Chapter Text
Frowning at his reflection in the mirror, Finral- not for the first time- wished Yami hadn't chosen black for their squad color. Granted, it was a dead obvious choice for a guy with dark magic whose main fashion goals were 'can I fight in it' and 'does it intimidate people.' And it was a neutral, so technically it matched with everything. But it looked downright funereal when you couldn't mix it up.
Unfortunately, there were currently nine magic knight squads. A formal military ball limited Finral's color options, since it'd be inappropriate to wear another squad's color. So green, along with every other color currently in use, was out. That left... orange, pretty much. And Finral wasn't going to a ball- or anywhere- in black and orange. Not unless it was All Hallows' Eve and Vanessa got him spectacularly drunk first.
So all black it was. Even if it did make him look ridiculously pale. Giving it up as a bad job, Finral opened a portal to the common room and stepped through.
The atmosphere of warm light, laughter, and the smell of Charmy's cooking made him briefly regret his job as Yami's ride. Especially since the chaos was a little more quiet than usual. It was one of the rare nights that Henry felt well enough to come down for dinner, rearranging the base so that his room opened up onto the dining hall. Luck and Gauche were sitting closest to him. Aside from Yami, they had the most mana and handled his condition the best. Luck was focused on his pudding (which was probably Magna's) but Gauche was telling Henry a long-winded story about his sister. Henry looked like he was trying not to laugh at him.
Behind the bar, Charmy was giving orders to her sheep cooks while Vanessa poured drinks. Magna was downing a shot while giving Luck a look that promised murder (definitely his pudding, then). Two Gordons sat next to him, muttering to each other.
Finral really didn't get Grey sometimes.
The only person missing was Yami. Since Finral couldn't exactly head out without him, he walked over to the bar. Taking a seat, Finral raised an eyebrow when he realized that Vanessa had one of her fancier bottles.
“Really? You put out the good stuff when I'm going to be gone?”
Vanessa wagged her finger at him. “You're going to a ball, aren't you? They'll have better stuff than this.” Winking, she added, “Be sure to steal me a bottle!”
Finral sighed. “Like I'm going to do something like that.” Tilting his head, he looked up at her curiously. “I'm still not sure why you didn't want to go.”
“Stuffy formal party with a dress code? I'd rather drink with my friends. Besides,” she gestured to Henry, “he's having a good week.” Leaning closer to Finral and whispering behind her hand, she said, “I bet Magna that he couldn't even win a poker game against a novice like Henry.” She giggled.
Finral bit back a laugh of his own, and whispered back, “Novice? You didn't mention Henry's won the last two pots against you, me, and Yami, did you.”
“Nope!” She beamed.
“What did Magna ever do to you?” Finral asked, still keeping his voice down. He was pretty sure he already knew the answer, though.
She laughed. “It's just fun to poke him. That's why Luck does it all the time.”
Finral stopped fighting the fond smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You guys are the worst.”
Throwing a salute, she declared, “Of course we are! We're Black Bulls.”
“True,” he laughed. With a glance towards the residential wing, Finral said, “I can't believe Yami is taking longer to get ready than I did. I was sure I'd get down here to find him asking me what the heck took me so long.”
Across the room, Henry chuckled. Out of habit, Finral glanced over as Gauche paused in his story. But instead of a comment on Gauche's tale, Henry said, “Captain's... still... shaving. Isn't... good... at it.”
Finral snickered, joined by Vanessa. Magna looked affronted.
“Shaving is an art of manliness, don't disrespect the captain!”
“Don't worry, Magna, virgin delinquents can't grow beards anyway,” Vanessa said sweetly.
Magna turned to glare at her, opening his mouth to retort, but Luck called out, all cheerful helpfulness, “That's not true, Magna gets three hairs on his chin a week!”
Vanessa burst into giggles as Finral smothered his own laughter. Even Gauche snorted. Magna whipped back around towards Luck.
Pointing an accusing finger at him, Magna yelled, “If you weren't sitting by Henry, I'd burn you to a crisp! I know that's my pudding, you thief!”
Luck took another bite, grinning. “Once I'm done, wanna kill each other?”
“Bring it-”
Magna's reply was cut off by Yami's voice from the hallway.
“Oi, shouldn't you guys be on better behavior? Landlord's gonna kick us out at this rate.”
Henry smiled as Yami stepped into the common room. “I'd... miss... the... show.”
Unsurprisingly, Yami had also gone for all black. Equally unsurprising, he'd pulled it off better than Finral. Like Finral, Yami was wearing the formal cape version of the robe, which Finral hadn't even known he'd owned. He was clean shaven, and he'd done something to get his hair to lie a a little flatter. What kept drawing Finral's attention, though, was the sleeves. Or rather, that Yami was actually wearing long sleeves without ditching something else.
Seriously, what did it say about Yami that Finral had never seen him fully covered up before?
There was a small flicker of relief, quickly squashed, in the back of his mind; he'd been a bit worried about his own reaction to Yami getting cleaned up for once. Finral didn't need crossed wires right before a social event. But clearly whatever had happened when he'd taught Yami how to dance had been a one-off. Because, yes, he could concede that Yami looked... striking... but Finral's brain didn't feel like it was melting.
He should probably stop looking anyway, though. That was a good idea.
To keep from staring, Finral snuck a glance at Vanessa. He expected her to be a little starstruck at Yami all dressed up. Instead, when he looked her way, she was looking back, expression curious. When their eyes met, she blinked, then laughed. Ignoring Finral's confusion, she turned back towards Yami.
“Looking good, Captain!”
Yami shrugged. “Bit like putting lipstick on a bull, but I guess I can pretend to be a decent captain for one night.”
Something about the statement bothered Finral. Before he could put a finger on it, though, Yami turned his way.
“Let's go, Finral.”