[Acolytes' Quarters] In a Heartbeat (Aiolos, Volya)

[div style="width:50%;opacity:0.5;font-size:0.85em;border-bottom:1px solid #ffffff;"]TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2000, 2:31PM[/div]

Aiolos' quarters were humble enough - as an Acolyte he was afforded a fair sized efficiency dwelling within the sprawling Council complex. To Aiolos, however, it was comfortable and homey, reminding him enough of his old home in Epirus to never lose that part of his identity while still accurately depicting the home of a Typh Elemental. The space wasn't quite a rectangle, angled and rounded very slightly to accomodate the curvature of the Council layout.

The entrance to the apartment opened into a living area that was heavy with light browns and golden hues, colours associated with the element of Typh. A soft, light bronze carpet covered the floor space; the walls were painted a richer, somewhat dark yellow reminiscent of late summer goldenrod blooms. Ambient table lamps designed also as grow lights sat on side tables in two opposing corners of the room - the door taking up the southwest corner - providing delicate lighting and a breath of fresh air from the small plants potted around them. The fourth, northeast corner was inhabited by a large, well-cultivated myrtle bonsai. Two wall-hanging planters on the south wall also housed blooming oleander plants from home in Greece.

The furniture in the room was mostly much brighter; a white bridgewater sofa sat against the north wall squarely between the lamp and the door going into the bedroom; a klismos lounge chair sat just on the other side of the same lamp. A distressed antique coffee table sat just on the northwest side of the centre of the room, between the chair and the sofa. Two small antique stools also rested in the southeast corner on either side of that lamp, in case additional seating was needed. However, Aiolos rarely had company, and never large gatherings. 

Through the door on the north wall of the living room, traditional yellow gave way to a bedroom decorated with light, airy white and light blues. The carpet in here was fluffier and a vivid moss green, the only somewhat discordant note until one realised that the aim was to make the room look like a summer hilltop. Aiolos had hand-painted the walls, blurry vistas of faraway hills near the bottom, sky blue in the middle, and increasing billows of white cumulus as you looked to the ceiling. Beyond the grey and silver Greek key trim, the spackle ceiling itself was a blend of curving paintbrush strokes in greys, silvers, blues, and whites, as if the wind had been given physical description. In the centre of this room was an old-fashioned canopy bed, the vertical rods designed to look like slim oak saplings and the curtains were a billowy off-white that reminded the Typh Acolyte of a foggy night.

A short hallway led from the east wall of the living room into the dining/kitchen area, and the access to the bathroom was through a door in the middle of said hallway. The bathroom sat behind (to the north of) the kitchen, and housed an old-fashioned sink, toilet, and modest-sized shower/tub. The dining area at the other end of the apartment's hallway was nothing more than a space for a table at which four could sit comfortably, with a kitchenette on the north side of the wall. The linoleum floor was decorated in tiles depicting all of the Elemental runes, though Typh more often the other five. The walls were done up in oversized vertical timber planks painted to resemble an old country kitchen.

It was in the kitchen that Aiolos was currently standing, putting away his dried herbs with one hand while he stirred a teapot full of homemade olive leaf tea with the other. A pitcher of Volya's preferred flavour was already sitting on the counter next to it. The message he had received from his dear old friend and old flame - and former pupil - had pleasantly surprised the Typh Acolyte, though it had puzzled him as well. Volya was at the Council complex practically every weekend, but this was a personal visit, and Volya hadn't indicated why. Their past encounters, whether amorous and otherwise, had been fairly straightforward; as such, the semicentenarian was somewhat concerned but decided not to worry overmuch. When Volya arrived, things would progress as they would.

The council building was a beautiful place, but it seemed particularly beautiful today as the Water Elemental walked through the meticulously manicured foliage of the Council Complex. Trees seemed a brighter green, the flowers more vibrant, and the white washed council building ahead of him seemed almost welcoming, embraced by the flora surrounding the main building. The paved stone path forked three-ways before him.

Today he wouldn't be teaching Discipuli as he normally did. No, instead he would be going to see an old friend -- actually this person was more complicated to him than a friend. He was so much more to Volya, but the Hor Elemental knew -- and it killed him to even think that way about his friend, but it was plain to Volya that he'd only be a good conversation and a warm body at night to the Typh Elemental. Although, if the elemental was honest with himself, that's all he could take at this point. After losing his fiancee he didn't think he could think romantically about another person.

