Tales of Vesperia - An Unexpected Eyeful
Sodia was not happy. Indeed, to say that she was anywhere near being in such a state would have been the understatement of the year. She'd just spent all morning - the entire morning - rounding up reports that should have been on the commandant's desk by breakfast. Once they had been delivered, she was going to make very, very certain that specific individuals got a nice, long training exercise personally supervised by her. This sort of conduct was completely unacceptable. If they wanted to remain knights under the leadership of Commandant Scifo then they were either going to shape up or ship out. And she'd be more than happy to help give them the boot if they didn't improve.
Now for these reports...
Her forward march faltered somewhat once she reached the office she shared with Witcher. It was situated right beside the commandant's, a location she was well pleased with. Commandant Alexei had used the rooms surrounding his office for filing and storage. How he'd still managed to communicate so readily with his subordinates still confounded her to this day. How had they known whenever he'd needed orders sent out? But no, those were ruminations for another day. Today she had work to do and reports to deliver.
"Witcher, you would not believe..." Sodia trailed off, her tirade aborted as she finally took a good look at her companion. There was something about the diminutive mage that seemed... off today. He hadn't looked up when she'd stormed in. In fact, he didn't seem to know that she was even there. And what were those things sticking out of his ears? They looked kind of like strips of fabric torn off from his robes. What in the world?
"Witcher?" She asked hesitantly as she reached forward and plucked one of the wads of rolled up fabric out of his nearest ear.
"Ack!" Witcher flailed in surprise, tipping over in his chair and almost spilling out of it. "What? What? Oh! Sodia, you're back." Once he'd finally regained his balance, he leaned forward, laying both hands flat upon his desk and he blinked up at her in something that almost resembled relief.
"Sorry about that, didn't mean to startle you," Sodia murmured absently as she studied the makeshift earplug she'd divested Witcher of, then eyed his robes rather dubiously. There was a little ragged edge near the hem. She could barely make it out, but yes, it was there. That sealed it, the "earplugs" definitely were from his robe. "So why don't you tell me what's going on?"
"Yuri Lowell dropped in shortly after you left," Witcher explained peevishly as he reached up and adjusted his glasses. "And he and the commandant have been yelling at each other off and on ever since."
"Ah, of course," Sodia grumbled in annoyance. "One catastrophe after another." She really didn't want to see Yuri Lowell - ever again -, but she had spent all morning gathering those gods-be-damned reports. They would be delivered come hell or high water... or the natural disaster otherwise known as Yuri Lowell. Steeling herself, she headed towards the door. The sooner this was over with the better.
"Sodia? What are you doing?"
She glanced back at the little mage and spared him a reassuring smile. "I have reports to deliver. Don't worry about me, I've survived worse than that man."
Witcher didn't look reassured by her statement in the least. "If you say so..."
That annoyed her. Were it anyone else, Witcher never would have doubted in her ability to deal with any challenge that might arise. But add Yuri Lowell to the mix and everything just went straight to hell. How he'd survived to maturity was a mystery unto itself. Grumbling to herself, Sodia stalked down the hall to the commandant's office door and stopped. She stood there for a moment, then blew out a heavy breath and straightened to her full height. She would not allow Yuri Lowell to get to her. No matter what he did, he would not get through her iron sense of duty. Not this time.
Nodding to herself, Sodia reached forward, turned the knob and pushed the door open. For all she knew, the commandant might actually appreciate the interruption. And that was about as far as her thoughts managed to get before her brain just basically shut down upon viewing the tableau displayed before her.
That was...
Lowell was...
The commandant was...
...Maybe she should have knocked...
There was this sound, kind of like the one a rhinossus makes in its final moments just as you put it down. It took her a few seconds to realize that it had come from her and then she very deliberately shut the door, turned around and headed back down the hallway towards the stairs. She did not think about anything she might have seen as she took one step after another. Lowell had not been sitting on the commandant's desk with his shirt half off. The commandant's hand had not been fisted in Lowell's hair. And Flynn Scifo's mouth had most certainly not been glued to Yuri Lowell's throat. Not at all.
---
Yuri'd been enjoying the hell out of what Flynn'd been doing to his neck. At least, up until the point where Mr. Stuffy Knight had frozen up and stopped anyway. Ah, so that had been the door he'd heard. Oh well. Bending backwards a little - and giving Flynn what he knew would be a very, very nice view -, Yuri craned his head down and blinked owlishly at the door. Well, they weren't there now. "Who was that?" He asked curiously.
Flynn sighed wearily and simply answered with, "Sodia." He should have locked the damn door before they'd even started in on the first yelling match. He'd known it would lead to other things. It always did anymore.
"Really?" Yuri grinned impishly as he looked back up at his obviously chagrined partner. "Well, I hope she got a good eyeful then." That's what she gets for not knocking, he thought smugly to himself. He never knocked, but then again, he expected to find weird shit behind every other door. It came with the territory.
Flynn scowled and gave Yuri's hair a brief yank. "Be nice."
"When have I ever been nice?" Yuri fired back guilelessly as he hooked a leg around Flynn's waist and tugged him down into a much more agreeable position. Yes, just like that.
Flynn chuckled at Yuri's antics and shook his head. He could talk to Sodia later about what she had not seen. Right now, he was in the middle of something extremely important; something that really needed to be dealt with immediately. "Yuri, do the world a favor and just shut up."
Yuri's answering look was one of the most blatant invitations Flynn had seen out of him in awhile. "Make me."
