A/N: Hello again, and I do hope you enjoy this chapter!

RECAP:
1. Tori, Gilbert, Roderich and Feliks have been kidnapped by the Resistance, who also successfully rescued Elizabeta. The remaining Bounty Hunters and pirates are in complete shock and disarray after losing their teammates. During the battle, Feliks was shot.
2. Lovino (holy shit we haven't seen you in a while) was assaulted by Sadik while he was drunk, only to be saved by a mysterious man who lives across the hallway from him.
3. Lukas and Emilia have made it to the resistance.

Please review guys! I love your feedback!

Also, to any Jewish readers out there, have a Happy Hanukkah! :D

His body was on fire.

Surely, it had to be. Nothing else could bring so much pain. Nothing else could make his skin feel like embers burned right beneath it's surface. Nothing else could make his side feel like the skin had split open and leaving his organs gaping, exposed, to the elements. His lungs ached with every breath that they struggled to draw in; they felt heavy and thick, as if smoke had formed a thick layer inside them. He couldn't move – every part of him felt like it was made of stone, weighed down, heavy and cumbersome.

He gained only brief respite, and rarely at that. There were days when he would lie in agony, wanting to scream but having forgotten how. He felt disconnected from his own body; like the only thing linking them together was the pain. Occasionally, he would slip deeper, down in the dark places where the pain could not reach him. He was always drawn from it soon enough, though, as though those tending his body wanted him to suffer as long as possible.

(he couldn't even fault them for that)

On the days where he was freed from feeling, he would dream. Or perhaps, the dreams were memories. He'd thought that they were at first. Had thought that he had the chance to relive moments from a simpler time. He'd learned quickly enough. These dreams were pleasant, or, they were until those outside began to try and rouse him. The moment that the pain began to return, he would watch with horror as the faces of old loved ones would melt and merge and scream for blood. He would watch as faintly-remembered buildings crumbled into disrepair, and the sky blackened and burned. And when the sky began to burn, his body would soon follow.

Then the pain would be back, and he would want for anything else. He would wish for an awakening, for surely the universe hadn't become so horrifying that this was reality.

(but then he would remember the look on his mother's face as his father broke his arm and knocked one of his teeth out on his ninth birthday)

And he would remember that this could be a reality. That it could be the truth, because the truth was uglier than deceit, in most cases. And he would want to cry, scream about how this was unfair, about how he'd never done anything to deserve treatment like he had received.

(but who would listen to him anyway? First he was an unwanted bastard, then he was a neglected bastard, and now he was just a criminal bastard)

That was life. Good people got treated badly.

(if he could be considered a good person in the first place)

He didn't want to be in pain, but he didn't want to feel nothing either. He just wanted everything to stop, to exist in blessed purgatory.

(he just wanted it to be over – hadn't he suffered enough? Had the painful impact of a grown man's fist on a child's body – burned into his mind since infancy – not taught him what he was worth?)

No, apparently not.

There had been many minutes of crying, followed by the delighted laughter and smiles of their reunions after they had managed to detach their ship from that of the pirates and flee. These interactions were predominantly between Kari and Elizabeta, though she herself had been eager to see her close friend again. The moment they had managed to pause and consider the night's events, however, their attention was quickly turned elsewhere.

Bella watched the group curiously. The four of them seemed to remain huddled together constantly. Not for warmth – it was temperate enough here – but not for plotting either. The mics they had placed around the room would have picked it up. Night by night, they received the same sounds; muttered curses and anxious musings from three of their four prisoners. Their distress was evident, and the cause obvious.

He was running a fever again, or he had been a few hours ago, when she'd last bothered to check. The bounty hunters that they had chained didn't even try to fight her, save for the fiery Pyndaphian-looking girl, who glared and spat curses at her every time, straining against her bonds to get closer to her friend. Bella had been a little shocked upon seeing the four prisoners that Abel and Matthew had managed to acquire from their rescue mission.

