Dragon Knights Fan Fiction / Dragon Knight (adult) Fan Fiction ❯ The Impression That I Get ❯ The Finer Things in Life ( Chapter 2 )

XooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooX

Chapter Two: The Finer Things in Life

XooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooX

 

 

 

Alfeegi took the Dragon Lord's words to heart - his words about getting ready to leave as soon as possible, that was. He packed the night before, and had eaten breakfast and saddled up his riding dragon by an hour after sun-up. Now there was only one thing missing - Ruwalk.

 

Alfeegi spent the next fifteen minutes or so scouring the castle for him. Finally he ran across a maid, and demanded to know if she'd seen the yellow officer. She backed away and managed to stutter out that she didn't believe he'd left his room yet.

 

A few minutes later Alfeegi arrived at his traveling companion's door, and rapped sharply on it. Nothing.

 

"Ruwalk!" he called irritably. From inside the room, there was a moan; nothing more. Alfeegi's eyes widened; what if Ruwalk was sick or something? That could explain why he was up so late; after all, Alfeegi usually got up several hours earlier than this on a normal day. Making up his mind, the white dragon officer stepped inside the room.

 

It was dark; the curtains hadn't been pulled back yet. Ruwalk lay sprawled on the bed with all the covers kicked onto the floor.

 

Alfeegi blushed bright red; apparently he slept without a shirt...

 

For a moment, he allowed himself to just stand there and stare. The Lord would never figure out who he was in love with, he reflected, as long as Lykouleon was only considering his female acquaintances. Though he supposed he was more infatuated with Ruwalk than really in love with him; he hardly knew anything about the beautiful brown-haired officer. Beyond the fact that he was incredibly beautiful, anyway.

 

Perhaps the reason that he had become so obsessed with him was because he envied him. Ruwalk was everything that he would really like to be - laid back, calm, sure of himself. But, at least as far as he was concerned, nothing would ever get done around here if he acted like that.

 

Finally he sighed, breaking out of his trance. He tried not to wonder whether Ruwalk would sleep topless during their trip too, because that would probably just be too much, as he walked over to wake him up.

 

"Ruwalk. Ruwalk? Ruwalk!" Said officer moaned again, and shoved his head under the pillow. Alfeegi stared for a moment, but he appeared to still be fast asleep. He scowled, half glad for an excuse to touch his crush, half really wishing he didn't have to, and shook him gently. He was startled; though Ruwalk had the deep scars from that demon, his skin was otherwise smooth and flawless. He felt himself reddening again, and thanked the powers that it was dim in here.

 

Ruwalk grumbled something unintelligible, and swatted at him. However, this meant that he could no longer hold the pillow over his head; Alfeegi yanked it away triumphantly. "Wake up already!"

 

Finally, Ruwalk gave up the battle and opened one eye. "Oh no, not you," he sighed, and rolled over onto his side.

 

Alfeegi blinked, miffed. 'Oh, wow, you have a real chance with someone whose first response upon seeing you is 'Oh no, not you!'' a snide little voice said in the back of his head. He chose to ignore it, opting for moving over to the other side of the bed where he could see Ruwalk's face instead.

 

"Come on, wake up," he coaxed, a tad more gently this time. "We have to leave for that wedding today, remember?"

 

Ruwalk finally opened both eyes, raising an eyebrow quizzically. "Are you sure the Lord said 'today?'"

 

"I distinctly remember him saying 'as soon as possible,' yes."

 

Ruwalk rolled over again, showing what he thought of *that*. "Yeah, well, that doesn't necessarily mean 'today,'" he pointed out, pausing to yawn. "Today is too soon to be possible; ask me again tomorrow."

 

Alfeegi frowned, getting peeved again against his better judgment. "Do you realize that I'm already completely ready?" he asked, in a tight little voice that could snap at any moment.

 

"No, I didn't; thanks for letting me know. Go back to bed, 'Feegi."

 

He snapped. "GET UP!"

