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“Sorry I'm late,” Halduron sighed as he took a seat next to the Grand Magister, in front of Lor'themar's desk. He knew that he wasn't technically late, as their 'meetings' were informal and he wasn't necessarily expected to be there, nor did they have a set time, but he tried to be polite.
“I'm just glad that you were able to find the time to be here,” Lor'themar offered a small, tired smile, and Halduron knew that his friend's words were true. To his left, Rommath greeted him with a slight nod. “We did open the wine without you, though. Help yourself,” he gestured to the open bottle and empty wine glass in front of Halduron's spot at the desk.
As he poured himself a glass from the already nearly-empty bottle, Lor'themar and Rommath continued their conversation where they'd left off, interrupted by his arrival. Something about Magisters, Halduron wasn't listening terribly closely, instead choosing to focus on the pain in his right ear. He reached a hand up, tentatively rubbing the skin around the two new piercings toward the end of his ear. He'd never had piercings before, and the feeling was foreign. He listened halfheartedly to their conversation, waiting for it to turn into something he cared to contribute to, not even noticing that he was continuing to fidget with his ear.
“Halduron.” Lor'themar's voice startled him. Halduron's eyes went wide and his hand shot back into his lap, giving him the distinct appearance of someone who's just been caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing.
“Hm?”
“Is something wrong?” Lor'themar raised a brow, fond amusement on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he could've sworn he caught Rommath smirking as he raised his own glass of wine to his lips. “You're... fidgeting.”
“Oh! Well, you see...” With a grin, he leaned forward in his seat and turned toward Rommath, pulling back his mane of gold hair to show off his earrings: two small, golden studs, and the faintly red, irritated skin around them. Setting his glass down on the desk, he used his now-free hand to gesture toward his ear with a flourish. “I got them done yesterday.”
“They suit you,” Lor'themar says, and again, Halduron knows that he meant it. “You really shouldn't be touching them.”
Rommath's shoulders shake with his small huff of amusement, an uncommon sight, even during their amicable, informal meetings of late.
“What?” Halduron shot him a disbelieving look and slumped back into his chair.
“Does it really take Lor'themar scolding you to make you take proper care of yourself?”
“They hurt.” This earns him a snort from Rommath.
“Really? They hurt? Surely you've had worse in battle,” Rommath raises his brows for a moment, “Surely you've had worse in training.”
“This is different.”
“It's a piercing, Brightwing. Children get them.”
Lor'themar grabbed the bottle of wine from their side of the desk and emptied it into his glass, sitting back and bracing himself for the escalation that may or may not occur.
“And you know from experience, then, that they don't hurt?”
“Obviously, yes,” Rommath rolled his eyes and returned his attention to his glass of wine.
Halduron knew that the discussion was over, but he still glared indignantly at the Grand Magister, and while doing so, he realized that the Rommath's right ear was completely bare; not a ring, stud, or even a scar from one marred the perfectly smooth surface of his ear. Rommath emptied his glass and looked at Lor'themar, who looked completely unapologetic, in annoyance for having finished the wine. Halduron watched, as subtly as he could manage, as the mage stood and grabbed another bottle from the cabinet behind them, giving Halduron an unobstructed view of his left ear... which was just as perfect as the other.
He sipped from his glass, now annoyed. Rommath hadn't lied about having experience with piercings, had he? Why would he lie about such a thing? The other man returned to his seat, pouring himself another glass, and Halduron tried to take in his other features as well, searching for some sign or scar. He couldn't find one. Not on his nose, or around his lips, or... anywhere. His features were perfect, Halduron thought, and he felt his cheeks grow warm at the realization of where his thoughts had gone. Not that he couldn't appreciate scars, considering how attractive he found Lor'themar, but... everything about his face... he didn't see the Grand Magister without his half-mask often. He must not have ever noticed...
He stopped himself. He couldn't keep thinking about Rommath that way, so he forced himself back to the task at hand. All of the places that he'd seen piercings on other elves were clearly unmarred on Rommath, so that could only mean... oh.
Halduron's eyes went wide, for just a split-second, as he realized that maybe Rommath's piercings were hidden underneath his clothing... and that was thinking about the Grand Magister, nude.
Perhaps too quickly, he lifted his glass to his lips and drank, hoping that neither Rommath nor Lor'themar would notice the blush he knew had risen to the tips of his ears.
Rommath sat back in his chair with his fresh glass of wine, enjoying the comfortable silence they seemed that have settled into, and the feeling of Halduron staring at him.
When he noticed the other man take a drink, and risked a subtle glance in his direction.
Again, he had to sip from his glass to hide his smirk when he saw those reddened ears, knowing that his teasing had provoked the Ranger-General exactly as he'd intended.