Erikur or Evelyn

Life, Identity

Erikur works up the courage to go see Fenneck and finds out he and Evelyn have been continuing their affair.

Evelyn giggled in Fenneck's embrace as they worked on fixing dinner together in the kitchen. "See, you're getting better," he complimented her cooking skills as she chopped up the carrots for their stew. "It'd be easier if you'd let me use magic," she teased him. He kissed her on the cheek and went back to the potatoes he'd been cutting up. "Yes," he agreed. "But I thought you wanted to learn how to cook!" She shrugged. "Meh," she said. "You're better at it anyway," she pointed out. He playfully scoffed at her.   Suddenly they heard a knock on the door. "Disappear!" he whispered but she was already gone. He wiped his hands off on a towel and walked over to the door and cracked it open to see Erikur, who looked extremely nervous to be there. Fenneck's heart did a summersault seeing him again. They had done their best to avoid each other for the last couple years.   "Hi," Fenneck told him, opening the door a bit. "What... what's up?" he asked Erikur, finding himself desperate to talk to his old friend. Erikur swallowed nervously. "Hey, can... can I come in?" he asked, shaking from his nerves. Fenneck nodded and stepped aside. "Yeah," he said, beckoning Erikur inside. Erikur looked around and saw the dinner being prepared. "Oh... sorry," he said. "I... I didn't mean to interrupt you." Fenneck shrugged and waved him off. "No, uh, is it okay if we talk while I chop?" he asked. Erikur nodded and leaned against the counter.   Fenneck looked around for any sign of Evelyn but he wasn't sure where she had ended up. "So... uh... I just," Erikur stumbled over his words. "I've missed you too," Fenneck helped him out with a comforting smile. Erikur gave him a smile of relief. "I... do you think enough time has passed?" he asked Fenneck hopefully. Fenneck nodded. "Yeah," he told him. "I... I just haven't really known how to... go about this," he admitted as he started chopping the potatoes again. Erikur nodded. "Me either."   He looked at the counter quizzically and giggled. "Someone's indecisive," he remarked, gesturing to the chopping board with a half-chopped carrot sitting on it. Fenneck chuckled nervously. "Yeah," he said, trying to play it off. "I uh, started one thing then got distracted and... well you know it goes. Cooking is way more time consuming than I realized it was when I lived with my parents. I'm sure you've realized that too," he said, realizing that they both lived alone now. Erikur nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "Your mother still insists on making me dinner like four times a week though," he told him. Fenneck smiled guiltily. "Yeah, I told her to fuck off so I'm pretty sure she hates me now. At least her other son still loves her," Fenneck said sadly. Erikur shook his head. "She knows you needed some space. You should probably go see them soon though,' he told Fenneck. "Yeah," he agreed. "I should."   Erikur leaned up off the counter and washed his hands in the basin on the counter before going over to the carrots and helping Fenneck prepare dinner. Fenneck looked around again for Evelyn, annoyed at this untimely interruption and desperate for her not to run off. "You okay?" Erikur asked him, seeming to notice his odd behavior. Fenneck shrugged and shook his head a little too frantically. "Yeah, no," he assured him. "Everything is fine. It's cold in here, don't you think?" he asked Erikur before laying his knife down and walking toward the fireplace that was already going. "It feels pretty cozy in here, actually," Erikur said, following him suspiciously into the living room.   Fenneck turned as he heard Erikur stop moving and saw one of Evelyn's stockings beneath Erikur's feet and felt his heart lurch in terror as Erikur looked up at him with a look of betrayal. "Please tell me it's literally anyone else," Erikur begged him sadly. Fenneck bit his lip guiltily. Erikur nodded as tears started to brim his eyes and he turned to leave. "Erik wait! Please!" Fenneck begged him desperately and running to Erikur. He reached out and grabbed Erikur's arm and jumped back in pain as lighting shot from Erikur's skin, lurching him back into the counter. "OW!" Fenneck exclaimed in fear and shock.   Erikur turned on him with tears streaming down his face. "How could you?!" he asked Fenneck desperately. "HOW?!" he asked him again, growing angry. Fenneck started crying from his guilt and pain at having hurt Erikur like this. "I... I am so sorry," he told Erikur who shook his head and scoffed. "No, you aren't you pathetic piece of shit!" he lashed at Fenneck. "When did this start up again?" he asked him. "We weren't together, Erikur!" Fenneck argued. "We... Naertho forced me to break up with you! I didn't want to!" Erikur shook his head. "You know exactly what you did, Fenneck. Let me guess, that night, when she showed up in your room. Did she show up later that night in your brand new house? Did you fuck her that night?!" "No!" Fenneck exclaimed. "She... she came by the next day and..." Erikur scrunched his face in disgust as Fenneck continued. "She... tried to make me dinner and she laid rose petals on the bed to welcome me into my new home! I talked to her first! I... I tried to... I... I couldn't lose her too, Erik!" he told him desperately.   