Boundless
By: Kuroi Neko-kun
Summary: After a fiasco with a drunken Borus and his happy sword wielding tactics in that condition, Fred and Caesar discover feelings for each other and find that love is boundless.
Disclaimer: Ah. If I owned the Suikoden Series, Luca Blight would be alive. Alas, I don't and he's dead. Well, I'll just settle to writing fics then.
Warning: It's a Fred/Caesar fic. Oh and male/male relationship.
A/N: No, Nash is not a whore. You wish, didn't you?
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My heart's being washed yet I'm hesitant
I can't be honest
I'm getting reckless
It makes my hair stand on ends just to think of you
- A part of Boundless Love by TO DESTINATION
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Chapter 2
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He had all the intention to talk to Caesar, get him to clear out the mess that he had directly caused because of an inhibited knight and his actions. Oh yes, after Fred got Caesar the brilliant strategist to clear the mess he had gotten the both of them was into before he forced himself to live in a forest until this blows over. He had asked Rico whether she had seen the strategist and was replied that he had a meeting with Hugo and Thomas. He headed towards the meeting rooms, only to get the rudest shock in his life. Pressed against the wall was Caesar and pressed against his lips was that supposedly married blonde spy! Fred wanted leave unnoticed but his knees buckled and he crashed to the floor. Quickly getting up as fast as possible, Fred left not wanting to view more than he wanted. What does he think he's doing! And of all people! The Maximilian Knight was lost in his inner grumblings that he didn't realize that the redhead caught up with him. With all the strength the Silverberg had, he forced the knight to turn.
"Can you stop for a second!" Caesar nearly shouted before taking a breath to regain his composure.
"I'm sorry but I have…"
"Look, what you saw just now wasn't what it seemed," he blurted out, something Caesar ever thought he'd do. Fred gave him a look.
"Right, what am I supposed to believe? That Nash decided to fall on your lips?" If this wasn't such an intense situation, Caesar would have congratulated Fred for his witty repartee.
"I'm not going to deny the fact that he kissed me but…" But what exactly? You're sorry? What are you apologizing for, Caesar? He asked himself. Fred crossed his arms before shaking his head.
"It doesn't matter," said the knight, "All I want is the rumors to go away. What you do with your life is none of my business." And somehow, deep inside the strategist, that hurt. And Caesar did everything he would do just to devoid of pain in his emotional status. He placed his hands in his pockets before letting his easygoing smile fall on his face.
"Well, I couldn't care less what you want. It's your fault for enamoring Chris in such a perverted fashion anyway," he said, "I'm not bothered by all this fanfare, so why are you?" Battling inner turmoil was something Fred had never been good at.
"I'm not!" he huffed in a childlike manner.
"Right, whatever. I have lots to do. So later," he said as he walked away, leaving the knight to his thoughts. Once he was far way from Fred however, the smile wavered. It was then Caesar knew his feelings were getting stronger for the Maximilian Knight.
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"What's going on?" Apple asked as she entered the main house of Budehuc Castle. Queen felt lost as well as she had never seen people that used this house ever working except for those in the shops. Apple had been gone for a week, finalizing ties between the Grassland tribes and stationing sentries for each clan. Queen requested to escort her since she had nothing to do and a break from Geddoe's Unit might do her some good. So this time lapse had rendered the two confused.
"Ah, Apple, Queen!" greeted Belle, "Hugo, I mean, the Flame Champion had requested for us to help rebuilt the broken down parts of the castle. If this is to be the base of the Fire Bringer, we can't work with a castle that looks so dreary." Apple looked at her before sighing.
"This is Caesar's idea, isn't it?"
"That you have to ask Hugo," Queen pointed out as she turned to the side. The Flame Champion, alongside Jacques, Sergeant Joe and Ace, were pulling a slab of stone across towards the back of the castle. Apple sighed.
"Never mind. Since it's already on the way, there's nothing I can do about it," she said, "I shouldn't have handed that book to him." Apple headed up the stairs, excusing herself from Queen. The swordswoman decided it was better if she had a drink and she headed to the bar.
