Chapter 475 - 476: Terrible Tea.

Chapter 475: Chapter 476: Terrible Tea.

When he wakes to full blown sunlight searing his face Khobi immediately misses Loac’s heat. From how tightly he’d wrapped himself around him in the night he’d been expecting to have to claw his way free this morning. But no, there’s Loac already up and about, checking his reflection in the mirror to make sure his stupid crown’s on straight. He looks really good, actually. Kinda dressed up. It’s a little embarrassing to admit but Khobi’s starting to think he maybe has a bit of a thing for it.

Or maybe just a bit of a thing for Loac in general.

Guy could wear nothing but one of Khobi’s raggedy old shirts and he’d –

Khobi immediately has to scrub the image from his mind because fuck is that dangerous.

"You’re up early," he says instead, stretching out and letting out a groan of appreciation as he splays out across the entirety of the bed. His eyes don’t feel nearly as heavy as they have been, and the lead that’s been weighing down his bones for the last few mornings has all but evaporated overnight like it was never even there. It’s a good feeling, made even better by the view.

"I told Xena I’d have breakfast with her," Loac huffs, with all the regret of a person who had made plans when they were younger and more energetic. He sends him a furtive look over his shoulder, and Khobi doesn’t bother pretending that he wasn’t checking him out, "You wanna come?"

"You had me at breakfast," Khobi grins, and then frowns, " –Wait, are you sure that’s okay?"

"...You kidding? She’ll be thrilled." Loac rolls his eyes, marching over towards the bed and giving his leg a light smack to get him moving, " –Better get up, then."

"Isn’t that usually my line?" Khobi snickers, and aims a kick at him. Like he’d been expecting it, Loac just grabs his foot and gives him a yank in retaliation, jerking him down the bed with a yelp. "Hey, let go!" Predictably, Loac does not let go; instead offering him a toothy grin. Khobi knows that look, and he knows what’s coming next. " Don’t you fucking dare ."

This is Loac, so obviously he dares.

Khobi hits the floor with a shout, taking every single one of their blankets with them.

" You’re dead ," he declares hotly, flailing about to disentangle himself and launching himself up and off the floor. Loac hits the floor with a shout of his own and a brief but excessively violent struggle ensues before Khobi successfully manages to pin him face down on the floor with both hands locked firmly behind his back. He helps himself to his crown as a trophy.

"Hey, that’s mine!" Loac growls, rearing back far enough so that he can level him with a mutinous glare. But for all the heat there there’s laughter too; glinting bright and playful in the corners of his eyes. It makes Khobi want to loosen his grip on him, just a little bit; just enough to keep the game going a little longer.

" –Well it’s mine now," he brags, dangling it down so that he can see it then snatching it away when Loac tries to buck himself free. Too busy gloating, Khobi almost drops the damn thing, and has to release him anyways to get a good grip on it. And just like that Loac’s on him again, straining against him and getting his hands all over his face and chest and ass as he grabs for it.

If he’d asked nicely, Khobi probably would have given it back.

(Maybe.)

But he knew he wouldn’t, didn’t he? Just like he knew he’d try to play dirty. But unlucky for him Khobi knows his game by now and when Loac tries to lean in for a kiss to get him nice and distracted, he winds up with nothing more than a mouthful of chin.

"Nice try," Khobi smirks, and dodges a second. This one clips the underside of his jaw, which is a little more dangerous, but he stands his ground. At least, until he hears Loac mumble something into the crook of his neck; hands slowly smoothing down his chest in what Khobi hopes is him accepting defeat.

"...Hey, Khobi."

" What ," Khobi growls suspiciously, still poised to shove him back down on the floor at the first sign of foul play. But then he looks down; which was his first mistake.

"...Kiss me."

Because Khobi’s an idiot, and he apparently has a real weakness for when Loac’s voice and eyes get all soft like that, he relents.

Always a mistake, letting his guard down around this guy.

" –You seriously never learn, do you?" Loac snickers, triumphantly twirling his reclaimed crown on his index finger and offering him a smug smirk while Khobi crossly gets himself dressed. He better watch it with that shit or next time he’ll bite his goddamned tongue.

"I’ll get you for that," he swears mutinously, as Loac makes a big show of setting his crown back on his head muttering something about he’d just gotten it sitting right, too .

There’s something about the way Loac glances his way, that suggests that he’s counting on it.

...

Khobi’s glad he put in a little effort today. Xena’s looking really dressed up for a breakfast.

"Is it...a special occasion or something?" he inquires, suddenly feeling a little underdressed even though he made the effort to put on some of his least bloodstained clothes. Clothes that kind of got a little rumpled in the struggles earlier. She just waves away the question and ushers them on in; seeming quite delighted to find that she’s gotten two guests when she was only expecting one. The table’s already set, and there’s already a third cup and saucer being laid out for Khobi like the servants had caught wind that he was coming.

"I call the puddings," Loac states immediately, pushing Khobi aside so that he can get his hands on his favourite sweets first.

" Loac –"

" Hey, you can’t just call the things you want, Loac –"

Partway through scolding Loac, Xena and Khobi exchange a glance. And then after a pause, Xena starts laughing.

"Oh, I’m so glad you joined us, Khobi!"

"Me too," Khobi decides with a snicker. Loac however, poised with a pudding halfway towards his mouth and already reaching for a second, is starting to look like he’s starting to have some reservations. He settles down once he’s got some food in him though, and it’s his turn to laugh when Khobi decides to give the tea a try and immediately makes a sour face.

"You don’t have to drink it," Xena assures him, as he gives the tea a tentative sniff to steel himself for a second attempt. How does something that smells so nice taste so not what it smells like.

Nope. The second sip is just as bad.

It tastes like grass.