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Enkrid had gone through this day dozens of times now, managed to kill the mage at least 5 times now, but it seems her words hold true.
“Kiss the one your heart desires before the end of the day, or die. Even if you kill me this spell will not come undone”
He thought it was a joke the first time he died, then he tried to avoid getting it at all, but the witch had apparently already marked him the day before.
When the commander heard of his plight and jokingly(probably?) offered to kiss him he's embarrassed to say he took her up on the offer. It didn’t work of course, and even resulted in him dying early.
He didn’t really feel like trying his luck with every woman he’s ever met, so he had to find another way to break the curse. Who better to ask than the resident sorcery expert? So off to Rem he went.
“Sorry, can’t help ya”
Huh???
Enkrid stared at him, face set in a grim expression of his turmoil. “So there’s nothing we can do?”
Rem shook his head leaning back on his hands “though if you really didn’t have anyone like you said, then it shouldn’t have worked at all, and since I can feel the magic on you that must mean you do”
He seemed to think for a moment, then grinned at Enki mischievously “have you tried asking the commander?”
Enki shook his head “that wouldn’t work”
The rest of the guys still in the tent pipe up with respective ‘OooooOoo’s’ as Rem's eyebrows go up as he leans forward “oh have you tried?”
Enki steels his face definitely not thinking back to that awkward encounter he had a few days ago, it was more like touching faces together than a kiss really, “I don’t love her”
Rem scoffs at him, rolling his eyes, then pauses “well what if it’s not love, what if it’s just wanting to bang, got anyone like that?”
Enki shakes his head. He hasn’t thought about things like that in.. well ever really. The only thing he’s focused on since picking up a sword has been just that. There’s nothing he loves more than the thrill of battle…
Maybe…
He looks up at Rem then, determination painted on his face as he boldly announces “let’s fight”
Rem stares at him, then it seems to click as his lips opens to a wide grin spreading over his face and he picks up his axes “alright then”
They go to their usual spot and spar like always. Enki can feel he’s gotten better, but so has Rem, it feels like no matter how hard he improves Rem is improving right along with him. They all are. He loves the feeling and gives the fight his all, he doesn’t win. He hasn’t won yet. But it’s great none the less.
“Feel any different?” Rem asks after helping Enkrid off the ground.
He hums trying to see if he feels any different, but doesn’t feel anything and says so. Rem then puts his hand over Enki's heart and listens for a beat then grumbles “no, I can still feel it. It’s more faint now but still clearly there, but maybe we bought you some time?”
Enki sighs “I guess we’ll see if it worked tomorrow"
It didn’t work.
Of course it didn’t, he would never actually be that lucky. Still, maybe it’s because the fight wasn’t real enough? Maybe it’s because he’s too used to his opponent.
He spends the next few runs fighting every soldier he can. Fighting his team, both individually and all at once. He even asks to be sent out to any battlefield he could feasibly reach within a day, but there’s nothing. The strange part is that the spell's effects never go down again like they had after that first fight. And it only goes down sometimes when fighting Rem, not every time. Maybe it has something to do with how ferocious of an opponent he is? So back to Rem he went.
This time he asked the man to put his absolute best behind every attack, absolutely no holding back. He obliged, and knocked Enkrid flat on his ass multiple times.
He was out of breath and out of energy now, pinned under the man with an axe pressed to his throat, sweat beading down his face and seeping into the dirt below. “What about now?” He asks breathlessly.
Rem places a hand over his heart and listens, then shakes his head “still the same”
Damn it! Why wasn’t this working? He was sure the thrill of battle would have done it, why was it only half working? He only managed to just fall asleep and start dreaming before coming right back after the effect is lessened. This should work, there’s nothing his heart could possibly want more than to be here in this moment, fighting and giving his all, improving his skill and being beaten down so he can improve some more. Right now, with Rem on top of him pinning him down should absolutely match with the mages conditions. Except of course…
That was it, he was missing the first part of the spell. He had what his heart desired, but how could he kiss a fight?
Unless…
“There’s one more thing we can try, if you’re willing”
Rem looked down at him puzzled, then grinned “whatever you need, captain”
Enki moved before he could hesitate, sliding out from Rem's grip just enough to be able to lean up, quickly and carefully grabbing his head and bringing it together with his.
He felt the man stiffen abruptly, gasping into his mouth. Enki was just about to pull away when Rem's arms came up behind him to hold him up.
Enki leaned back into his grip as they parted and looked up at the dazed looking man.
“What about now?”
“Wh-huh?” Ram blinked at him as his eyes widened, seeming to process what happened. Enki felt a little bad not giving him a proper heads up, but he wasn’t sure the response would have been all too positive had he done so, he’ll let the man drop him as payback, maybe another spar will be enough.
“The sorcery, can you still feel it?” He elaborated and rem seems to come back to his senses at least a little.
“I uh.. oh.. yea lemme uh..” he fumbles for a bit debating if he should hold Enki with one hand or the other, before just deciding to press his head down on his chest instead, pressing an ear to his heart. “yea, no I can’t feel it anymore, like, at all”
“Ah, that’s good then. Thank you” he smiles up at Rem who nods in response, and then they just kind of.., sit there. Everyone else had gotten tired of watching them and retreated to their tents hours ago so no one came up to interrupt.. whatever this was. They were just staring at each other, one of Enki's arms on Rem's shoulder, the other on his pecks while the other held him a few inches off the ground. It was starting to get a little awkward so Enki cleared his throat “ah, sorry also, for uh.. not really asking”
“Iz fine..” Rem responded and remained still. Enki was starring to get a little embarrassed as his actions started fully setting in. Gods he kind of hoped the spell would kill him again.
Enki got tired of waiting and tried to brace his hands on the ground to get up “you can let go y’know, I’m alright”
Rems grip held firm, in fact it seemed to get a little firmer as he leaned forward slightly and announced “can I- you- we-...” he paused then “I’m gonna do that again”
Enki had just enough time to move his hands and brace them against Rem before he was pinned down to the ground again, this time with a mouthful of barbarian.
He couldn’t help the small sound that came out when his tongue slid past his lips, which only seemed to make the man hungrier for more. Now his hands were tangled in his hair, pushing him down and keeping him there and oh.
Maybe it really wasn’t the thrill of the fight that his heart was after.