Chapter 460 - 461: I Listen.

Chapter 460: Chapter 461: I Listen.

Fuck , Khobi’s ears are ringing .

​" That’s what you get for skipping training," Gandy taunts, snickering as he catches Khobi sitting limply on his ass waiting for his breathing to even out again.

​Shit , what a day.

​He’s feeling good, though. Always does after taking a few days off –his body coiled and ready to burn off some steam –but he knows by now that tomorrow is a different story. Tomorrow is gonna suck.

​" Man , must’ve been a bad dinner if Gurdet decided you needed to be locked up after."

​" –We all know Khobi has bad table manners,"

Rogard points out, which offers a convenient reason to dodge the question. And also to kick Rogard; not for the first time today.

They ask if he’s coming along to dinner but Khobi waves away the question like he’s been waving away all their questions today about where exactly he’s been and what the fuck he’d done to piss Gurdet off this time.

He’s gonna head down to the kitchens once he’s washed some of the blood off his face anyways, and no one questions it when he tells them that he’s kinda in the mood to cook something tonight.

​" –See you at breakfast tomorrow, then," Mural says, as they start to peel off; mess hall bound.

​" –Unless you y’know, slap the king or somethin," Gandy makes sure to chip in, as Khobi lingers back to scrub some water over his face, "But seriously, could you like, not do that? This big ol’ baby –" He jerks a thumb in Loac’s direction, " –Was goin’ into withdrawal or somethin’ without you ’round..."

​" Hey, Gandy... " It’s not often that Montrel comes to Loac’s defence, and the one time he does he needn’t have bothered, because said ’big old baby’ has absolutely no problem with planting a fist right into one of Gandy’s kidneys and making him leap a foot into the air with a yelp.

​" Ow , Loac! What was that for?"

​" I slipped ."

​" What the – you did not!" Gandy scoffs hotly, then wisely decides to drop it when Loac shoots him a glare and a meaningful "Want me to slip again?" through gritted teeth. He’s had quite enough battering around for today, thank you very much.

​It doesn’t take too long for Khobi to get himself cleaned off enough to not be shooed out of the kitchens, and once he’s finished wiping the water away from his eyes he’s a little surprised to find that Loac’s hung back.

​"...You not going to dinner with the others?" he frowns, a little confused because Loac’s been complaining for the last hour about being hungry.

​"You’re goin’ to the kitchens, right?" Loac points out as Khobi turns to head off, and pushes off the fence and drops into step with him like it’s a given that if Khobi’s going then he’s going too.

Which is fine, but if he’s expecting dinner...

​" –If this is you fishing for a free meal –"

​"It’s not," Loac tells him hurriedly, anticipating the lecture even before Khobi can get huffy with him.

He shoots him a sidelong look, expression knowing, "...You wanna make em somethin’, right?" Khobi swallows, and can’t help but surreptitiously glance around the emptying grounds, just in case someone’s heard.

No one seems to be paying them any mind though. And why would they? Loac’s said nothing strange, and the pair of them walking arm to arm around the castle really isn’t so strange, these days.

​His fingers twitch as Loac’s shoulder brushes up against his; wanting to reach out and lock with Loac’s.

​Right .

They haven’t had the chance to talk about that. Khobi’s not really sure what he would say, especially now.

​(And suddenly, he’s not sure he wants to hear Loac say it, either.)

​"...Yeah," he admits with a small shrug that has their arms brushing again. He hadn’t realised he was quite so transparent, but it makes sense that Loac would put the pieces together.

"I uh...never got to back then, so I thought it’d be nice to –"

​" –D’you...want some help?" For how abruptly Loac cuts him off his voice comes out sounding surprisingly uncertain, and Khobi is so used to him having an ego as limitless as the wilderness that in the rare moments when he gets all soft and unsure like this, it catches him completely unawares.

So of course he stares at him. For so long, in fact, that Loac starts to get uncomfortable and breaks his gaze to stuff his hands in his pockets.

​"...It’s fine if you don’t," he mumbles, and it’s funny how he never seems to mean it when he says stuff like that.

And because it’s not every day Khobi gets a genuine, no-strings-attached offer from him, he decides that there’s no harm in having an extra set of hands.

It’s been good hanging out with him again today; it’s only been a few days yet it somehow feels like it’s been a long time since they last spent any time together.

​There was a time when a thought like that would have been strange and confusing and a little embarrassing on account of how long he’d spent trying to convince himself and everyone around them that that’s not what they were doing, and why would he want that ?

​But Khobi gets it now.

​"Some help would be great," he admits, and when Loac sends him a curious, sidelong look –almost like he’s not entirely convinced that he’s being genuine, Khobi offers him a lopsided grin so that he knows he is.

​And for once, Loac isn’t a total liability in the kitchen. He doesn’t cut himself even once.

He’s even the one who suggests that they make some of that meat bread, and while Khobi has an inkling that there were some vaguely selfish motivations behind it, he hadn’t really decided what exactly he was gonna make, and he makes a good point in that it’s what his cook used to make for him back in Scargga.

​(Khobi is kind of surprised he remembered, although when he thinks about it maybe he shouldn’t be.)

​I listen, sometimes .