Cracking The Egg (P/Iris)

Ahote wasn't expecting Iris to just roll over and take this confession with a grain of salt. For someone who had been accosting him for years, someone who has tried time and time again to woo him this way and that, Ahote's sudden confession wasn't anything to ignore or brush off. So, when choked on his drink, the usually glum man didn't look twice, but he knew he would have to brace for a slew of prying questions from the space gas—dust—whatever he was.  

Needless to say, Iris did have a lot of questions, and most likely many more to come. Of course the first would have to have been what caused the sudden epiphany. For a moment, there was a pause between the two. When Ahote finished dressing in a coat and sliding on rimless glasses—which he only wore outdoors—he paused with a thoughtful, contemplating look on his face, looking at the ground as he thought about what to say.

"I guess I have too much time on my hands nowadays. I took care of some old business the other day, and..." Ahote looked at Iris, "Well, I think this conversation was long overdue anyway—and no, I didn't have sex. Now I have a list, so come on."

After that, Ahote led the two out of Boomslang and down the streets of Crocus. It was as busy as it normally was, and despite owning one of the most renowned clubs in the city, Ahote made it a point to not be recognized by most. He had successfully fallen off of the radar of the Magic Council since losing his position as a Coming Storm, and he had the opportunity to start a new life with a clean slate. Problem was, he wasn't sure what to do with a slate as clean as the one he had now. After finally letting go of his burdens with Famine, and abandoning the heartbreak of Sol and Fairy Tail, he wasn't used to being so... untroubled.

Ahote lifted the small "shopping list" to view, looking at how the litany of items stretched down the paper. To others, it might have looked daunting, but to him, it was an ordinary weekday out to prepare for busy nights at Boomslang—and other things for personal use.

After some minutes of walking, they stopped in front of what looked like a bar, but wasn't. What they really did was provide alcohol to local bars by taking orders to stock their inventories. It was one of many places Ahote went to for Boomslang's goods.

"This will only take a minute. If you see anything you want, let me know..." Ahote stopped himself for a moment, looking at Iris again, "You know more about this stuff than I do."

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When Iris mentioned a gay list, both of them seemed equally slow in processing what exactly that was. Ahote immediately envisioned a list of men across Capital Crocus, in which they would spend the day tracking, pulling aside, and fornicating with only to move to the next poor sucker down the list. It was not at all what Ahote meant by having a list, and while he could seem like a hardass sometimes, even he found the idea so ridiculous that it was mildly amusing. There was a small smile that briefly cracked his lips, but before anyone could admire such hardness soften, he led the way out.

When the two young men meandered into the supply store, nothing was any different from before aside from some very obvious additions to their inventory. The supplier was an old woman who didn't seem to acknowledge anyone or anything's existence until they were across her counter, ready to pay. She always had her face stuffed into paperback editions of the Sorcerer's Magazine and smelled like cigarettes more than alcohol. Meanwhile, Ahote felt as if he had let a child loose to pick things off the shelves in a grocery store. Iris planted himself at a cabinet of one of those many new additions, which was a line up of some of the most colorful and expensive drinks out on the market right now.

In the meantime, Ahote meant what he said about only taking a minute. After finding every product he came here for, he walked over behind Iris to look at that Infernal Faerie collection he was gushing over. Even from here, Ahote could literally see gold floating inside. As he was not a drinker himself, it was hard to see that and wonder why people would drink it. It looked so craftsy that he felt that it wasn't even meant to be drunk. However, despite the confused look on Ahote's face, he walked over to the counter and placed a little checklist in front of the old supplier.

"Just these, and..." Ahote looked back at that collection, "a couple of those from the shelf. Just those in a bag." After that, Ahote picked up the back and led the way out of the store knowing that the rest of his order would ship to Boomslang in just a few days. The two back on the streets of Capital Crocus, on their way to make more boring errands. He knew this, and he knew that this wasn't really what people envisioned on a day out with a friend.

Iris hadn't really changed. Or, if he did, Ahote wouldn't have known it. The two had known each other for years now, and what started as a relationship between colleagues transformed into companions he'd know he'd have for life. Iris and the rest of the Buzz Killers were, without a shadow of a doubt, his ride or die. Even so, for the last few years, the stoic and sometimes awkward man was so caught up in his own burdens and troubles that by the end of it all, he realized he knew little to nothing about those three. While Aeluri and Iris had witnessed many of his own hardships with their own eyes, Ahote was ignorant of their own experiences. After visiting Famine's grave that day and Iris's outburst during the Winter Solstice, he realized that he wasn't nearly as good to them as they were to him. For days, the thought stifled him time and time again.

But he was no longer troubled by that mountain and the guild that once sat upon it. There was no longer an excuse to keep them at an arm's length. His eyes were downcast, focused on the cobblestone path ahead while engrossed in thought. Iris was right here, so why did he have to be so hesitant? Why was taking the next step in a relationship so difficult and heavy? Here was a man responsible for terrorism that killed hundreds and ruined more than that twelvefold, and yet...

"—I'm sorry about everything," said Ahote, abruptly. He began to bashfully scratch the back of his neck, slowly beginning to look at Iris, "Just... everything."

Ah, well there it was. The thoughts in his head could no longer be contained, and suddenly his mind became his mouth. Albeit, the apology came from out of nowhere and to Iris, might have seemed sudden.

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The second that Iris began with that bewildered 'It's fine', Ahote knew that he should've been more specific despite how awkward it was. And now that he was thinking about it, was Iris even the type to hold onto those sorts of feelings to begin with? Unlike Ahote, did he keep tabs of every bad thing that's happened? He certainly didn't look or act like the type, but that was just to show how uncertain he was of his understanding of his erotic friend.

Just when Ahote was about to clarify what exactly he was apologizing for, what Iris did next baffled him into silence. Stopping just in front of them in the middle of their path, with a complete and blatant disregard for the number of people in their surroundings, he wailed and insisted that Ahote not kill himself. There was a comment about accepting his homosexuality, a mention of his accomplishment of becoming a proficient necromancer, and he could've sworn he mentioned therapy somewhere in there too. And to top it all off, Iris made one final plea to not only not kill himself, but to not die a virgin. People in the midst of conversations or strolling along the road stopped to witness this excited and theatrical display of concern, and Ahote was left standing there, not sure what to feel. Embarrassed? Yeah. Shocked? Plenty. But, it was more... it was more... well...

"What... the hell are you talking about, Iris?" Ahote's brows twitched, staring at Iris as if he were speaking another language. The second he let himself speak, Ahote could feel those other emotions begin to surface. "Are you crazy?! Is that what you thought this was?! I'm not going to kill myself! And if I were, I'd leave you a well-written note with the passcode to the safe where I store my money! If I committed suicide, you and the others would actually be pretty well off!" Ahote yelled back at the same inappropriate volume Iris used. Even if he were depressed and desperate enough to end his life, he insisted that he'd at least be a bit more thoughtful about it, going as far as explaining his hypothetical plan to him for about thirty seconds before he flinched, and began pushing Iris forward and away from the bundles of people watching them. "—why are we talking about this? That's not what I meant at all."

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