New update! :) See the end of the chapter for notes.

WARNING: this chapter contains spoilers and a brief M scene.


At that hour, the bar was completely empty. In fact, when they arrive the innkeeper was about to go to sleep. When the woman saw them she tried to stay to attend them but Gaius told her that it wasn't necessary at all. After insisting a couple of times, the woman accepted to leave giving them a bottle of liquor so they could serve themselves, After the woman left, they took a couple of glasses and sat down in one square table, one in front of the other.

At first there was a little awkward silence, but after a few seconds Gaius filled their glasses, raised his and with a really serious face looked at Alvin saying:

"For Alvin the Mercenary: the first man who has managed to take the King to a bar".

When the astonishment left Alvin's face, it was replaced for a brief laugh. He hadn't expected that but now he definitely had to respond, so he raises his glass too.

"For the King of Auj Oule: the first man who has managed to beat me and who was the nerve to put the blame on an honest man like me when he was the first who suggested going for a drink".

Gaius smiles.

"Well, you have a point there but I only suggested it for you, so technically it's your fault".

Alvin laughs again.

"Okay, your Majesty, as always there is no point in arguing with you. Cheers!"

"Cheers", repeats Gaius.

Both take a sip of the liquor.

"Wow", exclaims Alvin shaking his head, "it's stronger than I thought"

"Really? I think it's rather normal. Maybe you are too young to support this drink", comments Gaius with a smile full of irony.

"Come on, your Majesty, you can't be much older than me"

Gaius raises his eyebrows as a response.

"Twenty seven? Twenty eight?", Gaius shakes his head and Alvin's eyes widen, "thirty?", another negative, "you are older than thirty?!"

Alvin is so surprised that he forgets the correct treatment and Gaius laughs because of Alvin's stunned expression.

"I'm thirty two in fact. Can I suppose that you thought that I was younger than that?"

"Yes, you suppose right, your Majesty", manages to respond Alvin, "certainly I wouldn't have imagined that you have surpassed the thirties".

"Well, thanks for the compliment", says Gaius with an inclination of his head.

Alvin takes another sip. Thirty two. That was six years older than him. Well, that certainly explained why he always managed to stay so composed, he surely had more experience than him in keeping up appearances.

"So", comments Gaius after a short silence, "are you feeling like talking about your report?", and Gaius has to notice the change in Alvin's expression because he immediately adds, "Only if you want. If you prefer to speak about something else or simply to drink, I won't insist".

Alvin smiles.

"That means that I can challenge you to a drink contest, your Majesty?"

Gaius smiles back.

"I'm afraid that it's very likely that you will lose if we do it"

"Now you are really tempting me, your Majesty", says Alvin crossing his arms above the table. After a moment that Alvin thinks is longer than usual, Gaius shakes his head.

"I'm sorry but I have to refuse, I need to have my head clear if I want to perform my tasks well tomorrow".

"Okay, your Majesty, but I only accept that excuse because you are a King and I suppose that to do your royal stuff must be difficult, but if you were a simple man I wouldn't let you run away so easily", Alvin says that to tease Gaius, but he wasn't expecting the little sad smile that adorns briefly Gaius' face before answering.

"I appreciate your understanding. Maybe another time"

There is another silence. Alvin knows that Gaius is giving him an opportunity to speak about the mission, and although a part of him doesn't want to remember certain parts, another part of him really wants to talk. Alvin looks at Gaius, who is drinking calmly looking at the distance, and although he seems lost in his thoughts, Alvin knows that he is only pretending it so he doesn't feel pressured to speak. Alvin smiles to himself and after taking a deep breath, he begins to speak.

At first he began with certain reluctance, but as soon as he discovered that Gaius was really listening to him and that he didn't have any intention to interrupt him, he spoke with more confidence. He explained Gaius almost everything (avoiding mentioning Gilland in every moment), and when he spoke about parts of his story that he didn't like (the death of Cline, the injuries of Milla), Gaius didn't force him to continue when he remained silent by asking questions: he simply waited for him until he decided to continue.

Alvin didn't know how much time he had spoken. He only knew that the liquor bottle was almost empty when they had been drinking with a slow pace, so an hour at least must have passed.

"…and that's all", finishes Alvin, "so sorry, your Majesty, I haven't brought you any new information about the item that Milla is hiding but at least you have news from Nachtical".

Gaius nods with a frown.

"Yes, and there are not precisely good news".

"No, they are not", confirms Alvin taking another sip.

"It had to be hard", comments Gaius after a moment, looking at Alvin.

"Not at all, every time that we encountered Nachtical it was always personally, so to reunite information wasn't that hard"

"I was referring to what happened to Cline", Alvin tries to not to show any emotion, "I suppose that as a mercenary you are accustomed to see men die, but I suppose that to see an assassination like that isn't something that you are used to see".

Alvin gulps. He knows that it would be better not to say anything, or to make the most possible neutral response, but maybe the alcohol is making him react more than usual because he decides to speak sincerely instead.

"It's not just that", he tries to put in order his thoughts before continuing, "I mean, it's not the first man that I've seen being assassinated but Cline has been the first man that clearly didn't deserve that. I've been working as a mercenary all my life, and in this kind of job it's impossible not be involved at some point with clients who have deals with not-too-legal merchandise, or with weapons, or with black-money…and of course, if the client is not careful, he sometimes ends dead. Maybe what I'm going to say it's harsh but all the people that I've seen die deserved it for being greedy most of times. But Cline…", Alvin gulps again and clears his throat trying to calm the trembling of his voice, "Cline wasn't like that at all. He was just a kid but despite being that young he only wanted to be a good governor to protect his people…he didn't deserve that death at all".

Alvin takes a breath before continuing without noticing the expression that Gaius has at that moment.

"And Milla…she only wants to fulfill her mission as Lord of Spirits to protect not only the spirits, but the humans too…and now she is unable to move and nobody knows if she is going to walk again. Damn it. Neither of that should happen to people like that".

Alvin rubs his eyes trying to calm down. What was he doing being so sentimental all of a sudden? Damn alcohol.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty, I think that you are right and I'm too young to this liquor, to be saying stupid things like this…"

"They are not stupid at all", the assertive answer makes Alvin look at Gaius. This one has a serious expression of his face but his eyes are different than usual: they are more expressive, and they have a kind of warm that they didn't have before.

"What you say has perfect sense, Alvin. In this world full of weak and greedy people, sometimes the best persons are the ones that suffer the most. You don't have to be ashamed of being affected about it. That only indicates that you are an honorable man".

Alvin can't avoid a snort.

"An honorable man?", he repeats with irony, "come on, your Majesty, don't mock me".

"I'm not mocking anyone".

"Your Majesty, I'm a mercenary", says Alvin with a serious tone, "I think that that fact is enough to affirm that I'm not an honorable man. And in fact, if you have hired me as a mercenary, you should be expecting a man who is capable of performing the job without hesitation, instead of a softhearted asshole who cries with a few drinks just because some people that he knows but that at the end will disappear from his life for sure are suffering".

Alvin shuts up breathing hard. This time he has talked too much and Gaius surely is going to be angry, so he focuses his eyes on the floor avoiding looking at him.

"Have you finished?", asks Gaius with a polite voice.

Alvin forces himself to look at the King and he is surprised to see that his expression hasn't changed at all. He expected Gaius to be angry or at least offended but he wasn't.

"It seems so", comments Gaius taking as affirmative the silence of Alvin, "well, where do I start? First of all: I really don't know why but it seems that you really want to be fired. No, it's worst indeed: it seems that you really want me to want to fire you"

Alvin eyes widen for the almost tongue-twister.

"I don't know how many times I've told you already that I think that you are really capable to perform the job but you still seem desperate to make me believe the contrary. Alvin, answer me sincerely, do you want to abandon this job?"

"No", Alvin responds immediately even before thinking.

"I mean, I know that I may be a strict client but I don't think that I've been such a bad client to make you quit. Besides, I think the money that I'm going to pay you is reasonable and…"

"No, no, no", interrupts Alvin the King, and he is seriously less focused than usual because he didn't notice that the King is just teasing him with the last part, "it's not that at all, your Majesty…it's just…"

"It's just what? What's the matter with being 'a softhearted asshole'? That only proves me that you are much better than the people who offer their service just for money and nothing else. And yes, maybe you are right and most people would prefer that from a mercenary because is the normal thing to do, but maybe you haven't noticed that I'm not like normal people. Or do you have known a lot of kings that have under their command people like the Chimeriad?"

