Dragon Knights Fan Fiction / Dragon Knight (adult) Fan Fiction ❯ Earth, Fire and Water ❯ The Perfect Plan ( Chapter 6 )

Rune surveyed his packs, laid out on his bed, with a critical eye. He didn't want to bring too much; he was going to have to carry them himself, after all, at least until he could get to town and buy a horse. He didn't want the attention that he would get if he was seen on a darna, or worst, his Water Dragon...

Speaking of Water, the little dragon was currently making nervous chirping sounds in his ear. It was like he was trying to remind him of something, but he was sure he had packed everything he would need... Rune sighed. He knew, really, what Water was trying to tell him to do; he just didn't want to do it.

Then the dragon gave up on trying to guilt-trip him in to it, and bit down hard on his ear. "Argh, Water, that hurts!" he yelped, trying unsuccessfully to detach him. It was like wearing a giant, blue, *painful* earring. "Fine, fine, I'll do it!"

Easier said than done. Writing out the note, saying where he was going so Lord Lykouleon could continue to send orders to him, wasn't that hard. At least not compared to standing outside Rath's door with it clutched in his hand, knowing deep down that once he left the note, he was really going to have to go through with this.

His plan was simple. He wasn't running away, not really. He was telling everyone where he was going; he wasn't going to let this business put an end to his career as a Knight. He was just going a *far* away as possible, and leaving a note while everyone was still sleeping so no one could ask questions or try to talk him out of it.

He had made up his mind. He had already made the decision, long ago, that he and Thatz would be better off as just friends. And Thatz had made a decision to be with Rath. He wasn't about to let a little nostalgia on his part ruin these relationships.

Of course, this meant he had to leave the castle, because otherwise he wouldn't be able to stand it...

Finally he got up the courage to open the door a crack. This was risky business; normally Rath was a fairly light sleeper. Being an obsessive demon-hunter can do that to you, Rune supposed... Normally, the wise choice would be dropping it off in Thatz's room - he could sleep through an attack by Nadil's army no sweat. But normally, Rath didn't have a horrible hangover. This would have the nice side effect of make him even less likely to wake up than Thatz, but there was more to it than that. Rune wanted to use his elfin magic to insure that he wouldn't wake up to the mother of all headaches; he felt it was the least he could do.

It took his eyes a moment to adjust as he stepped inside the room. This time of morning - if it could even be called that, at four o'clock - torches burned in the halls, but there was no light in the room except for that of the half-full moon streaming through the window. Rune hesitated for just a moment more before setting the note down on Rath's bedside table, and then he turned his attention to the Fire Knight himself.

Hmm... he was flushed, picturesquely hugging an empty wine bottle like it was a stuffed animal. The black-haired boy was completely tangled in his sheets; apparently he had been restless tonight. Rune couldn't help but smile; for all his tough exterior, Rath really looked like a child sometimes... He gently brushed away the other's hair before laying a hand on his forehead and setting in motion a flow of healing energy from him to the other Knight.

Ah... he could feel Rath's body slip back in to healthy working order. Rune took one last look, the last he would probably ever get, he supposed, and turned to go.

It wasn't until he'd made it two whole steps that he noticed the hand gripping the back of his shirt.

"R-Rune? What are you doing here?"

Rune froze, thinking fast. Would Rath be likely to try and stop him from going? Probably not; it would be beneficial for him, after all. But... No. He didn't want to risk it. This was for Rath's own good, so it would just be a white lie. Nothing wrong with a white lie. "I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd come in and cure your hangover. I knew you would probably have a bad one... Go back to sleep; I'll see you in the morning." The hand slipped away from his shirt, and he started for the door again.

"R-Rune!"

He froze, again, hand poised above the doorknob. Judging from his tone of voice... He knew what Rath would be holding before he even turned around. No, it was too soon, he wasn't supposed to read that for hours yet...

When he finally dared to turn around, he was shocked by what he saw. As predicted, Rath was clutching the note in shaking hands. But what surprised Rune were the tears streaming down his cheeks. "Rune... why?"

The elf found his mouth falling open of its own accord, and hurriedly shut it. That was unexpected, to be sure; he had thought Rath would be *happy* about this! He hadn't accidentally wiped his memories of last night, had he? "Because... Because there's really nothing else I can do, is there?" he said, after a moment.

Rath jumped to his feet, looking desperate. "Yes there is! Rune, running away won't solve anything-"

Rune sighed. This was why he hadn't wanted anyone to know he was leaving until he was long gone, though Rath was the last person he would have expected an outburst from. Of course, the Fire Knight was always unpredictable... "Yes it will; it'll solve everything. I'm only in the way here. You and Thatz were perfectly happy; if I hadn't allowed myself to get so selfish then none of this would have ever happened."