He turned left at the fork instead of his usual right, making his away around the round, domed council building. This way was where the Acolytes made their homes. The path was as wide as a city street, with the council building on one side, and an ivy draped wall on the other. A little ways up, the path opened up into a square-looking area, with a large fountain in the middle. The Acolyte Residences were tall round domed buildings, similar to the council building, only with more levels. They were a bright and clean white, with a little garden on either side of the building. There were Acolytes milling about the area, chatting to either other in either Council Gaelic or the tongue of the country of their origin. There were others tending to the gardens, where they grew not only flowers, but also grew vegetables and fruits as well as some medicinal ingredients.

As he approached the Acolyte's chambers, the younger acolytes greeted him as Zealot Hor Nikolov, the older ones greeted him as just Volya. One of the younger Acolytes asked if he we was going to go see "Acolyte Logothetis". The Russian hadn't heard the Typh's very Greek surname in a long time, and had a moment of confusion before just nodding along to the Acolyte.

Once inside the building, Volya's mind started racing. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea for him to visit his old friend in such a private and personal situation. It brought back memories he was trying to push down even hearing the Typh's surname. He wasn't more than a pupil-turned-friends-with-benefits, and he needed to remember that. But at the same time, he couldn't change what he felt about Aiolos. He'd developed such a deep connection with the Grecian acolyte, that he couldn't help but feel this way. He'd impacted Volya's life in such a major way. Volya had been taken with the handsome man he had once called his mentor the first moment he'd seen him. They had the most amazing conversations until late at night. The best thing was that the Typh accepted him unconditionally.

His body was at war with his mind; his mind was telling him to run away, while his body was tugging him toward the Acolyte's room. He was too far in now to turn around he decided, so the Russian ascended the final flight of stairs, clammy hands sliding up the railing. As his footsteps hit level ground, he found he was now in a landing with a wooden table with a mirror above it.

He approached the mirror, quickly checking his reflection in the glass surface. He ran his hands through his brown-blonde hair, strands falling back into place as he combed them through. He straightened his outfit, which was a Ryzan Re'ems t-shirt under a black cardigan, with black slacks, and dragon-hide boots. After he was done preening himself, he walked the short distance to the front door of Aiolo's apartment.

He rapped on the door in a pattern he and Aiolos used whenever he stayed at the Council to differentiate each other from everyone else that visited their rooms. In a short time, the door opened and the familiar face of his old friend came into view. Volya involuntarily came in for a hug, then kissed the Grecian on both cheeks, as he traditionally did. Really, he just wanted physical contact, he missed the feeling of Aiolo's frame wrapped around his.

"Its good to see you, Aiolos. Its been a while.." his voice trailed off as he regarded his friend. Despite the man being nearly two decades older than Volya, he looked to be in his mid-twenties, and very physically fit. Aiolos looked really good, and he knew it, and his choice of clothing reflected it when he wasn't wearing his robes.

"You must've redecorated since the last time I was here, or has it always been this bright and open?" he focused his eyes past Aiolo's left ear where the sofa was. He couldn't look Aiolos in the eye, not yet anyway.

@Aiolos Logothetis

A rhythmic series of knocks on the door threw Aiolos back in time, to freer days when Zealot Volya Nikolov came over to discuss his latest assignments or his feelings about this and that, and they would lie for hours together in bed enjoying each other's company. That itself made him think of even older, easier days when Aiolos was freshly an Acolyte and Volya a barely Initialised Disciplus candidate for Advocacy, the two of them newly met and Volya put under Aiolos' aegis for his Typh instruction. The momentary lapse into reminiscence didn't stop Aiolos from subconsciously making his way to the door and opening it with joy. "Volya--" he began warmly, and that was all he got out before he grunted himself cut-off by a strong, tight hug from the Hor Zealot. Before he had a chance to react, Volya had kissed him on the cheek; Aiolos recovered as quickly as possible and as Volya kissed his other cheek Aiolos did the same.

