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Temenos was tired.
His position as inquisitor came with many boons, such as immunity from prosecution by certain groups and parties. His job as cleric, however, came with the responsibility of assisting anyone and everyone that needed some form of assistance. A child lost their toy, a couple was having a quarrel, somebody got their math wrong in a sales agreement. Any and all problems imaginable fell to the clerics and their supposed infinite wisdom to resolve.
Temenos was so done with this nonsense. He had his bottle of red wine, and he was ready to be drunk . It showed as he kicked the door to the inn open and began marching up the stairs.
“Temenos!” Throné’s whisper snapped him out of his thoughts. She was sitting against the wall of the walkway, directly next to the door to Hikari’s room.
“Hello, my dear assistant,” Temenos mumbled. “Please get out of the walkway, I wish to be inebriated.”
“Shh!” Throné motioned for Temenos to take the other side of the door, and of course he obliged. Curiosity killed the cat, and Temenos would be next if he had his way with things.
“Agnea, it’s okay. I’m your friend. You don’t need to be scared to ask me questions,” Hikari spoke from inside the room.
“...yeah. Yeah, you’re right,” Agnea’s voice responded. She spoke resolutely, and took a sudden breath in. “D’ya wanna go on a date?”
Temenos’s jaw dropped. His eyebrows shot up. He shot a quick glance at Throné, who was wearing a similar expression. The two of them held their breath as they waited for his answer.
“With… me?” Hikari asked quietly.
“Y-yeah,” Agnea said even quieter. “I-I was thinkin’ we could go shopping for some lighter clothes for you. It’s kind of hot here in Tropu’hopu, and that Kimono might not work here. I-I mean, you look great in it, well, you look great in everything, but I mean it might get too hot for you and I thought you might be more comfortable in something lighter, and we’re gonna be here a while. Is this weird? I’m making this weird, aren’t I? I’m sorry. I’ll just-”
“I’d love to,” Hikari interrupted.
Silence reigned.
“Really?” Agnea asked, hopeful.
“I wanted to ask you out, actually,” Hikari said. “I’m glad you had the same thought.”
“I’m glad you wanted to!” Agnea replied.
Throné grabbed Temenos’s arm, quietly leading him and his wine away from the action and into the thief’s room. They sat down on her bed, and she looked him in the eye. “You know what we have to do, right?”
Temenos bit into the cork of his wine, ripping it out of the bottle and spitting it onto the floor. “Some form of friendly interference is in order, I assume?”
“Of course, detective.” Throné snatched the bottle from him, taking a swig for herself. “Get the boys up to speed. I’ll rally the ladies.”
Temenos reached to reclaim his bottle. Throné slapped his hand away. She retrieved her flask and funnel, pouring the wine until it filled her flask. “ Now you may have this back.”
Temenos snatched it away. “I suppose I must be about my business,” Temenos sighed. Thieves were truly another breed. To steal such a precious liquid from a cleric of all people took a stronger soul than most.
____________________________________________________________________________
“Temenos, is this really necessary?” Hikari asked.
The night had come and gone, and the men were gathered in Hikari’s room. The resident cleric stood in front of a large pinboard, wielding a conducting baton as he pointed to various notes he had pinned to the board. Said pins had different colors of yarn tied around them, though what they indicated was lost on Hikari.
“Of course it is!” Temenos beamed. “You’re going on your first date tomorrow, and we are going to help you prepare for it.”
Hikari did not feel that he needed to ‘prepare,’ but he didn’t say that. He trusted his friends, after all. There may actually be some useful information to be had buried somewhere in this exchange.
“I got a lil’ thing to point out, myself!” Partitio chimed in from the bed. “Hikari, how ‘mportant is that ponytail to ya?”
“Well, I like to keep my hair up in general. It’s tradition for the prince to wear it in Ku,” Hikari explained. “I never cared much for that aspect, but I do like how it looks on me.”
“Lose the hairband,” Osvald chimed in.
Hikari blinked. “What?”
“My thoughts exactly, mister Osvald!” Partitio declared. “You’re gonna be going out on a sunny, beach, lookin’ for lighter clothes to wear. The ponytail looks sweet with the clothes ya got on, but it’s gonna clash with whatever y’end up wearin’. You got me?”
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Hikari yielded. He reached around his head, undoing his hair tie and letting it fall across his back. He loosened his kimono, attempting to imitate the loose clothing he would be wearing during the date. “How does it look?”
The silence was mildly uncomfortable for Hikari.
“Aelfric above,” Temenos laughed lightly. “I may have to steal your hair tie so we can all see this more often.”
