Cadmus laughed warmly and took the pan from Fi once it was offered, giving him a small private smile when their hands brushed. "You must be mighty hungry, yeah? Why don't you take a slice of bread now, soothe your stomach a bit. Fi can lead you to some other snacks while you wait for your meal to get fried up."
“That would be wonderful,” Levi thanked him again, and took a slice of the bread. He bit a corner off of the slice. It was possibly the simplest food, but nothing had ever tasted so good. “Oh..this is delicious.” He looked at Fiori, “What other snacks are there?”
Cadmus gave him a warm smile and turned to the stove, turning dials and tossing some wood into the burner to get it going. Fiori led Levi over to the cabinets with a soft shrug. "I haven't been down here for a while, but they used to have…" His tongue poked out of his mouth slightly as he ruffled through the cabinets, absolutely focused on finding some treats. "… these!" He turned around with an excited smile, pressing a small bag of chocolate-covered coffee beans into Levi's hands. "They're really good."
“Oh!” Levi examined the bag before dipping his hand in to grab a small handful. He cautiously put one in his mouth to taste it. His eyebrows furrowed, and he looked off to the side, silently analyzing the flavor. His eyes suddenly brightened, “Hm, Mm!” He exclaimed, “These are really good!” He put another couple in his mouth.
Fiori laughed and took the bag, popping a few into his mouth with a grin. They were bitter with the right hint of sweetness. "You might wanna slow down there, iceblood. They're coffee beans, you'll jump right out of your skin if you have too many."
“Mm,” He finished off the last few he had in his hand, “We don’t have many coffee beans at home, especially during winter.” He wiped his hands together, as if there was something on them that needed to be wiped off. He took another bite of his bread.
Fiori frowned at the gesture, popping a couple more into his mouth and then passing the bag back to Levi. He was like a puppy, confused about why its master was acting the way he did. "They grow well in hot weather, I think. Why are you doing that?"
Levi held the bag, “Doing what?” He lifted an eyebrow with confusion. He didn’t even think about how he was wiping his hands earlier. But now he remembered; was that weird? “Oh. Wiping my hands? It just felt like I had crumbs or dirt on my hands or something. I probably didn’t, it’s just a reflex.”
"Where'd you get it from?" Fiori asked, still seeming a bit confused. His eyebrows were pressed together like he was concentrating too hard. Where did you build a reflex like that? It didn't seem to have much of a purpose, and it didn't seem like something important enough to really think about ingraining.
“I don’t know,” he pursed his lips in thought. Most of the time he didn’t even realize he was doing it. He had just assumed it was just a common gesture. “We eat some of the food at home with our hands, wiping off crumbs I suppose. And to keep warm? It helps in the cold. Other than that…” he trailed off and shrugged lightly to finish his sentence.
Fiori nodded, curiosity sated by the explanation as he reached for the bag of coffee beans again. "Alright. You don't need to do that here, you know. It's hot. And these don't have crumbs." He popped one into his mouth to make his point and then Cadmus called them back over to his part of the kitchen and he grinned, walking back over and practically dragging Levi behind him. "How do you like Cadmus?"
“Right, it—“ he nodded to the first comment, barely able to get another word in before they headed back to the other part of the kitchen. “Oh, he’s great.” He replied to his latter comment, “You two seem very…” he searched for the word, grinning, “…close.”
The everpresent smile of Fiori's face that had sprung up when he first saw Cadmus seemed to grow brighter when Levi complimented him, bathing his features in childlike enthusiasm. He nodded softly when Levi said they were close. "Yes. I have known him since we were both children and he is.. my selfsame. My everything. You know this feeling, yes? With your Mordecai?"
“I do know the feeling, yes,” Levi’d expression warmed even more, and then became somber. What if his kingdom thought he fled? Or that he was dead? Mordecai would be devastated. “We known each other quite as long as you and Cadmus have known each other, but it’s been long enough.”
Fiori nodded. "Time is no object when your hearts call out to each other. I… I haven't seen Cadmus in a long time. I missed him greatly while I was away." His eyes flickered over to Cadmus and he smiled, brightening when the cook noticed and blew him a kiss back. "You will feel similarly about your Mordecai. When you get back to him, it will be like a miracle."
“I can’t wait for that day,” Levi smiled again as he watched them. His heart lifted at the assurance when you get back to him. Surely there was hope—a good chance, even—that he would return home. “If you don’t mind my asking, how long were you away?”
Fiori's face fell a little and he held himself more rigidly, locking away the fear that came with any mention of his time at war. "Two years, but it felt like thousands. My uncle wishes for me to return for another tour, but…" He sighed, shrugging way the unease as best he could. "I will say here, for as long as I can. And when I am king I will end this war as quickly as possible."
(hey, fun plot idea, maybe when Fi tries to take the throne his uncle tries to have him killed and he has to, like, run away to Levi's kingdom for help?)
(Ooh I like that! And maybe when he gets there, that could be where he finds out Levi’s the prince of Nord Widona?)
Levi made a face at the mention of Fiori’s uncle. The more he heard about this man, the more he disliked him. From what he was told, he didn’t seem like he was a very pleasant person. He nodded solemnly, “Then I’m looking forward to you becoming king, because I can’t wait for this damned war to be over.”
(yessss)
Fiori laughed, bitter but in slightly higher spirits, and nodded in return. "I think everyone does, to be honest. What have you icebloods ever done to us, really? Certainly nothing worth the lives lost fighting over it." He pursed his lips. "But let's talk about brighter things. Tell me about your Mordecai."
“Oh! I don’t know where to start,” he laughed warmly, looking off to the side with a smile in the corner of his mouth to think. “He’s the son of a courtier, and he’s being trained to be…” he hesitated, trying to find a way to put it without using personal pronouns before landing on, “the next king’s advisor. He’s got dark hair like me, like most of our kingdom. He wears a lot reds, which is… unique. And his personality comes across as cold at first. But as I got to know him, we understood each other more… gradually.”
Fiori frowned slightly at the hesitation but didn't question it. He had trouble shifting words into the right languages often, especially if they were traditional titles like 'kings advisor' that might have a more specific but less accessible name. He smiled as Levi described getting to know Mordecai. "It was the same with Cadmus and I when we were young. It took a long time for us to fall together. It was… difficult. You said marriages were arranged in your country, did you… did you have to dodge one? To be with him?"
He took a breath and nodded, “Yes, I’m currently dodging one now. I’m supposed to be getting married to a woman—my friend— but I’m delaying the wedding for as long as I can until they either give up or I have to marry her.”
"Well right now you're not dodging it, considering you're hundreds of miles away from her, but… I suppose I'd like to wonder why you're being forced into a marriage? You're not royalty, right?" Fiori supposed it would make sense if Levi were a prince, or even a high ranking member of the nobility, because heirs were important, but otherwise, it just seemed cruel and unnecessary. "Why do they care who you marry?"
Levi forced his expression into stoicism, uncertain how to respond to the question about royalty, so he just evaded it entirely, and thought of a half-truth for the last question “They care so much because it’s about wealth and status. Families want their children to marry well, and apparently they can’t trust their kids to find rich suitors for themselves. Marya’s family is extremely wealthy, even more than Mordecai’s.”
Fi nodded, understanding the point even though he didn't necessarily agree with it. "So your parents wish to put your wealth over your personal happiness? That doesn't sit right with me. My country isn't perfect, but marriage, love, those ideas are respected. Revered even. Why is that not so in yours?"