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Illuga’s home was rather simple. The bare necessities were all here, a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room with a kitchen attached, the small wooden table stood in between them to act as the dining room. With Illuga away stationed at another post outside of Piramida it was often left empty for days or weeks at a time. As such Illuga never saw much point in making the space his own, it was here to act as a safe place to rest in between duties and it served its purpose well no need to spend what little down time he had trying to change it in any way.
Lohen, however, thought it all rather sad.
His boyfriend worked so hard, he deserved something nicer than just bare minimum. Sure, he wasn’t much of a homebody either. He was far too busy running around slaying any beast he came across to bother settling in one place longer than a night or two. But that was him, Lohen was made to run wild and cause havoc. His sweet birdie was better than him, he deserved a nice nest to rest his wings in.
The problem was Lohen had no idea how to make said nest. He never bothered to learn how to make his own. As soon as he left his parents he was off with the adventurer's guild, and then after them the knights. He had been given his own living quarters by both organizations but he turned them into storage rooms for whatever random monster parts he decided to collect. Just one room filled with Lohen’s belongings.
Perhaps that was a place to start. Homes were supposed to represent the people living in them. So first things first was to make the house feel like Illuga.
All his things were here, a closet full of his clothes, a blanket draped over the couch his father gave him as a child, even some pretty white and golden dishes Flins gifted him as a house warming present. For all extensive purposes that box was checked but the house still didn’t feel right. Something was still off.
Lohen spent so much time pondering this new challenge that Illuga began to take notice. Even if he didn't, Lohen staring at him over the dinner table one night would be enough to tell him something was off.
“Is there something bothering you?” Illuga questioned, watching Lohen poke at his food.
Right, Illuga was good at reading him; a fact Lohen forgot far too often, “mhm! Right as rain, birdie.”
Illuga was clearly skeptical so Lohen made a show of taking a big bite and chewing dramatically. Thankfully Illuga knew when to push for answers and when to let his lover contemplate his feelings a bit longer. “Alright, if you say so.”
Their night continued on as usual, Illuga finishing up some paperwork while Lohen did the dishes; a shared bath to relax their tired muscles as they talked about their day. They were not settling down for bed, Illuga laying in bed with Aedon on his chest and Lohen digging out his sleeping clothes from the closet.
“Oh, I wanted to talk about something.” Illuga said as he moved Aedon to the unused side of the bed.
“Uh oh, getting serious on me? And here I thought we were having a nice night.”
Illuga only rolled his eyes and scoffed, “calm down, it’s nothing major. I was just thinking it might be a good idea to move your stuff here.”
Lohen waved a hand in the direction of the closet as he pulled a shirt over his head, “I got my stuff right here, should I get my polearm out of the other room as more proof?”
“Yeah but, I mean all your stuff, you still leave quite a bit in your tent right?”
“Yeah,” the bed shook as Lohen threw himself down on top of Illuga, “stays out of the way there.”
“May as well move it here though, you never sleep at the keep anymore.”
Lohen peered up at his boyfriend, a sly grin crossing his face, “my dear birdie, are you asking me to move in with you?”
Illuga looked away as blush creeped up his face, “you practically live here away.”
“Yeah but I wanna hear you say it.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll go take myself back to the keep and sleep there instead.” Making good on his threat Lohen pulled himself up and stood from the bed only to let out a yelp as he was dragged back by two strong arms.
Lohen kicked and squirmed with all his might but the endless giggles made it too hard to put up a real fight, “quit wiggling, you’re staying here.”
“I am not,” he got free briefly when Illuga was readjusting his grip, he got to the other end of the bed before his leg was grabbed, “no!! You don’t want me here!”
“Of course I want you here!”
“Then say it!” Both sat for a moment, catching their breaths from laughing too hard.
Illuga moved to cage Lohen under him, his bangs falling to tickle Lohen’s face as he leaned down, “will you move in with me? Stay here with me forever?”
Oh his birdie was so cute, always so shy when asking for things he wants. He should really know better by now; Lohen would give him anything in the world so long as he got to see that sweet smile of his. “Of course I will, silly.” His arms reached up to wrap around Illuga’s neck, pulling him closer until their noses brushed together, “you’re stuck with me.”
Ah, there’s that pretty smile he adores. A shame he has to stop seeing it to kiss him, thankfully the soft brush to Illuga’s lips against his makes it more than worth it. Sure, they’re laying with heads on the wrong end of the bed and their blanket had been kicked to the floor during their fighting but neither seemed to mind, even after they separated they stayed laying chest to chest, both too lazy to move.
“Maybe now that you’ll have all your stuff here you’ll stop stealing my clothes to lounge around in,” Illuga teased, picking at the fabric of the worn out yellow shirt Lohen stole.
“Nah, as far as I’m concerned this is mine now.”
A few days later Lohen had successfully moved out of his tent and into Illuga’s home. It felt surprisingly nice. The couple took the whole day to pack things up and move them to Piramida. Half way through unpacking Illuga got called away for lightkeeper business, while Lohen pouted and whined about it at first a quiet house gave him plenty of time to think. He now stood in the middle of the living room, scanning all the new details, the newest pieces of his monster parts collection took up a whole shelf on the wall, weapons sat in just about any space Lohen could find for them. It already felt so perfect; even Lohen’s signature blues and whites mixed in nicely with Illuga’s golds and browns.
