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The first thing that alerts the Starshyna is when someone knocks on the door of his office and Nikita tells them to come in—only for the visitor to be revealed as Flins, who steps calmly into his office and closes the door behind him.
The second suspicion is that the Ratnik brings quite a large stack of papers.
“I’ve come bearing my reports, Starshyna. All the backlog up to the newest one from last week.”
Flins bows politely in front of Nikita’s desk as he hands his sizable reports.
The Starshyna accepts it suspiciously and then comes the third ring of the bell. They are all written neatly, with all the location details that Flins would usually disregard and a perfect account of battles and logistics in his person. Dated and signed.
He surreptitiously pulls a hidden sword from under his desk, long prepared for exactly this kind of situation, and thrust it forward, right at the face of the interloper.
“Show yourself, you dirty muck!”
His mind is already racing with the possibility of sudden attack. If one of the monsters can already slip into his office, then outside in the plaza of Piramida, the situation must be worse.
It doesn’t help his suspicion that the invader presents the exact reaction that Flins would show having a rusted sword pointed right to his face; unflinching, and smiling amusedly. Though he doesn’t know which one Flins would find funnier; his rusted sword or this whole situation.
“Oh, my. I assure you, my good Starshyna, I’m no Wild Hunt.”
Nikita narrows his eyes. “That’s exactly what the Wild Hunt would say.”
Unbothered, the things that wear Flins’ face then reply. “Well, then allow me to prove myself.”
Nikita watches as the human shape of the interloper disappears as a ball of blue fire into Flins’ antique lantern. He follows with his eyes as the silver lantern flies to the direction of his window and reappears again in front of it as the familiar Ratnik.
Other people would freak over a flying lantern. But this is actually Flins-weird and not Wild Hunt-weird, so Nikita sighs in relief.
“Is this sufficient enough?” Flins asks, still smiling amusedly.
The Starshyna drops back to his seat, then puts away his sword as Flins politely takes another chair to sit in front of him. Like a proper Ratnik—like he almost never does.
Now all that’s left in Nikita is confusion.
“Wha-what the hell are you playing now, Flins? Stop giving me a heart attack!”
Flins lifts an eyebrow at that. “I’m just being a good Lightkeeper so as to not shame the Young Master, as you have said. Also, I have come to bargain, please.”
Oh, he wants something. That explains his weird behavior—well, weirder than normally.
“Okay,” Nikita says carefully. He needs to pay attention now, he can’t be careless making a deal with a fae. “What do you want?”
“Lady Nefer has graciously extended an invitation for the Lightkeepers to be present in the upcoming Trade Expo held by the Voinich Guild at the port. It will be right around the summer months, where the Wild Hunt activity is at its low. I would like to use this opportunity to take Young Master out.”
“A date?” Nikita frowns. Is he bargaining for permission to take Illuga on a date? “Can’t you ask that to Illuga yourself? No need to ask for my permission.”
“I am going to ask him about that.” Flins says pointedly. “What I ask you is that if the Starshyna can possibly give the Young Master some time off at that time.”
“I see.” He nods slowly, finally sees the logic the fae presents to him. “So you finish all your reports.”
The smirk is back on Flins’ face, now more self-satisfied than amused. He must’ve felt proud of himself after writing pages of them. “Only the best I can give you, my good Starshyna, barring the good fire-water. But the merchant said it hasn’t arrived yet from Belovodye.”
Nikita considers himself a rational leader. He tries to commend a job well done as much as he can when any of the Ratniki actually performs above the expectation. However this particular old friend of his has always had a different standard of ‘performance’ than the rest of them do-gooders Ratniki.
The Starshyna can feel the beginning of a headache. “Flins, these reports are part of your duty. You can’t use them as a bargaining chip.”
“Huh.” Flins blinks in surprise. He sees the fae put his hand on his chin, seemingly thinking. “Well, that’s an oversight on my part. Is there anything I can offer within my person?”
Now it’s Nikita’s turn to be surprised. It is unusual for Flins to volunteer—he must really want to bring Illuga out to this expo for whatever reason.
“Well," he says slowly, "there’s this thing... but I’m not sure you will like it.”
“Let’s hear it, my friend.”
“Grandmaster Varka wants the factions to meet tomorrow to discuss the recent large waves of Wild Hunt but we are needed out there to hold the front. Since your area is less affected, would you be able to attend the meeting in my place?”
With any trace of smile wiped from his face, the fae frowns. “Why don’t you ask the Young Master to go?”
“I need Illuga with me since he is the one keeping track of the locations of most Ratniki.”
“I can help in the frontline.”
Nikita shakes his head and points out. "No one is better acquainted with most of the representatives than you, Flins. You can also join later after they take decision.”
Flins can already imagine the rowdy debates among the representatives. He sighs deeply, praying for at least the reasonable Traveler to be present. “Fine, I will go to that meeting.”
The Starshyna almost can’t believe his ears that the reclusive Sir Flins is actually agreeing to a boring diplomatic meeting. “Wow, I didn’t know you were desperate.”
“Please don’t mention it. It’s all for Young Master’s sake. Will you be able to give him that time off now?” The fae asks with a sour face.
“I will give Illuga and you three days off at the time of the expo. Is that acceptable?” He says carefully.
The pupilless golden eyes brighten as Flins stands up abruptly and bows down. “That is very satisfactory. Thank you, my good Starshyna. I will bring you that fire-water once it arrives.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t forget to bring Illuga back in one piece. Now get out of my hair.”
“Certainly.”
Flins has a satisfied smile when he straightens himself back. Nikita sees him walk back to the door of his office, with almost a spring in his step. The Ratnik stops as he opens the door of the Starshyna’s office.
“Oh, Young Master! What a nice surprise. I was just going to find you.”
“Good evening, Sir Flins. It’s good to meet you here.” Come the polite reply from his son.
Flins steps aside, with a rare grin on his face. “Please go ahead, and I will meet you after you finish with your old man.”
Nikita notices Illuga’s cheeks colored in a slight red, but it gradually returns to normal as Flins closes the door behind him.
Well, that is a scene that he should not be seeing as a father.
“Sir Flins looks happy. Has something good happened?” Illuga asks as he walks to his table.
“You should ask him about that yourself.” Nikita gestures to Illuga to sit down before he finally asks. “What about you, son? What brings you here?”
“Oh, yeah. Pops, about the invitation from Grandmaster Varka, what about I go to the meeting?”
Oh, dear. His ever-dutiful son. Nikita reluctantly agrees with Flins in his mind that Illuga needs a time off. He can scarcely remember the last time Illuga took one for himself.
He brushes Illuga with a wave of his hand. “Flins volunteered to go for us.”
Surprises decorate Illuga’s face. “Sir Flins? You are not joking?”
“No.” Nikita shakes his head. “He really did.”
Both of them know how much Flins hates meetings—he barely shows up when invited to their periodical Lightkeeper conferences. Illuga knows even better that when Sir Flins promises to do something for you, it usually comes with a catch. He has the firsthand experience of being baited many times after all.
Illuga narrows his eyes. “That sounds suspicious. This won’t bite us in the ass later, right?”
“Well.” Yours maybe. But of course saying that would reflect badly on him as both father and Starshyna, so Nikita refrains and wisefully answers. “I’m sure it won't.”