Dissonanza

They were quiet when they arrived at Milan Malpensa Airport, quiet while Renato gave someone the keys to the car and an attendant helped load their luggage onto a cart, and they were quiet the whole long walk through the terminal to their gate. They both had a lot to think about.

Renato had explained the different Flame elements and how they worked. Then he casually mentioned that the British Isles were an agreed 'off-limits' area for the mafia- or more accurately, they were off-limits to all Flame actives. No one really knew why, but no Flame active ever came back out of the Isles if sent there- which some Families believed meant there was a group of powerful, territorial Flames in residence.

Harry's existence seemed to support that, so the only thing Renato really wanted to know was where and how Harry had learned to activate his Flames- and without ever learning what Flames were or that he was meant to form connections with other Flames.

He really seemed to have an issue with that part in particular, Harry's ignorance of Harmony, far more than Harry's ignorance of Flames in general.

There wasn't a good way to explain Hogwarts or his past, and no one ever believed him anyway- they either ended up thinking he was crazy, confused, or possibly drugged. Sometimes all three. So Harry did what he usually did when an explanation was required of him- he mixed truths.

He admitted that he had learned to do 'magic' in a school, one dedicated to teaching people how to use 'inborn powers' to make stuff happen. True. He told the man that this school didn't exist anymore and he couldn't find anyone he'd known from the school anywhere. Also true.

But those truths mixed together with the unspoken assumption that Harry was talking about this world only and so it all became a lie, one which seemed to genuinely disturb Renato given how worried the man seemed after Harry stopped talking.

By the end, Harry had a better idea of how Flames worked and why he could use the spells he did- as well as why they all affected him physically. He felt a little more secure in what he could do and how to work with the rules of this world.

But Renato seemed...lost.

Considering the Mafia was in control of all 'magic' in the world, hearing about a supposedly civilian school that taught random people how to use their Flames which then just up and disappeared- oh and Harry had sort of implied yesterday that all the people he cared about were dead, hadn't he?

Merlin, no wonder Renato was so upset. One wrong assumption Harry was encouraging basically threatened his entire world! He tried telling the man that he didn't need to worry, that 'no one was left' but Renato didn't appear appeased and stayed silent for the rest of the drive.

They didn't talk until they reached their Gate and walked right outside. Harry very rarely used mundane air travel- if his apparation didn't work, he much preferred flying himself, and if that didn't work, then he stayed on the ground as much as possible. He wasn't afraid of heights exactly, but his experience with airplanes skewed toward unpleasant and life-ending more often than he liked, and what they were heading for brought up every last one of those memories.

"Oh my god," Harry muttered under his breath in horror.

"Hmm?" Renato glanced at him briefly before turning a wide smile on an air hostess in a neat grey-blue uniform with a matching hat jauntily tilted to the side of her head. She didn't notice anything wrong, too distracted by Renato's handsome face, and cheerfully asked for their tickets. He handed them off, charmed the woman with a wink, then turned back to Harry.

"Impressive isn't it? It can go halfway around the world in less than 24 hours without stopping, and the ride's so smooth you hardly know you're in the air."

"It has propellers!" Harry pointed accusingly at the twin propellers on the wing beside them. He refused to acknowledge whatever nonsense was going on with the tail.

Renato gave him a weird look then grabbed his arm and dragged him up the stairs to the open cabin door, where another air hostess was waiting to direct them to their seats.

"Of course it has propellers, how the hell else would it be able to fly?" the man snarked as they were led all the way to the back of the plane.

"Oh my god," Harry repeated weakly. They walked right past a couple smoking in their seats with an ashtray on a little table between them. "We're going to die…."

The hostess smiled at them brightly and gestured them into a pair of wide beige seats with red cloth over the head rests. Harry balked and almost ran right off the plane when he realised the windows would allow him to see the wing ahead of them- and the propellers. So he'd at least get to watch when they exploded.

Renato charmed this hostess as well while he shoved Harry into his chair and sat down next to him.

"Relax," he said after she left them. "We already arrived last minute, I don't need you making a spectacle out of being in First Class for the first time!"

