Title: Beyond Expectations
Pairings: Fafnir/Flavio, and maybe another if you squint
Words: 2,112
AN: I really haven't got much to say other than this was the first thing that came to mind when I read the "33. Expectations" prompt from the list. I don't know why, and honestly I don't care. Cute fluff. I love writing cute fluff.
From Bertrand's POV. Enjoy reading!
Expectations
In all honesty, if Bertrand had to choose between visiting the Stickleback Bar and staying at the Regent Café, he would rather be at the bar. No offense to Regina or the restaurant. And, sure, the bar was nosy and filled with people, but it allowed him to sit on the sidelines for a while, and simply watch and observe. He wasn't constantly pressured to have something to eat, either. Again, nothing against Regina's cooking, but thanks to his own Fafnir Knight ordeal, he didn't have to eat as often or as much. He could easily sustain himself with a drink or two. And, honestly, that was easier on his stomach.
At the bar, he could simply get a drink, sit in a dark corner somewhere and pretend for an hour or so that his life wasn't threatening to go to hell in a hand basket thanks to a certain Calamity. People mostly left him alone. Although, Cass did sometimes get up in his face, but the bar-keep was more interested in making as much money as possible so left him alone for the most part.
However, the last few times Bertrand and his guild had visited the bar, they had an unexpected, but not unwelcomed company.
Unexpectedly, it was Chloe who had insisted that Hrothgar (and Wulfgar, too, of course) join them. And she always insisted that Hrothgar sat next to Bertrand with her situated on Bertrand's other side, pretty much sandwiching him in.
Yup, surprised the hell out of Bertrand, too. But that soon gave way to suspicion. Even Hrothgar, himself, seemed astounded. He, however, would take up their invitation upon Arianna's added insistence and spend a few hours with them.
Bertrand wasn't sure what the pink-haired war magus was really up to and whether or not the purple-haired princess was a part of it. He shrugged it off, however. He didn't mind the redhead's company anyway.
Hrothgar had little knowledge of the Calamity or the curse of the Fafnir Knight, so their conversations didn't inevitably lead in that direction. They talked mostly about the labyrinth, but Hrothgar had spoken a few times about his guild. Well, previous guild now. It hurt him to do so, Bertrand could see that. But Hrothgar wanted to keep their memories alive, so he wanted to push past that pain threshold. And he was doing it. He was getting better.
He was a good kid.
Lifting his drink to his lips as he momentarily paused in his conversation with Hrothgar, Bertrand took the moment to glance around at his surroundings. The bar, as per usual, was filled to the brim with locals and explorers alike. Most were only interested in the food, while the veteran explorers were more interested in the alcoholic drinks being served. Nothing like washing away the bitter tang of a few dangerous close encounters in the labyrinth with a stiff drink or two.
Tearing his gaze from the crowds, Bertrand turned his attention to his companions. Due to the crowds of the bar, they had been forced to split in two, occupying two small tables. They were still within sight of each other, though.
Of course, Arianna had immediately tugged Fafnir over to one table. But as she did so, Fafnir reached out to snare Flavio by the elbow in order to tug him along, leaving Bertrand, Chloe, Hrothgar, and Wulfgar to occupy the other table. And to find amusement from the so-called 'love triangle' that was happening.
Or would that be a one-sided love triangle? An unrequited love triangle? No, that didn't sound right either. Hm…
Whatever. Fafnir and Flavio were practically married, anyway, so it didn't matter.
Sitting on Bertrand's left was Chloe, who of which was naturally eating from a mound of meat products while the normally stoic Wulfgar was practically drooling on the floor next to her. Normally, the war magus would defend her food with vigour Bertrand wished she would use more often in the labyrinth, but on the odd occasion, she would grant the ebony-furred wolf a piece of meat or two. Mostly the ones covered in vegetables she couldn't scrape off, though.
On his right was Hrothgar, who of which was once again looking rather astounded that such a small and young girl could eat so much meat in one sitting. He was also trying, and ultimately failing, to remind Wulfgar that it was rude to stare and drool as he was.
Glancing over at the other table a few feet away, Bertrand realised that Arianna and Fafnir had been left alone. Arianna was trying to gain Fafnir's attention now that it was just the two of them, but the white-haired swordsman was too busy glaring in the direction of the bar.
Flicking his own gaze toward the bar area of the pub, Bertrand snorted slightly to cover up a chuckle. Why was Fafnir glaring? Well, it was pretty obvious why.
Flavio appeared to be trying to retrieve something from the bar, but his journey was hampered due to the fact that he was being accosted by drunken and not-so drunk patrons. They were flirting with him, sending him uncreative and crude pick-up lines, simply being obnoxious drunks. However, whatever they were saying was going straight over Flavio's head and he was politely rejecting them all.
Hardly a surprise. Curly dark hair in a fluffy ponytail, big blue eyes, friendly appearance, utterly devoted to everyone's wellbeing and health; honestly, Flavio had no idea how pretty he really was. He would rebuke that, of course, with an indignant cry that he should be seen as 'handsome' rather than 'pretty'. But he lucked out. He was indeed quite pretty.
And, much to Fafnir's chagrin, a lot of people felt the same way.
But, even if Flavio did know what these drunkards were trying to do, he would still outright reject them all. He was devoted solely to Fafnir, after all. And Fafnir knew that. However, he was still rather protective.
And if the twitch of Fafnir's right eye was anything to go by, he was also becoming quite irritated. It won't be long until he could no longer hold back his protective urges towards his 'friend' and he would snap. It had happened before, and it would happen again.
