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A sigh fell from Orion’s mouth as he shifted the greatsword against his spine and was met with a snort from Granson next to him. Lulled eyes slid over to meet ones that had a glint to them Orion didn’t often see. Something playful in the way light danced across the ruby of his iris. He nearly didn’t want to ask so he could keep the view for a little longer as they walked, but he couldn’t help himself.
“Yes?” Orion asked, the single word held in a croon.
“Nothin’. Just thinking about how there was rumor you couldn’t lift a blade to save your life. Strong arms but not for heavy lifting,” Granson explained. “Seeing you shift the blade reminded me.”
“Reminded you of what? That you agree?” Stopping all at once, Orion watched as Granson pulled back to match. “Think I’m not capable? Also—backing up a bit—what other rumors of me are there?”
“You don’t want those… come on. Just forget I said it.”
“I want to know,” Orion said, gaze locked to Granson’s as he closed their distance. “It’s like they say: where there’s smoke there’s fire. So tell me. What blaze can I give you awareness of?”
Settling against his right foot with a knowing huff out of his nose, Granson prepared to not move for the foreseeable future until Orion was satisfied as he had learned recently. A thought seemed to cross his mind as his eyes followed it, picking and choosing what to voice. Orion didn’t mind rumors, that wasn’t the problem. People didn’t know him, he knew him. When you had the power he did, the status that came with it, and the hatred of many parties, rumors followed suit. Granson didn’t seem too much the gossiping type and so he wanted to know just what the knight knew.
“Do you want the ones I think are plausible or the truly ludicrous ones?” Granson asked.
“Ridiculous, please,” Orion quipped quickly, rocking on his heels with hands threading to rest on his lower back.
“Rumor is that you’re actually the parent of those twin elves you have around and it’s why they’re still so short despite their age.”
A laugh barked out of Orion’s mouth turning into a wheeze with a swiftness that made him nearly choke. “Fuck that’s good. Gods, from what they’ve said of their actual father I don’t know if I’m flattered or insulted.”
“Yeah, see, so it isn’t worth repeating the rest,” Granson said, waving off the thought from the air with a swat of his hand.
Tsking, Orion shook his head with a step to close their gap further. Granson was evasive even for a dark knight in battle, but not so much in speech. The man made slow and heavy shifts when he tried to run from a topic and unfortunately for him, Orion was nothing short of a prize hunter when it came to words. Tilting his head, he bared his teeth in a smile. Granson frowned in argument and earned himself a quick flick of Orion’s tail around the side to brush his hand.
“I’m not saying I believe this—”
“Out with it, Ketchthane.”
“Rumor has it that we’re… together. That you have taken to me,” Granson muttered, red begging to consume his face as it bled up from his collar. “People see us coming and going and I stay over on occasion and even though it never goes there… Well, people talk.”
Orion’s brows raised, then settled as he turned on his heel all at once. “Hm.”
“Hm? You have nothing to say to that? Nothing out of that mouth of yours?” Granson prodded both verbally and then physically with his shoulder nudging Orion’s. “Ludicrous, aye?”
Glancing up at him, Orion smiled tightly. “Where there is smoke, my blade…”
His stride widened at that, making distance between them grow quickly and Orion prayed the other man didn’t try to keep up. Not quite yet. Not before he could get his own nerves to settle, regardless of blush not touching his skin to start with. So, people were talking about them.
He didn’t know how to feel about that.