"Are you sure this plane is up to code?" Harry fidgeted with his belt as they waited for the air hostesses to go through the preflight safety instructions. "Can it actually cross the ocean?"

"It's just the Mediterranean," Renato muttered under his breath, though he looked at Harry with dawning realisation. "I told you this model can go halfway around the world without stopping. Calm down and quit drawing attention. You act like you've never flown before."

"I have!" Harry turned to glare but ended up flinching when the propellers caught and the engines came on one after the other with a series of bangs that turned into low humming. "I just, you know, I just usually have more control than this..."

Harry was trying desperately not to make a scene, but even if Renato thought he was a coward, how could he possibly calm down when the plane had propellers on its wings? They were moving, and they would be in the air soon, and the only thing between them and a quick, sudden death would be four bloody propellers!

"You'd need a private plane for that," Renato gave Harry an unreadable look. "With how quickly you country hop I just assumed you flew commercial before this."

"I have!" Harry took a deep breath. "I'd just feel better if I were flying on my own-"

Brooms were never this nerve wracking.

"-or at least knew who was flying us."

Or maybe if he knew the maintenance records of the plane they were in, down to the last oil change per engine and if anyone had checked the screws. Maybe the pilot's track record and previous times flying this route just for good measure.

"I just really, really, really hate not having any control in the air," Harry was starting to shake now, because the plane had turned onto the runway.

Renato might have tried to talk to him again, but then the plane started to speed up and a high pitched droning sound drowned out everything else as the engines churned and spun the propellers faster. Harry was pressed back in his seat as the momentum built, eyes clenched shut and ears stuffed with the whine of the engines pulling them forward. His stomach twisted when they jumped in the air for a brief moment before thudding back to earth, and still they seemed to be going faster.

Then they were in the air, and Harry could feel the weight of the whole world trying to drag them back to the ground as the plane slowly pushed higher and higher. He leaned forward, arms wrapped around his stomach as he tried not to vomit while he rode the feeling of being both weightless and crushed under an elephant until the plane twisted to the side as it circled toward its heading.

The feeling of being too heavy tugged him to the left and Harry clenched his eyes while his whole body shivered. Waiting for everything to settle was agonizing- waiting to find out if they would either drop like a rock or steady into a controlled drift. Neither one was good, as far as he was concerned, but both would at least be better than the horrid waiting to find out if the plane would really fly or not.

"So, private planes from now on," Renato said calmly next to him. "You really are afraid we'll fall."

"I told you-!"

"Ah, I know, you prefer being the one in control of the flying," Renato put a hand over his and pulled it out so he could slowly massage the back of it with firm strokes of his thumb. "I think I figured out why you wanted to travel on a ship."

"That has nothing to do with this!" Harry hissed. The plane banked again- seriously how many turns did the pilot need to get on course?- and Harry clenched his eyes shut with a whimper while his stomach did flip-flops.

"It's going to be fine," Renato said quietly. His thumb continued to stroke a circle over Harry's hand. "Planes don't go down that often, and even if you weren't paying attention, I memorised the hostess' instructions in case of a crash-"

"That nonsense is just to keep people from panicking!" Harry growled between his teeth. He couldn't feel anything outside of his twisting insides while his head heated up as if a fire was trying to burn its way out. "If we fall from this height, the chances of survival are practically zero!"

Renato didn't respond and Harry's head grew hotter the longer he thought about it. He'd crashed in planes before- both died and survived plane crashes before- and the worst part, the absolute worst part was how utterly powerless he was to stop it. He couldn't predict if a plane would fall, turbulence might lead to a crash or it might not, hell, there might be no turbulence before a sudden drop to oblivion. It took less time than you thought to hit the ground too- particularly when you were in free-fall with dozens of people screaming around you, confused, terrified, and crying desperately for something, anything, to save them.

But nothing could save anyone from a fall that high. Survival was based entirely on dumb luck and that was so very rare.

"I said I would stay with you," Harry whispered, head bowed as the heat and the nausea built. "I want to stay with you! What am I going to do if we crash and you die?"

"Wow."

