When Zara called him an idiot and told him he "wasn't keeping promises or fulfilling his… duty(?)", something inside Elio snapped.
The pressure of leading the city, the eagerness to share his new discoveries, comparing himself to Fathoran, and now this... it was too much.
He stepped towards Zara, his eyes flashing dangerously, Ember bristling on his shoulder. "You have no right to judge me, Zara. You're nobody to tell me who I can or can't go out with."
The moment the words left his mouth, Elio knew he had gone too far. She was definitely "somebody" to him...
He saw the pain in Zara's eyes, Flare shrinking back as if physically struck, and a part of him wanted to take it back immediately.
'I didn't mean that,' he thought, his heart racing. 'I'm sorry, I...'
But his pride, his anger, wouldn't let him back down. Instead, the words kept flowing, each one more hurtful than the last.