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At nights, Luca finds himself behind the counter pouring beer on the mugs of patrons of the tavern owned by his dear friend, Vox Akuma. Because of his true nature as a demon, Vox is feared by some while others are drawn to his voice. To his admirers, they go to the tavern to chance a glimpse of just how dashing the demon might be.
To the ones who fear him, well, Luca surmises that as long as the alcohol keeps them inebriated, he can't really bring himself to care about their thoughts.
And as long as they pay their tabs and don't cause trouble, Vox doesn't care much either.
Business in Ethyria is much livelier at this time of the year, what with the king's birthday just a few days away. Travelers from different kingdoms who wish to pay respect to the king are starting to arrive. Luca has been on his feet for hours on end, serving food, cleaning tables, pouring spirits.
His feet are tired.
But he likes it anyway, the busyness it gives him.
It also gives him an excuse not to entertain invitation from his sister –
"Luca!"
Luca whips his head at the familiar voice, grinning widely when he sees Mysta standing by the doorway. He and Luca would often be part of the same guild when Luca was still going to adventures, taking as many commissions as they could to earn money. Along the way, they started treating each other as brothers.
And it looks like their brotherhood has not really gone away even after the many years that they have not seen each other.
"Mysta!" Luca rushes to where Mysta is standing, giving him a one armed hug, his other hand holding the empty mugs of patrons requesting refills. "Are you here by yourself?"
"Well, I'm actually with–"
"There you are, Mysta!"
And at that moment, Luca feels like the world stops. The noises in the tavern seem to be replaced by that voice. There enters Shu Yamino, the Grand Sorcerer of the neighboring kingdom of Obsydia.
Of course, he is here. Wherever Mysta is, Shu almost always follows, or at least whenever Mysta is able to pull his brother away from his quarters.
Or at least whenever Luca was involved.
"Hey, Shu."
"Hi, Luca."
Five years have already passed, yet he still looks the same as the last time Luca has seen him – well, maybe the bags underneath his eyes have darkened and there may be tiny crow's feet at the corner of his eyes. But it's still Shu, still the same beautiful man Luca has ever seen.
The same beautiful man he fell in love with.
"I didn't expect to see you work here, man!" Mysta pats Luca's shoulder. "Shu, why didn't we think of looking for him here in Ethyria when he went missing?"
Luca notices Shu stiffening beside Mysta, so he lets out a chuckle instead. "I was so embarrassed for letting a demon lord injure me so badly that I couldn't bring myself to go back to the guild," he says. "So I settled here until my injuries were healed. Vox would not stop apologizing for the harm he caused, so I made him let me work here instead and… I guess I enjoyed my time here so much that I didn't really get to inform you, guys."
It’s not the truth, not really. But it’s not a complete lie either, and it’s the story he settles with whenever he’s asked.
Mysta hums. "You really are a weird guy, Luca Kaneshiro." He laughs. "Well, at least you're doing fine. We should catch up after your shift, maybe."
"Yeah, that sounds nice," Luca says. "You both can sit there," he gestures at the only empty table at the far corner of the tavern. "I'll catch up with you two later, okay?" As if on cue, they hear a drunken shout of "WHERE THE HELL IS MY BEER?!"
Luca smiles at them before walking to take care of the rowdy customer.
Five years, huh .
He guesses love doesn't really go away with time. But then again, Luca hasn't really done anything to make it go away. He expected to feel disdain when he saw Shu again for leaving him without a single word at the palace. Maybe he still feels hurt, but can he ultimately hate the man?
No, I can't.
He has wanted answers – where were you? Why did you leave me? Did you think of me too like how I often do with you in all these years?
Because I missed you . He truly does.
The tavern welcomes patrons nonstop, from travelers to regulars alike. Luca hasn't really gotten a chance to return to Mysta and Shu's table to catch up with them, unless it's when Mysta would ask for refills and for another serving of mutton.
Shu and Luca share an exasperated smile when Mysta cries “I miss you so much, man. But I miss Ethyria's mutton even more!”
“You haven't finished your glass yet,” Luca says, motioning at the glass in front of Shu that's still full.
“I already had three sips,” Shu replies. “You know how well I handle my alcohol.”
“How bad , you mean.”
“Hey!” The sorcerer pouts. “That man over there is asking for you.”
There is, in fact, no man calling for Luca's attention. Instead, there stands Vox Akuma with his hair tied up in a low ponytail, pouring what seems to be the Demon's Mead from a special looking bottle as he charms each and every patron with a smile.
Shu looks at the demon with a confused stare. “Is that..?”
“The demon lord who almost killed us?” Luca chuckles. “The one and only.”
“He looks a lot flatter than the last time I saw him.” Shu hums. “And smaller, too.”
Luca can't help it. He lets out a boisterous laugh from Shu's comment. His loose tongue is proof that the three sips of alcohol he had is working.
