“Do you know who the Empress sent on scouting missions as of late?” The dark elf asked as he filled out the paperwork on the table in front of him. The report from his last mission was due, and he wasn’t one to dilly-dally. Shafir always made sure he submitted his reports before the end of the week that his mission was over. No sound came from Eliqinor and when he looked up, the other man was deeply focused on his work. “Eliqinor?”

No reply came and Shafir sighed. This was a norm for them, and it made him wish a goblin would sneak up behind Eliqinor and drool on his expensive clothes. That would teach him to keep his guard down, but again, he assumed it was a good thing. If he believed Shafir wouldn’t stab him in the back when he was knee-deep in paperwork, then Eliqinor could work in peace. 

“Captain?” Shafir called out to Eliqinor once more before the older man lifted his head from where he was working. He rubbed his temples after putting down the stamp that he often used to approve documents. Who knew marking papers with ink would be such hard work? Well, he never thought it was hard work, just stamp it and move on. Though Eliqinor often took time to read every little thing when Shafir had a habit of skimming to get the gist of the document. The man was throughout with his work, which was understandable that he became the Captain at such a young age.

“What is it?” Eliqinor huffed out and Shafir felt his body tense. If he started anything, it would be easy enough to defend himself by saying the other looked like he was falling asleep and they couldn’t have that. That would be irresponsible, per Eliqinor’s words. 

“The Empress told me she sent some scouts out to check on something. Do you know who they are?” Eliqinor stood up from his seat and walked toward the large bookshelf, where he pulled out a book full of papers. They often held all the missives sent from the Empress, along with the reports from those sent on the missions. As long as one scout was from their division, they would have the information. He flipped it open and looked over the pages at Shafir. 

“Valneiros, House of Rites and Katar, House of Choices. Is this about what you told me about?” 

Shafir had informed Eliqinor of the mission the Empress assigned to them. It would be awhile before they could actually go out on the mission, as they had to be as well-informed as possible before they went off and looked around. Someone as well-versed as Eliqinor with orc customs was with Shafir, so that was also a plus. “Valneiros is often busy, but he helps at the infirmary from time to time and Katar is an on-and-off instructor for the squires' archery training.” Shafir had heard their names come from Eliqinor’s mouth many times, but it always made him irritated to think about it. Though Eliqinor spoke of Katar in the same breath as Valneiros, Shafir knew little about him, just that he was lively. 

He had never seen them come to the office himself, but it appeared Eliqinor knew them well. Valneiros was understandable because he had seen him being sent on missions with others when they were young. While he was slightly older than Eliqinor and Shafir, he was below them in rank. Katar was an archer and not someone they would often have contact with since he was under the Cavalry Captain’s charge. 

“And? Are they on any assignments right now?” There was a creak of the couch when Shafir stood up. Was it getting old already? He shook his head and began gathering the paperwork he had finished. 

“Katar is not busy, but if we want to talk to Valneiros, he’ll be on a mission for the next couple of days. So that leaves a kink in your plan to solve the orc problem as soon as possible. Unless you don't need to talk to him.” Shafir sighed and plopped his paperwork down in the finished pile on Eliqinor’s desk. “So, would you like help with this?” 

“Help me with what?” Shafir looked up from the desk, his eyes narrowing at the insinuation that he couldn’t handle talking to the archer. Yes, he could be extremely brash and straightforward, but how hard would it be to talk to Katar? Perhaps Eliqinor told him about Shafir and thus their meeting would go poorly. How dare his captain be talking shit behind his back when Shafir was always trying to prevent others from doing the same? 

“Talking to Katar, he can-” 

“I think I can talk to a simple archer! Or do you not trust me to do a proper job?” Shafir felt his blood boil and Eliqinor put the book on the shelf. He didn’t turn back around to look at the other, which only pissed off Shafir more. To think his captain would act like a fucking child, all because he wasn’t able to keep him under his watchful eye. 

“Then go.” Shafir’s mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish gulping air on land. That was not the reaction he was expecting. Their conversations would often devolve into a fistfight or a match of angry words. When had Eliqinor become so aloof about how his vice-captain acted? Just a few days ago, they were at each other’s throats in a screaming match over Shafir’s actions. “If you believe that, I think someone cannot trust then you prove me wrong.” 

~o~o~O~o~o~

“Sagittarii Katar, you have someone requesting your presence,” Shafir listened as one of the academy advisors called out to the short instructor, who blatantly ignored the two of them. Shafir now understood what Eliqinor meant when he said that talking to the sun elf might be something he would need help with. After the advisor tried to get Katar’s attention for the fifth time, he clapped his hands together and the squires lowered their bows. 

