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"I can see you, y'know." Abolish was aware he wasn't supposed to speak, he was supposed to just stand there silently and guard the palace until the party was over - but at this point he was too annoyed by this rogue to care. They'd been bothering him for months now and he wished they'd just leave him alone because they were very frustrating to deal with.
"Yeah, that's the point." Their silvery blue eyes glanced him up and down from where they sat on a tree branch, back against the trunk, one of their legs dangling down and swaying back and forth. If Abolish really wanted to, he could easily grab his leg and yank him down and probably give him a pretty bad concussion, but he didn't have the energy at the moment. "If I didn't want you to see me, you wouldn't."
"I'm sure." He rolled his eyes behind his helmet, watching as the other's eyebrows arched. A grin made its way onto his face, one that only filled Abolish with dread, his eyes glittering in the dim light.
"I mean, you didn't see me at your window last night, did you?" he hummed, and Abolish's blood ran cold. "You're cute when you sleep. You have a really handsome face, you should take that helmet off more."
He had no clue how to respond to that for several long moments. What? Eventually, unsure what else to say, he muttered, "Freak."
The rogue was silent for maybe ten seconds, then let out a loud laugh. The way his nose scrunched up and his head tilted back slightly registered as cute in some way, although the observation was simply a neutral one that didn't really mean anything, of course. "Yeah, that- That's fair."
Within moments, he was hopping down from the tree he'd been sitting in, landing easily on his feet. Abolish's hand immediately flew to his sword, although the other didn't move any closer. Instead, they raised their eyebrows, staring him down and humming, "You don't need to worry, I'm not gonna attack you this time. I just wanted to… make a request of you. Nothing nefarious, don't worry about it."
Abolish's brow furrowed, and although the other couldn't see his expression, he was sure they could hear his skepticism in his voice. "Uh huh. I don't think you're in any position to be making requests."
Especially when I don't know your name, even if I'd kind of like to, and you're definitely supposed to be my enemy. He didn't say any of the rest of that out loud, but judging from the way their expression softened noticeably, head tilted just slightly, he had a sinking feeling in his chest that they were reading him like a book. So much for hiding his emotions behind his helmet.
"I may not be," they admitted after a moment, taking a step forward and holding their hands up. Abolish's hand lingered on the hilt of his sword but didn't pull it out. Yet. "But it's really simple. I just want to meet you somewhere private, you can even wear your armor and bring weapons if that makes you feel safer. Just a… friendly hangout. A date of sorts."
A date. Abolish nearly choked on air as he inhaled sharply, definitely loud enough for the taller to hear. "A- A date?"
"Yeah. I just wanna talk to you, really." His soft blue eyes sparkled, suddenly stepping right up to him before he could react, resting a scarred hand on the side of his helmet. "I'll tell you my name, too, if you show up. The forest just behind the castle, if you go east there's a river, follow that and I'll be waiting for you at the waterfall around sunset."
Abolish drew in a slow, measured breath, repeating their words over and over in his head so he wouldn't forget. As stupid as the decision was, he couldn't not show up. His dumb brain simply wouldn't allow him to refuse, already planning how he was going to sneak out, excuse his absence without anyone noticing. Because Lord was he annoying, but Lord was he also pretty, especially standing here wearing the same loose clothes he always did, washed out shades of blue matching his shimmering eyes, even more gorgeous reflecting the light from the palace right next to them.
As he started to respond, he was interrupted by a soft kiss pressed to the side of his helmet, the rogue pulling away after just a second with a grin on his face. Then they turned away, waving as they hurried off, boots crunching in the grass; he didn't even manage to process what had just happened until they were already long gone, disappearing into the night.
Good God, what was he getting himself into?
The time passed much quicker than Abolish wanted it to, and before he knew it, he was hurrying to his room after work, slipping off his armor so he could change before the sun got too close to the horizon. He'd barely managed to get out of working even longer, excusing himself with the fact that he'd already stayed up most of the night previously and needed to get some rest for tomorrow. Even then, he was pretty sure the other Moon Knights only halfway believed him.
He'd debated with himself in his head the entire day whether or not he should wear his armor. Eventually, he'd decided that he would wear regular clothes but still bring a dagger just in case - now, staring at himself in the mirror, he wasn't so sure.
He always wore his helmet when he was in public for a reason. Technically, when off duty, Moon Knights weren't required to wear all their armor as long as they wore the kingdom's symbol, and most elected to just wear some of their armor without their helmet. But… if he was being entirely honest, Abolish absolutely hated the way he looked.
His hair was a bit too long even after cutting it, too curly to look all that masculine. He was on medication but his facial hair was still not nearly as good as he wanted it to look, not to mention that his face itself was all too soft, high cheekbones and a smooth jawline, not appearing manly in the slightest like the other male Moon Knights he knew. And that wasn't even mentioning the way his eyes looked, with thick eyelashes and pretty doe eyes that he knew would instantly get him clocked as not a real man.
But it was fine. It was fine. If the rogue was going to reveal their name to him, he should at least extend a little bit of the same vulnerability and show his face, right?
He glanced down at his body and swallowed hard. God, he looked awfully skinny, probably from how distracted he'd been lately, neglecting to train properly while he was busy with that stupid rogue. Maybe he should at least wear his armor to cover up the slight curves that the potions he took hadn't quite gotten rid of.
Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to put on all his armor again, the sun already touching the horizon. If he left any later than this, they would probably assume he wasn't coming and leave - and he absolutely did not want them to be mad at him, or worse, disappointed. So, sparing himself one last dread-filled look in the mirror, he slipped his dagger into his pocket and hurried out the door.
Somehow, he managed to avoid running into anyone, making it to the forest without any issues. He knew the worst was yet to come, though, hands shaking as he headed east like the rogue had told him. Everything in him was shouting at him that he shouldn't be scared, he was literally a knight, one of the best knights, he could handle any fight that anyone tried to put up. Even the other Moon Knights regarded him as one of the most skilled fighters out of any of them, if not the most skilled period. So why did he feel so terrified?
He knew the reason, but he didn't want to address that, instead focusing on the path ahead. River. There was water rushing just up ahead, and a few more quick steps led him to the source of the noise. With the sky lighting up with plenty of reds and pinks now, the world around him dark and warm, he could only hope that the person he was meeting up with hadn't given up on him already.
When the trees began to thin out, his prayers were answered - by some miracle, the rogue was sitting on a rock just up ahead, staring out at the sunset with a soft look on his face. Abolish quickened into a light jog as the individual turned to look at him, neutral expression shifting into the mischievous grin he usually wore.
"There's my handsome knight," he announced, jumping up to his feet as Abolish slowed to a stop in front of him. "I was starting to…"
They trailed off as their eyes settled on his face, mouth hanging open silently. Abolish's heart pounded in his chest, bracing himself for whatever they were going to say to him, the teasing and insults they were probably already coming up with. His teeth sank into his lip and he prayed he didn't look too terrified as they just stared at him like they'd stumbled across some animal they'd never seen before in their life. Whether it was in a good way or a bad way, he really couldn't tell.
"Oh wow." Their voice was hardly even a whisper as they finally spoke, breathless and sounding almost like they were going to pass out. Throat bobbing as they swallowed, they blinked rapidly and straightened up a bit. His stomach squirmed as he tried desperately to figure out if they were being sarcastic or not. "You, um- really hot. You're really hot. Wow."
He was sure that his face was just as red as theirs was, crossing his arms over his chest as he angled his head downward. "I, uh… thank… you? I think?"
"I- I expected you to look good, I mean- I didn't get that clear of a look at you in the, uh, middle of the night?" They took another couple steps forward until their hand was resting on the side of his face, calloused thumb brushing just under one of his eyes as they tilted his head up. "Seeing you properly is…"
Abolish wanted to pull away, but he wanted to lean in and kiss them at the same time, so he really had no clue what to do. He honestly thought that they were far more gorgeous than he was, with their soft, wavy brown hair and the way their sky blue eyes always reminded him of a puppy's, but they interrupted his thoughts before he could dwell on that too much. "It's, uh- Shep, by the way. My name."
"Shep," Abolish murmured slowly, tilting his head to the side slightly. Huh. A unique name, but oddly enough, it fit him well. Something about him was reminescent of a sheepdog, all the fluffiness and the way he lounged around like he thought he was smaller than he actually was. And of course the aggressiveness with which he fought and his tendency to bite like a dog.
"Yeah, I picked it out myself." He seemed to pause, thinking something over, but before Abolish had even a moment to question what was on his mind, their lips brushed together for a split second. It was hardly even a kiss, Shep pulling away to walk back over to the rock they'd been sitting on before he could process what had happened, but his face burned and his knees felt weak nonetheless.
"Come over here, sit with me," they hummed, waving him over, and he could only follow them and wordlessly sit down next to them. The water was loud, the edge of the waterfall hardly a few feet away, sunlight reflecting on the ripples almost bright enough to hurt his eyes. But it was beautiful, tension leaving him as he relaxed in a way he hadn't in a long time.
"You do have a nice name," he said after a moment, watching them look over at him out of the corner of his eye. Their face was still a bit red, and they only flushed further at his words. "It… fits you. It's, uh, cute."
Shep was quiet for a few moments, turning his head away again. The look on his face was sadder now, although he was still smiling, some odd expression Abolish couldn't quite understand. "Thank you. I kinda had to change it after I… well, you know what it's like in Thornhelm, right?"
"A little." His head tilted to the side slightly, glancing over at the other. "I've… heard a few things from people who used to live there, but that's all, really. I've never lived there myself."
Shep hummed, then slowly turned to look at him again, the fading sunlight casting long shadows on their face. Abolish noticed a cut along their jaw - a new one, seemingly from a knife, just barely visible. He didn't register what he was doing until his hand was on their face, thumb running along the edge of the small injury. Their lips parted to speak, although nothing came out for a solid few seconds, more scarlet dusting their cheeks.
"I, uh- I had to change my name after becoming a rogue," they said at last, clearing their throat, leaning slightly into his hand when he started to pull back. "To disguise myself and everything. And for… other reasons, obviously."
Abolish paused for a moment, glancing all over their face as he thought that over. Did that mean what he thought it meant? Deciding to not bring it up, he hummed, "Well, uh- You picked a nice one, in my opinion."
"Thanks." There was a lot more he wanted to say, so many more questions he had, but Shep's lips were pressing more firmly against his and all those thoughts left his head, eyes fluttering closed with a soft sigh. That could wait til later - they'd both revealed enough about themselves for the night, and right now, all he wanted to do was kiss them. So much for being one of Soluna's best knights.