Alvin may be a little affected by the alcohol but he is lucid enough to say something back to that statement with a smile.

"Be careful, your Majesty, it seems that you are calling 'not normal' the Chimeriad".

"Yes, I know, that's precisely what I'm saying. Do you know the meaning of the word: 'normal'?

"Something opposed to 'weird'?", comments with irony Alvin.

"No", replies Gaius, "it means: conforming to the standard or the common type. In one word: usual. Tell me, Alvin, would you consider any of the Chimeriad usual? Presa: an ex-spy cat-woman with an incredible ability with magic; Jiao: a man who can domestic almost any animal and whose strength is greater than ten normal men; Agria: a noble and almost crazy girl with a traumatic past but whose abilities make her lethal in combat; and Wingul, a prodigy in combat and strategy who became the chief of his tribe when he was eleven", Gaius takes a sip of his glass without averting his eyes from Alvin, "as you can see, neither of them is what you call 'normal', but that doesn't make them worse than the others"

Alvin opens his mouth trying to say something but he realizes that he doesn't have anything as a rebuttal.

"So Alvin", continues Gaius making Alvin to look at him again, "what I'm trying to say is that you don't need to apologize for not being the standard type of a mercenary. Maybe that would bother other clients, but absolutely not me. But well, if despite all I've just said you still want to be fired, the best option is to retreat from the fight that will take place tomorrow, or to last less than a minute as you promised".

When Alvin hears the last part, he can't avoid a laugh. The fight. With all that had happened he had almost forgot.

"Don't worry, your Majesty. I'll plan to last one minute at least".

Gaius smiles.

"I'm glad to hear that".

They remain silent for a moment. Alvin takes the last sip of his glass.

"You…you are a really good king, your Majesty. I'm sure that your people love you, although I suppose that some men will hate you too for that".

Gaius frowns in confusion.

"Why?"

"Because I'm sure that a lot of women have fallen under your charms", comments Alvin with a smile, and yes, he knew that now the alcohol was making him say things that not even him would say, but his tongue is faster than his clouded brain at that moment, "and besides your character you are rather good looking, I think that if I were a woman I would fell for you instantly".

Alvin thinks that it has to be the light, but he almost swears that just for a moment the King has blushed slightly. But it had to be his imagination, because when he blinks Gaius has his normal expression again and the only change that he makes is crossing his legs.

"Well, I suppose that I'll take that as a compliment, although I think that your vision of me is very idealized"

"Come on, your Majesty, don't tell me that there hasn't been any woman in your life. I'm not going to ask how many, but I'm sure that surely more than one".

"I think that I must I remind you that, as a King, I don't have much time to lose".

Alvin laughs because of the seriousness of the reply.

"Does your Majesty consider spending time with a woman as 'losing time'?"

"When there is some more important matters to attend, yes", answers Gaius, and this time it's him the one who is finding difficult to look at Alvin at the eyes.

Alvin is going to comment something when an idea comes to his mind and before even thinking he speaks.

"Wait a moment, your Majesty, may I suppose that you have always been so busy that you never…?"

"You really don't want to finish that question, Alvin. Believe me"

And this time Alvin does as Gaius says, although a part of himself really is dying to know. Could the King be really a virgin? With that physic? That couldn't be true…But well, that was something that definitely he couldn't ask.

"My apologies, your Majesty, I think that the alcohol is speaking instead of me by now".

"Yes, I think so too, so maybe it's better for us to retire", comments Gaius standing up, "can you get up?".

"Yep, I think that…wooow!"

Alvin manages to stand up but at that moment his surroundings seems to be a little unclear and that makes him almost fall. Fortunately, Gaius is there to catch him.

"I think that you can't", comments Gaius passing the right arm of Alvin around his own shoulders to help him to walk.

"I'm not drunk, your Majesty, I promise, just a little dizzy".

"I would say more than a 'little'. But I assume the responsibility: it's my fault to allow a kid like you to drink", comments Gaius as they begin to get up the stairs to Alvin's room.

"Oe! Who are you calling 'a kid', your Majesty?"

"If you don't know how to drink, you are a kid", states simply Gaius.

"I'm not", replies Alvin.

"That's what a kid would say"

"And you are one too for taking advantage that I can't respond with my usual sharpness, your Majesty".

"Point taken", smiles Gaius.

When they arrive at the door of Alvin's room, Gaius' helps Alvin to stand.

"Are you really okay?"

"Yeah, your Majesty, don't worry", says Alvin with what he intends to be a reassuring smile, "unless you want to enter to help me go to bed since you say I'm a kid".

Gaius' eyes widen but just then he realizes that although Alvin is not completely sober, he definitely is making fun of him right now.

"Well, at least it seems that despite the alcohol you are fine enough to make jokes"

Alvin laughs.

"Well, your Majesty, it didn't occur to you that maybe it wasn't a joke but an invitation?"

Alvin realizes that Gaius at first hasn't understood the implication but when he sees Gaius' eyes open even wider he laughs again.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty, but your face with this last one has been priceless. Don't worry, I wouldn't dare to flirt with your like that, not even being drunk".

"Yes, I suppose so".

And something in the tone of Gaius makes Alvin stop laughing and looks at the King trying to see if something is wrong, but when he does so, he can't see any different expression in him except maybe a little tenseness, but well, it was late and both of them were tired so that could not mean anything.

"Have a nice rest, Alvin. You need to be in form if you want to have an opportunity tomorrow", comments Gaius.

Alvin smiles.

"Of course your Majesty", Gaius nods. He is going to turn around when Alvin stops him, "and your Majesty…thank you for your time. I know that I can be a very irritant man most part of the time and that I must be even more irritant when I'm a little drunk so…thank you for listening"

Gaius looks at him surprised and then he smiles again.

"You're welcome. Rest well, Alvin".

"You too, your Majesty" and with a last nod, Gaius leaves.

Alvin closes the door behind him. He is so tired that he doesn't want to think in anything anymore, there will be time for that the next day. He gets undressed in a flash, drops himself to the bed and even before touching the sheets he is already asleep.


Alvin wakes up with a moderate headache, so he manages to get up relatively early. He takes a light breakfast and then he asks the innkeeper if the training room is empty. She confirms it and gives him something similar to an access card.

"What is it?", he asks.

"The King Gaius told me this morning to give it to you if you asked about the training room. The King told me too that you should know that the fight would take place this afternoon at six o'clock in the training room as well. I must say that he put special emphasis in the six o'clock part, because he added: 'tell him that it will be six o'clock, not seven past six or any other hour'."

Alvin smiles to himself. So he had notice that he had arrived seven minutes late the last time.

"Where is the King then?"

"He is attending some matters, sir, so I don't know where he is. But don't worry, if the King says that he will be at six o'clock, he will be".

"I have no doubts about that", comments Alvin, "thanks for the card, madam".

Without losing anymore time, Alvin went to training room. He trained almost all the morning, focusing in giving fast blows and shoots with his weapons but specially in defending fast. He couldn't possibly win Gaius in speed, so he had to be fast enough in stopping the blows first and then he could focus in giving him at least a hit so the King would be forced to fulfill his promise to be called by the first name. Alvin smiles to himself while training. Maybe the King didn't remember that part but he surely did, and he really had curiosity to see what face he would make the first time that he called him 'Gaius'. A part of him wanted to see Wingul's face too but that maybe was tempting his luck too much. Besides, his relationship with Wingul seemed to be better than before after their last talk, it would be a pity to worsen it again.

He was so focused training that he doesn't hear the door of the training room opening.

"Al?"

Alvin turns around.

"Hi, Presa. It's been a while", he comments with a wink, and he notices the way that her eyes travels for his upper-half body before looking at him. While training he had preferred to leave part of his clothes aside because he didn't have a change of clothes, so now his upper body has naked.

Naturally, with all the monsters that he had fought with Jude and the others and the extra training, he had a rather toned body now and Presa seemed to note that, although he knew that it was something that she never would admit despite the fact that she had always liked his body back then when they were together. And surely she liked it still now, if the blush that now was adorning her cheeks was any indication. But well, that was a past story, and it was one that he didn't want to repeat despite the good moments that they have had. Besides, now he had more important things in mind right now, like training to win the bet.

