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Ritsuka blinked. It was the dead of night, Kadoc stood in front of him. In the corner of his eye he sees Mash’s intercom fizzle out. He looked around to get his bearings. They were on a balcony outside of the Righteous Realm’s castle.
“What were we talking about?” It’s extremely common for Ritsuka to pass out randomly, get dizzy, be transported into dreams or other realities during normal conversation. Often he just assumes it’s his fault if he doesn’t know why he’s somewhere. It’s best to keep moving.
“Ah.” Kadoc picks at the fabric on his Chaldea overcoat. “Well this was always going to be awkward. Uh, so you agreed to have your memory sealed by me because of an internal investigation in Chaldea.” Kadoc cringes at his own words.
Ritsuka nods. “That makes sense.”
Kadoc slaps a hand to his forehead muttering something that sounds like “why am I not surprised.”
Kadoc clears his throat and turns to Ritsuka, almost annoyed. “You know I sound shady as hell right? Like call Sion to set off the mage shock collar levels of suspicious. I wouldn’t even be mad at you.”
“So you either trusted I wouldn’t call or you were just plain honest with me not caring about the repercussions.” Ritsuka smiled.
Kadoc makes a strangled noise between embarrassment and anger. Then resigns himself, crossing his arms. “Now that we’re a team, lying would be worse for cohesion. That’s not the point though. Fujimaru, I hope you don’t buy into vague bullshit explanations regularly. You’re lucky that I actually do have Chaldea’s interest in mind.”
“I mean if you didn’t you’d be dead. Man I really wish I could’ve gotten Sion to take that collar off you. It’s not right, having you on a kill switch.” Ritsuka grimaces then moves to stand next to Kadoc.
Kadoc finally relaxes his posture. “Do you value my freedom over your safety?”
“Well, yes, but it’s not about that. It’s about humanitarian treatment. How the hell are you supposed to feel like a real part of Chaldea if we have you at gunpoint all the time?” Ritsuka argued.
Kadoc raises his eyebrows, then turns to rest his arms on the balcony’s edge. “I prefer this actually. Not the concept of being threatened but the fact that you are taking the necessary precautions against an unpredictable former enemy. It makes me trust this group more.”
Ritsuka moved to face the horizon as well. It’s almost past midnight. After so many travels Ritsuka’s gotten good at reading the sky. It would only be twenty minutes until one.
“I can’t say I understand that. I’d rather be treated warmly.”
Kadoc digs his chin into his palm and looks away from Ritsuka. “You did treat me warmly.”
Ritsuka sulked, “yeah but everyone else could do better.”
“Maybe I don’t need everyone else to do it.” Kadoc replied.
Ritsuka was about to protest when he saw the tips of Kadoc’s ears redden. The implications of his words swirled around Ritsuka’s mind for a brief moment before he let them dissipate, fixating on a more favorable topic.
I want to see that blush on his face.
“For the record, I would’ve believed you anyway. You were never some villain to defeat.” Ritsuka feels a small smile sneak his way on to his features.
“Oh so was I never a threat?” Kadoc laughs a little.
“No! That’s not- you know what I meant. The Crypters aren’t evil-“ Ritsuka sputters.
“Except for Beryl.” Kadoc interjects.
“Except for Beryl. Anyway, I viewed you all as just people I didn’t know. Most of us aren’t that different in age and we’re all to some extent human. I was hoping we’d understand each other.” Ritsuka peers downcast at the castle grounds below. A few servants mill about on night watch.
“How’d that work out for you?” Kadoc smiled ruefully, finally facing Ritsuka.
“Bad track record with a few half wins. However I did manage to get one point recently. With luck I’ll get another.” Ritsuka hoped. It’d be nice if no one died in the next Lostbelt.
“Oh good luck with that. Daybit is not a talker. He’s probably said about two sentences worth of words to me in the entire time we were colleagues.” Kadoc replied flatly.
“You think he’s a listener?” Ritsuka muses.
This caused Kadoc to appear thoughtful in turn.
“He always listened to Pepe talk. Daybit rarely gave anyone on the team the time of day unless it was them or Kirschtaria. Pepe would yammer on while he’d take care of whatever task assigned to him, barely contributing anything himself. I swear there was an ease in the tension of his shoulders when that happened. Happier in a Daybit sort of way. I could be reading it wrong.”
