Alex felt his hair being played with so he turned his attention back to Haise.
"I at first expected you to be serious but now though,"
Alex expected that response, people have also said that about him, how they thought he was gonna be serious, and a sticker to the rules whenever they hear about his title.
He felt the urge to know what Haise thought of him because despite hearing Alexander's name, Haise never once acknowledged he knew of him, meaning that he never heard of his title.
Haise looked down at Alex who looked to be in thought.
"What are you thinking about?"
Alex's eyes looked at Haises' and he just shook his head.
"Nothing, continue."
Haise raised a brow as he stared at red orbs that had a look of anxiousness. Haise slightly smiled, now becoming conscious of the fact that he had been playing with a strand of Alex's hair.
"You seem like someone fun to be around. Playful, serious when it counts, and you seem genuinely kind and seem like you always do things with a reason"
Alex was to say, stunned. He didn't expect this kind of answer, especially from someone whom he had just met. Alex only smiled and closed his eyes.
"I'm sure you will change your mind once you stay around long enough"
He spoke with truth and not an ounce of any lies. Haise stared at Alex's face, studying his features, the way, even though he was smiling, he looked sad. His hands looked tense.
Haises' eyes lowered into half-lidded ones. He understood, though maybe not Alex's type but, he understood betrayal, all too well. He felt sad for the man, but he shouldn't pity him, that may not be something he would want out of anyone. To be pitied. Sure you can feel sorry but what's done is done and you can't do anything about it.
"I understand you, although I may not have gone through what you have...I know betrayal all too well"
Haise watched as Alex opened his eyes to stare at his amethyst gems. Alex thought he would see something else in those orbs, those gems, but he didn't. All he felt was genuine understanding. He finally felt a little understood.
Haise and Alex stared at each other for a minute before Haise broke the silence by asking a question.
"You said that your favorite food was waffles right?"
Alex was put off guard by the sudden question about his love for waffles but he answered the question nonetheless.
"Yeah, why?"
Haise didn't answer but asked another question.
"Do you know how to cook?"
Alex was confused about where this was going but he shook his head.
"Last time I tried to cook, everything pinned me as the enemy to destroy"
Haise raised a brow, probably wanting to know what happened. Alex sighed and began telling the story.
"Okay, when I first tried a new food I had never tasted before I liked it to the point where I wanted to try cooking it myself. I got all the ingredients and followed the instructions to perfection, but I ended up setting the kitchen on fire and blowing up a pot"
Haise covered his mouth as he laughed, "Haha- How did yo-Haha manage to do that! Hahahaha!"
Alex felt Haise shake with laughs and he smiled.
"I don't know, everything was after me, I guarantee you"
Alex watched as Haise chuckled more before regaining his composure and calming down.
"Okay well, now I know you don't know how to cook, but you know where to get ingredients right?"
Alex was confused but nodded.
Haise goes into thought. He felt the need to repay Alex even if Alex would say he didn't need to be repaid but he felt like it did. Alex was a very fun person to be around and he made Haises' day better, he felt himself get better.
Haise nodded his head to his thoughts before smiling at Alex.
"Alright, since it's early there won't be many people, that means everything should be easy to get"
Alex raised a brow as he was motioned to sit up, which he did.
"What are you doing?"
Alex finally asked as he watched Haise stand up and stretch.
"We are gonna go grab ingredients and make some waffles, handmade"
Haise turned to look at Alex with a smile, but he was slightly stunned by the sparkling eyes that shimmered at the thought of waffles.
"So you know how to cook?"
Alex asked as he got up and stretched and stood next to Haise.
"Yep"
Haise responded before moving to the door.
"What we first need to do though is get cleaned up, that means shower and get dressed into new clothes. Right after, let's meet at the grounds since that's the place I am most familiar with, okay?"
Alex nodded his head and Haise smiled before leaving the room.
Haise went back to his room, took a shower, got dressed into clean clothes that were more his style, and sat down on his bed to make a list of items he would need to make waffles.