“It seems I will be busy, my dear students. Go take a brief break and then do five laps around the archery field.” The squires nodded and ran off to do as they were told. Katar didn’t move and seemed like he was going to be a pain in the ass. Shafir could already see how this would end up. If he could grab that cocky man by his long braid, he would tug until his orange hair ripped out. How dare he be so uncouth in such a situation? Shafir walked over to the other as he could tell the other would not be cooperative. 

“Katar, House of Choices. I am Vice-Captain Shafir, House of Honors.” Shafir bowed his head quickly. The other elf didn’t even look his way, and Shafir felt his temperature rise as Katar inspected his nails. This man was extremely disrespectful. If he had been one of his subordinates, he would’ve-

“Who hasn’t heard of you? You truly are the talk of the town.” Shafir couldn’t say the other way particularly wrong. Whenever he did something, it felt like the entire city knew. “Besides, you are all Eliqinor talks about, annoying really.” Shafir clenched his fists. So that's how Eliqinor saw him. As an annoyance, if he had been such an annoyance, why would he allow Shafir to work for him? Just as entertainment, more than likely. 

“Captain.” Shafir corrected Katar. The least he could do was call him by the proper title. One of the first things they learned in the academy was to call someone by their title. They earned it and thus received the honor of being called by it. 

“He is not my captain. So I shall call him as I please.” Shafir felt his jaw tighten and Katar smirked. He wasn’t wrong, but he still should be called. The least he could do was address Eliqinor properly, especially if he didn’t know him well. “I can see the gears turning in your head, Shafir. Did you perhaps not know that I am intimately acquainted with Eliqinor?” 

“Of course not. I do not pry into my captain’s love life.” Shafir looked away from the idiot sun elf and crossed his arms. It indeed wasn’t his job to pry into Eliqinor’s love life, not that he would want to, anyway. Though he wondered what Eliqinor found attractive in the shorter elf, was it his petite stature? Or that he looked like he was soft? If Shafir pinched his cheek, he would have some in his grip. 

“Love life? Do you think we are in love? Oh, no, nothing of the sort!” Katar gripped his stomach as he laughed behind his hand. So if they weren’t a couple, they were only sleeping together? To think his captain would dishonor himself in such a manner, and why did it bother him? It still made no sense, but that was the least of his concerns. Some time passed before Katar calmed down once again and that was when he opened his mouth to speak, “So what honor causes you to grace me with your presence?” 

“The mission the Empress sent you on. Involving the orc. I need to know about it. We are continuing the investigation.” Katar nodded, and his eyes shifted as he thought about what he saw. His body seemed relaxed as he thought. When recalling such an odd incident, Katar had witnessed should not be as if he saw these things every day. 

“I had written everything I had noticed in the report, but I guess you would like a more in-depth consultation?” Shafir nodded his head. He had learned everything he could from the report but would like to ask his own questions about the orc. Sometimes he could ask questions that might jog some things that someone overlooked. 

“I need to know about some things you might have missed. In the report, you said the only thing you noticed was the dead bodies of the animals and the smell. Being an archer and scout, how much do you know about dead bodies?” Shafir crossed his arms and Katar’s hand went to his chin, thinking. 

“I know about as much as the next man about dead bodies. I’m an archer, so I rarely have to get close to them. Though I know what dead bodies smell like… My companion, though, he knows a lot about dead bodies.” His face contorted into one of confusion before Katar tapped himself on the head. “I remember! There was one thing we forgot to add to the report. We didn’t think it was important at the time because the bodies had all been in different stages of decomposition. We just assumed we had carried the smell of the bodies with us, but it seemed like the smell was at all the sites of death, including they all had blackened edges near the wounds. Though Val, I mean Valneiros, concluded that it hadn’t originated from poison or magic from what he could tell.” 

Shafir nodded and had to think about the implications of that. Dead bodies that didn’t match their smell and blackened edges. Neither was from poison or magic from what the two could tell. It seemed there wasn’t much more he could go on and Shafir doubted the other elf who was there would come up more than his short companion. “I’ll let you know how it goes. I appreciated your help.” Shafir turned to leave, but the sound of Katar calling out to him stopped him in his tracks. 

“Hey, you know you aren’t as bad as your name makes you seem — the Mad Dog of Eliqinor, that is. I just hope you learn to be more warmhearted for your captain-” Shafir scoffed and ignored the comment. The sound of squires returning to their post drowned out the rest of whatever the little sun elf was attempting to tell him.