 

Ruwalk fell out of bed at this, giving a sort of undignified 'squeak.' Alfeegi spared him one disdainful look as he marched out of the room, saying over his shoulder, "Now, twenty minutes should give you enough time to pack, get dressed and have breakfast; step on it!"

 

Xoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooX

 

About an hour and a half later - around ten - they hit the road.

 

Needless to say, both were highly irritated with each other, though Alfeegi possibly more so than Ruwalk. Finally, it was the yellow dragon officer that broke the increasingly uncomfortable silence.

 

"Alfeegi?" He simply grunted in reply, busily wondering how they would ever reach their destination if it always took this long to get Ruwalk moving. "Y'know, the Lord told me about how he ordered you to take it easy on this trip..."

 

Orange eyes met brown, flashing the best glare they could manage. Ruwalk gulped, but continued bravely on. "...And he ordered *me* to make sure you carry out *your* order..."

 

Alfeegi groaned. "Why are all you people obsessed with getting me to take it easy?" he snapped.

 

To his surprise, Ruwalk smiled. Melt. "We're worried about you, Alfeegi," he answered simply.

 

Alfeegi whipped his head around, facing in front of him again, and tried to pull himself together. "I'm fine," he grumbled irritably, though perhaps without as much spark as before.

 

Ruwalk rolled his eyes. "No, you're not," he said firmly. "I can see from here how tense you are." Alfeegi twitched; yeah, he was tense all right, but possibly for different reasons than his companion suspected. "Come on, let's take a little break."

 

He stared at him again, gaping. "Break?!" he demanded, as if it were a foreign word. "But we just started!"

 

He shrugged. "Yeah - an hour ago. And see that sign - it says Scenic Overlook! I'll bet it's the perfect place for an early lunch." And he left him not chance to protest, steering his darna up the narrow dirt path coming off the main road.

 

Alfeegi sighed, combing a hand through his hair and resisting the urge to find something to strangle. Reluctantly, he followed Ruwalk; what chance did he have? But when he reached the top of the hill that the path led to, he was almost glad he'd come; his breath caught at the sight of it.

 

Ruwalk beamed, surveying the vast expanse of forested hills, becoming mountains in the distance. "Yeah, I'd say that's pretty scenic," he said approvingly, hopping off his riding dragon and grabbing the food pack. "Come on 'Feegi; help me spread out the blanket."

 

Alfeegi scowled, but did as he was asked. Whatever had possessed Ruwalk to pack a picnic blanket, anyway? This was a mission, not a pleasure trip! "We aren't going to be taking it this easy the whole trip, I'll have you know," he commented stiffly, rummaging through the pack.

 

Ruwalk snorted. "Yes, we are. You can't go against the Lord's orders, after all."

 

He shrugged, selecting a sandwich absentmindedly. "He never said how easy I had to take it," he pointed out, and bit into his food. Tuna, blarg. Oh well. "For me, sleeping in until five is taking it easy."

 

"Well, when in doubt, we'd probably better go by my standards of 'taking it easy,'" he said sagely. "After all, he ordered me to make you take it easy, and what I call 'taking it easy' would also be 'taking it easy' for you, right?"

 

He glared, beginning to wonder exactly how he had fallen in love with this man. "No, what you call 'taking it easy,' I call 'lazy.'"

 

Ruwalk chuckled. "Look, Alfeegi," he said seriously, "there's no getting around it. The Lord's right, after all; it would be impolite of us to show up too early for this wedding thing, because then they'd have to worry about feeding us and stuff. So we have no choice but to travel slowly. Might as well have fun along the way, right?"

 

Alfeegi sighed at his impeccable grasp on logic. He was just so used to rushing about all the time that having 'fun' was practically an unknown concept. "Fine," he sulked. "I'll have fun, but I don't have to enjoy it."

 

Ruwalk blinked owlishly at him, and cracked up.

 

Alfeegi couldn't help it; he could feel his lips twitch ever so slightly into a half-smile. Okay, so Ruwalk annoyed him no end. But that *was* the reason why he'd fallen in love with him, wasn't it?