"Yes, it has been some time," Aiolos said wholeheartedly. "Too long." He looked over his friend, not quite realising right away that he was running his fingers up and down along Volya's arms several times, and took in the measure and health of the slightly shorter man in front of him. By this time Volya was thirty-five years old - in the normal passage of time, at least - but due to one of Aiolos' favourite side effects of Elemental morphing, his aging had slowed and he looked about thirty. Ironically, this was the age-appearance that Aiolos had kept himself for the last five years, his own morphing having reached the level where he could (to an extent) de-age himself. Coincidentally they both had dressed in black, as well - but where Volya had layered a cardigan over a tee and dressed classically in slacks, Aiolos had worn nylon mix trousers and a mesh hooded knitted vest, through which Volya would have been able to see his chest had he not been wearing an A-shirt (black, of course) underneath it.

As Volya looked around and commented, Aiolos chuckled. "About the only thing that's new is... well... I guess the plants under the grow lamps," he squinched up his shoulders and started rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand, feeling somewhat shy and semi-embarrassed for no real reason at all. "But I'm always moving the things around, even if it's all the same junk, so it might look different. I don't know," he shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets. But then he immediately pulled them out, clapped them together, and draped an arm over Volya's shoulders pulling him further into the apartment. "Well you can't just stand there, come in, Voley," he smiled broadly, forcing his counterpart in toward the sofa. "I've got tea already brewed. Let me grab you a cup." He dashed into the kitchenette, pulled out the two teacups from the cupboard he had failed to remember that he'd need before, poured olive tea into one and Volya's favourite into the other.

"By the gods, I've missed you," he said coming back into the room, setting the cups in front of them on the coffee table and pecking Volya's forehead before sitting down on the sofa next to him, one arm along the back of the couch and behind Volya's shoulders. "I know we've seen each other in passing as you come to do your Zealot and instructive duties here, but... it's not the same." As he took the liberty of running his fingers lightly through Volya's hair he began to feel the enormity of just how long it had been since they had had time to be personal and intimate. The passage of time may not affect their appearance as much anymore, but it certainly wreaked havoc on their lives... along with their duties to the Elemental Council of Inverness.

Just the sight of his old mentor, hearing him speak in eloquently accented Council Gaelic, and the floral aroma of the apartment brought back simpler times in Council where he'd just stay here during summers while he went to school. He remembered the mornings where Aiolos would nudge him gently awake, surprising him with jasmine and orange flavoured tea. He knew Aiolos perfered more austere kinds of tea, so that meant he had specially went out of his way to get it for him. The smell almost seemed to waft into his nostrils as he reminisced.

If it had been a long time to Aiolos, it must have been a really long time, Volya mused inwardly. He finally looked into the surprisingly youthful face of his old friend, and smiled. It was in the Typh's eyes where his years lay; those spheres of swirling color told one that this Greek god had things he could teach you. It was those same eyes that solidified their bond those nearly two decades ago. He heard his friend mumbling about moving things around and he realized he had been staring. He knew Aiolos didn't mind, but it was still embarrassing when he did it.

Suddenly, he felt a hand around his neck, trailing down his arm that pulled him inside the door. Oh god, I must look like a complete twat standing in his doorway that long. Aiolos lead him over to the sofa, and they sat down. Aiolos' hand was still caressing his arm, but he didn't flinch. He almost invited it, by shifting a bit closer to Aiolos. He was starved for attention and it was disgusting to him that he was acting in such a wanton manner.

When Aiolos got up, announcing he'd be back with tea, Volya both sighed with relief and also a bit of disappointment. Why did he act this way? It was only with Aiolos too. He had been trying to put his finger on it for years, and to this day he had yet to find an answer. It was like he was conducting a sick, twisted experiment with his emotions, and it was slowly unraveling everything he thought he was.

When Aiolos returned with tea, he could smell a familiar scent wafting towards him. He thought it was just his imagination at first, but as the Typh Acolyte set down his tea, the signature color of the tea confirmed it for him. The Typh Acolyte had remembered his favorite tea after all these years. He smiled into his cup as he heard the almost soothing tone of the Grecian's voice, who was now absentmindedly putting his hands through strands of Volya's hair. The Hor Elemental did not mind in the slightest.