There was the albino; by far the most physically distinctive of the group, inflicted with red eyes and silver hair as he was, who they had to constantly keep gagged. The first time they had tried to remove it, he'd screamed up a storm, shouting in Common and Incandan until the words blurred together in a indistinguishable, angry tirade. The second time, he had sunk his teeth half an inch deep in Kari's arm. She had promptly dislocated his jaw with the strength of the kick she had aimed at his face, and refused to set it right for an entire day. The group had taken to referring to him as 'Ghoul', both for his unusual appearance and his vicious nature.

The second was the one Elizabeta had started to mockingly call 'the gentleman', distinguishable only by his dark mop of hair and aristocratic features. Though Liz may have mocked him, she did tend to treat him better than the other three, offering only the explanation that 'he was the most decent of them'. By 'them', Bella assumed the pirates which had taken her captive. He took food and water without complaint, and rarely raised a ruckus about anything. He was often the one who held back Ghoul when he was attempting to attack them, or fed him when his arms were chained behind his back. Bella would have guessed that they had some sort of friendship or relation otherwise.

The third was the Pyndaphian girl. Well, Bella had originally believed she was Pyndaphian. Kari, with her endlessly sharp gaze, had noted darkness at the roots of her hair, and, though not commenting on it directly to the girl, theorised that she could be on the run from some other planet, and disguising herself as Pyndaphian to avoid the authorities. They had started to refer to her as 'Eslin', after a character from the iconic Saga de Lauras, an overdramatised comedy piece about the budding romance between a Pyndaphian girl and a rapskor (a primitive race of creatures which resembled overgrown dogs). Bella recalled little about the Saga de Lauras, except that it was one of the most offensive things to come out of Wasim Baka's workshop in 20 years. 'Eslin' didn't give them that much trouble, unless they tried to approach Prisoner #4.

#4 was by far Bella's favourite, because he gave them no trouble at all. he was the other Pyndaphian in the group, and she was fairly certain she had heard the Gentleman refer to him as 'Felecks', though his Incandan accent was likely butchering the actual pronunciation. Kari, feeling vicious, had insisted on referring to him as 'Phantom'. Every time she referred to him as such, Bella swore she saw 'Eslin' tear up, and look even more worried. She'd made Kari stop after a while, though the Fynknian girl had been annoyed at her for doing so.

Yes, Bella disliked their captives based purely on their profession, but she wasn't sadistic. They were still people, and even if they weren't deserving of luxury, they still deserved respect. Kari didn't seem to fully grip that concept, however. Her experiences on Fynkn, and the losses she had suffered had hardened her into a brutal, callous person. Bella often wished she could see who Kari had been before the expansion. If she was the sort of person to happily spend time with an eight-year-old and gain that child's friendship, as she had done with her planet's prince; then surely, she had been a nice one.

A pity that she was gone now. Bella watched the prisoners a moment longer, refusing to let the pity she felt for them show on her face.

Their current hideout was far from ideal, small and rundown as it was. But they hadn't really had much of a choice. After saving Elizabeta from the pirates and snagging their new captives, they really had to book it out of there. Their altercation with Kirkland and his bounty hunter friends had managed to catch the attention of the Yanish authorities who monitored the open space in the extensively large Kyrs System. Their jump to hyperspeed had been only midly helpful, and they knew that the Yanish ships could track virtually anything, so, finding no real option, they'd made a quick decision to stop over on Galee, deciding that the anchorage was too risky as the last stop made by the pirate crew. From there, they'd wrangled their way around the mildly anti-human atmosphere on the planet to score lodgings. Galee was a predominantly mountainous planet, and this fact was visible even in the small settlement which they had landed near. The place that they had managed to secure was located high up, in a hilly suburb. It was no more than a wooden shack, propped in between the thick, leafy plants which reminded her of rainforests.

