[PP-F9] Shattered Mask <<DHA: 9>> (Telrenya)

[Jomei 0]

With heavy breaths, Jomei stood waiting for Telrenya's rebuttal. Olive eyes, turned glossy by pooling tears, stared across at the blonde as his arms slowly fell back to his sides. He had been lied to.. for what have been at the very least a month... though, for all he knew, it could have been going on for much longer. Part of him wanted to understand where she was coming from, wanting to do it to ease Jomei's mind about her joining the front lines or fighting along side him.. but he could not get over the fact that he felt betrayed.. that the woman that meant the world to him had been lying to him for this long. The woman stammered as she tried to let out more on her reasoning about donning the thin metal mask and hiding her identity from the ginger. 

Finally, Telrenya broke, shouting at Jomei that she did not need his, or anyone else's protection anymore. Jomei's angered eyes softened as his heart sank in his chest. Heavy breathing had subsided to the point where he nearly choked on the lack of oxygen he was taking in. Immediately, guilt filled the man's mind, feeling as though his overprotective personality of the woman drove her to have to disguise herself to better her skills and level up on her own. After their encounter with Death Adder.. being left close to death and pinned to the ground as to not be able to do anything to protect Telreyna from another of his blades.. Was Jomei holding Telrenya back from getting stronger? 

Eyes locked onto hers again as she slowly made her way back, one shaky step after another. Jomei finally took in a gasp of air and took a single step towards the woman, but it was too late. With fresh tears rolling down her cheeks, her voice breaking with each word, she ran off down the silent street. It took Jomei a moment for his mind to register what was going on, before he turned on his own heel and ran after the woman. "E-Estelle.. wait I-!" he shouted after her, his own voice cracking.

[Telrenya 0]

Where was she going? Anywhere. As far away from her shop, from Erin, from Jomei, from everything as she could manage. Her heart cried out in protest while her legs carried her past the invisible barrier that denoted the safe zone of the Elven city. She panted, her lungs left gasping for air between the effort it took her to keep running and the rolling sobs that continued to escape her.

The sound of her pounding heartbeat echoed in her ears as she struggled to keep her pace outside of the city walls. She didn't deserve his forgiveness, or at least that's what Telrenya told herself. After all the lies, the secrets, and going so far as to lash out at him when her poorly-laid plans crumpled under the weight she had inadvertently piled on top of them, this wasn't something she could just cry about and apologize for and expect it to all be okay. No, she just wanted to drag herself to the farthest corner of the third floor. And then...she didn't know what came after that.

[Jomei 0]

A few minutes ago, Jomei would have let Telrenya run. He would not have watched as she ran off to try and escape from the guilt of not only lying to Jomei, but from going to great lengths to keep this secret on lock. For the first time in his life, he was disappointed at her.. angry even.. and he did not know where that would leave the two's blossoming relationship. However, the soles of his boots pounding against the stone roads of Delilah, chasing down the distraught blonde woman he loved dearly said otherwise. Jomei was not happy, not in the slightest, but that did not mean that it changed his feelings for Telrenya. He still loved her, and there was no way in hell that he was going to let her go over this. 

So he chased her, all the way out of the town and into the fields around the village. Finally, the man came to a sudden stop, despite Telrenya still pushing herself forward. "Estelle! Wait!" he shouted after her from just a few meters back. He hoped she would stop.. he did not want this, not at all. Fresh tears began to pool in the corners of his eyes again as he took a few breaths before speaking again, "I-I just want to talk."

[Telrenya 0]

Her legs, her lungs, her heart--every piece of her was on fire. She wanted to stop and curl up and cry the rest of the tears, but she told herself she couldn't just yet. But Jomei's desperate voice cutting through the loud, pounding pulse in her ears caused her to falter. Telrenya was stuck between freezing in place and pushing ahead, and her momentary lapse with her forward momentum caused the girl to stumble so that she was left crashing into the grassy field on her hands and knees. Flowers littered the floor in sparse groups beneath them, a single daisy crushed under the girl's palm as she had fallen.