"I've come here for a reason," said Volya between sips of his favorite tea, "I've wanted to update you on everything, and I mean everything." He looked up from his cup, knowing that he was under the watchful gaze of the Typh Acolyte. "I've recently been to Neroli, doing research for school for this term." His tone was casual, slow and steady; he did not want to rush this. He wanted the Typh to interject and tell him he loved him, he wanted to cuddle up next to the typh for many hours. He wanted a lot, but kept it under wraps as he explained what he had been doing in Neroli and before that.

"What about you, my old friend?" The Russian's hand clapped his shoulder softly, and kind of just left it there. It was the first voluntary contact he'd made with the Typh in the fifteen or twenty minutes he'd been in his home. "You lead a more fulfilling life than I, so surely you have much more to talk about." He realized then how much he really just wanted to hear the Typh speak again; it wouldn't have mattered the words he said, as long as he could hear him.

Watching Volya's face light up when he received his genial beverage had made Aiolos' day that much better. The Acolyte imagined that the Russian probably didn't get the chance to have his preferred tea very often up in the cold northern reaches.

Before Aiolos even knew what had happened, a half hour had gone by as Volya regaled the Typh with stories of the merger between Durmstrang and Koldovstoretz and the upcoming school year, and his trip to Neroli to see Alain St. Clare, who was one of the Advocates of Aiolos' element. Aiolos listened with rapt attention, absent-mindedly continuing to caress Volya's hair and interjecting comments and small questions where it was necessary. After a pause, Volya seemed to rise up out of his reverie and invited Aiolos to share his own recent adventures, the Hor's hand resting on Aiolos' bare shoulder.

"I don't know about a more 'fulfilling' life," Aiolos smiled. "Certainly not as exciting as yours. But... yes, a few things have happened the last few months." Once again he realised just how desperate he had been to talk to someone, besides Lario. The Incin Harbinger was a staunch friend and a dear ally, and they shared the Acolyte mentality, but Volya was as close to a contemporary and a confidante as Aiolos possessed.

"Early last month, I ran into one of the Demin Zealots while I was doing an after-midnight meditation out on the Hill," he began, knowing Volya would know the meditation spot that he was referring to, a kilometre and a half away from the outer walls of the sprawling Council complex. "Or, he ran into me while I was there." Involuntarily he shuddered, and then put his right hand over Volya's hand on his left shoulder, holding it down as if to keep him anchored and secure.

"He was a bit drunk, but his words were still quite calculated. At first I thought he was simply having ideas of grandeur, but as the conversation went on I realised what he was really doing was talking about how the Council controls us all. He..." He gulped. "He reminded me of stories my mamá and babás told me about Grindelwald. Talking about how democracy was the weak choice and what we really needed was a strong leader."

As he spoke he was rubbing his hand along Volya's arm that was still touching his shoulder, feeling the familiar sinews of Volya's forearm as he did so, and using the meat of his other thumb to massage Volya's neck. He became conscious that he was slowly leaning in closer to the handsome man across from him, and decided to abandon all subconscious and subtlety and pulled Volya against his body to hold him in a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry," he said softly in Volya's ear - not as if he was crying, or about to, but just neutrally. "You asked me about my fulfilling life and I launched into a freak-out instead. I just... I just want to talk to you about everything. Anything at all. Nothing at all. I miss having that ease of talking." His breath caught. "I miss you. Nobody else has ever been like what you and I have."

He remembered now just how good of a listener the Typh Acolyte was. The Grecian was sitting there, nodding along with him, interjecting when he had questions or comments, and seemed genuinely involved in the conversation. It was good being able to just talk to someone he cared about, and that cared for him in return. It had been years since they were intimate and personal like this, and he wasn't prepared for what could happen as a result of his visit today.

When the Typh called his life not as exciting, Volya chuckled. "Maybe you don't travel a lot, but it is never boring here in Inverness. You and I know that for a fact." The water elemental's eyes twinkled as he reminisced about all the things they got up to not even a decade ago. The Typh nodded to that fact, and regaled his story about the intoxicated Demin Zealot. He wondered what the guy's name was, and what he was doing drunk in Inverness. The Harbingers didn't look too fondly upon intoxication in their sacred space, although what Aiolos and Volya had been doing for years couldn't have been highly regarded either.

