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A wild laugh echoes against the mountain walls of Kipumaki Cliff.
Lohen looks up at the darkened sky, arms spread out and still-recovering left leg (that he doesn't give the chance at a break) laying down in the most comfortable position. The muscle spasms a little, jolting another giggle out of him.
He really should let it recover properly. Too bad.
The remains of his enemies fades away into dust. He already forgot what he was even fighting. It was a stupid fight to pick, really. Not even that exciting. But his elevated heart rate brings him extra dopamine, at least.
I wanna see Illuga.
The thought springs into his mind, completely unbidden. He chuckles at himself; how many times has he seen the man already in the past two weeks back in Nod-Krai? (A lot. The answer is a lot.)
He picks himself up, the quick movement messing with his orientation sense again. He starts walking anyway, ignoring the stumbling.
The moon, pure in its reflection, is rising over the horizon.
Time to visit his birdie again.
✴︎✴︎✴︎
"Whaddya mean, 'he isn't here'?"
"I mean exactly what I said," sighs Anleifr, one of Illuga's squad members, "Captain always comes back later when it's his patrol rounds.We can never speak him out of it."
Huh. That's new. Then again, Lohen has never visited this late at night. His stomach still flips a little, though.
"You're welcome to wait for him in his quarters," the taller, buffer man offers nicely. The entirety of the Nightmare Orioles somehow knows about their Captain's new semi-established partner, despite Illuga himself never confirming anything.
Maybe Lohen makes it a bit too obvious.
He thanks Anleifr, then heads to Illuga's little slice of camp. He extracts the extra key Illuga tossed his way the second time he came back to find Lohen waiting outside his door, and enters the bland dormitory.
He sits on the desk; since Illuga's particular about the bed. It's not too long of a wait, and his nagging senses finally settle a little when he sees that familiar head of silver and maroon.
"What are you doing here?" Illuga sounds tired, but unsurprised at the same time.
"Where were you?" Lohen counters with a question of his own.
"I was patrolling. Why are you here?"
"This late out?" he ignores the question still.
"You're one to talk." Illuga mumbles, settling down at the desk and motioning for Lohen to get off.
Lohen gasps in mock offense, but the man got him there.
"What are you doing here?" Illuga repeats, pulling out an ink pen, "I still need to write up a report."
"What? Am I not allowed to come check on you anymore?" Lohen teases from above him, "I'll stay here until you go to bed."
Illuga mollifies at that, somewhat, but he still tells Lohen to keep a quiet vigil. Easier said than done, but he'd really do anything for his birdie. He hops out of Illuga's space and settles on the window.
A lantern burns away. Minutes pass by. The scratch of a pen fades to and forth into the night.
It's soothing; gracing a smile upon Lohen's lips. Not as soothing as the person writing, however. He loves being close to Illuga. It both quiets his mind and amplifies everything else he feels in his presence.
As if the man hears his thoughts, the scratching stops abruptly. "Lohen," the Lightkeeper calls out.
"Hm~?" he answers from his perch on the windowsill.
"It's late. You need sleep too. And do you really not have your own work to attend to?"
"Sure I do," Lohen snarks, "You. I hafta attend to you. And make sure you sleep at a decent hour. I'm perfectly fine."
His grin widens jubilantly when he hears the half-flustered, half-exasperated groan his little Lightkeeper lets out.
"You're unbelievable," Illuga gripes, not without a tall, healthy amount of affection, "Unbelievable."
"Unbelievably available, you mean." In two steps, Lohen is giggling right in front of Illuga's pretty face, bent over his desk.
Illuga deadpans up at him. "You might be available, but I'm not. The moon is literally halfway across the sky. And does your Grand Master even know you're shirking duties?"
"Varka is occupied with your tall, gloomy and handsome Lightkeeper friend," Lohen singsongs, giving suggestive eyebrows, "Doubt he's looking for wayward vice captains right now."
