Title: The Adorable and the Intimidating
Summary: The blond-haired alchemist that bumped into Fafnir looked to be in pain. The ronin, on the other hand, looked intimidating…
AN: Honestly, I'm having so much fun writing these :3 Enjoy!
Flavio chatted idly with Fafnir and Arianna as the three of them headed in the direction of the café. It was around dinner time and they always made sure to visit Regina then and eat whatever recipe she had managed to cook that day.
As Fafnir turned his attention toward Arianna on his right to answer her inquiry, he suddenly jostled forward, taking a half step. An expression of mild surprised appeared on his face and he immediately turned around to look behind him, acting as if someone or something just pushed him from behind.
Flavio was about to ask him what was wrong when he heard a sound akin to a muffled whimper and the sound of someone falling to the ground. His eyebrows furrowing, he took a step to the side to also peer behind Fafnir. What he saw was someone with blond hair and dressed in black clothing as they sat haphazardly on the ground. They were clutching at their head, fingers curled tightly around the short blond strands.
Immediately, Flavio felt a sense of concern wash over him when he realised that the blond appeared to be trembling slightly. Although, he wasn't sure it was entirely due to fear…
He shared a glance with Fafnir, his friend looking baffled. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of the person that bumped into him. He certainly didn't know how to react to someone practically cowering on the ground in front of him.
"Is something the matter?" Arianna asked before she, too, moved to glance behind Fafnir. She barely stifled a gasp when her gaze fell upon the now mumbling blond. "A-are you all right, sir?"
"I-I'm sorry," the man whimpered and he continued to clutch at his head. "F-for bumping into y-you."
"No, it's fine," Flavio said as he crouched down in front of the man, noticing the his black clothing that was similar to what male alchemists wore and soft blond hair. "Are you hurt? Is something wrong?"
The man glanced up at him for a moment and Flavio saw vivid blue eyes before his face creased into a look of pain and he dropped his chin to his chest and trembled slightly.
Flavio was reluctant to reach out to touch the blond as he might hurt him. He was clearly suffering, and not from walking into the back of Fafnir. He was clutching his head, his fingers kneading painfully through his hair. It was as if he was experiencing some kind of intense pain in his head.
A headache?
Wait…He couldn't be the one that Lynus was looking for? His guildmate. What was his name again?
"Magnus?" Flavio tested softly.
The blond tensed for a moment and Flavio took that as a sign that his name was indeed Magnus. And he was indeed still suffering from his headache. Migraine now, from the look of it.
"Do you know this man, Sir Flavio?" Arianna asked him.
Taking his gaze away from the alchemist, Flavio looked over at Fafnir and Arianna, the two wearing expressions of concern. "He's part of the Guardian Guild, I think."
Fafnir nodded his head in understanding toward him before his gaze abruptly looked to the right and his eyes narrow ever so slightly.
Startled, Flavio turned to look as well and felt a tremor of fear race down his spine. A figure moved out of the shadows of a back alley. Black hair, solid muscles, massive scar on his chest; the gold on his armguards glinted as he walked with powerful pride…toward them.
Oh crap…
He…he wasn't looking at them, though. His attention appeared to be on the blond-haired alchemist that was trying and failing to push himself to his feet.
Although the man's stoic expression and piercing eyes was intimidating - far worse than Regina's and on-par with several FOEs in the labyrinth, Flavio was reluctant to move away from the alchemist.
"Flavio," Fafnir suddenly called to him.
Taking his gaze away from the fearsome ronin, Flavio was inwardly surprised that Fafnir was motioning for him to move away. But, stranger still, it wasn't just because he was protective of him; he had a particular expression on his face. Like he knew something that he didn't.
Wordlessly, and slowly, Flavio pushed himself to his feet and took two steps back. He couldn't help but feel surprise when the ronin quickly reached the blonde's side and knelt next to him.
"Magnus," the ronin said, his voice somewhat…tender?
Arianna made a soft sound, akin to a gasp of surprise, when the ronin unexpectedly leaned forward and scooped Magnus into his arms. He did it so fluently and effortlessly, as if the blond weighed next to nothing to him. And, the most surprising of all, the blond seemed to relax, curling himself against the ronin's chest, his head nestled under his chin.
Flavio was certain that the stoic, dark-haired ronin's eyes softened into a look of…tenderness. That was the only word he could think of.
For some reason, it made Flavio's heart skip a beat. He was…moved by the sight of them?
"Lynus has been looking for him," Flavio suddenly blurted out, causing the dark-haired ronin to turn (almost ominously, if he was to be honest) and narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. "H-he has a headache, right? From this morning. Y-you should head to the clinic."
The impressive ronin gazed at him in a critical manner, no doubt trying to engage his sincerity. His eyes were, ah, intimidating to say the least.
He said nothing. Instead, there was a slight nod of his head and softly, and subtly, his hold around the blond in his arms tightened as he turned on his heel and headed in the direction of the inn. He moved quickly, but carefully and silently. It was almost…as if he wanted to ensure that no more pain would come to the man in his arms.
Flavio was baffled by what he had just witnessed.
Magnus was safe with him, wasn't he? Still, Flavio couldn't help but worry. He looked like he was in such pain. No one should be in that much pain.
"Faf, you think we-?"
"It's fine," Fafnir unexpectedly said as his gaze stayed glued in the direction where the ronin was carefully walking away. "No safer place for him to be."