It was a nice enough place, she thought. The view out the windows was certainly nicer than what she was used to, and seeing the layer of mist that covered the thick forested areas every morning was far preferable to the dry, red plains that Nyma normally offered. Seeing so many Garvich was a little disarming, she would admit. Bella had never been somewhere that had so many of them. They were already a somewhat intimidating species, but when combined with the xenophobia typical of Galee, they unsettled her.

The Garvich race, called the Galeeivi in their own tongue, were the natives inhabitants of Galee, and some of it's only inhabitants. They were so famous for their dislike of humans – one of the most widespread species this side of the universe – that up until about 50 years ago, they had refused to let any even enter their planet. Joining the Union had forced them to open their doors, and though they would never be completely comfortable with humans, they tolerated them.

Well, most of them. One type of human that they couldn't stand were, as they called them, 'taints' – people born from incestuous relationships. Taints were very rare nowadays, but the Garvich had never faltered in their hatred of them. To an outsider, it would appear to be blind hatred, but Bella had studied different planets and cultures as part of her education in the Resistance, and knew that no race in the galaxy that had survived as long as the Garvich was so simple-minded. Almost all Garvich held to the Dahlk-Mar'so faith, which worshipped only one god, Reirmasta. Reirmasta was such a lenient and progressive god that many people outside Galee adopted the faith as well. The tale was well known, and fairly straightforward.

Reirmasta was once a mortal Galeeivi, but had been blessed with strong magical gifts because of the purity of their soul. Reirmasta had struggled to show the backwards, conservative people of the time what they should truly be doing with their lives. After years, they had succeeded, and accumulated a large following of other Garvich. But one of the old conservative leaders, Listolas, grew to hate Reirmasta for their teachings, and had disguised herself as a supporter to get close to Reirmasta. Eventually, when given the opportunity, Listolas attacked and killed Reirmasta, angering her many followers. But that was not the most violent part of the tale. According to legend, Listolas had committed the crime on the orders of her father Falshek, whose wife had been his sister, as such things were allowed by the old system. Falshek had desired revenge, as his wife and Listolas' mother had been killed by a supporter of Reirmasta for following the conservative system. When Reirmasta's supporters caught Listolas and Falshek, they injected boiling water into Listolas' veins to 'cleanse' her of the evil in her blood, before hanging her and her father.

The same methods were still used today, on people born from incest. Though nowadays, that brutal step was prolonged, as the poor victim was normally hunted like an animal before their execution. Bella didn't agree with incest; she had two brothers, so it would be awkward and gross if she did, but she also didn't agree with killing people for that reason.

Garvich were able to simply sniff out taints. Their blood had a distinct scent, apparently. Instead of smelling like a mixture of two different, distinct people, they smelled oddly, without the extra complexity. It would be like comparing the smell of potatoes to the smell of a spicy Jhobrasian curry. One had layers and layers, and the other was simpler. Garvich could easily detect the difference.

And their sense of smell extended pretty far.

Onboard the SS Mutiny,
16th Fybwari

"For the last time, I can't fucking find anything!"

Arthur whirled away from the console, brow pinching as he rubbed at his temples. This was quickly proving impossible.

"You mean to tell me you actually don't microchip your crew members? I am legitimately surprised." That snide comment belonged to Francis, the prick. Arthur sighed, too exhausted to both glaring at him. They'd been scanning the area for days now, but had been unable to find any sign of the rebel ship or their friends. He stared at the screen for a moment longer, as it brought up yet another page saying that there was no sign of them, before groaning and shutting off the system. The cocky Rywanese bounty hunter, Matthias, had insisted they use their tracking system to try and find their kidnapped friends. Normally, Arthur would have scoffed at this and ignored them, but the rebels had taken Roderich as well, and Arthur wasn't about to give up one of the more effective workers on his crew.

