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Today was one of those bearable days. Langris has been living at his squad base for some time now, with the intention of returning to work as the magic knight as soon as he gets permission from Owen.
After what happened in Spade, it took him some time to recover, but now he felt much better. Unfortunately, according to the convalescent mage, he should rest a bit more before returning to more active duties.
But beside that, his relationship with both, his brother and squad members, seemed to be getting better.
He just came back from dinner with Finral, during which nothing bad happened, he could even say it was pretty fun.
Langris wouldn't admit it to Finral, but he had a really nice time with him this afternoon.
The spatial mage stood in front of the door to one of the rooms making sure that no curious person was paying attention to him. When he made sure of that he gently knocked and then without waiting for an answer entered inside.
"And how was it?" not surprised of his move Yuno greeted him, sitting at the desk.
"Alright." Langris replied shortly, walking over to the wind mage’s bed to sit down.
After a short moment of silence, Yuno finished what he was doing by putting down his pen. He stood up and walked over to Langris, sitting down next to him on the bed.
The turquoise-eyed man looked at him, making their eyes meet.
"Is everything alright?" Yuno asked, feeling something strange in his mana.
"Yes, it is fine." The space mage said. "You are going to meet that loud Bull boy today, aren't you?"
"Yeah, at 5 p.m." Yuno nodded.
Langris sighed and Yuno raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"I would like to spend some time with you today." Langris muttered with a shrug.
Yuno snorted softly.
"What?" Langris asked, surprised by his reaction.
"Nothing, you just never said it outright before." He said with a smile before adding. "Besides, I'm off tomorrow, so we'll have all day."
Langris sighed. Yuno was right, but Langris had something else at mind.
✧✧✧
A few days ago, like practically every evening, he met with Yuno in the garden where they could finally be alone.
Most of the members of their squad were probably busy preparing for sleep now, to rest as soon as possible before another day full of missions and other duties.
Yuno and Langris had been together since returning from Spade, but they decided to keep it a secret for now. Beaucuse of that they didn't get much chance to spend time together without the curious glances of other members of the squad.
For this reason, Langris cherished these evening meetings and conversations, sometimes even short walks, although if Yuno asked, he would never admit it.
That evening, Yuno told him that Asta, the anti-magic boy who's in the squad with Langris brother, invited him to go out with him at some average restaurant on Saturday after finishing their duties.
Of course Langris knew Asta and Yuno had grown up together and were like brothers to each other, probably more brothers than he and Finral would ever be.
However, Yuno also said that Asta wanted to introduce him to her friend and that she would bring her other friend. Langris felt a twinge of jealousy at this information, and Yuno talked about it as if he didn't even realize what it looked like. But Langris didn't want to bother him with his thoughts.
Yuno also mentioned that Asta has been bothering him with this meeting for some time, saying that Yuno should meet new people, not just limit himself to him and his squad. Yuno, knowing how stubborn his friend is, finally agreed to the meeting.
In the end, Langris didn't mention to Yuno what the situation was like for him, and when Yuno asked if he was okay with it, he replied that he was and that was the end of it.
But inside, he was damn jealous. He knew that he could trust Yuno, and that's why he agreed without telling him about his fears, but on the other hand he didn't know the intentions of the women Yuno and his friend were supposed to meet.
What if they try to seduce them?
And didn't Yuno mention that Asta met this woman on a triple date organized by Langris' brother?
✧✧✧
Yuno's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Langris looked at him, noticing that Yuno was asking him about something, but he didn’t listen.
"W-what?" Langris asked.
"You weren't listening." Yuno muttered, but he looked amused rather than offended.
"Sorry for that…" The light brown-haired man replied.
"I was asking if you would help me choose some clothes, because Asta categorically forbade me to come in the uniform of the squad?" Yuno repeated.
"Oh." Langris sighed.. "Sure, but don't expect much from me, I practically don't wear anything other than our uniform." He laughed a bit and then added: "Actually, what I'm wearing now is my only outfit that isn't a uniform or some fancy clothes chosen by my parents."
After that he smiled slightly amused, trying to ignore unpleasant feelings that still lingered somewhere in the back of his mind.
Yuno smiled too. "I don't have many clothes either, other than our uniform." He replied. "Although thanks to Mimosa, I suppose we’ll found something"
Oh yeah, Mimosa, Langris could definitely imagine the royal trying to get Yuno to wear something other than their official uniform sometimes. Langris almost smiled at this thought.
After several minutes of searching throughYuno's wardrobe, it turned out that he only had about three outfits besides the uniform, which made the choice not difficult anymore.
One of these outfits was some fancy suit that Mimosa had persuaded Yuno to buy right after he became vice-captain, saying that now he would probably have to appear in public more often at some ceremonies and he should have at least one in his wardrobe.
The second was his old clothes from when he joined the squad.
The third outfit consisted of simple trousers and some quite tasteful tunic, certainly chosen by Mimosa and it was Yuno who decided to wear it.
After they chose Yuno's clothes, they spent some more time together until Yuno was due to meet Asta. So they said goodbye and then Langris left Yuno's room heading for his one.
About an hour later, Yuno was probably already at the meeting, and Langris couldn't think of anything else until he finally gave up and threw on his usual outfit, the golden dawn cape, and he left the base.
✧✧✧
And so, here he was, Langris Vaude, future head of the noble house and former vice-captain of the strongest squad, hiding behind a pillar in the very center of the restaurant, hood pulled over his head, watching his boyfriend eat dinner with his friend from Black Bulls and two women.
"Ekhem" someone coughed behind him, making Langris nearly jump in surprise.
He turned around quickly and what he saw shocked him very much. Right in front of him stood a light-haired girl with purple eyes in a waitress outfit.
Soon after he learned that the girl standing in front of him was Noelle of the royal Silva family. And she was dressed in a waitress dress! For a moment Langris thought she was hallucinating, but when she began to speak, it turned out to be true.
"If you're not going to order anything, you should leave this place." She said haughtily.
"Y-you" Langris muttered. "Why is a member of the royal family a waitress in a place like this?"
Noelle didn’t answer and looked at him more closely. "Ahh, you're Finral's brother," She said with disgust.
Langris snorted at her tone, but deep down he knew he deserved it.
"You didn't answer my question, that's rude." He said calming himself.
"I don't have to explain myself to you." The girl snorted, tossing one of her ponytails before adding: ‘’After all, I'm royalty’’.
Langris sighed, and the girl asked another question."What are you doing here?"
"None of your business." Langris snorted.
The girl looked like she was about to answer him something, but at the same time they heard Asta's laugh. Noelle lost interest in Langris immediately turning her attention to the table, clenching her fists on the empty tray she was holding.
Langris was no better, pressing himself even tighter against the pillar , only sticking his head out and watching the table with a angry face.
Yuno was sitting near Asta, with his usual expression on his face, speaking occasionally, probably only when he was asked about something. His friend, on the other hand, looked like he was having a great time eating and talking with girls.
Opposite them sat two women. One was a red-haired girl, dressed in a modest but neat green dress. She seemed to feel quite comfortable and joking with the shorter boy, so Langris decided that she was Asta's friend. The other girl had short black hair and was wearing a frilly yellow dress, and even from here Langris could see that she was quite tense.
Langris's observations were interrupted by the strong grip of the royalty on his wrist, which pulled the surprised boy to the back room before he could protest in any way.
As Langris was pushed into the back room, Silva closed the door behind them and turned to him so that they were now face to face.
Langris felt uncomfortable and was about to look away yet, or better turn and leave, when a member of the royal family spoke:
"I'll ask again, what brings you here?"
"I already told you that it's none of your business, and in case you forgot, I asked first," Langris said irritably.
The silver-haired girl snorted: "I know why you're here anyway."
Langris glared at her. "Really."
"You were following someone," She replied nonchalantly.
Langris felt his stomach twist uncomfortably at the thought of being caught, ‘Was I really that obvious?’ He asked himself.
He sighed heavily, but found that there was no point in pretending in front of the girl.
"All right, you got me, I was following Yuno."
"Why would you follow Yuno?" Noelle asked, surprised.
"Because he's my boyfriend." Langris almost shouted in the royal's face, not thinking about what he was saying. Was she going to humiliate him even more? Was it enough for him to confess?
The annoyance on her face turned to surprise, and then her face took on an unreadable expression that caught Langris off guard.
"That makes sense." She nodded slowly.
"What?" Langris asked.
"It isn’t Asta that interests you," She said in a serious voice.
Langris stared at her in shock."Why should I be interested in him?"
"Everyone is interested in him."
Langris looked skeptically at the girl, thought she was exaggerating, but didn't say it out loud.
A moment later it reached him.
"Are you here because you're following Asta?’’
The royal girl did not say a word, but even in the dim light of the small lamp, he could see her face turn red.
"D-don't talk nonsense!" She stammered. "Why would I follow Bakasta?"
Langris shrugged, a smirk creeping across his face. "You tell me that."
The girl controlled her blush and said as if nothing had happened:
"After your confession, I was going to offer you my help, but if you put it that way, I don't think we have much to talk about."
"Help?" Langris asked, confused.
Noelle only nodded.
"How could you possibly help me?"
The youngest Silva sighed. "Well, know my generosity, I will help you even though you were rude."
Langris frowned. "I wasn't being rude."
"You were, but never mind." The royalty replied.
Langris sighed but didn’t answer. "So how can you help me spy Yuno?" He asked after a moment.
The girl smiled at him proudly. "Trust me, I have experience with this."
"What do you mean by experience?’’
Noelle sighed. "Just trust me and you'll see, I'm a royalty after all, you think I'm lying to you?" she said, then she put some clothes into his hands.
Langris unfolded the cloth, then frowned and asked:
"What's that supposed to be?"
"Disguise." The girl replied calmly.
"But these are women's clothes!" shouted Langris.
Noelle put a finger to her lips in a silent gesture."Quiet or they'll hear us.’’
"We're in the back room." Langris replied confused.
Noelle ignored his remark and continued."It's a waiter's outfit, thanks to which we can approach their table without arousing suspicion."
"It makes sense, but it doesn't change the fact that these are women's clothes."
"Do you see any men here to attend the service?" She asked. "There are only waitresses here, no waiters."
"Oh’’
"So how will it be?"
"Won't a man dressed as a waitress be even more conspicuous than a magical knight hiding behind a column in the middle of the restaurant?" Langris asked with doubt.
"A man probably is, but look at you! You're short, petite, and your face has delicate features, you're perfect for playing a waitress!" Noelle said with a smirk.
Langris' face twisted into a grimace. He didn't like that remark, but he couldn't disagree either, because everything the girl said was really accurate. With a sigh, Langris headed towards the back door, only to come back a few minutes later in a disguise that, surprisingly, was practically the perfect size.
Noelle looked him up and down and he felt himself blush.
"Looks surprisingly good." She muttered under her breath.
"It's not going to work." Langris groaned.
"Don't be dramatic." The silver haired girl said. "You look really good."
"They recognize me!"
Noelle nodded thoughtfully, then handed him a white handkerchief. "It's on the head, all waitresses wear them."
"It doesn't change anything."
"It will. If you won’t turn to face anyone, then there's no chance that they will recognize you."
Langris sighed again, but there was no turning back now. He took the handkerchief from the girl and tied it around his head, trying to keep as little hair as possible sticking out of the middle.
He barely registered when the violet-eyed girl started pushing him towards the door and before he could do anything, both of them were already in the hall.
The light brown-haired man looks around in horror, but no one pays much attention to him, so he sighed slightly.
When he calmed down a bit, he saw that the silver-haired girl was already hanging around at some table, near the one where Yuno and Asta were sitting.
Willingly or not, Langris pulled himself together and walked over to the first table he came across, a little further from Noelle's, on the pretext of wiping up a spilled drink or whatever.
With considerable relief, he found that the couple at the table did not pay the slightest attention to him, which gave him some confidence and the next table he approached was much closer to the unconscious friends.
For the next half hour, Langris mostly pretended to be doing something, trying to hang around as close to Yuno's table as possible, but far enough away so as not to arouse suspicion or be noticed.
He could hear snippets of conversation, which thankfully nothing out of the ordinary happened.
A while after he heard Asta's loud laugh, and then a compliment that the boy said to the red-haired girl.
Langris quickly followed the royal and immediately knew that a tragedy was about to happen.
The silver-haired girl threw the tray in the face of the client who was talking to her, and then she started walking towards the table where the green-eyed boy was sitting, unaware of anything.
Not wanting everything to come out, Langris moved towards the girl to stop her. He grabbed her wrist, which made her turn to him with an angry face and snatched her hand from his grip and continued walking.
Not knowing what to do now, Langris did the last thing he would have thought of and wrapped his arms around the girl at shoulder height, trying to pull her away.
However, he didn't expect that the royalty was so strong and it was she who pulled him forward, using more strength than necessary to then stumble over the leg of the moved chair, after which they both fell straight on the table where Yuno and Asta were sitting.
Before Langris could register what had just happened, he heard Asta's screaming voice.
"Noelle and Finral's brother?" He exclaimed. "What are you doing here and what are these clothes?"
Langris was about to reply when he heard: "L-langris?"
It was his brother's voice, but what was he doing here? Langris looked in the direction the voice came from and indeed, he noticed his brother, sitting a few tables away with a pink-haired witch from his squad.
Could it be worse? Probably could, but Langris didn't care at the moment.
He saw Noelle's face getting redder and redder and felt his own face too. He risked a glance up and saw Yuno's surprised face, so he looked away, which now landed on his brother.
Had it not been for the situation he was in, Langris would have found Finral's expression hilarious. His brother was in real shock, his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to say something else but couldn't.
Finally, the silence was broken by a black-haired girl who was sitting at the same table as Yuno and who apparently did not fully understand the message in Asta's statement.
"Why are the waiters knocking over our table instead of serving us and instead of apologizing they just lie there and stare?" She asked indignantly.
Noelle snorted and started to get up. Langris struggled not to smile, even though this was a very uncomfortable situation for him, he was a little amused by the absurdity of the situation.
When Langris started to get up, he unexpectedly saw the silver-haired woman's outstretched hand in front of him. He hesitantly grabbed it, and with more than expected strength, the girl pulled him to his feet.
"T-thanks." He stammered, trying to ignore the others.
"No problem." She murmured without looking at him. "After all, I was the one who got you into this."
"Can't be denied." He said under his breath.
"Hey!" Noelle shouted, turning to him. "That was rude."
"You said it yourself." Langris raised his voice slightly, too.
Vanessa's amused voice stopped them from talking any further.
"So, will one of you explain to us what's actually going on here?" She asked.
"I-It’s my fault," Noelle stammered.
Everyone looked at her surprised, while Langris tried to hide his own surprise at the girl's words.
"I dragged Finral’s brother into this." She muttered under her breath.
"Ohh'' Vanessa looked at them with an unreadable expression on her face. "I didn't know you had such a good relationship with Finral's grumpy brother Noelle."
Finral looked at Vanessa without a word. He didn’t know what to say.
Noelle cleared her throat. "Not really, I just did him a favor earlier, and in return he promised to do something to me."
Langris must have remembered to thank her later.
"What favor did you do to him, Noelle?" Asta asked curiously.
"None of your business." Langris muttered.
"Unpleasant." muttered Asta, and Langris gave him an angry look.
Finral scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "And why was it a favor for Noelle to dress up as a waitress?"
Langris blushed.
"Gaining new experiences!" Noelle almost shouted. "I wanted to experience something new, and I happened to meet Finral’s brother who needed a favor, so I jumped at the opportunity."
"Gaining new experiences is important." Rebecca smiled kindly, which made Noelle wince slightly.
"Then why don't we end the evening together?" Vanessa suggested.
"That's a great idea." Asta shouted excitedly.
Noelle blushed slightly and turned her head the other way. "I guess I can't refuse you my company, I'm a royalty after all."
"What's being royalty got to do with it?" Langris muttered. "Never mind anyway."
"Will you stay, Langris?" Finral asked, looking at him the same way he looked at him when they were younger and urging him to skip his lessons and play with him.
At first he wasn't going to agree, but then he sighed resignedly.
"I'll do anything but take these clothes off first."
"So it's decided." Vanessa chuckled.
✧✧✧
Later that evening, Yuno and Langris walked back to the golden dawn base in silence. After a while the spatial mage finally stopped staring at his boyfriend. Yuno, noticing his look, stopped and gave him a surprised look.
"Are you mad?" The light brown-haired man asked, looking away from Yuno.
"Mad?" Yuno asked. "Why?"
Langris looked at him again, but then looked away down at his boots. "Because I followed you to that dinner like I didn't trust you."
"You don't trust me?" he frowned.
"I do!" He almost shouted.
"Then what's the problem?" The golden-eyed raised an eyebrow.
"It just might not seem like it." Langris muttered under his breath.
Yuno sighed but smiled. "Actually, I'm glad you came."
"W-what?"
The confused spatial mage choked out and looked at the other mage. The black-haired man just smiled at him.
"Well, you know, we're keeping it a secret for now, so I was a little pleased that you followed me there, even though someone might get suspicious."
"Oh" Langris sight. "Does it bother you? I mean, us, hiding for now?"
Yuno looked at him which made the spatial mage a little embarrassed.
"No." The black-haired man shook his head and smiled slightly. "Not really."
Langris looked at him with an unreadable expression. "I should have asked you that." Seeing Yuno's questioning face, he added: "Whether you agree to keep our relationship a secret for a while. It was selfish for me to decide this."
