A like surpreme

Nothing had changed, nothing at all. Although he was doing things trying to get everything from his mind, it never really seemed to work. He had a letter crumbled up in his hands, pacing along the sides of his room. The urge to throw it in the fire was ever present, but he wasn't allowed to. His father wrote him a letter, explaining that soon after the wedding of his sister, it would be his turn and that he had to make haste to get on the good side of lady Rizal. And this, this gave him the most panic he had felt in years. This man had no clue what he had to do, what he was doing nor what had to be done. He had ignored every lesson on this matter, thinking it would be never for his situation. And now, he was thrown in a viper's pit. Deimos punched the wall in front of him, which made the ears of Häti go into the wolfs neck. The summon would normally react to his emotions, but this was something even he could not comprehend. The summoner looked at the small hole that had appeared after the punch and he cursed under his breath. There was something that he could do, but it was something that he really only wanted to do when it was his last resort. Taking advice from someone wasn't his strong suit, even if it was his twin sister. He wanted to fix things on his own, but also had to admit that this was out of his league. "Fuck." He looked out the window, actually seeing the fucker that he was looking for. He would not step outside, he would not talk to him. But he had to get Ezekiels attention somehow. Fuck.

Ofcourse this happened, he always had this skill to find whoever he was looking for, yet this time he just wanted to turn around and run. Yet, he was frozen in place when his eyes made contact with his soon to be brother in law's. He swallowed dry, mumbled something under his breath and though franticly about what he had to do now. Thank fuck that Ezekiel was just as awkward as he was, with his little wave and frown on his face. Deimos rose his hand, waved for a moment and than beckoned him to come inside.
Now he had a few moments to think about how he wanted to do this. He hadn't actually spoken with Ezekiel yet, he had seen him once or twice, but that was about it. He knew that he was of the guard, his summon was a bear and that he was trying to wife up his sister. But that was as far as his knowledge went. This would be the most awkward he has ever been. Not knowing how to speak to the men, let alone trying to ask for help. And it was all Chaska's idea, but he couldn't just blame it on her. It was his incompetence that got him in this situation in the first place. The man sighed, grabbed his instrument and sat down, quietly playing while he waited for Ezekiel to arrive. Maybe some music could help him, with the nerves, with the awkwardness, with this pain.

The music helped him, a bit at least. He felt himself getting calmer, but it didn't take away the immense panic that was building up in his chest. He had to make a story about this, maybe even write a song about it. His troubles would make for some good lyrics. He smiled a bit just before he heard the door. With his eyes focused on the instrument, he didn't even look up when Ezekiel stepped inside. He just nodded on the simple 'Hey' that was thrown his way. Good, now what. Now he had to say something, and not just "You screwing with my sister, now give her back". No, he couldn't do that, how delightful it would feel. Deimos stopped playing and placed the instrument on the ground, before getting up from his chair. "You can take a seat, if you want." He spoke, trying to get the nerves shiver out of his voice, while he pointed at on of the chairs and the couch. He hated it when people would just stand around, it always gave him the feeling that they wanted to leave as soon as possible. Althought, that was probably the case with Ezekiel right this very second. Deimos sighed softly when his cousin started about him settling in alright. He shrugged afterwards. "It's no Moonbright, but I can get used to it. I guess." That wasn't completely honest, but he had only spoken with his sister about him being slightly homesick. And it was not something he would say to Ezekiel if he didn't have to. "Look, Chaska asked me to speak with you, that's the whole reason why I'm doing this right now." Straight to the point, that might actually be the smartest and fastest way to get this out of the way. "She thinks I need some help." Oh dear Lythrana, there we go.

