"Having some trouble there?" Yuri scoffs from his place on the balcony, leaning over slightly to get a better look.

Flynn is sitting on his haunches, looming over the fireplace. He ignores Yuri's comment and continues to rub two sticks together fruitlessly.

Yuri makes another crack at him, "Some knight you are, huh? Can't even start a fire."

"This, coming from the man who quit the Imperial Knights after three months." Flynn quips, standing up and brushing splintered wood off of his pants. He walks across their living room, feet sounding against the wood floor loudly, and peers at Yuri who is now resting against the guardrail of the balcony. "Come down here."

"What for?" Yuri asks. He's got his poker face on, but his eyes are grinning down at Flynn mischievously. "I've got better things to do than help a little boy scout start a campfire."

From below, Flynn clicks his tongue in annoyance. "Then why don't you actually go do these 'things'?" No response. So Flynn continues, "You've done nothing but laze around all week. It's been three years since the Adephagos passed and we're still just barely getting by. The cabin's still not finished and so we're still having to cook outside. And even doing that could be made easier if you just—"

Yuri pushes himself off of the guardrail and throws his hands up. "Jesus, mom, I get it!" He's already down the stairs and out behind the cabin before Flynn can continue ranting.

He hates it when Flynn goes off complaining about their living arrangements. He knows that they only managed to get a roof onto their cabin in time to protect them from the onslaught of rain that plagued Hyponia every so often. He knows that starting a fire is harder than it looks. He knows Flynn hates cooking anything outdoors.

Really, that's what he complains about most. It's always "Yuri, if you're not going to do anything here, why don't you ask for help from Brave Vesperia?" or "Yuri, when are you going to finish putting those walls up for the kitchen?" or "Yuri, if things have to be like this, we might as well just starve to death." The problem with cooking outdoors is that it attracts monsters and while the two of them can take down some things, they can never do any serious damage without bhodi blastia. The problem is, Yuri admits, that a peaceful life is damn near impossible to live without barriers or at the very least weapon enhancements. That's something that Flynn is aware of too, so when he goes off on a tirade, Yuri just wants to punch him in the face.

Yuri dwells on this thought. He's never thought about it seriously before and doesn't know why he hasn't sooner. Perhaps the two of them just need to work out some stress.

Something dull strikes the back of Yuri's head and lands on the ground beside him with a hollow thud. It's Flynn's sword sheath. Yuri picks it up before turning around to spy the other man poking his head out of one of their two second floor windows.

"Yuri Lowell, if you don't get in here right now and help me light this damned fire—"

"Alright, alright~" Yuri goes inside to aid Flynn, but in the recesses of his brain, a plan begins to form.

Not even a week passes before Flynn is at it again. This time they're both downstairs, separated by a rectangular table with uneven legs. Yuri only picks up bits and pieces of Flynn's speech, as the former has long since developed a knack for blocking out unwanted conversation.

"...even chop up firewood or something? Nooo, of course you don't! I swear...living here! It's like everything I say goes in one ear and out the other!"

Yuri comments under his breath, "Indeed it does."

"What did you say?" Flynn sets down the half-eaten apple gel he'd used as evidence to accuse Yuri of eating their gels as snacks (little did he know that it was the work of small woodland creatures and that Yuri actually doesn't care for the taste of gels at all) and places his hands on his hips. Yuri's eyes drift downward to them and don't go back up.

It takes him a moment to focus and act on the plan he'd settled on earlier that day. "Listen," he says, taking the gel and eating it just to piss Flynn off more, "you really need tfo—" he coughs and swallows "—to calm down. Things'll get done, ok? If—no, don't interrupt me, I'm not done—you're that upset, we could always settle this outside."

There's a pause in which Flynn stops, his train of thought derailed by the odd suggestion. He looks at Yuri quizzically as he attempts to sort out his words and form a sentence. "What; you mean like in Aurnion?" Yuri watches him tap his fingers against his belt and struggles to keep his eyes from wandering lower. "Yuri, we're too old for—"

At this, Yuri rises. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He walks around to Flynn's side of the table and grabs the hand that's been playing a offbeat rhythm against the piece of leather tethered around his waist. "You were making sounds like a whiny little kid last night~ What's this about being too old?" He grins at Flynn's shocked face and leans in, but is pushed away roughly.

A step back reveals that Flynn is trying desperately to hide the brilliant red flush creeping across his cheeks. Quickly, he stalks to the wall opposite them where their battle equipment is displayed and grabs the sword he once raised as an Imperial Knight. He doesn't make eye contact when he brushes passed Yuri on his way to the door. "Outside. Now."

When Yuri comes outside with sword in hand, Flynn is pacing back and forth next to the stump they use for skinning animals.