Telrenya sniffled and sobbed, her shoulders bobbing with her small gasps for air as the droplets of her tears fell to the grass below. Her chest heaved with a sickening combination of exhaustion and raw emotion, but the girl soon turned and raised herself back to her feet with shaky knees, barely able to make out the details of Jomei's own heartbroken expression through her blurred vision.

She was still just as scared. Wracked with guilt, and regret, and uncertainty, and self-loathing. Jomei said that he wanted to talk, but she couldn't. She held her arms in front of her chest that was still shuddering with the rapid rise and fall of her lungs and the persistent racing of her heart. "I-I'm s-sorry," She forced out, though the apology sounded wrong on her lips. "I sh-shouldn't have... What I--did, what I-I said. Th-this is all wrong," She stammered out the words in between short breaths. She wanted so much to embrace the man standing across from her, but her heard was swift to tell her how very wrong that was. "I should j-just be a-alone..." She choked out.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei’s words seemed to strike Estelle as she moved to separate herself from Jomei, her shop, Delilah.. everything. Trying to stop herself, the woman stumbled forward, bracing her fall with the palms of her hands. Olive eyes widened as he took a step forward, though by then, the blonde had already began the process of picking herself up. The ginger’s frown only deepend when she turned to him, eyes red and puffy from all of the tears, her shoulders still shuddering with each sob. “Estelle..” Jomei said softly, nearly under his breath. 

The woman apologized again for what she had done, before admitting that she should just be alone. Should be alone.. what did she mean by her choice of words? Did she want her space to think her actions over and forgive herself... or did she want to be alone in general.. with Jomei not an important figure in her life anymore. Jomei felt his heart drop again, he could not stand to see Telrenya like this anymore. “No.” Jomei simply said, wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. Slowly, his feet carried him forward towards the shaking woman, “No you shouldn’t.” Without stopping, Jomei extended his arms just past Telrenya before wrapping them about her shoulders, pulling her into a tight embrace. The man rose one of his hands to the back of her blonde head and held her against his chest, his fingers gently raking through her hair. “Its’.. it’s okay. I forgive you.”

[Telrenya 0]

Telrenya's chin had dropped to her chest as the tears kept flowing. She didn't have any more words that she could force out, and so she turned her attention to the streams of moisture that continued running down her face. She rubbed at the skin of her cheeks with alternating hands, but every time she wiped away the tears they were swiftly replaced. It was a losing battle she still stubbornly fought, much like the pointless arguments she threw at the man in the streets of Delilah just minutes ago.

And then she felt herself pulled forward. Jomei's arms enveloped her and drew her in, holding her tightly against him. The girl's eyes flew open as her forehead pressed against his collar, mind blank for a long second until his soft words reached her ears. 'What...? No...' Her shaky hands reached behind the Irishman, slowly at first, until they pressed against his back. Her head and her heart were arguing with each other as her fingers curled, taking in the fabric of his cloak while the strength of her returned embrace grew. She was clinging to Jomei, the last of her sobs still causing her shoulders to tremble.

However much time had actually passed before the storm died down, Telrenya felt as though their desperate embrace had lasted hours, and yet she still didn't want it to end. Although her virtual body couldn't 'run out' of tears, maybe her brain finally lost its ability to urge any more to spill from her eyes. Her hands would finally release and drop to the man's waist as she hesitantly drew back to leave a few inches between them. She forced her gaze up to meet his, but couldn't maintain the contact with his olive eyes. "I...I'm so sorry, Nick..." She hated how much she was apologizing. Saying 'sorry' wasn't going to clean up this ugly mess she'd made. "It-It all got so out of hand..." No, that didn't matter. "I shouldn't have even thought of something so stupid in the first place."

[Jomei 0]

Jomei half expected Telrenya to break free from his hold and rush off again, not able to face him for what she had done. But as his arms wrapped themselves around the sobbing woman, Telrenya's body seemed to release a bit of the tension she had built up, and eventually her own arms found their way around his waist. Jomei's arms wrapped tighter around her, as if trying to pull her even closer to his body, despite the complete lack of distance already. He continued to gently caress the back of her head, working to calm her nerves little by little, until the sobbing had quelled. Jomei wanted to forget about all of the anger, the yelling, the crying.. he just wanted to hold her tight to let her know that everything would be alright.. That they would be alright. 

