Written by Felix
“C’mon Cee, let’s take these guys in!” Aesandoral exclaimed, patting his “son” on the shoulder.
Aesandoral and the eight-year-old grabbed the two bound cultists and dragged them out of the Roadhouse, ignoring the way Freya was being shouted at by Tex and thrown out. The two walked their captives to the army compound. Aesandoral’s eyes lit up as he saw the lieutenant talking to the guards. The massively tall man had his dark hair pulled back, showing off his handsome features.
“Got two prisoners for you!” Aesandoral called out as they approached, sending a wink to Surge. The cultists grumbled lightly as they were handed over to the guards and led inside the large compound. Aesandoral turned to Surge and gave him a smile. When Surge looked pointedly at the child next to them, Aesandoral leaned down whispered in his ear and the child waved goodbye as he ran off back to Freya. The elf stood back up, waving the child off, then turned back to the large man before him. He took in the powerful muscles, yearning to rub his hands on them.
He felt Surge looking at him inquisitively and suddenly noticed how long he had been staring. Blushing a bright pink, he gazed up at Surge, nervous now. The Lieutenant just smiled at him gently.
“So..um..I…I was about to get dinner when we ran into those guys.” Aesandoral motioned to the general direction the prisoners had been taken. “H-have you eaten yet?”
Surge’s smile had morphed into an amused smirk now, not that Aesandoral had noticed. He was too focused on awaiting Surge’s reply and his own response.
“No, I haven’t.” Surge replied after a moment.
“Do you thin-would you like to…go to dinner with me?” Aesandoral’s voice neared a whisper at the end of his question. He fidgeted and couldn’t meet the taller man’s eyes. Surge was quite amused at the quickly reddening face of the elven king. It was cute.
“Sure! I know a place, come with me.” Surge answered. He motioned for Aesandoral to follow him as he started walking away from the doors of the compound.
They walked through the city of Yamabuchi, side-by-side. Aesandoral battled to keep up with Surge’s impossibly long strides. Thankfully, Surge noticed his struggle and slowed down for his sake.
“Sorry, I often forget how much taller I am than others!” Surge apologized.
“Ah! It’s fine! You can’t help being as tall as you are.” Aesandoral exclaimed, slightly winded from walking so fast. “I mean, I get it, most elves aren’t as tall as I am. In fact, everyone in my family is actually tall.”
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Surge pondered how to phrase his question. “Which elves do you…come from, I guess?”
“Oh, the high elves of the Fey Wild.” Aesandoral blushed a bit. He knew it was very uncommon to see a high elf on this plane. Most people didn’t know much about them.
“You’re really a high elf? From the Fey Wild?” Surge asked him excitedly. “They’re said to be direct descendants of the original elves! What’s your family name?”
Surge’s eyes were alight with curiosity.
“You seem really interested!” Aesandoral said shyly. Which was true. Surge seemed to tremble with excitement, like he could barely contain himself.
“Well…I’ve always been fascinated by the elves! Especially the ones in the Fey Wild. They’re so mysterious! I’ve studied as much as I could about them. I even managed to learn elvish!” Surge blushed, embarrassed of the way he was yammering on. Aesandoral thought it was endearing for the man to be so passionate about something. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Oh yeah…my family name is Magvaris.” Aesandoral answered hesitantly.
Surge’s faced blanked for a moment. Like he wasn’t properly able to process the information. Then he came back even more excited than before.
“You’re ROYALTY?” He exclaimed loudly.
“Shh keep your voice down. I-it’s not something I tell everyone. I’m the crown prince, though technically when my parents died, and my sister disappeared, I’ve taken on the duties of the king.” Aesandoral explained quickly, not wanting to cause a scene. He blushed again, a small bit embarrassed.
“And why would an elven prince be traveling in a human kingdom, helping out a lieutenant with a goblin problem?”
“Well I’m still young so the advisors said it would be good for me to experience life! You know, learn stuff about the world before I settle down properly.” Aesandoral said. “I’m still in contact with my kingdom and I make all the big decisions on important matters. Of course, it’s all super scary, like, what if I majorly screw up something and it jeopardizes the state of the kingdom?”
“I understand the worry. It’s a lot of pressure to deal with making decisions that affect a large amount of people. It’s indeed scary.” Surge replied, warmth in deep voice.
