{{This is going to be very short. I would have put it with the other one, but I preferred that it ended with that kissing scene.
::Cringes from the memory of it.::
There's a big time gap here. The dream fast forwarded without letting me know what happened inbetween last chapter and this, and because of my lack of time, I didn't want to try and figure out any scenes for that.}}
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Time passed on. Dirandau became used to the situation, though he hated it just the same. He and Folken had learned to get along better, and life was becoming normal again. [Fear of another kiss had done wonders for getting Dirandau to obey orders.]
.
However, even though things were getting better. Dirandau was still terribly embarrassed by this whole situation, and didn't want to be around anyone when he could help it.
This set his Dragonslayers to worrying about him. Dirandau didn't do well when left completely alone with his own thoughts. And, he was still unhappy, there was no doubt of that. They could see it in his eyes, which were becoming lackluster and jaded. Lack of control was wearing him down. He seemed dead on his feet, and there was little hope that he'd last much longer at this rate.
.
And then, there was the fact that he had been staying away from them as much as possible. There were weeks at a time where they would be told by some messenger that they were to continue guymelef training, without Dirandau.
This worried them very much. They were his outlet for frustration. He couldn't talk about what he was feeling, and so he acted upon it by smacking them around. Now that he didn't have that....
And Folken probably wasn't doing anything to help him.
.
.
The Dragonslayers had forgiven Gatty. After all, he was only trying to help them, and he hadn't intended to hurt Dirandau.
During their many hours of free time, they discussed what was to be done. Things couldn't go on this way. No one was going to last much longer.
They had to get Dirandau to talk to them. Not as his soldiers, but as...friends.
.
Shesta came up with the bright idea that Gatty should start sending Dirandau more fake messages, at inopportune times. If they could bother him when he was being himself, and not an elitist captain, then they could catch him as he really is. . Dirandau couldn't keep up that militant exterior forever.
.
.
.
Dirandau awoke, for no reason whatsoever, late in the night...or early in the morning, depending on one's perspective.
He half-opened his eyes. They ached. Aya, but he did hate waking up in the night for no good reason!
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There was an odd taste in his mouth...blood? He blinked, and realized that he had clamped his mouth down on Folken's arm so hard that it had broken the skin.
"Iggh..."
He glanced up at Folken, who was still sleeping. Folken had ceased to wake up for injuries or wounds which Dirandau gave him in the middle of the night. There were too many, and Folken would never get to sleep if he continued to do that.
.
Dirandau had become used to waking up in these odd conditions. And since Folken didn't make a big deal of it, Dirandau didn't worry about feeling embarrassed. Just as long as no one else had to see...
He didn't bother to move from where he was. He waited for sleep to come back from him.
.
He looked down at Folken's new bite mark. It was dripping with blood. Dirandau thought about possibly waking him, so that he could go clean and bandage it. But...why bother? It was only Folken, after all.
"Oh, let the old man suffer for it!" he thought.
He smirked. "Maybe he'll lose this arm too...that'd be nice.."
.
.
.
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Gatty snuck out of the Dragonslayers quarters. It was late at night, and so Dirandau-sama would certainly be asleep. Not that he had any real proof of that. He had never been to his Lord's quarters so late, and so he didn't know what Dirandau's sleeping habits were.
.
"Don't worry," Shesta tried to assure him. "Dirandau-sama won't hurt you too much."
His words were not very effective, as they were accompanied by a shaking voice.
They continued on in silence.
Shesta came with him, supposedly for moral support. [Actually, he had come so that there would be someone to run to the infirmary. Doubtless, Dirandau would leave Gatty for dead after this.] He would wait outside in the hall, while Gatty gave the message.
.
They reached the hall.
Gatty bit his lip.
"Well....this is it..." he whispered nervously, as he walked up to the door.
"Good luck," Shesta whispered back.
Luck indeed...luck was something Gatty would need very badly.
.
.
Dirandau was still half asleep.