Renato's voice sounded far off and flat, and Harry couldn't tell if that was because he had moved away or if he was just imagining it. His ears felt stuffed with cotton and his mouth was dry. He couldn't feel the man's hand on his own, but he wasn't sure he could feel his hand anymore anyway.

"I'm gonna guess you don't normally have a panic-attack every time you fly, right? You weren't at all anxious on the way here or in the airport, but still you don't really like flying, do you?"

Harry tried to answer, but he was shaking so hard and his whole face was scrunched so tight the only thing that came out was a low whine, forced through teeth that refused to move.

"You don't think you could save me if the plane crashes," Renato said from somewhere over his head. "You're afraid of losing me to some unpredictable danger, aren't you?"

Harry could only shake and shiver as sound escaped him and the heat kept building up until he was sure he was sweating out a flood.

"Thought so. This is partly my fault- I pushed the Harmony too fast, and I'm your first Guardian. So it's understandable you're on edge in a situation you normally feel unsafe in."

Renato's hand squeezed his so hard it felt like it might break.

"But you are getting something a little mixed up."

A hand around his chin forced Harry to slowly raise his head even though his eyes remained clenched tight. Renato spoke softly right into his ear, voice steady and so self-assured the words could never be doubted.

"If anything happens, I'm the one who'll be protecting you. Capisce?"

Harry wanted to believe that more than anything, but….

"If the plane falls, you can't do anything," Harry whispered. Renato put an arm over his shoulders and shook him.

"You have no idea what I can do," he said, and Harry could imagine the smirk on the man's face- sharp and so full of himself it was impossible to doubt he really could do anything. "Let me worry about this- you just have to look pretty, alright?"

Harry laughed weakly. "You can't," he protested. "I can't- I- I don't want to lose you."

"Eh!" Renato bumped him and pulled his head in to hold tight against his shoulder. "Do you really think something's gonna happen? I've heard Skies can predict things before they happen- are we really going to fall? I can still get us off, but I need to know now."

Harry sucked in a breath, not liking even thinking about it- though it was the only thing running through his mind over and over- and he really wanted off the plane, but even so….

"No," he whispered. "No, I just- I'm just being stupid. But I can't stop thinking about it- I can't lose you-!"

"Ah, I know," Renato said against his temple. "If I'd known you had a fear of flying, I'd have kept us on the ground."

"I'm not afraid of flying," Harry opened his eyes and glared blearily at the beige seats ahead of him. "I love flying, it's just- planes are-"

"Discomfort then. You don't like not being in control of the flying, huh?" Renato snorted. "I get it, and I know if you were alone you wouldn't be this bad."

"If I were alone?" Harry didn't like that thought at all, but Renato's fingers scratched his scalp lightly and he quieted.

"Yeah, I told you this was partly my fault." Renato sounded annoyed, smirk likely replaced with a frown. "Putting you in any situation where you feel even the slightest bit disconnected or threatened right after we harmonized is making you anxious and spiralling you into a damn mess of 'what-ifs' and fear of dissonance."

"Dissonance?"

"The fallout of broken harmony," Renato said. He tugged at Harry's hair and pressed his lips to the side of his head in a quick brush that couldn't quite be called a kiss but still felt as comforting. "If a Guardian or Sky get their Flames separated or one of them dies, they can fall into dissonance and...it's not exactly nice."

"Is that what's happening?"

"No!" Renato clicked his tongue and squeezed Harry's hand. "You're just on edge because your Flames are preparing to fight something off- because you don't feel secure enough to relax- and there's nothing for you to fight."

"I don't understand."

Renato looked down the aisle and behind them at the toilets and a back area. The air stewards and hostesses were nowhere to be seen, likely making preparations for the meal or movie. Likewise, across the aisle was only a tired looking business man in a single seat, and the other seats were so far ahead of them they could only hear their own excited chatter.

"You should know," Renato said quietly. "Harmonization usually takes months if not years. I told you we probably would have harmonized after a few months just doing what we were doing, remember?"

"Yeah." Harry frowned in confusion. "We weren't even spending that much time together though."

"Our Flames were." Renato snorted. "It's why it hurt to be apart- our Flames, particularly yours apparently, were stretching to stay in contact."