 

Xoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooX

 

It was something that Dragon Lords were famous for, this ability. Even the Elves were somewhat in awe of it. It was a tradition that had been passed on for time out of mind, from one Lord to the next, and it was the most efficient way of ruling a country ever invented. As long as it occurred within the scope of his or her boundaries, a Dragon Lord could view anything happening in their kingdom, via the minds of the plants and animals.

 

Lykouleon smiled, watching his two officers. They were getting along nicely, in his opinion...

 

Xoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooX

 

That night they camped out under the stars; to Alfeegi's relief/disappointment Ruwalk did indeed decide to sleep fully clothed, and he even slept a respectful distance away. But Alfeegi was still awake for hours, listening to the other's gentle breathing.

 

They travel all morning the next day, stopping for another picnicy lunch around noon next to a small stream. Yes, it wasn't until around three that afternoon that disaster struck.

 

It struck in the form of a perfectly innocent-looking little town. They decided to just pass though it and get some supplies since it was too early to stop for the night (or at least, that was Alfeegi's opinion). But Alfeegi hardly noticed it; he was too preoccupied with staring at Ruwalk out of the corner of his eye. It had quickly become one of his favorite pass times during the trip, but for once he wasn't just staring to stare; Ruwalk was scaring him. He wore an increasingly thoughtful expression.

 

"Hey Alfeegi, I was wondering something," he said, so suddenly that said officer jumped. "I'll bet you've never been to a bar in your life, have you?"

 

He choked. "I - well - what?! ...no. Why do you want to know, anyway?"

 

Ruwalk smirked. "Geez! Have you ever even had alcohol?"

 

He scowled. "Of course I have! The Lord usually has champagne and wine at his feasts, after all."

 

He shrugged, as if that didn't count. "Yeah, but no beer, right?"

 

"...no."

 

"Well, we'll have to do something about that!"

 

Alfeegi gaped at him. "No! Absolutely not!"

 

"Oh, come on! Don't you remember what the Lord said about taking our time?"

 

"..." Alfeegi couldn't come up with anything to counter that. "Fine! But I don't guarantee that I'll drink anything." Ruwalk just grinned, and led the search for the town's finest pub.

 

Xoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooX

 

"..." Alfeegi commented, scowling into middle distance. He was seated at the counter of a noisy bar next to Ruwalk, attempting to ignore all the other occupants of the establishment. When they had first gotten there had he had asked for water, earning him an automatic black mark, and now people stared at him from time to time. But this was the least of his worries.

 

The problem was, there were these girls. One of them was sitting unpleasantly close to Ruwalk, and was talking to him. Another one had given up on trying to sit close to Alfeegi, but she was still talking. He wasn't sure what about, because he was too busy paying attention to his crush, and feeling steamed. What did Ruwalk think he was doing, letting that, that *girl* cling all over him?

 

Eventually, his girl - well, woman, actually, has her revealing clothing bluntly pointed out - gave up on him entirely and wandered off, hopefully to actually fulfill her job as a waitress instead of harassing the customers. Ruwalk shot him a surprised look, and asked the waitress that was fawning over him if she could go get him another drink. Once she was gone, he turned his attention to Alfeegi.

 

"Hey, what's the matter?" he demanded. "You were supposed to relax here, not get more tense."

 

He frowned. "Perhaps, but I didn't know I was also supposed to pick up a whore," he said quietly, and gave his water his full attention.

 

"Oh, come on; they're just being friendly," Ruwalk said, and gave a girlish little giggle. Alfeegi blinked, realizing that his companion was already slightly drunk. "Look, all I'm asking is that you try to make some polite conversation." At this point the waitress came back, giving Alfeegi no chance to reply. "And what better way to ease polite conversation along than trying at least a sip of my beer?"

 

Sighing, he accepted. If he didn't he would look like the greatest sissy-girl of all time to the bar's other customers. He took a small sip - and almost spit it out. This was nothing like the Lord's wine! There were things floating in it too, he realized...

 

"Hey, you've gotta take a bigger drink than that!" Ruwalk said cheerfully, buzzed traitor that he was.