His thoughts were an incoherent mess of tangled-up hopes that Folken might get hurt in various ways. Then Dirandau would be rid of him, for at least a little while.
He reached over to Folken's false arm, and looked it over. He wondered what it would take to short-circuit the thing. A happy smile came over his face as he pictured Folken being electrocuted to death.
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.
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Gatty opened the door a small amount, slowly, so that there would be no sound.
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He couldn't help but smile at what he saw. He had never seen his Lord show affection to anyone at all. He'd never seen Dirandau-sama look this way. Dirandau was....adorable.
It was hard to suppress giggling.
.
"He actually seems....happy...." thought Gatty.
Perhaps that was why Dirandau stayed away from them now? Because he had found something he liked better?
Dirandau was awake, that was plain to see. Therefore, he was aware of what he was doing. And, since he was smiling...well...he must be enjoying himself, right?
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Gatty decided that their plan wasn't necessary. Dirandau would be fine. In fact, he might be better off than he had been in the past. Gatty turned, and began to shut the door.
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He was not being as careful as he had been, however. Dirandau heard the shuffling of his feet.
In a groggy voice, he called out, "Who's there?"
Reluctantly, Gatty walked back into the room.
"Gatty, sir," he replied.
"Oh…."
Dirandau didn't seem angry. He didn't even seem to understand the question he had asked.
This confused Gatty. He'd never seen Dirandau-sama act like this before.
"Are…are you alright, sir?" he inquired.
Dirandau said something completely incoherent. It sounded like a different language.
.
Gatty walked over to the side of the bed, to be able to hear Dirandau better.
"….sir…?"
"Hmm….?"
Dirandau stared at him with one eye open.
"Uh…sir? Is there anything-"
"rrrrrrRRRrrr…."
Dirandau growled, and reached out to smack Gatty. He then shut his eyes again, and seemed to be dozing off.
.
Gatty decided to leave. Dirandau was completely out of it, and he probably wouldn't even remember this encounter.
"I'll escape punishment this time," thought Gatty. He smiled happily, and started towards the door.
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The sound of feet moving on the floor again awoke Dirandau once more. He searched the darkness, and his eyes came to rest upon Gatty.
"Gatty…" he hissed. It was as though the name had gone through some kind of metal grater.
.
Thinking that perhaps Dirandau was just talking in his sleep again, Gatty continued on his way.
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Dirandau's eyes narrowed. Such disrespect!
"Damn you, Gatty! What the fuck do you think you're doing here?? Didn't I tell you never to come in here again?"
Gatty turned on his heels. Was Dirandau still asleep?
"I..uh…" he stammered out. He didn't know what he should say.
.
Suddenly, the conditions of this situation arranged themselves properly in Dirandau's head. Gatty had seen him like that with Folken. He hadn't wanted anyone, especially one of his Dragonslayers, to see what he has to come home to everynight.
For a moment, the only thing that came to his head was incoherent swearing. How dare that little usurper! And..and Gatty was probably off to tell the others about this, too. Gatty was trying to destroy the good image that they had of him. He was absolutely certain of that.
.
"Just because you think that you're in charge doesn't mean you don't have to answer to me. Now…what are you doing here?"
"I…I..wanted…had..to give you…this message…" Gatty said, tripping over his words. He held out the message for Dirandau to take. Dirandau made no move to take it.
"This…early….in…the…morning?"
Gatty nodded.
.
Dirandau didn't know if Gatty was lying, or what his true intent was. All he knew what that now one of his men had seen him in this rather embarrassing circumstance. And, worst of all, it had been Gatty, whom he grew more and more to distrust every day.
All the hurt and anger he had saved up throughout this horrible ordeal flooded over him.
"You idiot!!!!"
He tried to get up, and go after Gatty, but he couldn't move.
.
All the yelling had awoken Folken. He wasn't about to let Dirandau massacre somebody…especially in the middle of the night.
Dirandau tried to break free, but this only caused Folken to hold him tighter.