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Apple found the young military strategist with Thomas as they were looking over some of the castle's blueprints. She was shocked to see Caesar so concentrated on the plans. Never before had he given full interest over something before. She decided to hide somewhere and watch him since neither of them noticed that she had entered.
"Well, I'm sure Twaikin would find something down there. Maybe we do have an escape route out of Budehuc. It'll come in handy someday," Caesar pointed out. Thomas let out a sigh.
"I didn't know all these existed. Some Castle Master I am," he said.
"Idiot," Caesar said, "You're new, considering. I didn't expect you to know all these. Let's concentrate on fixing the main house. Then, we'll expand the grid and…" He trailed off as at that moment, Fred entered the room.
"Master Thomas," he said, "Geddoe would like to see you."
"Right, I'll be there in a moment…"
"Nah, I think you should go," Caesar said, "I'll go through the rest of the plans myself." Grateful, Thomas took his leave. The redhead turned back to his work. After a few minutes, he looked up, seeing the knight still standing there.
"What?" he asked. Fred just blinked before shaking his head.
"Nothing," he said.
"Well if that's the case then please leave," Caesar said as he opened a large roll of parchment, "I have work to do." Sighing, the knight left. Caesar watched, biting his bottom lip. He knew he was acting snippety around the knight in hopes to drive him away. It worked the last time, why is this one still hovering around me? He sighed before raking a hand through his hair. Having seen enough, Apple decided it was high time she came out of her hiding place.
"I see," she said, shocking her student slightly.
"App! When did you come back?"
"Just now," she answered, sighing, "I leave for one week and you cause trouble."
"But this isn't trouble, App, it's a necessity," he said, stressing on the last word. Apple shook her head.
"Not the castle, Caesar," she said, "I'm talking about Fred Maximilian." Caesar dipped his head lower, not allowing Apple a full view of his face that was flushing at the moment.
"What about him?"
"You were obstinately rude to him. You only do that when you want to drive away those little crushes away from you because you think you can't have them," she said, silently admiring her knowledge of the young man. "But what I see is that he's not planning to go away."
"Apple, you don't understand," he said, "It's not like that."
"Tell me then." As much as he didn't want to, he told Apple what had happened while she was gone. Unbeknown to them, another person had been listening as well.
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He had spent so much of his energy helping out in fixing the castle. He felt so drained that he didn't even bother to get some dinner. Instead, he collapsed on his bed. He was glad he had removed his armor since working in them could only hinder his movements. The only reason he was working too hard was that he didn't allow any thoughts of Caesar enter his mind. Every time he let his mind wander, it falls back to thinking about the redhead, wondering what he meant by his words. He seemed to not feel embarrassed or even disturbs by the rumor mongers like he had said. Argh! This is so frustrating! Why can't I just forget it? He touched his lips at that moment. That brief kiss he shared with Caesar… He knew it was suppose to mean nothing but… Every time he remembered it, his face would warm up like it did now. Intruding his thoughts was a knock on the door. Probably Rico… he thought before giving the person the permission to come in.
"Are you alright, Sir Fred?" The knight looked up, suddenly realizing who it was.
"L-Lady Chris!" he exclaimed as he sat up.
"Ah, don't worry about it, Sir Fred," she said before smiling, "There's something that I was hoping to talk to you about."
"What is it?" he asked.
"It's about our military strategist. He seemed so distracted of the late," she said, "I have been going over some tactical matters on the Zexen side with him and he stared out the window the whole time. I did ask him what's the matter but all he said was that he already went over it. Well, Geddoe agrees with me that there's something going on and it seems to revolve around you since he kicked Arthur out of his room for mentioning your name. If you don't resolve this matter, it would lead to more of a problem. If he can't perform well, the whole army will fall. So, if it's possible…" she trailed off.
"You're not asking me to… talk to him, are you?"
"Oh please, Sir Fred. He may not say it but he does… like you," she said.
"Like me?" Those two words suddenly lost all meaning in Fred's dictionary. He just stared at the Silver Maiden for five long minutes before she decided to speak again.
