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Today was quite… no, a really gloomy day at Favonius Keep.
The rain had started before the clock hit midnight, consistently pouring down the camp long before the moon exited the sky. The clouds were so dark and starless it almost resembled a thick fog that’s unnavigable with light alone, and the wind that followed was cold enough to send a chill down a soaken knight’s body.
Thankfully, the tents were thick enough to not seep any rainwater from the outside, but it does make it look a bit heavier. One poke from those water-heavy pockets on the roof and it would be splashing out, but no one was willing to give it a shot. Hours of collecting rain made the thick fabric look like it’s about to give in at any second, but thank the archons that possibility isn’t on their list due to its strong durability.
“Seems like this rain won’t be stopping for hours,” Varka sighed as he took shelter on the main outpost, leaning slightly on the meeting table with his hips to support his weight, crossing his arms. “Guess I can’t make you deliver letters today.”
Lohen, who had been on mailman duty for the past week, delivering letters from one faction to another, finally felt like the archons were on his side for once. “And should I be sad about that, grandmaster?” he replied, purring that last word knowing it gets Varka on his nerves.
The grandmaster shook his head and ran his palm across his face. “I didn’t say that to make you feel anything,”
“Seems like you meant the opposite,” Lohen snarked as he decided to sit on the meeting table itself. “But if you do want to know what I feel about that really unfortunate news-”
“I’d rather not hear it. I guess you earned yourself a break.”
“Aw. I was gonna say I’m very disappointed,” Lohen corrected, though he didn’t sound one bit convincing.
“...Not even a fool would believe you with that tone.”
…
Hours had passed as the rain slowly went lighter until it went to a halt. At least it didn’t seem like the sky was very upset this time. Small reflections of light scattered across the grey sky, and it seemed like a good time to resume the usual Favonius Keep duties.
Varka was first to get out of the outpost and step onto the ground, the sole of his boots quickly collecting mud and leaving footprints with every step. Lohen followed with a small hum, his hands placed on the back of his head as he looked around to see the knights already in action.
Luckily, the wind never went strong enough to send a lot of debris on the camp, so cleaning up the area wasn’t a difficult task. It did seem like the knights moved on their own this time around, already collecting water that had been bagging up the roofs of their tents and pouring it out to wherever they could throw it.
Faint drops from the rain's aftermath still soaked up on the knights’ outfits, but not enough to consider changing into new ones. Lohen was especially unbothered by this, and if he could, he would’ve let himself shower on the heavy rain earlier if only Varka didn’t have to pull him out to the outpost through his back cape. And to the knights that witnessed that, it didn’t look too far from a parent dragging their kid inside their house.
“Hmm, I think your duty won’t be delayed after all,” Varka slightly jested. Lohen’s expression immediately dropped, sourness already seeping through his mood just from those words alone.
“Relax, you only have one letter to deliver today,” he quickly followed as he patted Lohen on his shoulder. Lohen could only cross his arms, already thinking of traps he could set for the nonsensical duty he got assigned on this week. “He will be paying back for this treacherous week of letters!” he vowed on his own thoughts.
Still, it didn’t take long for him to cave in. Even though he does want to defy the grandmaster’s orders, even that has its own limitations and he’s pretty much used all of it days ago. A true bummer for the Vice Captain of the 5th Company. With a disdained sigh and a lack of enthusiasm, “Fine. What letter do I have to deliver today?”
“Hmm, it’s a letter for the lightkeepers,” Varka answered, though he had yet to think of the details. “I haven’t started it yet, so you’re gonna have to wait for a bit.”
Lohen rolled his eyes. Of course he hasn’t started it yet. “You always write letters for the lightkeepers on the spot. I expected it would be sealed by now,” he sarcastically remarked. Varka sighed in disbelief. Maybe he did have a point there…
“Hey now, a grandmaster also has other things to focus on, alright? Training knights, keeping up with logistics…”
“And getting drunk 6 nights a week?”
“Just wait for the letter, won’t you? And handle the knights while you’re at it.”
Great, another uneventful task. Couldn’t he have been ordered to slaughter hordes of Wild Hunt instead? “You always give me the most boring duties,” he sassed.
…
Lohen could only do so much before he pulled his ways of executing leadership down his sleeves..
