Work Text:
“Honestly, Four Eyes, you worry too much. For a First-Class Mage, you downplay your own abilities and you act as if lower ranking mages and human soldiers could easily get the better of you,” Ubel teased her companion, “I would have thought you had built up a bit more confidence by now.”
“Confidence has nothing to do with it,” Land replied calmly, “I prefer to be cautious. As we ought to be at this moment.”
“But that’s what I’m saying,” his companion argued, “I really think you need to lighten up and find some opportunity to enjoy these missions. We can’t always be thinking about work.”
“Speak for yourself,” Land remarked, “Or rather, I would rather you speak less, at least for the next few minutes or so, we aren’t out of danger yet.”
But his warning fell on deaf ears, as it always did on their missions together. Ubel was determined to chatter endlessly, seemingly oblivious to the risks but what Land feared was more accurate was that she was openly inviting their enemies to attack. Land sighed as he tried to keep alert to any potential threat approaching them.
She was always one for direct confrontation while he avoided it unless it was absolutely necessary. The stark contrast in their approaches to things always made him wonder why they were so often paired together on these missions. Perhaps Sense in her wisdom had figured that such differing approaches and personalities would balance each other out. Or maybe she was just amused by their constant bickering. Or both.
Then, there was the fact that Ubel herself always chose him as a partner for these missions, on the rare occasions that she was allowed a choice in the matter. And for all their differences, Land had to admit that they did work well together. Whether it was because they had already built a rapport during the exams or it was something else, they found a way to use their magic expertly. They may not have always been successful at their missions, but at the very least, they had always survived.
But there was a first time for everything, and Land feared that the longer Ubel kept talking, the more they were in very great danger of being caught by the soldiers they had only narrowly escaped from a few hours ago. They had managed to retrieve the item they had been tasked to find, a large briefcase filled with important documents, that he carried in his arms while Ubel was supposed to keep watch. But they still had some way to go before they could safely return to the rest of the First-Class Mages.
And they would have a pretty good chance of making it if Ubel only stopped talking.
But the more he tried to shush her, the more determined she was to defy him.
“Even after all this time, Four Eyes, you doubt me, and I am a bit hurt,” she continued in mock offense, “I think you should have learned to trust me and to trust our partnership a bit more.”
“Maybe I would if you would just stop taking unnecessary risks,” he muttered under his breath. His eyes widened as he sensed an enemy coming towards them stealthily but surely. If Ubel said another word, they would be discovered and all would be lost.
There was no time for any defensive spells or elaborate schemes. Drastic measures were called for.
Ubel had leaned towards her companion to tease him further but before she could utter a word, Land had moved forward and kissed her.
Very few things had ever caught Ubel off guard. But the feeling of Land’s lips on hers had left her stunned. After all the teasing and flirting, she had almost given up on expecting any kind of reaction from him, although she knew that she could trust him enough to care about her life when she did not. But any grand, romantic gesture had seemed an impossibility, so she had contented herself with getting a rise out of him every now and then. But this was something else.
Her eyes had widened at the initial contact and her body had stiffened instinctively, before relaxing and allowing her to enjoy the sensation. His lips were surprisingly soft and there was a warmth in them that she had not expected. He was still clutching the briefcase in his arms securely so he was leaning on her rather awkwardly, and just as Ubel had raised her hands to hold on to his shoulders to kiss him back, he suddenly pulled away.
“They’re gone,” he said breathlessly, turning his gaze towards the alleyway near which they had been hiding. He could not look at her but he could not hide the blush that had spread across his face.
Still shaken by the intensity of the gesture, Ubel just stared at him in silence.
Nervously, Land turned his gaze back towards his companion. Her expression was unreadable and he feared for his life.
So much for not taking unnecessary risks.
After all his talk about being cautious, he had gone and done the most foolish and impulsive thing he could think of. And surely, even without having learned his cloning spell, she would kill him. There was no other way this would end. Land sighed.
All her flirting and teasing had always been about getting him to open up so that she could relate to him better and acquire his cloning magic. Nothing more. And because he had been so resistant to her charms, at least outwardly, she had not yet seemed to have achieved the goal she had set when they had first met during the exams. But surely, there was a limit to her patience.
“Ubel, forgive me.” His apology was sincere. “I just wanted you to stop talking because I sensed that someone dangerous was coming our way. But there was no excuse for my behavior, absolutely no excuse.”
The other mage simply continued staring at him. Her silence was unnerving.
Land placed the briefcase on the ground, produced his staff and laid it on the ground as well, in a gesture of surrender. “You can complete the mission on your own. But feel free to take my life now as punishment for what I just did.”
This at last provoked some reaction from Ubel.
“Don’t be an idiot, Four Eyes. Look who’s treating his life so lightly now, huh?” Her tone was almost bitter.
“Believe me, this is not how I want to go,” Land replied.
“So why are you offering yourself up to me like some kind of sacrifice, then?”
“Don’t you want to kill me?”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Four Eyes,” Ubel replied, some of the familiar teasing tone returning, “I am a little bit annoyed with you right now, but I hardly want to you dead.”
“Of course,” Land said curtly, “I suppose it’s because you haven’t gotten my cloning spell yet. You need me alive a bit longer for that.”
Ubel frowned at this. “Is that really what you think, after everything we’ve been through?”
“What else could it be?” Land replied, “I’m hardly the most interesting person in the world nor am I the most powerful mage. I have something that you need and that you haven’t gotten yet, and that’s why you’ve chosen to spend so much time with me. To go on all these missions to get to know me. As soon as you’ve figured out how to use my cloning spell, I am pretty sure I will never see you again. But I shouldn’t really complain, should I? You’ve never really forced me to go on these missions with you. I joined you of my own free will. I even admitted that I might have wanted someone to take me away from my village after all those years. I chose to work with you, even if, to be perfectly honest, I still haven’t decided if I admire you or I am terrified by you and…”
Land found his tirade abruptly interrupted by Ubel grabbing his face with both of her hands and pulling him into a kiss. Stunned by the gesture, he could do nothing but give in, as he always did when Ubel was involved. So he closed his eyes and kissed her back as she put her arms around his neck and he put his around her back.
When they finally pulled away, Ubel grinned at him triumphantly.
“Oh Four Eyes, has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?”