After the tragic fall of the first kite, Elliott offered Aiden the second one with the solemn face of a queen sending her best commander to a war they were already doomed to lose.
Aiden snatched it with the determination of a man who had been publicly humiliated once and was now hell-bent on extracting vengeance and restoring his honor.
He tried. He tried again. He ran with the broken dignity of a warrior who had nothing left to lose, desperate to make the wind pick up the kite. Once, it almost worked and it looked like the wind had finally taken pity on him- before the kite promptly tangling itself in a tree. And then it descended like a marionette with its strings cut.
Aiden glared at the kite as if it had personally betrayed him. Elliott sighed and patted his shoulder. They'd been at this for about forty minutes. The little girl from earlier was now flying two kites- one in each hand. Her gaze was fixed on Aiden with all the smugness of a wealthy duchess eating cake while the peasants starved. Snot-Face and Ice Cream Chin were still locked in their epic battle for aerial dominance.
"Maybe some other day-" Elliott started. It was clear this was going nowhere.
Aiden stubbornly shook his head. "No. You wanted to fly a kite. We're going to fly a kite. I'm close. The next try will be it," he said, with complete, very genuine confidence.
The next try was not it. Neither was the one after that. Nor the next.
Elliott was starting to consider physically dragging him away. "...It's been an hour, Aiden. Let it go. It's not happening."
Aiden gritted his teeth. "I can do it. I have to. It's just flying a stupid kite. Kids can do it. I should be able to too. And-" he paused, jaw tight, "you wanted to fly it. We're not leaving till it flies."
Elliott blinked. Oh. So that was the reason.
His chest felt warm. "Okay, maybe... let's ask someone. Better yet- those kids. They clearly know their stuff. If you ask nicely-"
"I don't ask nicely," Aiden cut in immediately, grumbling like the world's most stubborn mule.
Of course. The great prince and his ego.
Fine. If Aiden was the warrior, Elliott was the negotiator. He approached the kids with a bright smile, pulling his hood back so he wouldn't look intimidating. They wouldn't recognize him anyway. From his pocket, he pulled out a small bag of lotus-shaped candies- an impulse buy from earlier when he'd once again slipped away from Aiden in the crowd. Originally, he'd planned to share them with Aiden at sunset, but... priorities.
He turned to the nearest child, pretending to stare off into the distance. "Oh, I have all this candy... if only there were someone to give it to. Maybe in exchange for showing me how to fly a kite. If only there was an expert kite flyer who wanted my candy..."
The swarm was immediate. Aggressive. Like bees converging on the fool who just kicked their hive.
It only took five minutes. Five minutes of very detailed instructions from Mr. Snot Nose, and Aiden had the kite- after an entire hour of failure- high in the sky. It looked magnificent now, finally catching the sunlight. The golden paper shimmered, the sparkling tail snapping in the wind.
Snot Nose, chewing his candy like an old master puffing on a pipe, kept giving orders. "Tighten the thread- yeah, pull it back- now loosen it. It'll go higher. Like... a bird."
"That's not the eloquent comparison you think it is," Aiden muttered, but his grip was steady now. The kite stayed up.
Once it was stable, he turned to Elliott and extended the string. The real motive was obvious- it had never been entirely about his own pride. It had been about getting Elliott's kite in the air.
Elliott glanced at the string, momentarily confused. Aiden nudged it toward him. "Your turn. You wanted to fly it. Just hold the thread."
"Won't it drop?" Elliott asked, wary. He'd never touched a kite string in his life.
Aiden shook his head, faintly amused. "No. It won't drop. Not at this point. Don't be nervous- if I tied it to a tree right now, it would still stay up."
Elliott hesitated. "I just... don't want to ruin your hard work."
Aiden's laugh was soft. "It won't drop. And even if it did- I flew it for you anyway. If you hold the string for even a second, the work's worth it."
Elliott's cheeks flushed. He snatched the string with a muttered, "...shut up."
Aiden, suddenly feeling the same heat in his own face, looked away.
Mr. Snot Face, sensing the change in hands, stepped in again with more "expert" advice. Elliott followed his instructions carefully. The kite soared higher. Brighter. Like it was reaching for the sun itself.
Elliott's gaze stayed fixed on it. At some point, a wide smile had crept across his face. The sun lit his skin in a warm glow, his eyes shining as he looked skyward.
Aiden didn't look at the sky. He only looked at him.
This was the man he'd fallen for. Not the emperor. Just Elliott. Elliott, who cared enough to keep a promise made to a child years ago. Elliott, who could still smile despite the weight on his shoulders. Elliott, who made him believe heaven wasn't some higher realm- it was here, on earth, with him.
And in that moment, Aiden would give anything to keep Elliott like this. Happy. Smiling. Radiant.
Meanwhile, Elliott kept pulling and loosening the string, the kite climbing until it was only a speck in the sky. The kids watched in awe- sure, they were experts, but even they were impressed.
"Damn. You must be really blessed by the Sun God," Ice Cream Chin whispered reverently.
"You have no idea," Aiden muttered.
The rest of the kids nodded in solemn agreement. They believed it completely.
And for just a moment, Elliott wondered if maybe... he did too.
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