He shook his head as the Typh told him about what the Demin said. "Just another rogue scout looking for doubters," Volya winced a little as he stewed on that realization. The rogues couldn't be forming again, could they? Not so soon after being put down -- that was impossible, and a little frightening. His train of thought came to crashing halt, as he felt the sinewy, muscled body of his mentor lean into him, the familiar sent of the Typh filled his nostrils with an intoxicating medley of aromas.

He wasn't sure how to take this, and when the Typh told him he was sorry, he became even more confused. What came next was what Volya wanted to hear, in the back of his mind, but was surprised when it came spilling out of his friend's mouth. "I-I.. I've waited a long time to hear you say that." The Russian stammered out, putting his hands around his mentor, holding him close. "I never thought I'd hear it in my lifetime." He liked it right here, being close to Aiolos and feeling needed by him. The pair sat in silence for the longest time, waiting for the other to speak. It was like a test of wills; who would break the prefect silence first?

Thank the gods that Volya finally grasped Aiolos back - whatever dam of hesitancy had kept him just barely touching Aiolos, appeared to be gone. Then after an instant, Volya himself explained. Aiolos mentally shook his head and just smiled, one solitary tear of happiness exiting his right eye. You adorable idiot, he thought, but didn't say. I may not have said it out loud but I communicated it in my affection. All he did was plant a loving kiss on Volya's neck and continued to hold him, letting the beautiful silence stretch on as they just sat in each other's arms.

It was true that Aiolos had many partners, a fact that Volya, and the rest of the Elemental society, had always known full well. The Grecian was, and had practically always been, pansexual and polygamous. In his view, he equated the element of Typh with the emotions of attraction and love. He believed in a sort of worldwide relationship, which was strengthened by affection and romance and sex, and broken by contention and battle. As such, Aiolos saw consummating that relationship with other people as a personal fulfilment of his Acolyte duties. He wasn't preachy about his somewhat unorthodox views, however, only offering them if asked, so he was not chastised by any senior members of the Council for his notions. And he did not try to become intimate with every Elemental that he met, believing as he did that only certain people and certain types of relationships were appropriate to take to that level.

But of the Elementals that he had developed strong sexual relationships with, Volya stood out from them all. Perhaps the freedom that Aiolos gave Volya to be himself, when he was still closeted to his parents and many others publicly, had something to do with it, but Volya always gave 100% when Aiolos had been involved - at first as a student when he wanted to meet Aiolos' expectations as his mentor, and then later as they shared adulthood in a more personal manner. It was a combination of spiritual and emotional connexion, and mutual physical appreciation.

As much as Aiolos loved this hug, and it was full of meaning for both himself and Volya, he was also aware that he was getting antsy, particularly in his pantsies. He did not want to go directly into sex, however, after this raw emotional exchange they had had, and in case Volya got the wrong idea (again) about what he really meant to Aiolos. When the Acolyte couldn't stand it anymore, he leaned his arms and torso further toward Volya, unbalancing them both, and they went crashing comfortably down onto the couch on Volya's back. With a breathy chuckle, Aiolos swung his legs around behind him, leaned down, and moved to give the Hor - his student, his friend, his lover - a long, drawn-out kiss on the lips.

"I will show you exactly what you mean to me, as far as you want me to," he said matter-of-factly, letting his body weight rest centred on top of the lithe Water Zealot, his arms slidden under Volya's back.

Volya hadn't realize how fast his heart was beating; it was like a caged hummingbird banging around in his chest. He felt something for Aiolos, deeper than words could ever even come close to describing, and yet there was a word describing what was felt in this moment. It was love, unabashed, unashamed, and unfiltered love. Possibly unrequited from his polyamorous lover, whom seldom felt anything more than an intellectual and sexual attraction to a person, much less an emotional one.

As he settled there in the Grecian's arms, he couldn't help but wonder what was going on behind the beautiful mask that the Typh wore so well. What was Volya to Aiolos? Where did the Hor Elemental fit into the Acolyte's life, and how long would he be allowed to stay in the Typh's life until he maybe got bored of him? He winced a little at these questions; why was he having doubts in such an intimate place? He could feel Aiolo's tight grip around him, enveloping him in an embrace he wished would last forever.

