“Hey, hey,” the low voice called out, strong hands gripping Jace’s shoulders. Not painfully, but to ground him in place. “Jace, calm down, it’s me.”

Who me!?

Jace tried to push the body away, but this time he felt like a true weakling. Even consciously putting his whole force behind his shoves and punches did nothing to shake the man off.

The grip on his shoulders loosened, and large palms caught his forearms, pressing them against the cold, black armor.

“Jace,” the voice called again, softer. “Calm down, it’s okay.” Through ragged breathing and with the slow understanding that he couldn’t pull himself free, Jace managed to recognize who spoke to him.

The man sounded too familiar.

Taking a deep breath, Jace looked up. Sharp jawline, dark blue eyes, blacker and greyer under the bleak light of torches. Liut. Of course.

The realization brought instant relief.

Finally!

Where was the fucking protagonist when he was needed? He was supposed to storm into that interrogation cell of a room and save Jace like a knight in shining armor! Jace did not sign up to actually fucking experience a medieval grimdark fantasy!

Shaken and high on emotions, Jace couldn’t help but let them pour out.

“Calm down!? That ugly fuck interrogated me, called me a whore, then asked me to kill a fucking vir—”

Liut’s palm covered his mouth.

“Don’t yell,” he whispered.

Now that one of his hands was free, Jace used it to continue punching Liut in the chest.

“Mhm Me Mho!”

“I know, I know.” Liut lowered his head and tapped Jace’s forehead with his own. The gesture was so simple yet personal that Jace stopped punching and froze in place, wide eyes staring at Liut. “I will take my hand away now. Are you going to stay quiet?” Jace, dumbfounded and lost, nodded. “Good.”

Slowly, Liut removed his palm, but not fully—only shifted so it cupped Jace’s face instead, thumb painting small circles over the cheekbone. Jace’s lips parted on a shaky exhale. All his attention was on the skin that burned under Liut’s touch, on the sapphire eyes watching him. His heart was still threatening to punch through his plexus, but at least he no longer had a marathon of thoughts running through his brain.

Behind him, he heard rushing footsteps. Panic once again filled his body. He grabbed Liut’s wrist and bit his lip, and even though he really wanted to scream, it got stuck in his throat.

Quickly, Liut snapped his head to the side. Before Jace could realize what was happening, the world twirled; his shaky legs stumbled over each other as he was dragged somewhere. Reflex triggered, Jace tried to get out of the hold again, but he got pinned against the… door? Another fucking door!?

Liut dragged him into another of these stuffy small rooms. Though this one was lit with a few torches and looked much cozier—with bookcases against the walls and scrolls stacked upon each other. Facing the door stood a worn-down table, an equally worn leather belt with a sheathed sword lying on it. Hunched over a thick book, a young man was writing in it, quill swiftly flying over the page.

Wait.

Jace glanced over Liut’s shoulder once again. The man was staring him right in the eyes.

Plop.

A drop of ink fell onto the parchment.

On cue, the guy threw away the quill and lunged to grab the sword.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Liut said evenly, lowly, an obvious threat.

Did he have eyes on the back of his head or what? He was still staring down at Jace, keeping him pressed against the door.

The man’s hand quivered. Jace could see the way he was working his mind to choose what to do next. They kept staring at each other and, deep down, Jace could relate so much. The guy was probably just some clerk, keeping records or whatever. This situation was surely above his pay grade.

“Hello there,” Jace suddenly said. A case of employee solidarity. And seeing someone more frightened than him managed to calm Jace down. Or Liut slapped him against the door hard enough to punch all the panic out along the way. Who could tell.

The guy frowned, his eyes wandering over Liut’s frame. Right. Because behind that mountain of muscle only half of Jace’s face peeked over the shoulder. He tried to gently push Liut away, but the unmovable wall blocking him did not move.

“I’m fine now,” Jace assured, glancing up and hoping his gaze was steady enough to convey it. Liut was not persuaded. Jace stared at him harder. Finally, Liut reluctantly stepped away. With a grateful smile, Jace squeezed Liut’s forearm before turning his attention back to the clerk.

“Apologies for barging in, we thought the room was empty,” he explained, keeping a faint smile on his face to signal that they were not a threat.

The clerk was tense, watching the intruders intently, hand frozen and stretching toward the sword.

“And who are you two?” He flicked a look toward Liut and then back to Jace. “You should not be here.”

Jace smiled wider. “That’s right, we should not. That was the whole point,” Jace admitted with a coy chuckle. “My lover here has no patience, couldn’t even wait until we found a bed. He thought it would be… What word did you use, dear?” Jace turned to Liut, theatrically gesticulating with his hand to urge him to reply.

Expression flat and unimpressed, Liut stared Jace down. His whole look oozed how much he considered this farce a complete waste of time.

“Venturesome,” he stated, voice blank.

“Yes!” Jace beamed. Sincerely. Even though Liut obviously would rather not play along, he still did. “Venturesome!” Jace echoed, full of enthusiasm. “All couples need a bit of adventure in their bedchambers, to keep things interesting, am I right?” Jace asked the clerk, playing with his eyebrows suggestively. “Or, well, in our case—outside of bedchambers… But you understand what I mean, right?”

Having a badge of honor as a past employee of a hotel reception desk, Jace knew that there was nothing more lethal than a very blatant sexual innuendo. Even his open-mindedness had not helped when lustful couples basically rutted against each other while waiting for their keys. He sent them on their way with 200% efficiency, fast and without a single meandering gaze.

By his side, Liut bit down on his lower lip to subdue a smile. His shoulders shaking in silent chuckles gave him away, though. There was something achingly endearing in seeing this huge hunk of a man trying to stop himself from giggling. Once again, Jace saw how truly young Liut was—how handsome, lovely, absolutely delightful and candidly cute.

Eyes creased in laughter, Liut glanced at Jace and arched an eyebrow.

Grinning, Jace shrugged in response. As long as it worked, right? And as long as they could have some fun.

Red-faced, the clerk awkwardly cleared his throat. He was staring up at the ceiling, his hands clasped behind his back as he rolled on his heels.

“Umm,” he said eloquently.

While the victim of Jace’s flawless scheme did everything so as not to look at them, Jace faced Liut with the most obnoxious, self-satisfied smirk. His expression screamed, See? And you were so-o-o skeptical!

Raising his palms in defeat, Liut nodded his head, as proper when acknowledging the other’s prowess.

Exactly.

Jace had a few tricks up his sleeve, too.

Behind the door, down those firelit tunnels, footsteps could be heard, different voices yelling something back and forth.

The clerk must’ve gotten so flabbergasted by Jace’s impudence that he did not react to the commotion at all, still fully committed to scrutinizing each plank on the ceiling.

Relaxing his back against the wall, Jace tilted his head and studied the clerk curiously. The silence was getting a bit uncomfortable, so Jace figured he might as well.

“So, you work here?” he asked.

The clerk tentatively glanced at Jace, mouth parted and brows creased in confusion.

“W–what?”

A gagged, strangled at the back of the throat snort rumbled through the small room—Liut burst out laughing. Quickly reigning himself in so he was quiet, he grabbed his stomach and bent in half, whole body shaking from the force of his repressed cackles.

Jace knitted his eyebrows. Was small talk not a thing?..