Chapter Text
Lohen eyes the peculiar commission, blowing his gum weakly (it's loosing its elasticity already; it's only been 6 minutes, tops). He lounges back against the crates near the Adventurers' Guild's stand.
The Wild Hunt…huh?
For all the time he's been in Nod-Krai already, he still hasn't outright sought the creatures. Which is surprising, for him, truly. According to all the rumours, though, the Abyssal creatures are active like never before, and twice as strong.
Must be something in the kuuvahki, or so the locals say.
Not like Lohen would know.
Hey, he'd love to try his hand against them, but his weapon arsenal is a bit short at the moment for a solo mission. So is his will to really do anything, really.
Boredom really is eating him alive.
He sighs dramatically loudly, toying with the paper flyer in between his fingers.
"Oh, hey, Lohen!" a sweet voice calls out, "Are you alright? You seem a bit down, that's unlike you." Linnea skips up to him, eye alight as usual.
"Nothin' much, just wondering whether I should take this commission or head back to Mond."
He hands the request paper over, which Linnea quickly skims over. Her brow furrows when she reaches the bottom; the requester. "The Nightingales?"
Lohen hums, swiping out his smallest blade from his belt and flipping it around, "Aren't they a team of Treasure Hoarders or something? I hear their name being tossed around at the Flagship all the time. Super organized, right? Not seen very often, all that jazz."
Linnea confirms, reading the commission more carefully this time. "Huh," she huffs in more pronounced surprise, "Somehow, I don't think Illuga wrote this."
Lohen blinks, "Who?"
"Oh, sorry," Linnea hands the paper back to him, going into her 'professor mode', "The Nightingale's boss, Illuga. He's a…very particular guy, you could say. Super exclusive regarding cooperation of any kind, and usually handles things independently…"
She holds her chin between two fingers, "It surprises me that he asked for help at all, actually. Sure, they're going through Fatui region, but he's the kind of person to just deal with it head on."
"And you know this how…?" Lohen presses, "If he's so elusive, that is."
Linnea laughs awkwardly, "Well, I met him once. That sure was something. I think his bird hates me now. Most of this is also just hearsay, though, from other adventurers who run into the Nightingales sometimes in the wild."
Lohen glances at the payment offer. If it's to be believed, it's a 'share of the treasure they're tracking down'.
"So," he drawls, "If this Illuga didn't post this, then who did?"
Linnea shrugs, "Who knows? Whoever it was, if Illuga finds out, they're probably goners. Socially, of course," she adds quickly.
A mystery.
Lohen weighs his options. And his interest. Is this worth pursuing? In any case, Illuga sounds like an absolute riot.
It's decided, he'll check the commission out.
If it turns out to be a sham of some kind, then he's on the path back to Mond in a jiffy.
"Alright, I'm off!" he pushes off his ledge.
Linnea startles, apparently caught off guard from his decision. She smiles supportively nevertheless, "Good luck, then! Do you think you'll need a hand? Lumi and I could tag along."
Lohen shakes his head, "Nah, but thanks for the offer." He points towards the 'requirement: 1 person' line, "Better to just be one person, in case your Mr.Illuga did write this."
"I still doubt that," Linnea places her hands on her hips, "But stay safe either way. I don't want to be the one sending your death notice back to Mond."
Lohen pauses, looking back, "…No one's missing me there, anyway."
Linnea frowns. "Okay…well, stay safe for me then, alright?"
"Sure, sure," he sing-songs, heading off with a small salute.
He doesn't feel especially bad; Linnea and him aren't that close. He's only known her for a while, but she manages to worm her way everywhere.
Lohen turns around again, walking backwards, "Whaddya say I bring something back for you?" he calls out, already a few paces away.
"If the commission is legitimate, you doofus!" she hollers back good-naturedly.
He sticks his tongue out, sheathing his small knife back in place. He checks the commission one last time, just to commit the contact location and time to memory. Somewhere just north from the Blue Amber Lake, tomorrow morning.
A strange place to meet, in his opinion, but sure.
જ⁀➴
Lohen adjusts his knapsack on his shoulders, double-checking his hidden daggers.
He's nearly there. The sky is turning over a lovely shade of blue, as it does in this area no matter the time of day.
Sprinkles of gold shine through in the distance, and Lohen takes care to start regulating his breathing.
The atmosphere here is especially ridden by kuuvahki, but he pushes forward without so much as flinching nor changing his speed—he's fairly used to the weird, prickly feeling against his skin and the slight spike in his senses.