It really was a conundrum; this Greek god was his ambrosia and nectar, his Achille's heel, and the one human that made him unravel and almost (literally) sink into puddles at the sight of. It sucked being so utterly overcome by one person, feel such a pull towards, that Volya sometimes wished he'd never met the man. But then, he'd take that back; if he hadn't met Aiolos he never would have stayed, and become the person outside of these four walls that he was today. He would have never -- then everything came crashing down.

At least, he and Aiolos did, and the Typh Acolyte came to rest on top of him, both of them staring into the others eyes. He could feel the warm sensation begin to travel up his body as the Typh Acolyte drew into him, going for a long passionate kiss. Volya's eye's nearly rolled back in his head from the sheer exhilaration he felt at the moment. It seemed as though the Typh was reading his mind, trying to dismiss any reservations the water elemental might have.  He smiled with his eyes as they kissed, letting it go on for as long as the other wanted. When they finally parted, Aiolos said something that quite astonished, and at the same time terrified him. Then the Typh put his body weight unto Volya, drawing closer to him.

Realizing what may happen as a result if he didn't do anything, the Water elemental rolled with the typh, simply to his side letting him lay beside him, their arms and legs intertwined. "I thought we could talk about us; we have a long time to do that other thing." He smiled serenely as he stroked the face of the handsome man in front of him. "I know that you probably don't like labels, Aiolos, but what are you and I? Where are we going? Where do I fit into your grand scheme of life?" He stopped himself from asking the slew of open ended questions that sat in his mind constantly. He'd start with these questions, then maybe expand into the other ones in time.

@Aiolos Logothetis - Hopefully this is good enough. <33

Aiolos allowed Volya to turn the two of them onto their sides, wanting to be as acquiescent a partner as possible since Volya was obviously deeply concerned about this. The Typh was not unaware of the effect he seemed to have on his Hor counterpart, but he really wanted to communicate somehow not just with his body language but with words and thoughts and deeper connexion - just how valuable and precious Volya was to him. For the same reason, he did not object - much - when Volya suggested they wait to to "that other thing." A little pouty lip, followed by a big smile, and then Aiolos closed his eyes and let Volya's fingers brush across his face as he asked questions.

For a second or two the questions didn't quite register and Aiolos just lay there with his lover. Then his eyes snapped open as he realised what Volya was asking, and why he had really come to visit. "Wait. That's why you needed to come see me? Er, I mean, why you needed to schedule a personal visit?" The Acolyte completely held back the laughter that he might otherwise have released, worried that Volya might take it the wrong way. "You don't know what we are?" After a beat, Aiolos leaned his back a bit and his gaze lost focus. "Hmm. I suppose I haven't given much thought to 'what' we are, either. You're right, I don't normally like labels."

He snuggled in closer to Volya even as he went on, "Well, for starters, you are the person I have bared more of my soul to than anyone else. I would take time with you, doing anything at all, over sex with anyone else." He raised Volya's pantleg with his toes and ran his bare foot up and down the Zealot's lower calf. "As for where we're going, and where you fit into my grand scheme?" He put his forehead to Volya's and breathed in the younger man's clean scent. "I'm pretty sure I want you to be mine, forever."

The moment he said the words, a series of knots began forming and loosening in his stomach as the import of what he had said hit him. It was absolutely true, of course. Aiolos didn't lie, to himself or to others. He just hadn't realised the depths of his feelings for Volya.

He pressed on, covering his half-second hesitation as he continued to answer Volya's question. "I wouldn't want to be exclusive, because you know how I feel about love and other people. But I would want that same freedom for you if you want it. I can't help but think that we are perfect for each other. We know each other so well, we have so much history. We are both going to live a long time. We have mutual admiration and affection for each other." By this point his body was starting to react to his passionate thoughts again, and he tried to rein in his overeager organ. He hoped Volya didn't notice, but also didn't care too much if he did. That certainly had never been a secret before.