They had been working tirelessly ever since they'd been taken, and Arthur knew that if he didn't sleep soon, he'd just keel right over. Francis wasn't helping, especially given that, with his headache beginning to rage again, Arthur's severed finger was also starting to throb in protest. He gritted his teeth against the pain and, stalwartly ignoring the persistent and familiar pain in his head, straightened up to face the others. Francis was frowning, but for once, he was blessedly silent.

Arthur shook his head "There's no sign of them. Either they aren't in open space anymore, or they've left the system." He turned a little, staring out at the dark, star-speckled view, before continuing, "I may be able to track their movements through a Cell, if any of them have one, but I don't personally have the expertise to do it. We'd need to retrieve Eduard from Jhobras so he can do it." He could see Matthias nodding, but some other members of their crew didn't look like they agreed. The girl with short blond hair, Louise, if he wasn't mistaken, looked very reluctant to leave the system. Arthur knew she was Gilbert's younger sister, so he understood her hesitation, but as far as he knew, it was the only way to potentially get them back.

One of the other bounty hunters, a tall man named Berwald who had suffered quite the beating from the rebels, explained as much to her. She unfolded her arms; which had until then been locked around her middle, and nodded, still looking somewhat despondent. Arthur had to admit, he was a little worried too. Roderich had skill with people, and could probably keep himself alive without too much trouble, but the other three were worrisome. The only one of them that Arthur even slightly knew was Feliks, since he was Matthias' second in command. A light-hearted but threatening young man, and someone who could probably fight his way out. If Arthur hadn't seen the garish bullet wounds strewn across his torso when the rebels had hauled him into their ship, he wouldn't have been as worried, but gunshot wounds were nothing to laugh at – that, he knew from experience – and he doubted the rebels would spare much medicine on a bounty hunter like him.

Maybe it was a little cold of him, but he'd already started mapping out rescue missions for three people, as well as those for four.

"Listen," Alfred said, eyes on Arthur as he clearly took in his exhaustion, "We're all tired from searching, and so far, staying awake for ridiculous hours hasn't done much to help. Why don't we all go rest up a bit, then we can plan our next steps, yeah?"

Arthur could have hugged him when the others started to nod and separate to go and sleep. His whole body was filled with a bone-deep weariness, and not just from searching. His headache flared, as if to remind him of it's presence. Like he could have forgotten. Arthur leaned against the wall and rubbed his temples, appreciating the newfound quiet, looking up only when he realised that Alfred was still standing there, watching him. He paused in his ministrations, and raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"When I said that we all need more rest, I meant all of us." Alfred said. Arthur ran a hand through his hair, turning to the console.

"It'll be easier if I plot a course to Jhobras first, so we can travel and rest at the same time." He argued, moving to do just that when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned, scowling slightly when he saw the concerned look on the bubbly man's face. He wasn't accustomed to people touching him, and definitely not people that he had known for such a short time. But there was something in Alfred's bright blue eyes that disarmed him, and made his tense muscles relax just a little.

"I can plot the course, Toni taught me how, so you," he jerked his head to the side, "go sleep. Even if I get it wrong, we can just correct it tomorrow." Arthur was shaking his head before Alfred had even finished his sentence.

"I can do it, okay? Stop whining."

"I'm not whining! I'm worried!" he said. Arthur paused, staring at him in confusion.

"Worried? About what?" this boy made no sense, he swore–

"What am I worried about? Uh, you! I don't think I've seen you sleep the entire time we've been on board, and you look like a wreck man. You already lost a finger this week, but you barely rested after that, too, according to Mei." Arthur allowed his mind a single moment to wonder why Alfred had been asking Mei about him before his irritation reared its head.

"Why don't you mind your own business? I'm fine, and in any case, I barely know you, so I don't know why you're so concerned."

Alfred was silent for a moment, before Arthur heard him sigh. When he turned, Alfred had drawn himself up to his full height (which was admittedly impressive), and crossed his arms, a pout on his face. Arthur might have been intimidated if Alfred didn't currently look like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Soooo, you're one of those." Alfred sighed. Arthur raised his eyebrows again.