He can't quite describe it accurately.
Lohen approaches what looks like a small, makeshift encampment, with—he quickly counts—five people.
Huh. A smaller group than he thought they would be.
There's some small talk going on, that dies down as, one after the other, they notice him approaching.
He raises an eyebrow in the silence, flipping out the request for help between his index and thumb. "So…which one of you posted this commission?" he taps on it for extra emphasis.
It takes something close to five seconds before someone reacts. A short-haired woman in the back bursts out laughing, "Wait, Ulrik, you didn't seriously–"
A blond man joins, "It was just a joke, oh my lovely Moons, you actually did it?!"
The aforementioned 'Ulrik' seems to be the dark-haired shorter man nearest Lohen. There's a distinct flush of embarrassment on his cheeks as he tries to dismiss it.
"I didn't think anybody would accept it–!"
"What's Boss gonna say?" the tallest woman brings up, voice still. Everyone freezes.
Lohen squints a little at the team. He thought that the third, unspeaking man in the corner was Illuga; guess not.
"Say what?" a new, deep a smooth voice sounds, "You guys are being real loud, you know? What's the commotion about?"
The figure rounds the corner, and Lohen hates to admit that he is caught off guard.
Basically, the team's boss looks like the type of guy to take no shit from others, if the stern expression on his face is anything to go by, and he looks pretty as hell while he's at it.
His interest for this commission just skyrocketed.
He feels that familiar rush he usually gets in a fight, and a grin creeps up his face against his will.
"Mister…Illuga, I'm assuming?" Lohen gives a little bow, without breaking eye contact.
"And you are?"
He comes to a stop a few paces away from him, and he's just a little shorter than him, Lohen realises. No doubt he'd be able to grapple him down without trouble, though, by the look of those arms.
Barbatos help me.
He isn't usually one for prayers, but he thinks his bloodstream just reset itself or something. He feels rather lightheaded, and it's a nice, new feeling.
The gold bird on Illuga's shoulder inches forward, beak sharp. Lohen can't tell if it's out of protectiveness or something else. He doesn't speak magical kuuvahki bird.
Its glow matches the golden gem sitting on Illuga's chest.
A fellow Vision holder, huh.
He shakes himself out of it. "I'm Lohen, adventurer hailing from Mondstadt."
"And you're here because…?" Illuga urges him, with the air of someone trying to be patient.
"Hey now, I just came because this commission was listed under the Nightingales." Lohen challenges, "What, is it illegal to accept commissions, now?"
A brief flash of confusion passes on Illuga's face (and damn, are his eyes pretty) before he steps forward, fingerless-gloved hand outstretched.
Lohen obediently hands him the flyer.
Illuga turns to his group, "Well?"
In the most comical manner, four of them step back in tandem, leaving the culprit standing alone.
"Whoops," Lohen whistles, "Looks like someone's in trouble."
Illuga shoots a silencing glare at him; his murderous, beautiful eyes shooting looks that clearly read 'keep out of our business'.
Lohen puts up two placating hands, the universal 'got it' gesture, and takes exactly three steps back to give the Hoarder team some space.
The guy who posted the commission, Ulrik, looks appropriately abashed as Illuga converses with him in hushed, harsh admonishments. For some reason, he also gives a speech to the rest of the group, as they also look downwards.
Even Lohen can pick out the tone; the man isn't doing the best job whispering. And he's quite expressive when he's mad.
Lohen's lips quirk up appreciatively.
At the end of it all, Illuga draws a long-suffering sigh, and turns back to Lohen.
"So, do you have all your equipment? We leave in twenty minutes."
Lohen's eyebrows raise. He gives a small, disbelieving laugh, "Ha! And here I thought for sure I was being dismissed. What's with the switchup?"
Illuga stares him down, looking like he's debating whether to actually explain himself or not.
"You came all this way, didn't you?" the silver-haired man finally settles for saying, "It'd be a waste not to employ you, at this point."
"Ah, opportunistic, I see," Lohen stands at mock attention, "Good choice. My experience won't disappoint, Boss Illuga; on my adventurer's honour."
"You don't seem like someone will a lot of honour," Illuga deadpans at him, "And don't call me that," he adds in a hiss.
"Hm. Hypocritical of you to be telling me that, of all people," Lohen pointedly stares at the Treasure Hoarder emblem on Illuga's coat pocket. He changes tune, "Pleasure to be working with you, then, birdie," he smiles, eyes up in crescents.
