really moved him. It wasn't easy for a widow to conduct a business these days.

And, to his utter surprise, this simple sentence did what his relentless flirting wasn't able to.

Ms. Rye blushed.

Storm got to his feet, mechanically took the mistress hand and pressed there a silver ducat, telling her to keep the change because her eyes were pretty. Then he stormed out, grabbing Calad on the way, and didn't stop until they got to the Holy Temple.

"Aw, why did we have to go?" The boy protested. "I was almost..."

"It's good to keep them waiting. Makes you more interesting." Storm interrupted. "Besides, you can go back there tomorrow."

"Okay..." Dejected, the God of Light went to his room, leaving Storm alone in the corridors.

Walking slowly, as to not disturb the sleepers in the Temple, but mainly as to not disturb his own frail train of thought, Ceo Storm examined what had happened that night.

He had made a woman blush.

Not with a pick up line used and approved by generations of Storm Knights, but with a single sentence of his own.

After the initial shock, he felt rather proud.

Okay, that is it. I hope you liked this chapter. It was very difficult for me to write it. Please review and tell me how can I do better.

Also, please consider this like a goodbye chapter, because next Monday I'll be travelling and I won't be around in fanfiction net for 18 months.

I hope to see all of you when I'm back, in November (or December) 2014.