“Keep the hair tie at the beginnin’ ‘a the date,” Partitio advised. “But then take it off when ya start tryin’ on clothes. That girl’s gonna flip. ”
“Flip?” Hikari cocked his head. “Why would she perform a backflip?”
“Getting back on track,” Osvald interrupted. He put his book down. “Hikari, let me see your face.”
The warrior pulled his chair toward Osvald. The scholar leaned in, studying his face for a moment. “See me early tomorrow morning. I’m going to help you shave.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Most men who choose to be clean-shaven will shave to a certain point where they have a bit of stubble and decide it’s good enough, yourself included,” Osvald explained. “If you’re going out on a date, you want to show that you can put that extra bit of effort into preparing for it. I say tomorrow morning because you want to give your facial hair as little time as possible to start regrowing. I will show you how to properly prepare for it.”
“I- the offer is appreciated, Osvald, but I don’t think it’s going to make a difference,” Hikari said.
“You’d be surprised. When Rita and I first started dating, she was always able to tell how much effort I put into my looks. As I was clean-shaven at the time, she could tell if there was stubble simply by glancing at me.” Osvald smiled. “Women are much more attentive than most men give them credit for.”
“I see,” Hikari murmured. “In that case, I shall accept. Thank you, Osvald.”
“I’m usually up early anyways,” The scholar grunted. “As far as the other aspects go, I don’t believe you are in need of further assistance. You are yourself quite attentive, your hygiene is excellent, you are considerate of her feelings, and you’re open to unexpected topics of conversation.”
“Thank you,” Hikari replied.
“That’s all well and good, but I do have a date plan all laid out here on this board,” Temenos pointed out. “If we could just-”
“Throw it out,” Osvald interrupted.
“Sorry Temenos, but I’m with Mister Osvald,” Partitio apologized. “Agnea asked Hikari out. She gets to decide what they get up to.”
Temenos carried the board under his arm as he left the room, muttering something about the time he spent making it.
“Wait a sec. If’n Hikari’s got this all figured out, why am I here?” Partitio asked.
“Empathetic language. You can explain things better to Hikari than I can in some cases because he has trouble doing things unless he understands why they should be done,” Osvald clarified.
“...Y’know, it kinda sounds like you just want me t’sit ‘n look pretty,” Partitio remarked.
“How unfortunate for your sense of usefulness,” Osvald said, uninterested. He returned to his book.
________________________________________________________________________
“Ohwowohwowohwowohwow!!!” Ochette jumped up and down, unable to contain her excitement. “I’m so happy for you, Aggie!”
Throné had apparently heard about their date, though the details of how escaped Agnea, and had summoned the other ladies into the room the evening after finding out. The reasons behind Throné’s summons, Agnea had yet to understand.
“I thought there might be something going on, but I didn’t think it would end up being this, ” Castti remarked. “Asking someone out on a date takes courage, Agnea. You should be proud.”
“Hehe. Thank you, Castti,” Agnea responded.
“Ooooooh, you’re gonna have so much fun! I just know it!” Ochette continued to bounce up and down.
“Ochette, there are people staying downstairs as well, and they most likely don’t want to hear you stomping. Perhaps you should run around outside for a bit, get it out of your system,” Castti suggested.
“Good idea!” Ochette agreed, bolting out the door. A loud “Yeaaaaah! Woooohooooo!” could be heard out their window. Akala, who was curled up on Throné’s bed, elected to cover his ears with his tail.
“Okay, so how long have you wanted to go out with him?” Throné asked. She too laid on her bed, absentmindedly stroking Akala’s fur. “I’m never gonna let the boys know, but between us girls I am a sucker for gossip.”
“I myself am quite curious about a few things,” Castti added. “The two of you have been dancing on the line between ‘just friends’ and ‘something else’ for a couple months now, but something tells me it started for you long before that.”
Agnea felt her face heat up.
“Oooooh, careful Castti. Don’t hit too close to home,” Throné teased.
“The plot thickens,” Castti agreed.
“How is that my fault? He’s just so-” Agnea started, and stopped. Too late, clearly.
“Just so what, Agnea? You gotta give us some details,” Throné teased. “So… handsome, maybe?”
“Well, I mean… uh… yeah.” She shrunk a little, hiding her grin with her hand. She spoke much quieter than she did a second ago. “He is really cute.”
