Warmth and Safety

Chapter 5 Part 2

He finished cleaning up the spilled paint with the very apologetic young girl. Reassuring her that she was making good progress had been easy. She had asked him for supplies to clean the mess, and he’d turned an embarrassing experience into a positive learning experience.

He glanced over his shoulder, noticing the priestess who had brought her struggling to keep her distance. From what he had learned from their last few sessions, Dahlia’s depressive outbursts had caused the priestesses to remove her from her mistakes and clean them up themselves. It wasn’t necessarily the negativity of the mistake, but the instinct to shut down that worried Ignis. Having worked on helping her overcome that, he was very proud she had offered to help, even if she had had issues focusing and had to stop often to apologize.

He picked up the last of the messy towels and began dumping them in the garbage bin in the corner of his room. When he had turned back around, the young girl was being comforted by the priestess. He glanced at his clock, and confirmed it was near the end of their session.

“Dahlia, you’ve done so well today. My floor is cleaner than before you came in.” He reassured her.

“But I made a mess.” She argued again. The priestess picked her up and continued to run her back. The action reminded him of Daniella comforting Mari.

“Well, fun is messy sometimes. That’s okay, sweetheart.” He said, before pointing to the floor, “There’s no mess anymore, is there?”

“No. We cleaned it up.” She reminded him.

“Exactly. It might hurt a bit to make a mess, but if you do something about it then there’s no mess anymore. You did so well asking me for help. I think you should ask adults to help you if they’re nearby.”

“Okay,” She said, burying her face in the priestesses dress, before repeating, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart.” He repeated, “Thank you so much for helping me clean it up.”

She turned to peek at him. “You’re welcome.”

The priestess rocked her and continued soothing her. He nodded at her, “Same time next week?” He asked.

Despite her skepticism, she nodded, “I’ll make the appointment with the woman at reception.”

He sighed. He had asked them to change their policy on removing her from the situation weeks ago. He doubted they would. Priestesses often answered only to their traditions. He had always been tempted to ask the gods of their various temples to give the women his directions, but had long ago decided that was a gross misuse of power. Still, they had to bring certain orphaned children to him, if the courts ordered they needed medical care.

He glanced at the clock again. Nearly four. He could feel some of this morning’s emotions course through him again. Seeing Daniella right after that dream had nearly driven him crazy, but the idea of going out with her excited him. He tried to remember that Mari and Infero were going to be there as well, which had initially disappointed him.

Knowing she was his flame had almost made him forget that he was engaged to Mari. He’d finally accepted that the engagement was fake. He was never going to marry Mari. He wanted Daniella.

Now he just had to decide if he was going to tell her that. On one hand, explaining himself would ease some of her shyness. He remembered how cute she had been last night. Removing some of her hesitancy towards him felt like a good idea. Until he remembered that she defined her life by her service to Mari, and explaining himself may drive him away from her. If she disagreed with the decision he’d made to ignore his duties to his fiancee, his behavior might disgust her. The flirting here and there had already gotten her to warn him against it before.

The idea of her looking at him with disgust in her eyes put a halt to any thoughts he had about trying to explain. He would wait for Infero to prove to their aunt that he was on the right track, and she would correct the engagement. Then, he could pursue her as a single man. Until that time, he would just have to enjoy Daniella’s company.

The memory of her moans from his dream invaded his ears. He stiffened in his chair, before moving to continue cleaning his office. He couldn’t think about that quite yet. He needed to stop having those kinds of dreams.

He almost laughed at himself, knowing that wasn’t going to happen. He could touch her all night long and still dream of touching her more. He continued to clean, ignoring his traitorous memories of last night.

…

Infero had stepped into the hall to take a phone call from a friend a few minutes ago. Daniella watched Mari uncomfortably shift in her seat. While the urge to comfort her friend was great, Daniella knew better. Mari had pulled away from her twice in the past two days. She didn’t want comfort from her.

She glanced at the clock, knowing Ignis would be home soon. Infero had suggested sushi or hibachi, and Mari had agreed with either. Daniella had voted for sushi, before being told most restaurants in the area that had one had both.

Infero’s voice carried into the main room. He had spent the day watching movies and walking around the neighborhood with Mari. Daniella was more than a little annoyed with the obvious flirting, but guilt overwhelmed her when she wanted to bring it up. She obviously had feelings for Ignis, so chastising them for something so benign was obviously hypocritical.

Granted, she hadn’t had to remind Ignis that he was engaged since that first day. They were all probably just trying to get used to the way things were now. She was a bit bitter at how quickly Ignis had grown accustomed to it.

Another part of her was hesitant to remind them anyway. After yesterday, she was worried about Infero. Today he'd been happy pretty much the entire time. He called Ignis's friend first thing that morning. She was grateful to hear him make an appointment. Knowing he might have someone else to talk to soon was comforting.

She could hear Infero’s voice louder as the door opened, and Ignis entered the room. He gave them both a tired smile, before saying, “He’s just finishing up. Should be done by the time I’m changed.”

“Good.” Mari said, still staring down the door. “Then hurry up. We agreed to sushi tonight, and I’d like some food soon.”

He laughed, but didn’t respond. He just went to his room to change. A few seconds later, Infero walked back inside. He seemed upset, until he smirked it off.

“What’s wrong, you two look like I was about to get kidnapped or something?” He laughed.

“We never know with you.” Mari said, crossing her arms over her chest, “Besides, right now I care more about your brother getting dressed. I’m starving.”

Infero frowned at her, but Ignis pulled himself from his room. Wearing one of the tshirts she’d seen in his closet and some jeans, he raised his hands up to twirl. The shirt looked a bit tight with his shoulders flexed, but when he relaxed again it seemed to fit well. Mari whistled, and nudged Daniella. She blushed at her friend’s behavior. Infero cleared his throat.

“Anyone looks good in a tight shirt.” He commented, before turning back to Ignis, “We going or having a fashion show? The lady is hungry.”

Mari laughed, but Ignis just ushered them to the door. Mari trotted to catch up to Infero,

Ignis guided her by her back out of the door. “I think we’ll just walk. My favorite place isn’t far, and it’s nice out this evening.”

“Alright.” She said, warmed by his touch. She really was beginning to worry about how quickly she was reacting to his touch.