With the feeling of Tel's shaky hands against his back gone, Jomei gradually let the girl step back, letting his hands rest upon the girl's shoulders. His chin dropped to look at the girl, her eyes masked by the blonde locks that fell over her forehead. She hesitantly rose to meet his gaze for just a moment before apologizing, realizing that her whole plan was a bit foolish, and a recipe for disaster. Jomei's eyes closed as a sigh passed through his lips, a his head bobbing with a small nod. "I won't lie.. it was.. a little." he forced a smirk, hoping the small jest would crack somewhat of a reaction from the girl. "Look I just.." he started, trying to think of how to continue, his own mind still a jumbled mess. "I care about you. A lot more than you think.. I've lost a lot of people close to me.. I don't want you to be one of them too..And after what happened with Death Adder and I I just.. I guess I got a bit over protective.. decided to try and do things more myself.. I didn't realize I was holding you back.. And.. you can't tell me that if you did come up to the front lines, even if you did have that mask on.. that you wouldn't put your life on the line for me, just as I would for you." 

[Telrenya 0]

Her chest was still tight with apprehension when a sigh escaped Jomei's lungs. Her eyes fluttered back up to his face with the words that broke the silence and the sight of a smirk, despite the force behind it, was unexpected. The familiarity behind his expression caused a tiny warmth to flicker in her chest, and she listened to the rest of his explanation with brows turned up as they carried her remaining emotion.

"That's not--!" She really needed to get better at stopping to think before she blurted out the first things to come to mind. Her mouth closed, and she looked away again as the truth of Jomei's words sunk in. A short silence lingered while she took a moment to think. "I... I understand." She started in a weak voice. "After all that happened... I really did want to level up and fight with you guys. Even if it was dangerous, I wanted to learn, and help... But you and Ruby are already doing so much, I thought it would just cause trouble for you to have to look out for me, too."

"I didn't think it was a big deal at first. A-and then everything started getting so complicated, and Erin started causing so much trouble, a-and--" The rate at which her words escaped her increased before she cut her tangent short. Telrenya paused, and let out a tiny sigh. Her head dropped again, and she leaned her whole body forward until the top of her forehead collided with Jomei's chest. "I just wish none of it ever happened..."

[Jomei 0]

Jomei felt the thud of Telrenya's forehead hitting his chest, causing a small, yet genuine, smile to bubble up from within. While his left hand slid from the black fabric that covered her shoulder to his side, his right hand slid around the back of her neck, fingers sliding through locks of blonde hair. "Yeah..me too." Jomei admitted, truly wishing that this whole disguise thing never happened. "I'm.. sorry I yelled at you.." His slender fingers that curved along the back of her neck gently curled and extended, caressing the nape of her neck. "I know you told me.. that you wished you could join us on the front lines, back before the boss fight... It made me nervous to imagine you up there.. risking your life and all but.. If that was what you really wanted, I would have swallowed my pride and helped you.." 

The man's eyes rose from the top of Tel's head as he scanned the horizon around them. The two were still a bit of a walk from the artisan's shop, let alone the center of town. For the two of them, any sort of disturbance from a monster would only be a nuisance rather than a danger.. but Jomei would prefer if they didn't have to worry about that. "Come on Stel, lets head back home. We can talk more there." Placing his hands on Tel's shoulder's once again, he softly mover her head away from his chest so that he could look her in the eyes, offering a loving smile. 

Despite Jomei's forgiveness and love towards the girl was strong and genuine, the thought that she had lied to him for this long still burned in the back of his mind. He knew her intentions were nothing against him, and were only meant to protect him.. but it was a lie nonetheless. There was nothing that upset Jomei more than the feeling of being deceived or betrayed, especially in the case of those he instilled all of his trust in.. and there was no one he trusted more than Telrenya. In the end though, his feelings for her outshone how hurt he was, and he wouldn't let this get in the way of their future together. Slowly, Jomei's hands moved from her shoulders yet again, sliding down her arms to where her own hands hung. Once the back of his hand grazed against the knuckles of the blonde's, his hand slid just around her's, interlocking his fingers with hers. 