"You ready for me to kick your ass again?" Yuri teases playfully as he approaches, dragging the tip of his sword on the ground, drawing a shaky line in the dirt.

Flynn moves to stand a few feet opposite of Yuri and smiles. "I am so gonna kick your ass."

"Ha!" Yuri exclaims. He points an accusing finger at the man across from him. Flynn begins to strafe counterclockwise and Yuri moves as well, keeping their distance from each other constant. "I'm pretty sure you said the same thing last time." He lifts his left arm, pointing the sword at Flynn. He quotes Flynn using a voice reminiscent of a prepubescent girl, "'You ok, Yuri?'" Flynn struggles not to laugh at this as Yuri goes on to say, "When was the last time you were able to say that? Hmm?"

Suddenly, Flynn lunges forward, muttering, "You talk too much." He comes dangerously close to cutting Yuri's shoulder, but misses. He lunges again and Yuri parries the attack, following up with a riposte.

They both step back, already panting from lack of practice. Their feet still and Yuri glances at the center of Flynn's chest. Flynn doesn't notice, but catches Yuri's arm tense. So Flynn backsteps instinctively and Yuri's next attack misses entirely.

Yuri panics as he stumbles forward, to the right of Flynn. Before he can turn around and recompose himself he feels the the cold flat of a blade pressing against his cheek. From behind he hears, "You ok, Yuri?" Flynn's voice is poking at his pride.

This only serves to anger Yuri, though, and he sidesteps away before turning into a roundabout. When his sword makes impact with the ground, he is momentarily shocked. No energy field surrounds it like it used to and its a painful reminder that even simple offensive moves like Destruction Field aren't possible without blastia. Yuri receives another painful reminder about standing around like a fool in the midst of a fight when he feels weight against his sword and the hilt makes contact with his crotch.

He drops his sword and falls to the ground, groaning and holding his hands in front of his zipper. A shadow covers him. It's Flynn's.

"You ok, Yuri?" he asks again, openly laughing now.

"Shut the hell up." Yuri peers up at Flynn, eyes squinting in response to the pain. "Are you serious?"

Flynn answers him in an innocent voice, "No one said we were fighting fair."

The incredulity on Yuri's face is immense as he stares at Flynn with fire in his eyes. "Well in that case..." He doesn't bother to finish his sentence and instead grabs Flynn's pant leg and pulls him down forcefully.

While the blond is still on his back, Yuri climbs on top of him and coils his fingers into a fist. Flynn's eyes are still closed when he feels Yuri's knuckles strike him in the jaw squarely three or four times. The taste of liquid copper fills his mouth and he knows he's bleeding. He hears Yuri tell him to get up and his arm is jerked upward with almost enough force to dislocate it, but he scrambles to his feet in time to prevent it from doing so.

He's being dragged into the house by his arm. He's up the stairs, in their shared bedroom, and on the bed in what seems like a matter of seconds. When his head hits the firm mattress beneath him, Yuri's angry face swims in and out of his vision. Yuri orders something, but he misses it as he's still trying to focus his eyes and stop the room from spinning.

The lack of response is only a catalyst to Yuri and he grabs Flynn by the hips and flips the man over onto his stomach. He moves to pull Flynn's pants down, but they go nowhere. Flynn hears Yuri swear under his breath and a pair of hands force themselves beneath him to work at his belt buckle.

It's only then that Flynn understands what's coming and he begins to try to wrestle the hands away. His head is pounding now though and he's uncoordinated, so he just ends up clawing at mostly his belt himself. It lasts for a few seconds before the same wandering hands crush his fingers in their grip and move them aside. A moment later there's a clink, pressure around his hips are gone and there's a breeze on his legs. He can hear Yuri snort from somewhere in the room. "Forget to wear underwear today?" It's a lot colder than his usual tone though and under any other circumstance Flynn would have been a little turned on by the change, but now he feels threatened.

Hands creep up his exposed thighs and land firmly on his ass. Then they leave for a moment and he expects to feel wet fingers when they return, but they're not. His lower cheeks spread and he screws his eyes shut tight, head pounder fiercer than he's ever felt before.

Yuri's voice is unbelievably mocking when he asks with mock concern, "You ok, Flynn?"

A/N: This is actually a reeeaaaally toned down version of my original fic. XP I tried to reference some of the events in the game for the sake of accuracy, so I'm sorry if it confused anyone. One of my favorite fights in the game in when you face Flynn just for old time's sake. Their battle starts off with:

"I'm gonna kick your ass!"
"Oh no, no, no. I am SO gonna kick YOUR ass."

It's just too amazing. XD

Also, there is a skit between the party members early in the game where half of them admit that they like the taste of gels and the rest don't. If I remember correctly, Yuri mentions not liking the texture or something.

Thanks for reading! Please review!