"Am I making you nervous, Ezra?"

Yes.

Kaelis was absolutely making him nervous.

Mostly because now that he wasn’t as hateful as before, he had been noticing things.

Things he shouldn’t even have to notice.

The way Kaelis’ voice dropped slightly when he spoke to him sometimes.

The way his eyes lingered longer than necessary.

The warmth of his hand earlier around Ezra’s waist.

And with how close of a proximity they were earlier, he remembered things...he shouldn’t remember.

Things from that night.

Fragments of it.

The heat of another body against his.

Hands gripping him tightly.

Kaelis’ whispers of praise and–

And for a moment, the way Kaelis looked at him now was the same way he looked at him that night.

It was a weird gaze.

The kind of gaze that made him feel...nervous.

Because it used to disgust him.

Back then, Ezra had hated it, hated how intense Kaelis looked at him sometimes, like he wanted to peel past every wall Ezra put up.

But now it was just making him feel flustered.

Which was worse?

Far worse.

’You can’t do this to yourself again, Ezra.’ Ezra thought desperately as he also tried to rack his brain for an answer. ’You’re probably like this because now you know Kaelis was the one who gave you bread.’

That was it, right?

He was blinded by Helios’ other sides and personalities because he thought Helios was his savior.

And now, because he found out it was Kaelis, he was probably doing the same pattern all over again.

Projecting feelings onto the person who helped him.

Confusing gratitude for something deeper.

Not this time.

He refused.

He was grateful to Kaelis.

And he may be willing to even befriend him.

But more than that?

No way.

And Kaelis wasn’t like that either.

Kaelis flirted with everyone.

Kaelis liked teasing people.

Kaelis liked making others flustered because he found it amusing.

Ezra refused to embarrass himself by overthinking it.

So instead of answering, he decided to deflect by asking a question instead.

"What...are you doing here?" Ezra asks, tilting his head slightly. "I saw you were looking around, as if you were looking for someone, before bumping into you. I’m assuming it’s something important."

Kaelis continued to smile and look at him, as if he was deciding whether or not to probe further, or answer directly.

And the worst part was that Ezra genuinely couldn’t tell which option Kaelis would pick.

’Please, please, please.’ Ezra practically begged inside his mind.

He hated begging for anything, even if it was to himself, but it felt like the right moment to pray to Aurethys to let Kaelis let it go.

Because if Kaelis kept pressing him, Ezra was afraid he might say something stupid.

Or worse.

Reveal too much.

"Well...." Kaelis looks to the side, as if pointing toward where he had been staring earlier. "...I was following Aurien."

’Thank you, Aurethys.’ Ezra thought in immediate relief, the tension in his shoulders loosening for half a second before the meaning of Kaelis’ words fully registered in his head.

Then the relief was quickly replaced with surprise.

"Why were you following him? Did he do anything suspicious?" Ezra asks almost immediately, his brows pulling together as concern flickers across his face.

Kaelis’ expression shifts slightly then, the teasing look fading just a little as something more serious settled over him.

"Yes," Kaelis answers. "He was acting odd and nervous during the meeting, specifically when I mentioned the children and the kidnapping."

Ezra’s eyes widened slightly at that.

"Do you think he has an idea about it or..."

"We haven’t closed him as a suspect. There is a chance that he is involved, or at least..." Kaelis pauses, taking a slow breath before shaking his head faintly. "I don’t know anymore, actually. But he’s been walking around these halls, just near the throne room, as if he’s waiting for someone."

There was frustration beneath his voice now.

Not anger.

Confusion.

Like Kaelis genuinely didn’t know what to think anymore.

"Who is still inside?" Ezra asks, tilting his head slightly as he thinks it through.

"My father and Captain Aamon," Kaelis answers immediately.

Ezra hums quietly.

"So do you think he’s waiting to speak with the king?"

"I think so." Kaelis nods once. "I believe he either knows something or wants to clarify something, either way, it’s highly suspicious."

Then Kaelis turns toward Ezra again, his gaze lingering on him for a moment longer than necessary.

"Aren’t you going to ask about...him?"

"About who?" Ezra asks, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

Kaelis chuckles softly.

"About Helios."

Oh.

Ezra blinked once.

He genuinely hadn’t thought about him.

Not even once during this conversation.

And realizing that somehow felt strange.

Because before all this, Helios occupied his thoughts constantly without Ezra even realizing it. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

But now?

Now his mind immediately went toward Lior, the investigation, the cult, Aurien, and Kaelis.

Not Helios.

He hadn’t crossed Ezra’s mind since their argument in the morning.

"No, but now that you mentioned it, did he...say anything?" Ezra asks, sounding more curious than concerned, especially since Helios now knew that Ezra knew the truth.

Kaelis chuckles again, though this one sounded more amused.

"He was angry, of course."

"I can imagine," Ezra answers automatically.

"Oh, but you can’t," Kaelis smirks slightly. "If you ever see his true angry self, I think, well...we’ll see when you get there."

He says it jokingly, but Ezra immediately feels that it wasn’t really a joke.

Not fully.

And for some reason, that made a cold feeling settle in his stomach.

Especially now that he knew Helios was a liar.

Who knows what else he has lied about?

What parts of him were real?

What parts were carefully crafted?

’Was any of it genuine?’ Ezra thought quietly before forcing the thought away.

"That doesn’t matter now," Ezra says honestly, lifting his gaze back toward Kaelis. "Since you’re waiting for Prince Aurien and it’s part of the investigation...Can I wait with you?"

Kaelis looks slightly surprised by the request.

"Are you sure? I can do this on my own, especially if Lior’s sick–"

"He’s not sick," Ezra says quickly, almost too quickly, as he looks down immediately after.

Because now that Lior was mentioned, he remembered why he was really there earlier.

Ezra’s chest tightens slightly as he remembers Lior’s words.

"He was crying pretty bad, Ezra." Kaelis’ voice softens slightly now. "It’s okay to be honest, I won’t pry for details, but you don’t have to force yourself to investigate quickly."

Ezra stills for a second.

The concern in Kaelis’ voice catches him off guard more than it should.

Because Kaelis sounded sincere.

"He is fine, but..."

"But?" Kaelis asks with a frown.