"Sir Flins?!" Illuga genuinely seems taken aback at that. Lohen smirks. Naive little thing.
"Who else? Y'know, I saw them getting all cozy at–"
Illuga splutters, cheeks blazing, "I don't need the details!"
Lohen sticks his tongue out. He watches Illuga's lovely blue-and-red eyes track the motion, just as he intended. If he can just distract his little birdie enough…
"Stop doing that. Lohen."
Too bad Illuga's way too smart for that. Lohen chuckles lowly. He loves the way his own name rolls out of the man's mouth. The timbre of his voice folds just so—
"Lohen."
—fuuuck.
"Are you even listening?"
"Sure, sure," Lohen is absolutely not listening, eyes caught instead on the scar peeking over Illuga's undershirt. What he'd give to see every last one of them littering the captain's body…he files that idea away for later. Illuga gets quite scary when he's pissed. (And hotter, but that's totally irrelevant at the moment.)
"I'll leave you alone," Lohen raises his hands in surrender, eyes forming crescents, "Spar tomorrow?"
"…Not tomorrow," at least he sounds apologetic, "But the day after?"
Lohen grins. Good enough. He still chooses to tease further, though. "Aww, what, don't want my company for the night? Getting rid of me already? I just got here."
Illuga glares (and Lohen's insides burn). "I'll see you after tomorrow, Lohen." A very final tone.
"Party pooper," Lohen mutters half-teasingly, half-petulantly. He doesn't argue further, though, recognizing the need for rest. The visit did him a lot of good, either way. They always do.
…On second thought, he could head in a very different direction tonight to find some other entertainment—
"Let Erminie know that I'll collect her updates tomorrow morning."
Lohen sighs forlornly, murmuring an agreement and turning towards the door. In Illuga speech, that basically translates into 'don't you dare wander off the main road, especially this late at night'. Sometimes, he wonders how Illuga reads him so easily. Then at others, he remembers that his emotions are often displayed like the words on a page across his face, for everyone to see. It's just that they're mostly nasty ones for his subordinates, is all.
Illuga has simply learned to read a lot more of him. Since he lets it happen.
Lohen looks back at the Lightkeeper Captain. Somehow, the little bird found his way to his heart and made a nest there. He thought it'd be dead, really. He never expected it to beat for anything other than the thrill of battle.
Lohen twists to face Illuga again, leaning his head over a little. A question in his eyes.
Illuga rolls his at the knight's antics, and flushes a little, but presses a quick kiss near his jaw—the only place he can reach while sitting. "Sleep well," he murmurs.
And if that doesn't get Lohen going—but he reigns himself in. Another time. He's still itching to kiss the man properly, but he'll wield all the patience in the world if it's him. He flashes two rows of sparkling teeth at Illuga. "Sweet dreams, birdie."
A fond huff reaches his ears before he closes the door behind him on the way out.
✴︎✴︎✴︎
Swing. Dodge. Stab.
The rush of the spar engulfs him entirely and he looses himself in this dance between sharp nightingale and mad hare. Every fight with Illuga is different, and he loves everything about it.
It's the rapid responses the Lightkeeper has to any backhanded move Lohen pulls mid-fighting. Like the eighteen hidden daggers on his person. Knife in one hand and polearm in the other isn't easy to manage either, but he's experienced enough to pull it off.
He opts to throw the one currently in his left hand, not pausing to seeing if it lands and immediately pulls out a second one from his thigh strap. Not the poisoned one, though, because he would never do that to Illuga. Not yet, anyway. Besides, he's probably resistant to a few—
"Woah!" Lohen interrupts his own thoughts by sliding downwards in an evasive maneuver to not get impaled by the very sharp weapon coming his way.
As much as he would've liked feeling a bit of skin breaking today; it's first hit wins. And Illuga has admittedly had too many wins over him already.
He's aiming to correct that.
He throws another, and another, but every single one fails to meet its mark and instead lodge themselves into the earth somewhere behind Illuga.