"Just Illuga is fine," is the short, snappy retort.
"I know," Lohen says, the musical lilt in his voice never leaving.
"Oh, I like this guy," the short-haired woman declares, tugging Lohen into a tight headlock. "I'm Bryndis, by the way. Welcome to the team, Lohen of Mondstadt!"
The 'Welcome's echo throughout the small horde (haha) of people, and he gets introduced to all of them.
Ulrik, short commission guy. Bryndis, short brown hair. Ronia, tall, quiet, dark eyes. Eyvind, loud blonde (and doesn't that remind him of someone back home). Last but not least, Runar, also quiet, only waves at him and is introduced by Eyvind.
A rag-tag bunch. Not surprising, for an organized team of Treasure Hoarders.
Lohen still isn't too well versed in Hoarder History, but he knows that Nod-Krai is their founder's land of origin. So these guys are probably gunning to get recognition, or something. Is that what this commission entails?
This should be fun.
He's never gone treasure hunting on purpose before.
જ⁀➴
The first major obstacle they come across is the Fatui-controlled harbour at the northernmost tip of Lempo Isle. There are exactly four Oprichniki soldiers, and the three standard landcruisers that are always stationed here.
Lohen is in the second team with Bryndis and Ronia, and they're waiting on the top of the hill's crest leading down to the harbour.
Illuga is crouching closest to the actual enemy, whilst the other three members of the group are waiting behind a large pile of crates.
"So…what are we waiting for, exactly?" Lohen chews down on his gum, keeping his hands still to the best of his abilities.
"Boss' plan is to steal a boat and go around the harbour," Bryndis answers, with Ronia merely nodding.
"Huh…so, no fighting?"
Bryndis blinks, "No…? Why would we willingly engage in a fight?"
"Well," Lohen starts, crossing his arms, "For starters, we have advantage in numbers, don't we? The landcruisers can't do shit once you disable them, and there's only four agents. We're seven, do the math."
"Well, Boss would rather avoid casualties, if we can," Bryndis frowns at him.
"Boooooring~" Lohen sings, "What am I being paid for, then?"
"What do you mean?"
He raises an eyebrow. "What, am I or am I not an extra hired hand? I thought Treasure Hoarders got physical more often than not?"
"You're stereotyping us," Ronia bluntly snaps. She doesn't follow up, and Lohen merely smiles placatingly.
"Oh, I know! Sorry," he says, not that sorry at all, "But I kinda need my daily exercise, and it's past lunch already. And this is going nowhere. Be right back!"
"Wha–"
Lohen doesn't stay to hear the rest; he starts making his way down to the harbour grounds.
Eyvind whisper-yells at him as he passes their hiding spot. "Yo, Mondstadt hire, what're you doing?"
"Exactly what I was hired for," Lohen mutters back, slipping masterfully between the iron pillars and careful to stay out of the sweeping sensors of the roving Fatui landcruisers.
Lohen tries creeping up behind Illuga, but red-ringed blue eyes meet his before he can successfully do so.
Bummer.
"Is everything alright?" Illuga asks in a muted tone.
Lohen makes a show of considering this. "No, actually, everything is not alright."
Illuga squints up at him, expression neutral. "What's the matter, then? I didn't give the signal yet."
"Oh, I'm aware", Lohen says airily, "It's just that I feel a bit useless, y'know? It'd be more efficient if we just deal with them head on."
He doesn't specify who 'them' is, but he's sure Illuga's smart enough to get what he means. And he does. His gaze hardens.
"We are not engaging in battle."
"It'd be more effective than sneaking around, though," Lohen points out.
"I'm not risking casualties," is the firm rebuttal.
"Who said anything about casualties? I can take them down in three minutes, tops."
Illuga's expression finally shifts into something more annoyed.
It's cute.
"You're very confident," Illuga scowls, "But I won't have anyone risking themselves for no good reason."
"I'm bored," Lohen drawls, "Is that reason enough for you?"
"No," Illuga bites out, "Please heed my orders, sir Lohen."
"Hmm," Lohen tilts his head, "Well, you said it yourself, you're not my boss."
"You–!"
"Hang tight, birdie,"Lohen pats his shoulder twice, "I'll be back before ya know it."
Lohen does a mock salute, and avoids Illuga's hand swiping for his collar, laughing.
