Luck in childhood 2

It was quite pleasant in the cave. When they went a little deeper, it wasn't even that cold inside, which was quite unusual. This led Rue to the idea that there might be some kind of heat source in the center of the cave, so he was intrigued by the possibility of investigating it here more closely. Ylre warned him several times that it wasn't a good idea, and although Rue agreed, his desire to explore always got the better of him.

They walked through several corridors where Rue marked a path in the wall with other stones. They went to the part which top was no longer formed by a stone wall, but from which one could see outside. There was a storm in the forest, water flowed from a smaller opening through grooves in the rock into a smaller pond that seemed to be cleaner than the one they saw in the entrance area.

It was much cozier here, not so big and warmer. With a pleasant dimness as just touches and the moon shone here, the cave created a magical atmosphere that Rue immediately fell in love with.

That's why for a while the desire to walk deeper disappeared and instead he touched the crystal water, "It's not cold...it looks to be clear."

"Shall we go in?" the young man cheered happily and walked over to Rue, knelt down and dipped his palm in.

Rue nodded with a soft smile, "What's your name?"

When a single question was asked, the young man stood up and extended his hand to Rue to introduce himself, "Kaye...my name is Kaye."

"Kaye?" Ylre asked, "Strange name for Lacrisan." He knew Rue won't touch his hand.

The young man smiled softly, "And what's your name?"

"Ylre."

"Weird name for Lacrisan," he laughed.

Ylre laughed more murderously and when it looked like a conflict would arise Rue stepped in, "I'm Rue, nice to meet you," he smiled.

Kaye nodded contentedly, "Are we staying?"

"Yes," Rue nodded and looked at Ylre next to him, "Ylre, yesterday I went first, today you can go first, what do you say?"

"First?" the young man didn't understand, "Let's all go together," he said and started undressing, "it will be more fun," he smiled.

"Insolent," Ylre snarled and placed himself between the young man and Rue so he wouldn't have to look at him, "we can see what environment you came from."

Kaye blinked in confusion, "You have no idea...but I guess in some cave in the forest it doesn't matter where we come from," he laughed and undressed completely, "We want to get closer, don't we?" you climbed into the pond, "So good...."

"Get closer?" Ylre laughed at him.

"Calm down," Rue blushed softly and looked away, "Kaye's right...nothing's going on." he knew and gently removed his upper black and gold robe, revealing the white layer underneath, which although still completely covered him, was at least thinner.

However, Ylre still stood between them and glared furious at the young man.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something?" he didn't understand.

"You don't have to bathe with him...we'll wait until he comes out...or I'll kill him and you can go in now," Ylre offered to Rue, who didn't agree.

"Ylre, it's just a bath," he slowly went to the pond, "the world is changing." he deduced, with hesitation touching the water with his foot.

Ylre watched as the white-robed Rue slowly crawled into the pond before intense anger at the young man swimming by the side filled his insides. He watched for a moment as Rue dipped below the surface and leaned gently against one of the rocks before realizing he had to go in too. Since the young man didn't look like he was going to let Rue have his privacy, Ylre cleverly stripped down to just his underpants and waded into the water to join them.

He was standing between Ruo and Kaye who looked like he wanted to talk to Ruo in inappropriate proximity.

"Are you shy?" Kaye asked when he saw that Rue was wearing a white outfit and clearly couldn't feel comfortable in it.

Rue just smiled softly and shook his head, "I don't think it's appropriate to bathe with strangers naked, try to think about it in the future, child," he wasn't shy, it was just that his way of thinking was different.

"Child?" Kaye blinked.

Rue realized as soon as he lost control and shook his head, "Accept the customs of others, Kaye…as I accept yours."

"Hmm..." Kaye looked at him when Ylre blocked his view again.

"If you want to have fun with someone…I'm available." Ylre pierced him with a look that clearly said that when he got any closer, today's experience with the guys he saved him from would be his fondest memory.

"Okay, okay," Kaye grumbled unhappily and swam a little to the side, "you're weird."

Ylre ignored him as he heard Rue's almost horrified voice.

"Ylre," he began, "who did this to you?" Rue stared blankly at Ylre's whipped back. The long, deep wounds stretching across his entire width were no longer bleeding, but they still looked relatively fresh. The water didn't open them up, they didn't look inflamed, but they clearly had to still be sore and Rue suddenly didn't know if he really had them all along.

Ylre didn't understand what he was asking for a moment before turning to him and coming to his senses, "Ah..." he thought, "my...superior...I made a mistake at work."

"Superior?" Rue blinked, "What mistake cost you such a harsh punishment? What kind of superior would do this to someone?" He was quite angry.

"Mine is very self-centered," Ylre laughed, "He thinks he owns the world...which is true for the time being." he added.

"No one owns the world...only Luck," Rue knew very well.

Ylre knew he was right, but since the King of the Infey was the main messenger and guardian of Luck, basically neither of them were wrong.

"There's no point in arguing with him," Ylre sighed.

"And what mistake did you make?" Rue asked.

"He thinks I lost someone I was supposed to be guarding," he knew.

"He thinks?" he didn't understand, "So you haven't lost him?"