[Telrenya 0]

The feeling of Jomei's fingers gently grazing across the back of her neck sent a small tingle down her spine, and the chocolate eyes that were staring at his feet slowly closed with the repetitive, calming motions. As he spoke again, the girl's brows gently furrowed. She didn't want him to apologize. To think that he had done anything wrong or had any reason to fault himself for her actions. This whole situation was completely unfair to Jomei, and she still found it hard--nearly impossible--to believe that she should be so easily forgiven. She deserved to be yelled at, or so she told herself.

Jomei's careful movement pulled her eyes back to his, and the smile that he wore caused a tangle of emotion in her heart. The corner of her own mouth picked up the tiniest bit to return the gesture as she worked through the stinging guilt that wouldn't be leaving her anytime soon. With his suggestion for the two to return to their home in Taft, followed by his fingers entwining with hers, the blonde gave a nod as weak as her returned grip.

It was a long walk from the edge of the forest, to the main plaza of Delilah, to their home in Taft. The couple traveled mostly in silence, heavy thoughts still likely weighing down and occupying their minds the whole way. Telrenya's gaze still hung low even after they entered the calm townhouse, and it wasn't until a small orb of light formed at the center of her chest that Telrenya was snapped out of her partial trance. Willow's ethereal form slipped away from the girl, taking the liberty to float around the empty space in the hallway as the familiar had grown more comfortable in their home over time. With how drained and disparaged Telrenya felt, the small smile that formed on her lips was naturally a sad one. Of course Willow had been with her the whole time.

[Jomei 0]

Slowly, Telrenya and Jomei made their way from outside Delilah and up to their Eleventh Floor home without sharing a single word. The trip back felt much longer than usual, and Jomei only wished it had gone by faster. The silence allowed for negative thoughts from the argument prior to linger and grow as he thought the situation over again.  He was still in denial that this was even happening, that this was just all some bad dream, and that he was still sound asleep on the couch. Olive eyes clamped shut for a moment, hoping when they opened again, he would be staring at his ceiling. Of course, that was not the case, and the view offered to Jomei was the laid out stone street of Taft.

The latch of the door clicking into place within its frame as he pushed the door shut behind them was the first sound that Jomei had actually heard since leaving Delilah. Turning to face the rest of the hallway, Jomei watched as Willow appeared from the center of the blonde's chest and floated forward, already making its way into the living room before Jomei and Telrenya even had a chance to continue forward on their own. The small sight brought a little bit of joy to Jomei's mind, amidst the rest of the sadness and confusion he felt. Finally pushing forward, Jomei moved into the living room, bringing a hand up to open his menus. One at a time, the pieces of armor that placed upon Jomei's battle coat disappeared, as well as his knee high brown boots. Once his feet had carried him next to the cream colored couch, he let the long green coat slip off from his shoulders and past his arms, placing the green overcoat on the back of the seat. 

Feeling a bit more comfortable in the simple sleeveless turtleneck, the ginger began to make his way towards to kitchen, before losing the motivation to prepare tea for himself and Telrenya. With a heavy sigh pushing up from his chest, the man turned and rested his tailbone on one of the wooden stools that sat at the border between their kitchen and living room. He looked at the blonde with olive eyes weary from crying, "So.. what now?" Despite requesting the two move the conversation to the comfort of their home, words still escaped the man. In his own mind, he would not let this get in the way of their future together. However, the trust that he had put in her was slightly frayed from this development.. but he knew in time, it would become strong again. That was his own mind though.. he wanted to know where Tel stood in all of this.