Surprising him again, Rath chuckled. "You're hoping things will go back to the way they were, right? I'm sorry, but that's just not going to happen. Now that Thatz has let himself realize he's still in love with you, he won't be able to stop thinking about it. And neither will you." He had the oddest look in his eyes, and with a jolt Rune realized that, despite the drinking spree, Rath had already accepted the situation much better than he had.

And as for what he'd said... He had a sinking suspicion Rath was right. He'd known it already, of course, and had just not wanted to admit it. The part about himself in particular... "But what else are we supposed to do about it, then?" he demanded. "I'm sure, if I left, Thatz would be better sooner or later..."

"Running away is *not* an option," Rath said firmly. He looked especially intense when he said that, Rune noted... "I think the best thing we can do about this right now is sit down together and talk about it, like civilized people. No more pretending like there isn't a problem."

Rune blinked. Somehow, that option simply hadn't occurred to him. Could they really do that, without it dissolving into an argument? Would they actually be able to come up with something? "You think... you think Thatz would agree to that?" he finally asked.

Rath giggled somewhat insanely. "If he doesn't then I'll drag him in by his hair, don't worry... But what about you? You'll do it, right?"

He couldn't help but smile. For all his strangeness, Rath actually had a way of cheering a person up when he wanted to. "Yeah, I'll be there. Promise."

"Yay!" Rune gasped, then laughed, as Rath bounced out of bed and hugged him. He was warm, he noticed... He blushed. *Of course* he was warm; he just got out from under the blankets. Stop that!

He pulled away, maybe just a little hurriedly. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess... Good luck on convincing Thatz; I think you, urm, disturbed him a bit last night..."

Rath grinned, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Um, sorry about the whole kissing thing... You are a really good kisser, though."

Rune gave him an odd look, then laughed again. "It's okay; you're a good kisser too..." Rath beamed. "...though it was a pretty strange thing to do..."

"Yeah, well..." Rath looked up at the ceiling, suddenly avoiding eye contact.

Rune frowned. "Why did you do it, anyway? You were pretty drunk, I suppose..."

The black-hair boy grinned again. "Yup, I sure was, wasn't I?"

"But that's not why you did it, is it?" Rath blinked twice, startled. "Come on Rath; you were the one who was all for coming clean a few minutes ago," he pressed, though he was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

He shifted his weight from foot to foot, now looking at the floor instead. "Well... I suppose I did kinda want to..."

Rune felt a sudden, strange urge to start ripping his hair out. "What?! Why?"

He flushed. "Well, um..." Finally he looked up, meeting Rune's eye with his own rather worried looking ones. "Look, you know I've known about you and Thatz since before tonight, right?"

He gaped at him. One of these days this boy was going to give him a heart attack, if he kept surprising him like this... "B-but... We never told anyone..."

He scoffed. "So what? I spent more time with the two of you than anyone else, right? It would be just the three of us, going out on missions and stuff... You think I didn't notice there was something weird between the two of you? I could never quite figure out what it was, but after I saw the way you reacted at the party, it just clicked. At first I was really jealous, and I started wondering what Thatz saw in you." He was looking even more embarrassed than before. "The problem is, I figured it out."

Rune was beginning to think he would be the one with the headache this morning. "You're not trying to say you like me too, are you?"

"Um, I..." He swallowed, and started over. "I don't know, really. But you're, well, really cute. Yeah, I know, this'll just make it even more complicated and all that... But, I think I might."

Rune stared at him for a moment, then pinched the bridge of his nose. Once again he was getting the feeling that this was just too much for him to handle; he had to admire Rath's ability to be calm about it all. "Hey, can we talk about this tomorrow?" `'Cause I'm gonna have a migraine in a minute if we keep talking about it now...' "Thatz needs to know about it too."

Rath nodded cheerfully, apparently feeling much better now that he'd gotten that over with. "Okay..." Then he developed a mischievous look, which never bodes well. "Hey Rune? Before you leave, can I have a good-night kiss?" Rune's eyes widened. "You don't have to if you don't want to, of course," he added, all innocence.

He wasn't sure what came over him. Perhaps he could blame it on how it was four o'clock in the morning... or how the moon illuminated perfectly the way Rath's hair was slightly ruffled, and the way one of his shirt sleeves was hanging off his shoulder... But for whatever reason, he leaned forward, trembling slightly, and brushed his lips across the other boy's.

He had meant for it to be a quick kiss. But suddenly Rath was weaving his fingers through his hair and pulling him flush against his body, the hand that wasn't in his hair resting on his waist. Before he even realized that the other's tongue was in his mouth, he found himself thinking that he didn't taste like alcohol anymore... actually, he tasted like cherries for some odd reason...

When they pulled apart Rune took a turn at staring at the floor, panting and trying to get over his daze. After a moment he glanced up, blushed, and muttered a hurried `good-night.' Rath just smiled as he disappeared down the hall.

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