Zelos Wilder (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
presidentheartbeat) wrote2019-09-22 01:44 pm
presidentheartbeat) wrote2019-09-22 01:44 pm
Entry tags:
The "Why Can't We Be Friends" roadtrip
The beginning of spring has always brought with it a surge of life to the manor, with the flowing greenery and blooming of flowers in the gardens, the return of any staff members who needed relocating through the winter, the sudden influx of reports from every corner of the land stacked into neat papers for Zelos to organize and go through.
It's all so boring, though. Zelos leans way back on his seat, holding some random documents in his hands, lazily scanning the pages one by one. Blah blah this, blah blah that. Taxes, trade caravans, territory disputes, bandits, yadda yadda, same old bullshit, same old problems--and that's without counting any of the other requests from the peasantry accumulated since the last stack. He frowns, sighs. Bounces his leg. This is nothing new or too difficult, but definitely stuff that will take a huge chunk of the day just going through. So even with the sun at its peak and the day warmer than it's been in months, already that's a beautiful day gone to waste.
Good grief.
...And alas.
Zelos sets down the stack of papers and gets up from his seat, leaving his desk to look out the windows behind him instead. Greenery, blue skies, singing birds; already so much better than last week. Spring is here, and two things always follow the first rays of sunlight over the land. The first is more and more work as he grows older, more responsibilities stacking over on his shoulders as he continues to adjust to the title of "lord of the land". Zelos groans, stretches his arms over his head. Pops his shoulder. Keeping track of who wants what and where is always such a hassle.
He bites the inside of his cheek. Keeping track of anything is always such a hassle. Zelos never even wanted this in the first place, anyway, but things sure change quickly within barely a few years when everyone is in a panic after their previous lady dies.
Whatever.
Zelos reaches over and opens a window, sticking his head outside and looking at the main road, squinting. The breeze feels good. Staring out the window isn't productive, Zelos knows, but it's not like he can be assed to go back to the boring stack of papers on the desk any time soon when there's already something else in his mind. Because the second thing that happens, every time without fail when spring arrives, is the return of most of his younger knights from the academy next town over. And among them, there's always--
Hm, okay. Zelos bites his lower lip, then abruptly gets back inside and closes the window, rounding the desk to walk over to the door. The stack of papers remains discarded and unattended to on the desk. But Zelos is distracted, and there's no way he can get any work done like that, can he? He should do everything in his power to clear his mind. Maybe he could take a walk outside, then, subtly sticking to the front garden to keep an eye out for any carriages and marches. Just in case.
After all, it's spring. Lloyd could be returning any time now.
It's all so boring, though. Zelos leans way back on his seat, holding some random documents in his hands, lazily scanning the pages one by one. Blah blah this, blah blah that. Taxes, trade caravans, territory disputes, bandits, yadda yadda, same old bullshit, same old problems--and that's without counting any of the other requests from the peasantry accumulated since the last stack. He frowns, sighs. Bounces his leg. This is nothing new or too difficult, but definitely stuff that will take a huge chunk of the day just going through. So even with the sun at its peak and the day warmer than it's been in months, already that's a beautiful day gone to waste.
Good grief.
...And alas.
Zelos sets down the stack of papers and gets up from his seat, leaving his desk to look out the windows behind him instead. Greenery, blue skies, singing birds; already so much better than last week. Spring is here, and two things always follow the first rays of sunlight over the land. The first is more and more work as he grows older, more responsibilities stacking over on his shoulders as he continues to adjust to the title of "lord of the land". Zelos groans, stretches his arms over his head. Pops his shoulder. Keeping track of who wants what and where is always such a hassle.
He bites the inside of his cheek. Keeping track of anything is always such a hassle. Zelos never even wanted this in the first place, anyway, but things sure change quickly within barely a few years when everyone is in a panic after their previous lady dies.
Whatever.
Zelos reaches over and opens a window, sticking his head outside and looking at the main road, squinting. The breeze feels good. Staring out the window isn't productive, Zelos knows, but it's not like he can be assed to go back to the boring stack of papers on the desk any time soon when there's already something else in his mind. Because the second thing that happens, every time without fail when spring arrives, is the return of most of his younger knights from the academy next town over. And among them, there's always--
Hm, okay. Zelos bites his lower lip, then abruptly gets back inside and closes the window, rounding the desk to walk over to the door. The stack of papers remains discarded and unattended to on the desk. But Zelos is distracted, and there's no way he can get any work done like that, can he? He should do everything in his power to clear his mind. Maybe he could take a walk outside, then, subtly sticking to the front garden to keep an eye out for any carriages and marches. Just in case.
After all, it's spring. Lloyd could be returning any time now.
oh hun did you get me my frappe
"C'mon, let's go back," Lloyd says, gently taking hold of Zelos' hand and tugging him forward. "You'll catch your death out here if you stay out any longer."
The walk back to the inn is silent, mostly, made more pronounced by the sound of the storm. thunder rumbling in the distance, but otherwise interrupted by sneezing and sniffling on Zelos' end. Lloyd bites at his lip as he leads them back, eventually just pulling Zelos close to him, trying to share whatever warmth he has left until they can get back inside.
Once they do, Lloyd opens their room's door and rushes Zelos inside, grabbing the ex-lord's pack for him and then bringing it over to him. "Get some dry clothes and wait in the bathroom, I'll ask the innkeep for towels and more blankets," he instructs with a comforting smile, turning around and leaving the room again to search for their host.
Thankfully, finding the innkeep and getting what he needs doesn't take very long, and the heat of the inn helps Lloyd ignore the fact that he's still in his wet clothes, but he can feel cold discomfort creep in on him, so he increases his pace, returning to their room and closing the door behind him. The bathroom door is open a crack, so he sticks his hand in, holding out a new towel for Zelos. "Here. Dry your hair, too, remember."
That door now closed, Lloyd tosses the blankets onto the bed and grabs a towel for himself, stripping down and drying himself off, putting on his dry bedclothes quickly and with relief. He's not one to be cold often, but it's still not a fun feeling. He spreads his wet clothes out on the floor out of a lack of a better place to dry them, and then sits on the bed, twisting the towel around his head so he can try and dry his hair out best he can. Zelos exits the bathroom only moments later, dry and changed, and follows Lloyd's lead, spreading his clothes out.
They spend a few minutes in silence as they prepare for bed, and once Lloyd finds that his hair is dry enough, he sets the towel down, spreading the spare blankets over the bed, and tucking himself in. Zelos lays down too, tugging the blankets over them both, and there's a beat of hesitation on Lloyd's end, not exactly sure of where to go from here or where their boundaries lie. But Zelos trembles, sniffling, and the hesitation is pushed out of the way by concern, once again. Lloyd reaches out, wraps his arms around Zelos, and pulls him towards him, sharing his warmth again.
"Goodnight, Zelos," Lloyd says, closing his eyes and willing himself to sleep before he begins to second guess himself.