Erikur shook his head, still covered in tears and growing redder and redder by the minute. "You're a piece of shit!" he spat in Fenneck's face. "Fuck you! Fuck you and fuck your whore of a girlfriend!" "Hey!" Evelyn appeared next to them, glaring angrily at Erikur. "Of course you're fucking eavesdropping!" Erikur accused her. He looked like he wanted to attack her and she looked down to fight. Fenneck quickly moved between them. "Guys! Please!" Fenneck begged them. "I don't want to fight or hurt anyone!" Erikur scoffed. "It's a little late for that, don't you think?!" he spat, still glaring at Evelyn. Evelyn's irises started to have silver veins in them as she and Erikur glared at each other. "Don't call me a whore!" she spat at him. He squinted at her in anger. "Erik! Please!" Fenneck begged him. "Please, can we just talk about this?!" Fenneck begged him.   He felt the air round him growing tense with magic and noticed the hair on both he and Erikur's heads starting to rise from the electricity in the room. "Erikur, please calm down!" Fenneck told him. Erikur finally turned and looked into his eyes. "How could you do this me, Fenneck?!" he exclaimed. "How?! I was your best friend! I was there from the beginning! How could you choose her over me?!" Fenneck felt tears start to stream down his face. "I... I don't know Erik!" he exclaimed sadly. "I didn't want to loose our friendship! I was worried if we kept trying to fall in love it would ruin it!" Erikur started laughing pathetically. "It already has!" he told Fenneck. "We're done. Forever. I never want to see you again."   Erikur turned to the door before stopping suddenly and whipping around to look at Evelyn. Fenneck looked over at her and back at Erikur and knew they were communicating with magic. Erikur nodded at one point and Evelyn beckoned for him to follow her into one of the spare bedrooms. Fenneck threw his hands up in annoyance and walked over to the couch and he screamed into a pillow as they closed the door behind them. He was stressed out, waiting for Erikur and Evelyn to come back. It felt like ages until they finally emerged from the bedroom, looking much calmer than before. Fenneck was sitting on the couch and he glared up at them expectantly. Evelyn and Erikur exchanged a glance before Erikur spoke up.   "I'm sorry for shocking you and calling you a piece of shit," he apologized. "I want us to be friends again. I'm just hurt, Fen. I've been hurting for these last couple years and I... I feel betrayed." Fenneck nodded cautiously at this sudden change of tone. "I'm sorry for hurting you," he told Erikur. "I've felt guilty about it everyday since. I'm frustrated too, Erik. I feel like I lost my entire life when we broke up. Moving up here was a lot more... lonely than I thought it would be. I lost you and Alexei and my parents... all in the span of a few days," he explained. "On some level though, what I feel for Evelyn... it's different than what I had with you. I couldn't let her go. I decided to risk it and yeah, it's shitty and hypocritical of me but... I love her." He looked into Erikur's eyes, seeing the pain in them but Erikur nodded through it. "I know," he said. "I can't judge you for making a choice," he told Fenneck, showing the pain at being being passed over. "Evelyn and I talked and I want to be your friend. Both of your friends," he explained. "It's better than not having you in my life," he told Fenneck with a longing look.   Fenneck stood up and hesitantly walked to Erikur and pulled him into a hug. Erikur squeezed him tightly and they both started crying. Evelyn stood next to them looking proud of herself with her fists on her hips. "Good," she said. "I'm going to go finish dinner while you too catch up," she said decisively before walking into the kitchen. Fenneck and Erikur giggled at her and smiled at each other. "Just kiss already!" Evelyn teased them from the kitchen where she started chopping up carrots again. Erikur blushed and took a step back from Fenneck. "Nah," he said. "He's your property now," Erikur told her. Fenneck smiled sadly at Erikur who shrugged. "I'm okay, Fen," he assured him.   "Ouch!" Evelyn exclaimed from the kitchen. Fenneck looked over to see her nursing a cut on her finger. "Darling," he said in exasperation. She waved him off. "It's fine!" she said, wrapping it in a bloody towel. Erikur shook his head and ran over. "Here," he said, taking her hand in his own and sending a burst of warm magic through her and closing the wound. Evelyn looked up at him thoughtfully. "So how much magic do you know?" she asked him curiously. He suddenly had a look of fear across his face as he realized he wasn't supposed to do magic in front of her. She giggled though. "You two really are a couple of bad boys," she teased them. "It's a good thing I'm cool and I'm not gonna rat you out to my parents!" she teased them. Erikur laughed awkwardly, clearly not finding this to be a joking matter. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the bloody cloth in her hand and waved a hand over it the clean it magically.   