"One of those? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you know, the 'I can do everything by myself because I don't need people at all and I'm completely self-sufficient' kind of people." Alfred said, throwing on a ridiculously high-pitched voice that had Arthur equally wanting to punch him and laugh.

"I don't sound like that."

Alfred grinned, "Yeah, you kind of do." Arthur could feel his anger rising.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do!"

"No. I. Don't."

"Yes, yes you do!" Alfred was laughing, and Arthur was just as tempted to smack the smile off his face as he was to enjoy it. Arthur just groaned, not wanting to further spend time arguing with this idiot, and turned back to his task. Alfred leaned down a little. "How about this," he said, "I'll stop talking like that," Arthur looked at him with interest, "…if you go and get some rest." And Arthur was scowling again.

"I just have a few more coordinates to enter and then our course will be done," he huffed, "I would have finished by now if you hadn't been interrupting and distracting me." Alfred grinned, looking proud of himself.

"But you wouldn't have had my wonderful company, now would you?" Alfred teased, leaning forward and winking.

Arthur loathed himself for blushing.

He went to continue the argument, but his words died in his mouth when he spotted Leon standing by the door. Alfred followed his gaze and spotted the quiet Yanish boy. Arthur sighed, turning back to Alfred.

"When I'm done here I'll sleep, okay? Will that get you the fuck off my back?" Alfred grinned at his words.

"That's all I wanted!" he said cheerily, crossing the room to the door, raising a hand in farewell as he did. "Sleep well!" Arthur only rolled his eyes in response, before gesturing to Leon as he continued putting coordinates into the console. Leon's footsteps were nearly silent – a gift that he had – but Arthur's many years of piracy had sharpened his ears.

"Is there something you needed, Leon?" he asked wearily. Though he might have denied it, Alfred was right; he really did need to sleep. The boy was silent for a moment.

"I was just wondering, about the latest haul, from that Misori whistle-blower." Arthur tried not to clench his teeth. This shit again?

"And?" he managed to choke out. Leon watched him passively for a moment.

"And, we don't all get equal shares of the haul. I don't think it's fair, seeing as we all contributed equally." Arthur sighed audibly, pinching his nose.

"I pay all my underlings equally, Leon."

"But you get more."

"Yes, because I'm the Captain of this crew, and it's my ship which we're all being carted around in, unless you've somehow forgotten that fact."

Leon narrowed his eyes. "You remind us nearly every day."

"Well then, that must be a testament to how bad your own memory is." Arthur sniper back. He could tell from how Leon bristled in indignation that he was trying hard not to punch him in the face. He didn't particularly care if Leon was worried about his pay-check, however. It wasn't as though the boy had any major expenses like he did. As far as Arthur was concerned, Leon was another greedy human getting annoyed because he felt like he was entitled to things that he wasn't. Arthur didn't feel obligated to entertain him, though, not at this hour.

He cut him off as Leon opened his mouth to talk again. "Unless this is some pressing issue that couldn't possibly be resolved at another time, please stop bothering me." He muttered as he completed the course alignments on the console. He turned sharply, glaring at the Yanish boy. though Leon didn't step back, Arthur was satisfied to see him lean away a little and avert his eyes. The captain sighed as he straightened his shirt, before putting a hand on Leon's shoulder.

"Listen, if it's really that important to you, we can go over it again tomorrow, okay? Neither of us are up for this right now." Leon opened his mouth, as if to argue, before deciding against it and nodding. Arthur was glad to see that the fire in his eyes had dimmed a little as the younger of the two made his way to his room.

His momentary contentment vanished when he felt a stab of pain go through his head again. Right, he thought as he winced, there's still that to tend to. He hurried towards his bedroom, rubbing at his forearm, already imagining the light, familiar pain that was soon to follow.