A flash of silver and maroon, and the Lightkeeper is up in his face again.
The flush on Lohen's cheek deepens, and his gaze lowers. Illuga's very distracting without his outer brown coat and cream-coloured turtleneck. All he has on is the tight, black undershirt that no one ever sees. Is he doing that on purpose? He must be.
The man is well built; you wouldn't be able to tell with his usual garb. Lithe muscles flex and unflex as he wields his polearm like some otherworldly being. A litany of scars run down both, and Lohen wants to know every single story behind them—he wants to show his own off, too.
Call it competitiveness.
Unfortunately, all it takes is the second Lohen's mind is over-occupied for Illuga to press his advantage.
Whipping his spear in a downwards arc, Lohan steps aside to avoid it, but it's fruitless: Illuga rapidly launches himself towards him, using momentum to bring Lohen down. A hand grabs the rubber strappings near his collar and pulls—Illuga is strong.
The reminder crackles beneath his skin pleasantly, and his legs cease to cooperate. Lohen feels gravity pulling him down.
Hah. Beaten by his own tricks.
He gets pinned to the ground, and static runs up his spine and down his limbs, as it often does whenever Illuga overpowers him. It's fortunately-unfortunately often. Ehh, he debates it internally, leaning on the fortunate side. He relishes the shivery feeling. Illuga's fingers near his throat.
How he wishes they were closed around it—
Too soon, Illuga lets go and allows him mobility again.
"Cheater," Lohen grumbles good-naturedly as he sits up.
"What was that?" Illuga calls, getting water.
"Chea-ter," he enunciates purposefully loudly, getting back on his feet and tilting his head both ways. "Ack—" He gets a full glass bottle to the chest for his troubles, catching it before it can break into pieces at his feet. "Ohh, harsh. That could've killed me."
Illuga snorts into his drink, "Would not have."
"Would too~"
"No."
Lohen grins, and bends down to pick up his stray weapons all over the sparring grounds. He feels Illuga's eyes on him as he straps them back to their respective places.
"Go on," he urges, "Ask."
Illuga blinks, "Huh?"
"Wonderin' how I carry all of these?"
"…Maybe."
Lohen winks, "I'll let you strip all of 'em off me sometime. Remind me!" He leaves Illuga spluttering behind him, waving a hand, "I'm off for patrol, birdie!"
He isn't, but he can make a route up, even if there's not much enemies to patrol for.
Wild Hunt numbers have been steadily dwindling, to nobody's misery but his own. It'll be a while before the usual targets make their way to Nod-Krai. Hillichurl types are surprisingly unfond of the Hunt's energy, but now that it's slowly dissipating, they'll probably move back in soon enough.
Not soon enough for him, though. He'll be bored out of his mind. Maybe he can find—a hand grabs onto his wrist. Lohen swivels back, meeting blue eyes with rings of red.
"Sorry, I…" Illuga looks off to the side, face dusting with the colour of embarrassment, "Are you free this weekend?"
Lohen doesn't miss a beat, "I'm always free for you."
Is this what he thinks it is? Anticipation bubbles in his stomach.
"Want to come with me to Nasha Town? I have to get some things."
"Aww, that's it?" Lohen fake pouts, "Errands for our first official date? How sad."
He knows that Illuga can see through the whiny act. "Dinner, then," the Lightkeeper adds anyway, slipping his fingers between his and squeezing once.
"It'd be my pleasure, birdie," Lohen lets his eyes form crescents, squeezing the warm hand in return.
One thought flashes at the forefront of his busy mind: he can finally stake his official claim on this man. He's been itching to do that since their first encounter, but found himself willing to go at Illuga's slower, measured pace. If you told him this last year, he would've laughed his ass to Celestia and back.
May times never stop changing.
They brought him to Illuga, after all.
Lohen sets out—time to find some monsters to work off his excitement for the weekend.
