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Chesedonia's busy, and patrols must come through pretty often, because nobody seems to pay much attention to the one coming up the street now. Guy does his best to act like he's not freaked out -- he needs to just keep moving, figure out where Luke ended up and catch up to him before anything happens. But then the squad of Oracle Knights gets close, and Guy sees the man who's leading them, and for a second he can't breathe. He knows that face.
The knight meets his eyes and Guy thinks, what the hell, they're not in Kimlasca anymore. "Noah," he says.
Surprise widens the knight's eyes for half a second; Guy would have missed it if he hadn't been looking hard. "I'm sorry, I think you must be mistaking me for someone else," Noah says. How long has it been since Guy heard anyone speak with a Hod accent? "I am God General Gabranth."
Guy smiles weakly. "Sorry about that," he says. "You look like an old family friend."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Noah answers. He glances back at his troops. "I'm afraid I cannot stay to converse."
"Right," Guy says. "Don't let me keep you." He steps back to let them pass, and very carefully doesn't watch Noah all the way up the street.
He decides he'll stay the night in Chesedonia. It wouldn't do much good for him to drive himself to exhaustion before he even reaches Luke, would it? That's reason enough.
The knock at the door comes about an hour after sundown. Guy takes a few deep breaths to steady his nerves before he opens it.
"You look like your father," Noah says.
That's all it takes. Guy's throat feels tight. "Come in," he says, stepping back.
The second Guy closes the door, Noah goes down on one knee. "My lord," he says. "I beg your forgiveness. I knew not that you still lived, or I would have --"
"Stop it," Guy says, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling. "Get up. Please." When Noah stands, Guy hugs him hard, ignoring his startled noise. "I didn't know you made it out, either. Van never told me."
Noah returns the embrace cautiously. "You're -- you're in contact with the commandant?" he says. He sounds stunned.
"Yeah," Guy says. "He knows where to find me. Me and Pere -- he was the one who got me out, and looked after me when I was still little." He can feel Noah shift his weight, like maybe he wants to pull back, but Guy can't bring himself to let go just yet. He can remember watching from the window, in his room back on Hod, when Noah used to do combat drills with the castle guard. Noah and his brother -- but Guy doesn't ask that question; if there were any good news about Basch, Noah would say so.
After a few seconds, Noah gives up on resisting and leans back into him. "I'm sure he must have his reasons," he says. "But -- I wish the commandant had told me. To know that you still live -- to know that Hod's line is not extinguished --"
Guy hugs him tighter. "It's pretty great to see you, too," Guy says. "To think I still have a devoted knight after all these years...."
"Will you come with me, my lord?" Noah asks. "Will you join us?"
The thought is really tempting for a minute. "I can't," Guy says reluctantly. "I...need to be where I am."
"Of course," Noah says. "You must have your own part to play, as we all do." One of his hands strokes Guy's back slowly, comforting. "I look forward to the day our plan is accomplished, though. Now more than ever."
Guy bites his lip. "Right," he says. "Me too." There's a little of Hod creeping into his vowels, too -- he'll have to be careful about that when he goes back to Baticul. "Still going to yell at Van for not telling me about you.
Noah laughs softly, and that's one of the most gorgeous sounds Guy has ever heard. "As you wish," he says.
I wonder about that sometimes, Guy thinks but doesn't say. How much is Van not telling him? More than he thought, clearly.
No. He's not going to worry about that now. There's nothing he can do about it tonight. He turns his head, rubs his cheek against the stubble of Noah's jaw. Noah's breath catches audibly, and he holds on tighter. "Are you -- are you free tonight?" Guy asks. It's too sudden, he knows that, too sudden and too strange when they're both allies and strangers at the same time.
"I have to leave at first light," Noah says. "Our mission is crucial. But until then...." He shifts his weight, and Guy moves to meet him; the kiss is fierce, raw with both of their hunger.
It's just one night, and it's nothing like being able to go home. But it's something he can hold onto. He'll take it.