“Morning,” Shafir walked through the office door and threw himself onto the couch. He winced a bit at the pain but paid no mind to it otherwise. Sprawled out on the couch, Shafir noticed that Eliqinor’s desk was clear of paperwork. “How long have you been here working?” 

“Since dawn,” Eliqinor said as he tidied up the things on his desk. Shafir rolled his eyes before looking away at his usually piled-high table, but nothing was there. He wouldn’t say he was late, but he could never imagine being here before sunrise. 

“Did you even go to sleep?” Shafir asked. There was no sound of affirmation, and the dark elf didn’t pry more. It was the idiot of a captain’s choice to stay up all night burning the midnight oil. 

“I did.” Finally came from the desk. Instead of continuing to clean up his desk, Eliqinor was now occupied with looking at Shafir. Something crawled under the dark elf’s skin and he nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away. “I installed the office side room for that specific purpose.” 

“So you’re telling me. You went from work, then to my house, and back here just to go to sleep? You didn’t go to the barracks? Which would have been better?” Shafir questioned the sanity of his captain. The barracks were crowded, but Eliqinor had a room located away from the riffraff and it was probably more comfortable than the bed in the office. Not that Shafir minded it when he woke up. He found it comfortable, but it was a tad too big. If Shafir had to describe it, it felt like someone designed it for multiple people to use. 

“That I did. I knew I wanted to get an early start on work. We have an assignment this morning,” Eliqinor said, and Shafir’s head snapped in the captain’s direction. An assignment was what landed them in their current position. There was no way the Empress would clear something already. If anything, it seemed she wanted to keep Shafir out of trouble. 

“Why would we have an assignment? We just got back to our stations. There’s no reason to send us off again.” Shafir didn’t want to admit he had been itching to go back to work, but he wasn’t expecting it to be so soon. 

“Don’t get too excited though, because of your injury there won’t be much you will help with,” Eliqinor said as he stood up. Whatever the job was, it had to be physically demanding, otherwise Eliqinor wouldn’t have said anything about it. 

~ ☽ ✧ ☾ ~

As they walked, Shafir’s mind wandered. Ever since they came back from their mission, he had felt weird. His body seemed hyper-aware of Eliqinor. Worse yet, when they were near, it was as if he could feel his breath on his neck. 

The nightmares that usually plagued him had calmed down, but something else bothered him. The dreams that were usually terrifying turned into hazy mists where he would forget everything before his eyes opened. It was so bad that he couldn’t piece together the small bits he remembered. He struggled to piece together hands, eyes, and embarrassing sounds. Let alone the heart racing and breathlessness he felt when he awoke. Usually, that only happened when he had a nightmare, but the terror he normally had did not plague him. 

The one thing that popped up in his dreams was feathery light touches on Shafir and a voice saying something to him. Though his mind could never remember what it was or who was saying it. No matter what he tried to find out he always drew a blank when he was so close to figuring it out, perhaps he would talk to Eli-

“Shafir!” Eliqinor yelled and grabbed Shafir by the arm. The force with which the high elf yanked him almost had Shafir on his ass. When he broke out of his daze, he saw a carriage pulled by two horses run by. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts, he hadn’t even noticed the danger. “Are you okay?” 

Shafir felt awkward as Eliqinor pulled him closer, his hands dragging over him. Shafir knew it was to check for injuries, but his body heated uncomfortably and the panicked touches made his brain freeze. His cheeks turned red as Eliqinor’s hands ran over Shafir’s sides. 

“I’m f-fine!” Shafir stammered and pulled himself away from the captain. There was no way that was normal. He never felt like that with anyone, let alone Eliqinor. That was how teenagers reacted to touch, not a full-grown man like himself. 

“Are you sure?” Eliqinor asked. Shafir turned away and nodded quickly. The sooner they got out of here and to the training grounds, the better. That would give him some time to think about in safety and to address the heat burning his skin. 

“We need to hurry or we’ll be late,” Shafir said. The stutter was gone, but his voice was still shaky, trying to recover from the unexpected event. The dark elf never wanted to be surprised like that again, let alone by Eliqinor. Who knew where it would go from there? 

~ ☽ ✧ ☾ ~

“What are we even doing here?” Shafir asked as Eliqnor helped the squires put out training materials. It wasn’t their job to teach squires and Eliqnor was pretty tight-lipped about what they were doing here. 

“Have to deal with disciplinary action on some slackers,” Eliqinor said as he placed a target down next to where Shafir stood. They hadn’t been here long and Eliqinor was working up a sweat. His arms were glistening and- 

“Why don’t we just fire them if they are slacking?” Shafir realized after what he said that it might be a bad idea. What was considered a slacker? A person who never got their work done, late for work, slept on the job- 

Oh. 

When Shafir thought about it, wouldn’t that include himself? He was just thankful Eliqinor never brought it up or mentioned it. If he had, then he would be doing this as well. 

“It would decrease the workforce. Not that they aren’t doing their jobs. They just aren’t taking anything seriously,” Eliqinor said, and a squire handed the high elf a towel, which he used to wipe his sweat away. If only Shafir could help move things. He remembered when he was a squire how heavy all of this was and it didn’t seem to change if even Eliqinor was getting a workout from it. “Go sit down. They’ll be here soon. You just need to watch to ensure no one sneaks off.” 