✴︎✴︎✴︎
Nasha Town, despite Lohen's grievances about the errands, is actually quite the novel experience. He forgets that he rarely set foot here during his stay in Nod-Krai. It's quite the festive atmosphere, somehow. Busy. Someone's always running, and there's always information traveling from mouth to ear.
It reminds him of Mond, somewhat.
At this thought, he turns to Illuga, who's staring at different cuts of fish from the port.
"Hey, birdie. You should visit me in Mondstadt someday, once I head back."
The Lightkeeper turns to him, hair sweeping into his eyes, "What brought that on?"
"Oh, nothing," Lohen hums airily, "Just an idea. No need to take me up for it." He'd simply coerce Varka into letting him stay here longer, then. Not like Mond currently needs him, or the Ranged Company, for that matter.
"I'd like that," Illuga mutters after a beat.
Lohen dips his head in half a nod. He gets the feeling. Illuga's been here his whole life, no doubt. Leaving, even on a trip, is no small matter. But the man deserves it. It's his choice, in the end.
Distracted, Lohen keeps an eye on a shifty-looking person nearby, but Illuga asks for his attention again; gently tapping on his shoulder.
"Which cut do you think Sir Flins will like better?"
Nothing else would've made Lohen whirl around faster. "Hm? Thinking about other men while we're on a date, birdie?" He lets his tone slip into dangerous waters, but Illuga's having none of it.
"You know I visit his island regularly," the silver-haired man points out, "I'm simply looking after him, is all."
Lohen smiles benignly, "Of course, of course." He looks at the fillets laid out on ice, "The left one, then. It looks better."
"I was thinking the same," Illuga agrees, and hails the vendor over.
Lohen stands off to the side, "I'm getting Varka to do it next time," he mutters murderously to himself. Besides, 1000 mora for a single cut of fish is just ridiculous. The Nod-Krai native species can't be that sought after.
Illuga adjusts his bag, joining him; and on their way they go again.
"Want me to carry it?" Lohen offers, to be polite.
Illuga smiles, "It's alright, don't worry. Thank you for offering."
"But I can't hold your hand like this."
"Walk on my right, then."
"But I don't like holding hands with my left hand."
Illuga sighs, and switches his carrying arm to free up his left hand. He offers it up, raising an eyebrow when Lohen just stares. He's actually feeding his whims. The Knight picks it up gracefully, bringing the (unfortunately) gloved knuckles up to his lips.
"Lohen," Illuga seizes up faintly.
Oh, he doesn't know how cute and beautiful he is. "Couldn't help myself, birdie, sorry."
He really isn't sorry. He really, really wants to kiss the other man, but everything else he also wants to do in succession isn't…decorous, in a public setting. To say the least. He gets a flash of a feeling; Illuga's fingers near his neck. And he imagines them around his waist, and—no fantasizing in the middle of the street, brain.
Lohen lets Illuga drag him around the upper roads of Nasha Town to visit two more places before the sun's on its merry way down the horizon line.
"Alright," Illuga says, "Where would you like dinner? Speranza? Or the Flagship?"
Lohen deliberates on the choices for a few seconds. "I heard the Flagship has better booze. Isn't Speranza run by children or something?"
"The Conch Gang," the Lightkeeper corrects him, "The owner takes the kids in and provides them food, shelter, work. She's very lovely." A pause. Then: "You drink a lot?"
"Nah, only once in a while. I like how it feels, though," Lohen muses.
Illuga scrunches his nose, "What, being drunk?"
"Tipsy, yeah."
"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me at all."
Lohen smirks. "Bet you'd love to see that, huh? Flagship it is, then."
The sunset paints everything over with a warm, orange glow, and they make their way over together: they're at the other end of the town, after all. Evening is an interesting time in Nod-Krai. Not exactly nighttime, when danger scales up, but no longer the busy, bustling daytime.
The Flagship is quieter than usual, or maybe that's because Lohen has only been here twice with the rowdiest drinkers this side of Teyvat (read: Mond Knights).
"Oh, Illuga, darling!"
