Chapter Text
Ivoren’s face scrunched up in poorly disguised annoyance at the sight and, more importantly, sound of the small pantless boy. He was always shouting about that blasted clock. Then again, the mayor had basically told him to. He was paid two copper coins for the advertising. Didn’t mean that Ivoren didn’t hate him. He was always so loud and annoying, his voice stupidly high pitched and pretty much designed for giving Ivoren a headache.
In a moment of pure annoyance, Ivoren raised his long axe and swung it towards the ground where the boy was moving about on his little unicycle. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately for the guard, the boy quickly got out of the way and escaped down the street.
Grumbling, Ivoren picked up his spear from the ground. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited for the clock to be finished as well, it was probably going to be the biggest event of the decade at least, and it was already starting to look pretty nice. Not to mention how large it was going to be. Never again would he have to struggle with the sun in his eyes trying to tell if his shift had ended yet.
He felt a hand land on his shoulder and stropped the irked mumblings.
“He’s a child, Ivoren. Let him be,” the voice behind him was smooth and calm and Ivoren found himself frowning at the words. Turning to look behind him, he was met with the sight of Valentýn. The two of them had been working together as assigned partners for almost 3 and a half years now, and while they got along fine most of the time, there were just some things they couldn’t seem to agree on.
Valentýn’s hand remained on Ivoren´s shoulder as the other guard turned around to face his partner. Valentýn was just a small bit shorter than Ivoren, his eyes a deep brown and a few strands of his fiery red hair peeked out from underneath his helmet. His face was relaxed as he looked at his partner, shaking his head in mild disapproval at Ivoren’s apparent anger.
“Come on…” he said, pulling gently at Ivoren’s shoulder. “Let’s go back inside. I’m sure that child won’t come back for a while.” Reluctantly, Ivoren nodded and started to walk with him back through the door he had very recently exited from.
The room was dimly lit despite it being midday, the walls and floors made up of large cobble stones and the benches and tables made out of thick dark oak. Not a lot happened in Prague, which led to the guards ending up here, in a smaller bar. Since no crime happened, at least none the guards knew of, they could afford a bit of leeway with the ‘no drinking on duty’ rule. “At least you won’t hear him through the walls again,” Valentýn continued, pulling Ivoren back to where they had been sitting in a darker corner with a few of the other guards, all in their heavy armor.
“I guess…” Ivoren mumbled in agreement, picking up the half finished light beer that had been placed in front of his seat. They stayed there for a few more minutes, assuming that as long as no one called for them, nothing bad had happened. A flawed logic, but it was easier than caring. Valentýn was, admittedly, a bit worse at handling his alcohol, and Ivoren watched as his partner's nose slowly turned more and more red. Who was he to tell Valentýn to slow down anyway?
“You know…” Valentýn slurred, a small, drunken grin on his lips as he turned to Ivoren. “I always knew we were meant to be put together.” The words had caught Ivoren off guard, and the man slowly turned to look at his friend in his blurry eyes.
“What?” he finally managed to ask, slowly placing the beer down on the thick table. He was mostly stable, and it was clear that Valentýn… wasn’t.
“You know,” Valentýn repeated before pausing to give a soft ‘hic’ in his stupor. “I jus’ mean… maybe the mayor did us a flavor… pairing us together…” The other guards sitting opposite the pair started to laugh as they watched Valentýn lean towards Ivoren and Ivoren lean back in response. It felt like Ivoren was glued to his seat, his eyes locked on Valentýn as the other moved closer and closer, pushing Ivoren further and further away until he was practically lying down on the wooden bench.
“What are you doing, Valentýn?” One of the other guards called in between his fits of laughter. What was his name…? Arnošt? Jakub? It didn’t matter. Valentýn was looking at him so intently, his brown eyes watery from the drinking. Their noses were practically touching when Valentýn finally stopped moving and Ivoren had to really fight to not react to the smell of beer coming from the other’s breath.
“I feel like it was our destiny,” Valentýn continued, his voice going quieter. An almost smug grin spread across the red-head’s lips as he noticed Ivoren’s cheeks grow a shade darker. And then another one. It felt like Ivoren had been locked to the bench in irons, all he could do was continue to grow redder in the face as Valentýn’s smile widened.
“I just think it was perfect for us…” Valentýn’s eyes started to close as his face once again inched closer to Ivoren’s. The man’s eyes widened in turn. His arm felt heavy, stuck to his seat, but he still managed to lift them and find the strength to push Valentýn off of him.
The force managed to push Valentýn off the bench and he ended up on the hard stone floor. “What are you even talking about?” Ivoren asked, his voice a bit raised and his face beet red. He had stood up as well, looking down at Valentýn’s rosy face.Valentýn just stared up at him, trying to figure out where he was and how he had so suddenly gotten there. The other guards had with wide smiles enjoyed the display of… whatever it had been, and were now laughing loudly, their own eyes blurry and their noses red, Ivoren noticed. When Valentýn didn’t answer, Ivoren felt that he had to ask again, and he did so even louder, his embarrassment giving way to confused anger.
“What the hell was that?!”
Ivoren had been around Valentýn to know how he acted when he got drunk. He was usually dizzy and… a bit unstable on his feet… not… that! Whatever that was… flirty? Ivoren couldn’t find a better word to describe what Valentýn had been doing. Flirting. Very directly, might he add. No shame, like usual with drunk people. Drunk words were sober thoughts, weren’t they?
