For Fluri month 2016, prompt "Jealousy".

I always said I was going to write Alexei/Yuri one day. This isn't my definitive headcanon about that ship but it's the basic dynamic. Pre- and post-game, not First Strike compliant

Outside, the band was still playing. It had been a constant background for the past four hours, and Flynn was starting to get tired of this. It was the midsummer festival, which he always enjoyed when he was a kid. Now that he was a knight and had spent the day on patrol, wearing heavy armour under the hot sun and forbidden from partaking in the festivities, his appreciation had waned. Now that he was finally off shift, he just wanted the blasted thing to be over so he could go to bed.

The door swung open and Yuri stomped in. Flynn groaned and rolled over, pulling his blanket over his head. He and Flynn had volunteered to bunk together, thinking that after sharing everything together since they were kids, rooming together now that they were in the Knights was a no-brainer. While Flynn couldn't say he regretted that entirely, he was getting pretty tired of Yuri barging in without concern for his sleeping schedule.

Yuri kicked the door closed and plopped on his bed with a creak of mattress springs. He must be tired too, although Flynn hadn't seen him. Most of their unit had been assigned to patrol the streets during the festival and make sure no fights broke out, but Yuri had been called away late in the afternoon and Flynn hadn't seen him since.

His boots thumped onto the floor and Flynn rolled over with a sigh. "Could you keep it down, perhaps?"

"Sorry." Yuri sat on the edge of his bed, eyes out the window.

Flynn wanted to go back to bed. He was sleepy, he had to get up early the next day, and his face hurt from a mild sunburn. But, the way Yuri was sitting and staring pensively out the window kept him awake. He rubbed his eyes and let out a resigned yawn.

"What's up?"

"Hm? Nothing…" Yuri rose from the bed and ripped off his shirt.

Flynn watched him in the dim light of a room lit only by the blastia outside. It wasn't a bad view, he had to admit. He'd enjoy it a lot more if Yuri wasn't moving with an unnatural tightness. The question of where Yuri had been for the past couple of hours reared up in Flynn's mind. "Did you have a nice night?"

"Fair enough. You?"

"I think I liked these festivals more when we were participants."

"Ha, true that." Yuri tugged his pants off, not caring an ounce that Flynn was watching him do it. He slipped into a pair of baggy shorts and fell, bare-chested, onto his bed. "It was still fun, though. Ted thought my sword was really cool."

"You didn't let him hold it, did you?" Flynn wouldn't put it past Yuri to hand sharp weapons over to nine-year-old boys in the name of 'education'.

"Nah, his mom was right there."

"And you would have if she wasn't"

"Don't yell at me for things I've only hypothetically done."

"Ok, ok. Anyway, where were you? You left when it was barely sunset."

Yuri folded his arms under his head. "What, are you mad I got a shorter shift?"

Yuri was being so evasive about this. He was so annoying when he got like this. "Fine, don't tell me. I want to go to bed anyway." Flynn lay flat on his back and pulled the blanket up. Just wait. Five, four, three, two -

"I talked to the commandant today."

Bingo. Flynn opened his eyes again and said, "Really? When?"

"Few hours ago. Some bigshot lieutenant tracked me down while I was standing around with Hachet. It was kind of funny, actually. He tried so hard to look down his nose at me even though I was taller. All smarmy like 'are you Yuri Lowell?' Anyway, I said yeah, and he said Commandant Alexei required my presence. What an uptight way to say it, huh? 'requires your presence'."

Flynn listened without interrupting. Yuri was taking a long time to get to the point, which was making Flynn worry about just what it was.

"So I went to the commandant's office. Have you been there?"

"No." He'd kill to see it from the inside. Only important people got to enter the commandant's private office. What the hell had Yuri done to deserve that privilege? Not that Flynn was envious, but… ok, he was a little envious.

"Big fancy place. Marble floors, pillars, banners on the wall. Real swanky. Anyway, he told everyone else to leave the room. At this point, I was pretty confused. I mean, what have I done to get a private audience with the commandant?"