He easily bypasses the landcruisers; if you know which wires to rip off, then it's easy as pie. They don't have time to sound any kind of alarms before he's done with them.
He sneaks around a bit, using the shipment strewn about as cover before he's close enough to hop over onto the embarcation with the four soldiers. He assesses them from behind the main cabin.
Two men, two women. One of them is making half-baked rounds, to check the pathways. The other three are discussing internal rank drama or something, from the snippets that he catches.
Good, their guard is fairly down. He'll never understand why such well-trained soldiers can be so sloppy when they think they're safe.
Lohen looks over the situation—he could just go and talk.
But they don't seem like talkative types, for one. Plus, where would the fun in that be?
He can feel Illuga's glare on the back of his nape, so he sticks his tongue out in his general direction.
The patroller is approaching.
His weapon—standard Snezhnayan-made assault rifle—hangs loosely in his hands.
3, 2, 1…
The soldier walks past the back wall of the cabin, and Lohen grabs him by the head, making sure to press down on his mouth and nose. The Fatui guard's eyes widen in alarm, and he brings an arm up to try and dislodge Lohen's grip, but he keeps it firmly secure there.
In a swift move, Lohen wrestles the rifle out of the Oprichnik's flimsy grasp and brings the whole thing down on the guy's stomach.
The poor man's choke is muffled, and he passes out within a few seconds.
Hah, this is what they get for having no abdomen armour as part of their uniform.
"Casimir?" a concerned voice floats over.
Oops, guess he was being a bit too loud.
"Nope, he's a little preoccupied at the moment," Lohen says brightly, rounding the corner to reveal himself. He immediately dashes forward to knock the person who spoke in the back of the head with the stolen rifle before anyone can say anything else.
"Oi, you're not supposed to be here–" the other long-haired soldier starts as her comrade collapses, moving to pick up her own weapon.
"I noticed, thanks," Lohen snarks. He drops the rifle, takes out one of his many daggers and lunges within two blinks.
The burly soldier, without a word, steps in and blocks his blow.
Blood spills, and Lohen laughs, the sound ringing over the open water. "Your clothes really are just like butter!"
He gets a punch in the jaw for that one.
He spits, chuckling lowly.
A shot is fired in the meantime, but it misses by a long mile. There's a comrade in her sights, after all.
A wild grin paints itself on Lohen's face.
"You lot really are incompetent!" he goads, drawing up a second dagger in his left hand and slicing an attack infused with his Vision's power.
"Ughk–"
"Cryo…?"
The woman breathes in the ice particles he generated, and seizes up, dropping to her knees.
"With a special something extra," Lohen snickers.
One last opponent remains. He can't see the soldier's face, courtesy for the ugly metal mask they're made to wear, but there's no mistaking that murderous aura.
Just what he wanted.
"You ungrateful bastard. Talking down on us, while profiting off the powers granted by Her Majesty…Do you have no respect?"
"Hmm," Lohen pretends to entertain the question, "I think not. Why would I, for an Archon I don't care for? By the way, you're entirely misinformed on how Visions work, dumbass."
Another armoured fist comes his way.
He hops out of its path, easily dodging the follow-up as well. "What, not even a gun on you? Lameee."
"I have no need for weaponry. My hands are enough."
"And that's where you're wrong, buddy."
Lohen throws another Cryo dagger, purposefully aiming for the man's head so that he ducks sideways to avoid it. Taking advantage of the minimal distraction, he grabs the soldier by the long ends of his royal blue coat (again, dumb fashion choice) and tugs.
The attempt to trip him doesn't fully go through, but he expected that; due to the difference in their statures. He flicks out the blade in his left heel, and swipes a kick over the Oprichnik's shins.
It is but a light graze, all things considered, but it's enough to throw the soldier off his bearings and fall onto his back with a thud. Lohen pins him to the ground, stabbing smaller daggers through the folds of his clothing and into the surface of the ship's deck.
For good measure, he sprinkles some of his spiked Cryo over the soldier as well (after ripping off that ugly ass mask), and only gets off the body once it stops struggling.
Footsteps sound behind him, and he whirls around; expecting the one the others called 'Casimir' to be rushing up on him. He didn't hit him that hard. (He absolutely did.)
No, it isn't any the Oprichnik—they're all laying around him—it's Illuga, running over at breakneck speeds.
"You reckless asshole!" Illuga shouts, hands outstretched.
