In all honesty, Hiroko wanted to grab that long, pebble-white, chalk-like, and soft-looking neck of Saka's with both hands and wring it. It would have felt good to twist it in unimaginable proportions, but something about the look on that blonde's face made him think twice about it.
Better to raincheck it.
He closed his eyes tightly for a moment to compose himself and opened them again. He looked at the brothers one by one, starting with Safatore, who was a silhouette of blue roaring flames sitting on the settee. His smile was visible through the sapphire and turquoise flames, a large, white, and crescent thing.
The temperature in the room rose by several degrees around Hiroko.
He turned his sights over to the younger blonde who was a silhouette of swirling, dark winds—Semacoar. He was eating cashews, the nuts visibly traveling down his gullet and dropping into a core of what seemed to be suppressed lightning in his stomach.
Hiroko then moved his eyes back to the small silhouette of golden light; April, then to Saka's bizarre silhouette of white and shadows. Inside his shadow on the floor, a pair of lazurite blue orbs, like eyes, stared up at him.
Having been creeped out enough, Hiroko sighed and closed his eyes again, offering a curt and distant bow. When he opened his eyes, everyone's faces were fine again. He could see Safatore's piercing emeralds again, Semacoar's twinkling hazelnut brown eyes as he scoffed down more cashews, still, Saka's slate gray, glaring eyes, and April's face smooshed against his chest.
They were all back to normal.
Weird.
The temperature dropped back down to a comfortable degree again. He turned and left, the wing doors fluttering open for him.
As if on cue, Saka removed his hand from the girl's mouth, shoving her aside. That cozy and intimate position and atmosphere he had built around her evaporated. She spun lazily before her backside found the floor with a dull thud, a little squeak, escaping her lips.
Semacoar chuckled at the sight.
"You're just too cute, Little Monkey," he shook his head, stuffing his face with cashews.
Saka sat down, scowling at Safatore.
"You're supposed to be the smart, older one?" He growled low.
Safatore, seemingly understanding the hidden context behind that question, brought his gaze from the chamomile tea to his youngest brother, a confused and innocent expression being instantaneously replaced by a sly smile.
"What? You're the one who challenged him, though." He answered. "Are we planning on wreaking havoc or what? The more, the merrier, I say. And it worked, didn't it?"
Saka exhaled in exasperation, shaking his head.
"I don't like this."
"Did anyone feel like he was staring into our souls, or is it just me?" Semacoar asked.
"Who's staring into who's soul?" April asked from the floor.
The three brothers turned to face her. Safatore opened his mouth to answer her, but before he could get a word out, the wing doors fluttered open and two guards in green armor walked in. They walked past and stepped over April, casting fleeting and detached glances at the girl in blue sprawled on the floor.
Saka turned his gaze from Safatore to them and an instant sneer pulled his upper lip up, exposing his fangs. His face twisted in cruel amusement.
"Hey, hey, hey! Eref and Irstte, what did I say about coming ten kilometers from me?" He growled.
The two, fully grown, thousands-of-years-old, warrior elves paused in their tracks, eyes widening in dread from the depths of their helmet visors, hands clenching their spears in instinctive apprehension. Saka stood up, cracking his knuckles. April watched from the floor, Semacoar smirked from his settee.
But before the whitehead could take a step closer to the guards, Safatore let out a huff, standing up and holding the young man's shoulder, and pulling him back.
"Calm down. I told them to come and collect me properly whenever the High Council wants my presence."
The explanation was received with a snort from Saka, his nose scrunched up in unadulterated disgust.
"They're my escorts, sort of like... carrier pigeons." The blonde paladin added, gently petting Saka's head to pacify him.
"They don't have feathers, though?" Semacoar tossed a cashew at April who was still on the floor. "But if they laid eggs, that'd be impressive."
Safatore hummed in response, and one of the guards tripped on a body, falling with a startled oof and a clangor of armor. The whole thing was punctuated by April's whine and Saka's growl.
"For crying out loud, what are you still doing on the floor, you little rat?!" Saka shouted.
April groaned as she pushed the armored guard off and propped herself up on her elbows. She scowled at the whitehead.
"You're more concerned about why I'm still on the floor and not if I'm okay? Shouldn't you be more empathetic? What kind of fiancé are you?"
"Stop talking nonsense," Saka reacted to her words with a snarl, standing up from the cushioned stool with a low growl.
April shot back.
"What are you gonna do about it—pin me down again? Do it if you're itching to escape rut season!"
At that moment, everyone, including April, could see the last bit of composure in Saka's being shatter as he launched himself at her, baring teeth.
The girl sprang from the floor and made for the door, a loud, whimpering scream echoing from the bottom of her belly and through the corridors as she bolted out into them, a blur of blue, black, and yellow, chased by a blur of black and white.
Safatore sighed, waiting for Irstte to get up, helped by Eref.
"They're so energetic." He shook his head.
"I know, right? Young love. I was there once~." Semacoar sighed wistfully and tossed a cashew into the air, opening his mouth. It was just about to drop in when a hand intercepted it mid-air and pulled it away. "Aw—hey—come on! Those are my supplements! My supplements!"
Safatore crushed the nut in his hand, a vein ticking on his jaw. The action was so exaggerated that blue flames burst from his hand and burned whatever remained of the crushed cashew. Young love? The concept was so ridiculous that he wanted to laugh, but he only tasted ash in his mouth. He turned to Semacoar, tight-lipped.
"Young love, my jam-smeared crumpet ass!" he growled low and blew cashew ash into Semacoar's face.
The younger blonde was left coughing on the settee as Safatore walked off in a huff with his entourage of guards. The doors fluttered open and closed in an instant and Semacoar raised his head again.
"...We don't even eat crumpets... or jam. Ugh, my baby."
He licked the cashew ass on his lips.