The knights do respect him, but more out of fear than admiration. After all, those dull crimson eyes never not notice the smallest details, and a hint of disobedience would most likely punish them, maybe even kill if he was permitted to. Thus, they would rather not upset the vice captain knowing how much the grandmaster praises a level of strength that surpasses his own.
His training methods were especially different, consistently instilling fear on the knights’ heads. Now, today’s training is usually done on Dornman Port, but there should be no harm in bringing it to Nod Krai, right?
“D-Do we really have to aim at the target while you're holding it?!” one of the knights quavered as he shakily held his rifle, fearing that he might mess up and hurt the vice captain if he aimed wrongly.
“Calm down and straighten yourself up, won’t you?” Lohen ordered, his tone laced with absolute authority. “If you clear your head and focus on your aim, you’re not gonna hit me. Unless you’re a wuss who’d rather take on my special training.”
The knight gulped at the thought. Lohen’s special training is the number one thing no Knight of Favonius ever looked forward to. It was inexcusable unless the knights were heavily injured - they were destined to face this at some point in their knightly path. It’s such an absolute horror show that if someone laid out a slow, suffocating torture beside that special training on the same frame, it would look like identical twins.
“Are the bullets even real inside of these rifles?!” Another one yelped as she tried to hold herself together, only to find the inability to.
His dull eyes glinted on a sinister thought from the knight’s question. “Would you like me to replace them with real ones?”
That look was enough to send the knights at the tip of their emotions. “No, vice captain!” Both of them acquiesced.
“Good,” Lohen replied. “Then you better get yourselves together and start now. These apples won’t hit themselves now, will they?”
While the knights were focused on getting their aims right, a familiar figure slowly made his way onto Favonius Keep.
Ah, it was none other than Illuga, squad leader of the Nightmare Orioles, and a lightkeeper that Lohen had been quite interested in for some time now (though no one will ever catch him admit that). It seemed like he was also on mailman duty, but only for today.
Illuga was about to enter the area when he noticed the knights. Some were holding onto their guns whispering quiet prayers, while others were just straight up looking onto nothingness. What is going on Favonius Keep right now? Are these knights preparing for selection or something? Wait, no… That wouldn’t make sense. They're already selected for this expedition, no?
As he walked across some of the knights that greeted him weirdly, he was slowly able to put the pieces together when he witnessed the scenario unfold in front of him.
Two knights with shaky hands, holding out guns that are aimed at… Lohen?
His eyes widened at the sight before him. What the hell is this man thinking?!
He could’ve said something, but chose to keep his mouth shut for now. Maybe there’s a proper reason for this, considering he’s still witnessing this with no further context. Lohen didn’t seem like he noticed him at all, or maybe he’s just too focused on the knights who look like they’d rather bail out of this scenario.
“Come on now, you lousy knights. Pull the trigger! Don’t make me wait!” Lohen commanded, his voice piercing through the knights’ ears, his arms slowly wearing out from holding the apples for too long.
The knights simultaneously pulled the trigger, one bullet successfully shooting the apple out of his hand, the other almost hitting Lohen right at the shoulder, but ultimately shot the tree behind him instead.
Illuga stared with utmost horror at the proximity of that bullet, while Lohen seemed rather unphased from the result… Or is he?
Slowly, he put the unharmed apple down, letting out a frustrated laugh. Oh no, these knights are definitely in trouble.
“Both of you made me wait for completely different results,” Lohen remarked as he slowly looked back up to look straight through the knights’ eyes. His eyes could truly kill a soul if it wanted to. And oh archons did he look pissed.
“You. Get back on your outpost,” he commanded the knight at his left side, which she hurriedly obliged to, putting the rifle back to the table and rushed herself out of the scene. “And as for you…” he added, staring onto the other knight with a mischievous glare. “Come here.”
“Y-Yes, vice captain?” the knight shivered the moment he stood in front of the teal-haired figure.
“Pick this apple back up and get another one. You will be holding the practice targets for the remainder of this training,” Lohen ordered, his ominous tone creeping through the knight’s entire body.
“Roger that, vice captain,” the knight answered as he quickly picked up the apple on the ground and hurried to get another one.
The squad leader of the Nightmare Orioles could only stare with a mix of emotions from what just happened. Illuga has never seen Lohen with his respective company in the same picture before, much less leading a whole training session. He considered all the times they’ve fought and sparred side-by-side were all in close contact, and even came to the point where he thought the crossbow attached on his left sleeve was nothing more but an accessory.
