Eugi panted heavily, perspiration clinging to his temple as he held his weapon ready, shifting and turning with his opponent.
"Now, come at me again!" Iami roared, the wide smirk on his face exposed to the world with the absence of his helmet. Eugi thrust the trident forward and it was cast off like an errant mosquito, batted away by Iami's sword. "Come on now, control your movements. None of this loose, unrestrained nonsense." The shorter man grunted and jabbed again, coming perilously near to his sparring partner's bare flesh before that flashing sword threw him off course again. "Better, better. But controlled doesn't mean weaker. Use your feelings, don't ignore them. Just don't let them take over. Ready? Block!"
Eugi didn't have time to think, bringing the shaft of his weapon up to hamper the downward swing of silver light that was Iami's sword. "Good!" The Champion praised, hopping back a few paces. "Try again, now." Eugi grit his teeth and brought the sharp edges of the trident down in an arching swing, catching the other across the chest despite his attempt to dodge. Even as a thin red line appeared in Iami's torso, he smiled and let his arms fall to his sides. "Much better. Tired?"
"Yes," came the retiarius' gasped response, and Iami gestured towards the barracks.
"Time to head inside, then. You still haven't had dinner."
"Neither have you." Eugi reminded, nudging him gently in the side.
"This is true. We'll both go have some food." He said with an amused grin, his arm slipping around the other's shoulders and his head dipping down to place a quick peck on Eugi's cheek. Eugi blushed, looking around nervously to assure that they were alone. He was suddenly aware of a rich, rumbling sound, and realised that Iami was laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"You're still trying to ignore your feelings, parvior. What did I tell you?" His eyebrow quirked slightly in rhythm with his lopsided grin.
"Not to ignore my feelings?" Eugi replied laughingly, walking slightly to his right so that his hip bumped against Iami's. The older man just chuckled again, giving the shoulder under his rough palm a light squeeze.
"Good to see you were listening." They kept close to each other as they walked to the building, each basking in the presence of the other. Eugi's muscles were sore, his head pounded slightly, and he was winded, but he more felt safe and relaxed in Iami's embrace than he had since the attack on his village and the subsequent death of his family. It was with a sharp pang of resentment somewhere in the region of his heart that he slipped away from that warm, comforting arm to enter the dining area, where prying eyes needed to be avoided, and found a table with a relatively clean eating surface.
"Here looks good. You sit down, I'll go see if there's any food left we can scrounge."
"I won't hear of it. You're tired, you stay here. I'll go get the food." Iami insisted.
"But-"
"Don't forget it was my idea to train into the early evening. I'll feel guilty if you pulled a muscle because of me and then make it worse by scurrying around, fetching my dinner." He grinned, patting the shorter man's head. "I'll go."
"Alright." Eugi said with a resigned smile. "Only so you won't feel guilty." With that settled, the hoplomachus went off to the serving table, leaving Eugi alone at the table. He gazed off into space and twiddled his thumbs for a while, when a hand slammed down on the table beside him rather violently and he became aware of several figures standing behind him.
"I dunno, Hachus, I don't see anythin' special about him."
"Excuse me?" Eugi asked, turning on his stool to peer up at the three gladiators with a baffled expression.
"There's gotta be somethin' about him what's different." The scrawniest of them said, ignoring Eugi. "If he's can get so close ter the Champion so damn easy, there gotta be somethin'."
"They both got real freaky hair." One of the beefier two guffawed, jabbing a thick finger in the direction of his own scalp.
"Can I help you?" Eugi snapped, shuffling backwards in an attempt to escape their gaze only to discover the table was in his way.
"Yeh, mebbe you can." Declared the thin, weasel-like one, wiping his nose on the back of his wrist. "Wot we wanna know is hows a tiny runt like youse can talk ter the Champion, and not getcher lights punched out." The three sniggered wickedly at the thickening confusion on Eugi's face. "Cause 'e dun normally take kindly ter peoples in general. And we's thinkin', he'da found himself people more worthy o' being his second mate, y'see?"
"Only, he got a likkle wimp like you fer a friend, and yer not good 'nuff to stand close 'nuff to him to hear him talkin'."
"Yeah." The third grunted, cracking his knuckles and hunching his ape-like shoulders. "You're not strong enough to be his friend. So how come he's too snotty to help us out and teach us to fight, but he spends all the time in the world with a teeny thing like you?" To emphasize his point, the brute rammed his podgy thumb into the retiarius' chest.
"Because," came a cold voice from behind the rabble, "I have no respect for mindless bullies and sneaking cheaters." The gladiators surrounding Eugi turned quickly to face Iami's sweltering gaze, cringing visibly. In one hand he carried a tray of food and drink, but the other arm was tensed up, his fist clenched. "Now get out of my sight, you cowards." None of them were looking for black eyes, and so they scurried off with dirty glares thrown over their shoulders. Iami just scoffed and set down the tray, seating himself beside his friend and pushing a portion of food in his direction.
"Who were those guys?"
"Nobody important, I can tell you that." He snorted. "Hachus thinks he's a real hot-shot because he's been in the arena for four years and he hasn't died yet. He's just lucky. I've seen him fight, and he's no warrior. And on top of that he thinks strength is everything. He's a piece of scum with no education, morals, or respect for anyone that can't kill him."
"Oh." Eugi said, looking at the cold meat on his plate and suddenly losing his appetite. They sat in silence for a while until Iami sighed and muttered,
"Sorry about that. They wouldn't be bugging you if I didn't hang around you so much."
"No no, don't apologise for them. It's not your fault."
"But it is. They probably wouldn't have sent you a second glance without me to attract attention, and now they're probably going to target you and-"
"Hush. Whatever happens, happens." With that, Eugi scooted over and leaned against him, weaving his fingers through Iami's. "I'm not afraid of them, and I'm not ashamed of how I feel about you."
"Eugi…" Iami breathed, his eyes glowing with admiration as he brushed back a strand of Eugi's hair, allowing the pad of his thumb to rest on his cheek. "You have no idea how happy that makes me." He angled his chin so that his next words brushed against the shell of Eugi's ear, his voice warm and flavoured with emotion: "How happy you make me."
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And there you have my mini-chapter! My pitiful excuse for a reappearance. I promise you guys that there WILL be more of this later in the year, especially in September and October. That's when I start taking Latin again, and that's when my inspiration will start pouring in, I promise! And for those of you that wanted Gio x Seto and Bacura x Riou, that'll be in the next chapter. I've decided to rotate the chapters for a little while in terms of who the pairing focuses on. Oh and by the way, the next few updates will be short, fluff-based chapters, because I'm on summer break and I've forgotten all my Latin grammar rules. XD