Lohen startles at the appellation, cracking his neck with the speed he turns to spot an admittedly stunning blonde woman striding towards them, heels clicking, dress swishing and a prettily wrapped gift box in hand.
Something curls unpleasantly in the pit of his stomach. Is it wrong to make any kind of assumptions already? Maybe she's a pretty cousin. I wouldn't know.
Their hands are still linked together, at least. He eyes Illuga's reaction carefully. The man's eyebrows raise in recognition and the corners of his mouth quirk up in a smile that looks much too sweet.
Those smiles should be directed at him—before he can seethe further about it, the lady, mannerisms very Fontainesque, addresses them from closer.
"It's so rare to see your here outside of our games!" the well-dressed woman turns to Lohen, "And who might this be? Another friend, Illuga? You really should invite him next time for Tabletop Troupe! We could always use more players."
Very bright, very cheery. Maybe that's what Illuga wants in a woman. Hmph. Lohen waves the thought away, and presses a hand to his chest before Illuga can do the honours.
"Vice Captain Lohen, of the Knights of Favonius' Ranged Company, at your service, miss…?"
"Navia Caspar," she responds in kind, giving a light curtsy, holding on to her giant fashion statement of a hat, "But you may call me Navia. A friend of Illuga's is a friend of mine!"
"Mhm. Pleasure, Miss Caspar," he drawls out. He feels Illuga's frown coming his way.
Navia barely notices the iciness, handing out the box. "Here, I needed an opportunity to give you these, Illuga."
"Uh, what're these for, exac—"
"Ep ep!" Navia tuts, winking, "Surprise goodies! I'm actually not supposed to be spreading these around, but I just had to get you these. Keep the lid on until you're feeling up for a snack, you'll understand why! Enjoy them with Mr. Lohen!"
And with that, Navia gives a short farewell curtsy and turns on her heel.
"I wonder what's in here…"
Lohen doesn't hear Illuga's musings, choosing instead to glare holes in the retreating woman's backside. He still wants to know exactly what her relationship with his birdie is. What was the thing she mentioned? Tabletop Troupe?
"Lohen."
"Hm~?"
"Stop staring after her like that."
"Like what?"
"She has a partner," Illuga enunciates every single word carefully, as if Lohen wouldn't understand otherwise. The man grabs him by the shoulders and turns him a fraction to the left; Navia returns to a table occupied by a purple-haired, stoic-faced dame. Uptight. Complimentary vibes.
Lohen immediately brightens tenfold, "Oh, then it's no problem! They look good together." And absolutely relishes the eye roll he gets in response. Illuga's so cute.
He's mine. And no one else's. And let the winds carry this declaration.
✴︎✴︎✴︎
The world tilts on its axis around him. The plush of the sofa beneath him disappears, and he's weightless. It's both trippy and feels nice. Does he remember getting here? Barely. He recalls being upset about something earlier, but that particular nagging is wholly gone now. Floating somewhere up there, unimportant.
Lohen knows he ate something. It was savoury. Illuga shared some of his meal too. He forgot the dish names. Who cares? It tasted good.
He feels just a tad dizzy. Just how he likes his drunkenness. The drink he got (that he also forgot the name of already) wasn't even that strong anyway.
And Illuga, responsible little bird, got something non-alcoholic. It's a warm drink, still steaming from the mug he's holding. Hot chocolate?
Adorable.
Adorable, adorable, adorable. He's so—
"Lohen?"
"Yeah, birdie?"
"Are you alright?"
"'M fine," he drawls, dragging it out. He really is. But the concern is cute.
"It's a valid concern," Illuga frowns, brushing a finger up and down his mug of hot cocoa. Lohen realizes he said that part out loud. Oops.
"It was just one cup, Illuga, don't worry. I know who I am, who you are, and what I'm doing. And where I am. And what I do!" Not the order he meant to get that out, but that's fine.
"What about me, what do I do?"