Ylre shook his head, "I always know where he is."

"Then why did he punish you?" he didn't understand.

"Because he's stupid," he laughed, "but that's good. I never wanted to be a prison guard."

"You said you were one for a long time," Rue recalled.

"I have been...for a very long time," he sighed, "but I won't be anymore."

"Did he fire you?" he asked.

"No...but he gave me a task that I don't intend to fulfill...meaning I don't plan to come back," he explained.

"Does your superior know?" Rue didn't want him to have a problem.

"He doesn't know...if he knew, he would tried to kill me before I went anywhere," he laughed.

"And when he finds you?" he asked.

Ylre smiled lightly and gently approached Rue, "We'll figure something out." He locked his blue gaze with him, lost in his golden irises for a moment before pulling back.

Rue smiled softly, how nice it was to have someone believe in him after a long time, "I'll be happy to help you."

Ylre nodded with a smile. They looked at each other for a while before the nice atmosphere was interrupted by a stranger's voice.

"What are you talking about there?" the young man swam to them and looked at Rue, as if he wanted to see him better.

"Not your business," Ylre took a stone and threw it at him rather harmlessly.

The young man ducked and frowned displeasedly,"Why did you do that?"

"Don't forget who saved you...be grateful and get out." Ylre didn't like someone spoiling their time together.

"I didn't, I appreciate it, that's why I want to get closer to you," he said and took a step towards Rue, "we don't know each other."

Ylre stood between them again. His patience was running out and the only thing keeping him in check was that Rue didn't want him fighting with anyone. However, the moment Kaye took a step to the side with a smile and tried to go around him, Ylre felt like he couldn't take it anymore.

At the moment when the young man tricked him and, after moving to the right, unexpectedly crept up on him from the other side, Ylre couldn't catch him.

Rue blinked in surprise as Kaye approached him. He straightened and confusedly tried to say something to signal them to at least keep a decent distance when a crack echoed through the cave.

"АААААgh!" the young man's scream could be heard through the corridors as Ylre twisted his arm in a forceful grip, breaking one of his fingers.

"Don't you understand the word don't come close?" he asked irritatedly and twisted his arm harder. The young man grabbed him violently, slapped him on the forearm, but he didn't achieve anything.

"Ágh-áágh…sorry…ow…ow…let go...ágh!" he wailed in pain.

"Ylre," Rue took a step toward him, "stop."

Ylre looked at him and let the young man go, "It's his fault."

Kaye was obviously clutching his broken finger, "Ow..ahh...why did you do that...I-I didn't do anything..." he backed away confused.

"I said, don't come any closer," Ylre pierced him with his eyes.

"Is that why you can break my fingers? Because I got close to you?" he looked at Rue incomprehendingly, who sighed deeply.

"He's a bit temperamental...but he's right, I said that we have different customs...I'm not comfortable being around strangers and especially when the person is naked...maybe he overdid it, but I hope, that it will be a lesson for you in the future to listen to the requests of others." Rue looked at Ylre who just helped him.

Ylre laughed contentedly and leaned proudly against the edge of the pond. He gave the young man a knowing superior look backed by Rue's words, clearly on his side.

"I understand," Kaye said, "I just wanted to be nice." he declared and walked out of the pond, leaving the pair alone. He moved further into the cave as if he wanted to be alone and Rue looked at him in confusion as if he didn't understand where the mistake had happened.

"A moron," Ylre finally breathed.

"Shouldn't we go after him?" he didn't know.

"Don't care about him, we're finally alone," Ylre smiled, "if you want, I'll come out and you can bathe without clothes, I won't watch."

"That's fine," Rue smiled, "it's quite pleasant." he closed his eyes, sat contentedly leaning against the edge of the lake and enjoying the lukewarm touch of the water.

Ylre looked at him. He watched his relaxed face for a moment before lowering his eyes. The white fabric clung to his body with water, offering a glimpse of his pale chest. Ylre only watched for a few seconds as impact of water lifted his clothes slightly, tiny drops running down his neck, to his collarbone behind the hem of his clothes, where Rue gently wiped them away. He tilted his neck to the side and exhaled softly. Ylre swallowed hard and looked away. He backed up with self-discipline and made his way out of the water.

"Where are you going?" Rue asked in surprise.

"I'm a little cold," Ylre clarified.

"Cold?" Rue didn't think the water was cold.

"Yes," Ylre dressed slowly, "I'll wait until you come out." he sat down by one of the nearby rocks. Although the cave was natural, the ground wasn't cold at all, the rocks seemed to be carved, and it was generally comfortable to sit next to them. Ylre had the impression that the church here was using it for other things, like worshiping Luck, but since it was raining outside, they couldn't go any further.

He was wondering where they were going tomorrow when Rue came out. He walked to the rocks behind which he hid, changed his undergarment to an upper one and threw a wet cloth over them. He came out dressed and walked towards Ylre.

"Do you want to play?" Rue asked, sitting on his floor.

"Play?" asked Ylre, "A dice?"

"Whatever you want...if I win, you tell me a story, if I lose, I'll tell you a story," he smiled.