"I didn't know that you had access to this room", comments her at the end

"Me neither until this morning", answers Alvin. He gives a couple of blows and shots before removing the sweat of his forehead, "by the way I was finishing and I was going to eat something, do you want to come?".

Presa looks at him surprised.

"What?", says Alvin when he sees that Presa is nor answering.

"Nothing, it's just that I was expecting the typical joke about going on a date or something like that, as you usually does", comments, and in fact she sounded a little disappointed. Women. He was never going to understand them. But she was right, she was always teasing her with that but this time he had completely forgotten, so before she could comment something about strange behavior again he puts his hand behind his head and with a seductive smile he says:

"Well…if you want it to be a date then…"

"I wasn't saying that", says Presa immediately averting her eyes, making Alvin laugh. She adjusts her glasses and clears her throat before continuing, "in any case, thank you for the invitation but I've already eaten. You should be going now if you want to have a sit, this is peak hour in the dining room".

"Ok, I'll see you this afternoon", he takes his weapons and runs to the door passing Presa.

"Make sure to take a shower before going to eat", she says, and although Alvin has left the room already, when he hears the comment he can't help to come back and say:

"Speaking of showers, do you want to…?"

"Goood, leave already and drown for a while, jerk!", she exclaims without turning. She only obtains a laugh as a response.

After showering and eating, Alvin went to his room to take a nap. He made sure to put the clock ten minutes before six o'clock so he wouldn't be late, and it was a good choice because when he woke up at that hour and went to the training room, there were a great number of soldiers at the entrance already and he almost spent all the time to go to the center of the room where Gaius was already standing.

"You are punctual", comments Gaius with a smile.

"Of course, your Majesty, who do you think I am?", answers Alvin with a reverence.

Then the King approaches him and speaks to him almost in his ear so the rest of the soldiers couldn't hear them.

"If you still feel dizzy for yesterday I could shorten the time of the fight".

Alvin looks at Gaius who is imperturbable as always and smiles.

"Thank you, your Majesty, but I'll pass. I made a promise and I plan to keep my word".

Gaius' smile widens.

"Well said", he separates and goes backwards to the opposite extreme of the circle, "I'm not going to have mercy then, mercenary".

"Me neither, your Majesty", answers with a daring tone Alvin without averting his eyes from Gaius.

At that moment, Presa walks to the center and raises her arm.

"Everyone, listen a moment, please", all the soldiers shut up when they hear the voice of her beloved superior, "thank you very much. This fight would be a little different from the others that you are accustomed to see, because this fight only would last one minute at most. If the mercenary manage to stay conscious during a whole minute, we will consider that as his victory, but if he last less than a minute, it will be his defeat"

Alvin can hear people around whispering things as: 'A minute? Against the king? Is he crazy? He won't last even ten seconds'. I lasted ten seconds, asshole, he thinks Alvin to himself. But that didn't matter. People could say whatever they wanted but he was going to last one minute. And what's more: he was going to hit the King at least once during that minute.

"Everybody, as always, be as quiet as possible. Good luck for the both combatants", when she says that he looks first at the King and makes a little reverence and then at Alvin for a longer time. Alvin only winks at Presa trying to reassure her but she didn't seem to calm down. That woman…his faith in him was encouraging.

After that, Presa takes her place at the first line of the circle.

"I'll begin the countdown", he announces, "three…"

Alvin locks his eyes with Gaius again. The King is already in position, his katana in the air pointing directly at his direction. It was the same stance that he used during their first fight.

"Two…"

Alvin can feel himself tensing. Damn, it was almost the same sensation that the first time. Almost. Because now he knew what was coming, and now he could stop it. Probably.

"One!"

As Alvin supposed, the King doesn't lose time and attack him directly, his katana aiming to his chest but Alvin is fast enough to stop the hit although not fast enough to give a blow because at that moment Gaius disappears from his view.

Alvin smiles to himself. He is repeating the same movements that the previous fight. Confident bastard…, he thinks to himself. But this time he is prepared for that, so he turns around with his weapon already pulled out and points at his left where Gaius is standing ready to hit him. However, when he sees that Alvin is going to shoot, Gaius is forced to stop the attack and to use his katana to cut literally the shot.

"Come on, your Majesty", says Alvin making his weapon spin with his hand, "you said that you weren't going to have mercy and I'm only seeing repeated movements. Is it all what you got?"

Gaius smiles.

"I was just warming up. I see that you have learned from our previous fight, but let me see if you have improved".

Gaius is barely finished the sentence when he is already just in front of Alvin, but he was expecting something like that. He knows that at that point it's useless to try to put distance, Gaius only will use his speed to try to take his back again, so he uses his sword again to defend himself for the imminent blow at the same time that he uses his pistol to shoot some shots that of course doesn't impact on Gaius.

However, although Alvin was expecting the hit, it had more force than he remembered, but well, that was normal because Gaius had been training as well. What he wasn't expecting was that immediately after giving the first blow, Gaius attacked him again, and again, and at some point Alvin didn't know how the hell his sword was still in one piece because he had lost the number of hits that Gaius was delivering him but surely there were a lot.

Damn, that wasn't good, if he didn't do anything fast his sword was going to break. Just when he has decided that he was going to try to put some distance, Gaius stops attacking him just for a second, but that is enough for Alvin to involuntary relax a little the grabbing his sword and that is the moment that Gaius uses to attack again with a lateral hit, making Alvin's sword fly to the other side.

"Fuck!", exclaims Alvin. But he hasn't time to say anything more, because when his eyes follows the sword before realizing that it's a really bad idea to avert his eyes from Gaius, this one uses his leg to give him a direct kick to his chest making him fly to the opposite direction of the sword.

Alvin coughs trying to recuperate some air, his face looking at the floor. Damn. His vision was beginning to blur. But he couldn't faint. Not now.

"Thirty seconds"

He can hear the voice of Presa among the noise made by the soldiers. At that moment he feels the presence of Gaius just besides and turns around. As he had thought, Gaius was going to use his katana to attack him from above so he rolls avoiding him until he recuperates his sword just in time to stop another hit from Gaius, although he hasn't time to stand up to stop the attack and he has to do it in a kneeled position. Gaius takes opportunity of that and uses his katana to attack him laterally again and again, and from that position Alvin can barely stop the new attacks before being sent flying again.

Thankfully, the circle in which they were fighting was surrounded by a protective barrier so instead of falling on the soldiers Alvin rebounded on the barrier and fall to the floor again. Damn, that had hurt but he couldn't possibly finish the fight lying like that, so he stands up, points with his pistol again and he is going to shoot when…

"Time up!"

"What?", Alvin exclaims looking at Presa. He couldn't have heard right.

"Time up. The fight has ended. It's your victory, mercenary", she smiles at him with a relieved expression on her face just before putting her serious expression again. Alvin looks at Gaius, who is looking at him back with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Congratulations, Alvin, you've lasted a minute as promised. Well done".

Alvin blinks without understanding. That was it? Really? The fight was already over? He couldn't believe it, he hadn't been able to do almost anything…however, it seemed that he was the only one who was thinking that way because all the soldiers were looking at him with admiration and now the whispers that he was hearing were like: 'He has lasted a minute! And he has stood up after a direct kick. He is almost as good as the Chimeriad!'. But despite all that, Alvin wasn't feeling like winning. Yeah, he had lasted a minute as promised but still he could have done more for sure.

Alvin is so lost on his thoughts that he didn't realize than the soldiers are beginning to leave the room. He sees that Presa is speaking to the King so he approaches.

"Your Majesty", he says interrupting them, "please, can you stay a little when everyone leaves?"

Gaius looks at him surprised.

"Yes, of course"

Presa seems about to say something but at that moment a female soldier approaches and whispers something to her ear. After the soldier leaves, Presa turns to the King again.

"Your Highness, I've just received some letters from my informants. Do you need me to do something else?"

"You can go, Presa, I'll talk to you later".

Presa makes a reverence and after looks at Alvin again he leaves. After a couple of minutes the room is already empty and the only ones who remain are Gaius and Alvin.

"Well, what did you want to…?"

"Fight with me again"

Gaius' eyes open wide.

"Excuse me?"

"Fight with me again, your Majesty", repeats Alvin looking at him deadly serious, "maybe I've done it right enough not to be fired but I'm not particularly proud of the result so…", he makes a reverence, "please, could we fight some more?"