“I bet you’re on to something at least. You tend to pick up stuff like that working with a group for so long. I’ve noticed that Mash doesn’t need her glasses anymore but she wears them lower on nose anyway. I think she does it to hide how much being a demi-servant has changed her physically and show that she’s the same old Mash as before. But that’s just my theory.” Ritsuka supplies.
“Have you thought about addressing it with her?” Kadoc inquires.
“It’s a secret that brings her comfort, I’m never gonna intrude.” Ritsuka shrugs.
“That’s good of you. Maybe when the time is right you should tell her she doesn’t have to do that. It’d mean a lot, especially from you.” Kadoc weaves his fingers together.
“Yeah, she’s my best friend. I hope she doesn’t feel the need to hide demi-servant-ness around us. We wouldn’t think differently of her.” Ritsuka agreed.
“Oh I thought you- nevermind.” Kadoc flushes a little.
“What? Don’t back out mid sentence.” Ritsuka retorts.
“It’s not my place to say! How do you not know? You’ve been living with her for three years. God, Kama was right, your skull really is thick.” Kadoc hissed.
“So you do talk to the servants. And Kama of all people?” This was intriguing. What would Kadoc want with the god of love?
“Hey, she spoke to me! I was an unwilling participant in that conversation to be clear.” Kadoc clutches his upper arms, scandalized.
“Now I’m really interested. She’s usually pretty closed off, what’d she say?” Ritsuka leaned in to Kadoc’s space, a teasing tone in his voice.
“Things that are not your business.” Kadoc remarked, frowning.
“Whatever, keep your secrets. I’m just delighted to hear that you’re getting on with our more eccentric staff members.” Ritsuka only has so much bullying spirit this late.
Kadoc smiled, “staff huh?”
“That’s what they are. You’re their co-worker now.” Ritsuka added.
“You’re a really funny mage. In some circles at Clocktower you’d be laughed out of the room.” Kadoc’s eyes did that happy crinkle Ritsuka only catches on him when he brings up Anastasia.
“They must be pretty stiff huh?” Ritsuka offered quickly so he didn’t just stare at Kadoc like an idiot. He feels his own face warm a little.
“Depending on the professor but for the most part yeah. They’re one of the primary governing bodies of the mages association and one of the prosecutors against magic malpractice. If anyone has a stick up their ass it’s them.” Kadoc tilts his head in acknowledgement.
“Going there might have sucked but I still wish I knew about it, or anything in mage society. I could have been a way better final master.” Ritsuka sighed.
“True you could be way smarter.” Kadoc teased.
“Hey!” Ritsuka complained.
“Even so you’re preferable as is. Annoying but preferable.” Kadoc faces the horizon again and leans his chin on his interweaved hands. Ritsuka can tell Kadoc is decidedly not looking at him.
A breeze cut through their conversion, ruffling both of their hair. The night, or early morning rather, is the soft kind of warm only a summer evening could bring. The sun that baked the earth during the day left its embers to make its setting all the more pleasant. Sure it’s a mystic code but Ristuka has no idea how Kadoc keeps that coat on the whole time. He should take it off, it’d be easier to see the piercings on his throat that way. Easier to-
“We should head back, it’s one thirty and we probably have to help the Righteous Realm with missions or training of some kind.” He needed to get out of there before he did something he’d regret, that he wouldn’t have time for.
“How do you know what time it is without checking your watch?” Kadoc narrows his eyes.
“The stars. Now c’mon, you need the rest more than me anyway.” Ritsuka nudged him.
“Oh shut up.” Kadoc moved to follow him to their room anyway.
Ritsuka grabs the door handle then stops, “Kadoc?”
“Yeah?” he replies.
“Thanks for helping. In every regard but specifically for whatever it is I don’t remember. If I can assist the investigation somehow let me know” Ritsuka doesn’t look back.
“Well it’s my job now so, don’t worry about it.” Kadoc replied awkwardly.
Ritsuka nods then opens the door. For about two and a half hours Ritsuka felt normal, at ease even. It’s been a while since he’s wanted anything for himself. The fate of humanity has been on his shoulders for what feels like forever it’s been hard to think about anything else. Kadoc makes his mind wander, giving him moments to act his age. And one day, he will.