And that was a challenge he simply could not pass up. The door lock could wait. Sodia and her most likely fried sense of decency could wait. Yuri was underneath him - taunting him about it - and that was something he would never be able to ignore. Not in good conscience, or bad conscience, or any sort of conscience really. Now where was he? Oh right, the nice unblemished skin of Yuri's neck. It would be such a shame if it remained that way after this particular visit. Time to get to work.
Now for these reports...
Her forward march faltered somewhat once she reached the office she shared with Witcher. It was situated right beside the commandant's, a location she was well pleased with. Commandant Alexei had used the rooms surrounding his office for filing and storage. How he'd still managed to communicate so readily with his subordinates still confounded her to this day. How had they known whenever he'd needed orders sent out? But no, those were ruminations for another day. Today she had work to do and reports to deliver.
"Witcher, you would not believe..." Sodia trailed off, her tirade aborted as she finally took a good look at her companion. There was something about the diminutive mage that seemed... off today. He hadn't looked up when she'd stormed in. In fact, he didn't seem to know that she was even there. And what were those things sticking out of his ears? They looked kind of like strips of fabric torn off from his robes. What in the world?
"Witcher?" She asked hesitantly as she reached forward and plucked one of the wads of rolled up fabric out of his nearest ear.
"Ack!" Witcher flailed in surprise, tipping over in his chair and almost spilling out of it. "What? What? Oh! Sodia, you're back." Once he'd finally regained his balance, he leaned forward, laying both hands flat upon his desk and he blinked up at her in something that almost resembled relief.
"Sorry about that, didn't mean to startle you," Sodia murmured absently as she studied the makeshift earplug she'd divested Witcher of, then eyed his robes rather dubiously. There was a little ragged edge near the hem. She could barely make it out, but yes, it was there. That sealed it, the "earplugs" definitely were from his robe. "So why don't you tell me what's going on?"
"Yuri Lowell dropped in shortly after you left," Witcher explained peevishly as he reached up and adjusted his glasses. "And he and the commandant have been yelling at each other off and on ever since."
"Ah, of course," Sodia grumbled in annoyance. "One catastrophe after another." She really didn't want to see Yuri Lowell - ever again -, but she had spent all morning gathering those gods-be-damned reports. They would be delivered come hell or high water... or the natural disaster otherwise known as Yuri Lowell. Steeling herself, she headed towards the door. The sooner this was over with the better.
"Sodia? What are you doing?"
She glanced back at the little mage and spared him a reassuring smile. "I have reports to deliver. Don't worry about me, I've survived worse than that man."
Witcher didn't look reassured by her statement in the least. "If you say so..."
That annoyed her. Were it anyone else, Witcher never would have doubted in her ability to deal with any challenge that might arise. But add Yuri Lowell to the mix and everything just went straight to hell. How he'd survived to maturity was a mystery unto itself. Grumbling to herself, Sodia stalked down the hall to the commandant's office door and stopped. She stood there for a moment, then blew out a heavy breath and straightened to her full height. She would not allow Yuri Lowell to get to her. No matter what he did, he would not get through her iron sense of duty. Not this time.
Nodding to herself, Sodia reached forward, turned the knob and pushed the door open. For all she knew, the commandant might actually appreciate the interruption. And that was about as far as her thoughts managed to get before her brain just basically shut down upon viewing the tableau displayed before her.
That was...
Lowell was...
The commandant was...
...Maybe she should have knocked...
There was this sound, kind of like the one a rhinossus makes in its final moments just as you put it down. It took her a few seconds to realize that it had come from her and then she very deliberately shut the door, turned around and headed back down the hallway towards the stairs. She did not think about anything she might have seen as she took one step after another. Lowell had not been sitting on the commandant's desk with his shirt half off. The commandant's hand had not been fisted in Lowell's hair. And Flynn Scifo's mouth had most certainly not been glued to Yuri Lowell's throat. Not at all.
---
Yuri'd been enjoying the hell out of what Flynn'd been doing to his neck. At least, up until the point where Mr. Stuffy Knight had frozen up and stopped anyway. Ah, so that had been the door he'd heard. Oh well. Bending backwards a little - and giving Flynn what he knew would be a very, very nice view -, Yuri craned his head down and blinked owlishly at the door. Well, they weren't there now. "Who was that?" He asked curiously.
Flynn sighed wearily and simply answered with, "Sodia." He should have locked the damn door before they'd even started in on the first yelling match. He'd known it would lead to other things. It always did anymore.
"Really?" Yuri grinned impishly as he looked back up at his obviously chagrined partner. "Well, I hope she got a good eyeful then." That's what she gets for not knocking, he thought smugly to himself. He never knocked, but then again, he expected to find weird shit behind every other door. It came with the territory.
Flynn scowled and gave Yuri's hair a brief yank. "Be nice."
"When have I ever been nice?" Yuri fired back guilelessly as he hooked a leg around Flynn's waist and tugged him down into a much more agreeable position. Yes, just like that.
Flynn chuckled at Yuri's antics and shook his head. He could talk to Sodia later about what she had not seen. Right now, he was in the middle of something extremely important; something that really needed to be dealt with immediately. "Yuri, do the world a favor and just shut up."
Yuri's answering look was one of the most blatant invitations Flynn had seen out of him in awhile. "Make me."
And that was a challenge he simply could not pass up. The door lock could wait. Sodia and her most likely fried sense of decency could wait. Yuri was underneath him - taunting him about it - and that was something he would never be able to ignore. Not in good conscience, or bad conscience, or any sort of conscience really. Now where was he? Oh right, the nice unblemished skin of Yuri's neck. It would be such a shame if it remained that way after this particular visit. Time to get to work.