There is a moment of silence which is cut when Gaius laughs. Alvin stands up again just in time to see that relaxed expression on Gaius face. He seemed a completely different man when he was laughing.

"And can I ask what do you have to do to be satisfied?"

"I want to hit you. Or at least graze you. Until I've done that I will not consider myself victorious, your Majesty".

"I didn't know that you had such an interest of calling me by my first name", comments Gaius with irony.

"I have", Alvin just realized what he has just said so he immediately continues speaking, "I mean… yes, that is something that I would like to do but I want to probe myself too that I can be as good as the Chimeriad, if not now at least someday. If they are able to hit you, I'll be too"

Gaius nods.

"Very well. If that's what you want I have some time until seven. You have an hour to try hit me, but let me remind you that I've been training the Chimeriad for years. It's rather unlikely that you manage to graze me having fighting me just two or three times, Alvin".

"We'll see that, your Majesty", answers Alvin with a cocky smile while taking his fighting stance again. "Are you ready?"

Gaius smiles.

"Very well. Let's continue"


As Gaius had predicted, it was impossible for Alvin to hit him. Only five minutes remained and although Alvin had almost managed to hit him a couple of times, Gaius always succeeded in stopping him. The good fact was that after all that time, Alvin was getting used to the form of fighting of Gaius. However, although by then he could guess what attack the King was going to use, that didn't mean that he could stop it. Most of the times he couldn't.

So there he was, his coat discarded on the floor since a while, with all his body aching and without being able to simply graze the King. He was getting frustrated.

"Damn it!", he exclaimed when he failed to hit Gaius again.

"Close", replied Gaius, "but not enough"

"I know that!", exclaimed Alvin. He continued giving blows but by then he was tired and angry and he wasn't as focused as he should, and that was allowing Gaius to avoid his attack even easier than before.

"Damn it!, exclaimed Alvin again, "why are you so damn good?"

Gaius laughs. They fight a couple of minutes more and at the end both of them end face to face, with Gaius' katana and Alvin's sword (which surprisingly keeps being in one piece) clashing, their faces inches apart.

"Alvin, you've improved", comments Gaius with a smile, "don't force yourself more now, you'll be able to hit me someday".

Alvin looks at him. 'Someday' wasn't enough. He wanted it to be now. He wanted to hit him just once at least…but wait a moment. The pact had been 'grazing him', not 'hitting him' specifically. And at that distance in which he can see all the details of Gaius' face it was easy if he just…

Alvin isn't sure about the reason about what happens next. Maybe is the tiredness; maybe is his brain that doesn't think straight right now and only thinks in winning; or maybe is something completely different that he doesn't want to analyze, but the fact is that before he could regret his decision, he stops making force with the sword, and the result is that the balance between his respective swords disappear, making Gaius leans more against Alvin who takes opportunity to drop his sword, grab Gaius by the front of his armor-suit and kiss him.

He can feel the gasp of completely astonishment that Gaius exhales against his lips, but he doesn't step back. As he had supposed, Gaius' lips were warm like the rest of his body, and there were softer that he had expected, and although it was a different softness compared to all the women that he had kissed, it was still agreeable.

Alvin realizes that he has been kissing him for some seconds now, so he releases him. He knows that he owes Gaius an explanation, so he forces himself to look at him.

He expects the expression of Gaius being as imperturbable as always, but for his surprise, the King's expression is one of complete confusion.

"I win, your Majesty", Alvin comments when he finds his voice again, and he congratulates himself internally because his voice barely trembles.

"What?", says Gaius without changing his face.

"I told you that I was going to graze you, and I've just done it", he forces himself to smile. He had to keep talking or everything was going to be even weirder, it that was possible, "okay, it hasn't been a very normal way to do it but well, it's still valid right?"

He puts his hand behind his head trying to look casual but he knows that his tension can be noticed for sure. Damn it. Gaius was going to fire him now for sure and he deserved it for his stupidity, and that would be the best that could happen to him. But as always, Gaius manages to surprise him by saying.

"Well, you are right, it's a…rather unique way to graze someone…but yes, it's valid as grazing".

Alvin looks at Gaius stunned. He had his unreadable expression again, although he seemed tenser than usual, thing that was perfectly normal because of what has just happened, but there is one big difference: right now Gaius is clearly avoiding looking at him, and that makes Alvin's heart sink for some reason.

"Well, it's seven o'clock", says Gaius, "I should get going, I have matters to attend and I think that they are going to prolong until tomorrow, so if you don't have any more matters to treat…"

"Yes, of course, your Majesty, I've taken already a lot of your time", and yes, technically now he has 'right' to call Gaius by his first name but right now he couldn't do that. Now that he had regained the composure again he was regretting what he had done. He opens his mouth to apologize but Gaius is faster.

"I'll see you in another time, Alvin. Good bye", and without looking at him he leaves. Alvin closes his eyes. Damn it. He had screwed up. He had screwed up really badly.

Alvin walks to his room and he immediately landed on the bed without bothering of changing or showering. He only stays there, looking at the ceiling, as the feelings of regret begin to attack him. Damn it. He had kissed Gaius. He had just kissed the King of Auj Oule. And all right, at that moment it was true that he was frustrated, not thinking clearly and the kiss had been the only way that he had thought in order to win but still…he had kissed Gaius. That fact was what mattered. And now for sure he hated him, or if not hated him he surely despised him, and if he hadn't showed it to him it was because of his politeness for sure.

Alvin uses his hands to cover his face and sighs. Well, he had done it and he couldn't change it, and Gaius had made him clear that today he didn't want to see him. The only thing that he could do was to wait until the next morning to speak to the King and apologize.

Alvin sighs again and forces himself to sleep. He wasn't hungry at all, he only wanted to sleep and forget at least momentary what had happened. With a little of luck, tomorrow he would be able to fix things with Gaius…although a part of himself knew that it was going to be impossible to go back as they were before. Damn it. He had been really stupid. And with that last thought, Alvin falls asleep to an anxious dream.


Alvin wakes up when he hears a knock on the door. Still in a daze he forces himself to get up and when he opens the door, Gaius is there, looking at him with an unreadable expression.

"Gaius!", exclaims Alvin, and he is going to apologize for the lack of formalism when he remembers that now he has permission to do that.

Alvin averts his eyes and gulps. He hesitates but at the end he decides to talk. Now it was his chance to apologize.

"Gaius…about the kiss, I…", but he never ends that sentence, because at that moment his mouth is forcibly assaulted by Gaius'.

Alvin's eyes open wide at the realization that Gaius is kissing him…or more accurately, Gaius is almost devouring him, his tongue invading Alvin's hot cavern almost desperately while his hands rest in Alvin's hips forcing him to grind against him.

Alvin moans with that last movement. He doesn't understand why Gaius is acting like that at all but right now he doesn't care: he only knows that Gaius' way of kissing is making his legs tremble and that the grinding is making his body react in a rather pleasant way.

Without stopping kissing him, Gaius makes Alvin goes backwards and both of them fall to the bed. Gaius proceeds to lick now his neck, sucking just in the right spots making Alvin arches while more moans escape from his mouth.

"Oh god…", whispers Alvin as Gaius' hands settle on his nipples and begin to caress them them, "oh god, Gaius…"

Alvin feels Gaius smirk against his neck. Gaius kisses him again hard while his hands leave his nipples and go down through his exposed chest. When had Gaius unbuttoned his shirt? He hasn't realized…

At that moment his thoughts vanished when he feels Gaius' hand on his cock. Without warning he begins to pump it with a fast pace making Alvin head fell back into the pillow exposing more his neck, opportunity that Gaius doesn't waste to bite him.

"Oh god…aah…Gaius…aaah", moans Alvin beginning to move his hips against Gaius' hand. He didn't remember either when his pants have been unzipped but he didn't care. He didn't care at all. It has been years since he has felt so much pleasure, and if by chance Gaius decided at that moment to go down, it wouldn't take him much time to finish.

As he was reading his mind, Gaius kisses him one more time before beginning to go down through his chest, then his stomach and then at last he stops just above his crotch. Alvin sees Gaius licks his lips before incorporating a little to look at him, purple eyes filled with lust than make Alvin tremble with anticipation.

"Alvin…", whispers Gaius in a deep sensual voice while pumping Alvin's member in a steady pace as he begins to go down, ready to take him in.

"Gaius…oh god…yes…", Alvin exhales when he begins to feel the warm of Gaius' hot breath down there.

