Yuri let out a frustrated groan as the kettle signaled that the tea was brewed, quickly removing the chicken he had been cooking and running across the kitchen to remove the pot from the flame. He refused to let this go wrong, especially after being forced to help clean the inn for the past week in exchange for the use of their kitchen. Estelle had offered to let him use the castles kitchen, but the nobles were holding a party for the start of fall and Yuri preferred to stay as far away from them as possible.
All of this work for one night that wasn't even that important, or at least that's what he wanted to make the others think. There was no way in hell Yuri would let Flynn know how much time he invested into one meal.
Yuri let his mind wander to the blonde commandant. It had taken more nerve than he would care to admit to invite Flynn to dinner and he would be damned if their first date wasn't a night to remember.
Refocusing on the task at hand Yuri began collecting the now cooked chicken breast and brewed tea to add to the plates and silverware on the tray.
"Never seen you so flustered before, cooking dinner and even bringing a candle?" The innkeepers voice startled Yuri, but he quickly regained his composure, making a point to move the candle from the front of the tray to the back and out of her line of vision.
"Me, flustered? Please, I'm just making sure blondie doesn't have any reasons to complain. He's probably used to those fancy meals at the castle by now".
The innkeeper gave Yuri a knowing glance, but ultimately decided to let it go. After leaving behind some used dishes she existed the kitchen to attend to her customers.
Once he had balanced the tray, Yuri made his way to the room he and Flynn had formerly shared and began to set a table he borrowed from Estelle. After giving a sweeping glance across the room Yuri paused. "Damn, I guess I really do care", Yuri leaned against the wall taking a moment to think about what led up to these preparations.
It wasn't like he had just recently realized his feeling for the blue-eyed knight; during their time in the academy he had noticed the tightness in his chest when he looked at Flynn, though he didn't care to admit it. Even as children he thought he must have loved the blonde even if it hadn't quite developed to the romantic feelings that slowly emerged throughout their many years of friendship.
A soft knock at the door pulled Yuri from his thoughts. "You know you don't have to knock, the door isn't locked".
"Some people still have manners Yuri. It isn't polite to barge into peoples' rooms."
Yuri pushed off the wall with a smirk and made his way to the door. "You're right and it's just so polite to talk to someone through a door."
Yuri threw the door open revealing an exhausted looking Flynn. He took in the commandant's appearance; Flynn was still in his armor, obviously having just left work, blonde hair slightly disheveled from the wind after his walk from the castle. The blondes eyes softened noticeably, feeling more relaxed after stepping out of the publics view and into Yuri's room.
"Flynn lose the armor would you."
After an admonishing glance at Yuri, Flynn began removing his gauntlets tossing them onto Yuri's bed.
"Sorry I didn't have the time to get changed, I thought you would rather me arrive on time." Flynn commented his tone giving away the teasing nature of his statement.
After tossing aside the last of his armor Flynn noticed the table. "You really put a lot of effort into this didn't you?"
"Not really." Yuri lied. "I just thought you may appreciate a nice meal for our date, after all I…" Yuri stopped himself when he noticed the confusion on Flynn's face.
"Did you just say this was a date?" Flynn responded inquisitively.
No. There was no way in hell this is happening. Flynn's casual acceptance of his dinner invitation was starting to make sense, Yuri should have known, but he didn't and now it was too late.
Yuri put a teasing nature into his voice, attempting to play off his blunder. "Forget it. Lets just eat okay."
"Wait, Yuri I-" Flynn tried to reply
"Stop! Flynn I said forget it okay, it doesn't matter. Just shut up and eat the chicken!" Despite his attempts, Yuri didn't think he would be able to hide the hurt from his tone much longer.
Flynn refused to be silenced though, firmly cutting in, "Will you listen to me? Why didn't you just say it was a date when you asked me to dinner?"
"Obviously I thought it was evident when I asked you, but apparently it wasn't. Why does this even matter, I get it I look like an idiot. Can we please stop instead of dragging it out any longer." Yuri had lost his usual confident demeanor and was now attempting to not look completely defeated.
"Yuri…" Flynn softly sighed.
Yuri knew Flynn wasn't the type of person to intentionally humiliate him, but that didn't remove the sting from the conversation.
"I'm sorry." Yuri muttered breaking eye contact with Flynn to stare at the flame of the candle.
The silence dragged on for several long moments before Flynn's voice cut through the silence "Yes."
"What?" Yuri responded finally reestablishing eye contact
"Yes, I would love to go on a date with you. Maybe if you took a moment to listen at the beginning of the conversation we could have prevented this argument, but it's too late for that so I would appreciate if we could enjoy the rest of our date." Flynn replied through laughter.
"If you hadn't just said yes I would be really pissed off right now. Care to explain what's so funny?" Yuri replied, too pleased with Flynn's answer to let annoyance overtake his tone.
Flynn was still smiling softly when he explained, "I was just thinking about all of our close calls. Sometimes I felt really obvious when I looked at you or when we would speak. Most of the time it could be explained away with our friendship, but I was always waiting for this to happen. It's funny that our first date started out with a disagreement, it seems kind of fitting."
"I guess we always were an interesting pair. In this case though opposites really do balance each other out. I mean, if it wasn't for me who would make sure you actually had a life outside of work. If I didn't know any better I would say you came out of the womb in your armor " Yuri joked.
"I could say the same about you Yuri! Although I think keeping you from total self-destruction may be a bit more pertinent." Flynn shook his head at the thought, but his eyes still held affection as he continued, "This is good though, I feel like it's a natural progression. I always knew whatever this is that we have is different, irreplaceable. "
"Always the sap" Yuri muttered while getting up from his seat.
"Yuri, what are you-" Flynn was cut off by Yuri's lips landing on his own.
Yuri pulled away to softly reply, "This is irreplaceable."