Title: The Good Life
Pairings: Bertrand/Hrothgar, small mention of Fafnir/Flavio
Prompt: Tumblr - saneicthornda - Fluff with Chloe, Trand, Hrothgar, Wulfgar guild you head cannon?
AN: This was so cute to write~ Hope you enjoy!
Hefting a reasonable amount of fire wood under his arm, Bertrand trekked back toward the small campsite set in a secluded corner of the Auburn Thicket. As he set the wood down near the campfire, he couldn't help but allow his lips twitch into a small grin of amusement when his gaze fell upon a certain red-haired protector and pink-haired war magus.
Looking up from where he was kneeling in front of the fire, cooking their dinner for the night, Hrothgar sent Bertrand a small smile before concentrating on his cooking, doing his best to ignore the way Chloe was virtually breathing down his neck in anticipation of food. He glanced idly to his side, to where Wulfgar would normally be waiting for food as well, but seemed surprised to realise he was not there.
However, he needn't worry. Wulfgar was happily munching on a large monster bone on the other side of the fire pit, leaving Hrothgar with only Chloe to deal with.
Since Bertrand didn't need the constantly supply of food or drink to sustain him, he was content to sit on a fallen tree near the campfire and watch as Hrothgar interacted with Chloe.
As he finally placed the meat upon a plate, Chloe immediately made a grab for it, but Hrothgar lifted it higher, just out of her reach. She may be growing up fast, but she was still short with skinny little legs. Which was handy for the times she grew too bold and curious, where they had to literally pick her up and run. And that was something that was occurring a little bit too much for their liking.
Bertrand couldn't help but wince at the memory of them inspecting that secret pathway on the fourth floor only to encounter monsters in the disguise of treasure chests. The foes, however, didn't bother him that much. What did was how Chloe approached every single treasure chest they came across, regardless if they were an obvious fore or not, forcing them to fight and ultimately defeat all the mimics in one go.
After they had defeated all the foes and claimed the Yggdrasil Key, Chloe 'proudly' stated that now no one else would fall victim to these mimics. That was not what the brat was trying to do, yet they couldn't argue with it either because she was also right.
She looked absolutely smug at the knowledge that she had two protectors and a beast wrapped around her little finger. Again, they couldn't argue with that.
"It's too hot to be eaten yet," Hrothgar said as he kept the meat just out of reach of Chloe's grubby little hands.
Chloe sent him a bitter glare. "Meat is best when hot," she said simply.
Hrothgar shook his head slightly in exasperation. "Yes, but if you eat it while it's too hot you may burn your tongue or the top of your mouth, resulting in you not experiencing the full flavour of the meat."
Chloe immediately looked torn. Hrothgar had a very good point; but there was meat waiting to be eaten. She didn't want to burn her mouth and lose the flavour and texture of the meat; but there was delicious, steaming meat right there in front of her waiting to be eaten. The internal struggle was very much real with this one.
"Look, no one will steal if from you," Hrothgar tried to pacify as he lowered the food for her to finally take before adding for good measure, "No one would dare."
The corner of Chloe's mouth twitched into a slight smirk, but chose not to say anything in return. She sat herself on a log near the fire place, placed the food on her lap before proceeding to impatiently wait for the delicious mounds of meat before her to cool down enough to be inhaled.
Bertrand couldn't help but idly wonder how long it would take for her to snap and eat it anyway, regardless of how hot it was.
Seeing that Chloe was impatiently waiting for the food to cool, Hrothgar turned his attention back to the campfire with a small smile on his lips. He fussed about for a moment before he pulled the kettle away from the flames and poured the boiling liquid into a mug. He stirred the liquid for a moment before tapping the spoon against the rim of the cup and lifting it in Bertrand's direction.
"Careful, it's hot, too," he said with that warm smile of his.
"Ah, thanks," Bertrand said as he took the offering and set it atop his knee to cool.
Hrothgar sent him another smile before he turned his attention to cleaning up, storing the utensils back into their carry packs, to be in one place for easy access for just in case they needed to make a run for it. In the labyrinth, one could never truly let their guard down, after all.
Idly tensing and relaxing his fingers around the handle of the coffee mug, Bertrand found his mind wandering back to what led to him and Chloe joining with Hrothgar and Wulfgar to create a guild.
After the relief of defeating the Calamity and saving High Lagaard wore off, they were left with the overwhelming sense of 'what now?'. Well, Bertrand was at least. Fafnir and Flavio pretty much had everything worked out and wasted no time in moving forward.
Only a stubborn man like Fafnir could keep his Fafnir Knight skills, take on the title of a noble of High Lagaard, marry his best friend Flavio in a lavish wedding, and buy a house for just the two of them within a couple of days. But he did it and is now happily living out his days as the devoted husband to Flavio and security expert for the guildhouse and the Grand Duchy. And Flavio revelled in his role as Fafnir's husband, respected scholar of the Midgard Library, and fussy house husband.