Good question, Flynn thought, and then shot it down.

"I mean, knowing me, I was assuming I was in trouble rather than getting any sort of commendation."

"I'd have guessed that as well."

"Thanks for your support. Really appreciate it."

"So what did the commandant want?" Flynn propped himself on his elbow. "You're not in trouble, are you?" If it was trouble dished out by the commandant himself, Flynn couldn't imagine Yuri would still be here.

"No. He told me that right away - must have seen my face. Said I wasn't in trouble"

"So… a commendation?" For what?

"Not that either. He said… well, uh…." Sheets crinkled as Yuri shifted around in his bed. "He said he likes me."

"Liked you?" How did he even know Yuri existed? What had Yuri done to get the commandant's attention that Flynn, who worked so hard, hadn't done?

"Yeah. Like… likes me. In the sense of… 'wow, I didn't even know the commandant swung that way but I guess I'm flattered'."

Flynn's eyes widened. "He came onto you?"

"It was bizarre." Yuri was still talking to the ceiling. Flynn couldn't remember the last time Yuri had been so uncomfortable talking about something. "He said he could put through a transfer for me to the Royal Guard."

Flynn gaped. "Yuri, that would be an incredible promotion." Flynn had aspirations of joining that elite branch of the Knighthood someday.

"Sure would. I'd get promoted, a pay raise, private accommodation instead of sharing a dorm - in the castle, even."

It was everything Flynn had dreamed of and it was going to someone who was questioning if he even wanted to be in the Knights still. Be happy for Yuri, he screamed at himself. And he was. If anyone had to get all that stuff, he'd rather it be Yuri than anyone else. He loved seeing his friend succeed… he just couldn't help thinking that of the two of them, he himself had done more to earn it. Trying to sound casual, he said, "Nice for me, at least. I finally get you out of my room. Maybe my next roommate will know what a laundry basket is."

"I turned it down."

"You… what? You turned down a transfer to the Royal Guard?"

Yuri rolled over to face Flynn. "You're so one-track minded it's funny sometimes. Did my tale of promotions and career advancement fill your eyes with so many stars that you forgot the part with him being into me?"

"Oh." Yuri was right. He'd been so caught up in thoughts of how much he desired a promotion to the top tier of the Knights that he hadn't considered the little piece of information Yuri had thrown in at the start. It was the explanation, presumably, for why Yuri was being offered such a stellar promotion in the first place.

"He didn't come out and say it, but it was pretty obvious that all these perks came with the understanding that I would be his…." Yuri held his arms up and made air quotes, "companion."

"That's… hell. I had no idea the commandant was like that."

"Seriously. Well, whatever. I told him the offer was flattering but that I wasn't interested in sleeping my way to the top."

"You told him that? You said that to the commandant?" Of course he had. Yuri had the political savvy of a groundhog.

"More or less."

"I can't imagine he was pleased."

"No, I don't think he was pleased at all."

"Do you think he'll take it out on you?"

Yuri shrugged. "Maybe. Probably not. What's he going to do? It would look pretty weird for him to suddenly start dishing out punishments to some entry-level knight."

"Yes. I suppose you're right." Flynn eased himself back down into bed and pulled his blanket to his chin. He closed his eyes, but then Yuri spoke again.

"Maybe I should have taken him up on the offer."

Flynn's eyes shot open. "Are you seriously considering it?"

"Worth thinking about, isn't it? Think of how much money the guys in the Royal Guard make. I'd be rolling in gald. I could be the commandant's gold digger."

"But you won't, because you have morals. You wouldn't sleep with someone for money." And now a very different form of jealousy was rearing its head, directed not at Yuri but at the commandant. He didn't like the idea of anyone else winning Yuri's affection, but it wasn't worth making their friendship awkward to voice why.

"I don't know. Important question: would you suck a dick for a million gald?"

"Of course not," Flynn scoffed.

"Come off it. You wouldn't even consider it? At that point, it's not even prostitution, it's just sound financial planning."