 

[Telrenya 0]

The motions to unequip her shoes was practically second nature after entering the home, though she went a step further to remove the dark blazer of her uniform-esque outfit, leaving her upper half in the sleeveless button-up with the peach-colored ribbon still fixed around the base of her neck. Telrenya followed after him silently after dismissing her menus, lingering in the doorway of the living room before she pushed herself to take a couple more steps forward. She felt Jomei's eyes on her seconds later, and a knot of apprehension felt like it squirmed around inside of her while she picked hers up from the floorboards to meet them.

Just as the Irishman was lost for words, Telrenya could find none to answer him. She averted her gaze again, sliding it over the few pieces of furniture that sat nicely in the simple room while her brows naturally turned with the troubled expression she wore. "I... I don't know," She managed to start in a small voice. She would have moved herself to a couch, sat down and curled up while she tried to work through the aftermath of this whole messy situation, but in the end her nerves rooted her in place.

"You have every right to be mad." A hint of guilt was still tugging on the memory of his earlier apology. "And, I-I never should have yelled at you. This is all my fault, a-and I have no excuse for hurting you like this." Her shoulders fell as some of the tension they held released with her small, defeated voice. "I... I don't know what else to say. I don't know how to fix everything that I've broken."

[Jomei 0]

Lips pursed when Telrenya finally gathered the words to speak, claiming that Jomei had every right to be mad at her. There was no arguing there, she was right-- he had every right to be upset with the situation. Yet he chose to dismiss the anger to avoid making matters worse, and to work things out with the girl calmly. Instead, the man simply nodded his head, allowing Telrenya to continue with her thought. Once she had concluded, her body expressing as much defeat as her voice was, Jomei released a small exhale through his nostrils, fighting to keep eye contact. He never wanted to talk to the blonde as such, he never wanted to argue with her. How else would he get his point across though, than to be stern and state his piece. "Estelle.." he started, his voice small as he continued to gather his thoughts, "I'm.. not so much mad that you have been training on your own.. It, honestly brings me a little bit of relief to know that you wouldn't let me hold you back." Olive eyes darted from her for a moment as his bottom lip curled under the other to be gently gnawed. "I just.. wish you didn't lie to me. I-I put all of my trust in you.. and I just feel like with this you.. you really betrayed it."  

Jomei felt the own weight of his words as they came out, only imagining the guilt that it placed upon Telrenya. His eyes closed for a moment as he straightened out his back, looking back to her a bit more confidently, "But.. I still love you, and I can work to forgive you." Shoulders rose and fell with a small shrug, "I-I mean.. it could have been a lot worse. You could have been seeing someone else, or worse cheating on me with that Erin." he forced a small chuckle, again trying to lighten the mood a bit, "That.. probably would have been a lot uglier if that were the case." A tiny smile remained on Jomei's lips as he pushed himself from the stool, taking a few small steps in Telrenya's direction. "I can learn to look past this though.."

[Telrenya 0]

Her chest rose with a breath that wanted to spill a reaction from her when he made mention of holding her back for a second time. That wasn't true, she repeated in her mind. It wasn't that Jomei was stopping her from improving, and she didn't want him to think that it didn't mean the world to her that he wanted to protect her and keep her safe. Why was it so hard to put this mess of feelings into words?

She stood in apprehensive and guilt-ridden silence before Jomei voiced his unwavering love for her, though even those words left her heart twisting with conflict. Her eyes widened at the concept of her hiding an affair of some sort. When the redhead's name left his lips she could no longer help from pulling her chin back up and spilling her thoughts with a desperate voice. "I-I would never...!" She froze up with pursed lips as a chuckle followed the Irishman's words, and her cheeks lightly flushed with embarrassment as she dropped her gaze yet again.

Telrenya had only barely calmed since they came back home, and the girl forced her chocolate eyes back up to Jomei's face as he drew a bit closer. "I... I know I really messed up." Her voice nearly broke, and though it felt like she was fighting back even more tears there were no new beads of moisture pooling in her eyes. "And s-saying sorry doesn't mean anything, not for something like this... I don't want to lie, o-or keep secrets," Her blonde curls shifted against her shoulders as her head shook side to side with her denouncement of her own actions. "Not from you, Nick. Never again."

