Chapter 414: At All Odds.

Chapter 414: Chapter 414: At All Odds.

For a second it looks like Khobi’s trying not to smile.

But then he just gives it up as a lost cause and one of those dumb, ridiculously huge grins splits his face, like he’s just so fuckin’ pleased with himself to have gotten in the last word.

​( Maybe there, Loac could tell him... )

​" – Shit , Khobi," Loac can’t help but laugh, shaking his head as he just lies there because this guy seriously doesn’t know when to quit and how is that both his favourite and the most infuriating thing about him? "...You’re the best."

​It just slips out; honest in a way he isn’t usually and hadn’t intended to be, and the unexpected praise renders Khobi speechless. And a little red.

​No one else even bats a damn eye.

​" Yeah, yeah , Khobi’s great," Montrel drawls casually, knocking them each in the back of the head as he wanders past, "Haul ass lovebirds, I heard breakfast’s gonna be real good. And put on some fucking shoes, Loac!"

​It’s not like he’s said anything he wouldn’t usually say, but today for some reason the offhanded comment makes Loac’s palms sweat.

​"Who’re you calling lovebirds?" Khobi complains without skipping a beat; as he always complains when the soldiers say shit like that.

​"Come off it, Khobi. Who d’you think ?"

​And they shit like that a lot . Almost every day, come to think of it; probably because Khobi always bites and throws a strop when they do, and as Khobi’s primary and most persistent antagonist, that’s certainly something that Loac can get behind.

Usually Loac pays them no mind, but today –as jokes do when they hold a grain of truth –it hits just a little too close to home, and it suddenly occurs to him just how much truth all their jibes about him trying to hog Khobi’s attention and getting all mopey when Khobi’s not around had held.

​The real question is: do they know how right they were? And what it means that they are?

​( Gods, looking back he’s been so fucking obvious.)

​Sure, they’re morons –it’s become somewhat of a term of endearment –but could they have caught on? As much as they poke fun at he and Khobi’s whatever it is , they’ve never seemed surprised by it.

A little caught off guard occasionally, but never surprised . Like they’d seen it coming. All of it.

​What else do they see?

​There’s a concerning thought.

​For having successfully evened the score on the morning, Loac keeps awful quiet through breakfast.

Because now that he’s figured it out for himself he’s suddenly worried that everyone else can tell as well; like somehow the fact that he’s in love is written all over his face for the world to see.

And maybe it is. He doesn’t know what it looks like. But he figured it out, who’s to say no one else will? That’s how the castle works after all.

Secrets don’t stay secrets. Rumours start and rumours spread, and whether they’re true or not hardly matters.

​At the very least, he thinks Rogard knows.

​In fact, he’s almost certain Rogard knows.

He’s not sure how he figured it out before him, but suddenly that strange conversation they had down at the tavern that day makes a lot more sense.

​What’s going on with Khobi ? That’s what he’d asked.

At the time it had come out of nowhere, and when Loac had answered truthfully and told him there was nothing, Rogard had just looked all pensive and patient, like he’d told him the wrong answer but was willing to wait for him to figure it out. Which at the time had struck him as odd.

​(Do you want there to be ?)

​Loac hadn’t had an answer for him back then.

Which, in hindsight, probably should’ve been a clue.

​...

​For being common knowledge at this point, Loac hasn’t expressly told anyone that he and Khobi are sleeping together. Not Xena, and certainly not his uncle.

But there’s no way they don’t know; Gurdet wouldn’t have needed to hear the castle whispers to have pieced it together. He’s always been a smart man. He figures things out.

​Therein lies the problem.

​Given his recent revelation, today is not such a good day for a family dinner.

Loac’s not squeamish –you can’t be, when you’re a soldier –but Uncle has this way of talking sometimes that feels like he’s trying to peel his skin off and see what’s going on underneath and he doesn’t like it, not one bit.

Especially because now he’s got something he wants to hide, and when his uncle thinks there are secrets to be found he starts looking all the harder.

But Xena likes for them to eat together every now and then like a normal, functioning family, and even though Loac has spent most of his life pretty sure that they’re about as far from that as a family can be, that doesn’t feel quite as true these days.

And he’d decided he was done with making Xena sad, so if sitting through a meal with his uncle a couple of times a week will make her happy, then he’s going to try .

​But he’s already been on edge most of the day; suddenly hyperaware of how he carries himself –especially where Khobi is concerned –and from the moment he sits down, it feels like Uncle is watching .

And while he doesn’t say anything, there’s just something about the way he looks at him as they eat that makes Loac feel weirdly transparent.

Like his uncle doesn’t even need to dig that deep under his skin to know his thoughts.

​Thankfully it’s not unusual for him to tune out when they eat together, so the fact that he focuses largely on his food instead of his company goes unquestioned.

Xena carries the conversation like she usually would, going on about her archery, and some interesting battle tactics she stumbled across in one of her books that she was hoping to pick Drogger’s brain about, and Montrel, of course.

She’s been talking about him a lot these days, and whenever she does she gets this kind of sparkly, doe-eyed, happy little look on her face like –

​–Gods, he seriously hopes he doesn’t look like that when he talks about Khobi.

​How embarrassing would that be?

​...But what if he does?

​Shit.