"But, you said my Flames never tried to force you-"

"They didn't." Renato ran a hand over Harry's back. "If they tried to force harmonization, they would have dragged my Flames back to you. Instead they reached out and let my Flames mingle as they wished. Easy harmonization after a few months.

"But I forced it," Renato grit his teeth, the hand still holding Harry's tightened again. "Your Flames were stretched thin from reaching out to mine, so that lightning bastard tried to make a hole for his own Flames to connect with yours. I pushed them out by forcing mine in his place and voila- instant harmonization."

"I'm glad it's with you," Harry said quickly. "We would have harmonized eventually anyway, and I'm glad it's you."

Renato snorted and gave him a fond look while he reached up to rub his head.

"In any case," he continued, tension seeping out until he ran his thumb over Harry's hand again." I don't know all the particulars about how harmonization works, but everyone knows Skies get anxious and overprotective of new Guardians. They keep them close, have to know where they are at all times, see them every day, preferably spend at least a couple hours if not more with them.

"It's well known to be a delicate time for both Skies and Guardians," Renato shrugged. "Though it can be hard to tell when it really starts since the traditional courting pattern mimics it, probably to ease that anxious reaction in Skies."

Renato was silent for a moment, he carefully rubbed a hand up and down Harry's back while still holding his hand tight. It did seem to help, since Harry had focused so much on Renato's voice he almost forgot where they were.

"Basically," the man continued, "since we harmonized so fast, you don't yet trust that I'm not going to just disappear or die on you. Honestly, I don't either- but I don't have any issues with flying. You do, so your Flames are going crazy because they sense a threat you can't do anything about."

A hostess walked to the head of the aisle by a wood divider just as a voice came over the speakers announcing the in flight movie and lunch options. Renato shifted and sat back, his hand holding Harry's switched for the one that had been rubbing his back.

They sat quietly as they waited for the hostess to reach them and ask which lunch they wanted. She gave them a mild look for the hand holding, but Renato won her over by implying Harry was a nervous flier and asked how soon they would be landing. Harry, still struggling to slow his heartbeat and with the brief waves of heat in his head that made him nauseous, decided he didn't care if some strange woman cooed at him like a toddler if it meant Renato would keep holding onto him.

"So you see," Renato continued quietly once she left with their order. "This is partly my fault. If we'd spent longer harmonizing, I'd have known not to stick you on a plane literally the day after."

"You couldn't have known if I didn't tell you," Harry said weakly. "And I'm not afraid of flying."

Renato turned to him, eyebrow raised, but didn't say anything. Of course Harry had to be shivering so hard it felt like he was vibrating.

"So, this is perfectly normal then?"

Renato let him change the subject and shrugged.

"As far as what I've inferred from observing harmonization in others, yes."

"Only from observation? Aren't there any books on this?"

Renato actually chuckled.

"Our sort are secretive and knowledge is an advantage no one wants to give up. If there are any books, they're kept in family. A contractor like me can only make careful guesses based on what I see.

"But don't worry," Renato gave Harry a confident grin. "My observation skills are top notch, and my job has had me keeping tabs on different Families for years. They all have their own quirks, but when it comes to this, they also all have the same basic trends."

"Oh. Okay."

Harry's forehead creased as he thought about that. He didn't want to say anything, but even though he knew the man had probably been looking for weaknesses in his targets, it sounded as though Renato had been keeping tabs specifically on harmonization practices.

"Of course it's unusual for Skies to travel during harmonization anyway, so this is doubly my mistake," Renato said with another shrug. "I didn't take harmonization tradition into consideration and I didn't take you into consideration."

"That's not true." Harry swallowed down a lump in his throat. "The only reason we're here is because you listened to what I wanted- you're getting us to a ship."

Renato clearly didn't agree with Harry's sentiment, but the hostess went by again, this time to the front to pull down a white screen. A voice came on overhead, announcing the movie and that lunch would be served between films. Harry shuddered as the lights dimmed, but gratefully yanked the blue curtains closed so he couldn't see out the windows any longer.

"Maybe you should try to sleep," Renato said quietly. "The flight will go faster that way."