Fenneck joined them both in the kitchen and went back to the potatoes. "Maybe Erik and I should cook," he suggested. She glared at him playfully. "Okay," she agreed, walking over to a clear counter space and hopping up so she could sit on it and watch them cook. "I'm more than happy to have two handsome elves cook dinner for me!" she said playfully. Erikur chuckled at her. "You're very different in here compared to the princess I've seen at parties," he remarked to her. She shrugged and started swinging her legs playfully. "I don't know if you've noticed but everyone in the palace has a giant stick up their ass to keep their posture straight. As a result, it makes everyone impossibly unbearable." Erikur started laughing. "You're funny," he mused thoughtfully. "I guess I can kinda see what Fenneck sees in you," he told her reluctantly. She smiled proudly. Fenneck smiled at them as he finished cutting up the potatoes and plopping them into the stew pot.   "How have you been?" he asked Erikur. Erikur shrugged. "I don't know. Been getting drunk at the bar most nights. I told my parents about Catherine so they aren't talking to me. Not that they ever really did but..." He shrugged. "I've been focusing on practicing mostly." "How do you know magic?!" Evelyn asked him again. He looked at her and shrugged. "I've picked some stuff up from your sister, honestly." She cocked her head as she considered this. "You know Jasna?" she asked him. He nodded. "She likes to hang out with the musicians and we've hung out a bit. She's cool," he told her. She shrugged indifferently. "I guess. She never really hangs out with me," she said, seeming a bit resentful. Erikur gave her a half-smile as he dumped the carrots into the pot. "I'm sorry," he told her. She shrugged. "I don't really care," she said, fiddling with the hem of Fenneck's undershirt she was wearing.   She suddenly hopped down and looked into the pot and turned to Fenneck. "What next?" she asked him. He motioned to the ice box. "Grab the slab of goat meat in there," he instructed. She reached in and pulled out a chicken breast and handed it to Fenneck who smiled lovingly at her. "Uh... that's chicken, the goat meat is darker, it's that one there," he said, pointing at the right one. She sighed in annoyance at herself and switched out the meat. Erikur giggled at them. "How often are you over here?" he asked Evelyn. She shrugged. "Every few days or so. Palace life has been pretty slow lately," she explained as she handed the slab of meat to Fenneck. He took it and started cutting it up. "She doesn't really cook," Fenneck explained, getting a playful jab in the side from her. "It's not my fault they didn't teach us how to do that sort of thing," she said in her defense. Fenneck moved the meat to the stove to brown it before putting it in the stew. "She is a princess," he teased her. She rolled her eyes at him and leaned against him lovingly.   "Wanna stay for dinner?" she asked Erikur sweetly. He shrugged nervously at them. "Sure, I... I didn't mean to interrupt," he explained. She waved him off. "Oh please! It will be nice to have someone besides Fenneck to talk to!" she said teasingly. "All he ever talks about is clothes!" she said in annoyance, feigning boredom. Erikur giggled at her and cast a look at Fenneck, making sure it was okay. Fenneck nodded at him. "We'd love to have you," he told him. Evelyn smiled proudly. "Then you can join us in the bedroom afterwards," she said, playfully winking at Erikur who looked startled by such an idea. Fenneck shook his head at her. "Don't scare him off already!" he scolded Evelyn who playfully leaned into Erikur's arms. "He's so handsome though," she said playfully. "I see the appeal," she told Fenneck. Erikur gave her a funny look and wrapped an arm around her, playing along. "You know, we could sneak off to the bedroom together while he cooks us both dinner," he suggested playfully. Fenneck scoffed at them. "Is that why you two are friends now? You weren't talking in there," he gestured to bedroom they had disappeared into early. "You were sleeping together?" Erikur chuckled and kissed Evelyn's forehead. "Oh... there wasn't any sleeping," he said playfully. Evelyn smirked at Fenneck as she clung to Erikur's chest.   Fenneck rolled his eyes at them and put the meat into the pot of stew. "It still needs to cook for a while," he told them. "So bedroom time?!" Evelyn suggested, raising her brows excitedly. Erikur looked at Fenneck and raised his brow to see how to go about this. "How about we go into the living room and we chat and catch up?" he told them, too nervous to even consider such an arrangement after the emotional turmoil of seeing Erikur again after so long. Evelyn pouted and Erikur giggled and released her, leading the way into the living room. "We could all sit on the bed together," Evelyn suggested seductively. Fenneck rolled his eyes. "Are you actually serious right now?" he asked her bluntly. She shrugged and sighed in annoyance at him. "I don't know! I'm just horny!" she complained as she plopped herself onto the couch. Erikur laughed at her. "At least she's honest," he mused.   