✎ to you, who swallowed a star 「 ed•v 」

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𝖔𝖒𝖓𝖎𝖆 𝖒𝖚𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖙𝖚𝖗, 𝖓𝖎𝖍𝖎𝖑 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖙.

•••

34th Floor ;
Khun Eduan ;

Never in Khun Eduan’s wildest dreams did he think he was taking things he was more than privileged to have ever since he was born for granted, until the entirety of his body had settled comfortably under the heat of the springs’ water, causing his war-bred nerves to relax in mere seconds.

To be fair, it’s been a few years since he thought of taking a well-deserved vacation after spending almost every minute of his life on the verge of death. So, color him surprised when Jahad and Gustang— both crazy about climbing further up the Tower— asked the whole team for recommendations on where they should spend the day off.

Even Gustang and day off in the same sentence makes Eduan shiver, what more when they were being so goddamn nice about it?

Anyhow, after an impromptu debate starring the affection-deprived children feat deadly threats with one or two weapons in their inventories being pointed at each other’s throats, they conceded— a trendy family-owned hot springs resort deemed as the most suitable compromise.

If anything, no sane person would ever prefer a munera to spend their holidays on. Probably.

The point is, there they were, soundly asleep after filling their appetites to the brim with the honorary buffet prepared for them, who had rented out the resort’s most expensive suites, and here Eduan was, taking the golden opportunity of enjoying the bath peacefully on his own, without any room for distractions.

Footsteps.

It was faint— familiarly so, that it barely registered in his subconscious. Though, the sense of relaxation that enveloped the bluenet’s system washed over and muddled the alarm within him completely.

“This experience would be so much better accompanied with wine, don’t you think so?”

Eduan almost shrieked like a banshee when the newcomer whispered just inches away from his ear, placing a hot (not scalding per sé, but still hot nonetheless) towel over his eyes. On reflex, he shot a burst of electricity towards the other with eyes a glowering hue, ready to curse the intruder to eternal oblivion, if not for the iridescent amethyst gazing at him full of mischief.

“Okay, what the actual fu— V?! Y-You’re here!” the spearbearer choked out, his wrath dispersing into thin air as shame sank in. If earlier he wanted to rip the godforsaken bastard who had enough stupidity to disturb his rest into tiny, bite-sized pieces, now he wished the ground would just open up and swallow him whole right at this very second.

“Of course, I am. Quarter an hour before you, actually. I’m never one to pass up on such luxury, Eduan.”

‘That is hardly ever true,’ the latter thought, the look on his eyes softening as he began healing V when he realized that he had wounded the ravenet’s face. “My apologies. After this, should I come back later?”

“Oh, no!” V cupped Eduan’s hand with his palms in a state of panic, sending the man into a spiralling frenzy. Perhaps, the former realized this, so he sheepishly let it go. “You can stay. I don’t mind the company.”

Eduan could only muster up a defeated smile before dipping his head back once more, now enjoying the bath with the one person he genuinely liked hanging out with. It’s been a long while since they met alone after that ridiculous scene at the rooftop and made things slightly awkward for the both of them. Once the sun had risen, they immediately had to be separated to prepare for the next floor tests. Fortunately, due to this, he had been given the time to recollect his thoughts before he could embarrass himself any further than he already did.