"There is no way in hell I will ever be able to sleep on a plane," Harry muttered darkly.

"Well then you're stuck with the movie."

Everyone was stuck with the movie, Harry didn't say. There weren't any earphones so the sound came out of the overhead speakers, and the music that started playing for the credits was so dramatic there was no way Harry could have slept through it even if he weren't on a plane. But it did serve as a decent distraction from the flight, particularly after Renato started making snide comments about the plot and characters.

Of course a movie about spies and assassinations was sure to get at least some nitpicking from someone whose livelihood was based on sneakily killing people, and pretty soon Harry was focused more on Renato's increasingly scathing critique than the movie itself. Two hours passed before Harry knew it, and it was already time for lunch.

The meal passed well enough, Harry kept the curtains firmly closed even though others throughout the cabin opened theirs to admire the clouds while they ate. Renato chatted amiably with the hostesses when they came with drinks and dessert, and Harry concentrated on his voice and the food and made himself ignore every bump and shudder as the plane flew.

They were almost at the end and Harry had calmed down enough to visit the toilet without feeling like vomiting. But he was no longer as easily calmed by Renato either. They found that out when a hostess came around the seat to offer Harry his third coke of the flight and opened the curtain so he could "See the African continent come into view!"

Harry shrieked like a banshee at the unexpected sight of empty sky and clouds and Renato shoved the confused woman away before sliding the curtain closed again. They were the focus of all the cabin gossip and had landed squarely on the hostesses' bad side after that. The incident also set Renato himself on edge, until he was too tense to speak as soothingly to Harry as he did before. Each time he tried to calm Harry now only made him more anxious, which made Renato more anxious, and soon both of them were stewing in a tense cloud of nerves as they waited for the flight to land.

Eventually, Harry just huddled under a blanket and pretended they were on a very loud boat, while Renato sulked by his side and glared at anyone who walked by, until he got bored and requested something to read. That the hostesses were willing to give him, if only to stop him scaring the other guests wandering around the cabin.

"We're almost there," Renato told him as he flipped through the plane magazine. "Once we get clearance to land, we'll be on the ground before you know it."

Harry sighed and shifted under the blanket. He hated landings almost as much as take offs, but the thought of finally getting off the plane and walking on the ground made him perk up.

"How much longer?" he asked, poking his head out of the blanket to look over at Renato. The man glanced up from the magazine, a cigarette clenched tight in his teeth and the ashtray in his seat arm full of the remains of nearly a dozen others.

"Not long," Renato pulled the cigarette from his lips and let out a stream of smoke in a long breath. "Maybe thirty minutes to landing."

Harry shuddered. So much could happen in thirty minutes.

"Yeah, we are never flying commercial again," Renato said under his breath. "I don't even care if you're fine with it after the bond is settled. The service was terrible, and the seats are too far apart."

"Heh," Harry snorted. "That's what's bugging you?"

"You really have no idea how crazy you make me." Renato stabbed his cigarette butt in the ashtray before turning to Harry. "There's only one thing a Guardian is good for, and I can't do it!"

Renato sent a dark look after a hostess that passed by on the way to the intercom to announce the estimated landing time.

"I can't get you off the damn plane, I can't calm you down, and all these damn people keep looking at you and walking too close, and I can't stop that either because there's rules about civilians!" Renato was nearly spitting under his breath by the end, so Harry reached a hand out from under the blanket to grab his hand.

Renato startled at the touch but took a deep breath and closed his eyes. They sat quietly like that, holding hands for a few minutes, and Harry could feel warmth deep in his chest spreading out through his whole body. It was nice…then the captain announced their descent over the speakers.

️ ️ ️

"Never again," Renato muttered viciously when they got into their rental car outside the Cairo International Airport. "I don't care if we have to take a rowboat across the ocean, or walk over a mountain range- we are never flying commercial again."

"I'm sorry I got sick," Harry said miserably from the passenger seat. He was still feeling out of sorts and covered his eyes with a hand to block out the too bright sunlight.

"Tch," Renato glanced at him briefly before driving off the lot. "This has nothing to do with you getting sick. Like I said, the service was terrible, and I don't like how close all those strangers got to you!"

