Habits Never Change

Years of working side by side made them both very aware of the other's poor habits. To name a few, Wingul was all too aware of how Gaius intentionally let tea or hot chocolate go cold, how he'd use anything as a book mark, even damp leaves that could stain pages, and how he'd put a nearly empty contained of sword polish back. It didn't matter if there wasn't nearly enough to polish a blade, if there was even a smidgen left, Gaius would still save it.

Conversely, Gaius knew nearly all of his as well, though he didn't see the need to rehash them.

Wingul was fastening his traveling cloak, hoping that it would serve as enough protection against Khan Baliq's frigid temperatures even though he wasn't going very far. As it had only been a few months since they seized control of the capital, they made it a point to venture out into the city to see how the public opinion of the new king was fairing in the eyes of his people. He was pulling gloves on when he heard the sound of the door creaking open behind him.

Gaius walked through the door at his usual quick, purposeful pace, but the sight of him made his chief adviser frown. Wingul was quickly reminded of another of his bad habits; dressing outlandishly before venturing out into harsh weather conditions. Just being on the outer wall of the castle made the corridor chilly, but Gaius was heedlessly wearing a very plain, short sleeved shirt. Wingul was instantly reminded of another of Gaius poor habits; dressing outlandishly despite cold temperatures since he was so ridiculously immune to them.

"Gaius, that isn't appropriate attire for a king," he said tersely.

"It's casual clothing. We're going out into the city after all."

"It's snowing," Wingul said, motioning out the window.

"Presa would agree that casual attire is important for when blending in with the citizens," Gaius said, a hint of stubbornness evident in his tone.

As much as Gaius stood out just because of things he couldn't help, such as his height, or the fact that he never slouched, it was a blessing that the people of Khan Baliq were actually surprisingly unobservant of noticing when their king roamed around the streets. They'd ventured out several times when Gaius wasn't as inconspicuously dressed as he should have been, since it was something he didn't spend much time worrying about, and still didn't get recognized.

Regardless, some things were just far too conspicuous.

"Do you think someone walking around barely dressed in this weather isn't going to draw attention?"

"Some people have grown very accustomed to the temperature of this region," he said.

"And they at least wear coats," he said pointedly. "They don't stroll around with that much bare skin. You're going to get frostbite."

Gaius wasn't convinced. "It doesn't bother me though."

"People will stare," he reminded. "And if they stare too long, someone is bound to recognize you. Just put a coat on."

Gaius couldn't muster much of an argument when it came to being recognized and reluctantly left to get a coat. Wingul shook his head slightly, though the movement wasn't terribly noticeable since he was wearing a scarf over his coat and traveling cloak. He had not gotten used to the capital's temperatures since they start living in the castle.

Wingul drummed his fingers against the windowsill while he waited, which was a bad habit he didn't acknowledge having. When Gaius returned, he'd donned a thin looking jacket that he hadn't bothered buttoning. Wingul cast him an irritated look that he met evenly and calmly. They stared for several seconds before Wingul gave up.

"You consider that a winter coat?" Wingul asked, though he didn't expect to get anywhere.

"It's more than sufficient for me," Gaius said as he started walking toward the door.

"At least button it," he said, defeated.

"Aren't we in a hurry?"

Wingul stepped in front of him to stop him for a moment and fasten the buttons. The fabric felt stiff, as though the jacket was hardly ever worn before, never mind buttoned up. Gaius stopped and waited, looking slightly amused. Wingul noticed the slight change in his expression and glowered up at him.

"What?"

"Karla used to do the same thing," he said simply.

Wingul let go of the button when only half of them were fastened. "Finish it yourself."

Wingul heard a quiet chuckle behind him as he opened the door, allowing a rush of cold air to blow inside. The gust carried snow inside the corridor and managed to blow several snowflakes directly into his face. The icy temperature felt as though it penetrated his traveling cloak with its chill instantly, but of course, Gaius followed after him with so much as wincing at the cold.

"It's rather refreshing today," Gaius said.

"Of course you'd say that."

They left from a side exit rather than the main entrance to draw less attention to themselves as they boarded one of the slide cars. Unsurprisingly, Gaius parted with the jacket within all of thirty seconds of sitting down. Even when they disembarked, it remained casually hung over one arm instead of actually worn.

Some bad habits never changed.

Author's Note:

Hopefully I didn't have a little too much fun with this one. It's so easy to with a prompt like this. XD This request was for GaiWin and the fact that Gaius isn't bothered by the cold and thus wears t shirts around Khan Baliq, even though it's freezing.

I am still taking requests from the ship + piece of canon trivia trivia ask meme over on Tumblr! :D Don't be shy about sending things in, I'm ArstsBuns over there.