Szwicza District,
Bibesti, Rela,
17th Fybwari

Sadik arrived at their door at dusk, bearing a verifiable flood's worth of loose leaf tea. Lovino held his gaze, expression cold and sharp, for a good minute before deciding to get it over with. Sadik nodded in thanks when the 19-year-old begrudgingly stepped aside, allowing him into his apartment before closing the door behind him. He gestured to the couches crammed into the multi-purpose room, remaining silent. He wasn't going to be the one to begin this conversation. Sadik glanced around, before facing Lovino with a questioning look on his face. Lovino narrowed his eyes, knowing what his confusion was over.

Feliciano was down in the street markets, trying his hand at proper bartering. Normally, his little brother was too friendly and understanding to be argumentative, even if someone was blatantly in the wrong, but, as Lovino had discovered, he was still quite the sweet-talker. Combine that with a glare that Feli was only able to pull off due to his strong resemblance to Lovino, and you had a recipe for reduced pricing. Lovino had guessed that he would receive a visitor today, having gathered the information from both his own intuition and the twisted, cryptic visuals he had received in his sleep the night before. A part of him wanted to leave the door open a crack, in case Sadik realised how much power he had in this situation, but he forced down his unease, and locked it. Lovino leant against the hard surface, tilting his head slightly to the side. Sadik was avoiding his gaze again. A sort of barely-tempered anger surged inside him, and he folded his arms securely across his stomach, attempting to hide how his hands had clenched into fists.

"I'm sorry." Lovino's gaze didn't falter when he finally heard the words, his glare remaining just as sharp. He raised an eyebrow.

"You are? Funny, then, that it's taken you this long to actually fucking say it." Sadik flinched. He could hear the venom in the younger man's voice clearly, and could easily pick up how his voice was wavering with fury. Sadik would not fight him on that, he had the right to be.

"I didn't know what to say." He muttered, "I wanted to apologise, so much, but I knew you would act like this." Lovino's glare intensified.

"So just because I am, understandably, reacting badly, making the effort to apologise anyway is pointless?" he asked, tone dripping with derision. Sadik looked up, alarm on his features.

"No! I didn't mean that. I just…" he sighed, running a hand through his hair, "I just wanted to find the right way to apologise. I wanted to make you understand."

"I do understand, you're a fucking pervert, and a creep." Sadik closed his eyes briefly.

"I am," he said, sounding resigned, "And I need more help for that, as has now been proven to me." He looked down, and Lovino shifted, feeling uncomfortable when he saw the shame painted all over the Nymian's facial features. "I've known you two since you were much younger, and I've always liked to take care of you. I'll admit, for you anyway, that it began to change along the line. How I see you, I mean. I'm sorry for that, and I'm even more sorry for what I did last week. I still want to help you if I can. You guys are only young, and I almost feel responsible for you two."

"You really don't have to feel like that -" Lovino interrupted him, guilt at his sharp words making the pit of his stomach sink.

"I know I don't, but I do. If you can forgive me, I'd be grateful, but if you can't, I understand."

Lovino sighed, and silence reigned in the room for a long moment.

"Well," he said, nodding towards the bags Sadik had brought with him "you brought me gifts, so I guess I kind of have to now. Though," a small smile reappeared on his face, "I still won't share it with you." The reciprocating grin that appeared, slanting across Sadik's face, helped the last of his tension to drain away. He moved to sit next to him, nodding at them.

Sadik smiled again, looking more relieved than Lovino had ever seen him, before opening the bags to show him.