[Jomei 0]

Still standing a few paces away from the woman, Telrenya's eyes slowly rose to meet Jomei's. Her voice was weary and broken as she spoke, admitting to her fault yet again and telling Jomei that she did not want any of this, especially not to lie to him anymore. The ginger nodded his head, "Good.. I don't want you to think you have to lie to me ever.. You could always come to me with these things Stel.. I'd never judge you or be mad at you if you were truthful." As the man spoke, he continued to close the distance between himself and the blonde. A hand rose from his side, his palm gently pressing against the skin of Telrenya's cheek, still damp and warm from the hot tears that fell. His thumb caressed her cheekbone tenderly, forcing another small smile, hoping this one would do a bit more in getting her to do the same. 

His hand then led to her the space between her shoulder blades, as he led her to one of the cream couches in their living room. Sitting the girl down, the ginger retreated to the kitchen, as was his plan before, where he went through the familiar motions of preparing a kettle to make them tea. His eyes frequently darted from his task to the girl, to make sure that she was alright. Despite his own feelings, and distaste in what she did, the distressed look on her face pained him even more. With the whistle of the kettle, Jomei's attention turned back to the stove. Tapping the air in front of the stovetop, he turned off the burner, and poured the boiling liquid into two ceramic mugs. Taking one in each hand, he brought the drink over to Telrenya who sat on the couch, placing the other atop the wood table in front of them. 

[Telrenya 0]

"M-mm," She nodded in kind, a small bob of her head before the gentle feeling of his fingers grazing across the skin of her cheek lifted her gaze. His soothing touch, paired with another kind expression on his face, caused the corner of Telrenya's mouth to lift in a weak smile of her own.

His kindness never faltered as he led her to the couch, and Telrenya wouldn't protest as the weight of the prior day's dragon hunting, the emotional outbursts, the long-kept secrets had her sinking into her seat. Her hands rested in her lap, and the fingers of her right hand naturally found the emerald charm hanging from her other wrist. With what had become a nervous habit of hers, Telrenya turned the clover-shaped trinket over in her fingers and ran her thumb idly over her smooth surface. The familiar, repetative motions kept her distracted until Jomei returned to offer her a mug filled with tea that they came to enjoy together so often.

With a tiny thanks, her fingers tore away from their fidgeting to take the warm ceramic in both hands and hold it in front of her chest. She hoped that the man would take a seat beside her, though even after he had she still had trouble finding her voice. She hated how silent it still was between them, and yet she struggled to find the right words to put forward. "I feel terrible for doing this to you..." She managed to start in as small a voice as ever. "I... I know that you said it's okay, but..." Her brows knit for a moment with her own stubbornness. "I know that it's not, right now. But I, I want to make up for all this, somehow. I want to earn your trust again...everyone's trust." She tacked on, regarding the other members of their guild whom she had decieved, to varying degrees.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei lowered himself onto the couch aside the blonde, leaving a small bit of space between himself and Telrenya. The fingers of his left hand curled around the warm ceramic that housed his tea before bringing it over to sit atop his lap. As he brought the cup upwards towards his lips, Telrenya began again, expressing her guilt for putting Jomei in this situation. The ginger could not help but stop lifting his mug, his frown apparent as he stared down into the steaming, amber liquid with pain in his eyes. He could not bring himself to speak, even nod to let her know how he was truly feeling. Instead, he simply let out a long exhale through his nostrils, his shoulders dropping a few inches. "..You're right.." he admitted, "It does hurt, and it may take a bit for this to pass over but.. It'd be smarter to just not mope around about it, and get right to trying to move past it." The man finally brought his tea up the rest of the way towards his lips, taking a small sip. Olive eyes still stared down at the table in front of them, not able to turn to Telrenya at the moment. 

He had not even thought about the rest of the guild. They all knew about the mysterious Erin, but how many of them had met her while under the guise? Jomei figured he was not the only one. It was then that a memory he had pushed deep into his mind resurfaced, and his brows lowered in concern. On the fourth floor, during a meeting with Spencer, he had mentioned meeting 'Erin' before.. saying that she had red hair, rather than her usual black. "How many.." he started, before rewording his thoughts, "Did.. anyone else from the guild know.. who you really were under the mask?" 