"Alvin…", Alvin hears Gaius calling him again but now the tone is different, softer. Gaius uses his tongue to lick just lightly the precum that is leaking making Alvin arch his back again and cry in pleasure.

"Al!"

And that definitely wasn't Gaius' voice. It was a woman voice, a voice that he knew well, so Alvin eyes snaps open because of the surprise as he incorporates quickly trying to figure out what was going on.

He was still in his room but instead of Gaius, it was Presa who was besides him with a worried expression on his face. He had all his clothes on too. Alvin grabs his head with both hands when reality hits him. A dream. It has been a fucking erotic dream with Gaius, and the worst part was that right now he had a painful hard on trying to escape from his pants. Damn it. What the Hell was his problem?

"Alvin, you're all right? You were moving like crazy in your dreams, was it a nightmare?"

"Who has given you permission to enter?", asks Alvin without raising his head yet.

"I've knocked, but then I heard that you were making noises as you were in pain"

Noises? Oh, fuck, had he been moaning because of that dream? It couldn't be true.

"Al, is everything all right?"

"No, of course it's not everything all right!", he snaps, "you can't enter one's room just because you think something is wrong, damn it!"

"I…I'm sorry", says Presa confused without understanding Alvin's sudden rage, "I wasn't trying to…"

"I don't care what you have to say: never come into my room like this again", he interrupts her. His voice is trembling as he gets up and gives his back to her so she doesn't notice his erection. He approaches the bathroom the faster he can and closes the door behind him with a slam.

Alvin leans against the door, sliding until he is sitting down on the floor. After a few seconds, he hears the door of the other room close indicating him that Presa is gone. He exhales a sigh mix of relief and guilty. He knows that he shouldn't have got angry with Presa but still it she shouldn't have entered his room without warning. And definitely it wasn't his fault that she couldn't differentiate noises of pain from moans.

Speaking of moans, Alvin looks down and confirms that his erection is still there. Alvin closes his eyes trying to calm down.

Okay, he thinks to himself, it was true that having a dream like that with Gaius was not normal. Not normal for him at least. It was true that the King was a really handsome man but that didn't matter, because Alvin wasn't into men. But thinking carefully, it wasn't so weird that Alvin had dreamed something like that. After all, he had kissed Gaius.

Of course that the kiss had just been something that Alvin had to do in order to win the bet. He hasn't kissed Gaius for anything more: that had been the only way to win. Yes. That was it: having kissed Gaius had made his brain go crazy, and that mixed with the fact that it has been a long time since his last sexual encounter had made him have that dream. It wasn't weird at all. It was perfectly normal.

That's right, everything is okay, says Alvin to himself. He unzips his pants and liberates his member, sighing in relief when the pressure disappears.

He begins to stroke himself fast trying to finish it quickly, but almost a minute passes and he hasn't managed to come yet. Damn it. He had to finish, he needed to go looking for Presa and apologize or she would begin to think that something was really wrong.

He gulps. Well…if he was sincere…the dream hadn't been bad at all. Okay, the fact that Gaius was the one who appeared on it was a bit strange and he had been really submissive when he had never considered himself like that. But despite all that, he couldn't deny that it had been a really hot dream. In fact, he had almost come while dreaming.

So if remembered some parts of the dream to finish, it wouldn't be bad either, right?...Yes, it was okay. After all, as long as he was clear about what he had dreamed was just that, a dream, everything was fine.

Alvin begins to masturbate again as he closes his eyes and remembers: Gaius' tongue ravaging his mouth; Gaius making him grind against him; Gaius' on the top of him, looking at him with barely repressed lust…

Alvin's mouth half opens as the memories come back, exhaling soft moans as his hand increments the pace. Damn it. He was close…just a little more: Gaius masturbating him as biting his neck; Gaius kissing him hard and messy as playing with his nipples; Gaius' tongue travelling by his body and about to sucking him off…

And with that last thought, Alvin exhales a louder moan and comes in his hand, using immediately the other one to prevent the semen to stain his clothes.

He remains like that for a few moments, his chest moving up and down as his breathing normalizes. Fuck. It had been a while since the last time he had such an intense orgasm. He tries to get up and he discovers that his legs are trembling a little.

He couldn't avoid a laugh. A part of him was curious about the face that Gaius would show if he knew that he had come thinking about him, although probably he wouldn't change his face. And although he didn't want to recognize it, he was afraid too about what face he was going to show when he meets Gaius again…but well, he had confidence in his capacity to hide his emotions. Besides, he knew that it had been just a dream. It didn't have anything to do with reality. Although still it was going to be a little uncomfortable at first to see Gaius again when the last memory that he had about him was him licking his…

Alvin shakes his head. Enough. That was enough. Shit, if he kept thinking about that the next time he would see Gaius he was going to be unable to maintain a normal conversation. Get a hold on yourself Alvin, thinks to himself, damn it, it's not the first time that you have fantasized about someone, it doesn't matter that this time was the King.

When Alvin feels that his legs are responding him again, he cleans himself and makes him look presentable again. He looks at himself in the mirror and makes a grimace: his face in completely flustered, he is going to have to calm down before leaving the room or everybody will deduce what he has just done.

He washes his face a couple of times and tries to fix his hair a little without much success but well, that was a minor problem because his hair has always been a little unmanageable.

After being more or less satisfied with his aspect, he leaves the room. There are some people at the inn having breakfast but he can't see Presa, so he approaches the innkeeper and asks her. The woman tells him that she has seen Presa leaving the inn just a moment ago, so Alvin thanks her and goes out. She couldn't be too far.

He looks around and almost immediately he sees her sitting in a bench of the central plaza. She is with one of her pigeons but she isn't writing or reading anything, so Alvin deduces that she is only playing with him a little. That was a bad sign, she only did that when she was really upset or really sad and needed to calm down.

Alvin sighs. It would be easier to pretend that it wasn't his fault but he didn't to make his relationship with Presa go worse. Besides, he knew that Presa was only worried about him back then when she had awaken him, so he had to fix it somehow.

He notices then the flowerpot adorning the entrance of the inn, so after looking around again and confirming that no one was looking, he takes a couple of white flowers from it. Then, he approaches casually at the bench where Presa is and sits down just at the other end. Presa pretends that she hasn't notice him but he can see her cat tail go quiet from a moment, confirming him that she is aware of his presence.

They remain in silence a little way until Alvin comments casually.

"You've dropped something".

Against her will, Presa's curiosity makes her look at him and then her eyes open wide when she sees the flowers. She tries to put again his serious face and her eyes deviated momentary to the inn.

"I think that they have dropped from that pot", she replies signaling with her head one of the flowerpots.

"You are wrong", he says completely serious, "they have dropped from the other one you are signaling".

When Presa hears the response an involuntary laugh escapes from her mouth. She tries to put her serious face again but she doesn't have much success.

"You are an idiot, you know?", she says. Alvin nods.

"Yeah, it's part of my charm", he answers with a smile.

Presa shakes a little her head resigned and when she realizes that Alvin is still offering the flowers she takes them.

"Thank you", she comments in a softer voice than usual.

"I'm sorry about before", says Alvin, "I shouldn't have yelled you like that".

"Yeah, well, you have been a bit of a jerk but I shouldn't have entered without permission either"

"Peace?", Alvin offers his hand and Presa nods accepting it.

"By the way, you are okay?", she asks. Alvin knows that he is referring to what happened before so he nods smiling trying to reassure her.

"Yeah, it's what you said, just a bad dream", he lies. He couldn't possibly tell her the truth.

"It had to be a really bad one, you scared me", comments Presa, "I've never heard you whine in dreams like that before", she adds.

Alvin had to make a great effort to not to stop smiling. Damn it, just how noisy had he been? At that moment he hears steps approaching them from behind the bench.

"Presa, do you have a moment?"

Alvin freezes. Of course, he had to arrive just at that moment when he has just remembered every part of that dream because of what Presa has just said. She immediately gets up looking at Gaius and makes a little reverence.

"Of course, your Highness", she says. Alvin knew that the correct thing to do would be to get up as well but he couldn't do that. Not yet. Because he is not sure what image is going to pass through his head when he looks at Gaius and he needed to calm down, but damn, his heart was beating so fast that he was finding difficult to breathe normally. Alvin is so focused on breathing deeply that he doesn't realize that Gaius and Presa have stopped talking.

