Soulmates, Sort Of

Life, Identity

Erikur visits Naertho's shop for the first times and sees musicians for the first time. Fenneck tells him about thiramin.

Erikur was sitting in the living room working on his elvish as Catherine worked on cleaning the kitchen. There was the ambient noise of Erikur's parents arguing in their room and Erikur tried his best to ignore it. "He's almost fifteen, Ann! He can handle to get off his ass and do some work on the farm! He's plenty old enough now!"   "He still has a lot of his studies he has to focus on!" his mother countered.    "For what?!" Alexandre asked in annoyance. "He's going to be a farmer, Ann! I've never needed to know arithmetic! Let alone history and politics!"    Suddenly there was a familiar knock on the door and Erikur perked his ears up as Catherine walked over to answer it.   "Hey," he heard Fenneck's voice. "Is Erikur home?"   "Hey, Fen," Catherine greeted him. "Yeah, give me a minute," she said, closing the door. "Erik," she called over to him softly but Erikur was already up and he ran excitedly to the door.   "Oh, thank god!" he said as he grabbed Fenneck by the arms. "I'm so glad to have an excuse to get out of here today!" he said gratefully before quickly letting go of Fenneck's hands as he realized he was still clinging to him.   Fenneck giggled excitedly. "Well, come on!" he said. "I want to show you Naertho's shop today!" he announced as he bounced on the balls of his feet. "He said I'll be able to start my apprenticeship soon!"   "Okay!" Erikur said, letting Fenneck lead him up the mountain.   They got off the stairs onto the first level of the mountain and Fenneck led Erikur toward his uncle's shop. As they made their way there, there was a couple of musicians who were playing a flute and a mandolin in the square. Erikur stopped suddenly and listened intently to the music, intrigued. Fenneck stopped, ran back to him and watched the musicians for a while.   "I've never heard music before," Erikur said wistfully.   Fenneck gave him a confused look. "Do your parents not sing to you?" he asked him.   Erikur shook his head, still entranced by the musicians. They listened for a while until the musicians put their things away. They were two high-elves, a male and a female. The woman, who had been playing the flute, walked up to them. She had long wavy blond hair and pretty pale blue eyes and was wearing a beautiful gossamer lavender gown with beautiful green flowers embroidered along the edge of it. On her ears hung pretty white goose-feather earrings. She was one of the most gorgeous elves Erikur had ever seen.   "Thank you for listening," she told them. Her voice sounded like warm honey and she carried herself so gracefully.   Erikur looked up at her, star-struck. "Is... is it hard?" he asked her, motioning to her flute.   She giggled, which sounded like the beautiful bubble of a stream. "Not if you practice," she told him, smiling wryly. "How old are you both?" she asked them quizzically.   "I'm fourteen and Fenneck here is thirteen," Erikur told her.   She smiled sweetly at them. "You definitely have time to learn, then," she told Erikur sweetly. "My name is Estel and this is my husband, Lindir," she introduced herself and her partner. "We normally perform in the palace orchestra but occasionally we're allowed to play here," she explained.   "I'm Erikur and this is my friend, Fenneck," Erikur introduced them.   "Well, it's wonderful to meet you both," she told them sweetly. "Have a wonderful day," she told them before walking back to her husband.   Erikur smiled and turned to Fenneck. "I wanna be just like her when I'm older," he said longingly.   Fenneck chuckled. "You should get a flute, then!" Fenneck told him. "I wish!" Erikur said. "My parents will never let me, though," he said sadly. "Did you see her dress? I like the color a lot!" Erikur said admiringly.   Fenneck giggled. "It's lavender!" he explained. "Naertho has a lot of that fabric in the shop. Come on! I'll show you!"   Fenneck excitedly grabbed Erikur's hand and pulled him toward a shop front. The tailor's shop was one of the prettiest ones with beautiful royal blue trim around the large windows that showed off some beautiful ballgowns and dress tunics. There were beautiful silver curtains that framed the dresses and above the shop was an image of a large spool of thread and a needle in a swirl of ribbon. Erikur looked up in awe at the shop.   "It's beautiful!" he said as he marveled at the pretty clothes.   "Wait till you see inside!" Fenneck told him as he dropped his hand to open the large mahogany door to reveal beautiful rows of colorful fabric.   Erikur's jaw dropped as he looked around the beautiful shop and was overwhelmed by the beautiful array of colors. A very tall high-elf with long blond hair and bright green eyes swaggered into the room from the back curtains. He towered over the boys in a beautiful yet simple blue tunic that had white rabbit fur lining in it and was held at the waist with a beautiful silver chained belt.   "Fenny, darling!" he greeted Fenneck with a hug.   "Naertho, this is Erikur, my friend I was telling you about!" Fenneck introduced him excitedly.   Naertho smiled to Erikur. "Welcome, Erikur," he said, bowing to Erikur who swallowed nervously and bowed back to him in flustered confusion.   "H... hi!" he said nervously.   Naertho chuckled. "No need to be nervous, dear," he told Erikur comfortingly. "Would you like to look around?" he asked Erikur who nodded excitedly. "I'll give you a tour, then," he said, gesturing around the shop.   Naertho showed Erikur around and Fenneck followed along. Once they had seen the entire shop Naertho retired to the back to continue his work. Fenneck led Erikur over to a section of fabric with different variations of lavender and Erikur reached out a hand and gently caressed them.   "This place is so beautiful," he told Fenneck wistfully.   Fenneck's eyes sparkled in agreement. "Maybe when I learn how to sew I can make you an outfit in this color!" Fenneck suggested.   Erikur gave him a sweet smile. "I don't know, I'm probably not allowed to have anything so pretty," he said, remembering a time he had worn one of Catherine's pink ribbons in his hair that he'd gotten in trouble for.   "Why not?" Fenneck asked him.   Erikur shrugged. "I only ever wear stuff from the tailor down on my level of the mountain," he explained, holding his arms out to show Fenneck his frumpy tunic. "He doesn't have nice fabrics like these and my parents don't really get new clothes for us."   Fenneck shrugged and looked frustrated by this. "It will be a gift, though!" he decided. "That way you can't say no!" Fenneck told him smugly.   Erikur giggled and felt his ears start to flush from his kindness. "I'm really glad we're friends, Fen," Erikur told him gratefully.   "Me too!" Fenneck said, giving Erikur a proud smile. "Come on, I promised Mama that we would make it in time for dinner!" he said, leading Erikur to the door and back down to his house.   Fenneck led them inside and Erikur saw Faina and Leonid sitting on the couch talking. "Hey Mama! Hey Papa!" Fenneck called out to them.   "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Frostears," Erikur waved to them.   "Hey guys!" Leonid called out.   "We'll be in my room!" Fenneck yelled to him as he ran into his room with Erikur and closed the door behind them, not waiting for his parents to respond.   Erikur laid down on Fenneck's mat and bundled up in one of Fenneck's warm fuzzy blue blanket he liked. Fenneck laid down next to him and looked up at the ceiling that his parents had painted a pretty night sky on with sparkly bright stars and crescent moons.   "Are your parents thiramin?" he asked Erikur out of the blue.   Erikur looked at him quizzically. "What's that?" he asked as he settled down next to Fenneck to look up at the fake stars.   Fenneck shrugged and continued looking up. "My parents said that when they met they knew they would fall in love," he explained. "Like... soulmates, kind of."   Erikur pursed his lips in thought. "I don't know," he said honestly. "They've never talked about it before."   Fenneck frowned as he considered this. "My mama said it's like finding your best friend," Fenneck said pensively.   Erikur looked over at Fenneck and felt his heart start to pound nervously as he imagined Fenneck finding someone else to be his best friend instead. "But we've already met," he pointed out.   "I know," Fenneck agreed, shrugging in confusion. "I guess it's only with someone you spend bedroom time with," he said thoughtfully.   Erikur gave him a quizzical look. "Do you mean... sex?" he asked him, giggling at the word.   Fenneck nodded and turned on his side to face him. "What do you know about it?" he asked him curiously.   Erikur shrugged nervously as he stared into Fenneck's pretty green eyes and felt himself start to blush. "I've seen the animals on the farm do it before to make babies," he offered. "I've heard my parents doing it too and it sounds painful," he said, scrunching his nose.   Fenneck nodded in agreement. "My parents make weird noises too," he agreed. "I guess it's only okay for boys and girls to do it together."   Erikur nodded and felt his heart sink. "I've never met two married men before," he said.   Fenneck nodded in agreement and sighed heavily. "I wish I could marry you," Fenneck told him wistfully. "Then we could live together!"   Erikur smiled and felt his heart swirl with happiness at the idea. "Me too!" he agreed. "We could have a bunch of pets!" he said happily.   Fenneck nodded excitedly. "We can just play all day together with my toy dragons! It would be so much fun!" he said.   Erikur nodded in agreement. "It would be way more fun than having to live with a girl!" he said. "Catherine is annoying!" he complained.   "At least you have a sibling!" Fenneck told him jealously.   Erikur shrugged indifferently. "I guess," he conceded.   "Dinner's ready!" Faina called into Fenneck's room.   "Coming!" Fenneck yelled back. "Come on!"   He huffed as he stood up. Erikur got up and followed Fenneck into the dining room with the blanket still wrapped around his shoulders. They sat down and Faina said an elvish blessing over the meal of bread, mashed potatoes and sautéed vegetables.   "We met a couple musicians today on our way to Naertho's shop," Fenneck told his parents as they started eating.   Erikur nodded. "I want to learn how to play the flute!" he said wistfully.   Faina smiled sweetly at him. "I'm sure you'd be great at it," she told him.   Erikur smiled back at her. "The woman - her name was Estel - was really pretty and she had feathers hanging from her ears!" Erikur told her excitedly. "She said they were members of the palace orchestra," Erikur explained. "Do you know how to learn how to play instruments?" he asked Fenneck's parents.   Faina shrugged. "I'm sure my brother knows quite a few of the orchestra members. Maybe I could ask him?" she suggested.   "Really?!" Erikur asked in surprise.   "Of course!" she said. "Learning an instrument would be a great skill to have."   "Indeed," Leonid added. "My grandmother used to play the violin. It was so wonderful hearing her play."   Erikur beamed at them, grateful for their support and excitement. "I had never heard music before," Erikur explained. "I loved it, though!"   Fenneck smiled. "I like singing the songs you sing for me at night," he told his mom who smiled sweetly at him.   "Me too," she told her son.   "Can I hear some?" Erikur asked.   "Sure," Faina said. "I'll teach you some when we finish eating," she told him, sending a beaming smile across his face.     They finished their meal and Faina led them over to the couch and Fenneck and Erikur sat down next to her and listened as she sang beautiful elvish folk songs to them with Leonid and Fenneck jumping in on the ones they knew. Erikur was mesmerized and he quickly learned some of the simpler songs. Erikur loved singing with Fenneck and his family. Erikur tried to catch on quick and he found himself entranced by the songs they were singing.   After a while Faina finished with a lullaby and Fenneck was leaning against Erikur, seeming to be falling in and out of his meditation.   "You wanna stay the night?" Faina asked Erikur who nodded.   "Fen!" He gently nudged Fenneck who blinked from being startled.   Erikur giggled at him. "Can I stay in your room tonight?" Erikur asked him as Leonid and Faina went back into the kitchen to clean the rest of the dishes.   "Yeah," Fenneck nodded sleepily.   He and Erikur went into his room and settled down next to each other on his meditation mat.   "Goodnight!" Erikur told him in elvish.   "Goodnight!" Fenneck replied sleepily.