[Telrenya 0]

Jomei's suggestion, as true as it was, felt almost impossible to achieve. At least right now, but who knew how long the unpleasant feelings floating between the two players might last? Telrenya's grip tightened ever-so-slighty around her cup, and she had to consciously stop her thumbs from idly grazing over the off-white surface in sporadic, fidgeting motions. She instead urged herself to take a small drink, almost having to force the liquid down with the lingering tightness residing in her chest and throat.

As she lowered her cup back down to rest above her lap, the blonde's shoulders grew rigid when he aired another question. How much worse would it make the situation to tell Jomei that other members of his guild--his friends--had been, at the very least, hiding the truth from him on her behalf? Once again, her hold on the mug settled between her hands grew stronger, though this time a bit more noticeably so. If there was ever a time for Telrenya to honor her complete honesty to the man, it was now.

She took in a deep breath to prepare herself for the words she didn't want to speak. "I... I asked Jevi for help. When I realized I was using someone else's name, and I got..scared that it would cause more problems. She helped me talk to Erin at first. A-and," Her chest twisted with apprehension as she continued, "Spencer...he ran into Erin somehow. I found them together, and, well, had to explain everything at that point. He...tried to talk some sense into me, but I didn't listen..." Her voice grew smaller as she admitted to not taking their friend's advice.

"I've ran into some of the others when I was...acting like that... But those were the only two who knew any of the truth." She was staring nervous holes in the surface of her tea, feeling a conflict of both the relief and apprehension that came from telling Jomei more of the truth.

[Jomei 0]

Jomei could not help but release nothing but a sigh of disappointment when Tel revealed that there were another two of their friends who kept her secret -- Jevi and Spencer. Though, he was not surprised by either of her answers. Jevi was the one who invited 'Erin' to the guild.. it did not shock him much that she would have actually had to invite the real Erin to get the name on the member list, while also planning the whole ordeal with Telrenya. Spencer, Jomei would not have expected, were it for his strange behavior and vague descriptions of the girl during their last meeting. The man's lips pursed as he chewed at the inside of his cheek, trying to come up with the words to say.. or even just how to fell in general. He was upset with them that they did not let Jomei knew.. two people that he could trust. However, at least Spencer had tried to talk sense into Telrenya.. get her to stop.. In the end, Telrenya really should have taken Spencer's advice and dropped the guise to save all of this trouble.

"Okay." Jomei finally spoke up with a single nod. He trusted her that they were the only two close enough to them that would know.. and he knew that she would not be foolish enough to lie again. Jomei found himself staring into the bottom of his cup through the thick amber liquid before bringing it back to his lips to take another sip. He only hoped that the soothing taste of the tea would calm his nerves, as well as Telrenya's.. though it wasn't working as well as he had hoped. Lowering the cup again, Jomei placed the ceramic mug upon the table, shaking his head. "I.. I don't really know what to say." Olive eyes finally found their way to Telrenya's eyes from his cup, just hoping to somehow find a solution to all of this in those chocolate brown eyes of hers. At this point, however, things were mostly out of his hands.. and that Telrenya would need to regain the bit of trust she lost in Jomei, as he would have to work to completely forgive her. 

[Telrenya 0]

She didn't know what kind of reaction she expected from the man. She hadn't actually expected him to get angry with her, or push the condemnation of her thoughts or actions. There had been much of that in the past hour alone, and it was all Telrenya could think about. Still, the single word surprised her the slightest bit. She wanted them to be able to talk normally again, for them to be having tea and relaxing together like they would any other day, but she knew well that wasn't going to be easy for either of them.

"Me neither." She whispered. Though she felt his olive gaze on her, she could only continue staring down at the cup in her hands, running the tips of her thumbs across the ceramic surface. The next few hours, days even, were going to be a struggle for the couple to return to their normal lives as they both tried to put this whole incident behind them.

Thread Complete!

• Telrenya: +4 SP, +900 col
• Jomei: +4 SP, +900 col