It’s true, though. The reason why they are in this situation in the first place is because of the demon lord of the fallen Akuma clan, terrorizing villages and even his own castle, towering over his own people a few feet higher than his current height. When the guild received the commission, Shu and Luca hurried immediately without being able to call on their team given the urgency.
They had each other.
How foolish were they to think of that.
“Why are you laughing? I'm telling the truth.” Even his speech is becoming slurred, his cheeks more flushed. As if on cue, Vox walks to their table–
And bows his head in contrition.
"Grand Sorcerer Shu Yamino," he says, bottle tight on his grip. "I deeply apologize for causing immense damage to you and Luca."
Shu startles, his eyes wide as he looks back and forth at Vox, then at Luca as if asking for help. Luca winks at him teasingly and moves to the next table. It's time Shu witnesses just how stubborn the demon can be with his apologies.
The night wears on with customers coming and going. Those slumped on the tables are getting carried at the tiny back of Oni Giri, Vox's trusted right-hand, either transported to their respective rooms if they are checked in or are thrown outside.
Luca marvels at the strength he possesses in that wee little body of his.
He takes a quick glance at where Shu and Mysta are sitting… or at least where they are supposed to be at. Mysta is completely passed out on the table, while Shu–
He is nowhere to be found.
Minutes pass, and still he has not returned.
When the rush dies down and Ike relieves him, Luca goes out of the tavern to breathe some fresh air. No matter how many times he works at night, he can never really get used to the stifling air of alcohol and body odor. Outside, there are a few patrons laughing, some talking in slurred speeches. Some are slumped on the wall, taken over by intoxication that they can barely stand anymore.
Tonight's special Demon's Mead is really powerful, huh.
Luca chuckles and takes a left away from the tavern, away from the crowd. The night has fallen deeper, and as he continues to walk, so does the silence until the only thing he hears is the whistling of the cool winter breeze, clearing his mind. His feet move on their own accord, uncaring if Luca is even mindful of where he is going at this point.
The wind took with it his self-awareness, it seems. But it's okay. His heart knows where he is going. He has gone here before on numerous occasions.
And on those occasions, he was usually accompanied by Shu.
Shu, with his hand interlocked with Luca's.
Shu, with his bright smile and his melodious laugh as Luca would pull him excitedly towards the direction of their place.
Usually.
But for tonight, it's Luca alone.
He hasn't walked in this direction for quite a time, however, ever since his hand felt empty.
Damn it. Maybe he shouldn't have let his heart make him move. Maybe he should have actually minded where he was heading and just turned right when he got out of the tavern.
Traitorous heart, really.
"You're such a child," Luca mutters. "Chasing after someone."
He continues his trek, nevertheless.
Not too long after, he hears the soft sound of waves crashing, the salty air of the sea filling his nose. The night sky is dark, devoid of stars, and yet Luca can still clearly see the silhouette figure sitting by the shore.
He walks towards the figure, careful as to not startle him.
"You're here," the man whispers without turning his head. "Shift finally ended at the tavern?"
Luca hums in reply as he takes a seat on the sand beside Shu, removing his shoes and digging his toes on the sand just how he often does whenever he visits the beach. "Mysta's out like light," he says.
"He drank the whole bottle of mead that Vox gave." Shu shakes his head fondly. "I warned him about gifts given by demons, but he didn't listen."
"Did you drink the mead?"
In lieu of answering, Shu buries his head between his knees with a groan. "It would be discourteous not to accept an offering even if it's just a sip."
The blond chuckles. Demon's Mead isn't really bad, per se. It's just that it has a much higher alcohol content than the normal mead. Vox usually brings his special stash out when it gets busy in the tavern, so the patrons who keep requesting for refills on their beer will be too inebriated to drink once the demon pours the mead instead.
It's also when Oni Giri appears to carry their passed out bodies out.
So if Mysta suddenly wakes up on his bed with a splitting headache that may or may not last for days, that's why.
They don't speak for a while. Luca listens to the gentle crashes of the waves while Shu fights off the dizziness he's feeling from the mead, lifting his head to take deep breaths and letting the cold air clear his head bit by bit.
"Do you hate me, Luca?" Shu asks, barely a whisper.
"I don't," comes his reply. "I wanted to. I had the reasons to. But I didn't. I couldn't. I still don't."
"Why?"
Luca shrugs. "I looked for you at the palace, Shu."
"I'm sorry."
"Did you…" He takes a deep breath. "Did you regret going on adventures with me that you left me at the palace?"
"No, Luca!" Shu cries. "I didn't. I don't think I ever will. You were… are the best thing that has happened to me, and I will forever hold our memories close to my heart."
Silence. A beat.
"It's just that when I saw you lying on the bed in the palace surrounded by the attendants and the princess worrying by your bedside, I thought that Luca Kaneshiro is fit to be a royalty wearing gold, not grime and mud. You were a great leader of our team. You charm the villagers we meet along the way. Heck, you came face to face with the demon lord Vox Akuma and almost defeated him with your strength and bravery! You have the qualities fit to be a great king." Shu takes a breath.
