Chapter 358: Another Company.

Chapter 358: Chapter 358: Another Company.

The bath works some of the dull ache from his lower body and by the time he clambers out, skin steaming, there’s barely a tremor to the way he walks.

Once he’s dressed again he makes sure to triple check his reflection in the mirror to make sure there’s nothing showing that he doesn’t want showing, and while he doesn’t think the guards are gonna barge straight in the moment he’s out of the bath, if he hangs his towel around his neck it hides everything nicely.

​When he pads out of the bathroom there are voices from the other side of the door. Weird, because Gandy had been complaining that they weren’t getting relieved until going on midnight.

​"What are you two doing here?" Loac’s busy saying as Khobi wanders over to listen in; sounding about as confused to find the door locked as Khobi had. More, maybe, seeing as it’s his room.

​" –Oh, hey Captain," Gandy greets easily, "We’re guarding Khobi. Didn’t you hear? He’s been cut off."

​" Yeah ," he states flatly, "Gurdet mentioned that."

​"Well did he say where we gotta take him?" Montrel can be heard chipping in irritably, "Coz we haven’t heard a thing all day –"

​"Yeah, and we got a bet goin’ and I got ten gold on the west wing basement," Gandy drawls as the key turns in the lock and the door starts to swing open, "It’s real damp down there, and the rats are fuckin’ huge –"

​" –Well you just lost ten gold," Loac remarks casually as he brushes past the two guards in the doorway and ambles into the room, "Gurdet said he’s stayin’ here."

​The disbelief is palpable .

​" What ?" Montrel splutters, at the same time as Gandy gapes, " Huh ? No cell?"

​What ?

​Suddenly frozen, Khobi can only gape. He’s not the only one. Montrel and Gandy clearly can’t believe what they’re hearing either; they haven’t even moved to close the door behind him.

​"...You’re serious?" he whispers when he finally finds his voice, because in the last few hours and the dozens of ways this could pan out, the possibility that he might just get to stay in the comfort of his own room hadn’t even crossed his mind. But f or once, Loac does not appear to be messing with him.

​Khobi had always hated being caged. But now that he’s tasted freedom –and real freedom, at that; the kind that smells of the mountains and the wind at his back –the idea of going back to a world contained in four walls had tasted exceptionally sour. But he gets to keep his bed.

And his bath. And the window that looks out across the plains. And if the spread that Binny’s sister had brought up for them earlier is any indication, Gurdet isn’t planning on starving him.

​"...Well, where are you gonna stay then?" Montrel blinks in confusion, as he too comes to realise that Loac isn’t, in fact, fucking with them.

​"This is my room," Loac states coolly, and that earns him an even more puzzled look in response.

​"...I...uhh? ...Suit yourself, I guess," Montrel mumbles with a snort and a light roll of his eyes. "But you know we’ve gotta lock you in though, right?"

​"Do what you like," Loac shrugs, and the offhanded, "It’s not like it’s hard to get out," he throws in makes Montrel grind his teeth.

​" I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that ."

​"...What’s with the sandwich?" Gandy inquires suddenly, before Montrel loses his temper, and Khobi follows his gaze to the plate in Loac’s hands that he’d been too distracted by the news that he wasn’t in fact, about to never see the light of day again to even notice.

​"...Hah? Oh, kitchens asked me to bring it up," Loac says vacantly, depositing it on the bed. Khobi’s side of the bed.

​"What? For me?" Khobi queries, surprised because they’d only just finished dinner before he went for his bath.

It was a bit early for it but Binny’s sister had said that the kitchens were busy. Not that he’d been complaining; he was still a bunch of meals behind.

He’d actually been hoping for some more food, so this is a welcome surprise.

​"Huh, that’s weird," Gandy remarks offhandedly, like he’s read his mind, "Coz they already sent some food up." He even points towards the plates laid out on the table where they’d been eating together.

Loac’s jaw tightens and something narrows behind his eyes.

​"... Did they ?"

​(And as the door slams behind him, Gandy gets the strangest feeling that he’s in for a walloping the next time he’s down at training.)

​...

​"Hey," Loac greets belatedly, once the lock has clicked back into place and they’re left alone once again.

​"...Hey," Khobi echoes back, and when he absent-mindedly brings up the edge of his towel to start drying off his hair, there’s no missing the distracted way Loac’s gaze dips to the skin laid bare there.

And from the slow way his eyes lift back to meet Khobi’s, he doesn’t care that he’s been caught.

Like maybe, even after how deeply they’d been entangled long into the night, he’s still not quite finished with him just yet.

​A small thrill of anticipation runs down Khobi’s spine, curling around its base and starting to tighten.

​"...I need a bath," Loac finally declares, pulling his gaze away so abruptly that it leaves Khobi reeling.

"...What, you not hungry for once?" he adds offhandedly, when a glance back over his shoulder reveals that Khobi has for once made no attempt on the food laid out for him.

And it’s not that Khobi’s not hungry --it’s a running joke for a reason --it’s just that while Khobi’s not an expert on many things, he has eaten a lot of sandwiches in his time spent in Crade.

That’s why he knows for a fact that the kitchens did not send this sandwich.

It’s lopsided, for one, with the bread cut way too thick and with ingredients haphazardly spilling out the sides.

Khobi’s seen multiple servants –Binny and his sister included –assemble an entire sandwich for him in seconds and they come out picture perfect every single time so the fact that this looks absolutely nothing like it is cause to doubt Loac’s story.

​But then...why...?

​Eyes widening, Khobi shoots a look over in Loac’s direction as he starts to peel out of his dirty outer layers. Looks like he’s spent the day at training; lucky bastard.

​Surely not...

​The fresh cuts he spies on Loac’s hands all but confirm his suspicions.

Blunt swords bruise but don’t tend to cut so cleanly through gloves.

​"...Did you...make this?" Khobi queries anyway, audibly incredulous, and from the sulky way Loac immediately ducks his gaze he’s hit the nail on the head.

"...For me?" he feels the need to clarify again. And he’s not making fun, really he’s not, he just doesn’t understand.

​Loac doesn’t answer.

Which in itself is an answer. Khobi stares at him for a long moment, and then back at the sandwich, still sitting on the bed. A piece of meat slips out the side.

​"...You don’t have to eat it," Loac gripes back, sounding irritated as he makes a beeline towards the bathroom. And a little...disappointed? "...I didn’t know they already sent something up."

​So he made something for him?

​What the fuck. Who is this guy?