"I already told you it's okay." Yuno interrupted him.
Langris shook his head. "No, it’s not."
The golden-eyed looked at him worriedly.
"I really trust you, but still, I can't stop thinking that when you meet someone else, all my issues will catch up with you eventually."
Yuno slowly pulled the hood over Langris' head and hugged him. The mage only let out a surprised sigh, but then hesitantly returned the hug.
"I already knew your issues," Yuno whispered over his ear. "And even if there are more of them, it doesn't matter to me, because I also know your good sides. I can see how you've always worked hard for our squad, and even though you don't say it out loud, you care about others, and you're also a great magician, and above all, you're a good person."
Langris hid his face on Yuno's shoulder."How can you say I'm a good person after everything I've done?" He asked in a whisper.
Yuno tightened his grip around Langris and spoke.
"Because you regret it. You regret it and you’re trying to fix everything. Besides, it wasn't entirely your fault, and you know it."
They stood there in silence for the next few minutes, but it was rather comfortable.
"I can't give you many things." The spatial mage spoke softly, stepping back a little.
Yuno sighed, thought for a moment that Langris was trying to find a problem, but quickly dismissed that thought and asked a bit worried:
"What do you mean?"
Langris looked down at his boots, then looked up and met the other mage's golden eyes.
"We'll never be able to start a family." He said quietly.
Yuno looked at him surprised. He never thought that Langris cared about such things.
"Any woman could give you that, and would certainly be a better partner than me."
"Langris," Yuno said softly. "It doesn't matter because I love you and no one else."
The wind mage gently took Langris' hand. Turquoise eyes looked at Yuno's uncertainty.
"Neither do I think my parents will make it easy for us once they find out." he continued with a sad stare. "I’m convinced that they will do everything in their power to make our life difficult."
"It won't change anything, they can't change what I feel." The wind mage replied confidently.
"What if you find out really terrible things about me?" Langris asked, still unconvinced.
Yuno looked at him with a serious expression on his face.
"We'll manage somehow, but what makes you seem so insecure all of a sudden?" Concern flashed across the wind mage's face.
The light brown-haired man just shrugged. "I've always been like this, I just never said any of those worries out loud."
"I see." Yuno said."Could you promise me that from now on, whenever you're worried about something, you'll try to talk to someone?" He asked. "It doesn't have to be me, it can be our captain, your brother, or someone you feel comfortable with."
Langris seemed surprised by Yuno's request, but he didn’t replied so the wind mage continued:
"What I mean is, I don't want you to feel like you're on your own, and if you're worried about something, saying it out loud and putting it in a different perspective can really help."
There was a moment of silence after Yuno's words, until finally Langris gathered himself and said:
"I can't promise I will, but I guess I can try."
Yuno gave him a slight smile. "Thank you."
This time Langris hugged Yuno. At first he seemed a bit uncertain, but he relaxed when the black-haired man returned the gesture.
"Thank you." He said quietly. "For everything."
Yuno shook his head slightly. "You don't have to. Just remember I'm always here if you need me."
Langris nodded. "I will."
After a while, they moved away from each other, Yuno looked at the spatial mage, and then slightly extended his hand towards him. The light brown-haired one seemed to hesitate for a moment, but finally grabbed his hand.
"Is it fine?" He asked.
Turquoise gave him a questioning look.
"That we hold hands in public."
Langris smiled slightly and nodded. "I guess so. It's night after all and I'm wearing a hood so no one will recognize me. Besides, will it make a difference after we hug practically in the middle of the sidewalk?"
Yuno shrugged. "I guess you're right." He giggled a bit. "Good thing there weren't too many people."
Finally, the two mages headed back to their squad's base.
"Next time I'll go to dinner with you." Yuno said it, giving him a little smile.
Langris felt a soft warm feeling bloom in his chest. "It better be that way." He mumbled, looking away.
Yuno slightly smiled at his reaction, then decided to test his luck and said:
"You looked good in that waitress outfit."
Langris elbowed Yuno lightly, feeling his face heat up, to which the wind mage just chuckled slightly.
✧✧✧
"You know," Langris began as they neared the building's entrance. "I don't think we need to hide here."
Yuno looked at him surprised.
"I-I mean if you want to." he added a bit flustered.
Yuno gave him the biggest smile Langris had ever seen from a wind mage and grabbed his hand again, gently pulling him inside. That was a step forward in his relationship with Yuno, to finaly reveal what was going on between them.