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Illuga had to admit, the buzz of alcohol was doing wonders to soothe his ongoing headache. He hadn't intended to come to the tavern to drink his worries away, it just sort of happened.
“Greetings, Young Master. My, what would the Starshyna think if he caught you moping at the bar?”
“Mr Flins.” Illuga greets curtly. He was not in the mood for the other's eccentrics today.
Flins takes it as his cue to plop down gracefully next to Illuga and even plucks his half-filled tankard out of his grasp.
“There seems to be something bothering you, Master Illuga. Do you want to share it with me?” Flins says, as he finishes Illuga’s drink in one go.
Illuga grumbles, though he doesn't do anything. They sit in silence for a few minutes, with Illuga growing increasingly fretful.
Finally he breaks and tilts his head towards the corner, where a band of knights were singing merry tunes and swinging around jugs of beer. Flins, who had been observing him all this time, followed his gaze.
“It's that Vice Captain of the knights. He’s getting under my skin.” Illuga sighs and rubs his throbbing forehead.
“How so?” Flins’ eyes were glowing with mirth.
“Well,” Illuga stops himself, “It's just, he keeps teasing me and flirting with me. You should know, he acts exactly like you!” Illuga finishes with a huff, leaning forward on the table and staring directly into the blank yellow orbs.
“Except he sounds much more sincere.” the last part was whispered.
Flins’ eyes widen comically, and he pauses with a bottle of Firewater halfway to his lips. “How you wound me, Young Master. I assure you, I am perfectly sincere in my flattery.”
“Ugh, I can barely handle one of you. And now Lohen comes to Nod Krai too and he sounds genuinely in love with me.” Illuga buries his hands into his now tangled hair.
“Is that a bad thing?” Flins had now forgone his wine, and asked in earnest.
“No.” Illuga whines into his palms, “But I’m not sure if that's how he usually acts. Besides, I don’t think I return his feelings.”
Flins raises an eyebrow skeptically, but says nothing.
He rises from his seat and Illuga shoots him a look of confusion.
“Let's find out if he really has feelings for you.” His eyes gleamed like the brightest gold. “And if you return them.” With that, he stepped past the threshold into the biting cold of Nod Krai air, leaving Illuga to pay for their drinks.
“What's the little nightingale doing here this late at night. Not scared of the dark?” Magenta eyes pierced his own, the intensity of it causing him to shrink.
“Who's this?” It shifted then, and narrowed at the sight of his colleague. Illuga snapped out of it then, and scrambled to introduce his companion.
“This is Mr Flins, he's one of the Lightkeepers.” Flins bowed in simple greeting.
“Ok, what are you two doing here at Favonius Keep so late at night then?” Lohen eyes them warily.
Illuga looks at Flins, who just shrugs helpfully. Great, he was putting him on spot again.
He clears his throat, hoping to sound more confident rather than a liar. “Well actually-”
Illuga yawns for the fifth time as he shuffles through the documents. He hadn't exactly wanted to be looking through Wild Hunt appearance reports tonight, but it was what he had blurted out at the spur of the moment, so he had no choice but to do the work that he was originally intending to do anyway.
The real culprit sat innocently next to him, staring blankly at the corner of the wall, having not touched his own papers at all. Illuga coughed into his fist, his stare directed at Flins.
Flins turns to him and leans in to whisper in his ear, “Young Master, might I ask, just what are we doing?”
“You said you wanted to come here to figure out if Lohen really does like me. Don't you dare start acting like it was my idea now.” Illuga practically hisses back.
“Shh, calm down. The answer is quite obvious no? However, if you want solid proof, shall I challenge Mr Lohen to a duel, to see if he's worthy of your love?” Flins moves to stand, though Illuga shuts him down quickly with a glare and a hand clamping down on his forearm.
Flins looks puzzled, and mutters quietly to Illuga, “Is that not what knights do for courtship?”
Illuga, despite himself, finds his anger lessened because his not-so-human colleague looks genuinely lost and Illuga was not good at staying mad at Flins for long.
Illuga sighs. “No, just- just go on to your patrol. I know yours is starting soon.”
“How flattering, the Young Master has my schedule memorised by heart.”
Illuga levels him with another glare and Flins hastily retreats into the moonlit night.
As Flins' footsteps faded into the distance, Lohen rounded the table and was swiftly pressed against Illuga's side.
“Are you two dating?” Lohen says, so close that his breathe fans onto Illuga’s neck.
“No. I wouldn’t dare.” Illuga’s face colours at the thought.
Lohen leans in even more and Illuga has to suppress a shudder at the feeling.
“Good.” His voice was low, bordering a growl.
“So can I kiss you?”
“WHAT?”
Illuga tried not to think so hard about the way he fled the scene last night after Lohen’s bold request. He was exhausted after his patrol and didn't want to combust in front of his squad members.
All he wanted to do now was to shower and collapse onto his bed.
“Hey there, beautiful.” The door slams shut once again with a resounding boom.
After a few seconds, the door creaks open, revealing the face of an exasperated Illuga.
“How did you get into my house?” He deadpans.
Lohen wears a lopsided grin, eyes raising lazily to meet Illuga’s eyes. “I broke in through the window.”
Illuga shuffled over, coat already discarded and fixed Lohen with a hard stare.
“Your little friend helped me.” He dangled a bronze key in his hand.
It looked exactly like the one Illuga had given Flins in case of emergencies. In fact, it probably was.
Illuga sat down at his dining table, now transformed with a red cloth draped over the edges, a burning scented wax candle and two pristinely made dishes. Lohen brightened up even more.
“Let's just get this..” he trails off, trying to think of any other word apart from ‘date’. “engagement over with.”
Lohen sends him a wolfish smirk and Illuga's heart flutters ever so slightly.
The date had been rather successful.
Case in point, he was struggling to breathe from the mouth pressed against his.
It has been a week at this point, and their relationship had quickly progressed from colleagues to comrades to friends to lovers. Time had passed so fast that it would have left Istaroth’s head spinning.
Illuga sighed contendedly, maybe he could let himself have this, just this once.
“Hey! Captain Illuga! What are you doing here at the Flagship again? Is my subordinate not treating you well? Need me to knock some sense into him?” Varka was approaching his table, with a heavy mug of beer in his hand.
“Grandmaster. Nothing of the sort. Lohen dropped by Piramida just yesterday.” Illuga greeted him with cheer.
“However,” his eyes narrow down to slits. “There is someone I need you to take care of.”
Varka looked caught off guard, before he chuckled good-naturedly like he always did.
“Who's bothering you?”
“It's someone we’re both acquainted with actually. You see, Mr Flins has been quite proud of himself for being the one to ‘set me up’. I just need you to tell him to tone it down a bit.”
“What makes you think that he would listen to me? He's not one of my troops.”
Illuga leaned in, even allowing himself a teasing smile. He really was getting influenced by Flins wasn't he?
“No, Mr Varka. I know that he will listen to you. Without a doubt.”
Varka is quiet at that, his face flushed from something that was not alcohol.
“Don't worry Grandmaster. Your secret is safe with me.”