Cloud whined. "Listen, there's a huge misunderstanding. I did look but I did not even think about touching him."
"Is that so?" Rion asked, looking at him distrustfully.
Cloud nodded vigorously. At that point, Calibri came out of the room fully clothed this time.
"Ah! Calibri, tell them I didn't do anything to you." Cloud said, sounding desperate.
Calibri took one look at the situation and his eyes widened. There were three other sects present, and only the Verbatians had weapons drawn. This was going to give them a very bad reputation, especially after the first incident in the hall. Trinity had specifically told them to lay low and not engage in fights if unnecessary. That was not what they were doing.
"Everyone, put your weapons away." Calibri said quickly. Cloud was telling the truth. He hadn't done anything to him at all. If the other sects actually did have those strange customs of assuming being naked was an invitation, then the fact that he didn't harm him at all should have been applauded.
"But your majesty-" Siegon started.
"Please." Calibri said, walking closer to Alexei and eyeing the dagger at his roommate's groin.
Alexei sighed and put his dagger away.
"Prince Cloud hasn't done anything. To be fair, the fault lay in my own carelessness. I apologize." Calibri said to Cloud, offering both his hands to help him to his feet.
Cloud glanced at Alexei wearily and then at Calibri's hands.
"He won't hurt you." Calibri assured. Cloud stared at him for a moment, then nodded and let Calibri pull him up.
Haochen looked at Cloud with annoyance, and Kol scoffed.
"You know, everyone out there thinks Verbatians are so calm, and kind, and peaceful. But look at you. Your subjects and your older brother both harassed me today. And now you're all here trying to harm someone else. Maybe it's good that you're in isolation. Your behavior shows you're a danger to society."
Calibri smiled and bowed.
"We apologize, your majesty, for any discomfort we may have caused. Please have a good evening." He said. "Thank you for your assistance earlier, Haochen. I am grateful. I will keep what you've said in mind."
Kol looked at Haochen then back at Calibri. He'd actually told him to get out without verbalising it.
"Let's go." He said to Haochen, and turned to leave, quite pissed off, but still prideful. Haochen nodded and turned to leave too. He tucked Calibri's pouch back into his sleeve.
Earlier on, he's decided to leave the pouch in Calibri's room. He'd just left the springs, along with Kol, when he'd remembered it. After telling Kol he'd be leaving it in Calibri's dormitory, Kol begrudgingly decided to tag along on the condition that he didn't go in.
Haochen would have been in and out if it hadn't been for Cloud deducing that the pouch belonged to Calibri, and trying to get it from him to snoop on its contents. And that's when the group appeared in the living room, disorientated and completely out of it.
"See you soon." Haochen said, smiling. Calibri smiled politely and waved.
When they left, he looked at the others. "Please wait in my bed chamber, my lovelies."
"But Calibri…" Kreia looked at Cloud with uneasy eyes.
"It's alright." Calibri said.
Alexei pursed his lips and looked at the others. "We will wait in the room. Let us know if you are not alright."
Calibri nodded.
Cloud watched the others go and sighed, leaning against the granite island in the center of the kitchen.
"I apologize for what transpired." Calibri said once the door of his bedroom closed. Cloud rubbed the back of his neck. "You already apologized before, sweetheart, you don't have to do it again. I think I should be the one apologizing. I'm a fanatic of excellent physique. And, well, I don't think anyone would expect that you look like that underneath your robes. I thought you'd be quite skinny. Bony in general... Okay, okay, to be completely fair, I find you very attractive. Stunning even. But I'm not some sort of forceful, monstrous beast who'd force themselves on a person. I tease and only act if there's reciprocation. Otherwise, I'm pretty harmless… Really." He said, almost sheepishly before sighing.
"But I understand that your subjects must want to keep you safe, my subjects would have done the same, and I do seem like a bad and dangerous character to be around."
Calibri shook his head.
"No, no. You're very strange, but I do not think you have a bad character."
Cloud snorted. "Okay, you know a person has to be strange if even the weird ones call them strange, no offense gorgeous."
"Weird ones?" Calibri asked, not understanding the word 'weird'.
"Yup, you're weird. Very weird. And you talk funny. And I thought most of you were women. It didn't even occur to me that you could be male when I first saw your portrait. It's really weird." Cloud said.