"I never want to make you do something you don't want to do, or act on something you don't feel. I think it's very clear how much you care for me, and maybe I haven't said so in so many words, but I tried to communicate that same care... not just care, but affection, attraction, lust, love, dream, fantasy, that I have for you, in the way that I treated you and did things for you and made love to you."

Aiolos looked into his lover's eyes and wasn't entirely sure what he was seeing, how Volya was reacting. "Say something, Vol. Don't let me keep babbling." He paused and added, "Unless you like that," with a mischievous, sultry grin spreading on his face.

"Please keep babbling, it makes me feel like I'm not the only crazy one." Volya said, his hand caressing his lover's face, a grin spreading across his handsome features. He then went in for kiss on the forehead. "Your voice soothes me, Aiolos, it makes me feel safe and loved, it always has."  the younger male confessed, looking away from Aiolos temporarily. "It may sound stupid-- b-but from the first moment I heard you speak, I knew you were going to be good to me."

He thought back on the day he met Aiolos all those years ago. It was a bright spring morning, and Volya was there for the weekend. He was to meet his out-of-element tutor for training in Council etiquette and various other duties he'd preform whilst in service of the council. He'd walked into the meeting room five minutes early, just to situate himself and calm his nerves, however there was someone else there already. The person in question had a tan complexion, curly hair, and looked to be a few years older than Volya -- but definitely not old enough to be a teacher. He was seated across from the door, and was looking down at papers in front of him, but as he heard Volya's footfalls in front of the door, he looked up, towards the young Hor initiate.

"I seem to have gotten the wrong room, I'm sorry to have disturbed your work," he started to turn around, but realized he didn't know where his tutor actually was, "Do you know by chance where I can find Aiolos Logothetis?" He said his tutor's name with some trepidation, not wanting to say it wrong and embarrass himself further

The coincidence smacked of fairy tales, for even if neither Aiolos nor Volya knew it, they were recalling the same moment. Volya's comment about "the first moment I heard you speak" had Aiolos spiraling back to that spring Saturday morning, already about twenty years ago but seeming a lifetime longer, when young Volya Nikolov had first come into one of the conference offices of the Typh wing and looked at Aiolos with some degree of confusion. At the time Aiolos was in his 30's, but because of the effects of morphing into his element his aging was decelerated and he looked to be in his mid 20's instead. While he wasn't at the point yet where he could completely stop or even reverse the aging effects, he still was vain enough to feel a lot of appreciation for his youthful appearance. Newer students weren't accustomed to the whole elemental aging thing, so when the young Hor hesitantly suggested he might be in the wrong room and asked where Aiolos Logothetis could be found, the Typh Acolyte had smiled broadly.

"You are in the right place, my young friend. I am Acolyte Aiolos Logothetis," he had assured young Volya in Council Gaelic, extending a hand to shake and ushering him into a seat right next to where Aiolos already had his notes spread. "No doubt you were expecting someone more experienced-looking, maybe a hundred fifty years old but not looking a day over ninety. I'm afraid you're stuck with me today, Advocate Nikolov." He took his own seat and shuffled his notes into a neater pile than before, then shoved them off to the side. "I won't be needing those. I'd rather get to know you in your own words than in the - admittedly impressive - words of my fellow Acolytes."

Even from that young age Aiolos had been impressed with the gravitas that Volya held himself. His answers had been smart and once he got over his initial shyness they chatted like old friends. Instructing Volya on Council etiquette had been an easy task, and when he was made the Hor Advocate's instructor in the Typh background, they spent as much time socialising as they did in serious education. Aiolos was open and free about himself, which encouraged Volya to do the same - such that Aiolos was able to help Volya with his struggles about his sexual identity, although they never got entangled with each other. As they had both grown older and Volya reached the age of majority and became a Hor Zealot, they continued their close relationship and by that time the development of a romantic attachment was acceptable. It was the first and only time that Aiolos had remained so close to a single person.

Reflecting on all of this back in the present day, Aiolos shook his head a little bit and smiled at the cheesy, but heartfelt, sentiment that Volya had just expressed. "I know. I feel much the same way. You've never done me wrong and you've been as open an honest a love as I have ever had before." He stared dreamily at Volya's face, then sighed and said, "Okay, hang on. I'll be responsible and reasonable and all that." He started pushing himself up with his bare muscular arms from their position laying together. "If we keep laying like this, even if we're just talking, I'm going to become so enamoured that I won't be able to think straight without taking you here and now." He sat himself back down on the floor, cross-legged, and laid his arm on the arm of the couch and behind Volya's head.