It took a few minutes but he finished the list and made his way downstairs. Once he made his way down he saw a familiar face sitting at a small drink bar. Haise thinks it was a drink bar anyway.
He approached the man, tapping his shoulder. Reddish-brown eyes turn to look at dark Amethyst orbs.
"What are you doing this early?"
Haise asked Kiran as he sat at a stool next to him. Kiran only stared for a second before answering.
"Waiting for a few friends to get back from shopping. What about you"
Haise nodded.
"Oh well, I am planning on making waffles for a friend! He said his favorite food was waffles, although unhealthy, they are still good to have once in a while"
Kiran raised a brow. He felt like he knew who Haise was speaking of but he couldn't quite place his finger on it. All he knows is that it's a male and they like waffles.
"Anyways, I gotta go, can't keep him waiting for long! Bye Kiran, talk to you later!"
Kiran watched as Haise quickly got up, waved goodbye, and left the building. Kiran felt like his mood was better than it usually was when Haise came up to him to talk to him, even if it was only for a few minutes.
Haise walks out of the training grounds and spots Alex talking to two females. He was slightly confused by the two unknown people but he was more confused by how tense Alex seemed to be. The two females themselves seemed to be doing most of the talking while Alex just seemed to be giving out short responses.
This was not something he expected. Now that he sensed it, Alex had an aura of, he doesn't want to say that it gives an aura of a scared puppy, because that isn't what he is feeling. He is not feeling scared, but more awkward and unsettled. It seemed like Alex knew the two women. They looked nice but, their presence wasn't doing a good thing for his new friend.
Getting tired of standing back and doing nothing, he walked up to the three and stood next to Alex.
"Hello there, nice to meet you two!"
Haise greeted normally. The two females turned their attention towards him, they donned confused looks and smiles.
"Hi? Who are you?"
The female with silverish-blue hair asked with a raised brow. Haise smiled.
"I'm Haise, and you are?"
"Rin and this is my girlfriend Xinoah"
Haise nodded.
"Can I know what you two were talking to Alex about?"
Haise stared at Rins' orange eyes, never once breaking eye contact. Rin narrowed her eyes as she spoke.
"We were just talking about some things that will be happening once everyone goes to the sect today, why do you wanna know?"
Haise smiled and answered truthfully.
"I was just curious because as of now, I have just been aware that we were leaving today, but do you know what time?"
Xinoah was the one to answer.
"We are leaving at 12:30 pm, everyone is meeting up at the tents where they were evaluated"
Haise nodded, thankful for the information.
"Thank you, and sorry, but we kinda need to go"
Rin and Xinoah looked confused but only nodded. Haise smiled and quickly grabbed Alex's hand and started to drag him in the direction of the city. Once they were a ways away from camp, Haise let go of Alex's hand, but it was immediately taken hold of again. He was confused but once he got a look of Alex's face, he knew it was better to leave it alone.
"They weren't just talking about whatever is gonna happen at the Sect, right?"
Haise asked, wanting to know what they said but completely understood if Alex didn't want to talk about it.
There was a while of silence as they continued to walk to the gates of the city until Alex spoke up.
"They started to...talk about someone I don't have great memories or feelings about, it's not them but just the name being brought up makes me uncomfortable..."
Haise understood his feelings well. He also had names said to him and they always made him feel fearful and uncomfortable whenever they were said or brought up. The feelings especially worsened when said person would show up.
"If the name makes you uncomfortable, then give the person a nickname that everyone can refer to him as so that they don't have to use a name that makes you uncomfortable"
He tried to do this in his old life, nobody would agree with him or do anything that could potentially help him, but he hoped this would.
"Okay, thank you..."
Alex said as he looked at Haise who also looked back at him with a smile.
"Of course! This is what friends are for silly!"
Alex smiled and squeezed Haises' hand who also returned the squeeze.