"Weird?" Calibri turned the word over in his mind. Cloud stared at him for a moment.
"Ahhhhhh, yeah, your vocabulary is different too. Remind me to teach you some words. Let's start with 'weird', it's basically saying something is odd."
"Weird means odd. This is true, the other sects do believe we are odd." Calibri said.
Cloud grinned. "Mmmhmm. You lot are especially weird. Then again, people say I'm weird, but I don't think I am. You probably don't think you're weird. In your head, you're normal right?"
Calibri nodded. "I am normal. But I must be weird if several of you say I am." He said, tapping his cheek.
Cloud smiled and shrugged. "Okay then."
"Why does everyone say 'Okay'?" Calibri asked.
"Hmmm… Well, 'Okay' is a more friendly way of saying 'alright' or saying yes. For example, if I say, hey gorgeous, let's kiss, you say?"
"Not okay," Calibri said.
Cloud burst into laughter. "Clever, very clever. Thought I could catch you out there. Okay, if you find something strange, you say?"
"It is weird."
"Excellent sweetheart, you learn very quickly. Soon I'll teach you what 'shit' and 'damn' means." Cloud said proudly, reaching forward to pat Calibri's head with the hand not holding his ladle.
Calibri nodded, quite pleased at learning new words. "By the way… What is that putrid stench?" Calibri asked, sniffing the air.
"Hmmm?" Cloud began to sniff, then his eyes widened, and he spun to see black smoke coming out of the pot on the stove.
"OH SHIT!" He grabbed the dishcloth Haochen threw at him earlier.
"Okay, so, I usually have my servants cook me something, but I read a whole recipe book before coming here-" Cloud said, shoving the pot to the other stove plate, when he took off the lid, black smoke began to engulf the kitchen.
"Ah! Me too!" Calibri said.
"This seemed much easier on the pages." Cloud said, fanning the air.
"Your majesty, may we come out now?" Alexei asked from the room.
"Yes, you may." Calibri said.
The Verbatians entered the kitchen, looking slightly embarrassed, having heard the conversation.
"Oh dear, my dearest Calibri, what goes on?" Alexei said, fanning the air.
"We have burned the food." Calibri said, wincing slightly as he fiddled with his earring.
"I see this." Alexei said moving over to the pot. Inside was what looked like charred lentils. He clicked his fingers and the smoke in the air condensed into a small sphere.
"Pressurized Smoke bomb. You can keep this, your majesty. I apologize for my sporadic and rude behavior." Alexei said, bowing to Cloud in apology, and offering him the small, black orb.
Cloud waved his hands. "Calibri apologized already, you don't have to keep apologizing. I've forgotten it already… But I'll take that because this would be nice to throw in Kol's toilet bowl."
"You mean... His lavatory?" Kreia asked, covering her mouth.
"Yup, toilet and lavatory mean the same thing," Cloud said.
Seigon and Rion snickered. "If it exploded while he was letting something go, it would be particularly humorous." Siegon said.
"That's revolting." Korra said making a face. "But it would be humorous, I cannot lie." Tea said.
Flora and Kreia smiled. "Let's not forget why we're here. Why don't you boys help Alexei make dinner, and we'll check Calibri for that…Thing." Kreia said.
Cloud perked up.
"Thing?" He asked. The others looked at each other. Calibri looked at Cloud. "Perhaps you could help us."
Cloud nodded, putting down his ladle. "Of course, what is it?"
"Earlier, there was a strange, watery, blob sort of thing that ran up my body, and then disappeared."
"Watery?" Cloud asked, thinking.
The others nodded quickly.
"No eyes, or features?"
They nodded again, realizing that Cloud looked like he knew what they were describing.
"We're worried that it must have been absorbed into his majesty's skin." Alexei said.
Cloud was quiet for a moment.
"And it seemed to have disappeared into thin air?"
They nodded vigorously.
Cloud grinned. "Okay, then you don't have to worry about it. He will be fine. "
"But what was it? It was so fast, and why did it crawl, or rather, slither up his body like that? Why did it single him out?"
"I can't answer all those questions because I have not a clue either. But I do know what it was."
"What was it?" Calibri asked with wide, curious eyes.
Cloud smiled, waved them over till they were huddled together, then spoke conspiratorially.
"That wet, blobby, quick thing is what we call a-"