"You're being rash. You should stop and think about this first," Folken stated calmly. His arm burned from the wound, but he was too tired yet to feel it.
.
"Let me go!!!" Dirandau screamed, as he struggled to break free.
Folken replied with a simple, "No," and the two struggled more with eachother.
.
"Gatty, you'd better leave now. Let me take care of this," Folken said. Gatty bowed, said a quick "Yes, sir," and headed for the door.
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"Damn you, stay where you are!" yelled Dirandau. He jabbed Folken in the stomach, and managed to break away. He jumped off the bed, and started running. Folken was quick, though. He ran after Dirandau, and pulled him back to restrain him.
.
Dirandau was always quick to obsess about killing someone, and it used to seem as if every time he turned around, he had found a new enemy to hunt down. Folken had grown skillful at restraining him without hurting him.
However, that was when he was in his uniform. Those things were strong and thick. They had to be, to take all the damage of war. They also made a person seem larger than they really were.
.
Folken, in his weariness, had forgotten to adjust his grip for the lack of padding and protection. He had his arms wrapped around Dirandau's chest…a little too tightly. Dirandau screamed about how much Folken was hurting him, but Folken thought that this was only a ruse, to get Folken to let him go. Folken continued with that belief until he heard a snapping noise, which just happened to be some of Dirandau's ribs cracking.
.
.
Nothing could describe the pain Dirandau felt. He had never had any broken bones before, and the pain was so strong……
He collapsed in Folken's arms. He didn't speak. He didn't move. Any movement required him to breath…and that would be unbearable.
.
Folken laid him gently on the bed.
"I'm going down to the infirmary. You stay here and watch over him."
Gatty nodded, and sat down on the bed next to Dirandau.
.
Dirandau rolled his head to the side, and stared at Gatty.
"Gatty…come here…." he said, in a long, drawn out fashion.
Reluctantly, Gatty moved closer.
"Yes, sir?" he asked.
.
Dirandau smacked him across the face.
"Idiot."
::Cringes from the memory of it.::
There's a big time gap here. The dream fast forwarded without letting me know what happened inbetween last chapter and this, and because of my lack of time, I didn't want to try and figure out any scenes for that.}}
.
.
.
.
Time passed on. Dirandau became used to the situation, though he hated it just the same. He and Folken had learned to get along better, and life was becoming normal again. [Fear of another kiss had done wonders for getting Dirandau to obey orders.]
.
However, even though things were getting better. Dirandau was still terribly embarrassed by this whole situation, and didn't want to be around anyone when he could help it.
This set his Dragonslayers to worrying about him. Dirandau didn't do well when left completely alone with his own thoughts. And, he was still unhappy, there was no doubt of that. They could see it in his eyes, which were becoming lackluster and jaded. Lack of control was wearing him down. He seemed dead on his feet, and there was little hope that he'd last much longer at this rate.
.
And then, there was the fact that he had been staying away from them as much as possible. There were weeks at a time where they would be told by some messenger that they were to continue guymelef training, without Dirandau.
This worried them very much. They were his outlet for frustration. He couldn't talk about what he was feeling, and so he acted upon it by smacking them around. Now that he didn't have that....
And Folken probably wasn't doing anything to help him.
.
.
The Dragonslayers had forgiven Gatty. After all, he was only trying to help them, and he hadn't intended to hurt Dirandau.
During their many hours of free time, they discussed what was to be done. Things couldn't go on this way. No one was going to last much longer.
They had to get Dirandau to talk to them. Not as his soldiers, but as...friends.
.
Shesta came up with the bright idea that Gatty should start sending Dirandau more fake messages, at inopportune times. If they could bother him when he was being himself, and not an elitist captain, then they could catch him as he really is. . Dirandau couldn't keep up that militant exterior forever.
.
.
.
Dirandau awoke, for no reason whatsoever, late in the night...or early in the morning, depending on one's perspective.