"Alvin", when Alvin hears his name said by Presa he looks at her completely distracted, "the King has just made you a question".

All the attempts of calming down disappear at that moment. Alvin can still hear his own heartbeat in his ears but he knows that he can't keep being sat anymore, so he stands up and turns around.

He doesn't look at Gaius directly but he makes a reverence.

"I apologize, your Majesty, I was lost in my thoughts", he remains inclined looking at the ground. Taking opportunity that Gaius can't see his face like that, he licks his lips trying to wet them a little. Damn it Alvin, calm down already!, thinks to himself.

"It's not necessary for you to remain in that position while speaking to me, Alvin. Please, rise".

Alvin gulps again. He couldn't possibly disobey a direct order like that, so he stands up and forces himself to look at Gaius. His face is imperturbable as always, so although when he looks at him parts of the dream begin to come back, Alvin is able to push them apart rather quickly.

"Much better", the King comments, "I was wondering if you can accompany me to the library".

"To the library?", repeats Alvin as an echo.

"Yes, is there a problem with my petition?"

"No, of course not, your Majesty", says immediately Alvin.

Presa looks at them alternatively, and although she has to notice the tension between them for sure he has the caution to not to comment anything and to excuse herself.

After Presa is gone, Gaius begins to walk towards the inn and Alvin follows him without saying anything. Although the ambient between them was still awkward, at least Gaius had no problem in looking at him again. It was something.

"The man who brought you here in the truck has told me that you were rather interested in a book related to the story of Auj Oule, so I selected some other books of that type that I think you may be interested in".

Alvin opens his mouth in astonishment.

"Oh...Y-You shouldn't have lost time in that, your Majesty".

"Don't worry, there were books that I read myself a few times so I haven't lose any time at all"

"Oh. Thank you very much then, your Majesty", Alvin comments.

An awkward silence appears again and Alvin sighs taking a deep breath. He had to say something. He couldn't stand anymore that situation, it had been his fault and he had to try to fix it somehow.

"Your Majesty, I…"

"And I see that despite all the trouble you had to call me by my first name you keep calling me 'your Majesty'".

Alvin's eyes snap open when he hears the casual comment, and when he looks at Gaius he sees that the King has a hint of an ironic smile on his face. Alvin realizes then that Gaius was just giving him an opportunity to come back to their normal treatment without him having to apologize, and it's an opportunity that he is not going to lose, so he smiles before answering.

"You have a point. Sorry, Gaius, I promise that I'll never call you like that again".

Gaius laughs.

"That was not what I meant either, but well, if it's what you wish now you have permission to do that"

"Of course, your Majes…I mean, Gaius…oh, damn…"

Gaius laughs again and this time Alvin does so too. Alvin sighs internally in relief, because a great part of him was afraid about Gaius ignoring him or treating him in a different way because of the kiss thing but that wasn't the case. Fortunately, it seemed that the King hadn't given much importance to that incident, and although a part of Alvin was somewhat disappointed by the fact that he did have been worried about it, a great part of him was relieved that nothing in their relationship had changed.

Now he could forget everything about the kiss and the dream and his strange thoughts about Gaius. Everything was back to normal.


The next time that Alvin meets Presa, she comments him that her informants have told her that Jude and the rest have taken a ship towards Jude's village, Leronde. He was going to see his father to try to cure Milla's legs.

Presa adds that it seems very unlikely that Alvin could obtain much information about the key while Milla is hurt and suggests that maybe the best option was that Alvin remained with them while that matter was solved. Since Alvin hadn't had news from Gilland he accepts, and of course Gaius approved the suggestion of Presa.

Speaking of the King, after Gaius gave him the books, he told Alvin that he had to leave the village to attend some matters (or 'royal stuff', as Alvin called them) and that he would be back after three or four days. The King proposed him as well to continue with their fights when he come back, thing that Alvin immediately accepted.

So during the next three days, Alvin finds himself having a rather normal life that included a lot of training or hunting when Presa and the other soldiers left to catch monsters. He read the books that Gaius has lent him too and discovered some new interesting facts about the story of Auj Oule but about the King too, so he took mental note of those to ask the King about them when he had a chance.

Gaius came back three days later as he had said, and as he had promised that afternoon he was expecting Alvin in the training room. Fortunately, although there were always some soldiers that went to see them fight, most of the times they were alone, thing that Alvin preferred. The incident of the kiss seemed forgotten as well, so Alvin could concentrate of improving his fighting skills at ease, although he was still unable to hit the King.

The following days were all very similar but that was something that didn't bothered Alvin at all. He enjoyed the fights with Gaius, the meals when Gaius' schedule allowed him to eat with Alvin and even some nights they both spent hours in the library speaking about things that Alvin had read in the books or simply telling stories about Alvin's previous jobs or Gaius' battles.

Of course, Alvin never spoke about his past and he avoided asking Gaius about his as well. Despite that, in one of his conversation Gaius commented something that made Alvin deduce that he had a sister somewhere, but when Alvin asked where she was Gaius changed the subject so Alvin didn't insist. Gaius respected his privacy after all, so he did the same.

Another week passed. The last news about Jude and the rest were that they had reunited with a childhood friend of Jude and that they were still looking a solution to help Milla, so they haven't advanced much. Alvin received the news with mixed feelings, because although he wanted Milla to get better, he had enjoyed the last week very much so when he knew that he hadn't to go back with Jude yet, he was sincerely happy.

One day, Alvin is going to train with Gaius again when he discovers that the training room is completely occupied by the soldiers. It seemed that some of them would go to an important mission the next month and they had to do extra training. Alvin is going to retire to his room when Presa approaches him.

"Al, the King has told me to tell you that he is waiting for you in the inner courtyard of the inn".

"Oh", his face brightens without realizing and Presa smiles, "what is so funny?"

"Nothing. Just that I suppose that it's a relief for you that Wingul's mission is taking too long so you can train alone with the King".

Alvin opens his mouth to say something but Presa is faster and goes back with her soldiers before Alvin could respond. By the way, she was right. He didn't like the idea of sharing with Wingul (or anyone) his fights with Gaius.

Alvin goes to the courtyard. Gaius is already there training by himself, this time with casual clothes, and although Alvin was used to it by now because during a lot of his fights Gaius dressed casually, he still had to remind himself that despite his clothes or his casual treatment, Gaius was still a King.

"I see that you've began without me", comments Alvin as a greeting.

Gaius turns around and smiles at him. Another thing that he was used to but that certainly there was something that Gaius usually didn't do. To smile.

"Presa gave you my message really fast"

"Yep, she is a very efficient woman", Alvin comments leaving his coat and taking his weapons. He takes his fighting stance and points Gaius with his pistol while smiling, "are you ready then?"

Gaius smiles.

"Of course"

The fight is intense as always, and although the place where they fight is completely new, that didn't stop them to use all the new elements (columns, nooks, even balconies) to use them for their advantage.

They fight during half an hour or so when suddenly the sky begins to cloud. After a couple of minutes, the rain was pouring down on them.

"Do you want to stop?", asks Gaius.

Alvin pulls his hair back and smiles.

"What's the matter, your Majesty? Don't you like to get wet?", comments with a teasing tone. Now he only used the formal treatment while they were alone when he wanted to provoke Gaius.

Gaius smiles back.

"I'll take that as a no", simply replies Gaius. And they continue with their fight.

It's harder to fight like that, because the visibility is worst and the risk of falling is much higher, but well, it was funny anyway. After some more minutes, while trying to stop a hit, Alvin goes backwards and almost falls with a cry, making Gaius laugh when he sees Alvin grabbing one of the hanging flowerpots of the courtyard to prevent the falling. Alvin looks at him with half-closed eyes.

"What?"

"Nothing, I didn't know that you liked flowers so much, that's all", comments with innocence Gaius while attacking him again.

And Alvin is going to answer but something impedes him doing so, and that something is that during the attack, Gaius somewhat trip over and falls to the floor. Alvin opens his mouth, assimilating what he has just seen, but it doesn't take him much to begin to laugh.

"Okay", comments Gaius as Alvin laughs, "this is what people call 'karma'. But don't think that is enough to…", but Gaius doesn't finishes the sentence, because the floor is really slippery by now and it seems that Gaius' boots are not good with water so when he tries to stand up he trips again and falls, this time backwards.

