At the Beach - Part 1
Date Posted: August 15, 2020
This chapter was written in collaboration with Scylla.
Now he was just being plain difficult.
Scylla frowned, picking the half-chewed piece of battered fish off of Amon’s shirt, and wiping the drool from the corner of his lip.
Sometimes, he just seemed to zone out. Other times he would be perfectly fine, and capable of holding long conversation.
Everyone in the company house accepted that Amon’s recovery would be of a relatively long duration, and Scylla had even agreed with Ben that the ocean breezes and fair weather of Costa Del Sol would be beneficial for him. He had even ventured to the water the night before to watch the fireworks. In the distance, the sounds and colorful adornments of the Moonfire Faire beckoned.
Scylla grumbled, scooping up another piece of fish.
It was her turn to watch over Amon, and when Zuri and Koh were off enjoying the revels, it meant that she was left to care for the ailing Elezen on her own.
Today he was being especially aggravating and infantile, probably on purpose. Half of the plate of battered fish had been lost to him simply letting his jaw hang open and the food dribble out of his mouth while he stared at the sky.
“You were not half as stubborn for Zuri this morning!” Scylla took another piece of fish in the fork and tried to work his jaw with the other hand. “Come on… you were whining out a treatise on starvation just an hour ago!”
Usually, food was the major focus when meals were presented to Amon. But today, the aether display was especially lively and beautiful. Maybe it was because so many people capered over the sands. Maybe it was because there was a festive feeling in the air.
He didn’t know what it was exactly, but he found it difficult to keep his eyes off of the aetherflow.
So drawn in by the cascade of dancing energies, he didn’t think to check himself as he spoke. His words were somewhat slurred and a bit of unchewed fish unceremoniously propelled itself from his mouth to his shirt.
“The aetherflow… ‘tis so strong… so glorious today.”
“You are awake!” Scylla picked the food off of Amon’s tunic, before putting down the plate with a huff. She wasn’t sure if he was all there, but she had a way of bringing him back to reality. She reached around, taking his ear between her fingers and pulling it.
“What are you prattling on about?” She turned his face towards her own, looking into his eyes with a concerned face. “Did Zuri give you too much of that numbing-root that Ben brought from his home?”
His peaceful, drifting revelry was cut short by the feeling of a sharp tug on his ear. Amon gave a snort, his eyes quickly snapping away from the mesmerizing aetheric display to the rather displeased face of the Allagan princess.
Quite frankly, he’d almost forgotten she was there.
“Ow!!” He complained, even though the tug wasn’t that hard and really had not hurt. Before he thought better of himself, he opened his mouth to retort hotly, “Does Her Majesty mind what she–”
The Elezen broke off in mid-word, quickly reminding himself that he was trying to be kinder in his interactions with Scylla. He owed her his life now, and she was even going through all this trouble to take care of him. No matter how much they’d butted heads in the past, he should at least try to pay her some respect for it.
Amon coughed, covering his ear to try and divert the conversation from his slip-up. “I mean… why’d you do that?”