Flavio was about to ask Fafnir what he meant by that when Arianna softly chimed in, a gentle smile on her lips.
"They appear very close," she said as she folded her hand elegantly in front of her. "It is very obvious that that man will let nothing happen to the charge in his arms."
There was an almost…wistful look on her face. "They were very beautiful…"
…She thought so, too?
Arianna closed her eyes for a moment before she smiled brightly again and she turned her attention to both Fafnir and Flavio. "Let us continue to the restaurant," she suggested cheerfully. "Dame Regina is waiting for us."
"Ah, sure," Flavio said as Arianna smiled and took the lead, while Fafnir snared Flavio's elbow in his hand and tugged him along.
… … … … …
Flavio couldn't contain his concern. He was fidgeting at the café; so much that Regina all but kicked him out, telling him to check the clinic at the inn if he saw so worried. He couldn't help it, ya know?
As he walked into the inn and headed in the direction of where the clinic was located in, Flavio noticed a small group of explorers lingering just out the front of the patient room. And he recognised them. They were three members of the Guardians; one redhead and two blonds. Axel had his arm on Jhon's shoulder, leaning casually against the blond-haired protector, while the two had their attention on Tobyn, the blond-survivalist seemingly venting. If the narrowing of his eyes and sharp motions with his hands were any indication.
Flavio approached the group to ask them whether the blond-haired alchemist was indeed their guildmate and what happened to him. As he drew closer, Jhon looked up and noticed him. He nodded his head in greeting before turning his attention to Axel, probably to alert him of his presence.
Axel turned around and soon as Flavio was close enough he gave him a half smile. "Ah, so you're the one Shen mentioned," he said to him.
Flavio tilted his head to the side in confusion. Shen? Was that the name of the ronin?
Jhon unexpectedly chuckled. "He didn't tell you his name, did he?"
"Honestly, he barely uttered a word," Flavio replied as he scratched his cheek idly. "His glare says enough, anyway."
Axel released a snort of amusement. "He looks cold and stoic on the outside, but 'secretly," he used his fingers to create quotation marks and smirked. "he has a soft spot for cute things. One such cute thing is Magnus."
"Really?" Flavio would have to wait and see for himself to fully believe it.
Axel appeared if he wanted to say more when a certain orange-haired medic stepped out of the clinic. He immediately glanced over in their direction and he smiled when his gaze locked with Flavio's.
"Oh good," he said. "You're the one who found Magnus for me."
Well, not exactly found. He found them. But, hey, semantics.
"How is he?" Flavio asked in genuine concerned.
Lynus hummed lightly in thought for a moment. "His migraine has been subdued for now, but he's been ordered rest for the next day. Poor thing suffers from terrible headaches and migraines."
"Ah, it's reassuring to know he's on the mend." Flavio wasn't saying that to be polite. He meant it.
"Magnus wishes to give you his thanks," Lynus continued and before Flavio could respond with either a 'no need' or 'I'm just glad he's ok', Lynus turned to look back into the room he stepped out of and seemed to beckon someone out.
"It's all right," he said gently. "Come on out."
Slowly, a now familiar blond-haired man stepped out of the room in an almost skittish manner. His eyes widen when he locked gazes with him and he suddenly made a noise of surprise and embarrassment, and blushed darkly. He grabbed the red scarf around his neck and lifted it up to try to cover his face.
It was…cute.
"Magnus, don't be shy," Lynus said in a gentle and comforting tone as he grabbed Magnus' elbow and urged him forward. "There's nothing to be nervous about. We're right here."
Magnus glanced over at Lynus and slowly lowered his scarf from his face. He abruptly dropped his hands and tugged at the bottom of his coat. He unexpectedly turned toward Flavio, but not quite having the courage to look at him, and took a step forward.
"Ah, th-thank you for helping m-me earlier," he murmured softly as he curled his fingers around the hem of his jacket in a fidgeting manner and looked at the floor in front of him. "And, ah, I'm s-sorry for bothering you!"
Flavio was greatly startled when the blond suddenly reached into his pocket of his coat, pulled something out, and abruptly shove that something against his chest. Flavio made a noise of surprise, the air momentarily rushing from his lungs from the force of the shove, and he automatically reached up to grab whatever was pressed against him.
As soon as Flavio wrapped his fingers around the object, Magnus eeped out another "Sorry!" before turning on his heel and hurried away, heading deeper into the inn.
And everyone just watched him leave, expressions of endearment on their faces. So…it wasn't hard for Flavio to imagine that the blond was that adorable all the time.
"Shen sends his thanks, too," Lynus said to Flavio as he indicated to the object against Flavio's before he, too, turned around and idly made his way back inside.
Looking down at the object, Flavio was surprised to find a grimoire stone. Aw, it was a thank you gift!
A sudden noise caused Flavio to furrow his brow and looked around in idly curiosity. He thought he heard a sound like something hitting a wall. A punch?
He looked over at the others, only to find them smirking.
"A head," Tobyn unexpectedly murmured to him, his voice low. "Shen happened to witness that scene and had to head-butt a wall to keep up his stoic swordsman's appearance."
It was so difficult for Flavio not to laugh out loud.
AN: Just to be a tease, here's the summary to the next chapter :3
Summary: Flavio didn't mean to get into a shouting match with the dark hunter, but, darn it, he started it!
Until next week!