The awkwardness was noticeable between both parties. Neither of them seemed to know what to do, what to say nor what was coming. Deimos hated it, the silence, the suspense, this feeling of helplessness? He took a deep breath and only nodded towards the airy replay he got from his cousin. Maybe this would have been less awkward if they had actually talked before hand, but it seemed that both men had ignored each other since they had been here. Which seemed to be the root cause of this ordeal. The young sorcerer decided that small talk wasn't his strong suit, so he just did what he had to do: explain why he called his cousin over. This seemed to shock Ezekiel, seeing his change in expression. Maybe it was because he called out his sister, of the fact that he needed help, but something changed in the man's face. The words, spoken in pure disbelieve, made Deimos only softly nod. It was true, it was one of the very few times that he would actually ask for help. But it was needed in this moment, because otherwise he would ruin everything and that would destroy more than he wanted to. A sigh rolled over his lips, while he scratched the back of his neck and looked painful to the ground. Ezekiel asked him with what he needed help and the sorcerer couldn't find the courage to look up to his cousin. "Fauna." He only replayed, rolling his neck and trying to look past Ezekiel, so that it gave the illusion that he was actually looking at him. "It seemed that you and Chaska are in relative good spirits regarding the whole arranged marriage." Was it true? He didn't know, this was from stories he had heard around the castle, but he hadn't actually seen the two together yet. So, he had taken the word of the outsiders. "Yet I find it difficult to get a connection with the lady Rizal, not to speak about that cousin of her that keeps breathing down her and my neck." The smallest hint of annoyance was feasible in his voice, while he balled his hand into a fist, but relaxed it soon after. Maybe, hopefully, Ezekiel could help him with this.

Why did it seem like everything that could go wrong, went wrong? Deimos was just trying to save his marriage, even though they weren't even married yet. He wanted to be able to do something good, for once. But the words he had spoken, they got a different reaction. Ezekiel seemed to be surprised when he spoke about his relationship with his sister. For a moment, Deimos narrowed his eyes, wondering if this was all one miscommunication. What did Ezekiel think Chaska had told him? No, better question, what hadn't Chaska tell him? His cousin didn't seem to be happy with him asking for help. But he had the easy route, he was marrying within the family. And that made him even more angry. Why did he get punished with this marriage.
The moment Ezekiel told him that he wasn't happy with getting married, Deimos looked at him with a certain anger in his dark eyes. "And you think I had a choice? You're getting married within the family, with your own cousin and my sister. I got pawned off to a stranger, to a woman from another family. To someone who can see the future, who can see how bad I am at all this shit. I never wanted to get married either, but were you two seem to have all this lovey dovey stuff under control, I am afraid that her cousin is going to snap my neck if I as much as breath in the wrong direction." Deimos hadn't even notice that he had raised his voice and he balled his fist again. Emotions were an hell and he hated not being able to keep them in check. This is where Häti came into the picture, but his summon wasn't here at this moment. "So, no. I can't just get over with it. All I need is some advice, something, anything. How to deal with this all." This went all so very wrong and he regretting every moment of it. If it was possible, he would've just stormed out of the room, but he didn't want to show his cousin that kind of weakness. He just hoped that Ezekiel could see his point of view in this problem.

It felt good, to finally get all his worries of his chest. To vent, even if it was to someone who didn't give two rats asses about him. That was something he knew for certain, that Ezekiel wasn't bothered in the slightest. It was written all over the silverhaired's face. He took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm of emotions that were steering in his soul. If Häti would have been here, the wolf would probably have tried to bite his soon to be brother in law. It annoyed him that the man in front of him did not show any kind of emotions, other than annoyance. He could not see why Chaska had to marry him, they would be such a mismatch. Chaska was as bombastic as he was, while Ezekiel seemed to him like a blank canvas. No such emotion was ever on his face.
Still, his words made him stop dead in his tracks. A drink? As if that would help, but maybe, maybe it would calm him down a bit. Maybe it would make this conversation a bit better. "Fine." He scoffed. This room became to small for the both of them. A walk, some fresh air, a drink. it might clear his head, clear the storm brewing in his soul. "Lead the way." Was the last thing he said to the younger man, while he walked past him outside.  