"It's not gonna be like this every time, is it?" Harry asked. "Being on planes is always awful, but I've never been sick before. It's just because we're new at this, right?"

Renato was silent, and Harry peeked out from under his hand at the man.

"Merda!" Renato hissed and clenched his fists on the wheel. "I don't know! I've never been a Guardian before, and the only way anyone finds out the proper way to do this is from a Family!"

"Oh." Harry winced and shifted awkwardly in his seat. "Sorry-"

"Don't apologize!" Renato snarled, then the next second he took a breath and let it out slowly. "I should know. You're the civilian, so I should know what to tell you- che cazzo! I've been using Flames for almost ten years! If all those testa di minchia bastardos weren't so tight-lipped about the important shit, I'd have known not to bring you on a plane, or to take you around random strangers, or- minchia!"

"Hey," Harry made himself sit up and swallow the nausea back. "This isn't your fault-"

"Minchiata it ain't!"

"It's not!" Harry said loudly. He glared at Renato until the man stopped his grumbling and stayed silent. "Look, it was my stupid suggestion that we travel, and on a boat no less, you were just trying to accommodate me. And sure, maybe you knew not to do anything too unsettling right after we just bonded and all, but how on earth could you have known that flying would make me react like that?"

Harry leaned back in his seat, frustrated beyond measure.

"I've never had any problem flying before!" he said angrily. "I guess, yeah, I don't really like airplane travel, but I've done it before with no issues. If I didn't know, how would you ever have known?"

Renato snorted, but didn't answer and eventually Harry started to drift off. All the stress from the flight, getting sick from how much the plane bounced upon finally landing, and walking through the heat over the runway from the plane to customs, then back out to a car rental had left Harry's head reeling. He felt bad for not doing anything to help Renato when he got their baggage collected, presented their passports- and since when did he get Harry's? he thought he'd lost it at Nadia's house- and now he was driving them two hours to Port Said.

Getting everything taken care of seemed to calm the man down, but Harry still hated how utterly useless he felt.

"It'll get better," Renato said decisively, waking Harry from his doze.

"Eh? Oh… how do you know?"

"Because there's no way in hell I'll accept any less."

Harry wasn't sure if he felt a thrill of admiration creep up his spine at that, or a shiver of dread. Renato's eyes glinted in the light, and for a heartbeat Harry was sure he saw his teeth do the same, but in a blink that faint smirk disappeared.

"Uh, I'm sure it's just the weird Flame bonding thing," Harry laughed hesitantly. "And we'll be on a boat anyway-"

"A ship."

"-so we don't have to worry about it for a while!"

"Heh." Renato didn't look like he'd laughed, but there was definitely a suggestion of a smile around his eyes even if his mouth stayed flat. "We'll see how it goes. Just remember, we'll be trapped at sea if you happen to have the same reaction. No escape."

"I do not have a problem with boats," Harry said with a sniff. "You can't just die suddenly if they crash."

"Nope, you die slowly. Drowning is a terrible way to go I hear."

"It's not going to, you said it's a cruise or something- it probably does this trip every year!"

"Three times a year actually, and ships definitely do sink just as often as planes crash."

"Bet not," Harry muttered.

"You're right," Renato sent him a smug glance. "Ships sink far more often than planes crash- there's standards for air travel, while any old Joe can take a boat out and get overturned in a storm."

"Oh, yes, because there's so many similarities between some common sloop and a cruise ship," Harry scoffed at him.

"But that's what you want to do, isn't it?" Renato sneered back, eyes dancing. "Just get a boat and sail away from all our problems?"

"It was just an idea!" Harry bit his lip and tried to frown. "And anyway, if I were in control of the boat, I wouldn't have to worry about some old Joe sinking us, would I?"

"You aren't going to be in any more control of the cruise ship than you were the plane," Renato reminded him and Harry tried to huff indignantly, but a chuckle slipped out of his mouth instead. Renato grinned. "Hope that won't be a problem for the next three weeks."

Harry gave up trying not to laugh and giggled helplessly until Renato finally cracked and chuckled softly with him. Then the man's words registered.