Lohen takes a second to process what happens. Illuga has him by his large, open shirt collar, and is essentially nose to nose with him. Oh.
He bares his teeth. "What, I said three minutes, didn't I?"
"What on Teyvat is going through that head of yours?" Illuga cuts him off, clearly in the beginning of a long berating, "We had a perfectly fine plan. I get that you're strong, and that's great, but things could've gone a lot worse. Do not do that again while you're with us, got it?"
Lohen smirks, "Didn't we establish you aren't my boss already?"
"You're still my responsibility as long as you're on commission." Illuga sneers.
"I can take care of myself, Boss Illuga," Lohen taunts.
"Fuck you."
"Gladly."
Illuga lets him go, then, not without a shove to the chest. "You piss me off." There's definitely some colour on his cheeks.
"You hired me," Lohen shoots back, still beaming.
"And I'm regretting that decision by the minute," Illuga murmurs with a sniff.
"Am I dismissed, then?" Lohen spurs him on. This is fun.
Unbidden, he wonders how tolerant the man is to poisons. He should find out later tonight.
Illuga looks him up and down, as if sensing his tomfoolery thinking. "No," he snaps shortly, "We're getting off this boat and taking another one. And we will be taking a detour."
Lohen shrugs. "Up to you, chief. Not like I can steer a ship anyway."
He watches with amusement as one of Illuga's eye twitches before the man turns on his heel, clearly expecting him to follow.
"Hang on, I gotta secure these guys up so that they don't alert anyone on Paha Isle. When's the next rotation of patrol teams?"
"…In three days," Illuga answers slowly, "They just switched this morning."
"Huh," Lohen huffs in minor amazement, "You really are meticulous."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It's a compliment, birdie, it's nothing that'll kill you."
The look that Illuga throws him suggests that he thinks that yes, actually, it might kill him. Hah.
Illuga ends up ignoring his jab altogether, and heads off to the rest of the Hoarder group in the distance, who're huddled together and staring their way.
"Pfft," Lohen giggles to himself, staring at the bodies around him.
The thrill of it all is still running in his veins.
That was…freeing, for lack of a more accurate term. He gets to work, slipping out some sturdy rope from his side knapsack.
Lohen looks up at more footsteps; it can't be Illuga again.
It's Eyvind. "Err, Boss asked me to come over and help," he rubs a hand behind his neck, "I can drag the other guy by the cabin over for you, if you want?"
"Sure, sure. Thanks!" Lohen nods up at the blonde, tying down the two women Oprichniki to their buffer colleague.
Eyvind hauls the other guard over, and Lohen spares a bit more of his supplies to bind him to the pile of bodies as well.
"So, a Cryo Vision, huh?" Eyvind brings up as they walk away.
"Mhm," Lohen confirms, "It's fun using it to piss off the more…'conservative' Snezhnayan types, like that one," he nudges a thumb back towards the beefiest, tallest one on deck.
"Your fighting was so cool!" Eyvind gushes, then sobers up, "A little reckless, though. And solo, at that! I could never," he shakes his head.
Lohen brushes away the thinly veiled concern—though it's not unappreciated—"Please, I saved us at least ten more minutes of sneaking around, and an extra two hours of detouring and slow sailing to stay unseen. Am I wrong?"
"No-o-o," Eyvind stammers, "Not exactly. Listen, I do appreciate it, too, but you should know that Boss makes his plans out of concern for all of us."
"Oh, I don't doubt that," Lohen waves him off, "Anybody can tell. It's just that I would rather get rid of the issue faster, is all."
"Oh. Alright, then. Just…stay safe, will you?"
Lohen almost hears someone else tell him that same exact thing. He should probably stop associating this poor guy with his spiritual twin back in Mondstadt.
"Of course," is all he answers.
They find the others about to board a smaller model ship.
"Let's go," Illuga calls as soon as they're within earshot.
Lohen is the last to hop onboard. He looks around. "Any reason there are railings on this one when the bigger model doesn't?"
There's a collective shrug, as their boss starts up the engine.
"It's helpful, at least, since Ronia can't swim," Bryndis supplies helpfully, hiding her laugh behind her hand, "It'll prevent her from falling overboard too easily."
"You don't have to expose me like that," said woman protests lowly, cheeks flushed.
Runar pats her supportively, signing something with his hands. Bryndis signs back, laughing. Ronia just rolls her eyes.
