[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ONd4lpK.png[/img][/center]
[color=00F8FE]Time: Night
Location: Edge of Lover’s Lake-Roman Ceremony
Interactions: Ari[@Tpartywithzombi][/color][hr]

[color=9FA1A4]Cal handed the bottle of whiskey back to Ari as she reached for it. Her hand, and its comforting warmth, held onto his shoulder. He wondered what made Ari dislike her shade of vibrant red. [color=00F8FE]“I used to think he’d like me better if I looked more like him.”[/color] He half-heartedly gestured to his own dark hair, so unlike Edin’s or his brother’s hair. 

Ari was quick to pull her hand away. [color=00F8FE]“Oh, I hereby decree that Lady Ari has permission to touch the royal shoulder.”[/color] He stifled a chuckle so as not to disturb the ceremony. [color=00F8FE]“But I hope you don’t think I’m that uptight that it needs said.”[/color] He added as Ari shared her thoughts on fire. Though her words slurred together, Callum followed them, his head nodding with their rhythm. He was fluent in inebriated speech and her drunken words held wisdom.  

[color=00F8FE]“Then may Sorian embody and be protected by the phoenix, loftiest of birds.”[/color] He whispered. 

[color=00F8FE]“People are like fires. Edin, a wildfire that destroys all in its path. But Roman, a fire that draws people in to settle and thrive around it. He makes incredible things in fires, sometimes deadly things, but always beautiful, always to serve a purpose.”[/color] Callum spoke softly and watched as Roman and Mina began their final song. 

[color=00F8FE]“And you, a fire that brings warmth on the coldest nights. I am lucky to have better fires near me.”[/color] Callum saw his own fire as one left out in the rain, caught in constant struggle not to be snuffed out, reliant on brighter flames to aid him when it dwindled to an ember unable to catch on waterlogged kindling. 

As Roman’s song built, its words unknown to Callum, but somehow it helped shoulder his burden. He felt a profound gratitude for the friends he had who easily shared what warmth and light they had that he did not have on his own. 

The real challenge remained; to build his fire up enough that it could help raze Sorian like a phoenix so that out of ashes it could rise towards something brighter. [/color]