180 Pot Calling a Kettle Black

Tyr and Macha stood on the long gangplank that led up to the airship. A light snow was falling, and the ship had small piles of snow building up on the corners of the deck. The crew stood on the deck waiting for Lord Valois to board the ship. They all wore dark green matching uniforms with golden buttons.

Tyr bundled Macha up in a fluffy grey wolpertinger coat. The soft hairs of the coat tickled her cheeks as the wind blew. The clothing completely hid her figure, and she gave him a frown.

Since they were taking the airship during winter, Tyr did not want her to catch a cold. Being at a higher elevation meant that the temperature would be frigid. While he planned to keep her warm in the cabin, he still worried she would become cold whenever she walked about outside.

After making sure the coat was snugly tied around her, he draped a thick ao-ao wool blanket around her shoulders. The dark grey wool patted the fur down.

He lifted her chin, his green eyes searched hers, "Are you warm?"

Struggling free, Macha ran away from him, up to the ship. She ripped open the coat and the wool blanket fell onto the deck.

She flapped the lapels furiously. "I'm dying of heat! Stop layering so many wools and furs on me. I'm sweating beneath all of this despite it being winter."

While his concern was adorable, she could not take it anymore. His care was becoming too overbearing. If she let this continue, she would die from dehydration.

He picked up the heavy blanket from the deck. Some snow still clung to it, so he dusted off the powdery flakes.

In a stern voice, he explained, "I don't want you to get cold. The place we're going to is extremely frigid this time of year. You need to stay warm. You do realize it's much colder in the air during winter than at sea level, right?"

He extended his arm to return the blanket to her. The crisp salty wind blew and the dark grey blanket swung between them.

"I love you. I understand what you're saying, but we aren't in the air. Right now," she pointed to the ground with both hands, "we are practically at sea level. I'm too hot."

Macha pushed the blanket away. She laughed, feeling like she was the only sane person here, as she explained, "I swear, when I start to get cold, I'll take the blanket. But for now, I can't handle all these layers. I can barely move."

After saying this, she struggled out of the fur coat, two scarves, and a wool poncho that he had placed on her. She still wore a thin black scarf and a red tweed jacket.

"Here," she shoved the clothes into his outstretched arm. "I'll put them on when we take off."

"Macha..." he uttered her name slowly and full of warning. Before he could say anything else, she interrupted him.

"Don't Macha me. Look at you. You're the pot calling the kettle black. You only have one coat on. You aren't even wearing gloves or a scarf." She did not want to hear his hypocritical warnings when he did not even put a single scarf around his neck.

Aži snorted a little puff of smoke out of his nose. He scurried up the beautifully engraved mast. He realized why Tyr did not wear more layers but thought Macha's ire was funny.

In his opinion, his friend should have shown her how to weave spells a long time ago. Tyr continually put off teaching her magic that could be used without foci or talismans.

On the other hand, Macha should have gotten an ifrit talisman to help her stay warm, but no one ever told her these things. He knew for a fact that when Tyr first started adventuring, before he learned how to cast spells other than fighting spells, Tyr had used an ifrit talisman when traveling during winter.

Aži sighed and lamented about how not everyone was as reasonable as he was. Sometimes he felt people wasted their ability to speak. It seemed as if speaking made it easier for them to hide their true intentions. After being around Tyr and Macha for so long, he understood what his friend's real motivation was behind keeping the knowledge of spell-casting hidden.

Tyr spotted the judgemental gaze that Aži gave him and he shot the onyx wyvern a dirty look.

In English, he said, "You use ze phrase I do not understand again. What is zis kettle calling a pot black?" His accent was thick and he rolled his r's.

Macha clicked her tongue in frustration. She did not want to explain the saying at a time like this when they were in a disagreement.

Macha's eyes darted to the staff. She replied in English, "Forget it! I'll explain later. I don't wanna talk about this in front of them."

He switched back to Yenafocee and continued, "I'm using magic to keep myself warm. It doesn't require very much effort for me. I don't need to wear more than this."

Hearing him say he knew how to stay warm without layers made Macha bitter.

Her eyebrows came together and she brought her hands up, "Why don't you teach me how to do that then? What if I'm left stranded somewhere that is cold? You would regret that you didn't train me well."

She crossed her arms over her chest and stormed onto the airship.

The crew witnessed their boss arguing with his girlfriend. Despite wanting to laugh, they had to suppress their smiles. No one but elder Lady Valois ever talked back to him, so this was entertaining to watch.

Tyr noticed the staff avoid his gaze when he glanced in their direction. A few of them had grins on their faces and bowed deeply to hide their amusement.

He did not have time to deal with them. "Get to work," he growled while following Macha into the bedroom.

After closing the door, he threw the clothes on the table and ran his fingers through his hair. She had been asking about spells more and more lately.

"Macha, come on. I'll teach you how to do that spell, but you still have to wear more than one layer..."

He wanted to kick himself. This whole time he kept that spell a secret from her on purpose. It was selfish, but he wanted her to be forced to cuddle up next to him during the winter. She always complained about how cold it was for her. After complaining, she would always sit in his lap or come for a hug to warm herself up.