Lohen squints sideways at Illuga, trying to dissect if that was meant to be teasing or if it's a genuine, testing question. He decides for chaos. "You, dearest, do things to my heart. Unspeakable, really. Life-altering. Showstopping. Ya catch my drift?" He crawls closer with every word. Illuga's too far away.
The latter doesn't seem to think so, and inches away as steadily as Lohen approaches him. The silver-haired man looks away, cheeks heating up very obviously. "Don't know why I even asked."
"Really? Can't think of any reason?" Lohen leans closer. Still too far.
"No. Stop fishing for it," Illuga does his best to conserve his space, but it proves difficult with the arm of the admittedly large sofa right behind him. The Lightkeeper averts his pretty eyes again, "You're not drunk at all, are you?"
"Come now, birdie, what sort of preconceived notions do you have of drunkness?" Lohen grins, "Don't you know that Mondstaters handle their liquor quite well?"
"I'm not prone to stereotyping, no. Plus, didn't Ekbert pass out after one glass of dandelion wine once? You're the one who told me that."
"Hm? Oh, did I? Must've forgotten, then, my bad~" he tilts his head, hair falling over his eyes, and earring dangling at an angle.
Illuga blinks at him from beneath his own bangs. Lohen snakes an arm near Illuga's waist, half-pinning him to the sofa arm. "Aren't you uncomfortable in that coat, Captain?" he purrs, trailing his other hand into the fur lining of Illuga's collar.
"Wait, Lohen-"
He halts his movements. He waits, expression neutral and right hand still on Illuga's chest as the man struggles to find his words.
"You're- You're drunk right now," Illuga intones softly, "I don't want…"
He trails off, but Lohen gets the gist. And he laughs, because that answer is just so Illuga. He was scared for a second, there.
"Don't worry, birdie," he pats Illuga comfortingly on the chest, "Nothin' serious. I wanna be fully sober for our first time too."
That only makes Illuga splutter more. Lohen giggles wildly, climbing onto the sofa (and, subsequently, onto Illuga).
"Doesn't mean kissing is out of the running, is it?"
"I- Wait," Illuga shakes his head, and pushes Lohen back. Confusion floods his already spinning head.
"Where're you-"
Illuga rushes away to… go to the bar? Lohen stares uncomprehendingly as the Lightkeeper converses in a harried hush with Demyan, who laughs and nods at whatever Illuga is saying. His hand is still hanging frozen in midair when Illuga comes back.
"Can you walk?"
"Huh??"
"Can you-" Illuga cuts himself off, "Never mind, come on."
That's all the warning Lohen gets before Illuga has a hand around his back and threads his other arm beneath his knees, pulling him off the couch. Lohen lets out a yelp, that turns into a laugh as he quickly clasps his arms around the Lightkeeper's neck.
"Getting bold, are we?" he murmurs into the shell of Illuga's ear.
"Only because you're shameless bastard."
"You love it, though."
No answer to that one, but Illuga does smile and tighten his hold on him a little tighter.
They must be quite the sight, two high-ranking captains of different factions heading off into the building, in the position they're in. For all Illuga acts like publicly displaying their affection is some sort of privacy breach, he sure isn't holding back from causing a scene.
Lohen smirks at the heads turning, and holds onto his ride tighter. Good. Let them all see that Illuga is taken, thank you very much.
He kicks his feet a little, burying his face into the crook of Illuga's neck; still annoyed by the high collars in his way. He closes his eyes, and thinks he falls asleep a little, but he snaps back to attention when he feels Illuga stop walking. Did they go up stairs? The hubbub from the main wining/dining area has faded off.
It's quiet.
Lohen taps Illuga twice on the shoulder, albeit a bit awkwardly, "Lemme down, birdie. I can still stand."
Illuga does so wordlessly, and they both kind of just stare at the door. And each other. Then back at the door. Lohen processes this. He cracks a grin when he connects the dots. "You got us a room here?"