And another thing. Lohen was usually a battle-hungry maniac who looked for and killed enemies for his mere enjoyment, but to see him with such authority, such a serious impression… Why does he suddenly feel so weird about it? And in a good way?
He’s supposed to be a bit disappointed, considering that Lohen talked down on these knights as if they’re just his lowly subordinates. But at the same time, something about this side of him just felt right. That perhaps behind his schemes, his consistent recklessness and loose screws, maybe he does know how to handle his responsibilities as a vice captain.
Regardless of the scale, this is technically still unhinged. Unorthodox, even. No vice captain should ever set their authority like this. Instill fear in their troops like this. It should be wrong, he should be at least a little softer towards them. And yet, something in Illuga tells him he’s more preferable like this. It sticks to his character more than anything.
His unnerving glare observing the knights’ every movement, the way he takes advantage of his position without being cocky or arrogant about it, the way he orders these knights around that, in a way, actually makes them appear less sloppy… This side of the unique hare of his life seemed to have awakened something within him.
Something echoed through his mind almost instantly. “I never thought I’d get to see him like this… Why is it kind of… Attractive?”
He was so drowned in his thoughts that he never noticed Lohen had already ditched the knights to greet him.
Lohen noticed the way Illuga was lost in thought the moment he finally laid his eyes on him. He could probably even hear the gears running through this man’s head. And to him, that was somewhat flattering.
“Hey. Earth to Illuga. Whatchu lookin’ at, birdie?”
That immediately snapped Illuga back to reality, not realizing the knight was already standing beside him. Gosh, that must’ve been so impolite of him.
A small tint of pink scattered through his cheeks. “Uh…” he cleared his throat. “Uh, nothing?”
“Don’t be so flustered now, birdie,” Lohen jested, nudging Illuga’s arm with his elbow. “And don’t think I haven’t seen you watching.”
“Ah… so you knew I’ve been here,” Illuga replied, recomposing himself. Lohen nodded smugly in response. “You’ve seen me in action just now, hehe. What do you think?”
“Well, I think your ways are…” Illuga paused to think of the right word. “...Unique.”
“Wow. Do you really think so?” Lohen dramatically faltered, holding his chest with both of his hands, feigning a broken feeling. “And here I thought I was making a good impression on my birdie!”
“Did he just say…?”
Just then, he shook his head and remembered what he was here for. Illuga took a letter with a purple seal from a compartment inside his ombre coat. “Uh, your theatrics aside, I was actually about to deliver a letter addressed to Grandmaster Varka. Is he here?”
As much as Lohen didn’t want to let his act go to waste, he knew he had to drop it and cleared his throat. “Oh, yeah. He’s here,” he answered without a hint of energy about it. “He was also about to make me deliver a letter to the lightkeepers.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. And I’m sick of being his personal mailman.”
Illuga chuckled at his lightless remark. He’s already known that by now, considering that Lohen grabs the opportunity to complain about it every time they’ve crossed paths this week.
“Must’ve been a tough week for you, hm?” Illuga replied, the letter still in his hand.
Lohen’s shoulders slumped in agreement, immediately picking back up on his absurd gestures. “Even tough would be an understatement on this nonsense, birdie! I’ve only been running around, sending letters to people and it’s not even part of my job description!”
Illuga could only listen as the teal-haired hare started to ramble about the same thing over again. Is he tired of hearing it? Yeah, probably. But does he care enough to point it out? Not really.
Who knows, maybe he does find bits of it somewhat relatable. Maybe he would also rather see Lohen somewhere else, like the battlefield where he could be as reckless yet effective with his sprees, or the training grounds where he gets to show more of his authoritative side, even though he thinks that should’ve been impossible.
…
While everyone else was occupied with their own responsibilities (and perhaps chatter for the two higher-ups present) outside of the outpost, Varka was about to seal his letter addressed to Flins when he noticed another envelope stuck under a small stash of bubblegum on the table.
“Hm, what’s this?” He queried as he swiftly took the envelope, hoping no one outside noticed.
It was another letter, closed with a royal blue seal, and with a small cursive text written on the corner on the back of the envelope.
“To: Illuga. From: L.”
Now, Varka isn’t usually the kind of person who would stoop on someone else’s business, let alone want to know what it’s about. That’s what the Curatorium is kinda for, isn’t it? He either has no time to meddle on such things, or has no interest in entertaining the idea whatsoever.