Not a word was spoken while the two sorcerers walked into town. Deimos just a bit behind Ezekiel, as if he was afraid of getting associated with the other Vylasar. He was rather new to Lythrania, or at least, he had to work from his memory to find his way, while Ezekiel was born and raised here. People knew him and Deimos didn't really wanted to let people know him. He just wanted to disappear and go back to Moonbright, yet he couldn't just leave his twin sister. And Fauna. He swallowed with difficult thinking about her. She seemed so content as long as she was in the same space as her cousin. She didn't want this, just like him, but somehow she had found more peace with it. And he didn't even have the guts to speak with her about it all. Lost in thoughts, he followed his cousin towards one of the bars in Lythrania. Not entirely sure what was going to happen.
It looked like Ezekiel knew the man behind the bar, according to how they greeted each other. A drink got poured in for both summoners and just as Deimos wanted to pick up the glass, he got introduced as Ezekiel's dear cousin, the one that gets married soon. As if it wasn't awkward enough to be here with the younger summoner, he was also making fun of him. With a look that could kill a mighty beast, Deimos picked up his glass and chugged the drink in one fell swoop, which made him cough instantly. "Yes." He spoke once the coughing stopped. "The unfortunate soul that has to marry, after you." He looked at Ezekiel, before gesturing the barkeep to refill his glass. It burned his throat, but it made him warm on the inside, and it was probably the best thing he could get here.

Deimos felt a hit of pride when he noticed that he was just a bit quicker than Ezekiel had anticipated. The fact that he was a ball of anxiety right now, something that only got a little less with every glass of alcohol, he still had his wits to him. He got a smirk back, but it was the darkening of his cousin's eyes that made him smile back. By his next words, Deimos could only laugh. "I know, I've been stuck with her for my whole life." He reacted with a smirk on his side. "That means you think I'm a catch as well?" Deimos winked to his cousin, before finishing his glass. It was all just jokingly, but he hoped that Ezekiel saw it the same way. He hated that this whole ordeal became stale and serious. He wanted to have a bit of fun.
But Ezekiel spoiled it again, by asking what he and Fauna were up to. Deimos grimaced painful, while ordering a new drink. It might not be the best idea to drink this heavily, but the sooner he could forget this situation, the better. "Nothing much." He spoke softly. "Every time I try to spin a conversation, that cousin of hers is standing in her shadow, looking at me as if he wants to cut my head off clean with that axe of his." He sighed, swirling his newly poured drink around. "And it didn't seem like they can get separated in any way possible." He couldn't stand the man, it was a gut feeling that he had when he met Zuhayra, there was something wrong about the man.  

"I'll take that as a compliment." He chuckled softly, before looking a bit more serious to his glass. "I think every man who can get their hands on someone like Fauna can consider themself lucky. I'm just not sure if I'm the correct man for her." He sighed. Oh wait, now he had brought down the mood himself. Good job. "She is a catch tho." He chuckled softly. He couldn't deny that, Fauna was a gorgeous young woman and he had seen many other men turn their heads around when she walked passed. He should feel proud about getting married to her, yet it only felt like restrains. As if he would have no my freedom after they put the rings around each others finger.
He had ordered yet another drink, deciding that he had to slow down on the drinking. So he just played with it, swirling it around in the glass, before listening to what Ezekiel had to tell him about his problem with Fauna's cousin. He chuckled for a moment. "Like how you keep Chaska away from me?" He looked at the man next to him, he did like their company, but it hadn't changed his views on him as his future brother in law. "But it might be worth a try, last time I tried that he just scoffed at me." Deimos thought back, there was one other thing that had been wondering. "The man is weird, he had some kind of premonition when I touched his shoulder. But he didn't want to tell me much about it." He hadn't thought much about it, probably meant nothing. Or so he hoped at least. "But enough about him." Deimos had enough from talking about that man. "Being assertive, that's a whole other task. I'm a singer and painter, not much of a talker." He sighed softly, taking a sip from his drink and looking in front of him. He started to think that this all was rather hopeless.