"Well, if you do like to see this castle fall into enemy hands…" she said. It seemed to work as he got up and nodded.
"I'll do it," he said before continuing, "But for the sake of this war, Lady Chris." Chris nodded as a smile fell on her face.
"Thank you, Sir Fred," she said before bowing. As soon as she did, she left the room, closing the door behind her. After taking a few steps, she turned to her left.
"Seriously, who told Nadir you couldn't act?" Geddoe said as he gave her a small smirk.
"Well, I've been spending a lot of time with Nei and Queen," she said teasing. Not that anybody else got to see this side of Geddoe but Chris, having taken a part of her father that annoyed the man so well, seemed to have broken through.
"Do you think this will work?" she asked.
"Well, this ploy had always worked for centuries and I've been around longer than you think," he said. She had forgotten that like her father once was, Geddoe was also gifted and cursed with agelessness. She touched her right hand in response to her thought. Suddenly realizing she was being rude, she gave him a small smile.
"A man such as yourself truly needs to live forever so that all the women in the world would know what a great man you are," she said, blurting out what was on her mind.
"Are you flirting with me, Chris?"
"No," she said, the blush on her features telling him otherwise.
"Until tomorrow then," said the mercenary captain. He was about to walk off before he turned to her and kissed her forehead. And that rendered Chris speechless.
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It was strange that the next morning was brighter than before. Fred dressed readying himself for what was inevitable. He had to talk to Caesar, clear out what was going on between the both of them before this army could move on as a promise to Lady Chris. He walked out of his room, determined to find the tactician. After a few moments, he realized he had no idea of where to go. If his memory serves, Caesar would already by up and about because Apple had returned from her trip. She'd make sure he'd be going through his meetings with the Flame Champion, Geddoe, Chris and Thomas. He decided it was better he headed to the usual meeting room but after a few turns, he literally bumped into Geddoe.
"I'm sorry," the knight mumbled, offering a hand to the mercenary. Geddoe took the hand and got up. "Are you heading to the meeting, Sir Geddoe?" he asked.
"Actually it ended," he said. Fred faltered, realizing now he was lost. "Are you looking for someone at the meeting?"
"Yes, I have to talk to Sir Caesar. It is of utmost importance…"
"He's at the ship," Geddoe answered cutting through his sentence. Though he found it rude, Fred was grateful to the information.
"Thank you," he said before heading to the elevator.
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Caesar never did like natural embodiments of water, especially large ones such as the lake. Yet, he enjoyed sitting on the ship and having his breakfast there. It was perfect really, since Apple once told him that she would never step on the rickety old ship if her life depended on it. So, to get away from her, he would spend time on the ship, reading, eating, contemplating on the stupid knight… He stopped at the last suggestion. Damn… I'm really falling hard for this one, am I? His last conversation with Apple only drove the fact into his already bleeding heart. He knew Fred was never interested in him, even when he tried to be polite about it. He had been oblivious to Caesar's remarks and was least offended by them. Great, this time I fell for one that's really stupid… he inwardly laughed at the thought as he ate his meal.
"There you are." He turned to see Fred standing over him. Oh crap…
"So you're looking for me all of a sudden?" Caesar shot, turning back to his meal. Go away Fred… You're making this harder for me.
"Yes, I have," said the knight, wondering what how to approach the subject, "Is there something that you wish to say to me?" Caesar continued to eat his meal, acting as disinterested as possible. I'm interested in you Fred. I think you're cute, like all the harem of girls think you are… And there's more to it, I love poking fun at your face because it's the only way I can express it. But I ruined that, didn't I? I ruined it that night when I saved your hide from Borus.
"No, he answered.
"Are you sure?" he pressed, feeling slightly disappointed.
"Yes." Fred let out a sigh.
"Then…" he turned to leave. Not able to stay in that farce any longer, Caesar stood up.
"Fred, wait," he called out. The knight turned.
"There is something I have to tell you," the strategist said. But the words never came out as a large black tentacle wrapped itself around Caesar and pulled him into the lake.
"Caesar!"
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To Be Continued
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