Illuga looks at him funny. "I didn't…want…" he frowns and looks upwards, searching for words again.
Lohen lets out a puff of laughter, "It's alright, you don't have to explain. I get it." He reaches up, cupping the side of Illuga's face and swiping a thumb over the mole beneath his left eyelid. He really does like that mole.
He hears his own heart jumping around in his chest; feels the squeeze of his diaphragm on his lungs. The one breathing a bit more heavily than before isn't him, however, it's Illuga.
Lohen's eyebrows knit together. He drums his fingers against Illuga's cheek, bringing his left hand up against the other side of his face. "Hey, we don't have to if you don't want to, y'know."
Wow, the alcohol is somehow making me extra sappy.
"No, no, that's not it," Illuga's reassurance is hurried, and hands come up to clasp Lohen's wrists. "But, if we really are doing this…I- you have to promise not to leave me."
A spark of desperation. Fear. An unheard 'like everyone else'.
Lohen basks in it. "Of course, Illuga," he breathes the name reverently, "I promise, I will always come back to you."
A sound of relief escapes Illuga. Next thing Lohen knows, he's being kissed. Well. It reminds Lohen that Illuga has probably had lovers before. I mean, look at him, he thinks, returning the kiss eagerly, he'd honestly be more insulted if the man reveals he didn't have any. But this seals the promise; he's not leaving. He would never.
His distraction falls into a million pieces when Illuga does something particularly knee-wobbling with his tongue, the lingering taste of chocolate hitting Lohen's tastebuds and something snapping to life and somersaulting in his stomach.
His laughter bubbles up into the kiss, "The room, birdie. You got the room for a reason."
Illuga drags him forward by the belt strap on his chest in lieu of an answer, closing the door behind them and locking it.
Illuga minced his lips, making a face, "Your drink tastes disgusting, by the way, what did you even get?"
Lohen bursts out into a fit of giggles, "I don't—haha—I don't even remember!" he snorts, "I think the weird taste is more 'cause it mixed with the chocolate in your mouth, love. That's on you for getting hot cocoa at a bar, of all things."
"Oh, shut up."
"Make me."
And Illuga fulfills his request wholeheartedly, pressing Lohen's back to the door and tangling fingers into his bright viridian hair. Lohen, on the other hand, grabs Illuga by the waist to draw him closer, bypassing the outer brown coat and placing hands onto the plushier white fabric beneath.
Archons, does he wants that coat gone. He nudges his intentions to the man, who acqiesces and shrugs it off, somehow never breaking the flow of the kiss.
Lohen surfaces for air, lips feeling adequately bruised, his hands releasing their hold on Illuga's midriff and coming up to start undoing the fastenings of his leftside's cape.
Illuga stops him, eyes pleading, "You said you'd let me do it."
"I did, didn't I?" Lohen smirks, "Think you can find all eighteen knives on here?"
Illuga immediately deadpans. "Are you serious? No—" he holds a hand up when Lohen opens his mouth to answer that particular question with a usual, stupid answer, "Do not answer that. I'm up for the challenge, though."
What follows is several, chaotic minutes.
"You wear heels?" Illuga gapes, appalled, "How did I never notice?"
"'Cause I wear them so well you can't even tell?" is Lohen's cheeky reply.
Illuga rolls his eyes, taking off his own boots.
Then—
"What do you mean, you have a retractable blade built in both of your soles…?"
"Hey, listen, y'never know when you might be caught in a pickle, hm?"
Then—
"Lohen. How are there three of these tacked on the inside of this thin cape fabric?"
Lohen just cackles, moving to pull off the detachable, wooly white sleeves on Illuga's arms.
And still—
Illuga gets to the four, nicely lined sheaths in the cuffs of his coat. On both sleeves, too, so eight in total. Illuga just sighs when he finds the two extra attached to the side belt.
And the one in the thigh strap.
And the one in his right boot strap.
Finally, Illuga fishes out the eighteenth blade from its sheath on the inside of the chest strap. "How you wear all this is beyond me."
