The Un-Series

Title: Un-Conventional
Fandom: Star Ocean 2
Pairing: Dias/Claude
Rating: PG13 for mentions of sexual situations.
Disclaimer: Still not mine. sniffle

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Un-Conventional

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Old Gerimo Cavish was startled out of his chair at the front desk by a rhythmic clapping in the back, accompanied by the sounds of rushing water. Cursing quietly under his breath, he shuffled into the small backroom and closed the window, which had banged open. The next gust of wind sent it flying wide again, and he quickly grabbed it before it could crash into the wall and shatter. Damn storm.

After bolting the window shut, he ambled into the steamy, smoke-filled bar, past the benches full of drinking peasants, nodded to his daughter who was dancing between the tables, her arms laden with trays of mugs and plates, and grabbed a rag from behind the counter. As he returned to the front desk, Gerimo noticed two floorboards creaking suspiciously beneath his feet. It sounded like they were about to crack. That would have to be fixed soon. Not tonight, though. No way in hell was he going to the woodshed in this weather, and at his age to boot.

Gerimo was in the middle of mopping up the mess the storm had made when he picked up on a commotion going on outside that had nothing to do with the storm. He heard some banging, then shouting, then the heavy pound-pound-splash of booted feet on the cobblestone. Almost like a brawl. Ah well, the sheriff and his men were in the next room, and even if they were well underway of drinking themselves under the table, their appearance alone usually frightened off any troublemakers.

There was a loud thump as something heavy impacted against the door, which gave way and swung open, leaving a cloaked figure to tumble in backwards amidst cries of, "Ack!" and "Mommy!"

A bit startled, Gerimo reached for the bell to call the sheriff. Outsiders meant either business or trouble, and he wasn't too sure about those he had been presented with. Especially the big shadow hulking in the doorway.

Laughter suddenly filled the room, and it took Gerimo a moment to realize that the sound was coming from the cloaked figure sprawled on the floor and dripping water all over the place. "Hehe, I win!" gasped the hooded man, "Though I must say, I'm jealous. Even mud suits you better than me. You'd make a handsome rogue. I'd just be dirty. Figures."

"Idiot," came a deep voice from the door, and the other man stepped through, ripping off his hood and glaring at his companion with intense, creepy red eyes that made Gerimo glad he wasn't at the receiving end of that stare.

"If I recall, those were the words that started it all," snickered the other, clambering to his feet and divesting himself of the cloak to reveal a sopping wet boy with a warm grin. He turned to Gerimo. "Good evening, sir."

Laughing, honest eyes. Gerimo secretly let go of the bell and breathed a sigh of relief that he hoped wasn't too obvious.

"Now look what you did!" the boy said, throwing Gerimo a knowing look before once again addressing the tall man who was still glaring at him. "Scared an old man half to death. We really have to work on your manners. A smile would make you a lot less scary. You see, like this." And he gave the other a wide, white-toothed grin.

The tall man sniffed and straightened his back. It would have made him look dignified, more like a young lord than a sinister figure, except for the mud-prints in the form of two hands still staining his cheeks. Gerimo noticed him surreptitiously wiping one hand on his cloak, leaving a muddy streak.

Strange. Those two should have been at each other's throats, or at the very least, the boy should have been afraid of angering his rather mean-looking companion, but neither seemed to be true. Perhaps...

The boy turned to him and gave him a friendly smile. "Do you have any rooms?"

Gerimo put the guest register on the front desk and began flipping through the pages. "Ah, here. I'm afraid we only have one more room available. But..." He glanced back and forth between the two and, looking at the boy, added slyly, "I don't think the gentlemen will mind much, yes?"

The tall man's eyes narrowed slightly, and he opened his mouth to deny Gerimo's implication, but was beaten to the punch by his younger companion. "That's fine," the boy said with an ease the old man would not have expected of him. Blushing and stuttering maybe, but not this casually accepting manner. Hmpf, perhaps this was a sign of the times.

"That will be thirty Fol per person," Gerimo said, still silently puzzled. "I will show the gentlemen upstairs, then?"

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As the old man closed the door behind him, Dias turned to regard his companion, who was already wriggling out of his damp tunic. "You do realize that he thinks we're sleeping together."

Claude paused with his hands on his belt and looked at him quizzically. "Of course we're sleeping together. Since it's the last room and there's only one bed and all."

Dias snorted. "No. He thinks we're sleeping together," he enunciated, and watched comprehension dawn on the other's face.

"Oh," Claude said in mild surprise, as people do when they are presented with an unexpected, but not uncomfortable topic.

"Yes, oh. Your 'confirming' it didn't help much."

"Oops. Oh well," Claude said easily, shrugging. Strange, since he tended to blush and stammer whenever a remotely sexual situation was presented to him.

"By tomorrow, we'll be the talk of the entire inn," Dias commented, also undoing the clasps of his cloak.

"Let them talk," Claude answered, laughing softly as he toed off his boots.

Definitely strange. "This does not seem to bother you."

The blond made a sound between a snort and a giggle. "Well, I've had people accusing me of blowing the captain for my position," he said mildly, the crude words rolling off his tongue with uncharacteristic ease. "They didn't know the captain happened to be my dad, but still."

Dias arched an eyebrow. "You didn't get mad?"

"Hell yeah," Claude said, appearing genuinely amused. "I did. Once they found out why, they just accused me of blowing someone else."

Dias shook his head, lips curling in disgust.

"So I learned to just let them talk, you know. They'll shoot their mouths off for a bit and then leave it alone. For the most part. And besides..." He paused in the doorway to the bathroom. "...I'm sure there are worse things than sleeping with you."

By the time Dias got past his 'landed fish'-expression and decided to throw something at Claude for that comment, the something was a pillow instead of his sword, and it landed with the most unsatisfying splat against the closed bathroom door, behind which Claude's laughter was still ringing brightly.

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A/N: I wanted to write a dialogue-intensive scene and one with very little dialogue, so that got me to move my fingers. Other than that, my brain is to blame for how this turned out. XD
If you think the rude rumors about Claude were a little too far off, think again. People can be cruel and stupid, all in one.

C&C is, of course, highly appreciated.

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