 

Screwing his eyes shut, he took the biggest gulp he could manage. It was so foul... But there was this strange feeling too. He took another experimental drink, and decided that maybe it wasn't totally unbearable after all...

 

Xoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooX

 

"I'm a baby cat! Meow! Meow!"

 

Ruwalk groaned, trying to plug his ears - though that was impossible, because one arm was fully occupied with the business of making sure Alfeegi didn't fall over or run into anything on the way to the inn. "Would you stop singing that *stupid* song already?!"

 

Alfeegi looked at him with a hurt expression. "Sorry, Ruwalk-kun, I didn't know I was annoying you."

 

He blanched. Alfeegi never called anyone 'kun.' But then, he was very drunk. "It's okay," he said awkwardly, feeling like fate was being very cruel to him just now - he was slightly drunk himself, but he had to deal with Alfeegi too?

 

His charge beamed. "Oh, it's okay if I sing? I'm a baby cat!"

 

Ruwalk groaned again, using all of his willpower to keep from ripping out his own hair. This was going to be a long night...

 

Finally, they made it to the inn. The innkeeper seemed barely fazed by their drunkenness, to Ruwalk's great relief. She did warn him, though, that if Alfeegi bothered the other customers with his signing she might have to make them leave. He assured her that he'd try to keep him quiet, and proceeded to drag his companion to their room.

 

He sighed, surveying said room. It was neat, but small; the innkeeper had explained that they were fairly well booked right now and they only had one-person rooms left. He would have gotten them separate bedrooms, but he figured that he was obliged to keep watch over Alfeegi since it was his fault he was drunk.

 

Finally, he managed to convince Alfeegi to go to bed, though to his infinite misery he declared that he was still going to try to stay up all night.

 

Ruwalk sighed. "Yeah, that's really cool... But you know what would make it even more challenging? If you closed your eyes and stopped talking."

 

"Wow, you're right!" Alfeegi blinked. "Hey, where're you gonna sleep? There's only one bed..."

 

Sweatdrop. Well, it looked like he wasn't going to be shutting up anytime soon anyway... "We're sharing the bed," he said simply, attempting to shove his fellow officer onto his own half of the mattress.

 

Alfeegi let him, giggling. "You know, a lot of people would take that the wrong way..."

 

Ruwalk sweatdropped more. "Go to sleep already."

 

Alfeegi pouted. "Oh, fine... spoil sport... I'll try to go to sleep, but will you answer just one question first?"

 

Yeah, he really needed to smother one of them, he wasn't sure which, with a pillow... "Okay, fine, ask away - as long as you promise to shut up afterwards..."

 

Alfeegi beamed. "Promise! What would you do... If a guy told you he loved you?"

 

Ruwalk froze. "W-what?!"

 

"What would you do if-"

 

"Yeah, I heard you the first time," he said hurriedly, blushing. "I-I don't know... I mean, I guess it would depend on who it was... If I didn't know him I'd probably beat the shit out of him, but if it was a friend, well, I wouldn't... I mean, you don't beat the shit out of a friend..." He shouldn't have to deal with this right now...

 

Abruptly, Alfeegi rolled over onto his side; it was a small bed, after all, and they wound up almost nose to nose. Ruwalk found that he couldn't seem to move; how could someone who was so drunk have such a serious expression? "What would you do if I told you I loved you?"

 

"I-I though we agreed on one question," he managed to squeak.

 

He blinked, and the disturbing expression was gone. "Whoops, you're right! Sorry! Well, good night then!"

 

Ruwalk shuddered, attempting to roll over so he faced the wall, without falling out of the bed. What a weird thing to ask; it had really creeped him out... But he chuckled softly as he heard gentle snores coming from the bed's other occupant. Stay up all night, huh? Right... He was so incredibly drunk; he probably hadn't meant anything by asking that. Ruwalk sighed, closing his eyes. That poor guy was going to have the mother of all hangovers the next morning, he mused, just before sleep took him.

 

Xoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooX