A/N- Some pertinent information to know for this one, I portray Mark and Lyn having a very open relationship, something you'll see in later stories of course, and I HC Pent and Louise were one of their go to couples for that sort of thing, so it stands that they knew of Rutger and probably interacted a bit with him, that's why Pent and Rutger are familiar with each other here.

The Commission Files- File #22 Happy Anniversary Part 1

Characters: Rutger, Lilina, Pent

Based on: A commission by wadansi on Twitter

Today was Rutger and Lilina's first marriage anniversary and with that it was a busy but fun day. The knights and squires all pitched in and threw a large party for the pair, not only to get a day off of training and such but because they respected both of them and the good job they were doing in keeping Ostia safe and peaceful during the rebuilding and power shifts after the war with Bern. And the party was fun, Rutger drank and told stories about his parents to Oujay and Deke who decided to show up, Lilina danced and showed off some neat magic tricks with Wendy and Bors, and eventually the pair ended up getting to have a romantic dance together with the majority of the floor to themselves. Eventually though everything wound down and Rutger and Lilina found themselves in their bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning their heads against each other warmly.

"Today was great, I'm really starting to like it here." Rutger said truthfully with a slight smile on his face.

"I can tell, you really warmed up to Oujay, he was really surprised." Lilina noted.

"He's a nice guy and he works hard, he has my respect." Rutger replied. "I think we could work well together."

"Someone's made a friend!" Lilina teased him in a singsong voice and he didn't deny it because it was mostly true. "But honestly, good for you, you deserve more friends." After that they sat together in silence for a bit before Rutger moved a bit so their heads weren't touching anymore. "Hm, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, I just, uh, I got you a gift since it's our anniversary and all." Rutger replied a bit nervously before pulling a package out from under the bed. "Now before you see it just know this wasn't exactly what I had in mind at first, but the person who made it for me insisted on it being like this." Lilina gave him an inquisitive look after he said that.

"Now I'm just even more intrigued, let me see it!" She said so Rutger handed her the package and she opened it quickly but carefully so there wouldn't be any damage done to it. When the packaging was gone what was left was a portrait of Rutger laying down on his side, but he was completely naked and everything was out to see. Abs, chest, legs, arms, stomach, even his dick was erect to go along with a slightly nervous and embarrassed look on his face. "Awww, you actually look kind of cute in this!"

"It's my expression isn't it? I wasn't really too comfortable during the whole thing." Rutger admitted. "Do you at least like it?"

"Like it? I love it!" Lilina said before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I mean of course we're not gonna hang it up for everyone to see, but it's really good! Who made it?"

"Lord Pent of Etruria." Rutger said quietly, getting more embarrassed remembering what happened and knowing that he was going to have to explain what happened.

"Lord Pent? The former Mage General? Okay, you know you have to tell me the story now!" Lilina demanded.

"Well, remember a few months ago when we were staying in Etruria for that meeting between the rulers of Elibe? That night I got back to our room kind of late? It was that day..."

-Flashback-

"I'm glad you took time out of your schedule to allow me to visit Lord Pent, this really means a lot to me." Rutger said respectfully. Lord Pent and Lady Louise had been very good friends with his parents, along with everything that entailed, and both his mother and father had noted how similar they were to each other.

"Oh, it was no matter Rutger, I'll always have time for the children of good friends." Pent replied with a smile. "I hear you're doing much better with the royal life than your mother did, is that true?"

"Well, I have the feeling I get more leeway to do what I want since I'm a man and because Lilina is the actual Marquess, but yes I think I'm adjusting to it well. I'm just glad to have a stable home and people to depend on again honestly." Rutger answered truthfully.

"Just like your parents, you're very truthful, I always liked that about them. I think they'd be proud of you." Pent noted.

"I hope so." Rutger admitted. It was getting to be a bit somber in tone so he tried to change the subject. "So, are Clarine and Klein here or are they off doing other things?"

"Clarine is somewhere here in Etruria, I don't really know where, but she can take care of herself nowadays. As for Klein, he's in Ilia. He'll never admit it, but he's getting kind of nervous, word is he's planning on proposing to Thea while he's there." Pent answered, accepting the tone change. "You and Lady Lilina are invited of course if you can make it with your busy schedules."

"You seem confident that it'll go well." Rutger noted.

"Well, when you've been around the block as many times as I have you tend to see patterns." Pent said with a shrug. "You might start seeing them faster than I have though, seeing as your father was a master matchmaker in his younger years."

