Three Points of View

"This place is loud…" Kemal's sleepy voice reached Azul's ears, who was carrying him on his back.

Azul's things have now been relocated to his arms to carry while Kemal clung onto his back, his head resting on the man's shoulder.

"It is! It's the city where I always bought the best supplies from for my ship." And so the rant began.

"Ship huh? So, you're a pirate?" Kemal chuckled to himself while Azul turned his head to him.

"What's that?" "Nevermind."

As they were roaming along the streets, Kemal noticed many curious things, some men had skin colours unlike any other while others were covered in fur. Some also had strange peculiarities, like horns, feathers, tails, or long ears like fantasy elves… even wings!

Beastmen? Fairies?

Some creatures were covered in scales while some only partially, of course, 'normal' looking people were still the majority. Kemal was shocked and confused at first, but quickly got used to it. He was a fantasy novel lover after all. This reminded him of a few he read before.

Now that Kemal finally took a closer look at Azul in the light, everything seemed to make a bit more sense. He was wearing more of an armor-like attire without any armor on.

Shorter pants, which barely reach past his knees, cross shaped belts across his chest to carry all his luggage, long sleeves and an exposed collar bone.

It's kinda hot. It suits his dark blue hair.. it's so dark it almost looked black during the night.

Out of instinct Kemal ran his fingers through the man's long mane, who immediately purred in response.

"Why is your hair so spiky?" Kemal's approving voice almost turned the man giddy.

"I got it from my father! He was a mighty warrior just like my Captain and his brother!"

"Go on.."

Azuls stepped slower as he leaned into Kemal's touch. "Well the captain is a dragon. With his brother, he took me into the ship since I showed promising abilities as a fire shifter."

Kemal grabbed his hair, pulling it lightly back causing Azul to stop. "Fire, with dark blue hair?"

"My Mother had hair as beautiful as the ocean and my father had hair as black as the night, it gave me this.. dark…. Blue...." Azul fell silent his eyes averting.

"It suits you." Kemal's voice rang soothingly.

Azul slowly turned to meet his eyes, the chestnut blooming with a message he couldn't quite decipher.

"It… does?" A spark returned to this man's eyes.

"So you're a fire bender?" "Fire shifter." "Shape.. shifter?" "You've truly never heard of it?"

Finally, this back and forth came to a stop as Azul picked up the pace once more.

"You know. I can shift into anything with my fire." Azul explained slowly while gesturing with his hand.

"Such as?" Kemal's curiosity finally piqued.

"Hmmm.. say anything."

"A dog?" "Yes" "a horse?" "Yes" "a bird?" "Yes." "a phoenix?" "I can be a fire bird, but not a phoenix." Finally Azul's abilities came to a limit.

"So phoenixes exist?" "You really don't know anything?"

Kemal shook his head in response.

"Well i- ah! We arrived!" Azul finally came to an official stop but when Kemal tried to get off, Azul shifted him back up.

"Stay on, I won't stop for long." Azul sounded pretty reassuring, reassuring enough for Kemal to scoot back on comfortably.

"A restaurant?" Kemal asked as Azul went into the bustling establishment.

The outside had already too much activity for him to take... A lot of the buildings looked foreign but all of them were made out of different kinds of wood and some even bamboo, not a single stone home?

At least not as far as Kemal could take.

Kemal began to look around while Azul sat him down.

"Wait here!"

"Hm."

Azul fled after Kemal's final response, leaving him alone on the table.

Looking around, the insides were rather bright, with lots of brown hues giving it a more of a calm welcome, the rustle and the bustle was easily ignored since Kemal was more curious about how the interior lights worked. They didn't look like candles since surrounding them with paper seemed like a fire hazard.

Lanterns? No, that doesn't make sense…

Kemal got lost in his thoughts when suddenly a man sat down on the opposite side of him.

"May I sit here?"

You already sat down…

Kemal stayed silent, his eyes never leaving the winged man in front of him.

He's got nice black eyes but the lack of pupils makes him scary. His wings are just as black, but made of feathers… What's his deal? A crow? But why is his hair white then.. it stands out like a sore thumb..

no, he's staring at me!

Kemal averts his gaze, clearly not comfortable with the death stare he received.

Don't piss me off.

"What do you want." Kemal's voice was harsh.

"Do you not know to look at another man's eyes when talking to them?"

"Worthy, men."

With that cold response something shifted in the man's hair that Kemal couldn't make out.

"Tell me something."

"Maybe."

"Why are you trying to get close to Azul."

Azul…

The Azul?

Kemal remembers it vividly. They could've arrived here sooner but Azul began to walk the bridge back a bit.

Kemal then pretended to wake up so Azul would turn back around.

He could hear it clearly. "Let's walk a bit longer…" Those words rang faintly through the sunrise when he turned around.

I think he doesn't understand who's really keeping who close.

"I don't know what you mean." Kemal's gaze fell on the man's eyebrows, almost looking him in the eyes.

The atmosphere tensed as the winged man's hands clenched into a fist.

"you don't know?" his voice hung low with a threat. "I don't know him.. I met him around town."

The man shifted uncomfortably while Kemal's eyes narrowed.

Were you watching us?

That wasn't a question he could outright ask, how could he? But he did hit the nail on the head.

The walk was not at all stressful, Azul carried him, fed him and gave him drinks. He was constantly talking and sometimes saying things that should've been said to a more trustable person.

Kemal was mostly quiet, a yeah here a mhm there, and an occasional question.

How long was he watching…

"Is there a point? Do you intend on paying for my next meal?" Kemal was curious now, why was he following Azul.

Before he could speak up a bit of his hair perked up.

EARS!

The man's wings spread widely and he stood, leaving for the doors without any more words. They swung with the wind while Kemal was left in thought.

Flying huh… Must be nice.

A ping of envy struck his heart but he soon found out why he took off in the first place. Azul returned with a smile and plates of food serving it to Kemal.

Taken aback, he scoots aside, making room for Azul to sit directly next to him.

"Try, you'll love it!"

Smells like chicken.

Kemal took a sniff here and there before picking up a fork.

He continued to pick at the food while Azul kept testing how close he could get to Kemal.

"Just don't have your hips touch mine"

It's settled. Azul's expression was hard to misinterpret compared to Kemals.

"Okay okay… what to say…" Azul began fidgeting while Kemal was waiting for him to finish his sentence.

—

"Do you like it?" a pair of puppy eyes was staring at the younger man who barely took a bite out of his meal.

"It tastes nice, what's the occasion?" the younger one asked.

"TODAY IS THE DAY YOU OPENED UP TO ME!"

"You remember that?"

"I also got you a gift…" the older man's voice turned conspicuous.

"Don't tell me… because I told you about my cat?"

The older man extends his hand out holding a small haze of blurr. "A ___?"

"I got you this ___ " "____"

"Do you like it?"

"I…"

—

"Hey! Are you okay?" Azul called out as Kemal's body was frozen.

A wave of dizziness took over but he kept himself composed.

"The food reminded me of home, I was surprised." With the lies coming so effortlessly, Kemal lied again.

"Really?" Azul's eyes lit up as the other took another bite. "Really."

He was admiring Kemal despite his torn appearance; each bite made him happier than the last.

Now that I think about it… I haven't seen what I look like.. I feel dirty.

His thoughts were getting blurry, his hand reaching to touch his pale cheeks it felt dry and rough... I wonder what my reflection will show.

"Is something the matter?" Azul's eyes were glowing, practically willing to follow Kemal's every whim.

"No, let's finish our meal and go on. I'm excited to meet your crew."

Azul perked up at Kemal's sudden suggestion. "Of Course!"