Fenneck rolled his eyes and sat down with her and pulled her into his arms as Erikur sat down next to them, a couple feet away. Evelyn laid out across the couch, plopping her feet up into Erikur's lap as she cuddled into Fenneck's chest. Erikur chuckled at her and looked over at Fenneck. Fenneck suddenly heard Erikur's voice in his head. "You don't actually want us all to sleep together, right?" he asked him so that Evelyn couldn't hear. "I mean... It would be nice but... it would be hard to keep lines clear and I don't think we should risk blurring them again." Fenneck nodded in agreement. "Sorry about her," he said out loud, tickling Evelyn so that she squealed and giggled in Fenneck's arms. "She's a mess."   Erikur nodded and smiled sadly as he watched them. "You know," Erikur said, suddenly standing up. "I... I think I should head home," he decided, giving Fenneck a sad smile. "I... I might come over tomorrow or something when you're alone and we can... figure some stuff out. You two need some time alone together," he decided. Fenneck frown and sighed in defeat. Evelyn shot up and shook her head at Erikur. "No!" she begged him. "I want us to all be friends!" she exclaimed sadly. "You guys can talk in front of me! I... I don't care! Please!" She looked up at Erikur with her big blue eyes begging him to stay. Erikur shook his head. "I... I need more time," he told her sadly. "This was good though," he assured them. "I'm... glad we're... trying." He looked deep into Fenneck's eyes longingly before turning away. Evelyn pouted in defeat. "I'll see you soon," Fenneck told him. Erikur cast a final glance back and nodded softly before leaving the house.   Fenneck leaned back into the couch and took a deep breath. Evelyn looked like she was about to start crying. "I ruined everything!" she exclaimed, plopping her head into her hands. Fenneck pulled her into his arms and squeezed her tightly. "No, you didn't," he assured her. "You're the only reason he doesn't hate my guts." He caressed her hair as she buried herself into his chest. "What did you say to him to convince him to stay earlier?" he asked her. She shrugged. "We just talked about how we felt and... I told him that I would break up with you so that you guys could be friends again," she said, giving Fenneck a guilty look. "Then he decided that we could be friends and that he needed to accept the fact that you chose me."   Fenneck sighed and leaned back against the couch. "I'm so sorry," he told her. "This is all my fault. I was an asshole for what I did." She shrugged. "It's... just more complicated than that," she told him. He shook his head. "On some level, it's not. He's still hurting and I... I caused that pain." She gave him a sad look. "Promise me you'll try to be friends again," she told him. "I won't be around forever, Fen. Eventually I'll get married off but he can be your best friend till the day you die. Don't lose that because of me." Fenneck looked at her and sighed. She leaned against him and they held each other for a while, just processing their confusing feelings.    After a while Fenneck kissed her cheek lovingly. "I love you," he told her. She smiled up at him. "I love you too," she said. "I'll talk to him tomorrow," he promised her. She smiled at him happily. "Good." He cocked his head at her. "It doesn't bother you at all? I mean... he's still my ex, Ev," he pointed out. She shrugged. "Yeah, so? It's not fair that you aren't allowed to love each other," she said. "Besides, I know you love me. You're feelings for him don't change that." Fenneck sighed. "I don't think he feels the same way about you," he told her. She nodded thoughtfully. "He's really lonely, Fenny," she told him. "All he had was you. He can't just ask someone on the street out. He told me he doesn't like women. Maybe if we have a threesome with him I could change his mind and he could meet someone so he wouldn't be so lonely?!" she suggested sweetly. Fenneck smiled at her and shook his head. "That's not how that works," he told her. She sighed and leaned back in defeat.    "I'm sure he appreciates that you care," Fenneck assured her. "Thank you for diffusing the awkwardness between us." She nodded and looked up at Fenneck. "You guys can kiss each other if you want around me," she told him. "I really don't mind. It might be kinda hot, honestly. Or even have sex when I'm not here! I won't tell anyone, I promise!" she assured him. Fenneck giggled at her and hugged her tightly against him. "Stop. We need to learn how to be friends," he told her. "Thank you though, for being the absolute coolest girlfriend in the world. In any other scenario a woman would probably call me a huge disgusting scumbag!" She shook her head. "Then she probably wouldn't be worth being with," she pointed out. Fenneck pulled her close to him and kissed her lovingly. "Let's go eat," he decided. She smiled and nodded. "Okay."     That night Evelyn rested happily in Fenneck's arms and he tried to figure out how he felt about Erikur. It was so much more complicated than he thought it was. He missed his friend. He missed their intimacy. He wished the world wasn't so against them. Eventually he settled down and leaned against Evelyn. Grateful to at least have her support and love in his life. She nuzzled against him happily. "Goodnight, Fenny," she told him sweetly. He kissed perfect smooth cheek. "Goodnight, Ev," he told her.