“Something like that’s scary, even for you? But you seem so…capable!”
Surge smiled down at him and Aesand0ral felt his heart skip a beat at the look of affection on the taller man’s face.
“I may seem all calm and collected but on the inside I’m definitely a bundle of nerves and stress.” Surge let out a laugh.
“Well I hope that I can manage to help you relax!” Aesandoral blurted out.
“You’re quite enjoyable to be around. It’s very relaxing, being with you. I like it very much.”
Aesandoral stared at him, flustered by such honest words. He was about to give a reply when Surge suddenly stopped in front of a brightly lit building.
“Here we are!”
The elf gazed at the building, taking it in. A big sign declared the location “Cookie’s Diner” and plenty of people were enjoying their meals inside. Surge took him by the shoulder, and they walked in. The staff greeted Surge enthusiastically. He had obviously been here plenty of times in the past. They were quickly seated in a nearby booth and menus were set down in front of them.
“What would you like to drink?” The waitress asked.
“I’ll have an ale.” Surge said with a smile. The two then looked at Aesandoral, who looked frantically at the menu, searching for the drinks. Unable to find them he said the first thing to come to mind.
“I’ll have…uh…chocolate milk?”
“Alright, I’ll be back with those in a moment.”
Once she was gone, Surge let out a small snicker. “You ordered milk for dinner?” He asked, a playful gleam in his eyes.
“I panicked!” Aesandoral exclaimed. “I don’t go to places like this. You know, with menus and stuff.”
“Do they not have restaurants in the Fey Wild?”
“Well, there was a royal chef, so I never needed to! I didn’t leave the palace much when I was a kid.”
“Of course. Well I’m glad I can give you a new experience.”
The waitress comes with their drinks and takes their food order. Aesandoral, not wanting to make a panic decision again, makes Surge order for the both of them. He may have also not looked at the menu at all. They continued talking about various things, enjoying themselves. They exchanged quite a few stories from their respective childhoods. Aesandoral had many exciting stories to share from his own adventures though he skirted around the fact that he had been an assassin. No need to come out as a criminal to a military officer. Eventually they finish their meals and the waitress comes by and takes their empty plates. She comes back shortly.
“Would you like to order a dessert?”
Surge turned to Aesandoral, a large grin on his face. “I know just what to get! It’s what their famous for after all! We’ll have an order of pumpkin pie!”
A large piece of pie is brought to them, more than enough for the two of them. It’s topped with a dollop of whipped cream and looks absolutely delectable. Aesandoral’s mouth starts to water despite being pretty full from the meal they had just eaten. He thinks there’s definitely plenty of room for the dessert though as they start to dig in. He could easily see why this pie was considered famous. It was really delicious! Too soon, there was only one bite left. The two men looked at each other for half a second before they started ferociously battling for it. Their forks clanked together as they tried to push the other away, smiles on their faces. Soon, though, the battle was won as Surge managed to claim the bite as his own. He slowly lifted the fork to his mouth, showing of his victory. Aesandoral opened his mouth to protest and suddenly found his mouth full of the warm treat instead. He carefully chewed the bite, savoring the flavor, while Surge smirked at him from across the table. This was by far the best pie he had ever eaten.
Surge quietly pays for the meal while Aesandoral chews and soon they are back on the street, walking back to the compound. Just outside the large doors they stop.
“So…uh…” Aesandoral starts, not knowing exactly what to say. He fidgets from foot to foot, as he looks at his crush. Surge looks at him for a moment, lost in thought, before pulling the elf into a tight embrace. They hug for a long minute before pulling apart, looking in each other’s eyes. Surge leans down to Aesandoral’s level and pins him with a kiss. Aesandoral’s heart is beating wildly in his chest as he kisses back, placing his arms around Surge. With much reluctance, Surge releases him.
“Aesandoral,” he says, voice rough. “Just so you know, you didn’t have to bring me a prisoner to get me to go out on a date with you; you could’ve just asked.”
The lieutenant smiles at him as he stands back up and with a last caress of the cheek, turns to walk inside the army compound.
“Goodnight.” He waves a goodbye.
Aesandoral touches his face where Surge’s hand had been, his cheeks warm and dusted pink.
“Goodnight.”