What a shit job he had. Shafir was the ever-watchful eye to prevent the knights from abandoning their job. Ridiculous, though, his eyes and ears were perfect for this, since he was a dark elf. So he guessed he couldn’t complain too much. 

Shafir followed a squire and sat on a bench in the shade of the training grounds. It still sucked that he couldn’t join in, but he guessed it was fine watching. Nothing happened for a while as knights lined up in front of Eliqinor. He seemed so commanding when standing in front of the others. Shafir couldn’t help that he believed Eliqinor exuded the aura of a leader. One thing he knew he lacked. Of course, he took notice of one thing: the knights were all greenies. 

No wonder they aren’t taking this seriously… Even if we are at peace times, it would be better to be vigilant. 

Shafir watched as Eliqinor barked orders out at the knights, who seemed to follow his order but not without being dramatic. They ran laps, jumped up and down, and even did squats. This was normal squire training; whatever Eliqinor was trying to achieve, Shafir wasn’t sure. Then something clicked. The longer they took to do things, the louder Eliqinor got. 

He was trying to exhaust them. If they were in extreme pain by the end of this, then Eliqinor had achieved his goal. Shafir remembered one time he had forgotten to polish a piece of his armor and the instructor had him run laps the whole day. Shafir never forgot to polish every piece of armor after that. The pain was a lasting reminder. 

“Hey there,” A voice called beside Shafir. It had surprised him to the point he almost jumped out of his seat.

“What in the-” He wasn’t one to spook easily, but he had been too at ease watching Eliqinor to notice the small elf creep up on him. The child quickly made his way onto the bench. His legs dangled slightly and Shafir remembered when he used to be that short. 

“What’s your name?” Large silver eyes looked back at Shafir. It was almost eerily grotesque at how dull they looked. Only a slight shine gave off the hint that the elf child was one with the living. It had reminded Shafir of the reanimated orc they had fought not long ago.

“Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to talk to strangers?” Shafir asked, and the boy looked away. His snowy-colored hair and ivory skin were distressingly bright against the background of the training grounds. Mute browns and grays with very little green made the child stick out like a sore thumb. His clothes, though, were of rich quality. This Shafir knew because Eliqinor would wear clothes like this when they were younger. 

“Yes’um, but she also told me to look out for those who are lonely,” The child’s face beamed brightly and Shafir had to look away. There was no way that was what his mother had intended to say, probably some misunderstanding the young thing had. 

“I’m not lonely,” Shafir responded and looked back at where Eliqinor was. The brute had already made quick work of the knights and was taking a break. In the most Eliqinor fashion, of course, shirtless and parading around like a buffoon. 

“If you are not lonely, why do you look the way you do?” The child was quickly getting on Shafir’s nerves. He had half a mind to tell the child off but decided against it. The dark elf didn’t know whose kid this was, let alone why he was here. So he decided not to meddle too much. Entertaining him, though, was not something he intended to do. 

The silence between the two stretched on for a while as Shafir kept his eyes pointed at the training session in front of him and not the odd child beside him. If Shafir had to compare him to anything, it would be a questioning owl. His eyes were so wide, that Shafir was afraid he could see into his soul. 

“My name is Nyme…” The boy spoke as if remembering his manners. Something about him was oddly unsettling. Shafir tried to ignore the runt, but it was hard with him fidgeting beside him. “Why do you keep staring at him like that?” 

Once again, Shafir was surprised by the odd child. When he came to realize what he was staring at, Shafir’s cheeks heated. Unintentionally, Shafir’s eyes were trained on Eliqinor’s form. He was so wrapped in his thoughts and ignored Nyme that he didn’t notice what was happening before his eyes. Eliqinor was standing there covered in glistening sweat. Even though Eliqinor had already taken his shirt off, Shafir noticed the common sash that covered the top of his pants was gone. Not only that, his pants were hanging incredibly low. Shafir was afraid of one good squat and the pants would fall completely. 

“Are you smitten with him?” Nyme asked, and Shafir snapped his head to look at him. 

“Listen here. You are being awfully rude and invasive for a little squirt,” Shafir scolded him. Was he embarrassed to be caught accidentally staring at a half-naked Eliqinor? Perhaps, but he would never admit that to a child half his age!

“I am only stating my observations. That is what a good knight does, do they not?” Nyme responded and tilted his head like a dog. There was some social etiquette this kid was lacking, but how did one address it? 

“You barely look old enough to be a squire, let alone a knight.” Shafir looked the kid over once more. His legs barely came within an inch of the ground from the bench they were sitting on. There was no way this kid was in any position to make comments like that. 

“Oh… I am a squire, though.” The child looked down at his feet and now Shafir felt bad. Perhaps he was truly just a runt. A small thing that didn’t grow as fast as his peers. Shafir knew what that was like. Their peers easily towered all the dark elves at the academy until they hit their growth spurts. Shafir was still shorter than his peers as his dark elf blood led him to be on the smaller side. 

“My apologies,” Shafir muttered under his breath. The child looked at him brightly again and went back to watching the knights. Squires of all kinds were joining the academy, it seemed. It was the first time Shafir had seen a Snow Elf in these parts though. Their kind were reclusive by nature and more isolated than other elves. Which would make sense, as their homeland was in the mountains blocked off by copious amounts of snow. That was, of course, if you could get past the cold desert first.