After that, comfortable silence came over them as they walked closer to the city. Once they were permitted to enter, the noisy city was bustling with early morning people as everyone began to go to work.
"Now, it's time for you to shine Alex! Show me where the stores are"
Alex smiled and nodded as he began to walk in the direction of a store. Once they enter the store, they are greeted by some vegetables and other foods.
"This is where you can get vegetables, eggs and they even get meat here but, most of the time they don't"
Alex explained to Haise who just looked around. There were a lot of goods here that he could use to make a stew or some soup. But their goal here today is to get ingredients to make waffles! Nothing else.
Haise began walking around, grabbing some eggs. He looked around but they had nothing else but this one ingredient he needed. He guesses that they will have to go find the fruits, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar, and all-purpose flour somewhere else.
After buying the eggs, they find a vendor selling fruits. Some were familiar but others weren't. He saw starfruit, strawberry, blueberry, cherries, and some dragon fruit. Those are the only ones he was familiar with.
"Alex, what fruit do you like?"
Alex looked confused but he pointed towards some fruit. He pointed toward the dragonfruit, strawberries, and two other fruit he didn't recognize. One had a red pokey outer(Lychee) while the other was brown and fuzzy(Kiwi). He was a little confused but he was sure that the fruit was inside of the fuzzy outers.
He paid for the four fruits and began their journey to a store that sells ingredients for anything and everything. That's ironically the name of the store.
They entered the store and immediately started looking for salt, flour, sugar, and anything else they would need. Once everything was bought they started to head back to the campus. The two of them didn't talk much because there wasn't much to talk about except ask each other questions.
Once Haise got into a kitchen of unknown origins, he began looking for something that could create the image of a waffle. While he was looking, Alex was asking him his questions.
"What's one of your hobbies?"
"Uh, readings good"
Haise grabbed what he was looking for and looked toward the fireplace. He squinted his eyes until an idea popped up.
"Hey, what's your element?"
Alex leaned on one of the counters and looked at Haise with a raised brow.
"Fire, why?"
Haise nodded.
"Can you use it without the use of your sword?"
"A little- wait, how did you know I could use a sword?"
"You give it away quite easily"
Haise began making the batter for the waffles.
"How so?"
Haise smiled as he stirred everything together.
"Because you aren't skinny, or un-muscled or whatever, and your aura says a lot about you"
Alex nodded in understanding. Mages are very lean and not many work out or train their body except for Fighters. Fighters need to hone their body and be able to move fast in battles. It's a must-have for fighters to train and if you don't then you will be given restrictions of what you can and can't do because of that. Or, you can be let go and out of the sect.
Haise grabbed a cup and set it off to the side as he got the fire started. He started to heat the metal that would make the waffles. After a few minutes of waiting until it was hot enough. He poured some batter into the cup, poured it onto the waffle maker, and closed it.
After a few, he opened the waffle maker and was met with a golden brown waffle. He smiled and set it onto a plate as he poured another. Alex was stunned when he saw the golden brown color of the waffle Haise had taken out of the waffle maker. It was really pretty and it looked very appetizing.
The waffles that he usually ate never really looked this appetizing alone. They weren't golden brown but they weren't burnt either. But he feels like they were more on the burnt side. They didn't taste bad, quite the opposite but that burnt taste kept ruining the whole experience. But he continued to eat them anyway.
Haises' waffles looked good like he was a pro chef. Alex watched as Haise continued to use all the batter to make many waffles and pile them on top of a plate. Once everything was cleaned and put away.
Haise grabbed two plates and placed two waffles on each. He sprinkled powdered sugar onto the waffles on both plates, followed by whipped cream, a drizzle of honey, and then the fruits.
Alex just watched Haise do a chef's job. The food looked appetizing, beautiful, and so delicious. He can't wait to eat it.
Haise grabbed some utensils, gave some to Alex, and grabbed his plate. Alex stared at his plate, not wanting to destroy its magnificent beauty but having no choice because he was hungry and needed to eat.