He half-opened his eyes. They ached. Aya, but he did hate waking up in the night for no good reason!
.
There was an odd taste in his mouth...blood? He blinked, and realized that he had clamped his mouth down on Folken's arm so hard that it had broken the skin.
"Iggh..."
He glanced up at Folken, who was still sleeping. Folken had ceased to wake up for injuries or wounds which Dirandau gave him in the middle of the night. There were too many, and Folken would never get to sleep if he continued to do that.
.
Dirandau had become used to waking up in these odd conditions. And since Folken didn't make a big deal of it, Dirandau didn't worry about feeling embarrassed. Just as long as no one else had to see...
He didn't bother to move from where he was. He waited for sleep to come back from him.
.
He looked down at Folken's new bite mark. It was dripping with blood. Dirandau thought about possibly waking him, so that he could go clean and bandage it. But...why bother? It was only Folken, after all.
"Oh, let the old man suffer for it!" he thought.
He smirked. "Maybe he'll lose this arm too...that'd be nice.."
.
.
.
.
Gatty snuck out of the Dragonslayers quarters. It was late at night, and so Dirandau-sama would certainly be asleep. Not that he had any real proof of that. He had never been to his Lord's quarters so late, and so he didn't know what Dirandau's sleeping habits were.
.
"Don't worry," Shesta tried to assure him. "Dirandau-sama won't hurt you too much."
His words were not very effective, as they were accompanied by a shaking voice.
They continued on in silence.
Shesta came with him, supposedly for moral support. [Actually, he had come so that there would be someone to run to the infirmary. Doubtless, Dirandau would leave Gatty for dead after this.] He would wait outside in the hall, while Gatty gave the message.
.
They reached the hall.
Gatty bit his lip.
"Well....this is it..." he whispered nervously, as he walked up to the door.
"Good luck," Shesta whispered back.
Luck indeed...luck was something Gatty would need very badly.
.
.
Dirandau was still half asleep.
His thoughts were an incoherent mess of tangled-up hopes that Folken might get hurt in various ways. Then Dirandau would be rid of him, for at least a little while.
He reached over to Folken's false arm, and looked it over. He wondered what it would take to short-circuit the thing. A happy smile came over his face as he pictured Folken being electrocuted to death.
.
.
.
Gatty opened the door a small amount, slowly, so that there would be no sound.
.
He couldn't help but smile at what he saw. He had never seen his Lord show affection to anyone at all. He'd never seen Dirandau-sama look this way. Dirandau was....adorable.
It was hard to suppress giggling.
.
"He actually seems....happy...." thought Gatty.
Perhaps that was why Dirandau stayed away from them now? Because he had found something he liked better?
Dirandau was awake, that was plain to see. Therefore, he was aware of what he was doing. And, since he was smiling...well...he must be enjoying himself, right?
.
Gatty decided that their plan wasn't necessary. Dirandau would be fine. In fact, he might be better off than he had been in the past. Gatty turned, and began to shut the door.
.
He was not being as careful as he had been, however. Dirandau heard the shuffling of his feet.
In a groggy voice, he called out, "Who's there?"
Reluctantly, Gatty walked back into the room.
"Gatty, sir," he replied.
"Oh…."
Dirandau didn't seem angry. He didn't even seem to understand the question he had asked.
This confused Gatty. He'd never seen Dirandau-sama act like this before.
"Are…are you alright, sir?" he inquired.
Dirandau said something completely incoherent. It sounded like a different language.
.
Gatty walked over to the side of the bed, to be able to hear Dirandau better.
"….sir…?"
"Hmm….?"
Dirandau stared at him with one eye open.
"Uh…sir? Is there anything-"
"rrrrrrRRRrrr…."
Dirandau growled, and reached out to smack Gatty. He then shut his eyes again, and seemed to be dozing off.
.
Gatty decided to leave. Dirandau was completely out of it, and he probably wouldn't even remember this encounter.
"I'll escape punishment this time," thought Gatty. He smiled happily, and started towards the door.