Alvin now is laughing so much that his side aches. He tries to offer his hand to Gaius to help him getting up but seeing the almost murdering glare that Gaius is giving him only makes him laugh even harder and he ends uses his hand to cover his mouth as leaning in one of the columns.

Somehow, Gaius manages to stand up at last and walks with extreme precaution to the column where Alvin is. Alvin tries to stop laughing then, but seeing Gaius completely covered in dust with that annoyed face makes him laugh again. Gaius looks at him.

"Keep laughing and I'll have to shut you up", he threatens.

Alvin tries to put his serious face again but his smile is still in his face when he answers.

"As long as you don't trip again…".

Gaius' eyes half close even more and Alvin can't help it. He leans his head against the column as spasms of laugher shake his body again. After a few seconds, he tries to speak again to apologize seriously this time but he is unable to do so, because as soon as he opens his mouth the first sentence dies on his throat when Gaius kisses him.

Alvin eyes snap open as the time seems to freeze around him. That couldn't be happening. Was he dreaming again? But he didn't remember falling asleep. And definitely although the dream that he had tried to forget a lot of times without success had been really realistic this kiss was way better that the others.

Before Alvin could react Gaius separates. The King is looking at him with the same imperturbable face as always.

"I said that I would shut you up", says Gaius, and although he tries to speak with a neutral voice Alvin notices that is a hoarser voice than usual, as if Gaius had tried to avoid clearing his throat before speaking.

And his eyes... Alvin recognizes that kind of eyes, because they are the same that he had when he kissed Gaius and immediately regretted doing so. So now it has to be his turn to pretend nothing had happened. He didn't know why the King has just kissed him, maybe he was over-thinking things and he had really done it just to shut him up (although he had a lot of other ways to doing so) but he shouldn't ask. After all, the King had noticed his discomfort a week ago when Alvin kissed him and had acted as always, so he had to do the same.

Alvin knew that it was the best option. He only had to make a typical joke of his to divert the conversation, Gaius surely would follow and they would be as before again. It was easy. It was simple. It was what he had to do to not to complicate things…And because Alvin knew all that, he didn't know why the hell instead of doing as his brain was crying him to do, he grabbed Gaius' shoulders and kissed him back.

Alvin felt more than saw Gaius gasp of surprise. A part of him wanted to remain with his eyes closed to not to see Gaius face at that moment because he didn't know what face he was going to see: a face full of disappointment for not ignoring what had happened? Anger? Impassibility? He didn't know what face would be worst and he didn't want to check it but he knew that he had to confront what he has just done, so he decides to be brave this time and opens his eyes as he separates.

For his surprise, Gaius face is all but impassible. His eyes are wide opened and his mouth opens and closes a couple of times before being able to speak.

"You…you kissed back", he states with a surprised voice.

Alvin gulps averting his eyes. Now it was his last chance: if he makes a joke right now, everything will stop. Alvin takes a deep breath and smiles. He can do it. Just a simple joke, something like: 'Of course not, your Majesty, I've just tripped' and everything will back to normal…

He opens his mouth to speak but then he looks at Gaius again…and he knows that he isn't able to do it, not when Gaius is looking at him like that, with those purple eyes full of…something that he didn't want to think too much what it was but that surely was everything but disappointment as he had thought that it would be.

Alvin forces himself to look directly at Gaius' eyes and answers, his voice being almost a whisper despite his attempts to speak normally.

"Yeah, I did"

They remain silent for a few seconds after Alvin speaks, both not moving at first, but at the end neither of them knows who the first to lean his head forward is but the result is that their lips meet again.

At first, more than a kiss it seems more a brush of lips, as if both of them were afraid that the other one stepped back. But when they realize that neither of them is going to move, the kiss intensifies. Alvin feels' Gaius hands settle on his hips and he grabs Gaius' shoulders with more confidence as a response.

After a few seconds Alvin stops the kiss and opens his mouth a little to take some air. Gaius takes that as an opportunity to kiss him again but this time he uses his tongue to brush lightly the interior of Alvin's mouth.

The last one gasps in surprise with that last action but he realizes that Gaius is asking him permission to continue, so Alvin just hesitates a little before making his tongue meet with Gaius'. And that was the last unhurried thing that Alvin did, because just when their tongues meet Alvin can hear a grunt of satisfaction coming from Gaius and the next thing that he knows is that his head almost hit the wall when Gaius deepens the kiss incredibly fast, his tongue inspecting his mouth with vigor.

A moan escapes from Alvin's mouth. Oh god. He had never imagined that a man so composed like Gaius would kiss with such enthusiasm, but that was something that he definitely liked right now. And yes, what he is doing is something that he probably will regret later, but right know the only thing that matters is that those kisses are so good to stop now. Gaius couldn't possibly be virgin if he kissed like that.

When Alvin recuperates from the surprise, he kisses Gaius back hard, his hands leaving Gaius' shoulders so one of them is settle on the back of Gaius neck and the other one on his chest. The rain has made both of their shirts to be almost completely soaked so he can feel Gaius sculpted chest under his touch. Damn it. That shouldn't arouse him but it did.

Alvin turns his head a little to the side trying to obtain a better position that allows him to deepen the kiss, but that makes a part of his neck be more exposed than before. Gaius notices that, and doesn't lose time to stop the kiss and settle his lips on Alvin's neck, sucking lightly.

That last action makes Alvin moan. Damn it. He hated how sensitive his neck was, although Gaius seemed to be enjoying it as his lips travel by his neck finding the right spots that make Alvin shudder.

Alvin's grip on Gaius intensifies because of the pleasure, and just then he realizes that if Gaius keeps doing that he is going to have a mark that is going to be really hard to explain, so he forces Gaius' head to the initial position and kisses him again, grabbing Gaius' bottom lip between his teeth before introducing his tongue on Gaius mouth trying to dominate the kiss this time.

He only manages to do it for a little while, because with another groan Gaius kisses him back with force and need, forcing Alvin's tongue back as he takes control of his mouth again.

The heat was almost unbearable by then, and the fact that with every kiss Alvin feels his lower half respond isn't helping at all but he really didn't care. It had been years since the last time that he had felt so good.

At that moment, Gaius stops kissing him. Alvin looks at him startled.

"What's the matter?", asks when he sees that Gaius' eyes deviates to the side as he were trying to listen something.

"Someone is coming", he comments. They both look at each other and when they hear the door of the courtyard opening, Alvin immediately hides behind one of the columns as Gaius turns around grabbing his sword to pretend to be training.

"Your Highness, I apologize for interrupting you but Wingul has arrived", Alvin doesn't recognize the voice so it has to be a normal soldier.

"Very well, thank you for informing me. I'll come right now"

Alvin leaves the security of the column when he hears the door of the courtyard closing again. They look at each other with tenseness barely suppressed. After all, a few seconds ago they were being making out. It wasn't so easy to pretend that everything was normal.

At the end, Gaius is the first one to speak.

"I should be going", he comments. Alvin nods.

"Yeah, of course"

After a moment of silence Gaius speaks again.

"May I…may I talk to you later?"

Alvin gulps. If he was sincere, he didn't want to talk. As he had feared, he was already regretting what it had just happened. He wasn't going to deny that he had enjoyed it but he didn't want to think so hard why the hell that had happened, and speaking about it was going to make him think about it for sure.

Gaius sees the hesitation in Alvin so he speaks again.

"Around 10 p.m I'll be taking some fresh air in the second floor balcony. I calculate that I'll be there around twenty minutes or so. If you want to accompany me, you'll be welcome". Without waiting for a response, Gaius left the courtyard.

Alvin leans against the column again closing his eyes. It was his fault that all that happened, if he just hadn't kissed back…Now he owed Gaius a talk at least if he didn't want to go back to an awkward situation. Damn it. Why did he always complicate things?


The rest of the afternoon Alvin was on his room trying to calm down. He couldn't remove from his head what had happened in the courtyard. A week ago, he had kissed Gaius, and he realized that all the excuses that he was always telling to himself to justify that fact weren't enough. And he knew that if he had only cared about winning then, he could have used the same trick of dropping the sword and grabbing Gaius to try to punch him or something instead of kissing him.

So yes, kissing Gaius had been something that was not normal but thanks to the King they have managed to somewhat forget the incident. But now, what had happened was not as simple as the kiss, because although the King had started it when he kissed Alvin first, the one who decided to continue had been him. Why? And Gaius…why the hell had he accepted it? How the hell had they ended making out like a damn couple? And the fact that the only thing that had stopped him for having another erection while doing it had been the interruption of the soldier didn't help him either to calm down.