As Haise took a bite, he noticed that Alex seemed to be hesitating. Haise raised a brow as he swallowed and then spoke, making Alex flinch.
"Although beautiful, it is a sacrifice to make to mess it up, so eat it, you haven't eaten today"
Alex looked at Haise, then his food, then Haise again before smiling and digging in. On the first bite, it tasted heavenly. The fruit mixed in with the whipped cream and the honey and the soft yet crunchy pillow of toasted batter, tasted great.
Haise watched as Alex enjoyed his waffles with a smile. After both were done. They cleaned up the kitchen enough to the point no one would suspect that anyone was there.
After having filled their stomachs with some unhealthiness, both decided to hang out in Alex's room for a while until they had to start packing up their belongings.
The two of them decided to go back to asking each other questions, but this time, it was personal.
"Okay, you got any boyfriends? Girlfriends?"
Alex asked to which Haise shook his head.
"What about you?"
Alex went into thought until he just nodded his head.
"Yeah I had one but uuh, didn't end very well"
Haise nodded. Understanding very well how relationships can end very badly, he experienced one firsthand.
"Anyways, next question, family life"
Haise thought deeply about this question. He could either go with his hosts' background or go with his but leave out parts. Both were neglected and left to fend for themselves, but one was forced into an assassin and monitored 24/7, quite literally, and was driven to be by himself and away from others. They both have quite a family life.
"Well, truthfully, my family neglected me and they left me to fend for myself. Then I was put into an orphanage and then was kicked out at the age of 18"
Alex looked at Haise with a sad look, a part of him understood.
"What about you?"
Alex went into thought for a while before bringing out his own summary of his family life.
"I was also neglected and told that everyone would stay with me until they ended up lying to me and leaving me so I guess that's where my trust issues come in, I was also I guess abused a little in my life. I just don't really have a good history with my family"
Haise nodded his head. It is quite sad that Alex had to deal with a family like that but there is not much one can really do, you can cut contact or even kill them, but the memories and the prints they leave on a person are still there. They will always be there.
After a while of asking questions, they both, don't know when or how they
got into a cuddle position on Alex's bed. Kinda weird for strangers, they know, but don't really care because cuddling feels nice, especially with two touch-starved people.
The two of them took a nap for an hour or two until it was time to get up, gather their belongings, and head out towards the tent area, where both of them are right now.
The sect leader was explaining to everyone that they would be using portal talismans to travel to the sect. Since the talismans are linked to outside of the moon sect, nobody will need to visualize it their destination. Once everyone got their talismans, people started to individually teleport to the sect.
Haise poured mana into the talisman and he was soon teleported to the front gates of the moon sect. It was huge. The forest that surrounds them seems to be dense and spread out. It smelled like earth and watered trees. Just an earthy smell. Haise turned around and was met with Alex's red ruby eyes staring at him from an inch away.
"Nice to see you again"
Alex playfully said as he moved a little closer to Haise. Haise smiled and chuckled.
"Nice to see you too"
Alex smiled. Soon the two of them strike up a conversation about nothing important.
It was a few minutes before something truly happened and it was nothing that Haise expected. Sure not everyone was there, ic luding the adults. Which was why they decided to do it now.
It was a quick one too. Sure he dodged but he was left with a cut on his cheek.
Alex stared wide-eyed at Haise who was crouched down a few meters away with a hand holding a sharp-jagged rock and the cut on his cheek bleeding. It was a deep cut but not deep enough to leave scars which he felt grateful for. Blood leaked down Haises' face as he stared past Alex with a deadly glare. Haise didn't even look mad but annoyed. His dark Amethyst eyes were dull as the once wide-slitted pupil in the middle became smaller and sharper. Like a cat's eyes.
Alex whirled around and saw the one person he hoped not to see.
"Noah! What do you think you're doing!?"
He watched as Noah began to get angry. His face was filled with anger and straight-up jealousy.