.
The sound of feet moving on the floor again awoke Dirandau once more. He searched the darkness, and his eyes came to rest upon Gatty.
"Gatty…" he hissed. It was as though the name had gone through some kind of metal grater.
.
Thinking that perhaps Dirandau was just talking in his sleep again, Gatty continued on his way.
.
Dirandau's eyes narrowed. Such disrespect!
"Damn you, Gatty! What the fuck do you think you're doing here?? Didn't I tell you never to come in here again?"
Gatty turned on his heels. Was Dirandau still asleep?
"I..uh…" he stammered out. He didn't know what he should say.
.
Suddenly, the conditions of this situation arranged themselves properly in Dirandau's head. Gatty had seen him like that with Folken. He hadn't wanted anyone, especially one of his Dragonslayers, to see what he has to come home to everynight.
For a moment, the only thing that came to his head was incoherent swearing. How dare that little usurper! And..and Gatty was probably off to tell the others about this, too. Gatty was trying to destroy the good image that they had of him. He was absolutely certain of that.
.
"Just because you think that you're in charge doesn't mean you don't have to answer to me. Now…what are you doing here?"
"I…I..wanted…had..to give you…this message…" Gatty said, tripping over his words. He held out the message for Dirandau to take. Dirandau made no move to take it.
"This…early….in…the…morning?"
Gatty nodded.
.
Dirandau didn't know if Gatty was lying, or what his true intent was. All he knew what that now one of his men had seen him in this rather embarrassing circumstance. And, worst of all, it had been Gatty, whom he grew more and more to distrust every day.
All the hurt and anger he had saved up throughout this horrible ordeal flooded over him.
"You idiot!!!!"
He tried to get up, and go after Gatty, but he couldn't move.
.
All the yelling had awoken Folken. He wasn't about to let Dirandau massacre somebody…especially in the middle of the night.
Dirandau tried to break free, but this only caused Folken to hold him tighter.
"You're being rash. You should stop and think about this first," Folken stated calmly. His arm burned from the wound, but he was too tired yet to feel it.
.
"Let me go!!!" Dirandau screamed, as he struggled to break free.
Folken replied with a simple, "No," and the two struggled more with eachother.
.
"Gatty, you'd better leave now. Let me take care of this," Folken said. Gatty bowed, said a quick "Yes, sir," and headed for the door.
.
"Damn you, stay where you are!" yelled Dirandau. He jabbed Folken in the stomach, and managed to break away. He jumped off the bed, and started running. Folken was quick, though. He ran after Dirandau, and pulled him back to restrain him.
.
Dirandau was always quick to obsess about killing someone, and it used to seem as if every time he turned around, he had found a new enemy to hunt down. Folken had grown skillful at restraining him without hurting him.
However, that was when he was in his uniform. Those things were strong and thick. They had to be, to take all the damage of war. They also made a person seem larger than they really were.
.
Folken, in his weariness, had forgotten to adjust his grip for the lack of padding and protection. He had his arms wrapped around Dirandau's chest…a little too tightly. Dirandau screamed about how much Folken was hurting him, but Folken thought that this was only a ruse, to get Folken to let him go. Folken continued with that belief until he heard a snapping noise, which just happened to be some of Dirandau's ribs cracking.
.
.
Nothing could describe the pain Dirandau felt. He had never had any broken bones before, and the pain was so strong……
He collapsed in Folken's arms. He didn't speak. He didn't move. Any movement required him to breath…and that would be unbearable.
.
Folken laid him gently on the bed.
"I'm going down to the infirmary. You stay here and watch over him."
Gatty nodded, and sat down on the bed next to Dirandau.
.
Dirandau rolled his head to the side, and stared at Gatty.
"Gatty…come here…." he said, in a long, drawn out fashion.
Reluctantly, Gatty moved closer.
"Yes, sir?" he asked.
.
Dirandau smacked him across the face.
"Idiot."
