#infrans

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WORLD BECAUSE YOU CANNOT LEAVE IT

Sketch dump time!

Left to right, a concept of Bana, Nima’s aunt, and Ally from Alvoskia: Call of the Infrans, an original fantasy, on Wattpad.

This takes place about a year after the events of Blackbird.

-

The war had taken the Infrans deep into Kilvoskia, where they were met by General Akiyama (and hadn’t that been a surprise, meeting the woman that she and Jezarah and the other Knights had always begrudgingly admired) and her troops, along with the Wolf Children and the Giant armies. And tomorrow morning, their combined armies would attack Serkdan, to try and take down Krios Karavan once and for all. Joseph and Rynn had insisted that they all get some sleep, but Ally and Enna both agreed that it was important to keep watch just in case of a surprise attack -- and of course, Ally had put Enna on the middle watch with Flames.

Not that either of them minded.

The moon was bright above them when Flames finally spoke, her voice barely audible over the crackling of the fire she’d created to keep them warm. “Are you cold?” she asked. “I can make the fire stronger if you’d like.”

“No.” Just Flames’s presence was enough to keep her warm, but she definitely wasn’t about to say that. Not when it had taken Enna the better part of six months to even get the courage to hold Flames’s hand. “No, I’m alright.”

Another pause, then, “Enna?”

“What?”

“Why haven’t you kissed me yet?”

Enna almost choked on her own tongue. “What?”

It was hard to tell, but Enna was pretty sure that Flames was blushing. “Well,” she said, almost careful, like each word was a step in a field full of landmines. “We’ve been...you know. Together, for a while. And I guess I was just wondering...why we hadn’t kissed yet.”

Enna’s face felt hotter than the fire blazing in front of them. “I...” She stopped, tried again when the rest of the words got stuck. “I thought...I didn’t know we had to.” Oh, Vita. She was awful with social cues, but even she knew that that was the wrong thing to say. “No, I -- I meant, I didn’t know you wanted to! Not that I don’t want to, I’ve been thinking about it a lot, but--” Quit while you’re still ahead, kid, she imagined Jezarah saying, and Enna cut to the chase. “I didn’t know you wanted to. That’s all.”

Flames looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh. “I’ve been trying to make a move for ages,” she said. “I literally tried kissing you when we were gathering up the maps in the war room today.”

Well, that certainly explained why Flames had been standing so close. “I didn’t know,” she said, now more embarrassed than ever. “I didn’t think...I don’t know what signs I’m supposed to be looking for. I’ve never done this before.”

Flames’s eyebrows rose slightly. “You’ve never kissed anyone before?”

“Oh, no. Nah, we kissed in the Academy all the time. I used to make out with my marks before I killed them.”

“Enna.”

She deflated. “No,” she admitted. “I haven’t kissed anybody before. I know how to, though,” she added hastily. “I’ve read books.”

“You’ve read books.”

“Yes. Well, they were Jezarah’s. She had a soft spot for romance novels, and I borrowed them a few times when I was bored, and...” Her explanation cut off when she noticed Flames was hiding a smile. “You’re making fun of me.”

“No, I’m not!” Flames at least sounded earnest, even through her laughter. “I think it’s cute. I never pegged you for a romantic.”

“I’m full of surprises.”

Now Flames’s smile was fond. “Yeah,” she said. “That’s for sure.” She turned to face Enna, who tried not to shiver now that the full force of Flames’s gaze was on her. “So what kind of a sign were you looking for?”

"I don't know," Enna said, feeling frustrated -- not only with Flames for wanting to have this conversation at two in the morning right before a battle, but with herself for not knowing what to do. Maybe it would have been better if Flames had just stayed with Misumi. Misumi would have known what to do here. "I guess -- I don't know, you saying outright that you wanted to kiss me."

She ducked her head, but Flames put a hand on Enna's knee, preventing her from blocking her out completely. "Enna Hatten," she said, slowly and clearly. Her eyes never left Enna's. "I want to kiss you."

Enna felt her entire brain short-circuit. "Okay," she said stupidly.

"Can I kiss you?"

"Yes." The word came out almost before Flames was done speaking. "Yes. Okay. Yes."