"And I figured that maybe the throne would fit you better than being in the wilds." With me , but Shu leaves it unsaid.
"So you decided what you thought was best for me without waiting for me to wake up and talking to me first."
The sorcerer winces. "I'm sorry."
Silence again. Luca hates how frequent these are filling their conversation. But he figures this is what they are now – awkward smiles and strained silences.
Oh, how he misses it when their conversations would instead be filled with contagious laughter and Shu's protests of “stop it, Luca!”. He misses it when the world was still ignorant of his lineage and he can just be Luca Kaneshiro. When Shu didn't leave him at Ethyria's palace after learning that he is the king's bastard and the princess's younger brother.
Luca sighs.
“You're wrong, Shu.” He says. “I wanted the freedom of not being acknowledged as Albert Alouette's illegitimate son. I've lived my whole life as a commoner, and that's how I want to continue until I die. I want to greet the patrons at Vox's tavern. I enjoy smithing for Sonny’s troops and helping at the farms when it’s the season of harvest. I like waking up in the morning and visiting the bakery to smell the freshly baked breads that Alban bakes. And I…” he trails off, a smile gracing his lips. “My happiest moments are always when we go on adventures together. When we have no responsibilities – when you are not busy with your sorcery and I'm not busy with… well, everything, and we just go here and spend our nights.
“I like it when I'm just Luca Kaneshiro, and I like it when I get to be myself when I'm with you, Shu.”
Luca doesn't know if Shu even heard him, knowing full well how Shu gets when he is inebriated.
It's fine. Being able to verbalize what he has been feeling all these years has lifted some weight off of his chest.
“I like being myself when I'm with you,” Luca whispers to the air. "And it's why I can never really hate you."
And then he feels a warm weight leaning on his side.
Luca smiles, lifting his arm and wrapping it around the sorcerer's shoulder so it's more comfortable.
“I'm sorry." Shu apologizes once more. “I know you're about to say I should stop apologizing, but I want to ask for your forgiveness and earn it, anyway. I'm sorry I made you feel that the time we spent together was something I would throw away easily. I decided on your behalf that you should be royalty when it wasn't– isn't what you want. I left you when you were still gravely injured by Vox when I should have stayed on your bedside until you recovered.
“And until we had the chance to talk,” he smiles wryly. “We didn't have to be separated if I had just stayed.”
The waves are now reaching the tips of their toes, a sign that the tides are rising. Luca wriggles his feet at the frigid water. Beside him, Shu reaches forward, as if a curious child testing the temperature.
"Then let me follow you this time if you really want my forgiveness, Shu."
Shu blinks.
Luca grins.
"You're serious."
"I am."
“Shouldn’t I be the one making the effort to follow you if I am to earn your forgiveness instead?” Shu raises a brow. “I left you at the palace.”
“You just did what you thought was best for me at that time.” The blond shrugs. “I am the one putting on the conditions on what you could do to make me forgive you. And what I want is to follow you.”
It’s silly. It doesn’t make sense to a man as logical as Shu.
Luca doesn’t care, and Shu doesn’t seem to as well, absentmindedly reaching for the seafoam crashing at the tips of their toes.
“We could have been…” he murmurs.
“Could have been what?”
Shu bites his lip. “Um, we could have been… lovers?”
Luca gasps in an exaggerated manner. “Grand Sorcerer Shu Yamino, that was so forward of you.”
“Shut up, Luca!” He flicks his fingers on Luca, splashing cold water on to his face. “I mean, weren't we on our way to being one?”
“We were .” Luca nods.
“And now?”
Luca hums. “I don't know. You have to woo me first to find out. All the pretty ladies and the handsome men in town have been vying for my yes, you know. I can't give that so easily. That would be so scandalous!”
“And you're so dramatic.” Shu rolls his eyes, and yet he settles back on the embrace and buries his face on the blond's neck.
“Ah, you wound me! You think I'm lying, Shubert? If you come to my room, you would see the amount of rings I smithed because they commissioned me to forge marriage rings to give to me.”
“I have not even started courting you, yet here you are inviting the most sought after bachelor of the Obsydia Kingdom to your room. Maybe you're the one being scandalous, Mr. Kaneshiro?” The sorcerer laughs, and oh if it isn't a melodious thing, Luca muses as he pulls him closer.
Like this, before the crashing waves and underneath the dark sky turning soft pinks and yellows, Luca can just be Luca Kaneshiro.
He is not the blacksmith by day.
He is not the tavern keeper's helper by night.
Nor is he the bastard son of the king.
Not the baker nor the farmer.
He is just him.
And when Shu is sober enough for them to have an actual conversation, maybe Luca can be Shu Yamino's lover next.
Forever, he hopes.
Shu reaches for Luca's free hand.
“Take me back to the inn?”
Luca chuckles. “We don't have to go yet if you're still dizzy. And besides,” he squeezes his hand and laces their fingers together, placing a soft, barely there kiss at the crown of his head. “There's nowhere I'd rather be at the moment.”