"Alex, you are mine! This bitch can't take you from me!!!!"
Noah screamed so high-pitched that it grabbed everyone's attention. He knew Noah was obsessed with him, but he didn't know it was to the point where he would harm someone.
"Alex is not an object, he is a human made of flesh and blood."
Alex turned to look at Haise who had stood up and dropped the rock to the ground. He watched as Haise touched the cut on his cheek with his fingers. He watched as he didn't flinch from the touch, or from the red glow of blood that coated the tips of his fingers. He just looked annoyed or maybe deadly.
"You shut your mouth! He's mine!"
Alex felt himself get irritated now. He has told the guy too many times to count that he wasn't his. Now this was just getting out of hand.
"Noah would you just stop! I am not yours, and I never will be, why can't you see that!?"
Noah looked at Alex with tear-filled eyes but anger clouded them as his eyes darted towards Haise.
"You did something! What did you do to him!? You put a spell on him, didn't you!?"
Alex looked towards Haise and then Noah, unsure of what to do. And he was caught off guard by how delirious Noah sounded. It was something he never had experienced before.
"A spell..?"
He heard Haise speak monotonously as he started to walk.
"Are you stupid?"
Noah got angrier at the insult.
"YOU'RE THE STUPID ONE!!"
Alex watched as Haise passed him and continued to walk toward Noah in a calm but deadly manner.
"Am I now."
Haise tilted his head making Noah flinch and back up a step.
It had seemed that the closer Haise got the more Noah became fearful and scared to the point where irrational thoughts and actions clouded his judgment. He lunges forward at Haise who only sidestepped at the lunge and sharp knife.
Haise heard a few gasps from the crowd but he couldn't care less because how dare this person refer to Alex as an object instead of a human being, a person, he is not a thing to be owned.
Noah turned back around and began going after Haise with erratic movements. He looked like someone who needed to be put into a mental hospital.
Haise dodged every single thrust of the knife that was directed at him. It wasn't long until he got tired and just swept Noah's feet from under him, simultaneously disarming him of the knife.
"...."
Everyone held their breath at the sight. Alex approached the two of them. His eyes lingered on the knife that was hovered above one of Noah's eyes.
Noah started stammering but he held his breath.
Haise stared at Noah with emotionless eyes. They were blank and beastly. His Amethyst eyes looked like they belonged to a cunning beast, waiting for the kill.
Haise leaned to one of Noah's ears, making him flinch.
"You ever do this again, I will not hesitate to finish the job"
He spoke deadly and truthful. Haise leaned back as he retracted the knife. Noah was gonna sigh in relief if the knife wasn't plunged into the ground right beside his head as a warning.
He trembled and shook as he turned to look at the knife, and soon passed out after seeing himself reflected off the blade.
Haise moved away from the unconscious body and a little ways away from everyone else. He felt a burning urge of something all too familiar light a fire within him. He couldn't go through something like this again. Haise began to take steady and deep breaths. He needs to calm down.
Alex looked from Haise and Noah. He felt useless, but he is glad that Haise was the one to take care of him though, because at least he held back.
Alex looked at everyone else who was standing around awkwardly and whispering to each other. That could be good or bad, depending on the outcome.
Alex approaches Haise and he stops a foot away from him.
"Are you okay?"
Haise didn't answer him right away but once he calmed down enough, he responded with his pupils less constricted.
"Yeah, sorry"
"No no, you got nothing to be sorry for, that guy had it coming, trust me, if it was me, I probably wouldn't have held back as much as you did"
Haise chuckled.
"How did you know I was holding back?"
Alex smirked and just shrugged.
Haise chuckled and looked at Alex again.
"Tell me"
"Hmmm, no"
Haise scoffed playfully before just shaking his head.
"Oh, would you look at that"
Haise turned to look at Alex who was a little close to his face.
"What?"
"The cut on your cheek, it's gone"
"...What..?"