It was sure to be entertaining, nonetheless.
Bertrand nudged the redheaded protector next to him. "50en says Fafnir pulls Flavio into his lap."
Hrothgar looked up at him before letting his gaze flicker over to Fafnir. "Inevitable, yes," he said as he turned his attention back to Bertrand next to him and gifted him with a small smile. "But the real question is; how will Flavio react to said 'pulling onto lap'?"
Ah, yes, Flavio's reaction. The best part. His reactions were always rather amusing. "Yeah. He'll probably shriek with indignity and demand to be placed on his feet." Bertrand commented.
Hrothgar hummed lightly in thought for a moment. "Hm, I think it's more of Flavio covering his flushed face with his hands while 'secretly' thrilled by it," he added with a slight chuckle.
"No way," Chloe unexpectedly piped up, miraculously pausing in her consumption of meat to speak. "Flavio will wrap his arms around Fafnir's shoulders and bury his face into his neck to hide the blush."
Bertrand and Hrothgar both turned toward the pink-haired war magus, an expression of surprise on Hrothgar's face while Bertrand simply raised a questioning eyebrow.
Chloe's large rimmed glasses glinted ominously under the dim lighting of the bar. "Just you see. 50en."
Bertrand always got a bad feeling whenever Chloe's glasses glinted ominously like that, but he was also rather curious. That was a reaction he hadn't seen before. "Yeah, all right," he uttered as he placed his drink onto the table and reached into his pocket to pull out a small bit of cash.
Next to him, Hrothgar sighed as he, too, reached for his money, placing the gold coins onto the centre of the table.
Chloe was the last the place her bet in and the three of them turned their full attention toward the other members of the Midgard Library guild, waiting in anticipation as Flavio finally made his way through the hordes of drunkards and back to the table where Fafnir and Arianna were.
As soon as Flavio placed down the tray of drinks and snacks upon the table, Fafnir grabbed him by his elbow and roughly pulled him toward him. With a small cry of surprise, Flavio tumbled onto Fafnir's lap, sitting haphazardly sideways as he pressed one hand against Fafnir's chest while the other grasped his shoulder as he tried to steady himself. He subconsciously moved even closer toward Fafnir when the white-haired swordsman wrapped an arm tightly around his waist.
Silence seemed to reign supreme over the entire bar as Flavio stared upon Fafnir's face, of which was only a few inches away from his. Fafnir, however, wasn't looking at Flavio. He was still glaring at the hordes of drunkards near the bar, silently reminding them that Flavio was indeed very unavailable.
As a blush appeared upon Flavio's cheeks, across his nose and all the way to his ears, he uttered a soft sound of embarrassment. He then placed his hands over his face, appearing as if Hrothgar had won the bet. However, he unexpectedly and rather abruptly shifted himself upon Fafnir's lap and then wrapped his arms around his neck and shoulders, burying his cherry-red face against the curve of Fafnir's neck.
To say that Fafnir looked smug with Flavio clinging to him would be an understatement.
Poor Arianna, though. She was the one who was covering her face with her hands in an attempt to hide and ward off the deep red blush to her cheeks. It wasn't helping as she was also peeking through her fingers at the two anyway. She was probably torn between feeling jealous and feeling delighted by how cute they were together.
The deafening silence was broken by someone laughing almost hysterically in the background, making a comment or two about how Fafnir would get along well with someone else. Bertrand couldn't make out any names amongst the chortling and he couldn't see who was making the racket, but it was almost hard to believe that there was someone as protective as Fafnir was.
"Told ya," Chloe muttered with a sense of smugness in her voice when the patrons of the bar returned to their own conversations.
"Hm?" Bertrand muttered as removed his gaze from the two still blatantly embracing pair and reached for his drink once more. "I must admit, that went beyond my expectations."
"Ehehehe, it's all mine," Chloe laughed almost evilly as she scooped the pile of money toward her. "Flavio's tipsy," she later added, as if explaining how she knew he would react in such a way.
Hrothgar uttered a noise of understanding. "Ah. Then that means he'll be shrieking about it tomorrow morning."
Come morning, everyone at the inn was going to know how embarrassed he was.
As he savoured his drink for a moment, Bertrand turned his attention to the protector next to him and idly noticed that he had a soft green leaf hiding amongst his hair.
Without much thought given, Bertrand rested his drink on the table and reached up with his right hand. As his fingers brushed through Hrothgar's surprisingly soft hair, the redhead stilled with an expression of surprise on his face. He didn't move though. Didn't try to turn away and ask him what he was doing. He simply looked at him from the corner of his eye, his breath hitching in his throat.
After a moment or two, Bertrand was able to pull the leaf from Hrothgar's hair, presenting it to him.
"Found a few shortcuts, did we?" Bertrand asked as he idly twirled the leaf around his fingers.
"Oh, well," Hrothgar murmured as a light blush appeared across his cheeks and nose, and he smiled softly. "I was showing a young guild a few tricks of the trade."
Bertrand nodded his head idly as he placed the leaf upon the table in front of Hrothgar. He wasn't entirely sure why the other protector was blushing, but it was oddly cute. He also couldn't help but wonder whether or not the redhead would shriek with indignation whenever he was highly embarrassed about something. Now that would be fun.
"...I'll win this bet next."
"Eeh?" Bertrand uttered as he abruptly pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned his attention to the war magus next to him. "Say something?"
"Nope," Chloe replied bluntly and in a somewhat pacifying way. However…
Her glasses glinted ominously again.
AN: So…what do you think?
