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Kurode knows his day isn’t going to be any good when the first person who wants to talk to him is Klarkstella of all people. Though, he isn’t sure if “wants to” is the proper phrase to use, considering the clear look of disgust on the younger twin’s face.
Klarkstella harshly pulls at Kurode’s arm, dragging him away from the round table and harshly whispers, “I need to talk to you.”
“Whatever happened to 'good morning,' 'how are you,' or even just a simple 'hello?’” Kurode asks. “I know Cielomort called for an early meeting today, but there’s no need to be cranky already.”
Klarkstella frowns, tugging Kurode’s arm even harder as he drags him to the corner of the room. “I’d like for this conversation to remain private. I also want it to be over as soon as it starts. Okay?”
Kurode furrows his brows. “Okay…? So, what is it?” When he asks that, the taller’s face flushes as his eyes avert to the side. Uh oh. Kurode’s seen this one too many times to know where this is going. He nervously scratches the back of his head and says, “Erm, is this a confession? I mean, I’m flattered , really, but I’m pretty sure the whole blue continent knows I’m with Will right now—”
“NO, what the hell!?” Klarkstella grits through his teeth. He raises a hand as if he were going to strangle Kurode. “Actually, this is exactly why I didn’t want to talk to you. But, I don’t have any other options.”
Kurode wants to point out that Klarkstella’s voice is a lot louder than a whisper by now, but he doesn’t want to risk angering him any further. Instead, he asks, “Is it really so serious that it has to be now ? I think the others are going to arrive soon.”
“Yes,” Klarkstella hisses. “It’s about… You and Willmesh...”
“Uh huh? What about us? Are you jealous?”
“I can make this conversation not-so-private in the matter of a few minutes.”
“That sounds like a threat,” Kurode remarks, starting to grow worried at what the topic could be. Him and Willmesh? What information does Klarkstella have on them that could be that serious?
“...Ugh.” Klarkstella looks like he wants to throw up. He opens his mouth, then closes it immediately, repeating the same motion for a few times. Finally, he says, “I’m only going to say this once, so please listen. You know how all of the knights are supposed to stay at Lord Cinnamon’s castle the nights before our big meetings?”
Kurode slowly nods his head. “Uh huh…”
“This means that we all share the same living space.”
“Uh huh…”
Klarkstella grimaces, closing his eyes. “Why are you so incredibly loud at night that I can hear you from the other side of the castle? Our rooms are as far away as they can possibly be from each other.” He gags. “Ew, I can’t believe you’re making me even utter these words. Ew. Ew.”
Oh. Ahh. Kurode gets it now. He almost wants to laugh. Actually, he does end up letting one or two snickers escape.
“Why are you laughing. This isn’t funny,” Klarkstella deadpans.
“Whoops. My bad.”
Klarkstella clicks his tongue. “Anyway, I just wanted to say that you’re disturbing not only mine, but Louter’s precious sleep as well. He’s a very light sleeper and often tosses and turns at night when you make… those sounds. Please be mindful of others; the walls are thinner than you think. That’s all.”
Ooh, this could be fun. As much as he feels guilty for disturbing Louterstella’s sleep—something that would make Willmesh feel ten times guiltier for—it’s not every day that Kurode gets to play around with people, with the person in question being Klarkstella. He decides to feign ignorance and ask, “What sounds are you talking about? Could you be more specific so I know exactly what you’re talking about?”
Klarkstella’s face morphs into even more disgust than before. “You—”
“I’m also interested as well,” another voice pops in, causing Kurode to yelp in surprise. He turns around to be met by their white-haired leader, Cielomort. “What is it that you two are discussing? Our round table meeting will be starting soon, but this could be a topic I can bring up!”
For the first time in a while, Kurode wants to agree with Cielomort. He smirks. “Yeah, Klark. Why don’t you bring it up to everyone? I don’t mind helping you.”
“Shameless. You’re shameless,” Klarkstella grits through his teeth. He looks to Cielomort. “And you. I know you’ve been listening since the beginning. You’re just as bad, acting as if you don’t know anything.”
Cielomort only smiles. “What do you mean? I know all about the sounds that our Kurode-kun makes at night. Remember the cameras?”
Kurode feels a shiver up his spine. “What the hell.”
Klarkstella looks like he wants to faint. “I’m surrounded by freaks.”
“Kura, what have I told you about using that word to describe others?” From the door, Louterstella arrives with Myunna in tow. The pink-haired twin wears a disappointed frown on his face. “I haven’t heard much of the conversation, but I’m sure they don’t deserve to be called that.”
“Ah, Louter…” Klarkstella wears a guilty expression.
“E-Eh?! What’s going on…?” Myunna frets, looking back and forth between everyone. He holds onto Louterstella’s arm, looking up at him. “Louter-san, is everything alright?”
“Don’t worry, Myunna. There’s nothing to worry about,” Kurode replies.
Klarkstella gives him a side eye. “Your name isn’t Louter.”
Louterstella leans down to Myunna’s ear and whispers, “I believe those two are having their usual back-and-forth. From what I’ve heard, it’s natural for their age.”
“Aren’t you the same age as them, though?”
“Hehe, it doesn’t feel like it at times…”
“Louter-san…” Myunna suddenly remembers something, exclaiming, “Wait, I think I know what they might be talking about!” He runs to the corner where half of the Blue Bouquet is practically huddled.
“Good morning, Myunna-kun~” Cielomort greets.
“Mornin’, Myunna.”
“Good morning to you two, and Klark-san as well!”
The blue-haired twin presses his lips together, desperately trying to remove the past five minutes from his memory. He focuses on the boy beside him. “Good morning, Myunna…”
“Hehe! Um, um! Louter-san told me that Kurode-san and Klark-san were having a disagreement about something, and I was wondering if it happened to be about the really loud noise from the other night?”
Kurode blinks and looks at the smile that slowly creeps up on Klarkstella’s lips. He tries to telepathically tell the twin that, no, you will not have this conversation with Myunna, but any hopes of that disappear as soon as Klarkstella opens his mouth.
“Yeah, actually… that noise has something to do with Kurode. Would you mind telling us?” He pats Kurode on the back for extra good measure, and god , Kurode doesn’t think he’ll see the white, pearly gate when he dies.
“Eh, Kurode-san? You know what it was?”
With the way Myunna looks at him, Kurode can’t bring himself to lie. However, he’d much rather start burying a hole for himself than tell the truth. So, he says, “Erm, I didn’t really hear much that night…”
“Fufu, I know exactly what it was~” Cielomort says, smiling with curled lips.
Kurode and Klarkstella look at each other. Besides eliminating the seeds from their continent, the two might finally have another common goal in mind, and that is getting Cielomort to shut his mouth.
However, before they can unanimously think of something, Cielomort continues. “I believe it was the sound of—”
“Thunder.”
From beside the group, Willmesh voices a single word and stares at everyone with a blank face. Cielomort’s eyes light up at seeing his childhood best friend. “Ah, good morning, Will! That means everyone is here now! Shall we get the meeting started?”
The topic is quickly changed before anyone else gets a chance to continue it. Kurode decides that it’s for the better, so he decides to go along with it as well. Cielomort takes his seat in his usual spot, while the others take the time to greet each other properly.
Willmesh says hello to everyone, and if Kurode were any other person, they probably wouldn’t notice the way his ears were tinted with a bright red. He definitely must’ve heard some bits of the conversation from behind the door, much to Kurode’s dismay. The guilt from earlier starts to hit him now, only because he realizes that this involves his otherwise quiet boyfriend.
Before everyone sits down at their proper places, Kurode leans to Willmesh’s ear and whispers, “Do you think I should be quieter?”
“Quieter?” Willmesh looks at Kurode with wide eyes. He looks like he wants to say something else, thinking to himself for a moment.
Kurode sweats. Maybe he really is too loud in bed, and he thinks Willmesh is about to tell him yes , he should tone it down a bit and stop raising his voice as if there were no tomorrow. And as much as Kurode enjoys the reaction that he gets from Willmesh after moaning his name several times, he can try his best to hold back.
However, Willmesh ultimately decides to shake his head and hide in his scarf. His ears are still tinted the same red as before.
Kurode can only smile at that. “Okay.”
Cielomort promptly clears his throat and announces, “Alright, everyone! Welcome to our monthly Bouquet meeting. I’d like to personally thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to attend. First things first, I’d like to bring up a noise complaint we’ve had within the past week in this kingdom!”
“A noise complaint? Wasn’t it thunder?” Myunna is the first to ask.
“Yes,” Kurode, Willmesh, and Klarkstella answer in unison.
Kurode sighs. This is going to be a long meeting.