"Wait, three weeks?" he repeated. "It's going to take three whole weeks to get to Australia?"

"I'm not gonna say anything about air travel being better, 'cause I know how stupid that would be right now," Renato glanced at Harry out of the corner of his eye, a trace of the good humor they'd managed to create still holding on. "But did you really think taking a ship anywhere would be quick?"

"Well… no, but," Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Three weeks? With strangers?"

"Yep. And we're joining them after the port most of them got on at, so we'll be the center of gossip too."

"Oh god…," Harry slouched in his seat.

"Starting to regret your little plan already? We aren't even there yet!" Renato snorted and his eyes narrowed as he stared straight ahead while he drove. Harry wasn't sure he wanted to know what the man was thinking of now.

"I don't have any problems with boats, or with people in general." Harry crossed his arms and tried to glare. It was hopeless though, there was a strange, bubbling warmth all around him that made him almost dizzy with happiness. It must be the flames doing it, because otherwise Renato probably wouldn't have been laughing this much. "It's just… three weeks with the same people- and seeing them every day? I don't know if I can do that."

Renato was silent again, and this time it didn't feel playful.

"Still think you shouldn't be around anyone, huh?" he said finally. His hands were tight on the wheel again, though his face was placid.

Harry looked out the window. "No, that's not it. I just… I don't know."

Harry actually liked meeting people if he was honest, he liked people in general. But only if it was temporary. If he only saw them every day for a week at most, and then never again. It had been a pain having a job and neighbors in London until he saved up enough to finally leave- he didn't want to have even a passing acquaintance if he could help it.

"I think I'd rather just be alone with you," he said softly.

Renato hummed and glanced over at him. "We'll have a cabin, so at least there we can get away from anyone annoying."

Harry groaned. "Trust me, that doesn't help."

"Doesn't help?"

"People can get, er, weirdly attached to me," Harry admitted with a grimace. There was a lot best left forgotten wrapped up in that vague statement.

"Weirdly attached...sky attraction," Renato said, eyes widening in realization. "No wonder you run when someone shows any interest in you."

"Sky attraction?" Harry frowned. "I'm pretty sure I'm not to blame for people being weird."

"It's not-" Renato sucked in a breath. "I don't mean to say it's your fault people get weird around you, but...it is probably your Sky Flames pulling them in."

Harry was fairly certain he'd never had sky flames before coming to this world, but he was also sure that he'd never had a landlord cry over him not renewing his lease before either. He was not going to even think about how his coworkers had reacted to him quitting.

"Okay," he said slowly. "Is there any way to turn it off?"

Renato was silent for a full minute, his knuckles white on the wheel as he drove.

"I'm not sure. There should be- Mafia Dons sure don't have this problem- but, how Skies control their Flames is...something of a trade secret." He glanced over at Harry, almost shy all of a sudden. "And...to be honest, I've never met a Sky as strong as you before. Maybe they would have this problem if they were powerful enough?"

"Well, that's not a pleasant thought," Harry grimaced. He did not need anyone following after him like a lovesick puppy...except that was sort of what Renato had done, wasn't it? "There has to be a way to control it. You said people learn how to control their flames, so surely skies must learn to pull back on this, this attraction whatever!"

"Sure," Renato said soothingly. "I'm sure it won't be too hard. You already know how to use your Flames to some extent after all. So getting the sky attraction under control should be easy."

"Right…."

"We'll work on it on the ship."

"For three weeks…?"

"For three weeks." Renato grinned like a shark. "Or however long it takes you."

Harry sighed. "Aren't cruises supposed to be relaxing?"

"As if either of us has any expectation of that on this trip." Renato chuckled, and that bubbly warm feeling flooded through Harry's body again. "Maybe you should try to relax now, it might be your last chance for a good while."

Harry groaned. The man sounded like he was looking forward to whatever they were going to try to help him get control of these strange sky flames inside him. For some reason that worried him. A lot.

AN: Oh crap! I meant to post this for you guys on New Year's Day! Hehe, some of you may know I post first on Ao3, so posts here are usually late... though not usually this late. Well! Good news is no one on this site will have to wait long for the next chapter~ that should be out in the next month or so! Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!