Valentýn groaned, rubbing his head and backside as they no doubt ached from his sudden fall. He felt all dizzy and disorganised. And then he looked up, meeting Ivoren’s hard gaze. He was… pretty sure the other had said something to him, but the world had become blurry around the edges. He remained on the floor for a few moments before his eyes widened in realization and he quickly scrambled to his feet. Ivoren watched his partner almost stumble over the bench in his hurry to get up and get out of the small bar. He felt his hand tangle in his short brown hair as the thick door closed behind Valentýn. The anger slowly gave way to something more like confused uncertainty. Without really thinking, he took a step towards the door as well, leaving the table with his helmet and half full wooden pint of beer.
“Ey! Ivoren! Where’re you going?” one of the other guards slurred, his face red from a mixture of the alcohol and laughing so much. “Are you really going after him?”
Ivoren barely lifted his hand, giving his wrist a slow flick in a small ‘whatever, shut up’ gesture. At the same time, his feet steered him towards the door, and before he knew it, he had pushed it open and allowed it to fall closed behind him with a low thud. The evening air was cool and crisp, a sharp contrast to the warm and enclosed air inside the small pub. The sun hung low on the horizon and the sky around it had already begun growing faintly pink. He looked around, still not quite caught up with what he was doing or why. All he knew is that he had to try and find Valentýn. To get some answers, he decided quickly, in case he would ask himself ‘why’ later.
Ivoren turned to his right, and there Valentýn was, sitting on top of a thick stone wall. He had his knees pulled up to his chest. That position didn’t seem all that comfortable, considering the armor he wore.
“Ahh… Valentýn?” Ivoren called, doing his best to sound careful and not as angry as he had been just a few moments ago. Valentýn jolted at the sudden sound, his head snapping over to the source of the noise. His expression seemed worried, which surprised Ivoren. He had expected Valentýn to continue acting drunk and without a filter, but the man in front of him looked more scared. Of the consequences? Ivoren decided not to question it.
He walked over to the wall and hoisted himself up on it as well, his legs hanging down towards the ground they had just been on. He had no idea what to say, so he chose to stay quiet. He pushed a strand of his dark hair out of his eyes as he let his gaze sweep across Prague. Underneath all that dirt and grime, underneath the poor people in the streets and general untidiness, there was something beautiful. A historical city, built to last on stones and hardwood. The sun lowered over the horizon, bathing the whole city in a comforting and warm orange glow. Valentýn’s body slowly relaxed as he took in the sights and Ivoren’s silence. It felt almost comfortable, if you ignored what had happened just a few minutes ago.
“I’m… sorry,” Valentýn finally spoke, his voice quiet and a bit muffled through his arm which he held up close to his mouth. Ivoren glanced over, but remained quiet.
“For… in there,” Valentýn continued. “I don’t know what happened… I…” As Valentýn trailed off, Ivoren turned back to face the beautifully orange city and pink clouds.
“It’s… ok. I guess,” he said, the words leaving his lips almost sluggishly. Valentýn gave a small nod in response, just to convey that he’s heard.
Silence fell around them again, but this time, it didn’t feel as uncomfortable. It was more of a silence that just… let them be. Let them exist for a moment. Then they both sighed, as if they had come to a mutual agreement that this never happened.
“I think I should… go home,” Valentýn said finally, blinking his brown eyes at the sunset as it reverted to more purple colours. The reason, the one he didn’t say, was that he had gotten the urge to shift closer to his partner. Just a small bit. Barely even noticeable. And Ivoren’s gloved hand was right there-
Valentýn pushed himself off of the wall, landing on the cobbled road in front of the two of them. Ivoren nodded, just to confirm. He would also head home soon. He just had to go back to the pub and get his helmet back. Valentýn was still wearing his, covering his hair from view apart from the few strands of red hair sticking out past the metal edge. Ivoren gave his partner a small, silent wave, his mind still a bit confused. He already knew he wouldn’t mention this again, he had decided so. But that didn’t mean that he had understood all of the things that had just happened. All the things that, in the span of just a few minutes, confused him so much that he had to sit here and think about it. Ivoren wasn’t the type of man that sat and thought about stuff.
He watched Valentýn walk away until the guard was out of sight. Then he too pushed himself off of the wall and landed on the ground. With a quiet sigh, he pushed a hand through his dark hair a final time before turning to return to the pub. The warm air practically hit him in the face and he was forced to blink at the stark contrast to the chilly breeze from outside. By the table he had previously been sitting at, the other guards that had been there had fallen asleep on the table. Ivoren had always thought that the beer served here was very cheap, and he almost admired them for getting so drunk off of so little. Then again, that wasn’t his concern. He grabbed his helmet, downed the last bit of room temperature beer and headed back out.
His steps down the roads echoed lonely, the movements signalised by the faint clatter of the metal pieces of his uniform bumping together. Luckily, he didn’t live too far away. For a guard, it was very practical to live near the centre of the city. That was where most things happened. But that didn’t mean that he was rich… just… well enough set to get by. He entered the small house and closed and locked the door behind him, sighing quietly. In his room, he struggled with the uniform for a minute before he finally got all the pieces off and placed them where he usually kept them, on the dresser in the corner. If you could call it a dresser, it was more like a wooden box. But it was there nonetheless. Ivoren barely had time to check that everything was in order before he fell into the bed with a quiet goran.