However, this one was different. Just from the handwriting, he could already tell it was from Lohen. “That one letter ain’t doing his cover justice…” he jokingly thought.
And upon taking a closer look, he got a faint whiff of bubblegum from the seal itself. Yep, that seals the deal. This letter is unmistakably written by Lohen.
He placed the envelope back on the desk to completely seal his own with melted teal wax. Perhaps he should just pretend he never saw that one.
Or maybe, just maybe, he could do something else about it. That envelope was already sealed anyway, and considering the amount of headache this kid’s put him through for the week…
Maybe a bit of payback wouldn’t hurt, right?
…
Lohen was in the middle of finishing his angry speech when the grandmaster suddenly approached him from behind. He was pretty quick to notice Illuga on the side, too.
“Ah, you’re already here,” Varka interjected as he walked closer, placing his left hand to pat on Illuga’s shoulder and right hand to ruffle Lohen’s hair, much to the knight’s disapproval.
“Good day, Grandmaster Varka,” Illuga greeted the moment the grandmaster let go of both of them. “On behalf of Sir Flins, this letter is addressed to you,” he added, handing out the letter that’s been in his hands for a while now. Well, that explains the purple seal…
“Ah, thank you,” Varka grinned upon receiving the letter. Neither of them missed the way he looked at the letter that was now in his possession, and eventually stored it in his pocket.
Oh, right. The grandmaster also had a letter for the lightkeepers. He turned back to Illuga with two different letters on his hand this time. “I was about to tell Lohen to deliver these letters to you, but since you’re here, please do take it. One’s addressed to Flins, and the other’s to you.”
“Since when were there two letters?” Lohen suddenly questioned the grandmaster, raising an eyebrow. Varka dodged by pretending not to hear it, and it only raised suspicion for the vice captain.
Illuga contently received the letters in his hands, though he never looked at the details on the second one. “Seems like we’re exchanging letters today. Thank you.”
“Eh, don’t mention it,” Varka replied, lightly waving his hand in dismissal. “Make sure to read the one for you once you’re out.”
“I’m guessing it’s important. I will keep that in mind,” Illuga nodded.
Lohen could only watch this exchange unfold, but that’s one less task for him today. “Please, no more delivering letters this week… Please let this be the last…” He weakly pleaded within his own soul.
“I have other matters to attend to, so I will be on my way now,” Illuga replied as he carefully put the letters onto the same compartment inside his coat, bidding farewell to the knights.
“Stay safe,” Varka waved goodbye. “Yeah, bye birdie,” Lohen added as they both watched the lightkeeper walk to wherever he’s headed for the day.
While Varka quickly fled himself out of the scene, probably to read the letter Flins wrote for him, something in Lohen’s brain was starting to register.
He was originally supposed to deliver only one letter, and safe to assume it was the one addressed to the fae. How on Teyvat did it become two?
And then it clicked. In his perspective of their exchange, he caught a faint smell of bubblegum on one of the envelopes. The one that was conveniently placed behind the letter for Flins…
That envelope contained Lohen’s first attempt at a love letter! He had a whole plan set for it: deliver the letter on his own, make Illuga read it in front of him, ridicule the way he wrote the entire thing, and even poke fun at the lightkeeper’s reaction from it!
But alas, the envelope is beyond retrieval. And what the grandmaster did is beyond betrayal.
Lohen will be swearing on Varka's soul for this. “Oh, grandmaster… You are going to fall under the worst trap of your life!”
…
While heading back to tend to his usual lightkeeping duties, Illuga couldn’t help but repeat the grandmaster’s words in mind. “Make sure to read the one for you once you’re out.”
“I wonder what’s important about that letter…” he thought to himself. He was practically itching to know what it was about at this point. Maybe it’s urgent? Perhaps he’s needed for something?
He paused on his tracks and carefully reached out for the same compartment he stored the other letter in earlier.
Illuga took one proper look at the envelope in his hands. It had a familiar royal blue seal on it, with “To: Illuga. From: L.” written on the back in cursive. And strangely enough, the seal itself carried a faint scent of bubblegum.
“Wait. This letter is from… Lohen?"
Oh, screw the ‘other matters’ he mentioned earlier. Illuga will have to spare some time to read this the moment he returns to Kipumaki Cliff.