Throwing himself down on the couch as his mind wondered, his plan of making a nicer home for his boyfriend hadn’t made much progress recently. Really it hadn’t made any progress. The only idea he had didn’t end up leading anywhere, in fact it only led him to feeling more frustrated than anything.
Glancing at the clock he decided it didn’t matter now, Illuga said he’d be home soon after all, best he start dinner. Lohen wasn’t the best cook, certainly not as good as Illuga, but he had a few dishes he could make confidently enough to serve them to other people. Besides, Illuga said he liked them and that was more than enough to coax him into the kitchen.
Just when he was ready to let the food simmer, Lohen heard the front door open and the sound of boots being kicked off, “Bunny! I’m home!”
Home. The word made Lohen’s chest feel warm, this was their home now wasn’t it? “Welcome back birdie, no one causing anymore problems?”
“No one was causing problems, just some confusion.” Illuga smiled, pressing a quick kiss to Lohen’s head, “what smells so good?”
“Dinner, with you running off to work I thought I’d cook tonight.”
Illuga laughed, “you know this reminds me of when I was a kid, pops was always in the kitchen making dinner when I got back from playing.”
The image of a little Illuga coming home with scraped knees and red cheeks from the cold made Lohen giddy. Illuga was already so cute now he must have been even cuter as a child, he’d have to ask Nikita for pictures next time they saw each other.
“Well then you best go wash up then, dinner will be ready soon.”
With a lack of progress in his plan after a full week, Lohen decided he was better off not thinking about it at all. The best ideas always came after you gave up trying to find them. Besides, he found something to keep him distracted on his way home.
Lohen learned how to pick out a good piece of wood from a pile of scrap before he could read. While other children ran around outside playing tag he sat in his father’s lap, big hands guiding small to teach him the proper techniques to care said wood into something useful. Even after Lohen turned to focus on becoming a strong fighter he still found himself sitting down with a carving knife and block of wood when he needed to relax.
He had been extra lucky today, the small log he found was enough to make a few things out of it he cut it up right. Maybe two or three statues if he went for something bigger, come to think of it, it has been some time since he carved something cute.
His hands began to move before he fully planned out his creation. Wood chips fell onto the dining table as a beak and two wings took shape. Before he knew it a little wooden nightingale sat in the palm of his hand staring up at him. A soft smile grazed his face.
Illuga will like this, it looks just like him.
As if summoned by the thought alone the front door is pushed open to reveal the very lightkeeper plaguing Lohen’s thoughts.
“Birdie? You’re back awfully early.”
Illuga joined him by the table, the two sharing a kiss the same way they always do when reunited, “I needed to grab a report for pops, I forgot it on my desk this morning.”
Lohen watches Illuga’s eyes fall on the carving his lover was holding. He held it up with the same proud smile one would find on a child showing their parents a new drawing, “isn’t it cute? I modeled it after you.”
Illuga scoffed, “I do not look like that.”
“Sure you do, you’re my cute little birdie.” Lohen lowered his hands back down, poking at the beak with a somber smile, “always flying around saving the day, only coming back to the nest to rest.”
A gentle hand combed through Lohen’s hair, pushing his messy bangs away from his face, “are you sure everything’s okay?”
He might as well tell, relationships were about communication and he’d be famed if he ruined the best thing to happen to him. “It’s just-“ Lohen bit his lip, contemplating his words, “you work so hard all the time, I just want to make a place for you to come home to that feels as safe and warm as you make other people feel; as you make me feel.”
“That’s what’s been bothering you? Oh bunny,” Illuga knelt down forcing his way into Lohen’s line of sight from where he hung his head down, “you’ve already done that and more.”
“Wait- really?”
Illuga took his hands, kissing his knuckles, “why do you think I wanted you to move in? Hell if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t even be here as much as I am.”
Lohen thought about it, Illuga had mainly stayed at Clif Watch Camp before sleeping over became a regular thing. Lohen himself stayed there a few nights only for them to decide Illuga’s room was too small for the pair and moved to his house at Piramida. “I haven’t even done anything.” He mumbled.
“Just you being here with me brings me so much comfort, I can get through any long day as long as I know I’m coming home to you at the end of it.”
“Birdie,” tears welled up in Lohen’s eyes as he cradled Illuga’s face with one hand, “don’t say things like that it’s embarrassing.”
He only got a soft laugh in return as Illuga learned into his touch, "does it at least make you feel better?”
Lohen nodded, wiping a stray tear and kissing Illuga’s head. His boyfriend stood giving him a kiss back, “I gotta go meet pops, I’ll be back soon, unless you wanna come with.”
His eyes drifted to the table, wood shavings still covered the table- he’d need to clean it up soon but an idea formed as he saw the spare wood still sitting unused, “nah, I wanna do something real quick.”
When the two retired for bed that night and Lohen laid in the dark, face pressed against his lover’s chest, he fell asleep to the sight of a little wooded bird sitting on the nightstand with a matching wooden bunny keeping it company.