"Yuri, you can't seriously be considering his offer. It's completely immoral."

"What's got your panties in a twist? I promise if I whore myself out for cash, I'll split it with you."

"This isn't a joking matter." He tried to keep his voice level. Yuri couldn't know why the thought of Yuri sleeping with someone else made him so upset - especially someone like the commandant. How could Flynn ever compete with the likes of Commandant Alexei himself? Not even getting into Yuri surely only seeing him as a friend.

"Boy, you're really out of sorts about this. Jealous?"

"Of course not." Was it his imagination or was his voice a little more high-pitched than usual.

"Ha! You are jealous, aren't you?"

"No."

"You want to woo the commandant yourself, right? Ohhh Commandant show me your medals again. Alexei, you're so strong and politically well-connected."

"That's not it at all! And I don't sound like that!" He was really glad the room was dark so he didn't have to see Yuri's smirking face.

"Would you do it? If Alexei offered?"

"No, I wouldn't." He didn't want to be with anyone except the friend who didn't like him back. Maybe he'd consider compromising his morals for the sake of his career once he got over this dumb crush, but for now he just couldn't imagine giving himself to anyone else, for whatever the reason.

"I'd call you stupid for turning down that kind of money, but look what I just did. Funny thing is, maybe he'd have stood a better chance if he tried to actually, you know, seduce me and stuff. Not just throw offers of titles and promotions at me to buy me off.

Flynn forced himself to stay casual. "Do you think you could actually fall for him?"

Yuri snickered. "Don't get your panties in a twist. I'm joking, Flynn. I swear, nothing in the world will ever get me into the commandant's bed."

Several years later, Yuri lay naked beneath the sheets in the commandant's bed. Of all the broken promises Yuri had ever made, this was the one Flynn was most ok with.

"Are you going to sleep?" Flynn asked twirling Yuri's hair around his fingers.

"That's the normal thing to do in a bed, isn't it?"

"There are other things to do in beds."

"But we just did that." He rolled over. "Unless you're saying you're already up for round two?"

Flynn smiled a little. "Hm… no, I don't think so. Besides, I have work tomorrow. I shouldn't stay up too late."

"What do you have to do?"

Flynn yawned and stretched his arms above the sheet. "Meeting with the Council, first thing. Not looking forward to that. Ioder wants to talk to me in private afterward. I'm not sure what about."

"Oh-ho, very fancy. Trying to seduce me with stories of your private meetings with royalty?"

Flynn snorted. "Hardly. You asked."

"This isn't my first time being seduced by a commandant, you know."

"You're not bringing that up again are you?"

"Can't let your head get too big. I had other offers, you know."

"Yes, and you turned them all down."

"Yeah." Yuri stared up at the ceiling of Flynn's bedroom. After a long pause, he said, "Do you ever think about your life and regret your choices?"

Flynn twisted his head toward Yuri. "Excuse me?"

"I could have been Alexei's boyfriend and not yours."

"Except that would be stupid because he was a megalomaniac who nearly destroyed the world."

Yuri shrugged. "Nobody's perfect. He had nice hair."

"What?"

"He was taller than you, too."

"Hardly." Several inches, Flynn knew.

"And it took all of us working together to stop him in a fight. I beat you on my own."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"You have to admit he was pretty strong."

Flynn scowled. "Well… well yes, but-"

"All those muscles… that deep, imposing voice…."

"Yuri."

"I gotta wonder about what could have been…."

Flynn couldn't stop frowning. "Stop it."

Yuri turned his head, saw Flynn's face, and burst into laughter. "Oh man, Flynn, really? You think I'd seriously be into Alexei?"

Flynn folded his arms. "No - of course not - but-"

"I can't believe you're jealous of Alexei."

"I am not."

Yuri was still grinning at him like an asshole and then pushed himself up from the bed just enough to lean over and kiss Flynn on the nose. "Stop pouting, you baby. Of all the commandants that have hit on me, I promise you're the only one I ever liked."