"Oh, I've heard all the stories, directly from the source." There was a bit of levity in his tone when he said that. "Speaking of marriage, one of the reasons I wanted to visit was because I figured you might know someone who could help me with a present for my first anniversary with Lilina."

"I'm honored you came to me for this Rutger, truly." Pent was impressed that he was so trusted since the last time he had seen Rutger was when he was about 12 or 13. "What kind of present are you looking for?"

"Well, and not to sound gloomy, I want to give Lilina something that she can remember me with in case I have to leave for a time or end up dying somehow." Rutger answered. "So I was hoping to find someone who could paint a portrait of me. Not a huge one, just one that someone could reasonably carry around with them if they needed it."

"That's a really thoughtful gift. You know, you might have been a bit stunted emotionally, but I think you're catching up quickly." Pent was always the one to be blunt, but Rutger was used to it because his father was the same way.

"I thought so too. So, know anyone who could do that for me? Money really isn't an issue honestly, but it is in a few months so I'd need to get in contact with them soon." Rutger noted.

"I could do it." Pent suggested. Rutger gave him a confused look. "Rutger my boy, after retiring from being the Mage General, Lady Louise and I had a lot of time on our hands, if we didn't pick up hobbies we would have gone stir crazy. We might even had joined the war effort honestly. So I've learned how to paint. I may not be as good as Etruria's best artists, yet, but painting is strikingly similar to magic, you just use different mediums." He was confident as always and that swayed Rutger to his cause.

"Alright, sounds good to me. When should we set it up?" Rutger wondered.

"How about today? You've just gotten here and I'm sure you'd like to stay for dinner. That gives me just enough time to sketch out a pose and composition and I can paint it later and send it to Ostia before the date comes." Pent replied with a bit of excitement in his voice.

"Well, you certainly are prepared. Why not, I did tell Lilina I might be a bit late tonight." So Pent let Rutger to his art studio room and it was plastered wall to wall with paintings, some small and some large. Some looked very rough but some were very good, and the whole thing looked a bit thrown together randomly.

"Don't worry, my skill has been growing in a linear fashion, I'm just a bit scatterbrained as to where to put each piece." Pent admitted. "Still not as bad as Canas' library though, you couldn't find a darn thing in that place." Rutger chuckled at that because his father had the same thought, even though it was still kind of sad how such a talented scholar was taken from the world. "Okay, I'm thinking of a piece where you're laying on your side, resting your head on your hand, kind of like this one here." Pent said showing Rutger an earlier work of his. "What do you think?"

"Yeah, I think something like that would work." Rutger answered with a nod.

"Good, good." Pent noted agreeably. "You can take your clothes off behind the curtain over there." Rutger's eyes shot wide when he heard Pent say that. The example piece had clothes on for Elimine's sake! Pent thankfully caught the confusion quickly. "Am I presuming too much? I figured you'd want to go for a tasteful nude portrait given who your parents were, did that not rub off on you too much, it has been a while since we last met."

"I-I don't know." Rutger admitted shakily. "I mean, Lilina and I have been intimate, I have no problem with that. And we have experimented a bit, but I mean this, really?"

"It's up to you Rutger, I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do, but there is no doubt in my mind you know what your father's philosophy on nudity." Pent replied.

"Yeah, I know. 'There is nothing to hide when your naked, physically or emotionally.' I still can't believe my parents convinced so many people with that." Rutger said with a sigh. "You know what, let's do it, this is just another step forward to getting back to where I would be if the war didn't happen."

"Couldn't say it better myself!" Pent smiled. So Rutger moved behind the curtain and took his clothes off, making sure to fold them neatly so he could grab them quickly if he needed to. "You want me to lock the door so no one randomly comes in?"

"No, I feel that would just make it worse for me. Besides, something tells me most of the people who would barge in wouldn't mind the view." Rutger said as he came out. He was of course very nervous, but he didn't bother covering himself up since it was kind of against the point of the whole thing.

"That's probably the truth, you actually look a lot better than I was guessing. I take it all that Ostian food has been filling you out?" Pent said impressed. "I would have figured you'd look a bit skinnier still. Scars were a bit obvious but what kind of fighter doesn't have those?"

