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As Everest was walking through the entrance of the palace, he had a smile on his face and a happy disposition about himself. A lot was on his mind, the thoughts ranging from all sorts of things. Sure the training he did today with his fellow paladins was grueling and left him quite exhausted, but it was the weekend so he had a chance to relax for a bit. While he was still sore, that didn't manage to dampen his spirit as he went to his room to unload his stuff. After stretching for a little bit, he decided to make his way downstairs to the kitchen to grab a snack.
On his way to the kitchen, he stopped as he noticed that someone was in the royal lounge room. Gently peering in, he saw that the person was his oldest sister, Violet. She was sitting in a chair, reading a book in content. Seeing that his sister was home, he decided to stop in for a minute to catch up with her. "Hey Vi! I didn't know you were home."
Looking up from her book, she smiled as she saw her little brother. "Hi, Ev. I actually came home earlier today. Cloud Tower was having an activities day, and the young witches were so unusually positive that after my activities that I lead were done, the staff above me said I could have the rest of the day off," she paused for a second, before changing the subject. "How was your paladin training today? You seem unusually happy afterwards."
"It was good, albeit a little tiring. I was actually just about to grab a snack and relax in my room for a bit."
"That sounds nice," Vi looked at the clock, before getting a little suspicious. "My, it's almost suppertime. I thought your paladin training only went till 3 today?"
"Wait, it is?" Everest turned to look at the clock, getting his own confirmation. "I must have lost track of time."
"Hmm, well mom said that you said you'd be home after training today. What were you doing for almost three hours?" Violet asked in concern, sitting up in her chair a bit and leaning forward. Being such a caring and compassionate woman, she couldn't help but get concerned when others were seemingly in trouble. It was part of what made her feel like an older sister figure to so many young teens, even if some found her to be overbearing at times.
Realizing that, Everest quickly tried to fib as his cheeks were starting to blush. "I was um, out taking a walk, to see if there was any potential trouble. That's it."
Raising a brow and crossing her arms, Violet noticed he was fibbing right away, especially with the "that's it" line she heard so many times from him before. "Ev, are you sure? Because you know that I can sense when people are lying. What were you really doing? The truth this time, please."
Knowing he'd been caught, Everest sighed as he decided it wouldn't be wise to lie again. "Promise you won't tell mom and dad when I tell you?"
"I promise, Ev. Unless it's something that I think they should be informed about, you have my word."
Taking this in, he closed the door before going closer to her. He chose his words carefully before telling her. "Vi, I was...seeing someone. Like, romantically?" he shook his head, knowing that his answer was vague. "I mean, well what I was trying to say was, I'm gay," Everest's cheeks grew hot as he became embarrassed at himself. "And I have a boyfriend. I was out seeing him."
"That's all it was? Ev, you don't have to hide that from me. If you don't mind me asking, why can't mom and dad know? You know they'd still love you anyway."
"I know, but truthfully I don't want anyone else to know about us yet."
"Well, why not?"
"Because...he's a specialist. And since the specialists and paladins are known to be rivals, I don't know how my teammates would react to me dating the "enemy". Besides, dad and I already aren't close enough as it is with me being a paladin, so I don't know how he would feel about the "specialist" part."
"Oh, Ev," Violet got up to give him a hug. "I'm sorry you feel that way. I'll keep this just between me and you, just like you asked. Okay?"
Returning the hug, Everest smiled as he gained his sister's support. "Yeah, thank you Vi."
"Anytime," Violet smiled back, feeling good knowing that her brother was happy. Even if he would prefer to keep his relationship as a secret, Violet vowed to always support her little brother no matter what with his secret. Sitting there in contented silence for a few seconds or so, another thought came to Violet. "So, who's this guy, by the way? Just so I know how to best help you if anything bad comes up."
"Oh, right. I should've mentioned his name," Everest realized, leaning in to whisper the name into her ear. even though it was not really necessary. "It's..."
"Really?" Violet pulled away to look at her brother, getting an awkward nod for an answer. "Wow, he's very handsome. Such a lucky guy to have you~"
Everest sighed lovingly, "Yeah, I know."
Glad that her little brother was happy now that he told his secret to one person, Violet took a quick glance at the clock. "Hey, since it's practically suppertime, do you want to make something quick instead and bring it up here to eat?"
"Yeah, that's sounds good. I should probably eat something anyway," Everest laughed, his stomach making a gurgling sound as confirmation. As the two made their way to the kitchen, they both thought about how close they were. Of course they loved their other siblings, but their bond has always been close enough to consider the other as a "favorite" sibling. Whether it was playful banter, or deep and serious conversations, they always had each other's back when it came to their respective problems they had to face. Afterall, nothing could be better than that in their eyes.