“I won’t deny that he’s attractive, but I do want to know what else you like about him,” Castti said. “You’ve spent more time with him than all of us, besides Partitio. Maybe. ”
“They are really good friends, aren’t they?” Agnea smiled. “There’s a lot of things I like about Hikari, to be honest. He’s selfless, he’s compassionate, he’s hopeful, he’s understanding, he’s a great hugger, he’s just so nice to be around… I don’t know, what isn’t there to like about him? I mean, I’m sure he has flaws. Everyone has flaws, you know? But I feel like after I come to know his flaws, I’ll want to put in the work to help him cope with them, and I know he’ll do the same for me.”
She grinned ear to ear. Suddenly, Agnea waved her arms around in a panicked motion. “Only if this goes anywhere, I mean! I don’t wanna get ahead of myself!”
“Agnea, that’s one of the sweetest descriptions of a man I think I've ever heard,” Throné said, monotone.
“The two of you are going to have so much fun tomorrow,” Castti said. “What were the two of you going to be doing?”
“Well, I guessed that we could start with some clothes shopping. And then, I dunno. I was gonna play it by ear after that,” Agnea explained. “Is that enough, do you think?”
“It’s definitely a start, but since you’re the one who asked him out you’re going to want to have some backup activities in mind beforehand,” Throné remarked. “Find a nice spot to have lunch. Figure out which part of the town gets a view of the sunset, if the date goes on that long. Things like that.”
“I like how you’re thinking, but I would bear in mind that you don’t have to do every single thing you think of,” Castti added. “It’s a date. It’s supposed to be fun, not stressful.”
“Right. We’re just doing this to have fun,” Agnea reminded herself. “Thanks, you two.”
“Here.” Throné rummaged through her purse, withdrawing several large gold coins and presenting them to Agnea. “Island clothes can be expensive, and so can island food . I’ve got plenty for myself, so I’m happy to help you out.”
“Oh, Throné, you don’t need to-”
“Take. The money,” Throné softly commanded.
____________________________________________________________________________
Agnea awaited him the next morning outside the inn. She had decided to dress a bit lighter than she usually did, mostly because of the heat that would only intensify as the day progressed. She wore a brown top that cropped just above her midriff, and a skirt that stopped short of her knees. She completed the outfit with a pair of sandals.
The doors to the inn swung open, and there Hikari was in all his splendor. There was something… different about him. Something about his face that Agnea couldn’t quite nail down. Maybe it was the way the light hit him at this particular hour?
Whatever it was, Agnea was definitely a fan.
“I hope I didn’t make you wait?” Hikari asked. His tone was calm, but something about the rest of his body implied some kind of excitement… or perhaps energized joy.
“No! No, not at all,” Agnea reassured. “You look really nice.”
“Thank you. You yourself look radiant,” Hikari replied smoothly. “Shall we go and get me a change of clothes, then?”
“Sounds like a plan!” Agnea said.
She was calm and cheery on the outside, but on the inside she was melting down. Hikari. And her. On a date. She made it happen.
Castti was right. Agnea should be proud of herself. She held his arm as the two of them strolled into the little island town.
They arrived at the clothing shop, and the two of them began their search. Agnea decided that tank tops would look best on him, and began measuring them up against his chest. “Go try this one on,” she said. She ushered him into the bathroom. She went around the store, picking out a few more things she thought might look good on him. A few more tank tops, a few pairs of crops (the locals referred to them as ‘shorts,’ she soon discovered), and returned to the bathroom satisfied.
“Hikari? Are you still in there?” She asked.
“Yes. I’m coming out now,” he answered. The door swung open.
Oh.
Oh. Oh, Gods.
This man was absolutely gorgeous.
The tank top clung to his frame, outlining his muscular build. His arms, uncovered by the garment, displayed a fair amount of muscle on them. Agnea didn’t know too much about muscle anatomy, but she could tell that these weren’t muscles built for show. They were built for function. A small bit of chest hair peeked out from where said chest met cloth.
And his hair.
He had let down his hair.
“Agnea?” Hikari asked. “Is everything alright?”
“Uh, y-yeah! It looks really good on you!” Agnea stuttered. “H-here! I got a bunch for ya to try, so back in you go! Good luck!” She ushered him back in.
Sealticge’s heel, no man should be that hot. How much of this date was there still left to get through? Agnea glanced at the sky. The sun wasn’t even near the top of it.
She was going to combust before the end of the hour.
Hikari eventually did catch on that something was bothering her. “Agnea, something is bothering you,” he said. “Is this making you uncomfortable?”
“N-no,” Agnea mumbled. “It sounds really weird…”
“Don’t worry about what it sounds like. If there’s something on your mind, I wish to know what it is,” Hikari pressed.
