In Which Florian Sees a Black World

January 20, 1157

"Having fun playing with Noah and the animals, Florian?" teased Thetis; apparently after all this time, the concept of knocking was still lost on her.

Hastily, Florian put down the zebra he had been half-heartedly maneuvering about the deck of the ark. "Still just barging in as you please, I see. What do you want? Don't you have a son to take care of, and some jackass of a husband who doesn't let you leave your house? I'm beginning to think you just made them up just so I'd never get down on one knee and beg for your hand."

An amused smile swelling on her lips, she raised one feminine eyebrow. "Would you?"

"Hell, no!" he laughed, somewhat awkwardly; what a silly, self-important little girl she was! And yet, she was his best--and only--friend now. "For Christ's sake, Thetis, you're a baby. How old are you, anyway? Twelve? Thirteen?"

"Fifteen," she corrected him, even though he'd known her real age all along. "Sixteen in May. You're just trying to make yourself feel better, since you're old and... thirty?"

He would be twenty-two in July; he was certainly not old.

Oh, but he did look it. He looked every bit of thirty, he knew, and likely several bits more. Sure, fifteen-year-old Thetis didn't like being mistaken for twelve, but twenty-one-year-old Florian would have been honored to be mistaken for eighteen... or even twenty-seven.

"Have you met Sister Elwyna, Thetis?" he asked her. He hoped she had; if she hadn't, he would make her. There was no way he would have Evera's mother unacquainted with the woman who would likely raise the girl.

"Briefly," replied Thetis. "She seems nice enough--although I suppose that can be expected of a nun."

"She was here a few days ago, just checking up on things. Fortunately, Setran and Evera both seem to like her."

Thetis frowned uncomfortably. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about this in front of Evera."

"Mama?" piped up Evera as Thetis joined her on the floor. Thetis seemed to find a that a simple grin, coupled with a shake of the head, was a sufficient enough reply, but Florian disagreed; after many sleepless nights, he had determined that the best way of parenting was with honesty.

"What Mama means, Evera," he explained to the little girl, struggling to keep a smile on his face (she tended to react to his frowns), "is that Papa's going to kick the bucket soon, and you and Setran are going to have to go and live with at the orphanage with Sister Elwyna."

Thetis shot him a dangerous glare; he would have never thought her capable of such a look. "Florian! Don't talk like that!"

She frequently censored him, he found, and he had several theories as to why. Perhaps she felt that he would endure an easier death if he thought there was some chance he might live. Or maybe she was just trying to give herself some false hope? He felt rather full of himself, letting that thought cross his mind, but surely it was possible...

Or maybe not. Maybe she just thought that the one-year-old understood everything they said and shouldn't have to live with the knowledge that Papa most likely wouldn't be around to see her second birthday.

"So, where's Setran?" inquired Thetis, placing Noah back inside the ark and pulling herself off the dirt floor.

"Sleeping," Florian answered promptly. "Hell, that boy sleeps all day--he's going to be a lazy bum when he grows up. Although I suppose it's all for the best, considering how damn loud he is when he's not sleeping. The way that kid bawls, you'd think I never gave him any attention in his whole three months; spoilt little brat."

Her eyes narrowed--and yet, he could still make out that most beautiful color. "A little harsh for your own son, don't you think?"

Florian shrugged. "What can I say? I practice tough love. Might as well; it's not like he'll have much to look back on when he thinks about me anyway."

"Florian?" she addressed him, her eyes closed and her lips pursed. She had the look of someone who was desperate to change the subject--he couldn't help but wonder what she might try to change it to.

"Yes?"

"What's it like having sex without being forced?"

Well, that was certainly random.

"Uh... it's nice?" he offered lamely. Seeing as he'd never been forced into having sex, he couldn't really answer. "Why?"

She didn't appear to be particularly impressed with his answer. "Could you maybe go into a little more detail? I've heard that it's actually enjoyable when you're willing--is that true?"

Great. Just great. Three years ago, he'd been breaking into some knight's castle and stealing the lady's jewelry; now, he was sitting on Electra's old chest in some godforsaken valley, giving the sex talk to a girl he would have guessed hadn't even started menstruating had she not already born twins. He almost missed jail.

Florian sighed. "Sure. It's sex. It's the best thing in the world. Whatever."

He didn't like to mix thoughts about sex with thoughts about Thetis for the simple reason that thinking about sex and Thetis simultaneously tended to lead to thinking about sex with Thetis. It wasn't that he found the idea objectionable, though--it was the fact that he didn't that scared him. She was barely more than a child, for one; for another, the poor girl had suffered enough misery at the hands of men without him getting involved. It was beyond cruel, lusting after her, and he knew that.

And yet, that's just what he did. He was horrible, he knew; he had been reduced from a promising youth to a vile, dying old lecher, spending his last nights dreaming of what lay beneath the skirts of a mere kid. Just thinking about himself made him feel physically nauseous.

But maybe it wasn't the only thing that was making him nauseous right now... or dizzy... or faint...

"Florian!"

He was granted one last brief vision of her startled, fading face--then, suddenly, the world was black.

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