Disclaimer: Suikoden 3 and all the Zexen Knights aren't mine. I just merely borrowed them for some entertainment XD

And one more thing… English is not my first language and I haven't beta-read this one yet x.x; so please forgive me if you found some misspelling or grammar mistakes etc XD; (you can pinpoint the mistake and correct it if you wanted to) Other than that, enjoy!

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Chapter 2 - Hide and Seek

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It's been two days since the incident that night with Borus in his room. And it was clear the man had been avoiding him ever since.

Percival couldn't help but to wonder, where Borus might be hiding. He'd searched the whole place up and down, but still no trace of the blonde.

He couldn't help but to feel anxious without the usual loud and outrageous blonde around. It almost made his days boring and dull. And Percival didn't like it.

Maybe I should check for the sword training place again, he used to hang around there. The brunette thought to himself as he turned around and walked toward the training ground.

Though luck wasn't on his side today as he scanned the training area but no blonde man in sight. He sighed loudly and leaned heavily against the wall behind him.

What were you thinking that night!? His mind scolded him. Look what you've done, now you'd succeed to drive Borus away from you. Well done.

Percival could only hissed at his own bitter thought. He was getting more and more irritated than anxious now. Borus was indeed avoiding him on purpose.

Maybe I shall check the parlor once more.

Upon arriving at the parlor, he found no one but the Battle Strategist, Salome, sitting on one of the couches while sipping his tea.

"Hmm? What is it Percival? Do you need any assistance?"

His spirit seemed to leave him as Percival felt so tired. He slowly walked toward the couch across the strategist and sat down while sighing.

Percival had run around the castle and other places too in search for the blonde, but he seemed to fail to find his comrade. Did he miss a place or somewhere else that he hadn't checked yet? He carefully started to trace all the castle map in his mind and tried to remember whether there's a place he missed to explore.

The frown on the brunette's face started to furrow and Salome could see something was troubling his comrade.

"I suggest you stops thinking too hard, Percival. Or your age will show faster than you think."

"Hmm? You're telling me I've got wrinkles already?" He said jokingly, though the frown on his forehead didn't cease.

"Oh my, what a furrow." Salome started again as he sipped his tea softly. "If those ladies knew you'd screwed your face like that, they surely will cry and it would be troublesome." He added with a sigh.

Now Percival's attention turned to Salome fully as he stopped frowning. "Salome, that's not funny."

The strategist gave a warm chuckle at his comrade's comment.

"Well, at least it managed to get your attention else where wasn't it? How about a cup of tea?"

Salome offered him kindly. But Percival was in no mood for a tea. He just wanted to find that hot headed blonde called Borus. He was so irritated by his comrade's action by avoiding him and it also made him worried. He was worried that Borus had hated him for what he did last night.

A soft clinked of china brought Percival's attention to the coffee table in front of him. Without waiting for the brunette's answer, Salome had prepared a cup of steaming tea. He put the cup right in front of Percival and sat back down to the spot he had occupied earlier.

"So," Salome started. "Do you want to talk about it? It seemed something really bothers you greatly. I can't have you standing in the front line at war while your mind had disappeared to the grassland chasing butterflies."

Percival raised an eyebrow at the strategist. He never stayed longer than a strategy meeting with Salome. By hearing the other man tried to crack a joke just sounded a bit strange… At least to his ears.

Taking the cup from the saucer, Percival sipped the tea gladly (since he had been running around the castle and he haven't had any drink).

"Butterfly? It's more like I'm chasing a wild boar or something…"

"Hmm? A wild boar?"

Realizing he had spoken his mind out loud, the liquid that Percival had sipped decided to travel to the wrong pipe as he coughed loudly to get the offending tea out from his nose.

"This is really a rare sight, to see your coolness crumble slowly." The strategist said while chuckling.

"Y-coughs-you--!"

Before Percival had his time to get angry at the strategist, the Parlor door was opened and a booming voice greeted them."Aha! There you are, Percival! I've been looking all over for you!"

The giant Zexen knight entered the parlor with a loud thud of his footsteps and clanking of his armors. The brunette couldn't help but to glare dagger at his other comrade.

"Do you need anything of my assistant, Leo?"

"Oh, no need the trouble, Salome. I just want to get Percival to train with me." The giant knight said while laughing. "You know, my axe will get rusty if I didn't use it regularly."

"Oh sure, I'm quite done myself with him. You may take him and do your training schedule."

Percival just gaped at the two of other Zexen Knights that had been discussing about him like he's not present in the room. "Hey, don't talk like I'm not even here--"

"Okay, got it Salome!"

Leo said loudly and grabbed Percival's shoulder as he dragged the smaller man out from the parlor.

"Argh! I won't let you go, Salome!" Was the last thing Percival had said to the strategist before the parlor door swung shut.

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"…"

Salome sipped the last drop of his tea and put the cup gently back to its saucer. Sighing, he leaned back against the couch and chuckled softly.

"You can get out now, Borus. He left already."

The blonde knight popped his head up from behind the couch where Salome had been sitting.

"Darn it, I swear that guy had some kind of six sense or something! He almost find me in every places I went to! And man, that was so close!" The blonde said while leaning against the couch.

"Hmm, now I can't help but to wonder, Borus. You two been a close comrade for sometime, why avoiding him now?"

"It's none of your business!"

Snapped Borus, thought the slight tint of pinkness on his cheeks said differently.

The strategist sighed at his comrade's answer. "Well, when you suddenly ran back in to the Parlor and gave a mighty dive behind the couch was quite a start."

The blonde started to glare at the other man.

"I can't help it! He just appeared on the hall way when I tried to leave the parlor, alright. That's why I'm telling you, that guy is not human!"

"I guess it's just you being so predictable, Borus…"

"What did you say!?"

Salome cleared his throat and chuckled. "It's nothing. Oh, I wonder what would Lady Chris say if she was here to see your mighty dive behind the couch."

"Urk, no. Don't you dare, Salome…"

The strategist just smiled at the younger man. "It's a joke, Borus. Move along now and give me some space to laugh at your 'might dive'. When Percival entered, I didn't get to laugh at your sudden dive."

"… You can be a real jerk sometimes, don't you Salome?"

Borus only got a smirk for a reply.

(to be continued)

A/N: w00t! Chapter 2 is up! It's been a while since the last time I'm in the 'writing-fever' mood o.o. Don't you think Borus is so lucky at the end bit? He's so lucky that Percival didn't walk around the room or his cover could be blown really quickly (by hiding behind the couch :laughs:) I'm not quite sure how Salome talked normally (since he didn't talk that much in the game) so forgive me if he sounded a bit… weird or OOC lol

Review and tell me what you think? :D