Water Valkies

Sei sat on the edge of the pier with Aurie. They'd been here over an hour now and he'd been having a great time. He felt happy with Aurie. She had a happy-go-lucky personality most of the time and it was contagious. Rip didn't seem too fond of her though. Sei frowned and shook his head clear of thoughts of Rip.
Aurie pushed herself up off the ground and stood up straight. She stretched her hands above her head and sighed before leaning forward into handstand and bringing her legs down over her head. She straightened up, returning herself into a standing position. The whole thing had been incredibly graceful.
"I like hanging out with you Sei." she said.
That was another thing Sei liked about Aurie, she was always open and never tiptoed around what she wanted to say.
"Same here." answered Sei, watching her fall easily into a row cartwheels.
"You're nicer than most people around here." she continued, her feet pointing towards the warm midday sun.
"Thanks." Sei replied bashfully as she returned to the end of the pier via walking on her hands. When she was two feet from Sei, she swung her legs down to meet the ground and sank to her knees in front of him.
"I like you Sei. I like you a lot."
And then she rushed to meet his warm lips.

The first thing Sei felt was shock. Then panic. Then revolted. By the time it was over he felt like everything was wrong and he almost cried.
She looked at him expectantly.
"Nothing huh?" she said before letting her shoulders drop.
Sei shook his head guiltily.
"Who is she?"
"Wh-who's who?" he stammered.
"I can understand if you don't like me Sei. I can get past that. But we get on great together. There's no reason why you shouldn't give us a shot. Except that there's someone else. So who is she?"
Her voice wasn't angry, just curious. He let out a sigh. He knew he could trust Aurie.
"It's not a girl." he admitted.
"Oh." she said. "Well now I feel better about being rejected."
Sei smirked sadly.
"What's his name?" she pressed.
He looked away.
"I can't."
"It'll make us both feel better."
She was right. Sei averted his gaze.
"It's Rip." he said hollowly.
"Oh."
There was silence for a second. Then she wrapped him in a tight hug.
"It'll be alright." she hushed as he began to sob.
* * *
Rip stood outside Sei's door. He wanted to apologise for being so cold earlier. He stopped hesitantly when he heard Sei's voice.
"-never guess what happened today Pheonix."
Rip frowned. he was on the phone to his friend Pheonix. Rip was wary of Pheonix. Then again, Rip was wary of all fire valkies. He'd tried to spy on him once. He'd been full sure Pheonix was a mole, part of a huge conspiracy, until Sei put a stop to it. He couldn't refuse Sei.
"Aurie kissed me."
Rip froze. Aureole kissed him? His blood boiled.
"What do you think I told her man? I said I didn't like girls, I figured she knew already."
Rip's heart kickstarted violently.
Sei likes boys.
Why did that make him happy? He cursed filthily and shoved open the door. Sei sat perfectly still and stared at Rip.
"I'll call you later Pheonix."