Emil entered the captainsâ quarters, prepared to tell his brother what heâd meant to tell him days ago. It couldnât wait any longer. He had to do this now.
âUmâŚ.Lorenzo?â
Lorenzo turned his head. âYes?â
The blond thought about addressing this information more formally, but he decided to go with something more his style, simple and quick. âIâve been thinking aaand, Iâm not-- I donât think Iâve ever been really interested in women.â
âMe neither.â
This took Emil so off-guard, he assumed it was an auditory hallucination. He continued. âI prefer menâŚâ
âI have no preference.â
âWh--??â The lieutenant squinted. âSo⌠youâre okay with the whole âme liking menâ thing?â
Lorenzo didnât even look at him. âYou know, for the past few days I was thinking and, I always thought I was straight because I donât have an interest in men, but then I realized that when women expressed attraction toward me, I felt trapped and wanted nothing more than to be out of the situation. Is that weird?â
Emil rubbed the back of his neck. âI mean, III donât really feel that way. I like the attention, but Iâm not really into them the same way, you get it?â
âYes, you seem like that type.â
âWhatâs that supposed to mean??â Emil gave a faux-indignant huff. He then thought back on Lorenzoâs interactions with the girls he tried setting him up with. âBut⌠Now that I think about it, you did always look kinda uncomfortable in those situations... I never woulda guessed that was the reason why, though. My bad!â
âBut if I donât like men or women, what does that make me...?â
Emil couldnât believe he was having this conversation. He was overjoyed. âY-You still didnât answer my question though!â He waved. âTo answer yours, I guess youâd be asexual, or was it aromantic? You should probably ask Jun about it! They know more.â
âOh, thereâs actually a word for--?â The captain abruptly cleared his throat. âI was getting to you! Anyway, I was trying to say that now I get that you canât really choose what you like. I only thought you could because I thought everyone was like me.â
âI⌠had no idea.â Emil experienced a whirlwind of emotions. He couldnât stop laughing. Tears formed in his eyes. âPhewâŚThat was much easier than anticipated.â
âYou were that afraid to tell me?â
He looked away. âI know youâre more of a traditional guy, so I thought maybe you wouldnât be so thrilledâŚâ
Lorenzo thought for a moment. ââŚIâm sorry if I did anything to make you feel that way. ThoughâŚitâs good that you told me now instead of earlier or I probably wouldnât have been as understanding.â He looked toward Emil. âWhat made you tell me?â
âYouâre kind of the last person on the ship to know.â Emil scratched his hair, looking away. âI didnât want it to slip out from someone else and surprise you.â
âLast personâŚ?â The captain looked sad in a way. âThatâs understandable.â
âI feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me...â
Lorenzo looked toward his brother. âIâm glad.â
Nothing is said, but Emil screamed internally. It was a rarity to hear his brother express something like that so directly. So, even if he proved it in his own way, it was still nice to hear.