"Yeah, I've been eating pretty well lately so I'm more in shape than I've ever been, it actually feels really good." Rutger admitted. "And the food, way better than just eating a random rabbit I killed out in the plains that I barely knew how to cook." After that he laid down where Pent showed him and got into postiton. "Like this?"

"Hmmm, move your left foot up just a bit." Pent suggested and Rutger did so. "Perfect! Now try your best to keep that position but don't stress too much if you move, just nothing too major."

"Understood. I take it you still want to talk while you work?" Rutger predicted.

"Yes, if you're good with it." Rutger nodded and Pent continued in with the questions. "So, I haven't seen you since the two of you met again, but I was wondering what your thoughts on Clarine were. You know she was quite jealous when she heard that you were marrying Lady Lilina."

"I was aware." Rutger said rolling his eyes. "She was very obvious about it. But being honest, she's a nice person at heart, maybe a bit acerbic at times, but she was actually one of the few people who got through my façade a bit. If it weren't for Lilina and I being friends for longer, I could see something possibly happening between us. There are probably a few Outrealms out there where it happened."

"Speaking of that, you ever consider continuing your father's research into those?" Pent asked.

"No, I don't feel like exploring for a long while, I'm enjoying the nice and stable life I live in Ostia." Rutger noted.

"Fair enough. And thank you for your candid thoughts on my daughter. I take it you feel the same about Klein more or less?" Pent wondered.

"Yeah, he's a good guy, hard working, respectful and respectable, no problems with him at all." Rutger said, he didn't have anything bad to say about him, but nothing too stand out as good either since they didn't interact much.

"What about how they look?" Pent asked, raising his eyebrow a bit in curiosity.

"I have the feeling you're implying something, and I don't know if I want to say it out loud or not." Rutger just had a feeling, but he wanted Pent to confirm it for him.

"Well, you know how close your parents were with Lady Louise and I, I just wanted to let you know that if you ever wanted to be like that with my children that you have my blessing for it, I won't try and step in or anything." Pent said simply. "Of course the real decision would still be up to them, but neither Louise and I would get in the way."

"You really are my father just with magical powers and high standing, aren't you?" Rutger asked pointedly.

"I didn't have his tactical mind, but yes we were very kindred spirits." Pent fondly remembered.

"Thank you I guess, for your blessing. I don't see anything like that happening any time soon, but I guess it's good to know Lilina and I have some options." Rutger admitted. After that they just talked about this and that until Pent was starting to put the finishing touches on his sketch.

"Okay, now for this last part, I'm gonna need you to think of Lilina, and before you ask yes, in that way. You don't have to tell me what you're thinking, but make it something that will get you excited quickly." Pent instructed. Rutger had gotten comfortable during the whole ordeal, well as comfortable as he could have gotten, so he was able to think of something quickly.

"There, is that good?" He asked feeling the blood still rushing down between his legs.

"Yes, perfect! Just hold it like that for a few minutes if you can. What am I saying, you're young, you can hold it longer than I can at this point." Pent chuckled. He quickly sketched Rutger's erection up and looked at what he made and he was really proud of it. "Alright, you want to look at it?"

"Let me get dressed first." Rutger said getting up and ducking behind the curtain. He got dressed quickly and then came over to where Pent was working to see the sketch. "That looks great actually."

"You want me to change your expression to something less embarrassed?" Pent wondered.

"Nah, it's more real that way." Rutger noted. Then his stomach rumbled. "I think it might be time for dinner."

"You're more like your father than you realize." Pent chuckled again. "Just make sure to use the talents he didn't have the way he would have. You have so much more power to change Elibe than he did, both physically and politically. Make him and your mother proud you hear me?"

"I'll try my best, that's all they ever asked me to do." Rutger replied and Pent was pleased with that answer.

"Good man, now let's go get some food."

-End Flashback-

"And after that we ate and then I got to meet up with Clarine and Lady Louise as well. We talked for hours and that's why I was so late to get back."

"And that story about getting lost with Bors?" Lilina asked remembering his excuse.

"Bors actually did get lost, luckily for him he got lost on my path back so our stories made sense." Rutger noted. "I guess that's another thing I got from my father, situational luck."

"Well, that was quite the story, Lord Pent really seems to like you. Of course after hearing how he treated Deke and how close he was with your parents it makes sense. Either way, I love this, I'll keep it with me whenever I can." Lilina told him truthfully. "But you weren't the only one who got a present with a story behind it." And with that she pulled out a package as well. "Go ahead, open it."

To Be Continued...