“You’re, um…” Agnea took a breath. “You’rereallyhotandit’smakingmeflusteredcuzIdon’tknowhowtohandleitandIdon’twanttobeweirdbutIguessIalreadymadeitweirdandI’mreallysorry.”
“Erm… come again?” Hikari asked.
“You’re… really hot and it’s making me flustered ‘cause I don’t know how to handle it.” Agnea looked down. Her sandals were suddenly very interesting. “And I don’t know how to not be weird about it, but I already made it weird, and I'm really sorry.”
“I think you’re hot, too,” Hikari replied. “I thought my red face gave it away.”
Agnea blinked. She looked up at him. “I… I thought that was just the heat.”
They stared at each other for a moment. And they laughed in the next. “Okay, okay. Get back in there so you can come out and get stared at some more,” Agnea laughed out.
Maybe she could still save this date.
____________________________________________________________________________
Agnea walked in the door to her room at the inn, staring at the ground as she came in. Throné, Castti and Ochette awaited her return. All was silent in the room.
“Hey, Agnea.” Throné greeted.
“Hey,” Agnea greeted back.
“...how did it go?” Castti asked nervously.
The silence was about to speak volumes, until Agnea looked up. She cracked a smile. “It was really great.”
“YAAAAAAAAAAAY!” Ochette bounced up and down on Agnea’s bed. “What did you do? What did you do?”
“We, uh, we went clothes shopping,” Agnea started.
Throné had moved next to Agnea at some point. Agnea didn’t really see when that had happened. “I bet that was fun for you in particular,” Throné whispered.
“He is so hot,” Agnea whispered back.
“What else did you do? What else what else?” Ochette bounced faster on the bed.
“We went to the tavern and got lunch,” Agnea continued. Her confidence began to pick up as she spoke.
“Uh huh! And then?”
“And then we went and talked on the beach for a while.” Agnea smiled at the recent memory.
“Ochette, maybe you should go run around for a bit,” Castti suggested. “I’ll fill you in on the rest later.”
“Awww, but I want to hear the rest now! ” Ochette complained.
“Castti, it’s alright,” Agnea said. “She can stay for this, we didn’t do anything crazy.”
“Yaaaaaay!” Ochette sat down. “Starting right now, I’ll be absolutely quiet!”
Throné snickered.
“You talked on the beach?” Castti asked.
“We went for a nice walk on the beach, too. At sunset, ” Agnea bragged lightly.
“A walk at sunset? Not bad,” Throné nodded.
“We kissed on the beach at sunset, too,” Agnea added. Throné raised her eyebrows, a mischievous grin adorning her face.
“Nice,” Throné said, nodding harder.
“Eeeeeeeeee!” Ochette jumped off the bed and hugged Agnea as hard as she could. “I’m so happy for you!”
Agnea was pretty happy, too.
____________________________________________________________________________
Hikari returned later that evening, his room dark and seemingly empty. Agnea had helped him pick out a lot of clothes, which he tossed on his bed.
It never made contact. An instant later, several candles lit up within the room. The faces and figures of Partitio, Temenos and Osvald (who had fallen asleep) came into view. They stared at him, as though expecting him to say something.
“Is something the matter?” He asked. “Why are you in my room?”
Osvald grunted, taking the book off his face and sitting up straight.
“‘Is something the matter,’” Partitio faux-mocked, imitating Hikari’s accent. “Come on, man! How’d it go?”
“...the date?”
“No, Hikari. We want to know if your legs stayed together while walking in the sand. Of course we’re asking about the date,” Temenos interjected.
“...it was nice,” Hikari said. “I think we might have a second date.”
Osvald grunted in approval, covering his face with his book and returning to sleep immediately.
“Hoo-ey! That’s my boy, Hikari!” Partitio took up residence at Hikari’s side, slinging his arm across Hikari’s shoulders.
“I am not a boy, Partitio. I am a man,” Hikari replied.
“No, no, Hikari. You are his boy ,” Temenos reinforced. “Whether you like it or not.”
"So what did ya do? Did you use any 'a the lines I gave ya?" Partitio asked.
"Or any of my lines, for that matter?" Temenos chimed in.
"Of course not," Hikari said.
"What? Why not?" Partitio asked further.
"Because neither of you are in a relationship, and therefore your advice came with a heavy degree of risk," Hikari explained. "I simply trusted my instincts to guide me through it."
Temenos chuckled. "I suppose that's fair."
"Ya think ya know a guy," Partitio shook his head.
Hikari didn't care either way. He was ready to go to bed. Of course, that sleep didn't come for several hours as he lied awake, thinking of the kiss they had shared on the beach.
Not that he was complaining. It was a very pleasant memory.