Alvin sighs in frustration. He had to speak to Gaius that night. A part of himself was scared as hell about how the conversation was going to be, but it would be worse if he pretended that anything had happened.

So Alvin gets up, goes to the dining room and has dinner. When he finishes it's almost the time for the encounter with Gaius, and although a part of him is crying him to go back to his room he ignores it and goes to the second floor balcony.

The night is calm again and it has stopped raining. Alvin leans against the rail and waits. It was strange that Gaius wasn't there yet.

Alvin waits five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. And when almost twenty minutes have passed and Alvin is going to go back to ask is something has happened Gaius appears.

"I apologize for my tardiness. Have you waited too much?"

Alvin shakes his head and lies.

"Nah, I've just arrived a couple of minutes ago"

Well, now the awkward silence will come, thinks to himself Alvin.

"There is something that I have to ask you before", comments Gaius. Alvin nods, relieved for postpone a little more that conversation, although the next words that Gaius says make him desire to have spoken about the other matter.

"Does the name 'Alfred Vint Svent' sound familiar to you?"

Alvin's heart stops beating for a moment. Why did Gaius know that name?

"What?"

"Alfred Vint Svent", repeats Gaius, "Some agents of Wingul have been investigating this past month a group called 'Exodus', and some days ago they found some interesting information. This name was among the papers that they found, and although it doesn't have much information about this man in particular, a curious thing that is mentioned is that this man fights with a pistol and a gun"

Alvin has to make a great effort to not to gulp or lick his lips. What the hell was Gilland doing letting information like that escape?

"Well, the fact that there is a man who has the guts to copy my fancy style doesn't mean that I have to know him", comments Alvin forcing a smile.

"Yes, I know that, but there is more", continues Gaius looking directly at him, "that name, Alfred Vint Svent, is clearly a noble name, and your way of fighting, Alvin, is typical of a noble".

By then, Alvin's heart is beating like crazy but he manages to exhale a snort.

"Come on, Gaius, I appreciate the compliment but really? My way of fighting? Noble?"

"Maybe you don't realize, but the movements that you realize are too elegant and precise to have been learned on your own. Since I was a child I've been trained in the art of the sword and that have marked my style of fighting, and the same has happened with yours. I don't know who trained you but what I can confirm is that the man who did it was a noble".

Alvin changes his posture trying to not to change his expression. This wasn't good. How could Gaius know all that? No one knew about his noble past, not even Presa, how was he able to…?

"There is one last thing", adds Gaius, "although there wasn't any more information about this man, there were other papers together with that man report. Those paper were a kind of recipe which apparently was directed to someone called Leticia"

When Alvin hears the name of his mother a gasp of surprise escapes from his mouth, and he knows that the cough that he pretends to have is not very credible.

"My men have the papers with the formula and have been analyzing, it seems that is a kind of medicine but with only the information of that papers is impossible to know for what it is. But the thing that we do know is that there is a woman called Leticia living in Xian Du"

Alvin freezes. No. That couldn't be.

"Well, I think that the name 'Leticia' is rather common, so maybe that woman doesn't have anything to do with that man"

"Yes, you may be right, but the fact that according to my agents that woman who suffers from a strange disease usually confuse the people who talk to her with his son 'Alfred' is rather suspicious".

Alvin opens his mouth and closes again. He was at a loss for words, he didn't know what to say anymore.

"Alvin", says then Gaius, and Alvin notices that they he is speaking is softer than usual, "is there something that you have to tell me?"

Alvin forces himself to look at Gaius, although at that moment he only wanted to run.

"What do you mean?"

"It's true that neither of us has spoken very much about our past, nothing concrete at least, but although maybe you haven't realized, you have mentioned your mother at least a couple of times during our conversations, and when you have spoken about her you have mixed verbs in present and in past, as she was alive but she at the same time, she wasn't".

Alvin frowns.

"Have you been psychoanalyzing me during our talks, your Majesty?", and this time he used the treatment without realizing. He didn't like what he had just heard.

"No, no consciously at least"

Alvin shakes his head.

"Stop talking around, your Majesty, why don't you say clearly that you think that I am that man?"

"Because I'm not sure about it, simply the fact that you usually mention Xian Du made me suggests them to look there"

"Wait a moment", interrupts Alvin, "it was your idea to investigate Xian Du?"

Gaius nods.

"And the time that you were absent…"

"That was when Wingul's agent discovered the information of Exodus. I went to check it out personally"

Alvin is going to say something when he realizes something.

"So…during this week…you have been suspecting me, haven't you?"

"…Yes, but that doesn't change anything?"

"Yes, your Majesty, it changes everything", Alvin replies crossing his arms, "so all the fights, all the conversations, were only so you could confirm that I was that man?"

"No", Gaius responds immediately, "it's true that when I noticed that you usually mentioned Xian Du and your way of fighting I thought that maybe it was you and because of that I suggested to look for that woman there but…"

"But what?", completes Alvin when Gaius hesitates.

"But I promise you that I didn't do any of that to obtain information", Gaius was looking at him directly, "but Alvin, if you are an Exodus agent I have to know".

"And why is that?"

"Because that group is dangerous, I don't know what they are planning yet but I can say for sure that it's something that you don't want to be involved".

"Well, if I'm that man maybe I've been tricking you all this time and I do want to be involved".

Alvin knew that he was tempting his luck but he was angry. Really angry. All this time that he had spent with Gaius and had enjoyed had allowed him to discover almost everything that Alvin didn't want anyone to discover. He had been stupid. Really stupid.

"I know that you are not like that", comments Gaius, "I know you, so if you are that man I know for sure that it had to be a really good reason for you to be there. So Alvin, please, trust me, I can help you".

Alvin shakes his head and looks at Gaius with a harsh look.

"Look, your Majesty, I save you from losing time: I'm not that man, okay? So if you have finished I would like to come back to my room. It's rather late already".

Although Alvin is trying to stop the talking, he knows that it's up to Gaius if he wants to keep with the conversation or not.

There is a tense silence between them, and at the end Gaius speaks.

"Of course, Alvin, you can retire if you wish"

"Thank you, your Majesty. Have a nice night"

Without turning back, Alvin goes back to his room. When he arrives, he closes the door, leans against it and drops to the floor.

Damn it. Damn it! He was in problems. In really serious problems. What had he been doing all this time? If he hadn't spoken with Gaius so much, if he hadn't let his walls down with that man, now his true identity wouldn't have been risked.

He had never wanted to be involved too deep with anyone. Of course he had been in relationships (romantic ones and business ones) in which all his partners without exception had tried to read him, to know him, but he had always known how to hide everything he wanted from them, he had always managed to let them know what he wanted them to know. The person that maybe (and only maybe) could know him the most was Presa, and he had been able to hide from her the most important things...but Gaius...Gaius was different. Alvin didn't know how but Gaius was able to read him like a book, he was able to discover the littlest lie, the slightest change in his face and of course, his false smiles and confidence.

And now he had almost been discovered, and the worst part was that it had been his fault, because he has been interested, excessively interested, in knowing him, in knowing a man so contrary to him with a path so clear to follow. At first he had only wanted to test if that security, if all his convictions, were real, but at the end he had really began to enjoy his company and that had been a fatal mistake.

Alvin sighs. He had to stop all that. He was going to finish the job, of course, he would find the key that Milla had and would keep informing them about Nachtical but that was all. No more fights. No more conversations. No more familiar treatment. And of course, no more strange things like what had happened in the courtyard. It seemed that it had passed a long time since that when it had happened some hours ago.

Alvin leans his head against the door. He had to recuperate his usual self. He had to be the mercenary who only cared about what really mattered: to protect his mother. He couldn't care for anything else. And he had to go back to Jude and the rest. Soon. That night.


Gooood, what a long chapter ^^U And what a bad ending, but well, something like that has to happen so the story continues! I hope that you have liked the M scene and the ones less M too :P I know, it has been a very short scene but I couldn't make it longer if I want the story between them evolves right but don't worry! When the story between Gaius and Alvin is established (and I promise that it will be) I'll have a lot of smut scenes in mind to write :)

I warn too that the next chapter may be a little boring because I have to come back to the canon story, but I promise that I'll try to shorten the canon scenes so the original story continues. Hope you'll be enjoying the story so far! :)