"Raven."

"Old man."

"Raven!"

"Raven~."

"Um… Raven."

"Woof!"

"Hey! What gives?" the oldest member of the party complained. Although the archer was used to the treatment he oft got from the others, he never stopped hoping for the better.

"You're an annoying idiot, that's what", Rita exclaimed, her arms crossed. Raven's posture completely crashed.

"Aw Rita, you're always so mean…", he whined and pleadingly turned to the lady in pink next to the mage. Estelle smiled, apologetic. "I, I'm sorry… Everyone has been doing such a wonderful job…"

Raven sighed and tried to plead with Judith next. The Krityan on the opposite side of the room looked as pleased with herself as usual. "You fought kind of weakly today."

"Yeah, you didn't contribute even what you usually do", Yuri added, hammering in the last nail in the coffin. For the blink of an eye Raven looked like he was about to say something in his defense, but only sighed and shambled to the bed Karol was sitting on in the six-person room. He sat next to the boy, trying to seem as friendly and innocent as possible.

"C'mon, Karol, you're still young. This old man's bones can't take the chills of the night…" The guild leader determinedly shook his head. "No way! We voted on it, fair and square. It's not my fault the inn ran out of blankets during the Coliseum's busy season!" Karol exclaimed.

"Besides, we should be the ones complaining. We have to sleep in the same room with you because the place is so full! Who didn't check beforehand that they were holding a tournament right now?", Rita raised her voice. The old man's face lighted up. "But it's a great chance! Wouldn't one of ya ladies want to share a bed with the Great Raven?" he said, smiling at the group's females.

Yuri grunted. "Just shut it, old man. Messing with a tired Rita isn't smart." Raven sighed and closed his eyes in defeat. He got up from the messily-made bed, shambled to the corner of the room and let himself fall flat on the bed lacking a blanket.

Repede slowly walked to the further side of the bed and inspected the man laying on it. Raven lazily reached out his left hand and petted the blue dog on his head. "Nite", he muttered, and curled up, looking somewhat lonely on the badly-equipped bed.

Yuri shrugged and turned to face the rest of the group, who had scattered all around the somewhat cramped room. "For once we could follow the old man's example and head to bed. We got a busy day ahead."

ooooo

The darkness that had crept over Nordopolica had not been able to silence all of the eager warriors enteringthe tournaments. This has been taken into account when the inn had been located; the noise from the city didn't reach any of the sleeping fighters and travelers staying there.

It was something else that woke up Yuri Lowell.

A presence had approached him, and while the skilled warrior's sixth sense didn't feel it to be a threat, the swordsman's sleep was disturbed. Yuri raised his head over his right shoulder and saw a dark figure leaning over his bed, holding up half of the blanket covering the youth.

It didn't take long for him to recognize the figure, even in his half-asleep state. "Old man? What the heck…" he muttered. Raven noticed the man was awake.

"Ah, sorry. Guess I was right to figure you'd wake up… ", he said, and carried on with what he had been up to. He slid his left leg under the blanket, so close to Yuri's back the swordsman felt the bump in the mattress as Raven placed his full weight on the bed, partly sitting and partly leaning on his hip.

Yuri was slightly alarmed by this, but when he tried to sit up via rolling onto his back, his back met with the other man's body, much colder than his own. Quickly the youth moved away from the 'intruder'.

"What the heck are you do-" he whispered as loud as he could, while Raven positioned himself more comfortably. "Aw Yuri, it was rreeally cold" – the older man faked shivering – "and it was really getting to be rough on my old bones, so I thought my Yuri wouldn't mind sharin'", Raven whispered, his voice with a slightly seductive tone, his expression matching it.

"Wh—your-? O-of course I mind…!" Yuri tried to object, but the archer stopped him from getting up; he wrapped his bare arms - he had taken off his coat just before approaching his teammate's bed – around Yuri's waist and pulled him closer. Yuri offered very little resistance, but just enough to show he wasn't too happy with the man's actions.

"C'mon now Yuri, we've been closer than this…", Raven whispered to Yuri's ear after he had the younger man tightly against himself.

"…! Shut up or I'll kick you out!" the youth angrily whispered. "Yeah yeah", Raven answered him, amused by the expected reaction, and positioned his legs better under the blanket meant for only one person.

For a moment, the couple stayed silent. Yuri listened to the soft breathing of the party members, trying to ignore Raven's coming from right behind his head. He knew the girls had no reason to really worry; despite his comments in the daytime, the old man was a gentleman, and would never try something at night… except for some of the things he pulled with Yuri. His thoughts were then interrupted by said gentleman.

"Ya know, the vote wasn't really needed. T'was gonna be old Raven who ended up without a blanket anyway", the man whispered. Yuri turned his head and tried to find a better position for his head.

"…you could have tried a little harder today anyway. I know you usually don't fight seriously but these past few days have been just pathetic" Yuri grumbled.

The archer was quiet for a while, and Yuri understood his guess had been right. "…it's your heart, isn't it."

Raven didn't answer immediately. "…yeah. Haven't been feelin' too good."

"Idiot. I told you back then we could win that fight without too much trouble without your Mystic Arte…" Yuri paused, and Raven listened to the youth's steady, calm breathing. "…you really shouldn't use that thing." He was silent for a while again, before whispering the last word so quietly the archer barely heard it.. "…please."

Raven smiled softly. "Sorry for worryin' ya. I'm alright now…", the older man whispered, moving his head closer to Yuri's neck. "…I can prove it to ya", he mumbled, and placed a soft kiss on the man's neck. He felt Yuri's body get tense, and his own enjoying the sensation. He licked a spot slightly higher, causing Yuri to make a small, suppressed noise. "Nhh… stop that… not now, Raven…!"

Hearing the younger man use his name, Raven knew he was serious and stopped. He sighed contently. "Alright. G'night, Yuri", he whispered. Yuri carefully reached to see over his shoulder to see the old man with his eyes closed, preparing to sleep. The swordsman turned his head back, and paused for a moment before positioning himself better, close to Raven's body, muscular arms gently wrapped around his waist. "Good night, Raven."'

I hope it doesn't show but this whole thing was written between 4AM and 5AM. The inspiration struck immediately when I thought "I want to write another fanfiction" and I just had to get it all down. Personally I think it's one of my better ones.

About the summary: I tried reading the name of Nordopolica's inn from a youtube video, not completely sure but it looked like Fomalhaut. Also, I changed its properties a bit to fit the story, sorry.