They were expensive teas, that Lovino noted immediately. They had rose and sencha from Yan and Misor, ground spice used to make tea in Rityl, whole pieces of dried fruit used in Jhobras and the Eastern stretch of the Rega Belt, sweet tisanes from Xexei – a cultural staple imported thousands of years ago from Pyndaph, a bitter black powder from Nyma, and, near the bottom of the bag–

"Oh, this one," Sadik said, pulling it out. It was a small, bronze tin, nondescript but for the label etched into the side. To many, and no doubt Sadik, it would be ineligible. Lovino's eyes, however, easily slid across the foreign writing. He swallowed hard, and it took a good deal of effort to face Sadik as he continued to speak. "It's a fairly good brew, apparently. Syhvvanian, also, if the merchant who sold it to me is to be believed."

"What's in it?" he asked, feigning ignorance and curiosity as he took the tin from Sadik's hands and turned it over, the words 'Clanco Biank Infus' – 'White Horn Infusion', in Common Standard – pretending to read the ingredients. Like he didn't already know them by heart.

Hazel root, Salesha Pine flowers, Red Basilin, ground Gioqa seeds and Etteji tree sap diluted in water. It had been one of the minor backbones of his childhood. Supposedly, there was once a gorgeous plant on Syhvva called the White Horn Tulip. It's flowers, infused in water, created a bizarre but wonderful tea. After the already sparse plant had gone extinct, gourmets on Syhvva began combining other, much more common ingredients, until they had created a tea which tasted identical. If Lovino's memory served him correctly, it had a mild sweet flavour, with a smoky undertone which had perfectly balanced taste. He didn't think Feliciano had ever had it before.

"It's all the way from Syhvva, too. One of their old cultural brews" Lovino looked up, plastering a look of surprise over his face.

"I thought imports of their traditional cuisine weren't permitted." He stated, ignoring the old, bitter lump of resentment that rose up inside him when the words passed his lips. Sadik hummed, leaning back into the couch.

"Officially, they aren't, but there's a lot of dishes to be found on Rela which have roots in Syhvva." He ran a hand over his stubbled chin as he continued, "The chicken paraja they make down in the Colisz District, the Farioli pastries sold literally everywhere," he jerked his hand toward the tin Lovino still held, "tea and coffee from there is also famously good, so it sorta gets swept under the rug a bit. If we were further in the Union they'd be stricter. Also, because Syhvva's in this very system, the import prices are nice and low." Lovino knew that only too well. Ever since they'd found semi-permanent refuge on Rela, he'd gone out of his way to try and remain connected to his culture. After Feliciano had learned everything, Lovino had taken him out on an exploration of the Syhvvanian dishes, objects and drinks to be found in Bibesti. His younger brother had enjoyed it immensely, and now was always begging to go and find those places again. It really was hard to deny him, especially when Lovino himself loved visiting.

"I really don't know if I can accept all these," Lovino said, trying to change the subject, "I love tea, you know that, but…this is so much."

Sadik only shrugged in response. "I owed it to you. In any case, isn't it your birthday soon?"

Lovino blinked, surprised that Sadik even knew that. "Uh, yeah, in like a month." He'd be 20, he reminded himself. It was strange to think about, being two decades old. But then, he'd always been the oldest among his royal generation, by about 11 months, too.

"Well then, consider this your birthday present as well." Sadik said, grinning, "I still remember my 20th birthday." Lovino looked at him.

"Really?"

Sadik snorted, "No, I got pissed. The whole goddamn week remains a mystery. But in any case, you should enjoy it." Lovino rolled his eyes fondly.

"I'm sure Feliciano won't let me be miserable." Sadik grinned.

"I'm certain he won't."

As if on cue, the door swung open, revealing Feliciano as he happily exclaimed about all the things he had successfully bartered for. He stopped briefly upon seeing Sadik, but correctly assumed that they had patched things up from his brother's comfortable expression, and continued on his spiel. Lovino rolled his eyes fondly, rising from the couch to look at what he had successfully bought. Sadik entertained Feliciano for a few minutes, before finally taking his leave.

It was almost a relief to have him leave. Lovino stared down at the tin still in his hands, turning it over before letting a small, sad smile grace his face before he headed to the kitchen, determined to put the gift to use.