Soren thought it was cute that Corvus really loved nature. He certainly saw a special connection between him and it.
He wasn't sure why, but he knew that he used to sleep in the trees when he was a child, also when he joined General Amaya. And he remembers several times when he saw Corvus sneaking out of the castle at night.
In short, Corvus had this habit all his life.
In the last few years that they had been working together or spending their free time together, Soren had the pleasure of discovering a few little things about Corvus. Some trivia about plants, his cooking skills, his taste in music and even his humor.
He wasn't as closed off as he imagined he would be at first. In fact, he sometimes laughed at Soren's jokes, and gave that damn smile that hit him like an arrow.
He was just a quiet person, without too much exaggeration. But he also didn't like crowded places, a lot of noise and movement, although he didn't fail to attend some of the real events he was called to.
And it was at these events that he noticed that his social battery sometimes ran out faster than usual.
Several times he saw Corvus isolating himself from everyone, finding some way out or some closed room with no one in it. Usually he didn't follow and respected his friend's space, other times he went to check on him to make sure everything was okay.
And now, there were no parties, castle or anything like that. Just a hectic camp with people everywhere working to fit in.
Some things had already happened, like the arrival of the brothers, Rayla, Aanya and Corvus.
Eventually there were some conflicts, but Soren and Opeli quickly worked to end each one.
And now things seemed somewhat fairer. There were still plenty of people working, but the chaos had subsided to a large extent.
But that didn't mean it wasn't still tiring to be back and forth (and Soren could tell that very well).
But now it wasn't Soren's turn, because he was already noticing a much more stressed and quiet demeanor coming from Corvus.
He could see his stress just by looking at him. Which made sense, with everything that had happened, but he still couldn't help worrying.
King Ezran had given the two of them freedom to rest, Soren and Corvus tried to argue against it but were lectured again by the young king.
He noticed Corvus sighing heavily as they left the tent.
After that, Corvus disappeared completely.
Soren rested for a few hours, but feeling too restless, he decided to go after Corvus. He looked everywhere, in his hut, at the nearby river, in other groups, asked his friends and the only one who really answered was Opeli, who just pointed her finger at the entrance to the forest.
He knew he was screwed to find him. He was stealthy enough to be able to disappear into a forest with ease, just like a cat when something happens, he thinks.
So he went in, trying to find his footsteps and the little signs he had learned from him.
He searches for a while, almost giving up, until he hears a call.
"Soren?" a familiar voice calls him.
He looks up to find Corvus sitting on a branch.
"Oh, there you are. I can't believe you found me before I found you," he jokes.
"What do you mean 'found me'?" he looked confused.
"Oh, you disappeared for quite a while. I got bored and went to look for you, but Opeli told me you'd gone into the forest, so I came here to look, because something might have happened. But I realized that even standing still, you're better than me at this and-"
He is interrupted by Corvus, who comes down in the middle of his speech and covers his mouth with his hand.
"I get it" he seems to be amused by his indignant reaction.
"Hey!" he exclaims, lowering Corvus' arm.
He notices him wince at his louder tone and he quickly rushes to correct himself.
"Oh, sorry," he says more quietly. "Well, since I've already found you and everything's fine, I think I'll go back," he shifts his weight from one foot to the other.
He doesn't even move much when Corvus takes his hand, keeping him in place.
"You know... if you want, you can stay," he offers a soft smile, "as long as you're not too noisy," he says, squeezing his hand.
"Oh, that's fine," he feels his face flush. "But are you sure you don't mind?"
"Not if it's you... And I'm already feeling better after having rested. There's nothing to worry about" he says, moving closer.
he feels something hit his chest at the idea of being exclusive.
Their faces were closer than usual. A certain tension had been created by that movement and Soren felt his body move of its own accord.
Their lips touched in seconds, before Soren pulled away, startled at himself.
Fortunately, Corvus had no time for conflict and just pulled him gently back to his lips.
Soren stiffened for a moment, but soon surrendered to him.
Corvus pulls him closer, one hand caressing his face and the other hugging his waist. The other man's hands run to embrace his shoulder, keeping them close.
They pull apart only because of the shortness of breath.
"Wow" Soren gasps softly, not believing what has just happened.
Corvus laughs softly, he holds Soren's face, gently lifting it.
"You're such an idiot sometimes" and presses a quick kiss to his lips again, and another to the corner.
"I'm not an idiot," he laughs shyly, his face flushing at his tone.
"Are you so sure about that?"
"No" he seemed lost in the closeness. "But you're cute"
He makes a confused face, "cute?"
"mhum" he nods, "like, the whole tree thing. I bet you hug them when you're alone."
"I used to did that when I was a kid, but that's stupid" he admits.
"Argh, I didn't need to see that," another voice echoes in the forest. They turn to find Rayla with her weapons, rolling her eyes.
She turns and disappears into the forest in seconds. They stare at each other and start laughing.
"Uh... can we stay on the ground instead of the tree?" Soren laughs.
"I expected that," Corvus rolls his eyes, not hiding his smile.
hii i'm really happy to have had this experience of writing and posting for y'all!! This is the last day I'll be writing, since tomorrow I'll post a fanart (and i already started to work on it). But who knows, maybe I'll continue writing in the future sometimes 🙃🙃
you can see the fics organized there on my ao3!!