It was good to see them so happy, but when Fafnir and Flavio officially got married, Bertrand and Chloe made the unspoken decision between themselves that they would not be able to travel with them through the labyrinth again.
No offense to those two; they loved them to bits, really. But there was only so much public display of affection one could tolerate before it got ridiculous. They would have had to wait until after they've proceeded through their 'honeymoon phase', one they had been in constantly since officially getting married. And from the way those two acted, that honeymoon phase was going to last for a few more years yet. They were bad enough before they confessed their unending love for each other. Now they were ten times worse.
Yes, it was possible. And yes, it was nauseating.
Arianna had to return to her kingdom for regal matters, but she frequently visited High Lagaard, and of course Fafnir and Flavio at their private home. They even had a room set up just for her when she visited. However, whenever she visited, Arianna appeared to be spending more and more time with Gadiel at the Grand Duchy, the two becoming very close since the defeat of the Calamity and the recovery of the King of Grails.
With the others having found their new purpose in life, that left Bertrand and Chloe wondering what they should do. Of course they were going to stick together. Bertrand couldn't shake the twerp if he tried, but honestly he would feel awkward or uneasy if he didn't have the little pigtailed witch following him around.
Continuing their exploration of the labyrinth was a given. When they first proceeded through Yggdrasil, it was with a purpose in mind. They didn't have time to idly dally as they drew maps or completed quests. And there was still much more of the labyrinth left to be discovered.
And, to be honest, it was all they could really do at this point. For Bertrand, especially. Can't teach an old dog new tricks, after all.
They knew that they couldn't get very far with just the two of them, though, even after everything they've been through. It was actually Chloe that mentioned the possibility of joining with Hrothgar and Wulfgar. However, her suggestion wasn't that much of a surprise, really. She knew that Bertrand and Hrothgar had grown close since their first meeting. How much she knew, however, Bertrand wasn't sure. She could be a little too nosy for her own good sometimes.
But after they had defeated the calamity and made their way back into town, it was made all too apparent that Bertrand and Hrothgar were a tad more than friends.
As they staggered back from Ginnungagap to Lagaard late in the night, Hrothgar was one of many who had been waiting for them. And he had pushed his way through the crowd to immediately hug Bertrand upon seeing him alive and relatively unharmed. He didn't say anything; he just hugged him, his face buried into his shoulder. And Bertrand immediately hugged him back tightly, actually relieved that he was also alive and was able to come back to Hrothgar like he had promised.
Yeah, Bertrand liked Hrothgar. While he had never been comfortable with using that other 'L' word when it came to regarding himself, but he cared for Hrothgar a lot. He would willingly lay his life on the line for him and beat the living shit out of anyone or anything who would dare to hurt him in anyway.
So the decision to join up with Guild Beowulf made sense. A lot of sense, really.
Bertrand remembered vividly the look on Hrothgar's face when he and Chloe explained to him the reasons why they wanted to form a guild with him. And why they wanted to keep the name 'Beowulf'.
They didn't want to be known as the guild that fought against the Overlord and the Calamity. After everything that happened, after Bertrand spent over a hundred years walking around in a haze, they just want to be normal for once. Be simple explorers. And with Hrothgar they could do that. Bertrand could finally do that. Stability. Security. Normality. It's something he hadn't felt in such a long time.
And under the name Beowulf, they could finally be free of their burdens while also allowing for Hrothgar, himself, to find closure and to keep the name of his fallen comrades alive.
After hearing those words, Hrothgar looked as though he wanted to cry, to shed a tear of what they had hope was happiness. Instead he drew in a deep breath and smiled warmly. "We would be honoured," he said.
Bertrand especially remembered how beautiful he looked when he said that, and how difficult it was not to reach out and kiss the redhead.
Bertrand was pulled from his musings by the sound of someone uttering an annoyed squeak. He immediately glanced over at Chloe to find her sticking her tongue up and fruitlessly fanning at it with her hand. Seemed like she couldn't wait to devour her food any longer.
Hrothgar tisked lightly as he handed Chloe a previously prepared cup of water. "I did warn you," he said.
Chloe simply stuck her tongue out further at him as she took the cup of water and quickly drank it. Far from perturbed by the reaction, Hrothgar simply chuckled as he finished cleaning up. With everything finally packed away, he dusted off his hands out of habit before bending down to pick up a coffee mug of his own and made his way to where Bertrand was. He quickly sat down next to him, as close as their armour would allowed.
"This is nice, isn't it?" Hrothgar whispered softly as they watched Wulfgar boldly paw at Chloe's plate, only to be threatened with a knife by said war magus.
Bertrand didn't verbally reply. Instead he reached up to grasp the back of Hrothgar's head, his fingers threading through his hair as he pulled his face toward his. Hrothgar uttered a small sound of surprise when Bertrand pressed his lips against his, but he soon pressed back, eagerly moving his lips against his in a slow, gentle kiss.
"Yeah," Bertrand said as he pulled away from the kiss and looked into Hrothgar's eyes. "Life is good."