Looks like some variation of TSL. Probably Nod-Krai native, or even Treasure Hoarder specific. Lohen can't be sure, and he doesn't really care what they might be talking about, either.
He leans over the short railing.
The boat finally starts moving, and the waves morph from murky blues to white foam as the boat splits them. It's gonna be quite a while before they're on dry land again. And from there, it'll be time to deal with the Wild Hunt.
Lohen can't wait.
He tosses a gum into his mouth, then a second one for good measure.
It's gonna be a while, though.
Lohen begins making rounds on the small deck, turning down Bryndis' good-natured offer to sit down with the rest of them. He won't be able to sit still, he knows that.
Eventually, he finds himself at the small steering cockpit.
"If you're here to bother me, you can leave," Illuga says without missing a beat; without taking his eyes off the waves in front.
"I didn't even say anything," Lohen pouts dramatically.
"Your chewing is distracting."
"It's not that loud, is it?"
"It kind of is, sir Lohen."
Lohen can't exactly see his expression, but he can hear the deadpan. He keeps his giggling at a lower pitch. "Oh, come on, drop the 'sir', birdie," he insists, "It makes me sound like a Knight. Which I'm not."
"Whatever floats your boat," is the simple response.
He laughs again.
Illuga seems more irritated, now, "Is everything a joke, to you? You were laughing during your fight, earlier, too."
Lohen calms down from his fit, ebullient. "No, it's just that you said that while we're literally on a boat."
Finally, red-ringed blue eyes glance sideways at him.
"What?" he spreads his hands, "I have a good sense of humour."
"During battle, too?"
"Sure, if the fighting is entertaining enough," Lohen stretches his arms, "You should've heard what that muscly idiot was spouting earlier, it was fucking hilarious."
"Language."
Lohen inches closer to Illuga, teeth shining through his smile. "I recall you going against that saying moments ago."
Out of nowhere, that gold prismatic bird squawks irately at him, spawning on Illuga's shoulder closest to him.
"Woah, woah," Lohen puts up both hands, "I get it." He takes a step back. "Possessive pet you got there, birdie."
"His name is Aedon. And he isn't my pet."
"Right, right. Sorry."
A weird sort of silence descends on them. Aedon is still staring him down, beak twitching every now and then.
Lohen grows aware of the fact that the rest of the team was obviously trying to listen in on their conversation, even though they're currently engaged in hasty conversation after the two fell silent.
Well, it is an open cockpit, and they're on a small boat.
Lohen's lips quirk up.
Might as well give them something to talk about.
"Say," he starts suggestively, walking closer to the boss, "Would you be amenable to a sparring match after this little expedition is over?"
"A…sparring match?" Illuga echoes, shifting on his feet.
"Y'know," Lohen drags out, laying a hand against the counter, "Sparring. Comparing fight styles. Should be fun."
Illuga seems to be considering it. His gaze is still very steadily directed on the horizon afar. "Fine," he finally sighs, and Lohen celebrates mentally, "But only if nobody suffers any major injuries on this hunt."
"Deal," Lohen affirms, "Just gotta knock down a few Wild Hunt creatures, right?"
"Have you fought them before?" Illuga's tone of voice sounds incredulous.
"Can't really say I have," Lohen crosses his arms, "Shouldn't be too bad, though. I'd say I adapt pretty quickly."
"Whatever you're expecting, it's ten times worse," Illuga states.
"Even better~" Lohen says, lilt in his voice.
Illuga pauses. His gaze slides over on him again. "You're...strange."
"Eh, I've heard more original than that." Lohen's pretends to examine his nails. "Pretty sure you wanna say I'm mentally deranged. How close am I to the mark?"
"Nowhere near," Illuga answers immediately, "I wouldn't say you're mentally deranged. Just…peculiar."
"Pfft," Lohen giggles, "That sounds so much worse, birdie."
He watches a crease form between Illuga's eyebrows. "Is it?"
"It usually sounds worse when you're being purposefully vague about it."
"Oh. It wasn't my intention to–"
Lohen can't help it, he chuckles again, "Oh my Archons, birdie, I'm just messing with you. You aren't offending me, trust me."
"…Alright."
Lohen brings a hand up to his mouth, before his smile can grow too wide. He's too cute.
"…Are you done bothering me?" Illuga asks, after another spell of quiet.
"For now." Oh, who is he even kidding, his smile is bigger than ever.
Illuga's sigh follows him as he saunters away. He finally found something to cure his boredom. And he's not letting go.