"So, what about you then, my love?" Aiolos continued, swirling a lock of Volya's hair with one finger. "What do you see us being, or becoming? How will we proceed from here?"

"I'm so stupid, sorry Aiolos!" he said as he silently berated himself for making Aiolos feel that way, and as Aiolos untangled himself from Volya, the pair sat back down in front of the couch. Aiolos was asking a question that didn't almost register in Volya's brain. Was he asking how he felt, or even worse what he thought they were? Oh no no no. This is going to make him distant and not want to see me again. He swallowed hard at Aiolo's question, and as the gears started turning in the Hor Elemental's head,  sweat started beading on his forehead. It was almost like suddenly sitting next to a Incin Elemental for to long; uncomfortable and suffocatingly hot. 

"U-uh, I have ideas for what we are and what we could be but, all I know is that I don't want to lose you, or mess what we have up in anyway." he confessed finally after moments of silents and profuse sweating. He wavered on the spot, almost passing out on his lover. It was like a weight had knocked him sideways, as the emotional realization came to the surface. "I just want know I have you until we return to the ether. Can you promise me that, my dear old friend?"

He meant it, and intent crystalline blue eyes stared expectantly into the Typh's own. "You don't have to answer me today; not even this month, but when you answer, I want you to mean it, Aiolos Logothetis."

Volya's sudden bout of nerves was cute and endearing, but it also brought out in Aiolos an automatic reaction of wanting to console him. Not wanting to make any sudden moves while the Zealot was trying to figure out his answer, however, Aiolos remained as motionless as possible, at the same distance, only playing with Volya's hair as he had already been doing. Finally Volya gave the Acolyte his answer, shaky and stammering, and seeming to take a lot out of him. Aiolos immediately steadied Volya by taking hold of his shoulders to prevent him from falling down if he passed out, only momentarily distracted by the feel of Volya's arms underneath the fabric of his shirt before more important matters re-asserted themselves and Aiolos processed what his lover had told him -- asked him.

He met Volya's gaze steadily and lovingly, and caressed Volya's forehead twice, once with a gentle familiar breeze to wick away the sweat beading on the young Hor's skin, and then again with his fingers, before planting a kiss between Volya's eyebrows. "I can promise you that. I don't need time to consider my answer. I love more than your body - I love your soul." Words spoken were intangible and ephemeral, but Aiolos somehow managed to put the conviction of his position and the power of his elemental affinity behind his voice as he said solemnly, "Volya Vadovich Nikolov, you have me for as long as you want me, until we both return to the æther and join with the ancient font."

Impulsively, moved by the intensity of the oath he had sworn, he dove into Volya's face and kissed him, fully and passionately, threading his fingers through the Hor Zealot's wavy blonde hair and pulling the other man toward him tightly with his other hand on the small of Volya's back. For Aiolos, such an expression of love was the purest channeling of the Typh element, an ardent freedom that came from openness and honesty with the persons closest to him. He couldn't tell whether he was drunk on the power of his element, the attraction of his lover, or the severity of his vow.

After a minute had passed he broke away, panted, "I'm so sorry," and took a moment to catch his breath. "I didn't mean to surprise you like that. I just... I mean, I could say it a hundred different ways, but it will always mean the same thing, Volya. I am yours, if you are mine. The vow I make is the most solemn of promises. I swear it on the Six." He brushed the fringe of Volya's bangs out of his eyes - pointlessly, as it fell right back over his forehead - and smiled at the most important man in the world to him.

"Stay here as long as you can and just rest with me," he drew the Zealot close again, much more gently this time, and held him in his bared arms. "Today we live in the moment. Tomorrow we decide what direction our shared future takes." Just as before Aiolos was struck by how perfectly they fit together, and Aiolos revelled in the possibility that, after all this time, he had found someone he cared for far beyond the next morning. This was sure to be the beginning of something beautiful and wonderful and life-changing.