A Mercenary’s Desire

Raven tapped his fingers on the sheath of his sword as he looked around him once more. There were four mages to the right and a general to the left. He sighed. “The tactician left me here with a few pathetic enemies for what reason?” He got into a fighting stance when one of the mages advanced toward him. “At this rate, I’m going to be bored out of my mind. There isn’t anything here to challenge my skills at all.” He got ready to swing his sword at the mage when he realized the mage wasn’t heading toward him. He sighed. “It’ll be even more boring if they don’t even aim at… at…”

He stopped talking, eyes widened, when he realized where the mage was headed. “Wha-! Lucius! What the devil are you doing here?!?”

The monk looked up. “L-lord Raymond!” He turned back to the mage and dodged the vortex of Elfire just in time. Then he attempted to kill the mage with his Shine, but unfortunately wasn’t strong enough to do more than a little damage. Luckily, the enemy lost interest in him when Eliwood pranced into view.

Raven ran over to Lucius. “Why are you here? You could have been hurt.”

Lucius smiled at the mercenary. “Well… I didn’t think too much would happen; Matthew is armed with a Longsword and has Uhai cornered, so we won’t have to stay in battle much longer. I was checking to make sure you were okay.”

“Okay? I’m fine by myself. These enemies are but a dent on my sword.” Raven rubbed the many dents on his Steel Sword to prove it.

Lucius laughed and fingered his blood-splattered spell book. “That’s not what I meant. Fiora reported that you looked a little bored, so… I came here to… er…” he hesitated, trying to find the right word to explain.

“To keep me company so I don’t end up quitting?” Raven asked. Lucius nodded.

Out of nowhere, a Javelin came flying, stabbing Lucius in the shoulder. Lucius winced in pain. Raven turned around, facing the general from before. “You-!”

Raven flipped angrily into the air and smashed the general’s helmet. Just to vent out the rest of his anger, he kicked at the corpse a couple of times to, uh… make sure the enemy was staying down. When he was sure it wasn’t going to happen again, he took the axe that the general had dropped and ran to Lucius.

“Lucius! Lucius, are you alright?” he glanced at the wound and pulled the Javelin out. He was saddened to see small tears forming in those familiar sapphire eyes. “It hurts that much, huh?” he asked gently. He pulled out a vulnerary from his pack and gave it to Lucius. The monk nodded in thanks, accepting the bottle, and unbuttoned his gown. He dumped some of the plant into his hand, mashed it, and rubbed it on the cut. (not sure how real vulneraries work, but I do know they are made from plants XD;;;)

Raven jumped and quickly looked away. “You should have told me you were going to do that…”

Lucius, halfway to buttoning back his gown, looked confused. “Why? That’s how I normally use vulneraries…”

“……” Raven remained silent for a while. “Lucius… you’ve never had do apply vulneraries to anywhere but your arms and face, so how would I know…?”

Lucius got stuck on a button. “Lord Raymond…! Help me… my button got stuck…”

Raven turned toward Lucius again, this time keeping his face toward the ground. He felt around until he found the troubled button. He fumbled with it for a few seconds, finally fitting it into the buttonhole. Lucius smiled again. “Thanks. I always had a little trouble on that- ” Lucius paused, noticing that Raven still hadn’t let go of the material. “Um, Lord Raymond? You can let go now…”

Raven still did not let go; instead, he asked, “Lucius… do you know why I asked to take my own sister as my bride?” When Lucius didn’t answer, he continued. “Well… I knew she was the only woman I would ever… you know…” He paused, then peered up at Lucius, who wore a blank expression.

The monk noted with confusion that the young mercenary’s face was shaded a tone redder than it should have been. “The only woman you would ever… what?”

Raven sighed, his eyebrows drawing together, and he looked away. “Well, just to put it simply…” he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “… I’m not straight.”

Lucius raised an eyebrow. “Why…!” He jumped when Raven started unbuttoning his gown again. “L-lord Raymond…”

Raven traced his finger over Lucius’s now exposed chest. “When you told me to get married so that there would be someone to stay at home, I thought of you… and my heart shattered when you told me you wanted to travel with me. It was an obvious sign that you are not a candidate…” Raven smiled sadly.

“Lord Raymond, I meant- ”

Raven placed his head over his friend’s heart, listening to the soft pounding. “Promise me, Lucius… promise me that you’ll deliver this prize to someone worthy, someone who will make your life happier. Someone who will return your love. I do not want your heart to be shattered as mine was…” Raven lifted his head so that he was looking directly into those sapphire orbs, draping an arm around the soft neck and fingering the long, golden hair with the other. “… Do you understand?”

Lucius smiled. “Don’t worry, Lord Raymond… I am certain my affections will be returned.”

The monk draped his own arms around his friend’s shoulders and planted a gentle kiss on the other’s lips.