Lohen collapses on the bed from laughter. (By comparison, it takes just about a third of the time it takes to undress Lohen to undress Illuga. Simple, straight-forward garments.)
And finally, the most surprising thing that's happened all day—
"Too many fucking buttons everywhere," the silver-haired man hisses more to himself than anything, working on the intricate design of whatever Lohen's shirt is composed of.
Lohen hears him, and blinks—he's only witnessed Illuga swear once or twice. Oh boy, does it sound good, though. He imagines that same, low, rough voice murmuring his name in the middle of—he stops his brain before the blood can end up somewhere else. Not today, he reminds himself.
Illuga pauses in the unbuttoning, Lohen reverts his attention back at him.
"Is that…from when we first met?" Illuga's fingers hover over the long, thin scar stretching diagonally beneath his collarbone. Lohen half-nods, slightly disoriented again. He focuses on the expanses of skin being shown to him.
Their scars sort of mirror each other. Or compliment one another, at the very least. Except Lohen gets the feeling that his own stem more from recklessness than anything else. They only stem from his high levels of impulsivity, actually.
"I wish you wouldn't risk yourself like that."
"You're one to talk," Lohen echoes his words from a few days ago back at him.
Illuga huffs, recognizing it. He moves behind Lohen to take out the earring, the last piece of 'clothing' remaining other than his briefs.
Lohen keeps in his shiver when Illuga touches his ear gently.
"How does your earring backing even work…?" Illuga groans out in frustration after several attempts to unclip the monstrosity of a contraption.
"Oh, come on, surely Mond earrings aren't that different from Nod-Krai craft. Or wherever yours is from."
Lohen feels Illuga fumbling a little more against the soft skin of his earlobe, quietly saying, "It was my mother's…so I'm not sure either."
He finally gets the earring out of Lohen's ear.
The latter silently shifts over to take out the red gem hanging from Illuga's own. It's almost laughably easy in comparison, but Lohen simply places it into the palm of Illuga's hand and folds his own hand over, a worldless 'I'm here' hanging above them.
Illuga nods shakily, and places their earrings down on the bedside drawer.
Finally. Lohen snakes his fingers in between the equally rough, calloused ones on Illuga's hand. There's a faint scar running up the Lightkeeper's forearm and up his wrist.
Some semblance of self-consciousness rolls over him, all of a sudden. His shamelessness was genuine, but now that they're here… something about the quiet is plucking his nerve. Damn it. He should've stayed fully sober for this, never mind for actual sex.
Well. There's always gonna be a next time. Might as well take all of this in while he can.
"Illuga."
"…Yeah?"
"…You're really, really beautiful," he settles on whispering, soaking up the blush that dusts Illuga's cheeks and the widening of his eyes. Simple and sincere. Bet he didn't expect that. He can still have a few tricks up his sleeve, after all.
"You are too," Illuga answers, just as genuinely.
The whisper is loud in the darkness. Lohen moves before he can think any better of it, kissing Illuga on his mole, hand grazing an especially larger patch of silvery skin on Illuga's abdomen. He'd like to know the story of that one. It has an odd shape. He'll wait until Illuga volunteers the information.
"Oh," Illuga mumbles, "Are we continuing?"
That gives Lohen pause. He meets the man's eyes. "If you want to."
"…One more kiss, then."
Lohen's face splits into a smile and he launches forward eagerly, missing Illuga's mouth by several centimeters, kissing his jaw instead and laughs over it.
"Oh, you are drunk," Illuga says amusedly.
"Shut upppp," Lohen whines.
"That was your last kiss, though."
Lohen pouts a little, "Fine."
He pulls Illuga downwards with him, until they're both settled beneath the covers.
"My head hurts," Lohen mutters. It doesn't really, but—
"I'll make you soup tomorrow morning," Illuga promises him, "Now go to sleep."
Lohen smiles, "Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight," Illuga whispers back affectionately.